Chapter Text
Why
are they trying
to kill me don't they know
that the world will end
when I end?
Two armored vehicles on rear approach. Squad size twenty---rifles five, remainder equipped with small arms. Outside effective range. CRACK CRACK. The blind fire eats the dirt. Soft cover only. Too exposed. it's too
too exposed and they are
gaining on me need hard cover technicals splitting risk flanking the CRACK-CRACK CRACK bites my feet jink-jink-JINK hard cover ahead duck left follow the path large buildings buildings?
buildings?
line of sight broken weave and weave what is going on what is this why is this what is this why is this the
sun is warm...
warm
EXT - ??? - DAY
where is what why is this I was happy there why take it from me whhy why whhy must make it to dead ground don't understand everything is wrong why can they see me what have they done but I'm running so fast
so fast
CUT TO:
hurts it hurts my shoulder
CUT:
away and away and fast fastfast faster fast between scrapers but can they catch me? hurts it hurts it HURTS IT HURTS IT GOD PLEASE MAKEITSTOP HURTS
hurts it
plants red blood where is everyone where I want don't want to here I don't want to here leave me a lone just please leave me alone please please why can't I unmake them don't they know just
how powerful I am of course they know that is why they are trying to kill me because they are afraid of me because
I am the shaper of things
but where
where are you...?
Everyone...?
we are here
THE SHAPER
Nyria...?
THE SHAPER throws his trembling arms around NYRIA and pulls her into his
embrace. She cradles his head and hums to him softly.
NYRIA
It's okay... We're here...
THE SHAPER
It hurts...
NYRIA
You can make it stop hurting.
THE SHAPER
(Straightening, leg shaking)
You're right.
RYEN enters the scene, followed by THALRIC, KAEL, CORDYLL, and CORAX.
RYEN
(Looking around fearfully)
What is this place...? Everything is wrong... The sky, the buildings,
nothing makes sense. It's all so distorted...!
CORAX
It is the domain of the defiler!
THE SHAPER
Corax is right. It seems we've been pulled fully into his domain.
RYEN
Does this mean you're powerless...?
CORAX
Watch your tongue!
THE SHAPER
No, it is a fair question. He doesn't have the power to unmake my worlds,
but I'm powerless in his. Truly I do not understand it...
THALRIC
You're not powerless! Far from it, High One.
CORDYLL
(Folding his arms)
That's right. He could not suppress all your powers. They are small and
weak, but we're all still strong.
THE SHAPER
It's true. I feel so light... I can run so fast and jump so high. He cannot
contain all of my powers. He cannot stop me with thought alone they way I
could. He is afraid of me. That is why he relies on his minions.
CORDYLL
The coward...
Sounds whine off the sloping surfaces of the misshapen, discolored, and
discordant structures. The clipped roar of those horrible scarabesque vehicles
echos in their ears.
KAEL
(Sneering)
Perhaps it would be best to save this strategy meeting until /after/ we've
lost our pursuers, my fellow wardens?
THE SHAPER leaps into the air. It appears for a moment that he's regained his
ability to fly, but he soon drifts back down. He leaps again, and again. The
wind roars in his ears. The wind bites at his lobes. It's so bright.
So bright...
THALRIC
They're having difficulty navigating this maze with their vehicles. It's
greatly limiting their speed.
(Pausing thoughtfully)
We should head for the denser areas.
KAEL
Oh my, my. Strategy from the mighty Thalric? If you're suggesting we do
anything but charge straight into them then we're in dire straits indeed.
NYRIA
Spare us your gallows humor, Warden Kael.
(Looking over her shoulder)
I hate fleeing without being able to see them. Is there any way that we
might achieve visual on them?
THE SHAPER
I... I will try...
THE SHAPER leaps. He crouches, and then launches himself into the air. He grabs
hold of the side of one of the structures. The otherworldly material yields
under his grip. The dense foliage tickles his chest. He hauls himself up in
flying bounds, his body incredibly light and powerful.
