Aetheral Space-Chapter 539 - 17.11: Meet the Hadriens
DAY 2
"Well," the young woman waved a finger through the air. "This certainly is a whole lot of something, isn't it?"
Soot drifted down from the distant ceiling, settling in her silver hair like snow. Her blue eyes, holding the brilliant gleam of a Cogitant, looked at the three individuals before her, spread across the rooftops. With a final tap, she finished whatever she was doing with her script, sliding the device quite literally back up her sleeve.
For the first time, Ruth realized the girl had a white bomber jacket over that Ultraviolet suit -- but it was no surprise that she hadn't noticed. After all, Ruth's attention had been fixed on the woman's face. The face that was nearly identical to that of Dragan Hadrien.
She'd understood that the variants were divergent from the original, but to this degree?
The female Dragan's gaze flicked past Ruth without a flicker of recognition, instead focusing on the Captain. She raised a quizzical eyebrow and he just shrugged lightly. Her eyebrow only rose higher at that.
"I thought we were supposed to be laying low," she sighed. "I'm out all day breaking my back to gather info, and you thank me by blowing up my bed?"
"It wasn't by choice," the Captain growled. "Things happen in combat."
"Huh."
With that, the girl finally looked at Ruth. Ruth felt her body tense up before those familiar and yet completely unfamiliar eyes. This whole thing really was starting to feel like a dream.
"Hey, you," the female Dragan said casually. "Did you blow up the apartment?"
Ruth shook her head mutely.
"Huh," the girl said again, looking back at the Captain. "That's so weird."
Before the Captain could respond however, perhaps to defend himself, the sharp voice of Darkstar's McCoy sliced right through the bizarrely light atmosphere.
"You were a fool to reveal yourself here."
McCoy had already changed targets, pointing her Coffin Cannon directly at the new arrival instead of either of her previous two adversaries. Orange Aether crackled dangerously around the grotesque weapon, its massive frame supported against the roof below by ribs like spider-legs. Ruth had already seen what a single shot from that thing had done to a colossal Taurus Mortar. She didn't much want to see what it could do to a human body.
The girl, however, didn't seem nearly as concerned. Hands in the pockets of her jacket, she whimsically spun on her heel to face the hostile Aether Awakening.
"Really?" she said, cocking her head. "How do you figure?"
"Does it really need explaining?" McCoy cocked her head, weapon trained on the new arrival. "You've exposed yourself to an enemy that can kill you on a whim. If you've lived a moment in this world, you should understand why that was a fatal error. Name yourself, girl. I'll need something to put on the report."
The girl held up her fingers. "Two things."
"Hm?"
"First," she continued. "My name's Dragana Hadrien."
Oh, come on, thought Ruth.
"Secondly, you're not gonna kill me. You're not gonna kill anyone here."
McCoy's next words were a hiss from beyond the gates of death. "You make a poor prophet, Dragana Hadrien." Ghastly light began to build within Coffin Cannon's barrel.
"No no no, hear me out!" Dragana laughed, waving her hands. "You misunderstand. I wasn't saying you were going to spare our lives or anything like that! I'm not gonna kid myself and say you're the kind of person that has mercy or pity or anything like that. But I bet you understand mutual self-interest, right?"
The light did not fade -- but it didn't continue building, either.
"...what do you mean?"
"If you keep going like this," Dragana put her hands on her hips, still smiling. "I'll have to team up with these two and take you on together. There's another guy lurking around, too, so it'll end up being four-on-one."
"That's irrelevant. I can kill all four of you."
With those words, Aether began to crackle around the bodies of Ruth and the Captain once again. They were still locked in the terminal moment. Everyone there knew that battle was just one wrong second away -- and yet, the girl that surely knew that best of all just kept smiling.
"You could," she conceded, waving a hand. "But is that really your best move right now?"
"What?" McCoy's voice was full of wry contempt.
"Like I said, I bet you could kill all four of us yourself if it came down to it," Dragana continued. "But it wouldn't be easy, would it? You'd have to expend a good number of those corpses you've been saving up -- and with the UAP and the Supremacy expected any day now, is that really something you can afford?"
