It was a slow night aboard the Sequester. Quiet. Boring.
It wouldn't be long before they reached Endelon 2. Selene had been in her room thinking about the preserver she just killed, about what would happen if she was caught in a war between two ancient alien races AND the protectorate.
Her talk with Aboleth about what it means to be a leader.
When she heard the chime sound that meant someone was at her door.
She got up and set her tablet to the side. She'd been looking at clothing options Zephyr suggested—she'd die before she wore any of it. Selene lazily went to the door and opened it.
"What?"
Dr. Bryant was standing there with a concerned look.
"Have you seen Aboleth? The colony is reporting sightings of scantids outside the hive and I was just wondering what her intentions might be."
"Well she's not in here."
Selene closed her eyes and focused. Feeling for that connection she had with all her Zykra. Being in such close proximity it should be no problem. But she noticed something.
She couldn't sense any of the Zykra on board.
"That's weird." she said then. She hurried out of the room with Dr. Bryant hot on her tail. Asking her many questions like "What's wrong?", "Where are you going?", which she ignored.
She checked the pantry first. All of the Zykra were still inside.
"Aboleth?" she called out as she hurried through the ship. "Aboleth??" she called into the cargo-hold. Nothing.
"Ms. Carrington, please calm down I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation."
She hurried up the ladder and went into the pilots cabin. Empty. As she walked back out she saw a glistening purple pool in the barracks hall. Dr. Bryant was just making his way up the ladder then.
"Aboleth!" She cried out and ran across the room to the pool of Zykra blood.
To Zephyrs door.
Which was open.
With a body of her most trusted ally and confidant at Zephyr's feet.
Her eyes were red from weeping. Her brother stood next to her trying to console her. Zephyr saw Selene and her face went white with fear.
Selene wasn't thinking about her yet—she had looked down at the body. Aboleth's eyes were closed as if she was sleeping peacefully. Her almost black purple hair was draped over her face as she laid on her side. Antennas lulling down limply.
Her heart sank in tune with her knees. She knelt into the pool of blood and scooped up Aboleth before hugging her close. She began to cry.
This broke Zephyr. She began to cry too.
"My god!" Dr. Bryant called out as he caught up with Selene. He looked into the bunkroom at the two blonde siblings; "What happened!?"
Danny spoke for Zephyr pleading their case; "It was an accident! The device activated on it's own—they were having an argument and when Zephyr touched her it created a blade of light that cut her!"
Raymond came out of his door then.
He was in a bunkroom across the hall from Zephyr's. He was rubbing one of his eyes sleepily; "What's going on—" he saw. He turned into his room and vomited.
"Aboleheheth!" Selene sobbed. She was waking up to the crushing reality that this wasn't a dream.
"How did you not notice this Raymond!?" Dr. Bryant shouted at him as Raymond wiped his mouth and blearily turned to face him.
"This wasn't here when I went to my room—her door was closed! What the fuck man!"
"I'm so sorry Selene!" Zephyr nearly screamed and went to touch her shoulder. But Selene slapped her, leaving purple streaks of Aboleths blood on her face.
"Don't touch her!" Selene stared beams at Zephyr. She'd never felt anything like this before. Who did this? What accident? The device did this?
Her head felt dizzy.
"Take it off..." she said tiredly.
"W-what?" Zephyr asked.
"TAKE IT OFF!" she shouted, not thinking to use her powers. But she didn't need to. Zephyr tried to pull it off but it wouldn't go.
"I'm trying! I'm tryinging!" she cried.
Dr. Bryant looked at the seriously fucked up situation around him and knew he would have to be the voice of reason. His ingenious mind was working over time.
"The device may sense it's operator is distressed and is refusing forced removal.. An item so advanced as this also likely responded to Zephyrs intent to stop Aboleth and misinterpreted that will offensively..."
"Then I'll cut it off!" Selene stood up after setting Aboleth down. Her eyes began to change color as antenna began to sprout from the top of her head. Her shoulders popped outwards as she began to expand.
Dr. Bryant got in between them; "Selene you're not thinking rationally and I completely understand! But we can not blame Ms. Erikson for not knowing the device could harm Aboleth!"
"I don't care! She can always get a new arm!" she went to push past him. "I'm throwing that fucking thing into a star!"
"Selene wait!" Dr. Bryant called out, failing to stop Selene as she pushed past him. Danny put Zephyr behind him as they retreated further in the bunkroom.
"We can still save her!"
Selene hesitated then.
"...What?" her transformation halted mid-way. Selene looked back at him. One eye was normal and the other was a vibrant violet color with a tear sliding down her cheek.
