I paused, but no one said anything, so I continued. "The facilities each have Sentinel Drones and Static Guardians around them, but Etachs and I are going to spend the day placing these on them." I held up a cloth bag full of devices Tarq and Cylvre had made.
"These will make the Sentinels appear normal to the Himlani, but under our control. They will not harm you. Once you have penetrated the fence, you can scan your wrist at the door; Cylvre has modified your implants so that the doors will open for you." I saw Casys frown and I raised an eyebrow at them. Even my glamour could not take the pure white from their features. Their pupils in Fae form circled with pink irises.
"What about you? You don't have implants," they said. I grinned at them.
"I do now." I held up my arm to show the small, white scar. Casys took my arm in their white hands and examined it. After a moment they looked up at me, a small, strange smile playing across their face. I raised an eyebrow.
"Healing us is one thing, planning this escape is one thing, loving Etachs and all of us despite our species is remarkable indeed. Saving your planet, your sister, these are other things that are truly admirable. But from what I know of the Fae, you value your beings more than mere vessels. You cherish your bodies and to liberate a lesser species, you have violated your body with our technology," Casys said, their pink eyes fixed on my face, curious, but not judgemental.
"Humans do not possess the same gifts as we do, that much is true, and their short life spans make them short-sighted, but that does not make them lesser beings. It just makes them young." I put my hands on the side of Casys' blanched face. "Also, my body is just a body. For Fae who spent more time among the old ways than I, that may be different, but what you see in flesh is just what holds me and my magic in tandem." I smiled and kissed Casys on the brow. They smiled wider and refocused their attention to their position with the group.
I made eye contact with each of them for a moment before I continued laying out the plan. Etachs interjected a few times with information and, when it came time to talk about the last part of the plan, Kai took over. There were eight buildings in total. We would be liberating all but the one we stood upon first, then bringing all the Humans back to this one, where we would overcome it with their aid. At which point they would be given the same choice all of our company were given. Cylvre will be able to remove the implant from their neck and the ports in their arms. Once their free will is ensured, they will be able to join us or go forge their own path. I refused to free them just to enslave them again.
After the plan was gone over again and all questions answered, the rest hunkered down to wait for the signal, while Etachs, Ayesha, and I went to deal with the tick-tock Sentinels. It took us most of the day to attach the devices to each of them. Ayesha wheeled back and forth between us and the Himlani grouped on the roof of the central compound, passing information to me about their activities. I also slipped into her mind from time to time to get a bird's eye view of the facilities, to make sure we had gotten all the Sentinels in our sweep. Maintaining all my magical threads was more difficult when I was inside Ayesha's mind, as I was keeping the glamours on the Himlani, a shield for Etachs, Ayesha, and myself, as well as the much larger shield to keep the base camp hidden. I wanted them to be accustomed to looking as though they were Fae, so that they would not panic when the fighting began.
We returned to the rooftop base camp around dusk and did our final equipment checks. Just as the sun sank below the horizon, we dropped from our hiding places and spread out, no one relying on my magic to shield them, only on our learned stealth. While glamoured, the Himlani could not camouflage and most of them had extensive injuries repaired by me and could not hide well anymore, even in their natural bodies. I moved quietly through the trees as I circled the building I was here to liberate. Ayesha swooped through the sky above me. As I approached the clearing, Ayesha came down to alight upon my shoulder.
I broke my cover and walked with silent steps through the field of Sentinels who diligently whizzed about, ignoring me completely thanks to Tarq and Cylvre's handy work. I approached the gate and swiped my wrist over the pad. The door swung inward and I entered, walking up the path to the front door. As I went, I glamoured myself to appear Himlani. It wouldn't fool their sensors and implants, but it would fool the cameras. I approached the main entrance and swiped my wrist on the pad. I could hear the faint whirring of the camera as it turned to look at me and, after two heartbeats, the door opened. There was one Himlani standing on the other side of the door. I did not give them time to scan me. As their body hit the floor, I stepped over them, pausing only to retrieve my dagger from their neck. I walked down the hallway keeping my steps silent. I dropped my glamour and encased myself in a skin of magic, rendering me and Ayesha invisible as I went. I opened every door and killed all the Enforcers and Extractors inside.
