Existentially Bound: Part 9
Morality
There was a fog surrounding the tanks, which hovered over the floor and accepted the red lights into itself. Altogether, it created an eerie, hazed glow to the room that continued to pulsate as the energy flowed from the conduits between the hexagonal floor and triangular ceiling.
"This is-"
"Diabolical," Harid finished Kimura's statement as he came to join the group. Worry would not be an adequate description of the man's feelings for his daughter, and while he wanted to slam into the asuran laser grid which had separated them, Harid knew both their times would be better off focused on the mission. Hers was of paramount importance: find and rescue Six Alpha.
A briared hand came to the man's shoulder, the soft underside gave him a squeeze. "She's capable; more than she knows, perhaps. The winter-lightning one is with her too. No seedling will sprout if in the shadow of its father."
Harid cracked a slight grin at Tressa. "You grew in darkness though, didn't you?"
The Black Rose winked. "Aye. I did; yet I still grow, and have found while I thrive in shadows, a stent in the light has allowed me to spread my petals further…"
"Before long, we'll have to call her the Red Rose, yeah?" Kimura nervously giggled, trying to divert her own attention from the horrific display. But, when one of the closest beings shifted, she let out a shriek.
"They are weak," Tahlia said, her palms outstretched.
"Significantly weaker here than back there. Look," Harid said, bringing their attention to the descending numbers written upon the base of the tanks. "From here, the numbers start at twenty-five and decrease. With each beyond appearing to be more-"
"Grown. It is as if they have not matured yet," Tressa offered.
A mechanical finger tapped Harid's chin. After the man's time in the Lionguard, he had briefly taken a few jobs as a private investigator. While he didn't work puzzles quite as fast as his brilliant daughter, the man utilized his own deductive skills. "Their chronologically numbered. Twenty-five is the newest; the further down we go the more grown they are. Which is why we fought Fifteen back during the rescue operation some time ago, and why Sixteen is in our care now. That’s what Paige meant: Each time Shiera dies, she is transferred (or something) to the next in line."
Taliha nodded. "This is what I feel; they are fragments of Shiera… And these husks are bodies, awaiting her soul."
"So… Are they… alive?" Kimura said, inching closer to tank twenty-four, staring at the malnourished, decrepit form of the clone. Closer inspection only gave the woman a shiver. The sight was ghastly: the clone had no nose and no ears. Her skin sagged, barely contained upon the sinewy muscles and brittle bones.
"I only sense a fractured piece of soul within; as if it is… a diluted form of the woman we rescued."
"These things give me the bloody creeps," Kimura exclaimed strategically stepping away from the monstrosity. "And, this is all what… that asura Kievaa's doing?"
Harid nodded, assessing the tanks, thinking of all the horrors both Lennk and Kievaa had been reaping upon their family and all they seemed to touch. "This is… sick," he finally said under his breath. "Those damn asura need to die."
Tressa twirled a blade. "I can make this happen. First, though, what of these… husks? Should we burn the forest?"
"They're still people! We shouldn't burn them!" Taliha said, a passion in her voice uncharacteristic for the soft-spoken Whisperer.
"They have only a fracture of essence within? You said this, yes? Perhaps a thing is better?"
Taliha nodded. "This is what I sense. But, it is still something!"
"Even if they are alive, that," Kimura said pointing to the nearest tank, "is no life!"
Taliha's head turned to each of her companions, as if trying to read them. "Shouldn't we show mercy? Who are we to decide their fate?"
Tressa blinked, looking back to the tanks. "Certain rotted trees must to be rooted out for the good of the plants around it. Some life, by its very nature is… tainted." She looked to Harid. "I concur. We must root out these creature's existence for the sake of their companion and to end their misery. I follow your lead."
"Put me in one of those things and I'd be begging for a bullet to the forehead." She looked at her partner. "I'd expect you to do it, too."
A slight grin came to Tressa's letting her pink-haired friend know that if the situation called for it, she wouldn't hesitate. And, while both knew if the situation ever presented itself, the decision would likely be the opposite, the Black Rose's smirk settled Kimura's nerves (if only for a moment).
Harid exhaled, rubbed the back of his neck. "Tahlia, would it harm their souls if we destroyed the bodies? Could whatever fragments you say they possess move on?"
"I have never encountered souls split within multiple beings such as this. I cannot hear one coherent voice, thus I cannot be certain. I would hope when these beings eventually do perish, they would recoalesce into one. But, I do not think we should make that determination. We do not decide who lives and who dies, no matter how lost they are!" The woman's passion gave everyone pause.