Ruth looked at the girl, baffled. How the hell did she know that?
By all rights, Dragana Hadrien should have been ignorant of the current state of affairs in the real world. She was clearly from a very divergent timeline, and so the world as she knew it should have been just as different. Yet, she spoke of what was happening far away from Nehr Müt with utmost confidence.
McCoy was just as baffled. "How…?!"
Dragana grinned cheekily, letting her script slide back into her hand and waving it in the air. "Isn't technology just great?" she giggled. "You can find out basically anything you need to, so long as you know how to get in. That Pandershi guy's security is pretty good, but I'm pretty good myself. So, how about it? You gonna take those precious corpses you've been saving up and wipe us out of existence?"
McCoy's aim did not waver. Clearly, she was still considering it. Dragana saw that too, and her grin faded into a slightly less confident smile.
It was only when Ruth saw the lids fall halfway down those bright blue eyes that she realized the trap had already been sprung.
"Of course you are," Dragana said quietly. "You need to fight for your ideal, too, after all."
Crack.
It wasn't the firing of a cannon, but instead a bolt of orange Aether crashing out of McCoy's body, like she'd been struck by lightning. Ruth raised a hand to cover her eyes as the orange glow devoured the rooftop entirely… and, when she lowered them, the Aether Awakening was gone. It seemed she'd taken her leave just as Dragana had suggested.
The female variant, for her part, seemed just as relieved as anyone else. "Woo!" she let out a sigh of relief, planting her hands on her knees. "Am I glad that worked! I mean, I knew my logic was sound, but not everyone's logical, you know?"
With that, she straightened back up -- and those blue eyes swept over the rooftop once again, over Ruth and the Captain standing on opposite sides.
"So!" she said cheerfully. "How about we try talking again?"
She had that same look on her face, that same trace of smugness in her voice. Despite everything, Ruth found herself smirking. Whatever form they took, all of these things were Dragan Hadrien at their core.
"...D…s…"
Sven looked up.
It wasn't unusual for him to hear things on the job. That was his job, after all. As the attendant for Ward 3's Listening Station 73, his job was to sort through the recordings taken from residences across the Ward, guide the auto-brain in scanning for dangerous sentiment, and pass it along to Auberon. He probably heard hundreds of conversations a day -- so hearing someone else's voice while he sat alone in his station was nothing unusual.
Usually, though, that voice would be coming from the station -- not the vent.
Up above, through the tiny gap in the ceiling, Sven could see only darkness. Hell, the vents weren't even that large -- it was hard to believe someone could even crawl in far enough for their voice to carry. A kid, maybe? No, they'd be freaking out more.
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Ah. No, Sven knew what it was. A nehrcrow. It had happened before -- one of the bat-like creatures getting stuck in the ventilation systems from the outside and causing a ruckus. What a pain -- he'd have to get a Seelie Ranger out here to extract it.
Shaking his head, Sven turned back in his seat to file the request on his terminal --
Crash.
Thump.
His heart skipped a beat. His hand froze in the air, fingers trembling inches from the monitor. Slowly, a bead of sweat ran down the back of his neck, deathly cold.
Those sounds.
The sound of the vent being broken open… and the sound of something heavy landing behind him.
An irrational thought bubbled to the top of Sven's mind. Don't acknowledge it, he begged himself. Pretend you didn't notice. Pretend you didn't notice a thing and just keep working.
When Sven had been young, he'd been scared of ghosts. Puck had comforted him by telling him that ghosts could only appear when one's eyes were closed, and they couldn't interfere with the living at all. It was a fantasy to counter fantasy, Sven knew, but it had comforted him back then… and he was grasping for that old reassurance now.
This time, it wouldn't reach him.
"dON'T…….. TURN AROUND…."
The voice was wrong. Hissing and rasping and stilted at shifting pitches too high and too low for human vocal cords to reach. This wasn't the voice of a human. Couldn't be. Shouldn't be.
Don't look, Sven pleaded with Sven. Do as it says. Don't turn around. Don't look.
