Hearts of Darkness - Plague of the Void Seeds / 18

This is an original, write as I go, Steemit adventure

Post 18

Present

Anna followed Click as he led her to where her people were quartered. Those who had ingested Void Seed hearts were now being quartered in a separate part of the Navigator from the other Humans. Click had explained that the transformations of all those that had survived were manifesting in ways similar to that of Joshua and herself and that he assigned a Daxiste-agori to each. Their purpose was to monitor the psychological health of their charge and to assist with adjustment, training and data collection.

What was she going to say to them? They had all leaped into the unknown. They were no longer human, that’s for sure. So what were they? Anna shuddered. She simply hadn’t had time to come to terms with this herself, let alone deal with the responsibility of leading her people through this challenge and the guilt of all those who had died to follow her.

Click stopped outside a cargo bay door.

“We’re here. We re-tasked this bay to accommodate everyone and their needs.”

The word ‘quarantine’ sprang to mind. Cargo bays were sturdy parts of any ship and she knew the Daxiste-agori could eject cargo bays into space. It was a sensible precaution and she could not find fault with the prudence of such a measure.

Click opened the door and they stepped inside. Forty one human-void beings were scattered about the huge room engaged, it seemed, mostly in meditation. A Daxiste-agori was sat opposite or lying against the back of every one. Her first shock was their size. Male or female, they were much bigger. She looked down at her hands and forearms. I’m bigger. This is really happening.

They started looking over toward her and began getting to their feet and walking towards her. She stopped and looked around them and then it struck her. They were all calm and smiling. How could that be? They gathered around her, several even reached out and touched on the arm or shoulder then stepped back to allow others to do the same. At the same time several greeted her warmly. She looked from face to face, from one set of red eyes to another. There was no sign of anxiety. Instead, there seemed to be a steady determination and acceptance. It was very unsettling because she didn’t understand it. Her own anxiety only seemed to increase. Where was Gary? She’d been told he’d survived. Before she could ask Click where he was, a male who’s name she didn’t know stepped forward.

“Anna. I speak for all of us. We have come to terms with the sacrifice and loss of our Brothers and Sisters-in-arms on Sserwellia and hope to assuage any feelings of guilt and responsibility that you may have for our present condition and for those that fell. We know how they felt when you fell and how they felt when the Void Seed’s heart brought you back. Every one of us chose to follow you until the end a long time ago. You’ve earned our respect and loyalty a hundred times over. It is not mindless devotion, but it is devotion. The Daxiste-agori have helped us to find a name, Elhald ei Yhorhilen, The Last Stand, in the language of the Shaddonos. We will guard you as you attempt to lead us, with the Alliance, to a victory against the enemy, or die trying.”

As he spoke, Anna’s mind had wanted to rebel, to deny that she could so easily relinquish her guilt and responsibility. It was her fault they were here. It was her leadership that had led them to their deaths or perhaps…..worse. But then looking at them, she could see their sincerity. She could feel the depth of their assurance and commitment. Who was she to deny them? They were giving her a precious gift. They were sharing her responsibility, her pain and something gave. Her expression never changed, but tears began to fall from her eyes. As she listened, she felt her strength return. She had been brittle, in danger of shattering. Now she was like a Willow, bending in a gale, but strong enough to endure. She stepped closer to the man and placed her hand on his shoulder.

“What is your name?”

“Alexander.”

“Alexander, all of you. Thank you. You have re-made me, here, in this moment. Elhald ei Yhorhilen. The Last Stand. It is fitting. I will stand with you, to the end. Whatever that may be.”

Present

Bulvodin could enter Lhevnir Vlenuin from anywhere. The main reason he’d brought Sill to this out-of-the-way viewing deck was so that she might have a little peace and quiet. Within the dream, time flowed differently and he might only be gone for a few minutes, but they would be precious minutes for her.

“Back soon.”

Sill looked at him and nodded.

Bulvodin closed his eyes and brought stillness to his form. To Sill, it would look as though he’d literally turned to stone. He reached deep within, but not with the pressure that would ignite the flame. Instead he passed into the flame, deeper and deeper until he reached the mirror. It was a deep blue and slowly rotating, set upon a grey hill in an empty, ashen landscape. He approached the mirror and reached out his right hand. The mirror’s rotation slowed and then stopped. He reached out, allowing his hand and the hand of his reflection, to touch He spoke the word of joining.

“Passevir.”

His hand slowly dipped below the surface of the mirror, which had become like a viscous liquid and began to ripple away from his disturbance. He stepped forward into the liquid until completely submerged. The mirror’s surface gradually became still and then began to slowly rotate once more.

Present

The Elhald ei Yhorhilen had dispersed, returning to their meditation and training. Anna turned to Click.

“That was unexpected.”

“For me as well. You seem to have given each other remarkable stability.”

“Yes. I’m ready for you to tell me about Gary. He would have been here if he was ok.”

Click fluttered his many legs and arms. He did that when agitated.

“He is being held apart from these. They know already. His transformation has taken an unsettling direction.”

“Can I see him?”

“Of course. He’s been desperate to see you since he woke up.”

“Let’s go.”

It was a good thing Anna had been anchored by her people because her imagination was running rampant. Poor Gary.

“Follow me. He is himself. However, there is nothing left of the man you knew in his form.”

“Tell me now so I have schooled myself before we meet.”

“He is quite a bit larger than the rest of you and his form most closely resembles that of a great black bear.”

Anna unconsciously placed her hand over her mouth.

“A bear?”

“As I understand it, the Void Seed he killed in single combat, had just transformed itself into something similar
before it die and Gary ate it’s heart. It’s possible the transformation had something to do with how his transformation has manifested itself. We know so little for a fact.”

Present

The Collector entered the Moving Room and shuffled slowly across to the pearl-white surface of the platform. Movement was deeply unpleasant due to her poorly functioning limbs, rampant inflation and the awkward growths that riddled her body. She had long since locked away the worst of the pain and suppressed the majority of the symptoms of her pathogens, however, there was only so much that was possible. One day she would tire of her guardianship and would seek oblivion. She looked forward to that day with great anticipation. To finally be free of this diseased flesh, to be rid of the squelching, erupting, wriggling, gnawing sensations and all the festering thoughts that came with it. Peace.

She stepped onto the moving platform, activated her heat shield then looked down at the pearl-white surface as it cleared to form her reflection. She became her reflection and just like that, was on the other side of the universe.
The Void Seed they had captured were some of the smallest, between six and seven feet tall. They had been confined behind powerful energy shields and moved as quickly as possible to the ship and just as quickly to this planet. Despite their haste, the shields had almost failed and they had grown a further two inches.

The planet Graksis was about as cold as it was possible to get and one of the planets furthest away from the universe’s centre, traveling as fast as a comet, out into the endless abyss. Of course it only seemed endless. There was an end, it’s just that you could never reach it because it was expanding faster than you could ever get to it.
The research facility had been built over a thousand years ago and was the obvious choice for keeping her guests contained. They were unable to harvest enough energy to grow large enough to break out of their cells or to phase to the closest significant energy source.

The Moving Room was about as bare and functional as they came. There was just the platform and one control plinth in a dark, unadorned chamber. There was a single tunnel leading from the room to a corridor along which ran the cells and the laboratory.

It was strange to think that she was standing on the surface of a planet, travelling at an immense velocity, further away from another being, except her pestiferous companions and unwelcome guests, than any other being in the universe was further than another. The problem created by her race seemed very far away indeed.
She pulled her attention back from those dangerous musings. It was time to visit her guests and see if any of her experiments had succeeded.

Back soon.

Happy Steeming!