"This ship is not built for any amount of dignified living!" He remarked, seeing the condition Liera put herself in.
"T-thank you um, big mister" Calan didn't know how to be polite with this scary man.
"My name is Varul. You may greet me as your priest"
"Thank you, mister priest" he voiced meekly.
"Ah, children" Varul sighed. He couldn't expect respect from small children. He could only expect fear from them but teaching this one to fear him would be counterproductive. He had to make sure Liera’s biologics were well taken care of. She was one of the last Solarii females that was this beautiful. He hated how it made some aspects of her early life easier than his, but he also recognized significance of it. She had stolen something of such extreme value to the Red Sect and she had no problem carelessly putting it at risk. Now that he was also using his biologics, he was the most suited to take care of her biologics.
He helped Calan get out of the wetsuit. The stable fluid glued it to her pale skin. Calan was trembling even as he stood. He was nearing the physical limits of this body. Liera had used it the way she used her base frame, with little to no regard for its limitations.
"Let me help" Varul offered, lifting Calan and placing him safely inside the shower capsule. "If you can't stand any longer, tap the glass. I'll take you out" This shower capsule wasn't built with comfortability in mind. If Calan fell inside it, he could easily hurt himself, or worse, drown in the water jets.
He watched Calan's blurred silhouette on the glass with his sharp eyes. The boy could barely stand and there was no surface inside the capsule that was safe enough to lean on.
"You're helping him? This is unexpected" Liera's voice came from the stasis room.
"I have much better facilities in my ship" He remarked. "You treat your body like it's a prisoner serving a life sentence"
"This is temporary"
"About that, you're willing to waste your time on this random child you soul split?" Varul frowned. "Why does he deserve it? what possessed you to do this?" Red Sect Sovereign had limited time on their original biologics. Ones that successfully reintegrated never spent their time without a plan. They only switched to their biologics whenever they yearned for some human experience. Most often it was reserved for physical contact, things that made them feel human after millennia of being the complete opposite. They cherished their time spent in their bodies, they were picky about who they spent it with and for what. Liera was the youngest and wasting such youth on something like this was unfathomable for Varul.
"I don’t like losing” Her answer was simple.
She had thought about why she saved Calan while they struggled on that Resonator. It was an ongoing question. No matter how noble she wanted to sound, this was her fault. In some ways, Calan would’ve been better off if he wasn't saved. He would just be trapped in that time loop.
If she soul transferred herself and left him to die, things would be different. She might’ve lost to Anarul without her agility. But getting beaten by that corrupted base frame wasn’t ideal for the poor little boy. She couldn’t even remember if she was ever six years old but even she knew she wouldn’t have appreciated something so overwhelming at such a young age. Calan was here because she was sleepwalking through that disaster until the very last moment when she actually had to wake up. She picked his fate for him, out of sheer spite. She knew she had to face certain death and defeat when the dome reactor exploded so she ‘saved’ the only one that she could save, just to defy fate.
“You saved him because you don’t like losing?” Varul sighed. He knew her to be impulsive and defiant. But this was taking it a bit too far. “And now you’re forced to waste your time on him. How long are you planning on keeping him like this?”
“I think he’s asleep” Liera interrupted. The silhouette on the capsule had collapsed during their conversation. Varul opened it and found Calan, crumpled over into a weird pose while the capsule dried him. Varul shook him gently but he groaned and rolled away.
“Great. Now who’s going to dress him up?” Calan hadn’t bothered to take off the undergarments that came with the spacesuit. They clung loosely to his body after being drenched and dried.
“There’s no need, just take him to the bed. He can dress himself when he wakes up”
"And you're fine with this how? Do you not see how inappropriate this is?"
"He's innocent enough. It's not causing any neurobit damage" Liera answered. She was always thinking about it from Calan's perspective. She didn't care about what Varul tried to tell her, that this was improper and disrespectful to her own body.
Seeing how his point wasn't even considered, Varul scooped Calan up and carried him to the elevator, back up to the stasis room and into the prison cell like room Liera had for herself. He couldn’t believe how cramped it was. He barely fit through the door.
“Can you check his legs?” Liera asked him after he placed Calan on his narrow but comfortable bed.
“Your legs, you mean?” Varul asked sarcastically. It wasn’t clear who he needed consent from anymore. The child was out cold and touching hips of a fellow sovereign that he had no close physical relationship with wasn’t very appropriate.
“My legs, his legs. Just check them. He complained about them, I had to kick your brother with everything I had and I didn’t have time to care about his complaints”
Varul checked the joints and bends. The shins had bruises and Calan winced in his sleep when he parted his leg to the side. “This leg is injured, now if you tell me you have no medical supplies on your godforsaken ship, I might implode”
“Sineul can fix it, If you can lend him supplies better than what I have”
”You’re unbelievable” Varul grunted. Injuries to their Biologics were rare. If this body was left where it belonged, in the Illuvium temple, they would’ve allocated a group of expert physicians to fix it to absolute perfection. That was the expected standard. Here she was, requesting what? Bandages? Ointments? Is this the amount of respect she paid for her valuable body when thousands of faithful Illuviets would spend their lifetimes to keep it safe?
