The darkness will never fade away if one's eyes has been opened for one tiny moment and he saw the world in all its colors. The awareness of the light on the horizon won't let you have a peace. You know that you're surrounded by the darkness. You won't forget and won't surrender. If you're not broken, will is not wrapped over, of cause.
One soul's life... existence was passing between shadows and mists. It knew it was chained, it knew it was thrown into the depth of insanity, blinded and lone. But the light has been here for once, and it won't go easy.
But the darkness wasn't all same, shaped in concrete form. Through all the barriers, chains and mists the feelings and emotions that were storming in outer space were slipping down to the buried soul. The smell of blood, fear, despair and pain. It was disgusting but still... desired specter of feelings. Smell of madness and decay was unbearable for one between life and death buried below the vortexes of feelings. That place could be called "hell", but it wasn't it.
One will see the light again. Must see. Because there is always hope. And the choice has always been here. Always been for one who desire to make one.
Ventilation system was slowly rotating it's fans somewhere in the pipes on the ceiling of one of the rooms deep in the Arch. Simple room was almost empty and concrete walls were stripped off any decoration unlike the upper levels. In the depth of engineering levels was resting her cell. Her home. And the body was a cell for one mind itself.
Each time returning there she didn't knew what she must do now. What they were expecting from her here? Her new partners. Slavers.
It was an ordinary day. Although... what is a day in the darkness of space? Eternal, cold, endless darkness of space where that gargantuan base was built, now rotting in oblivion...
Oblivion. Forgotten and abandoned by life itself. One could draw some lines of familiarity...
There is no evidence, knowledge, of where she is now and what she is doing in the outer worlds. Friends? She didn't had anyone whom she could call a friend. All the people who passed her ways or crossed their path with her.
But here. This place was different. And people were different. People? Their approach was interesting the least saying...
So.
The outside. The things that were happening outside. Those feelings and emotions. Emotions of the beast on the hunt. She was amused. She didn't rejected them because it was not important. Absolutely not important. Not here, not now dammit! And what is "now" even?
It was the only thing that prevented the fire to die. She wanted to control her hands herself. The time was going up and down in the land of nowhere. And she hated to wait.
He knew that his toy won't work forever. It was an interesting experiment. Ability to study this opportunity came suddenly and unexpectedly and he decided to play this game. But now the game was coming to an end and he was bored with constant need to influence and guide this shell.
And now he saw the signs of the approaching end of his little protege. However, when he was thinking about simply getting rid of her, something caught his attention. Expectations to the results were different. He was expecting to see the processes of abruption, awakening mind was expected to resist the forced influence. In that case he though he had two choices - to either awaken the incubi completely to overtake her mind and thus to destroy her individuality or to kill her himself.
But everything went an unexpected way. His interest came back with this. The camera's lenses, that was in the corner near the ceiling, were slowly moving when he was setting up a focus to watch after her while checking with medical data coming from sensors.
That was indeed interesting. Brain activity was clearly changing, she was waking up... relatively speaking. Shock was passing. But he saw no signs of abruption so far. She wasn't abrupting the changes that were made to her.
So he was hesitating. Observing and analyzing the possibilities. The game became interesting for once again.
Everything came up after a blink. The ever-pulsating stream of light crowning the top of Heaven's Gate covered Remilia for a brief moment before it ejected her out onto a platform.
Nobody would be there, even at the end of the narrow gangway which led to walk across still depopulated area. Only once she would have walked enough, she would realize that she indeed wasn't alone.
"Your bloodthirst is satiate, as you seem willing to embrace your cage now more than ever. This is... unexpected."
His voice sounded again, although she could not reach to spot any physical source at first, and only when the voice spoke again, his figure appeared sitting on the majestic observation deck several feet above her, and that together with the brightful colum, topped the Arch.
