Test of Faith - Chapter Ten

Test of Faith - Chapter Ten

Fortress Thunder Rock

Pleione

Word of Blake Protectorate

23 June, 3075

     Faith had no idea how much time passed as she drifted off to sleep and woke from terrifying nightmares in a seemingly endless cycle. When she would wake, she was cold, shivering to the point nearly of convulsions.  But she was too weak to move, and she would drift off to sleep again. When she did, she was haunted by nightmares. In some, she was just a child. In some she was trapped. 

     And in all of them, she constantly heard the screams of Adept Elaine Flannery. She had killed before, more times than she could count. But never had she been haunted by her victim in such a way. It was almost surreal, and she would do anything to make it stop.

     She blinked back to the waking world as arms lifted  her partially off of the cold ferrocrete floor. She felt a hand take her by the chin, and found herself staring into the cool blue burning eyes of Eisheth. "Good morning, Faith. I trust your time of rest was well used in contemplation. I told you before that you were close, very close. Now, I think you are ready to hear the Master's wisdom. We will make it as easy as possible for you, we will block out the world so that you can hear and feel only the Word of Blake. You are there, you are ready."

     She nodded to the guards, who picked her up and carried her out of the cell. Her head hung low and she could only see the passing floor. Only her feet dragged on the ground as they meandered through what seemed like endless corridors. Finally, they passed through a door, and the floor suddenly was metal grating. She felt her hands raised above her head and her hands shackled once again, as the secured her to some kind of hook or pole hanging from the ceiling. She was low enough that she could stand, but her legs were too weak and her knees gave out, leaving her dangling with her feet on the floor.

     She tried to make out her surroundings, but all she could see was dim blue light all around her. She heard a hissing sound, and suddenly she was pounded from seemingly all sides by powerful jets of not quite scalding water. It went on for several minutes, and she could not keep her eyes open against the deluge. She imagined feeling a blow here, a sting there, recollections of past pain haunting her almost surreally in the streams of water.

     And then it stopped. She could finally open her eyes, and for several minutes she hung there in virtual silence, only hearing the occasional soft drip of a drop of water hitting the grating beneath her feet. The guards returned, and dragged her into another room.

     They carried her over to where Eisheth and several technicians stood next to a small pod. It was lit inside, half filled with some kind of liquid. Just above the opening was a thin metal slab, just long enough and wide enough to lay a person on. One guard held under her arms and the other took her by the feet, and they laid her gently onto the slab. The techs quickly attached small sensor pads to her thighs, abdomen, chest, and temples. One of the techs inserted a needle into her  right arm, connected by a tube to the top of the pod.

     Eisheth leaned over her. "Relax now. Prepare to be reborn. When you have emerged again, with the understanding of Blake's Will and of the importance of the Third Transfer of Power and it's salvation for humanity, then, then you will be ready to be augmented by the wonders of technology, reclaimed into the light of knowledge, and become my sister Manei Domini in service to the Master."

     The platform that was holding her above the liquid slowly descended, lowering her into what turned out to be an almost gel-like substance. Soon the support had dipped lower, until she lay floating just barely at the top of the liquid. The lid to the pod closed down on her, and sealed shut with a hiss. And then there was nothing. She was conscious and aware, but she could see nothing, feel nothing, and hear nothing. It was like floating weightless.

     Then suddenly, from nowhere and from everywhere, she heard a voice. It was a man's voice, but in it also rang the coldness of a machine.

Blessed be Blake. Blessed be his holy name.

Blessed be Toyama, true man and saint.

Blessed be Terra, cradle of man.

Blessed be technology, works of man.

Blessed be the Hands, protectors of Terra.

Blessed be Apollyon, keeper of the path.

Blessed be the Master, Master of the Sacred Order.