As I rounded a corner, I saw a door that had an unfamiliar word etched above it. I paused to examine it. There was no wrist scanner on this door, but it gave way at my urging. The door slid open and I saw something I initially couldn't process. The room was cavernous and lit dimly from all around by the things my mind could not process.
Tanks. The room was full of thousands of tanks, softly lit from below, stacked three high, and full of some kind of liquid. Inside each tank looked to be... No. My hands flew to my face as I stared at the monstrosity before me. Inside each tank appeared to be Human fetuses, in various stages of gestation, thick cables attached to their belly buttons where umbilical cords should be. On each tank was a label with two numbers, indicating which hosts the genetic material was extracted from and how long it had been gestated naturally before it had been plucked prematurely. I stared in horror as my gorge rose and I struggled not to retch and vomit. I backed out of the room, easing the door shut behind me. I kept backing up until my back pressed against the cold, metal wall. I stood there for a moment with my eyes closed, taking deep, shuddering breaths, trying to calm my racing heart. Younglings. They were harvesting human younglings.
Ayesha nudged my ear with her beak, and I opened my eyes, my breathing ceasing immediately as two Himlani Extractors rounded the corner. I pressed myself as far against the wall as I could and watched them approach. They were speaking in low tones and what I could hear of their conversation I was unable to understand. They passed through the door across from me and before I could think better of it, I stepped with silent purpose behind them, the door sliding silently shut behind me.
They paced down the row, stopping at some to look at charts, and discuss. Twice they stopped and entered something into the terminals they carried. As they moved forward, some type of tick-tock machine descended from the ceiling and unfastened a tank from the pillar structure. It shuttled the tanked youngling along through the room after the Himlani. Not a sentient machine, just another one of their creations meant to do their labor. I followed along behind. As they approached the far end of the expansive room, the tank was placed on a workbench by the machine, which quickly retracted at the completion of its job. The Himlani both turned to the small trays next to the table, snapping thick gloves of a material I could not identify over their hands. One reached inside the tank and before I could move, they had snapped the neck of the fetus inside, as though it were nothing more than a chicken for the supper table. They pulled the body out of the tank, its small, fragile limbs limp, dripping the liquid it had been kept in on the table. The Himlani moved in unison, pulling scalpels from the trays.
I didn't think, I just acted. I had arrows through their necks before I exhaled my next breath. These weren't beings yet; they were still in their incubation periods, but they were meant for life, not for harvesting. These tanks were crops to these Extractors, grown for a time inside their original hosts, then harvested for storage. I gagged as my thoughts raced. I approached the table, choking on a sob as I saw the tiny body lying in a pool of the viscous liquid. Hot tears slid down my face. I reached a hand out, but stopped myself before I touched it.
I knew what they were doing here was horrible, but this was a new level even from my expectation.
My resolve to get this done, to start this fire, to change this world, to end this invasion, hardened within me like clay in a kiln. I spun on my feet, not bothering to wipe the tears from my eyes, and I ran, not stopping to check every room. I no longer cared about the Enforcers. I just ran. At regular intervals, I stopped only to place the packets that Kai had made earlier. Anyone that I encountered met their end from my arrows or my blade. Ayesha took wing and paced me in flight. I hurtled down hallways and through doors, my rage fueling every step. I kept an arrow nocked and at the ready, the string relaxed, but poised. I dealt death without discrimination or hesitation. Somewhere along the way an alarm had been raised. I dropped my magic and let them see me coming. Giving in to the rage, I practically flew.
When I burst into the compartment holding the Humans, they were sitting up in their beds, eyes bright and alert with curiosity. Until this moment we had no way of knowing if our messages were getting through. And if they were received, had they been understood?
