Fortress Castle Rock
Pleione
Word of Blake Protectorate
24 March, 3075
Time was meaningless under the blazing lights of her cell. She could barely differentiate consciousness from unconsciousness, real from unreal. It took Faith a moment to register that she was being manhandled by the two guards. She tried to blink herself to reality, suddenly aware that the lights had dimmed to normal levels. Her eyes darted around the room. Her Manei Domini tormentor was there, looking on dispassionately with coldly mechanical eyes. There was also a female Blakist technician holding some kind of pad.
They had pulled her down and released her hands, and pushed her roughly down on an inclined table. The Precentor walked closer as the guards secured her wrists and ankles to the table, and the technician began attaching a series of electrodes to various points all over Faith's body. The Precentor smiled gently.
"Welcome back, Faith. I trust your time of contemplation was productive. We learn much about ourselves when we are alone with only our thoughts, wouldn't you agree?" As she spoke, the tech inserted two IVs into her arm. "You should begin to feel better shortly. We want you in good condition for the next phase of your reclamation. We will build your fluids back up. The other needle is delivering a drug into your bloodstream to heighten your senses." She ran the tips of her fingers over Faith's bare flesh for effect, and Faith nearly gasped at the effects of the heightened sensations.
"Pain is like a fire that purifies us, burning away the unneeded components until we are left with only our core, our soul. Let it wash over you." As the Precentor spoke, a wave of pain unlike she had ever felt washed over Faith, and she writhed against her bonds. Eisheth manipulated the delivery of pain like an expert, at times plucking the nerves all over Faith's body at once, and at other times focusing it like a surgeon.
She had no idea how long it went on for. At times she screamed. At times she fought at her most resolute to remain silent. Suddenly there was a pause. Faith looked into Eisheth's eyes, and for the first time, she didn't project defiance, but instead virtually begged her to stop. The room was cold and she almost shivered as the air passed over the droplets of sweat beaded all over her body.
Eisheth caressed Faith cheek. "Let go. Let it claim you." As she with drew her hand, the pain returned, more intense than ever, burning all over her body. It felt as though every nerve in her body was going to explode in a fiery conflagration. She let out a bloodcurdling scream, and as she did so, her vision began to fade into darkness. She felt as though she was falling, before she passed out and everything was consumed with darkness.
She rocked against her bonds, arching her back as much as her restraints allowed, and gasped cold air into her lungs. Her eyes flashed to Eisheth, who held a syringe with the needle pressed into Faith's arm. "Take it in, more. Let the pain consume you until there is nothing left but your core".
The pain hit again, even more intense. She screamed as if somehow her cries could release some of the pain that was soaking to the core of her body. She clenched her hands into fists, digging her nails into her palms. She strained as if the pain could give her superhuman strength and tear free of her bonds, but they did not give way.
It felt as if her heart exploded. The breath was torn from her lungs, and she tried to gasp it back in, but nothing came. She blinked quizzically, and darkness crept into the outside of her vision. The tunnel vision centered itself on the dispassionate face of the woman in control of all this pain, and it felt as if she was falling, the darkness consuming her.
*****
Faith found herself standing in a dim corridor. She was dressed in a flowing white dress, and her bare feet felt the cold of the stone beneath her feet. It felt good, it felt as if she were home. She looked around, examining the ornate stonework of the walls around her. She looked her her hands, and noticed a soft, almost warm glow to her skin.
She heard a voice from behind her, and turned to see a woman approaching her. The woman was dressed casually, as if heading out for a quick drink at the corner bar. Her features were strong, framed by her golden blonde locks.
"Hey, sorry I'm underdressed. Didn't get a lot of warning on this one, had to throw on any old thing. But I'm here now."
Faith furrowed her brow. "Who....who are you and what is going on?"
"Yeah....this whole thing..." she gestured around "not my idea. It's just a job, I do what I'm told. But hey, a girl needs a paycheck. Anyway, can't do the specific 'who what when' thing for you, not that easy. Don't blame me, I don't make the rules. But I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?"
Faith was confused. She had no idea where she was, and who this rather snarky woman was. "I'm confused."
The woman bit her lip for a second, before going on. "Ok, well I'm in a good news kind of mood, so I'll hit you with that first. The good news, that dress you're wearing, my outfit, the walls, you're not going to find a broadsword anywhere around. The toasters aren't big around here, they kinda do their own thing, and that's cool with me, they seem like a bore."
Faith rubbed her eyes, trying to wrap her head around what was going on. "And the bad news?"
The woman gave an almost exaggerated frown. "The bad news is....you're dead, sister."
Faith laughed out loud. "What? I must have passed out or something. This is a hallucination."
"Sorry, but this is the real deal, girl. You checked out. Look, I'm as surprised as you are, I wasn't planning on having to deal with you right now, figured I'd get a pedi or something today. Hence the not-so-together outfit. But I got the call."
Part of her wanted to try to smack some answers out of this woman. Nothing was making sense, and all she had to go on was this woman who was acting like a spoiled college student. The woman walked over and took Faith by the hand and gestured with her head. "Come on, take a look."
She led her through an archway that Faith hadn't noticed before. As they passed through, she found herself standing in the cell back on Pleione, but it was as if time was frozen. The Manei Domini Precentor stood motionless, as did the female Blakist technician. Faith's breath caught in her chest for a moment as she saw her body, strapped to a table with wires and needles attached to her. The blonde woman walked over to the table. "There you go. The girl on the table, that's you, girlfriend. By the way, for being 48, popping a kid out, and kicking ass in a mech for 30 years, you are still rockin' that body. The shaved head thing though, not working for you, stick with the blonde, trust me."
