by Andur
The three prisoners are two men and a woman in ragged clothing. They look frightful while being held by the drones. I shaped them similar to Crono, the crab design of my silent bodyguard influenced me a little.
I muse about the situation until the woman interrupts my thoughts. “Are you here to save us?”
“No.” My answer wipes the hope off of their faces. “What were you guys doing here? Do you belong to the Revelation Wing?”
All three of them shake their heads vehemently and start explaining. One of the men was an engineer on a free asteroid colony until he got a very good job offer. He accepted his new post and took a freighter which was supposed to bring him to his new workplace. Only that he ended up here upon stepping out of the air lock of his transport.
The woman has a similar story and the other man was a pilot until he was attacked and taken by the people of this station. What the Revelation Wing lacked in skilled personal, they apparently simply kidnapped or stole.
The three people in front of me had to work for them under slave-like circumstances. People who absolutely refused to do their master's bidding were reprogrammed by a combination of drugs and mental pressuring.
“Okay, I think I've heard enough of this. Bring them into their cells and keep them there for the time being.” I order the drones and continue on my path. Cleaning up this mess will be a fucking nightmare. Originally I simply planned to wipe out the Revelation Wing and be done with it.
Making them disappear should be easy enough, but what about their victims? Killing off a few terrorists and hiding the evidence won't get me any problems from Ed.
Ed even gave me the permission for my personal crusade in a certain way. He decided to look the other way when I confessed my illegal plan to him. But if it ever gets out that I accidentally disposed of a few innocents while doing so I could get into trouble. I don't think that Ed would keep looking the other way in that case. Being on the run for the rest of my life isn't something I desire. And it would probably send my grandmother over the edge.
I've to decide what to do later. Purging the data-core of the station and activating a beacon for the faceless is always a possibility.
If I am extra careful I can still hide my involvement and wash my hands in innocence should the truth get out after all. Though I doubt that I am able to keep the Coeus in that case.
As I close in on my target the noise of fighting gets louder. The last resistance fighters bunkered themselves up. Eight fighters are holding a choke point to a separate part of the station. According to my drones the number of killed opponents already reaches a hundred and seven men. They are fighting to the last. If the prisoner's words are true, then the least that awaits them according to law is a complete wipe of their personality.
I watch the senseless fire-fight between my drones and the last defenders from a safe corner, tapping into the stations security network.
The drones have problems advancing through a single long corridor. Every time they try, they are blasted to pieces by the fireballs of a very potent fire mage. I frown while fuming over the stupidity of my constructs. Maybe I should have given just a few of them real intelligence. There is always a next time.
To end the stalemate I tap into the stations environmental controls and slowly ramp up the gravity for the section with my opponents.
When they are all pinned to the ground I order my drones to take them and follow through the corridor.
The drones swarm over their enemies in order to detain them and I return the section's gravity to normal.
Upon arriving at my destination I find three of my enemies dead on the ground. Apparently they tried to keep standing when I ramped up the gravity and fell in the end, breaking something important.
“You'll be killed if you even attempt to cast a spell.” I warn them and snort, focusing on the five remaining men. By checking their faces against the data files from my ship I find three matches.
Before I left Oibras I downloaded a list of the most wanted persons in the solar system. On top of the list is Zerces Temeril, the leader of the Revelation Wing. I recognize one of the five men as him. Two others are also on the list, although with a much lower priority. The others don't have a wanted poster.
“Who are you? Show your face you coward!” One of the men who are wanted barks at me.
I reach for the seals on my helmet and take off the mask. “Gideon Alvar. I've some questions regarding this station and your prisoners. Then it would be nice if you could tell me some stories about my mother. She is a nuisance, so I want to pay her a visit to settle some family matters.”
“Like we would bow to a monstrosity like-” One of the men without a wanted poster raises his voice against me. I suppose he isn't that important if he isn't known to the public.
So I decide to use him as an example for the others and point my finger at him. With a flick of my fingers a pulsating lump of flesh appears in my hand. It's a spell which I learned from my grandmother and I had to train like a maniac to master it to this degree.
“-you. A genetic experiment shouldn't...” I throw the heart into the stunned man's face. The stubborn man keeps talking and doesn't realize that he is already dead. But finally the strength leaves his voice and he falls backwards, lying still.
“I hate when I am ignored. You should realize that I am not bound by any social norms in this place. Currently your lifes belong to me. So talk and don't annoy me with your pitiful worldviews.” My eyes wander to Zerces.
The public leader of the Revelation Wing raises his head and sits up as straight as he can. “I don't understand what you want to know. Your mother betrayed us when she created you. We couldn't let that stand, so we tried to get our hands on you to lure her out of her hideout. Unfortunately the faceless tightened their lock-down on Earth, so there was no chance of getting there after our last attempt.”
“Created me?” I ask.
None of them answers, instead they look at me with frightened expressions. I raise my hand and gesture at the second worthless terrorist. The drones which are holding him clamp down their pincers and both his arms drop to the ground. His screams end as one of the drones crushes his head with a leg.