CORAX
Yes...! Yes...! Excellent, Master! Excellent!
THE SHAPER crests the building and looks down below. The meandering paths have
the appearance of red, sandy canyons torn by rivulets from the sea. Each cliff
appears covered with bloody red growths. He turns his gaze into the distance.
The small creatures seem even smaller. The chitokyns are far, but they are not
too far. More vehicles have joined the pursuit. In the distance an arm is
raised. A weapon resounds with another loud crack.
THE SHAPER turns and leaps. The skyline tilts. Momentum surges through his body,
a brief moment of weightlessness before his feet strike the ground. His feet
sink and leave a dent in the porous material. It crumbles and bows as he leaps
to the next building.
THALRIC
This is perfect!
(Thalric lets out a throaty laugh)
While they weave, we go as the crow flies! They'll never catch up to us like
this! See how they scatter like roaches in the face of our marvelous escape!
KAEL
They're not `scattering', O' Great Tactician. They're attempting to create a
perimeter. Best we not slow down unless you want to get surrounded.
KAEL looks down as they fly beside THE SHAPER. The air smells sweet and clean.
THE SHAPER suddenly stumbles. His leg buckles on the next landing. It radiates
heat and oozes crimson ichor.
THE SHAPER
It doesn't hurt.
RYEN and NYRIA help THE SHAPER to his feet. He leaps to the next building and
lands tenderly. The wind catches his long hair. He looks at his hands briefly
before carrying on.
THE SHAPER
It is strange. I feel so free...
THE SHAPER soars. The lavender sky blooms in the aperture of his eyes.
THE SHAPER (CONT'D)
Is this how you feel on your journeys? This lightness in your eyes? This
clarity in your lungs? This warmth on your skin?
NYRIA
Yes, High One.
THE SHAPER
I've always sent you on quests. This is the first time I've joined you on
one. It is... Terrifying... and so painful...
(Deep breath after landing)
But it is nice... Sometimes.
They continue to leap from building to building. Another noise pricks their
ears. THE SHAPER turns to see black specks on the horizon.
CORAX
What is that...!
KAEL
Some kind of drone.
(He grabs his whiskers and stares)
How I wish my farsight worked in this realm... They appear to have mounted
weapons, almost like one of our █▓██▓▓░█▓█▓▒
THE SHAPER shakes his head.
CORDYLL
This isn't good... We may need to abandon our current course. We've lost the
ground units for now. We cannot risk their flying machines.
RYEN
Agreed...
They halt and stare down from the precipitous ledge. THE SHAPER grips the
building and lowers himself down storey by storey. He clutches the tangled
growth for support. They snap from his weight and peel away from the face. THE
SHAPER throws his fist at the wall. It explodes inwards. He grabs the new ledge
and lowers himself down.
THALRIC
There are more chitokyns down here.
NYRIA
They're unarmed. Ignore them. We don't have the time.
THE SHAPER lands and sprints. He feels the wind as chitokyns flee from his
mighty form. THALRIC lets out a throaty laugh as they navigate the twisting
lanes. Some sort of vehicle flies towards them. CORDYLL flips it into the air.
CORDYLL
Creatures of darkness...! I'll show you the meaning of fear! Flee! Flee
before my dread aspect---!
CORAX
Yess...! The Shaper is here, insects!
CORDYLL'S ferocious roar joins with THALRIC's laughter as more chitokyns
scatter. The way is clear. Things are sent flying. Noises buzz overhead.
RYEN
They're gaining on us! P-perhaps we should try to hide in one of these
buildings...?
KAEL
They're too small. We'd just end up boxing ourselves in. We may need to
fight them head on.
THALRIC
Fine by me.
KAEL
Your Solarian armor won't save you in this realm, you fool... We're more
vulnerable than you realize.
THE SHAPER
If only I hadn't dropped that flame wand of theirs...
