Coeus?

by Andur

  Her claim that getting the samples directly from reproductive cells is necessary somehow doesn't connect with my understanding of genetics. Does it really matter which cells she uses in her experiments?

  I enter the central square and as if on cue I get a call. “Yes?”

  “Turn right and walk to the public trash-bin.” Sadina's voice answers me in a casual manner.

  I do as I am told, scanning the crowd with my eyes. Surely she hacked a public security camera to notice my arrival. A quick mental command to the network starts a search and I get a list of camera devices in the area. Another instruction activates one of my previously manufactured tracing programs.

  I arrive at the trash-bin and take a look inside. Empty. No Sadina. Would have been too funny if she had waited in there. It is one of the big ones, certainly big enough to house a human being.

  “I am there.” I answer a little bored.

  “Good. Drop the samples into the trash-bin.” Her voice sounds eager and I hear a scraping sound over the connection.

  I gnaw on my lower lip, thinking. The tracer needs more time. Will she teleport the samples out of the trash-bin? I thought that's not possible. “And then?”

  Again the scraping sound. “Then I'll tell you where the virus is.”

  “Sure.” I answer, but don't make any attempt at giving up my cargo.

  She sighs. “You don't believe me?”

  Isn't it obvious? “No. I want the virus first.”

  “Then you won't give me the samples?” She answers and I hear the scraping sound once more. Is she crawling through some kind of shaft or tunnel? Or is she submitting the sound on purpose to trick me. Techno-mages use mental communication. At least I don't have the need to transmit irritating background noises to my interlocutor.

  “I don't think that it is my truthfulness which stands to be judged.” I pull out the box with the vials. It doesn't exactly contain mine and Cyla's genetic materials. There is no reason at all to take the risk of Sadina getting her hands on those. The farce will be over soon after the exchange is made.

  “I don't think that mine does either. Have I ever lied to you?” Sadina answers with a superior tone.

  I squint my eyes at the trash-bin and think hard. “No. But you haven't told the complete truth either. This isn't a game, Sadina.”

  “Didn't we agree that you'd call me mother?” Again that scraping sound. “You get the virus, I get the samples.”

  I drop the box into the trash-bin and concentrate. As soon as she teleports it away I have to follow. Ed gave me access to the sensors which prevent improper use of teleportation. Just let's hope that she didn't manage to block them despite all my efforts.

  Suddenly the trash-bin's bottom slides open and reveals a long, dark and narrow shaft. It gulps down the box.

  I curse and immediately kick the trash-bin, uncovering an opened vent to the lower levels! We thought about sewers and other possibilities where a humans could hide themselves, but not about the lower levels of the colony. Down there are just automated machines, nothing else.

  She destroyed the grid which protected the vent and pulled the modified trash-bin over it! I open a connection to the whole team. “Sadina is on the lower levels! Most likely the farming areas!”

  “That can't be! I and two of my men spotted her two streets from central square just now! We are pursuing.” Ed's baffled voice answers me.

  “I also ran into her! Right this moment! I am following!” Hedeon's voice sounds over the public connection.

  I furrow my forehead and look around, surveying the surrounding crowd. How is this possible? Are there multiple Sadinas? Suddenly a woman bursts out of the crowd of people and tackles me. I feel a sting in the back of my right arm and reach for it. My fingertips come up blood stained. The bitch knifed me!

  I follow the running figure who takes a short look back at me. It's a face I know very well. Sadina's avatar! “Melan! It's her!”

  A man a few metres to my left stumbles and other people are shoved aside as an invisible figure forces her way through the crowd.

  That's when the alarm inside the modified box is triggered. I stop dead in my tracks and call up a map of Aether to follow the shaft to its end. Then I teleport, reappearing inside a warehouse.

  Another version of Sadina has the box in her hands and is about to close a cover for the ventilation shaft. I blink, trying to make sense of the situation. Am I affected by a confusion spell?

  Impostors? No. Clones?