The weight of the decision made Harid's shoulders droop. "As an agent of Grenth, Paige's mother would have released their souls and guided them beyond. I… I don't have that power."
"Nor do I," the Whisperer added. "But why must we kill them?"
"Because they are weapons. Those asura created them for one purpose: to kill. The Numbers we've saved: Six and your Shiera, they all could be reasoned with and… well, deprogramed from the killing machines they were made to be! These things are the same, except, they have no souls. They can't be reasoned with. They are weapons, pure and simple."
"If I leave a knife upon a table, would one not pick it up and use it as a weapon?" The Black Rose added.
"I cannot watch you slaughter these beings." Taliha said as she turned, walked toward the laser wall beyond the door where they came from.
Harid watched the woman exit, turned to the others and sighed. "I've been in a lot of battles. Had a lot of tough decisions, to be sure. That woman echoes the way I feel, but I know what we must do," he said as he drew his scimitar.Tressa knelt down running her fingers between the floor panels, then raised a thorny eyebrow as an idea began to form. After some time, she looked up to Harid with her findings. "Perhaps we don't have to be so crude as to use blades."
Harid tilted his head, knelt beside her. "What's your idea?"
"This is energy. It is flowing all around us: between the tiles and the tubules along the walls. It is as my bioluminescence… It is akin to the anatomy in fleshlin-humans."
"Wait. How do you mean? What in us is like the energy in these walls and your biolum-glow?"
"Your nervous systems," Tressa said with a sharp, but endearing glance up to Kimura.
"Oh, so we can what? Send a surge through it or something?" Harid extrapolated the woman's plan.
"Aye. I believe so. Imagine this as gunpowder. Igniting a side, the spark will travel its path. Each of these pods are connected with this energy flow. If we were to send a shock through one side, it should travel to each."
Kimura ran her fingers through her pink hair as Tressa's golden eyes blinked inquisitively at her. "I mean… I'm not explosives expert, other than the small ones I use for safes and such. I have a few of them with me. I think it could work, provided a chain-reaction could be set in motion. The huge doors there should act as a firewall, and the light-grid should hold back anything that gets through."
"We follow your lead," Tressa said with finality.
The man's face was conflicted. The asura duo had been one step ahead of them at every turn. They'd captured his daughter's friends, lured them into a trap, forced him to battle Six, blew up the mansion, stolen things from them, and now re-captured Six. This was the first time he felt as though they were on the offensive, and didn't want to think about not acting on the opportunity. Yet, even the Whisperer couldn't be certain the husk's spirits would be released upon their death, and while the man hoped it would release them, the alternative threat was too great. After some time, the man closed his eyes and nodded to the women.
"It'll take a bit; we'll call you when we're done if you want to…" Kimura's words were cut as the man turned on his heel, walked toward Tahlia.
The Whisperer was knelt in the corner, silently communing with unseen spirits. Upon the man's approach, they promptly ceased, allowing her to resume her full attention on the present. "You've come to tell me your decision?"
Harid rubbed his temples with his mechanical hand, then looked at the appendage. "The asura we're after, Lennk and Kievaa, they're dangerous. Completely and utterly without mercy. Six was recaptured and made to take my arm. She would never have done that on her own volition; those damned asura made her do it. They made Fifteen attack and almost kill Ember. The Numbers are ruthless, and without sentiment; puppets for their masters."
"Yet, Six and Sixteen were both rehabilitated, yes?"
Harid knelt down to make himself even with the woman. He didn't know if she could see him, but hoped the gesture would show his willingness to be receptive. "Yeah. We were able to get Six from the monster. It wasn't easy. Took a lot of time and work, but she finally came around. But look, here we are in enemy (and very hostile!) territory. If we falter, a lot of us are going to end up either dead or being experimented on… or worse."
"Do you see their souls sir? I do. They are fragments, but they are there. And, I have watched enough innocent people die. I refuse to watch more," Tahlia said as she removed her cowl. Short brown layers of hair fell from it, encapsulating the frame of the woman's head, expanding outward, then coming to meet her neck. She wore ritualistic tattoos upon her face, their black and tan markings slyly visible over her dark brown skin, accentuated by pinker cheeks which brought the eye immediately to the woman's own. They were of amethyst, sparkling purple in contrast to the omnipresent redness of the facility.Harid almost lost his balance at the woman's reveal and it took him an awkward moment to bring himself back to their previous conversation. "I… um… I can understand that. I've also watched a lot of people die. It's never easy; never satisfying. But, it's life, and sometimes, life isn't fair. It definitely wasn't fair for these things."