“You are a genetically engineered abomination.” Zerces starts talking. “Your mother promised us a tool which is able to break the information barrier around earth and announce our presence to humanity.
We found out too late that she was using our funds to engineer you from several different gene-codes.”
Something inside me snaps. What is he talking about? I feel like I am floating freely, but intellectually I know that I am still standing on both legs. “Proof!”
Before they can answer I kick one of the terrorists, breaking his jaw. Doing so feels right.
“The sealed door behind you.” Zerces eyes wander to the ground. “Sadina condemned us all when she committed that crime. The laws are quite clear on genetic manipulation.”
I turn around and leave them where they are, guarded by the drones. The door actually resists my first commands to open and I have to override the security measures to get inside.
What I find inside is close to a biological research laboratory. There are various machines like gene-sequencers and other laboratory equipment.
On the wall to my left is a set of incubation tanks with... failed versions of myself in various stages of development. Some are children, some grown men. But all of them are definitely related to me. Were those things ever meant to be human? Most of them are horribly disfigured. Am I not human after all? But the doctors said that Melan is my grandmother. I have a family.
I step to one of the computers and switch it on. Then I start searching the files until I find the Coeus folder. Coeus?
Somehow I don't feel anything while reading the whole process of my creation. It feels like the world doesn't affect me any more.
That's until I get to the part where the four main providers for my genetic code are mentioned. Sadina Alvar, Jenny Hast, Edua
rd Klein and Zerces Temeril. I tap their names and their personal files appear in front of me. My mother, with a heavy tendency towards a techno-magic. Jenny Hast, a former elder of the techno-mages, deceased. Eduard Klein, an electro-mage. Zerces Temeril, also electro-mage.
My legs feel wobbly when I return to my prisoners. All of them look horrified when looking at me, except for Zerces. He actually seems to be relatively confident in himself. “Don't ever think of me as a father. I've my pride.”
“Pride.” My voice breaks and I decide that any more words on this subject are wasted. I turn away and wander to the next air lock, the drones dragging the four prisoners after me.
The air lock opens and the screaming trash is shoved inside. Zerces is the only one who takes his fate with dignity. When they are inside I watch them through the window of the air lock. The fire-mage attempts to melt the door with a spell, but I command the station to blow the seals of the outer lock.
All three men are sucked out into space and I watch their bodies disappearing in the darkness. Maybe I should have done something more satisfying. This method was definitely too fast.
“You simply killed your father! How could you? And I thought you two would have a father and son moment!” Sadina's voice echoes out of a speaker next to the air lock and her avatar appears right next to me. “Oh, if you could see your face right now. I guess that I achieved my goal in causing an emotional reaction. Let's call it even from now on. You caused me some emotional pain by being heartless towards me and I returned the favour. What do you think of my experiment? Not only did you get your wish, I also sent you on a mission to answer the question why you exist.”
“I never asked that question.” I answer.
“Yes, that's exactly why I had to answer it for you. Don't you think that it's important to know your own roots before you can truly choose your future?” She tilts her head. “Though killing your provider was a little excessive. I hope that I won't share the same fate as him.”
“I don't want to talk to you.” I start searching the station's network until I find the back-door which Sadina left behind. It's obvious and simple. The Revelation Wing really lacked qualified personnel.
“Don't lock me out yet! We have so much to catch up to! Act-” A thought closes the back-door and Sadina's avatar disappears.
I head back to the laboratory where I step in front of the incubation chambers to stare at my other selves.
23. ~Pain.~
“If you can't protect yourself, then don't protect others.”
-A simple truth
'Greek' Node, Revelation Wing Asteroid Base
Ed
The corridors and hallways of this place have a sinister feeling to them. I imagined that the base of the Revelation Wing must be a dark hellhole, but it's worse than I thought. Coming across the prisoners was particularly shocking, though it explains a lot of things.
Our intelligence office anticipated something like this, or at least something similar. I was right in letting Gideon do as he pleases, even if cleaning everything up will be a mess.
Following his ship wasn't a problem up to the point when he left the normal trading route. From then on I had to search blindly while relying on a few favours from the techno-mage elder.
If he hadn't given me a ship with a reliable and secretive pilot I would still be searching this sector. Sanguin is the easiest to deal with of all the elders. All you have to do is giving him a proper reason to help you.
I would never approach the elder of my own branch for matters which have to be kept a secret. He doesn't understand that the faceless and the elders are two opposing weights on a pair of scales.
The corridor in front of me splits and Crono takes the left. I follow the battle sprite without questioning his decision.
It's a little surprising that Gideon chose to imitate Crono to create his little personal army. But he had enough time to watch Crono's design, so it may not be strange after all.
Apparently Gideon's weaponry overwhelmed the forces of the Revelation Wing and he even captured their base.