  Sadina number three tries to make a run for it, the small box in her hands. Enough of this! I grit my teeth and raise a hand to fire a spell at her. The conjured ball-lightning flickers and bridges the distance between me and her in an instant.

  A scream escapes the woman's lips as one of her legs evaporates in a red cloud of blood.

  Sol, Aether

  Sadina

  I wince as I lose one of my facsimiles. Nice, little Gideon pulled off the gloves. To simply blast his own mother with a lethal spell. So sad. That leaves me down to seven copies as distraction.

  Now where was I? Yes, right. I needed samples. Putting my hand on the mansion's door I force it open while suppressing the signal which would have caused an alarm.

  According to the mansion's sensors there are two entities present. Aurelia and the sprite who is baby-sitting her. The others are all outside to hunt me, which leaves this place widely unguarded. Probably Gideon thought that his new security measures made this place safe. But he forgot that I lived here for a long time myself. During my youth I added dozens of additional gadgets and wireless connection points to this house.

  I stroll through the entrance hall, monitoring the hunt of my facsimiles. “Gideon, is it fun to pursue ghosts?”

  “Not as funny as you think. How many clones of yourself did you create?” He grumbles. “You know that we will catch all of them?”

  “Oh, please. Just one is enough to get away with a sample. And it's wrong to call them clones. A real clone has a mind of its own. That's not the case with the tools you are hunting right now. I call them facsimiles. They are really just extensions of myself, controlled by my mind. Nothing more. They don't even have a functioning brain.”

  The staircase to Gideon's floor is just as I remember. Mother never changes the house. She said that she wants something which the family can come back to. I sigh and try to shake off the memories. That's not what I am here for. That life is in the past.

  I enter the corridor to the living room where the sensor's reported the sprite and Aurelia. It takes just a few steps and I am there. Another command locks down any communication inside the house. I don't want the sprite to call for reinforcements.

  Inside the living room I find the sprite hovering above Aurelia's cradle. It immediately turns to focus me with its eye-lense. “What are you doing here? You have no permission to be on this property.”

  I raise an eyebrow and lift a hand to zap the hovering sphere while walking forward. My little energy bolt is reflected and chars the left wall without affecting the sprite.

  “A violent attack! I have to remove you by force!” The sprite flips two spikes out of its body and green energy lances towards me.

  I draw a sharp breath and barely evade the attack! Gideon equipped his babysitter with disruptor beams! That's illegal!

  The weapon slices into the wall behind me and I dance closer, turning around my own axis and swatting the sprite out of the air. It is smashed against a wall and falls to the ground, lights flickering out. Only then I realise how close I came to being cut in two. If I had been just a little bit farther away I would not have been able to reach the sprite in time. That wasn't within my calculations. I expected some form of enhancement, but not illegal weaponry.

  My attention returns to Aurelia who is sleeping in her cradle. She is sleeping so deeply that she didn't awaken. I bend down and pick her up. “So I finally get to meet you in person, Granddaughter. You are a good sleeper.” Her drooling face touches something in
side me and I pinch her cheek, smiling. “You are so cute! I am tempted to take the whole of you with me. A bigger sample allows for more tests!”

  I start fumbling for the syringe inside my jacket when a small disturbance in the air around me catches my attention. Then I realize that I am suddenly surrounded by dozens small gravity distortions. The room is filled with them!

  A step backwards saves me from being crumbled into a neat little brick like Aurelia's cradle.

  “~Hi.~”

  Sol, Aether

  Cyla

  The woman turns around and I hit her point blank in the face, not holding back and putting all my weight behind it. Something gives way. Maybe I broke some of her teeth, but the nose is most certainly broken.

  She falls backwards like a felled tree and I hurry to catch Aurelia. My daughter doesn't even wake up.

  I put her down on the ground and rearrange my grip on the brass knuckles in my hand. Then I take it out on Sadina, making sure that not a single bone remains unbroken! She may be out cold right now, but she will feel everything once she wakes up! “Nobody takes my baby! I'll make sure that nobody heals you before you wake up! I'll savour your screams!”

