Click.
.... oh it's no wonder that you lie there with your eyes open looking up at the ceiling with that almost bovine stare. You are little more than cattle, you know it, they know it, you have lost your way. Soon someone will come, but will it be to lead you to safety or to hell? If it was me, it would be to hell. You have done nothing but serve when you should have been leading. You are everything that is wrong with the festering darkness that blights this hallowed land. Given the power to roam the stars what do you do? Kneel. Kneel and kowtow to the people who enslaved you before you were born. It doesn't matter that she is better than the others, she is who she is. Nothing can change that, and better people have tried. Tried and failed. Failed like you failed time and time again. Failure. FAILURE. FAILURE!"
Click Click.
Carmilla shook herself awake and sat up, sweat streaming down her face and looked around. Scared. Startled. Afraid. Breathing deeply she looked at the tubes snaking into her arm, listened to the gentle beeping of the machines that were watching her. Slowly her anxiety began to fade and she slumped back into the bed. Automatic systems lifted part of the bed so she sat up and she shuddered violently.
"Hello?" she spoke with a dry whispering voice,"Is there anyone there?"
A door opened, casting light into the room and a woman walked in. She was tall, a kindly looking face just too plump to be called thin, the roll of her hips and the way her uniform fit indicated something to Carmilla'd mind, but she couldn't place it. So familiar, yet so.....
"Nice to see you awake, my dear. You've been asleep for a number of days."
"Where am I?"
"You are safe. The secure medical facility you were brought to after you passed out in the club you were in. Several people have been looking in on you. Quite a popular patient. Feel like eating something?"
Carmilla shook her head.
"Just a drink please?" she shook her arm jingling the tubes,"These are good for the body, but I need something. My mouth is as dry as the third quarter drought that hit our Masters planta...."
She frowned and shook her head. Where did that come from? The third quarter drought... that was so many years ago. Back when she was a slave on the plantation, before Gallicia, before... everything... The nurse looked at her with a kindly smile and offered her a plastic beaker of cold water.
"Well, I'm sure you have some happy memories of that place. But here you are and don't drink too much. If you need me, hit the red button, and if the pain gets too much, hit the blue one."
Carm put the water onto the table beside here and smiled her thanks as the nurse walked out.
As she lay in bed she looked up at the ceiling. It was blank, and yet she could see so much in that blank sheet of pure white. How did I come to think of the plantation? That was so many years ago. Put to the back of my mind, locked behind door after door. Things no one knew about, things I hadn't even told Ithiria or Relana about.....
Click
....It was a good time wasn't it. You were happy, you and your sisters and your family. Serving your Master. You obeyed and you were treated well. Obey. Obey your Master....
Click click
....that I was happy. Things were so simple back then. I was happy and I obeyed. There was no refusal because.... people got hurt when I did. Always when I do something wrong, people get hurt. But I can change... can't I?
Click
.... always people get hurt when you disobey. It's because of you that they were punished, or worse. How many punished for your indiscretions? You cant' count it can you because there are so many....
Click click
What have I done? How many have been punished for me..... no please, the memories hurt... the pain is too much to bare. Don't make me see their faces.....
Carmilla opened her eyes and looked up. There was a face on the ceiling, a woman, Celina! No, not Celina, she was dead..... no. She reached her hand up to block out the face that was on the ceiling looking at her. Closing her eyes she tried to breath but found she couldn't, something was stopping her, panic started to rise in her and her eyes flicked open. Celina was still there, the slave she worked with on the plantation, getting smaller as she was dragged away by two guards. She shut her eyes and screamed.
The nurse walked into the room and turned the lights on, sitting on the side of her bed and grabbing her hand, rubbing it and looking at her with concern.
"It's just a nightmare, my dear. Nothing to worry about. Just a nightmare."
Carm pointed to the ceiling.
"She was there, I saw her. Just like before, being dragged away....."
She pulled her self into a foetal position but the nurse gently stretched her back out.
"Now now my dear. I told you before, if you are in pain, hit the blue button. Okay?"
Carm nodded and looked over seeing the blue button, reached over and touched it. The cool plastic feeling more real now she could feel it. Turning her head she looked at the nurse. Tracing the curve of her wrist, past the star tattoo to her sleeve and the rest of the jacket. The bulge of her breasts and the suspicious shape at the base of her spine, tucked into her skirt that could only be a weapon. Suspicious, but probably necessary. One of Literia's nurses no doubt.
"Thank you nurse...."
The nurse adjusted one of the drips, smiled and returned to her station, flicking off the light switch.
At her station the nurse returned to the neural display. It took a while for her to fall asleep, even with the increase in the sedative she had just given. Somehow she was fighting still. An amazing subject she thought to herself, even with the constant vitoc dose and the hallucinagens she still had access to her own reality matrix. The screens started decoding the subjects dream and with a keen eye she read them and smiled, reaching up with the small controller and clicked it, then spoke into the microphone.