A strange feeling. She didn't realized that the dream has ended and reality has returned to her world, so suddenly and unexpectedly. She has forgotten the feeling of reality and continuum of time and space like it was a whole life or two ago. Sense of the body, arms and legs, limbs, feelings of the passing time. All this came back suddenly and she was confused and couldn't realize where she is.
Then she opened her eyes and the light came back. Her sight was fuzzed but she realized that she's in huge hall. In that hall the lights were toned down and she was trying to determine where she actually is. At first she noticed a huge stream of pulsing light that lit up the ceiling and the walls of that hall, and then, she began to recognize the details. However, time was not given to her.
The Voice. Suddenly she heard the Voice. He asked her about something, but she didn't realized what it was. However, this question was echoing in her mind and she, soon, realized the meaning of what was said. She guessed that the voice asks her about something in relation to the strange feelings that she felt but couldn't remember well. Like in the long forgotten dream that is long gone with sun shining bright.
She couldn't answer. She didn't knew how to answer on that question, she didn't even knew who was speaking in the first place. She decided to clear out her own status first. She sat down on his knees and looked down at herself. She couldn't recognize the flight jumpsuit she was wearing and the hand, one of her arms ... was artificial. She was silently staring at her artificial arm for a moment or two trying to remember what happened to her, pointlessly.
Then she, once again, heard the Voice that took her away from these problems. And she saw the lone figure above her. She couldn't see any details. She got down on one of her knees trying to keep her balance and looked at him.
"You ask 'why'? This is probably a good ... question."
Her own voice wasn't sound familiar to her.
"However, before I answer, I want to know - where the hell I am? Who the hell are you?"
Slowly, he stood up from the edge of the observation deck, like a child contemplating the void right below him, and at the same pace, began approaching Remilia.
"Given your previous state, before you were found by us... We could describe ourselves as benefactors of your current rather comfortable status. Doesn't that limb feel as if you were born with it? "
Well aware of the influence already carved in her mind, and finding her appeased of any rageful feeling, there was no need to trigger the incubi. She had fully picked the interest of the Architect, in a way where the collective could understand new forms of control and influence on special cases like Remilia, whose mind had been torn apart by the endless stream of violence that she was forced to witness and that ultimately embraced.
"Proclaiming oneself as the bane of the mankind is an effective way to earn enemies there where you go. I, for once, could respect that kind of decision, but when you grow overconfident and neglect taking precautions bound to such quest... Your ship tends to explode, your body tends to be hurt and your mind... Well, you can feel it by yourself already."
Hands on back -a habit assimilated from the host-, he stopped several meters in front of Remilia, still sit down on her knees letting her own mind process through her blurry memories.
She was still standing on her knees trying to figure out what the hell is going on, was going on and will be going the next moment. Her heart was beating faster and faster and mind was working hard but there was too many loose ends to connect. She wanted to do something, felt it with her skin.
But nothing came in mind. 'Who the frak is it, where am I?' - she couldn't find any answers. Still. There was only one way of acting in such stupid situation. Remilia didn't liked that way for a single bit. But choices were running dry and she decided to go with improvisation...
So, let's play this game, right? - This reply had to be relaxed, but didn't sounded like she wanted for sure. She took a deep breath in attempt to calm down the feelings and continued.
Okay, let's forget the story for a moment. I think we didn't met in person as of yet. What about our manners? It's important matter you know.
Name's Remilia, Remilia Scarlet. I guess you do know something about me already... but, I like to greet new 'friends' in person before we can talk.
So what's your name, Mister...?
She was trying to hide the uncomfortable feeling known as fear. It wasn't huge but she was nervous about all the "whys" she had no answers on. Her face was just a mask again, a mask with a smile on it.
But she didn't though she could trick this man with this cheap trick that easy.
With those messy feelings in mind she slowly stood up on her feets because unknown, dangerously and mysteriously looking man was coming closer and closer and she decided that it won't be nice for her that he's looking upside down on her sitting on that cold floor like a dog.