The rage in their souls echoed off my own and as I stood in the doorway, coated in black blood, my eyes flashing, I must have looked like a demon from legends long lost. I raised my fist, a dagger clutched in my blood-slick fingers. Ayesha perched on top of my fist and croaked her harsh raven's call. I let my eyes scan the room, making contact with as many of theirs as I could. They were bone-thin, malnourished, with sunken, hollow eyes and no hair. Their arms and legs were riddled with scars from repeated needles, their genitals equally mutilated. The women... Gift preserve me... the women had thick ropes of scar tissues across their lower abdomen from repeated incisions and extraction. I lifted my chin in defiance, my rage amplified and bellowed.
"I am the voice that comes to you in the night. I am the messenger you have been hearing. Follow me and seize your freedom. Use your name. Kill your masters and claim your bodies for your own purpose. You were never meant for exploitation and enslavement. You are worth so much more. There are stars spread across the sky that have been yearning to gaze upon your faces, to see you and smile in the knowledge that you are alive. Come to me, brothers and sisters of earth, for together we can know liberty!"
There was a moment of silence, then a roar of affirmation. The Humans dropped to the floor from their beds, reaching below their pillows and, to my complete delight and shock, they pulled out makeshift weapons. They rushed to the door, screaming and bellowing. I grinned as I pivoted and streaked down the hallways, no less than 500 Humans pounding after me. Naked, shoeless, but with hearts pumping blood that belonged to them and them alone for the first time in their lives.
As we reached the front gates, a group of ten Himlani faced us down with Rounders raised. I skidded to a stop and raised my bow. "You have one chance to drop your weapons and flee, or your life is forfeit."
"Your blood will be our feast, little Sprite," the one in the center clicked back to me. I smirked. From behind me, Ayesha shot forward over my shoulder. The Himlani Hunters snapped their surprised gazes to her, for just a moment, but it was all I needed. I loosed my arrow and threw both my daggers, taking out three, but before I could draw another arrow, the hoard of Humanity behind me erupted, surging past me, leaping on their captors like a swarm of bloodthirsty animals. They shredded the Himlani where they stood. They surged and moved, not like seperate bodies, but like a solid and unified torrent of water. Over the Himlani and out the door, I sprinted among them. They whooped and cheered and took huge, gulping breaths, their faces turning up to the night sky. They craned their necks and looked at the stars, and the stars looked back at them, holding the gaze of their long-forgotten children. For the first time in their whole existence, they had life.
I let them gaze up, but only for a moment. I urged them forward as I sent Ayesha soaring ahead. As we ran through the woods, I looked up to the sky and saw the time was nearly upon us. We had to be further away from the building than this. I urged the Humans forward, calling out my urgency. We fled through the trees, no longer caring how much noise we made. As we crashed through the undergrowth, the concussive blast hit us first. Many of the Humans were thrown forward, their naked bodies unprotected from the sticks and rocks and branches that littered the ground. Even I stumbled from the force of it.
No sooner had I recovered my footing than the noise came, so loud it was painful, booming like nothing I had ever heard before, and then the heat. Intense and so powerful I could feel my skin heat and redden with the fury of it. And then the forest was lit as though in midday. I urged the Humans to their feet and kept them going. As we exited the clearing to the base camp, I saw the other Himlani emerging with their groups as well. I ran forward, looking anxiously from face to face. Everyone was back, except Etachs. I grabbed Ozwa and spun them around to face me. They had been the one assigned to the closest compound to my friend'.
"Have you seen Etachs?" I yelled, unable to keep the panic from my voice. Ozwa looked up at me and shook their head. I made a sound of fury and kept running, asking each Himlani in turn. None of them had seen Etachs. I felt my belly open like a yawning, endless abyss of black, but I forced the feeling inside. We weren't finished yet.
I gathered everyone around me and explained what needed to be done. The Humans swarmed the building, pouring inside it’s halls and drowning all who stood in their way with their furious pounding, liquid rage. They had the Himlani defeated in a matter of minutes and the Humans stood free outside, staring up at the stars. I ascended to the roof of the complex where the rest of the Himlani were waiting. I had not yet dropped their glamours, not wanting to startle the Humans until we could clothe them. They had chosen to take the blankets from inside the compound and spread them out along the grass in the clearings. The Sentinels kept watch over their sleeping forms.