"These things are people. They live, fractured souls, but alive" said Tahlia, the pain in her eyes from tragedies she'd witness clearly conveyed.
"That's just it though: the key word here is living. These things may be living, but what kind of life is it? They have been stuck in tubes. Poked and prodded until whatever humanity they had was lost. They are only fragments of the one you rescued. Shiera, right? Well, that's the one that needs your help. What happens to her if these things exist? She'll be forever caught in this."
Tahlia's voice cracked. "Perhaps if you could see with my eyes then you would understand."
Harid's head dropped. "You're right. I can't. I can't see or hear their souls. I have, however, seen what these Numbers are used for: they're exploited and used for atrocities. And, I think this is the best call to keep all of us alive, to help your friend and to-"
"Best choice or easiest?" the Whisperer retorted.
"Pulling the trigger or pushing through a blade is never easy. It's always the hardest choice I ever have to make. But, I'm a soldier. I bleed so that others don't have to. I'm not a holy man, nor am I a saint like my daughter is. I have no illusions of that. I just do the best I can in the given circumstances, and while you may disagree with it, I hope you at least understand why." The man stood, offering his hand to help the woman up.
Taliha raised a thick eyebrow, stood of her own accord, and stared her bright purples at the man. "Are you holy enough, then, to decide their fate, holy man?"
Harid stared back at the woman, purposefully conveying the stinging words didn't affect him, even if internally they had.
"We're ready," came a whisper from the Black Rose who had already sidled up beside them, silently indulging in her own curiosity at the Whisperer's uncovered appearance. While she and Kimura both covered their faces to prevent detection and allow for more stealth, Taliha seemed to do so to channel her own powers. But, other than the woman's looks, the Black Rose had been observing their conversation: a moral debate on the decision to terminate the rot the husks represented.
News delivered, Tressa retreated back to an awaiting Kimura.
"Everything okay over there?" Pink Thorn asked.
Tressa pressed her lips in a surprise kiss to her lover. When she pulled back, she wore a vibrant smile. "Just the continuation of the argument between them... You know... so many of the nuances of your kind elude me. I feel fortunate to have found one that understands me."Kimura returned the smile. "I'm happy that we 'get each other' too. Tressa (bloody hell, this is the dumbest time to say this), but… I love you."
"I never thought my black heart capable, but, I love you as well, Pink." Tressa's eyes glowed brightly as the words left her mouth. Kimura, in turn, flushed her own vivid pink.
Harid cleared his throat. "Am I… interrupting?" He folded his arms disapprovingly as he looked down upon the couple.
A glance to her partner showed Tressa the man's intimidation was working. She, however, had spent time with the man, and had seen him at his most vulnerable. Her yellows flashed as the sylvari's glow pulsed. "Would you rather not interrupt? Would you rather simply watch us?"
Caught off-guard by the comment, and still somewhat flustered from the previous debate, the man's voice was lost.
Kimura's cheeks matched her hair. "Aye… I'm… uh… ready," she squeaked the words out, looking up at the towering man, like a pet being caught in the act.
Tressa grinned, pleased with the outcome, then returned to the business at hand. "So, this is what Pink uses on those asuran technological vaults…"
"Yeah, you know the kind… with the electronic stuff. We used to work with an asura that knew a lot about that kinda stuff," Kimura said, pausing a moment in remembrance before continuing. "So, this should act like that: send a pulse to fry the tube controls and everything in them."
"Should be quick; painful only for a moment. Like a dagger- Well, you get the idea." The Black Rose relented.
A small asuran device was placed in a corner where the intersection of electrical plasma from the flooring and wall met. Kimura went about her work rapidly, mirroring the same setup on the other side of the hallway. She signaled for the group to take position behind her for safety where they all joined Taliha. The woman frowned, obviously unhappy with the decision and continued to disapprovingly face the opposite direction as she replaced her cowl. As Kimura pressed the remote button, the Whisperer covered her ears, wishing to drown out the incomprehensible anguish of souls that would be crying out.
At once a surge from both devices pulsed an electricity into the conduits up the walls and beneath the floor tiles. As expected, a chain reaction took the energy that was delivered by the blast. Quickly a spark and small explosion came from each console attached to each tube, systematically as the pulse arrived. And, each console delivered the same commands to each attached tube: Open.
[To Be Continued...]