NYRIA places her hand on THE SHAPER's shoulder
NYRIA
It's okay. It wouldn't have done much good against their flying machines
anyway. We'll think of something.
KAEL
What we need is a way to cover our heads and bring them into a bottleneck.
That might leave us with a fighting chance.
RYEN
Like... That?
RYEN points at the mouth of a rushing gulch, water vomiting from the buildings
coalescing into a powerful flow before disappearing into darkness. THE SHAPER
pauses. He stares.
CORAX
It is so dark...! Isn't there another way...? I don't want to drown...
It's so dark and cramped...
choking
crushing
like a throat of steel
I don't...
not anymore...
w-we...
CORDYLL
We don't have a choice!
The buzzing draws close. The specks swollen to spheres as metal parts ratchet
open and whine.
CORDYLL (CONT'D)
You'll need to be brave! Remember when we broke into the Crimson Keep
through the aqueduct...? It'll be just like that!
THE SHAPER leaps in and the current takes him. He flails to keep his head above
water as he's pulled towards the mouth and the waiting darkness. He flattens his
body and then disappears into the constricting, frigid black.
* * *
"But surely you can see how ridiculous this all is...?" I threw out my hands in a supplicating gesture.
"It's pointless asking me, Doctor Zyrrs." The whift declared, pressing the button of one of the few elevators that were still functioning following the howler's rampage.
"Even if it's dangerous, it would be worthwhile to capture the howler alive! I'm telling you, I'll be able to communicate with him if you give me enough time. We might be able to figure out who's behind this whole thing! What's the point in sending me away?!"
"Not 'if,' Doctor. 'Is.' It is dangerous." She stood implacably, "As for your question, that is the concern of my saratan alone, but if you must drive me to insubordination, I would hazard that it is because you're clearly personally invested in the safety of that creature over the safety of your own kind. My saratan fears you will interfere."
I screwed my palps, "We both want to figure out who's behind all of this. To think that someone in the Sovereignty could be capable of such mutilation---of the mind, of the will... It's beyond cruelty. It's a crime against intelligence itself..." I realized I was shaking with anger.
"You force me to reiterate. It is pointless asking me."
The elevator doors opened. I surveyed all the damage, still struggling to process that a single organism could have caused all of this. I shook my head, antennae swaying. It was just trying to run away. It's the natural thing to do.
"You're one of his higher ranking whifts, right?"
"Yes." She flicked an antenna and I detected a hint of pride despite my scent-blindness, "I am to become Vyrek and earn my name at the next dispensation."
"Couldn't you speak with Admiral Nestiri...?"
The whift looked at me as if she'd just witnessed the grand galactic birthing of the great paragon of stupidity. I continued anyway.
"If you kill the howler, there's a chance we'll never figure out who's behind all of this! We've got an opportunity to try and question it!"
"You offworlders always seem to fancy yourselves saratans of a one-person saratanate. You are attempting to sow insubordination into a saratan's ranks. That is a serious crime against the Fyrixian Precepts. I will not, and if you are half as wise as your title implies, you will cease this idiotic line of questioning, Doctor." I could almost smell the nanthe around the word.
I balled my fists and walked past her. I should've known better than to try and appeal to a Fyrix's rationality. I pushed open the door to my impromptu lab. I looked down at the empty chamber and the ruined door.
"...You're not satisfied with that answer?" The whift followed me inside, "In that case, this is my own personal opinion. You're operating on blind faith that you can speak with a monster, and even more blind stupidity that a living weapon could tell us anything useful about its creator. There are other ways."
She stood there, irritatingly unreadable as my fingers tapped familiar strokes into the terminal.
"We've got a dozen vessels scanning the space around Khellus searching for all traces of the original vessel. We've got experts such as yourself poring over all the materials and construction of the vessel that it was being transported in. They believe it was cobbled together by the junkers. We have inquisitors heading there as we speak, as well as a dozen other places. While you've been watching it feast on carcass, my saratan has been searching every crooked hollow and following the faintest scent. Tell me, who do you think is more likely to unravel this mystery?"