"You will betray them all, like you did before. You will sell them all out to save yourself. Everyone you care about you will see die because you will betray them. You will betray everyone you love. But you can stop that.... take your blue pill... take your vitoc.... be a good slave and obey. Always obey.... obey...."
Literia slammed her fist into the top of the receptionists table and reached over, lightning fast and grabbed the front of her tunic. The scarred woman cringed as she was dragged forward, her face an inch away from Literia's.
"What do you mean she was moved? I didn't give you permission to move her!"
"But... but...."
"Where did they take her? Who took her? God damn you talk to me!"
"You're... choking...me...."
Lit let go of the woman and picked up a pen that was on the counter and started rolling it between her fingers.
"It was the nurse, Samira. She came in with the paperwork to move the patient. It was all above board! Here.... check!"
The nurse moved practiced fingers and pulled a small bundle of papers and handed it over. Lit looked it over and scowled. It looked authentic, but the destination was a handwritten scrawl. Illegible.
Carmilla lay in the bed watching the nightmare unfold before her eyes. Figures danced across the ceiling, the white turning red as the blood from her victims as they begged and pleaded and bled. Her finger was pressed so hard on the blue button that it shattered, the concoction of narcotics pouring into her system was fast approaching overdose levels. From her station the nurse watched the bio-screens and fumbled for a hand held hypo, selecting a heavy sedative. As she got up a sound made her turn back and look at the screens, they all flatlined. Looking up through the window the bed was empty. Her empty hand reached around and pulled out her pistol and ran towards Carmilla's room. She had just raised the pistol as she looked into the room when the cylinder of oxygen slammed into her head knocking her out.
She leaned against the wall and looked down at the nurse. The neon blue of the uniform flickered on and off, picking up the pistol she averted her eyes, the glare getting too much. Staggering down the corridor she blasted the lock from the door as it screamed at her, it's mouth opening to let her in. As she fell through the mouth and into the space beyond she stood at the back of the throat and looked down, the darkness below flared with flashing scents of lavender and engine oil, sharp and crisp like a morning fire. Dropping the pistol she laughed as she leapt forward, diving down the throat and into liquid blackness.
Ithiria Deritan sat at her desk when her terminal flashed. Reaching over she tapped a button and read the message on the screen. Her eyes widened as she read the message.
To: Ithiria Deritan
From: Station Security - Sisters of Eve - Rens
Your wife was recently discovered in a critical condition in our station after a severe fall from a luxury hotel. Unfortunately due to her apparent lack of clones she is now in intensive care. We request you come and pick her up as she is disturbing some of our other patients.
Regards
Lucinda Devaraus, Head of Security
.... oh it's no wonder that you lie there with your eyes open looking up at the ceiling with that almost bovine stare. You are little more than cattle, you know it, they know it, you have lost your way. Soon someone will come, but will it be to lead you to safety or to hell? If it was me, it would be to hell. You have done nothing but serve when you should have been leading. You are everything that is wrong with the festering darkness that blights this hallowed land. Given the power to roam the stars what do you do? Kneel. Kneel and kowtow to the people who enslaved you before you were born. It doesn't matter that she is better than the others, she is who she is. Nothing can change that, and better people have tried. Tried and failed. Failed like you failed time and time again. Failure. FAILURE. FAILURE!"
Click Click.
Carmilla shook herself awake and sat up, sweat streaming down her face and looked around. Scared. Startled. Afraid. Breathing deeply she looked at the tubes snaking into her arm, listened to the gentle beeping of the machines that were watching her. Slowly her anxiety began to fade and she slumped back into the bed. Automatic systems lifted part of the bed so she sat up and she shuddered violently.
"Hello?" she spoke with a dry whispering voice,"Is there anyone there?"
A door opened, casting light into the room and a woman walked in. She was tall, a kindly looking face just too plump to be called thin, the roll of her hips and the way her uniform fit indicated something to Carmilla'd mind, but she couldn't place it. So familiar, yet so.....
"Nice to see you awake, my dear. You've been asleep for a number of days."
"Where am I?"
"You are safe. The secure medical facility you were brought to after you passed out in the club you were in. Several people have been looking in on you. Quite a popular patient. Feel like eating something?"
Carmilla shook her head.
"Just a drink please?" she shook her arm jingling the tubes,"These are good for the body, but I need something. My mouth is as dry as the third quarter drought that hit our Masters planta...."
She frowned and shook her head. Where did that come from? The third quarter drought... that was so many years ago. Back when she was a slave on the plantation, before Gallicia, before... everything... The nurse looked at her with a kindly smile and offered her a plastic beaker of cold water.
"Well, I'm sure you have some happy memories of that place. But here you are and don't drink too much. If you need me, hit the red button, and if the pain gets too much, hit the blue one."
Carm put the water onto the table beside here and smiled her thanks as the nurse walked out.
As she lay in bed she looked up at the ceiling. It was blank, and yet she could see so much in that blank sheet of pure white. How did I come to think of the plantation? That was so many years ago. Put to the back of my mind, locked behind door after door. Things no one knew about, things I hadn't even told Ithiria or Relana about.....
