Illumination

[Virus]

*DO NOT WORRY, MORTAL HUMAN. YOU ARE SAFE NOW.*

Julius could still see nothing, but heard some strange sound, possibly a reactor, increase in volume and knew that he was being taken off of Freeport 9. He quietly drifted back into unconscious.

Lights snapped on, and a strange alien being hovered into view.

*Yes, mortal human. Sleep, rest. Let us speak with you directly. Let us speak with your mind.* Behind the alien, machinery whirred to life and a variety of probes, scalpels, and strange alien medical equipment slid into view. Julius floated in mid-air, suspended by gravity fields, and the alien lifted one tentacle and grasped one of the scalpels.

*Let us talk with you, without words or pictures. Let us... Enlighten you...*

Julius woke halfway through the operation. His sleep had been filled with visions, burning worlds, fields of orbiting debris, death, destruction, the glorious works of the human race. It wasn't painful, just odd. "What are you doing?" Julius questioned. He felt the alien doing something with his brain, directly.

*We are... enlightening you.*

"What... what does that mean?" Julius wondered if he should be afraid. He wasn't, yet he thought he should be.

*We are opening your mind to our ways.*

Julius vaguely wondered if he should resist the Masters... Masters? Where did that come from? His confusion only increased.

*Do not worry... Go back to sleep.*

His eyelids began to close, and his mind turned to fuzz. Darkness closed in on him again.

Julius groaned, sitting up slowly. He found himself on the bridge of a destroyer, moored to Planet Malta. A light blinked on the command console.

-This is your ship, Enlightened One. You will serve us now, and you are our will in this sector. Gather a crew, outfit your ship, and then you will be given a mission.-

"Gather a crew, outfit my ship, await further orders... I can do that. I've sure as hell had worse orders." Dark Star gave a sly grin. For some reason, it was good to be serving again. Sirius awaited, and the Masters had plans for it.

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Into the Maelstrom - A Measure of Salvation - Reaver Company Database