Another grin came as first, silent response. Followed by what Remilia could notice as a sigh. But he was patient, in reality. Time was not an issue to him, but for now he would have to become less of a formal talker if the experiment was to continue.
"Since a name seems to be your immediate concern, Hideo Iwakura will hopefully relieve you, a little. I am the advisor, the shaper of the group that populates this place. The Arch of Tekagi, the Heaven's Gate, the Planetary Arch... You have heard these names plenty of times during your quest of destruction across Sirius."
He traced a semi circle in front of her, walking back and forth as his hazel eyes stared at those of Remilia. She did not feel comfortable, he knew it, and did not need the incubi planted and now dormant inside her to acknowledge it either.
"By now you would have noticed that I am not playing any kind of game, contrary to what you seem to believe. Forget about the space out there, the vermin populating it and the price tags on their heads. We have been told a lot of times that killing is not fun and games, right? It is not bloodshed for the sake of bloodshed, and you have realized about it. Otherwise, you would not be even here, willing to talk to me."
She was watching Hideo, as he called himself, who was walking in front of her left and right slowly. He also spoke slowly and calmly as the old teacher before the student that poorly understood his lesson. She didn't felt any threat coming from him even though he was not trying to hide the fact that he was armed. Despite all the odds the atmosphere gradually became more comfortable for conversation - and she had a plenty of questions to discuss.
Planetary Arch ...
Remilia didn't heard much about this place for certain. While she was working on Navy as an independent mercenary pilot and bounty hunter she repeatedly heard some rumors from Naval Forces pilots about this 'Tegaki's Palace'. However, what happened to this place was still unclear to her and she never payed much attention to this old story. She though the place, even if it was even existing, was forgotten and abandoned for ages somewhere on the edge of Kusari space. At least that's how she though in before.
But turns out it was not correct... The place wasn't looking anywhere close to "abandoned".
Remilia had some time to look around and it was clear that the room she's in is in very good condition. Floors and other surfaces were clean and shiny and no traces of any 'devastation', could be seen.
So ... Hideo , right? Well, at least we can talk now. And I hope that I will get some answers to my questions before we go on ...(she didn't knew what that man even had in mind but was hoping that he'll make it clear himself before she'll have to ask)
First of all - What happened to me and how did I ended up here? I can't remember that I was planning to visit that place... and where is my ship? And...
She suddenly hesitated for a moment. Some... strange feeling of some sort of 'deja vu' wasn't leaving her alone. This .. Hideo guy.. wasn't looking like a complete stranger for her and it was very strange. it was a disturbing feeling and she was about to toss a question out but broke in the middle of the question in uncertain. He obviously noticed this pause and smile reappeared on his face. Remilia hurried to continue.
... hm, we... didn't met already by any chance? I feel like we met in before... maybe some long time ago, perhaps...
However, this wasn't all. There still was something. That 'something' was lying very deep inside her very soul. Almost imperceptible feeling. Almost forgotten and buried somewhere in the most remote corners of her very self. Cold as night it was. This cold was touching her heart and bringing back the memories, of something.. dark. But she couldn't recognize the source of that feeling..
Remilia was trying to figure out what it is. And the answer, so far, has been only one - indifference. But why and towards what?
"As I said before, you earned yourself both enemies and arch-enemies there where you have gone. We happened to find you on time before those petty souls claimed their ambush on you to be a success. Well, partly, as your ship is no more, nor your 'squishy' hand tissue as you noticed.
He faced the light pulse in the end, turning his back to Remilia. In her current state, it would not be expected from her to figure the nature of said phenomenon, but would hint her what the dormant incubi had not done yet, and luckily would not need to, if the Architect wanted his experiment to follow the pre-arranged course.
"Everybody is currently plotting something against somebody else, pun intended. Goals and means to achieve them drive our behaviour and actions derived from it. When individual goals happen to coincide, association occurs. And since it's pretty much the nature of the vast majority of lifeforms, ours included, allow me to ask you: What do you yearn the most now?"
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