“I’ll have the fifth take a look. He’s the best equipped for this” Varul told her with a sigh. There was no way to make her understand his frustration.
Having Calan sorted out, Liera focused on other matters. She needed a private conversation with Sineul at the earliest convenience. The Vellek had too many priests for her liking, priests that arrived in this system with more military might behind them than AUM Galactic could spare for the entire sector. The operation cost of Varul’s fleet was orders of magnitudes more expensive than the 177th conquest fleet. Wealth didn’t move these mountains without reason.
“My priestess” Sineul greeted her when she reappeared at the command bridge. The First of Second was there, going through Vellek’s logs. Varul had his own plan and his replicants did his work while he maintained his facade of politeness. She knew Varul, he wasn’t known for his kind heart. He didn’t build his gigantic fleet by being sweet.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Sineul isolated himself with his priestess, keeping the priest out of their conversation.
“You’re keeping an eye on everything they do?”
“Yes, I infiltrated their ship in exchange”
“Good, they’re up to something”
“We can’t know until they make a move” Sineul brought up the offers. “Fifth of Second offered to fabricate your battle-frame. He’s willing to re-print it with his fabricator, the First of Second offered to fix the damaged sections of the ship”
“Let them, everything that is already broken is useless to us anyway. I think they do want to help, they won’t do something stupid like sabotage, we can easily inspect whatever they fix for us”
“Do you think the Priest Varul is deceiving you some way?”
“He’s going out of his way to show me that he's not, makes him suspicious”
“He seems genuinely concerned about your biologics”
“That, he genuinely is. There’s no doubt about it. He has some fixation on me, it could even be that he’s interested in me” She knew a good reason why he would be infatuated with her. The Red Sect Sovereigns didn’t have a large pool of people to choose from when it came to any amount of intimacy. This has been a pressing issue since reintegration happened towards the tail end of the dark age, roughly 130 years ago. It was the last century of the very last wars of the final empire. Illuvium Order’s political old guard fell with the empire and reintegration was voted into existence by the now powerful Red Sect.
“D-do you think he’s courting you?” Sineul himself took issue when things involved her biologics. He had his own obsession with her.
“Too early to tell” She thought about it. “But that’s the most straightforward explanation for his behavior”
“But this is technically not possible, and inappropriate, might I add. My priestess, you, no, your biologics are too young for him!” Sineul was right about the first part. She could barely survive 3 minutes in her body. That wasn’t enough time to be intimate with anyone. The age was an irrelevant metric. She was just old enough at the time of her soul splitting and the concept of age was a ship that sailed millennia ago. She and all her peers have been alive for multiple lifetimes. The only unfortunate one in this regard was the 99th. The last and the youngest. She was indeed too young in every way as she was 8 years younger than Liera. Everyone above that was fair game to everyone else.
“I think It is best we keep track of this as one of his motivations”
“I assume this is coming from some sort of rationale and not just your feminine intuition?” Sineul couldn't emulate human relationships.
“Yes, I have a good reason based on what I know about him. He might be lonely after he had his taste of successful reintegration, doesn’t work on me because I failed, but I can try to see things from his perspective” Liera didn’t care much for reintegration when it started. She was busy with various commitments in conflict zones. This made her one of the last to trial it and she was easily one of the worst. Others succeeded at various levels. Some could stay in their bodies for hours, some could go for days. Varul was one of the blessed that could use his biologics indefinitely. He had an enviable neurobit score. He was one of the few that could even think about romancing with someone, but he only had less than 20 neurobit equals.
He’d been with everyone he wanted to be with at least once before he left on his journey beyond the frontier to look for his brother. He could be lonely, specially after spending time in the dark beyond the frontier with nothing to stimulate him. Biologics were unpredictable and souls became unpredictable when they were using them, they wanted what they wanted. He might have toppled over when he saw her living form, even if it was Calan inside it. She had been called beautiful her entire life, this was nothing new to her.
“Doesn’t really have to be anything serious. This could just be hugs and kisses, maybe even just touch of skin. But he wants something from me in that general direction. We absolutely can’t let Calan mix into it, and wouldn’t it be amazing if there’s a way to exploit this?”
“Terrifying, You’re terrifying!” Sineul remarked. His machine soul couldn’t understand it but even he had to admit his priestess’s plotting was something else. She could never accept defeat and this was her double edged sword, anything that could be a tool was a tool to her.
“Anything else we need to talk about?”
“Commander Brenvalo is in the cargo bay”
“I’m sorry, what do you mean?”
“He didn’t die when I shield pulsed him, So I just snatched him”
“What for?”
“I threatened to kill about 500 of his people unless he manufactured me a small boy”
Liera was shocked to silence. Did Sineul just solve their biggest problem while he was dealing with an AUM Galactic fleet?