Click
....It was a good time wasn't it. You were happy, you and your sisters and your family. Serving your Master. You obeyed and you were treated well. Obey. Obey your Master....
Click click
....that I was happy. Things were so simple back then. I was happy and I obeyed. There was no refusal because.... people got hurt when I did. Always when I do something wrong, people get hurt. But I can change... can't I?
Click
.... always people get hurt when you disobey. It's because of you that they were punished, or worse. How many punished for your indiscretions? You cant' count it can you because there are so many....
Click click
What have I done? How many have been punished for me..... no please, the memories hurt... the pain is too much to bare. Don't make me see their faces.....
Carmilla opened her eyes and looked up. There was a face on the ceiling, a woman, Celina! No, not Celina, she was dead..... no. She reached her hand up to block out the face that was on the ceiling looking at her. Closing her eyes she tried to breath but found she couldn't, something was stopping her, panic started to rise in her and her eyes flicked open. Celina was still there, the slave she worked with on the plantation, getting smaller as she was dragged away by two guards. She shut her eyes and screamed.
The nurse walked into the room and turned the lights on, sitting on the side of her bed and grabbing her hand, rubbing it and looking at her with concern.
"It's just a nightmare, my dear. Nothing to worry about. Just a nightmare."
Carm pointed to the ceiling.
"She was there, I saw her. Just like before, being dragged away....."
She pulled her self into a foetal position but the nurse gently stretched her back out.
"Now now my dear. I told you before, if you are in pain, hit the blue button. Okay?"
Carm nodded and looked over seeing the blue button, reached over and touched it. The cool plastic feeling more real now she could feel it. Turning her head she looked at the nurse. Tracing the curve of her wrist, past the star tattoo to her sleeve and the rest of the jacket. The bulge of her breasts and the suspicious shape at the base of her spine, tucked into her skirt that could only be a weapon. Suspicious, but probably necessary. One of Literia's nurses no doubt.
"Thank you nurse...."
The nurse adjusted one of the drips, smiled and returned to her station, flicking off the light switch.
At her station the nurse returned to the neural display. It took a while for her to fall asleep, even with the increase in the sedative she had just given. Somehow she was fighting still. An amazing subject she thought to herself, even with the constant vitoc dose and the hallucinagens she still had access to her own reality matrix. The screens started decoding the subjects dream and with a keen eye she read them and smiled, reaching up with the small controller and clicked it, then spoke into the microphone.
"You will betray them all, like you did before. You will sell them all out to save yourself. Everyone you care about you will see die because you will betray them. You will betray everyone you love. But you can stop that.... take your blue pill... take your vitoc.... be a good slave and obey. Always obey.... obey...."
Literia slammed her fist into the top of the receptionists table and reached over, lightning fast and grabbed the front of her tunic. The scarred woman cringed as she was dragged forward, her face an inch away from Literia's.
"What do you mean she was moved? I didn't give you permission to move her!"
"But... but...."
"Where did they take her? Who took her? God damn you talk to me!"
"You're... choking...me...."
Lit let go of the woman and picked up a pen that was on the counter and started rolling it between her fingers.
"It was the nurse, Samira. She came in with the paperwork to move the patient. It was all above board! Here.... check!"
The nurse moved practiced fingers and pulled a small bundle of papers and handed it over. Lit looked it over and scowled. It looked authentic, but the destination was a handwritten scrawl. Illegible.
Carmilla lay in the bed watching the nightmare unfold before her eyes. Figures danced across the ceiling, the white turning red as the blood from her victims as they begged and pleaded and bled. Her finger was pressed so hard on the blue button that it shattered, the concoction of narcotics pouring into her system was fast approaching overdose levels. From her station the nurse watched the bio-screens and fumbled for a hand held hypo, selecting a heavy sedative. As she got up a sound made her turn back and look at the screens, they all flatlined. Looking up through the window the bed was empty. Her empty hand reached around and pulled out her pistol and ran towards Carmilla's room. She had just raised the pistol as she looked into the room when the cylinder of oxygen slammed into her head knocking her out.
She leaned against the wall and looked down at the nurse. The neon blue of the uniform flickered on and off, picking up the pistol she averted her eyes, the glare getting too much. Staggering down the corridor she blasted the lock from the door as it screamed at her, it's mouth opening to let her in. As she fell through the mouth and into the space beyond she stood at the back of the throat and looked down, the darkness below flared with flashing scents of lavender and engine oil, sharp and crisp like a morning fire. Dropping the pistol she laughed as she leapt forward, diving down the throat and into liquid blackness.
Ithiria Deritan sat at her desk when her terminal flashed. Reaching over she tapped a button and read the message on the screen. Her eyes widened as she read the message.
To: Ithiria Deritan
From: Station Security - Sisters of Eve - Rens
Your wife was recently discovered in a critical condition in our station after a severe fall from a luxury hotel. Unfortunately due to her apparent lack of clones she is now in intensive care. We request you come and pick her up as she is disturbing some of our other patients.
Regards
Lucinda Devaraus, Head of Security
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