  My arm starts tiring after a few punches and I switch hands. That cloaking spell which Gideon taught me worked really well. Sadina didn't notice my presence at all. Luckily I decided to stay at home. If everyone else is outside to hunt that vixen, nobody can take care of Aurelia. It was too much of a bait and hiding my presence added to the scenario.

  While Gideon was always occupied by his job as a governor I managed my little company from home. I had a lot of free time due to my pregnancy and then taking care of my daughter. Since I am a techno-mage I was bound to find the mansion's hidden network devices sooner or later. The important hint came from Gideon since there was always a little discrepancy in the mansion's energy consumptions and the energy which should be needed by the running devices.

  Gideon never cared much for the mansion's network since he spent a lot of time at school and after his graduation he went on his trip to fulfil his dreams. So I guess this place wasn't of much interest since he invested a lot of time in designing the Coeus. Ah, that ship. We have to go on a little cruise when we have time. It's still in one of Aether's hangars.

  My other arm starts tiring and I switch sides again, ignoring the broken nail. Maybe I am overdoing it?

  Then I remember that she touched Aurelia and said something about taking her. So I start working with renewed vigour.

  I am about to switch hands again when someone catches my hand and I look up to find Gideon above me. Behind him in the entrance to the living room are Melan and Ed, followed by the faces of other family members. They all look a little pale.

  My attention returns to the living room which got a little crumbled and messed up by my ability. Keeping it in check is hard when my feelings are soaring high, so I sometimes lose control.

  I look down the pale woman to my feet. Aside from the treatment I gave her she looks skinny and certainly more than a little undernourished. Her unkempt hair makes her look more like a wild animal than a human being, but that escaped me during my frenzy.

  If she hadn't touched Aurelia she could be seen as a poor, brutalized victim. At least her swollen face isn't recognizable by now.

  “Sadina!” Melan calls out.

  “Is it the real one?” Hedeon asks from behind her.

  Ed furrows his brows. “Good question. It's hard to tell with all that blood.”

  Damn! I guess a mother can always recognize her children. I decide to put up a brave front and smile at the audience. “Is there a problem?”

  I take off the brass knuckles and push them into a pocket, trying to clean my hand on Sadina's clothes. But to be honest, it's hard to find a spot which isn't bloody. Maybe I went too far? Isn't she something like my mother in law?

  At least Aurelia didn't wake up.

  79. ~Matryoshka doll.~

  “

  Things are never as they seem.

  ”

  -Unknown

  Sol, Aether

  Gideon

  “What's wrong with her?” I ask, eyeing the woman on the bed. We brought her to the hospital right away. Since Sadina is still unconscious we can't question her. “Can we wake her up?” I want to ask her questions. A lot of questions.

  “Actually I don't think that's a good idea.” Ed shakes his head. “The whole hospital is filled with faceless, but I would feel much safer to wake her up after having her inside a high security cell.”

  My eyes wander from Ed over my family and to the doctor who is in charge treating Sadina. Melan, Hedeon, Rhiannon. Save for Saden and Galia everyone who has a strong connection to Sadina is here.

  Cyla really went a little overboard when she got her hands on my mother. But can I really blame her for that? It is often said that couples who share their minds often and intimately tend to acquire certain traits from their partner. So if I became a little more controlled and social, then it also means that Cyla got a little of my emotional and calculating side?

  The doctor nods and corrects his glasses. He is said to be the best one available and takes horrendous sums of money for his attention. Coincidentally he is also the same person who treated me when I was a kid. Does that mean that Melan went to great lengths for me even when she didn't really know me yet?

  “I've seen to her physical injuries and I hope that I'll have her awake by tomorrow.” He flips through several sheets of paper.

  That's not enough. I gesture at Sadina. “That's not what I meant. Don't you see her body? Why didn't she take proper care of herself?”

  Cyla grasps my hand from beside me. “I am sorry. I don't know what came over me. At some point I should have realized her strange state and stopped. It's no excuse.”