I smacked the terminal with my fist, "If you don't have anything useful to say, then you can just leave!" I turned to face her the way the howler might, "Don't worry, I'll be a good Fyrix and clean up after myself. I need some time to get my equipment together, and you're just slowing me down at this point."
The whift quirked her palps. What little the Fyrix had in the way of body language was infuriating.
"I'll be back in a tenth." She turned, "Ensure you are ready by then, and don't attempt to take anything that is not yours."
"I am a doctor. Not a thief."
I tried my best to emanate hatred, hoping it followed after her. She shut the door with a resounding thud. I collapsed into my seat and then looked at my hands, wondering for a moment. I clenched them shut.
I returned to the terminal. I'm not sure why I'd resolved to do this. By the most sympathetic account it was completely idiotic, by the worst, practically suicidal. It was something that had been building inside me since I'd first landed here.
There was a good degree of spite in it. Spite for the Fyrix, spite for this whole system they'd built up, and perhaps spite for myself for being so stupid.
I should've seen this from the beginning. It was obvious in retrospect, but I'd been sucked into the admiral's trail of thought. It had been difficult for me to consider that such a large and terrifying creature could possibly possess anything but rudimentary intelligence, and yet it did. At least, enough to conceive of the 'self' and the 'other.'
I pulled up some files and started to transfer them. The animated icons swirled in my vision. I'm not as soft as they'd like to think. I was harder than any of them. I knew that there were unpleasant necessities. None of them had ever felt something die in their hands. Watch its life fade away even as you knew it was the right thing to do.
I'd had to help euthanize the aliu off of Neren, among many other sordid creatures. They screamed, cried, and whined like anything. They didn't want to die. They simply wanted to live, same as anything else. The things didn't choose to be a pest, but still they had to go.
You don't go into xenobiology because you like organic life; you do it because you love it, and sometimes that love can only be maintained through ultimate brutality. However, the howler was different.
He had spared that Fyrix. I didn't care what anyone said; there was no reason for the howler to do what he'd done if not for mercy. He'd attacked that whift. Brought him to the ground and stopped short of crushing him only because of that pathetic scream. The way his face contorted...
It had been eating at me ever since I'd come face to face with the creature. Seeing that expression, it felt as if nanthe had seeped into my entrails. It was impossible to truly decode his expressions, but when it had stared at me... Thinking back on it, I couldn't help but see an unfathomable sadness in it.
Perhaps I was projecting... But one thing was for certain: if the Admiral kills the howler, I'll never know for certain. I would live with that image of its harrowing eyes seared into my mind, always wondering what broken mind had hidden behind that terrifying mask.
The files had finished transferring. I hadn't much time. There was still so much data, but this would have to do. I pulled out the data rod and slid over to my sequencer. I pushed it into the rack and squirted some genetic base into the receptacle. The machine lit up, requesting a sequence. I offered one.
With that, I hurried to clean up my things, hoping that a tenth of a sovereign standard phase would be enough for it to complete. It felt like an eternity, but finally the machine chimed. I rushed over and pulled out the receptacle. I held it in front of me, feeling a sudden wave of hesitation. There would be no going back after this...
My antennae suddenly went stiff. Someone was climbing the stairs. I snatched a syringe and sucked my homemade virus into the metal tip. My hands shook as I brought it to my mouth, and with a final desperate push, pierced my palps. The pain wasn't the worst. The anxiety was.
I squeezed, and pulled it out, collapsing against the table in the way my roommate would to catch her breath. I caught my reflection in the metal of the synthesizer and wondered what was going on in her head.
The door swung open.
"It's time, Doctor."
I straightened, surreptitiously squirting the remains of the virus into the trash, "Yeah, yeah... Make yourself useful and get me a hovercart. It's not like I can carry this thing myself."