Faith stared down at....herself? It was her, but there was no reasonable explanation for this. She was drawn to the eyes, staring straight ahead, empty, lifeless. "I...I don't understand. I mean, I remember this, the torture, the pain, but....."
The woman stood beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Ok, let me fill you in. You got yourself caught by the bad toaster people. Rather than just kill you or throw you into a prison, since you're so badass, they decided they were going to make you a 'reclamation'. Big fancy word, but the short of it is that they break you down, body, mind, and soul, till they're left with one Faith-shaped empty shell. Then they show you some home movies, fill you up with all that 'Third transfer of power' stuff, and voila. They now have one pre-made badass mechwarrior, same as before, only now, you do what they want, go around killing people and speaking in Latin, and you get a little tingly feeling in your girly bits anytime anyone mentions the names Jerome Blake or Conrad Toyama."
It was terrifying, the idea of being turned into one of them. "I won't let them."
The blonde patted her on the back. "Yeah....most people aren't big on that. That's why they made you puke, got you all naked, and tied you to a table and went all Fifty Shades of Blake on you. The idea is to break you so they can fix you up right"
"But wait, if I believe you, and I'm dead, that makes no sense. I can't be a Blake zombie if I'm dead."
"Good....you're starting to catch on. Now see, while these creeps like to think they're perfect, and have clairvoyance from the 'Divine Blake' and all that, they're still just human, and personally, I think the visions just come from passing around the Peace of Blake pipe a little too much, if you catch my drift. Anyhow, they were hitting you with pain, they even injected you with something to increase your body's ability to sense and process sensations. I really don't think that cyber-bitch has ever heard of a magic wand, lot of pent up frustration there if you ask me."
Faith glanced over at the frozen, motionless Blakist Precentor. There was a look of almost excitement or glee in her eyes.
"So, at some point along the way, you passed out. The body is smart like that, it figures 'hey, this sucks, Ima go sleep for a bit'. But they wanted to keep going, so they juiced you up with some kind of super-adrenaline kinda stuff. The idea was to push you further than you should go. Only problem with that, is that after a little more, your heart decided to clock out. And so you're here, with me, dead."
"Here? Where is here? Who are you? Am I supposed to believe this is heaven or something? I don't get it."
The woman took her hand once more and led her back into the hallway where they had been before. "Ok, enough of that. The mood in there was a bit of a downer. So, heaven? That's what you come up with? You're not even religious. And besides, do I look like a baby with wings? Ok, so I'm under-dressed, I told you, it was short notice. But just because I don't have armor on, come on, I still look totally badass, don't I?"
Faith shook her head. "So what, you're some kind of Valkyrie or something? Am I supposed to go drink mead in Valhalla? This is rediculous"
The blonde smirked. "Maybe I'm a Valkyrie, maybe I'm just the result of a lack of oxygen to your brain. Doesn't matter. Point is, this is very real. As for Valhalla...the gates are open. Say the word and I can walk you in. I know, technically you didn't fall in battle, hence me being surprised to get the call to come get you, but apparently you're just awesome enough and dying in a Word of Blake torture chamber counts. Don't ask me, I don't make the rules."
Faith glanced down to the end of the hallway, where a set of iron gates loomed. "So that's it? This is what death is like?"
The other woman put her finger on her chin. "Yeah....about that....see, normally this is all cut and dry. Somebody puts a PPC through your cockpit, you're dead, there's no going back, I walk you in there and we get a drink. This....this is a little different. This time you're the one who clocked out. Your ticker is fine, it just decided to stop working. So, you have to choose. We can go get drunk in Space-Rasalhague, or you can get back into the fight. I have to warn you though, you'd be the first person you know in Valhalla, so we'd have to sit at the new kids lunch table."
"This is insane. You're saying I can go back? Just keep on living? But wait, if this is all the way you say it is....why should I go back? They'll just turn me into one of their zombie warriors."
The woman led her over to the wall, and for the first time, Faith noticed that this was not just a hallway, but some kind of crypt. "Maybe, maybe not. You're a badass, girlfriend. I'd fight alongside you. And you only have to keep saying 'no I won't' longer than they can tell you 'yes you will'. And hey, you're here for a reason."
She began looking at the individual tombs set into the wall, and looked at the name. The first marker read "Freyja McCarron 3130-". She moved further down to the next grave. "Temperance McCarron 3109-3158", followed by "Serenity McCarron 3087-3111" She continued on, and froze at the next one. It read "Acadia McCarron 3050-3110"
"What the hell is this?"
The woman shrugged in response. "The future is always a blur. You get the choice" She pointed to the next stone. It read "Faith McCarron 3027-"
"Check out, or stay and fight. You get to pick what date gets carved on that one, sister"
It wasn't her time. She couldn't leave everyone behind. She had to keep fighting, had to keep saying no.
"I want to go back."
The woman put her hands on her hips, and smiled. "Ok. I think that's a good call. Just remember, when you need me for real....I'll be here."
*****
Faith sprang back to consciousness with a jolt. The pain had stopped, and she could feel only the residual burning sensation in what felt like every part of her body. Her eyes shot around the room until she spotted Eisheth, with a surprised look on her face. And then at that moment, Faith could not help but laugh, out loud, and uncontrollably.
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