If the battle between his vessel and the station hadn't been visible throughout the whole sector we would have never caught up to him. My pilot was already beginning to bitch about the boring mission. It must've been really annoying for him when I gave the order to him that he has to stay on the ship and close his eyes and ears.
The battle sprite guides me through a huge blast door and into a separate part of the station. There are more of Gideon's drones here, but all of them seem to be powered down. Or I don't fit into their commands. That's much more likely since they don't seem to have intelligence of their own.
Upon entering a laboratory I find Gideon in front of... “Fuck!” So I was too late. Why did those idiots from the Revelation Wing keep proof like this around? Are their brains rotten?
Gideon didn't even react to my arrival. I hope it wasn't too hard on him. Stepping closer to him I place a hand on his shoulder. “Gideon, are you okay? Have you gotten the enemy leaders?”
“Yes.” He answers with a mechanical voice. “They are having a date with the void.”
He spaced them? “How long have you been standing here? Are you sure that you aren't in shock?” If Crono is right then the station was taken ten hours ago. There is no way that he is okay.
“I was just thinking about my life and some other things. And I also researched some things about my past, just to be sure. Don't you think that there is something you want to explain to me Eduard Klein?”
My fingers tense and I take my hand away from his shoulder. “I won't defend my actions. How did you find out?”
“Old news reports, the voice, the lazy pseudonym.” Gideon answers, not taking his eyes from the incubation tanks. “At least they are dead. It would be awkward if there are more things like me.”
“You shouldn't say that. Don't you have a family at Aether? I intentionally didn't say anything to you or them. I wanted you to see that there is more about life than someone's origins.” I answer.
Gideon starts chuckling crazily. “Don't tell me that I should call you father from now on.”
I grip my clothes at my chest and try to think very hard about my answer. “No. I've no right to be called that way. For all intends and purposes your grandparents are your father and mother. They adopted you where those who should have taken the responsibility didn't do so.
And didn't Aether's doctors themselves identify you as a member of the Alvar family? Tell me, Gideon, what's one times one?”
“One.”
“So why should a mix of different humans be something else than a human? That's not logical. So don't hang yourself up on that. From what I've seen so far you turned out to be a much better human being than me.” I gesture at myself. “The story between your mother and me is more complicated than the media suggests.”
A sigh escapes me. “To make it short it's my fault. That's why I am hunting her. She is my responsibility and because of that you are too. We were young lovers and I was young and stupid. I pursued my career before everything else.”
I reach for the mask on my face. “In doing so I shoved her away from me in the most idiotic way possible. It's no excuse, but do you know that I can't have children, Gideon? The younger me didn't take that message well when the doctor told me so. I thought that ending my relationship with Sadina was for the better and I did so in a very unfortunate way. I guess in return for hurting her like that she'll haunt me for the rest of my life. Maybe I'll tell it to you in detail someday. Does she annoy you too with that busty avatar of hers? She is quite good at hiding herself.”
Gideon snorts. “And you can't even lock her out of your systems because you are an electro-mage. I guess you deserve that.”
I nod. “Yes, probably. Why don't you take your time to relax while flying back to Oibras? Take some time off and relax. I'll stay here and sweep this whole place under the biggest carpet I can find.”
“Why?”
“Do I re
ally have to spell it out for you?” I ask.
“No. On a second thought I don't want to hear it.” Gideon turns and leaves. Crono scuttles aside and waves one of his pincers at him to say goodbye, which is a rare gesture for the sprite.
I turn back to the laboratory equipment and start massaging my temples. “Yes, cleaning up all this will be a real headache!”
Jupiter, en route to Oibras Station
Gideon
I took Ed's advice and flew back to Oibras at low speed. The flight should have taken just a few days, but I stretched it out to over a week. It gave me time to think and be alone. While doing so I also repaired the Coeus and made some changes to its weaponry. If nothing else then I made at least some improvements to the ship.
What I found inside the station affected me. In hindsight I wish that I had simply blown the damn thing apart. My problem is that I am not entirely sure what sent my mind over the edge. Was it the death of all those people? But I've killed before. What does it matter if it's a handful or a hundred? Did it get to me that one of them was supposed to be something like a parent?
Or was it the sight of those prisoners? I don't know them, but according to the social norm I should have felt for them if I am not mistaking something. Probably I'll never know the answer.
Whatever it was, I'll simply try to calm down when I am back on Oibras. Maybe I'll even make an appointment with Amia.
Though I am not sure if that's a wise decision. She isn't someone whom I can do anything else with besides having sex. We are simply too different and our interests don't match. I'll sleep over it. Oibras is still far away. It'll take me a while even if I press the drive.
Without any energy left to wreck my brain over my mental problems I readjust the pilot chair to take a nap. Then I reach for my plush toys to use them as a pillow. Soon afterwards my exhausted mind drifts away.
It feels like I took barely a nap when the noise of an alarm wakes me up. I activate my ability out of reflex and connect to the ship. The first impulse is to check the ship's functions, but everything turns out to work properly.