He didn't. He didn't turn around -- but for a single foolish second, he did look at the monitor. There was a reflection, barely visible. Sven nearly choked on his own throat.
The thing that had infiltrated the room was tall and spindly, with arms and legs that possessed far too many joints. Even hunched over as it was, limbs splayed out like those of a spider, it still loomed over Sven from behind. And its face… two wide eyes shining with sapphire light, and a wide joyless grin that was just as bright and blue.
Sven looked away immediately, hoping against all hope that he hadn't just executed himself. He felt the thing draw closer, felt it lean in. Cold breath that stank of disinfectant trickled against the back of his head.
"DEL…. sED…?" it screeched.
"DEL… sED….?" it warbled.
"aRE YOU…… DEL sED……?!" it asked.
At that moment, Sven knew with certainty -- if he was del Sed, whoever that was, he would suffer the worst death imaginable. Slowly, doing his best not to make any sudden movements, he opened his mouth. This did not feel like another human he was dealing with. This was an animal that had somehow learned to speak. He had to be more careful than he'd ever been in his life.
"No," he said, his voice shaking even as he tried to steady it. "I'm not… del Sed."
The creature was silent. For a single beautiful moment, Sven thought it might even have left. When it spoke next, though, the voice was even closer, crushing even that fragile hope.
"nO…. yOU'RE NOT……. tHE ONE…." it rasped.
"I'm not," Sven said quickly, the words flooding out of his mouth uncontrollably. "I'm not, I'm not, I swear I'm not, I'm sorry, I didn't, I don't --"
A hand planted itself atop Sven's head from above.
"wHERE… iS…… dEL SED..?!"
Anger had trickled into the thing's voice, a directionless rage that would scorch anything it came into contact with. Sven trembled silently. The creature's too-long fingers stretched down his face like the bars of a prison cell, curling under his jaw. If it wanted to, it could rip his head off with ease.
"I don't know," Sven gasped, his vision filled with stars. "I don't, I don't, I promise, I swear."
The monster's scream trailed off into a low rattling groan and again -- no no no -- Sven felt it draw closer to the back of his head.
"oBSERVATION POST…… yOU WATCH………. yOU WATCH everything, DON'T YOU….?" The voice held a trace of smugness now. "i CAN find HIM WITH THIS……. find DEL sED….."
Bravery sparked within Sven's chest, just a little. It was courage born only from necessity. Sven had never been a brave man, not a brave child before that -- he'd barely spoken until the age of ten, terrified that some invisible force would punish him for foolish words. Here and now, though, he knew -- if he wanted to save his life, he had to open his mouth and speak.
"If you want to…" False start. "If you want to find del Sed… you'll need me alive. I'm the one with all the access codes. You can't use them without me. You need me alive. You need me --"
It laughed.
"nO….. i DON'T……..."
At that moment, Sven realized that his bravery had been irrelevant. Whether he talked or not had been irrelevant. Everything he did, everything he could have done… none of that had mattered at all. His death had been determined from the moment this creature arrived.
A hand was planted over his mouth, and his head was jerked back with such force that his neck nearly broke.
"sLAUGHTERHOUSE…. cAPRICORN!!!!!"
Sven screamed… and for far too long, kept screaming.
Oh, this was the worst. This was just the worst. This was it. It was so over. He was so done. He was fucked, absolutely fucked.
Dragan Hadrien's teeth chattered as he made his way through the alleyways of Ward 5, arms hugged tight around himself to stop himself from shaking. It wasn't that this place was cold. This odd city of brick and mortar, like something plucked from Home, was room temperature. Even the rain falling from the sky was just holographic. So it wasn't cold. It was just… this damn situation! Who could blame him for being scared?! This was a crisis! Anyone else would have been shaking just the same!
He slumped against the wall, squatting with his head in his hands, considering his next move.
Oh, no no no. He could still feel it in his mind. The instructions he'd received. The Per Mutation Ritual. No no no. That wasn't good at all. There was no way he could do that. The other variants would be way too strong. He'd never been built for combat. He was a thinker. A thinker!