I couldn't blame them. I wouldn't want to stay inside a building where I had been enslaved for all my life. I paced, restless and anxious. There still was no sign of Etachs. A flood of Humans had come from the compound that they had been assigned to, but none knew what had happened to Etachs. One by one, the other Himlani drifted off to sleep. I kept my vigil, perched on the edge of the building, my legs dangling over the edge, facing the east. As the sun broke over the trees, I tumbled into the emptiness inside myself.
Devil in the Details
Etachs tore through the woods after directing the Humans where to go to meet the others. They had been so vulnerable, so naked in their rage and fear. Etachs was reeling from the force of their emotions. The Humans knew where they were going, and so did Etachs. Once they had gotten Tarq and Cylvre on board, they could talk openly about the things that had happened to them while they were in the defect camp. Once they had started talking, they hadn’t been able to stop themselves. Etachs wanted to share these things that had shaped them with Tati and Ana. But these things, despite all the sister’s love, understanding, and compassion, were not things that could be understood by anyone who had not experienced them.
While Ana had been sleeping off her healing of the others, Etachs had pulled Cylvre and Tarq aside and told them about Marx. About the stories Marx had told Etachs while they were in the cell next to them. About Marx’s time of freedom, brief as it had been. Etachs told them about what Marx had seen while they were free and what they had tried to do, how Marx ended up trying to fix it. That effort, the effort that Marx had made to fix the wrongs the Himlani as a species had wrought upon this planet, was what had gotten them caught as a defect to begin with.
Once Etachs completed their tale, Tarq and Cylvre were silent for a long moment, and then both resolved to help Etachs in their quest to find the place that Marx had built, to hide in, to plan their failed attempt at revolution. Etachs had only stories and descriptions, but Marx had planned to liberate the Humans. Where Marx had failed, Etachs had succeeded, and thus, Etachs felt that they owed this victory to Marx. Etachs wanted to honor their friend by speaking the words of their success,
of their plans, into the walls that Marx had built, and in the process, perhaps say goodbye, get closure. Not that Etachs believed that the wounds caused by the loss of Marx would ever truly be closed.
Etachs consulted the coordinates they had been given. They weren't even sure that the coordinates were correct, but there was a chance, so they pressed on. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, with the dawn about to break, the hazy twilight wrapped around them like a cloak, they found the little shelter. It was old. It had not been built by Fae or Himlani, but perhaps by Humans in the time before. Etachs looked at the modest structure. It was covered by the creeping foliage of the forest floor, the planet reclaiming what its inhabitants had built. Etachs slowed as they approached the structure. It was probably what one would refer to as a lodge, small, almost utilitarian except for the small touches of Human creativity. A rusted wind chime hanging lopsided from the porch awning, the ornate door knocker hung from the simple oak door. Some of the panes in the windows were broken and there were long-abandoned nests in the gutters, but the little house seemed otherwise intact.
The wooden porch creaked as Etachs stepped onto it, but it held their weight easily enough. They crossed to the door and inspected the knocker. It was brass, and heavy, a roaring lion, its mane frozen forever in a breeze that only ever existed in the mind of its creator. They extended a clawed hand and grasped the doorknob, but hesitated. Their heart was pounding in their chest and their scales crawled with anticipation. Etachs took a deep steadying breath and turned the handle, pushing into the building, their foot landing over the threshold just as the sun broke over the horizon. It was a new day, dawn had come.
◆◆◆
I stared off into the smoke rising from the ruin of the Human farms. The sun had been climbing through the sky, but I was all but oblivious to its journey. I looked out in the direction that the Humans liberated by Etachs had come from. The Humans said that Etachs freed them and then told them how to get to us, but that they had taken off in another direction. The Humans had very rudimentary language, but still communicated remarkably clearly considering they only had a couple of weeks’ experience communicating at all. I felt like I should be impressed, but all I could feel was the deep yawning emptiness of losing everyone I loved. My parents were gone, my pod-family was gone, my sister was gone, and my... well... Etachs.
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