  I shake my head and open my mind to her. ~That's not your fault. You aren't the one to blame. I just want to understand what's going on.~

  ~Thanks.~

  The doc starts flipping pages again. “I was informed of my patient's extraordinary circumstances. Sadina is a perfect example for a techno-mage who lost her way. She is a driven, maniacal individual. I can totally imagine her neglecting her body for the sake of her goals.”

  Melan steps closer to Sadina and balls her hands into fists. “Can we be sure that it really is her?”

  Doc nods. “Oh, of that I am very sure. I've taken a very careful look at the old medical records and the cloned bodies which she used to confuse you.” He gestures at Sadina. “It's her. There are some genetic markers which decay with age. It would be very hard to create a body which has them exactly as they should be. This is without doubt Sadina Alvar.”

  I squint my eyes at my mother. “I don't believe it. Something is fishy. I was a derailed person too and I am very sure that I know how a maniac sounds like. This body. She is far gone and insane, but she is focused on proving that techno-mages are at least as strong as other mages in all aspects. Wherever she got that idea from. Why did she let herself go like that? It doesn't match her form of insanity. It doesn't fit the picture.” Then I focus on the doctor. “Wake her up. We have to know where the virus is.”

  Doc's expression turns sad. “I am sorry. But that's how it is with techno-mages who walk over the edge. There doesn't have to be rationality in all their actions.”

  “Wake her up. Now.” I order him this time.

  He blinks and steps closer to Sadina, pulling a syringe from his coat. “It will be temporary at best, you don't have much time. The drug which I used to put her to sleep has to degrade naturally.”

  The needle wanders inside the flexible tube of Sadina's drip. Then it doesn't take long until her eyes flutter open and she looks around, wincing in pain upon realizing that her body is still battered and bruised.

  Ed steps closer. “Where is the virus, Sadina?”

  She starts smiling. “Where is the virus? Wasn't it obvious from the start?” A chuckle escapes her lips. “I am honestly surprised that y
ou didn't realize it at all. Was using myself as a distraction that effective?”

  I raise an eyebrow. “What have you done?”

  “What every good scientist does. I've put my invention to good use. A tool needs to be used. There is no point in having it if you don't use it. While all your attention was directed on hunting me I hacked Aether's long range teleportation chamber and sent one of my facsimiles to the teleportation node through which we entered Sol during the hunt. My facsimile hacked the node and deployed the virus on a Drazi frontier world. Of course the facsimile was programmed to destroy itself after infecting the first Drazi it encountered.”

  Melan gasps and covers her mouth. Everyone among the present people has a similar reaction. Except for me. I don't see a problem with exterminating the Drazi. But I see another problem.

  A step brings me right next to Sadina. “That's not possible. I programmed the network functions of the nodes. You can't hack them. They are the most secure, man made devices ever to exist!” Then I run through a list of possibilities how Sadina could have gotten unnoticed access to a node. If her story is true. There is only one possibility. And that's having a master pass-code. I reach for Sadina's shoulder. “Whom are you working for!?”

  “Nobody...” Her eyes drift closed. “... working … always... alone.”

  I shake her, but she is out cold again. The doctor stops me from trying to wake her up, so I turn to him as some of the puzzle's pieces fall into place. “What are the possible reasons for Sadina's state.”

  He blinks. “Her mental issues, obviously. I don't understand.”

  “What are the possible causes for her mental issues despite the fact that she is a techno-mage?” I ask.

  Doc starts scratching his chest. “Brain damage, tumour, though I already checked for that. Her insanity, obviously.”

  I lean closer, remembering my mental contact with some of the Drazi. “What if someone pushed her over the edge?”

  “You mean... someone manipulated her mind?” Doc's eyes widen and bites his lower lip. “She was involved in illegal activities. Normally I don't treat patients like that. Let me get some devices. If someone nudged her mind around, there have to be at the very least some faint traces.” He leaves the room. I pull a chair closer and sit down, trying to order the facts in my brain.