“He agreed” Sineul added, his tone shifting slightly to a giddy one. “Already sent the order”
Sineul never liked giving Calan her biologics. He had gone ahead and dealt with that problem with brutal efficiency, finding the closest solution with no guidance from her.
“And you’re the one calling me terrifying?”
Third of Second found the tied up Commander Brenvalo in the dark cargo bay. He came looking for surplus armor plating and was surprised by the man struggling with tape he could never take off by struggling.
“Well, This is new. Who are you?” The third asked, lifting the man like he was a box of armor plates.
“Put me down!” Brenvalo screamed the moment the priest took off the tape that kept him quiet. “Put me down you-“ He stopped upon realizing who held him with one arm. His expression twisted quickly into fear. “Please put me down!” His tone changed when he realized this man could crush him to a pulp with his bare robot hands.
“You’re missing a leg” The third pointed out when all was settled. “How did that happen?”
“One of you lunatics cut it off!” The cauterized wound still sent waves of pain through him. He was barely holding it together, delirious from utter exhaustion.
“Varul, can you take that man to the fifth and have him treated?” Liera’s voice echoed in the room.
“That’s her! She wants me dead! She’s going to kill me!” Brenvalo cried, gritting his teeth. “Her servant made me clone a child! I’m going to-“
“Of course, Priestess. Is this someone you care about?” The priest asked, picking Brenvalo up like he was cargo.
“The opposite actually, but he’s here now and I don’t want to execute an amputee”
“I can do that for you, if you tell me his sin. Does he deserves such punishment?” The third offered, without even looking at the man.
“He does, He lied to me and tried to get me killed. But no, keep him alive. He is proof of what happened here, if that is ever to be questioned”
“Understood, Priestess” The third acknowledged, carrying Brenvalo like a sack of goods. The fifth was tending to the priestess’ biologics, in the only room in the ship that was meant for human habitation. Brenvalo was an outsider and he wasn’t allowed to witness the biologics of a Red Sect Sovereign. He had to wait until it was over.
"You're one of the Red Sect. Tell me, is this your God's idea of justice!" He glared at the priest as pain shook him in waves.
"Are you implying that you worship a different God?" The third asked, curiously. Unfortunately for Brenvalo, he was the most enigmatic priest of the second. "You're registered an Illuviet"
"I don't worship anyone! I make my own destiny!"
"Do you?" The third thought about it, blanking out for a moment. "Then you made your destiny here and have no God to blame it on"
"If your God didn't exist, We wouldn't be here! ten thousand years of civilization wide stagnation! You starve everyone of the new golden age to protect your profits!"
"You do acknowledge God's existence then?"
"I acknowledge the existence of you lunatic tyrants!"
"It seems this conversation is about how we made your destiny for you, then?" The third smiled. "You hate us, and want us gone. In order to be free, to make your own destiny. How interesting..." He was back in his own world, processing this man’s words in mysteriously creative ways. The third had an obsession with daydreaming like Liera had with her sleeping.
"Was it that hard to get through your thick metal skull?" Brenvalo sneered. He had no modicum of respect left for the Red Sect or their God anymore.
"Yes, I have an answer for you. You can only see the light, when God, our light shows itself to you" the third looked at him. "I can't make you see it"
Brenvalo stared at him, dumbfounded. He couldn’t even begin to comprehend what he said because it was absolutely irrelevant nonsense.
“I can show you fear” The third walked up to the confused commander. He bent too close for comfort, until their faces were just inches from each other.
“W-what’s the meaning of this!” Brenvalo stammered, unable to read his blank, happily neutral expression. “Don’t get any closer! Don’t you-“
The third grabbed his shoulder and held it firmly. Brenvalo remained exactly the pose he wanted. He showed Brenvalo his free hand, pinching his thumb and forefinger together.
“Fear of the dark will show you why the Light of God needs to prevail. Fear is right here” He slid his thumb along his forefinger very slowly and he tapped the pointed finger on the man’s forehead. “You’ll see it”
Brenvalo shook, he wanted to be brave and defiant but this man was a war machine tapping a finger on his forehead. He expected it to sink in, and for him to die instantly. What was this fear he spoke of? Was it this? Did he want to inflict what he was feeling now?
The priest slid the finger away and still smiling pleasantly at Brenvalo, he rested that hand, gently wrapping around the side of his neck.
“Tell me what you see when you come back” He almost sang it.
His forefinger slid into Brenvalo’s brain dive port. For a moment there was darkness. He couldn’t see anything.
Then he could feel it.
Fear.
Outside, Brenvalo’s petrified face was frozen in a permanent expression of horror. His mouth lay partly open and his eyes wide open. His lips quivered, tears gathering in his eyes as he remained frozen. He started trembling.
“What are you doing?” Liera asked him, when she noticed them entangled in this weirdly intimate pose.
“I’m showing him what I fear” He replied, a wide smile on his face.