Oh, this sucked. He was screwed. This whole thing was rigged. He was gonna die. He was basically dead already. No no no. Someone was fucking with him. He was way too weak for this. This was so unfair. He hated it. Who the hell did they think they were, doing stuff like this to him? It wasn't human. He was a Junior Acquisition Executive for Halcyon Interstellar, for the love of Y. This sort of stuff shouldn't be happening to him!
Oh, God. Oh, he was going to be sick. He ran his hands over his face, again and again, as if trying to dig through his skull and find a better world there. The long bangs of his silver hair were pinned back with a clip, so at least they didn't get in his eyes. At least he had that. Even someone who was apparently so awful that they were being tormented like this deserved that. Fuck God. Fuck Y. This was such bullshit!
His lanyard swung like a tolling bell from the collar of his officewear. He didn't belong here. He didn't belong in this sort of situation. He tried to blink the tears out of his eyes, but he couldn't even manage that. What an awful situation. He hadn't even done anything, and all this terrible stuff was happening to him. This world truly was rotten.
Dragan Hadrien finally looked up -- and froze. He was not alone in the alley. In the darkness, right at the back, barely visible, something was looking at him.
Something not human.
For that first terrible moment, Dragan thought it was one of his variants -- that one of those fakes had cornered him and was going to rip his head off. But no. No no no. This was something else. This wasn't Dragan Hadrien at all, no matter how you looked at it.
It was tall and muscular, with a bizarre body plan like a mixture between a canine and a gorilla, crouched in the shadows, perfectly still. The beast was covered in wiry black fur -- with the exception of the plate of white bone that formed its 'face', covered in tiny holes that made Dragan think of a hockey mask. It looked at him. It looked at him, and Dragan knew that -- if the whim took it -- it could kill him instantly.
It didn't make a sound, not even breathing. For a second, Dragan thought it might have just been a statue.
"U-Um…" Dragan ventured, voice shaking.
It leapt.
Dragan squeaked in terror as he crawled back across the ground, but the beast did not come for him. Instead, its leap took it up to the rooftop, where it quickly dragged itself away and out of sight. Dragan stared up in terror at where it had just been, his vision a blur from the false rain.
He sniffed.
He sniffled.
He started crying.
He hated this place!
One Star smiled serenely to himself as he walked through Auberon's detention facility. This was a rare occasion. They didn't usually have much cause to fill the cells here -- there were less ambiguous ways to deal with most threats, and Pandershi had those special accommodations for his familial relations.
Today, though, thanks to him, they had a guest. One Star stopped in the middle of the chamber, looking up at the only cell lit up. In this massive room, the prison cells -- glass cubes -- hung from the ceiling like fruit from a tree. For those without Aether, somehow escaping their cell would surely mean dying from the fall.
Of course, that wouldn't be a concern for the one they had housed here right now. That was why a harmonious resolution would be best for all involved.
"Well?" One Star asked calmly, looking up. "Are you prepared to cooperate now, temp worker?"
Even as he looked up, One Star's eyes were closed. That was no issue, though. He was a Scurrant of particular visual acuity -- he could see perfectly well even through his own eyelids.
Besides, the person looking back down at him couldn't see at all.
"Ah, what the hell?" giggled the Dragon. "Sure thing, puppy. I'll be your good boy."
<table class="chapter-table">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0; text-align: center">UNSEELIE_CLAW (Temporary)</span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0">Name: "The Dragon"</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0">Age: 23</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0">Place of Birth: Crestpoole</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0">Height: 5'4</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0">Weight: 120lbs</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 1em">Ability: Libra Imaging</span></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Brother Wyrm took the canister in his hands.
It had been easier to get into the medical station than he'd expected. With the majority of the Seelie Rangers in the area focused on Muzazi, the numbers remaining at the small station had been enough for Wyrm and Haisley to handle on their own. They'd broken in, got into the secure supplies… and now Wyrm held it in his hands.
The Panacea.
He took a deep breath. Even if it had to be done, it never got any less painful. Blue Aether sparked…
Aquarius Covenant.
…and a miracle was beckoned.