"We..." Dr. Bryant huffed, "Can still save her. She was originally created from the body of a cadaver, remember? It will be costly but she can be revived!"
Selene's breath hitched. She still stole glances towards Zephyr. Unsure if she should do something violent to the person she was pretty friendly with just hours ago. Zephyr herself was weeping inconsolably. She'd retreated into the corner of a bunk in fear and shame.
Meanwhile Dr. Bryants eyes were flicking around quickly as he thought.
"We... We will need to get her to Ku'senai. Her Zykra are the only ones that could do it, we don't have the time to produce them ourselves. We—Oof!"
Selene hugged him fiercely. Her clawed hands wrapped around his back. Which gradually transformed back into human hands.
"Please! I'll do anything!"
Dr. Bryant was surprised. But a relieved look flickered in his eyes. He hugged her back, rubbing her back tenderly. "Of course dear, we'll do everything we can. I'll divert course from Endelon 2 and head for Ku'senai's domain immediately." he glared at the two Erikson siblings behind Selene. Almost as if to say; 'I'm watching you.'.
They had looks of surprise, relief. Gratitude. Danny hugged his sister and stroked her hair.
"It's okay, he said we can fix this." Danny told her.
"I'm so sorry Selene!" Zephyr repeated again and again randomly in the minutes that followed as they prepared to move Aboleth's body. She'd left the bunks corner.
She tried to step into Selene's gaze. To lean in and gain some kind of eye contact. But Selene refused every time. Sobbing softly as they wrapped Aboleth's body in a body bag.
Selene had wanted to kill her accident or not. There was no doubt in her that Zephyr's grief wasn't real. And Selene couldn't think of a reason why she would kill Aboleth. But it didn't matter. She would've died just now if Dr. Bryant hadn't assured her that it was possible to revive Aboleth.
"Clean this up." Dr. Bryant said as he took Selene out of the hall and back towards the ladder porthole. Raymond looked down at the blood all over the floor. In the cracks of the door. "W-with what? How?" he asked, he was affected by all this too.
But he was ignored.
"I-I want to see her..." Selene said weakly.
"You'll be able to see her the entire way, I promise Selene." Dr. Bryant said.
Danny carefully carried the small wrapped body on his shoulder as they made their way down the ladder. His expression was one of confusion and shock.
They would keep Aboleth in the cargo-hold for now. Until they reached Ku'senai's domain.
Dr. Bryant waited for as long as he could after that.
But the Zykra on Endelon were becoming increasingly restless. They were fine with hunting the area around the hive... But their activity was getting closer and closer to the colony. They would have to defend themselves soon.
He went into the cargo-hold to see Selene sitting—hugging her legs close. Glaring at the crate-holder across from her.
It was a hovering device that transported crates. Aboleth was currently laid on it with the body bag unzipped to reveal her face.
"What should I do?" she asked as she heard the door close behind him.
Dr. Bryant considered his words very carefully. Recently Aboleth had very successfully replaced him as her primary advisor, and for good reason. He didn't want to make it seem that he was attempting to replace her.
"..I think.. Zephyr is very regretful about what happened." he spoke like a person might at a funeral.
"What if it was Camden? Or Mom? You said she can be brought back because she's a Aboleth. But they can't be."
"I see." Dr. Bryant said remorsefully. The first time someone experiences the death of a close one is quite surreal. It has a way of shifting a persons perspective. And when that person has access to potential immortality granting powers... That shift can be dramatic. The potential was great.
And dangerous.
But this all was beneficial towards his plans. He would have to be honest about what he wanted, what the Zykra's potential was. And what their limits were.
"Your family can become Zykra if they decide to. You have quite a bit of time to make that decision. Ask them what they think. What they want. But the truth is Selene... In order to revive Aboleth once more, she would have to ascend beyond what she was. Even the Zykra are not immortal. The power that revived Aboleth before changed her permanently. And it will do so again."
Selene tilted her head towards him. Her eyes tired and streaked with dried tears.
"She'll be like me?"
He shook his head. "No. But much closer. There are many levels to the hierarchy within the Zykra. If you were a queen, this would be like promoting her to serve as a royal guard."
It was complicated. The revival process wasn't so much a revival process. It was more of taking the biomass of an individual and using it as a mold to create something new. Something more. But there were limits to that. And there was always a cost. A limited number.
"She deserves it." Selene said quickly.
Dr. Bryant sighed. He went across the cargo-hold and stood on the other side of the body bag.
"We'll be asking a favor of another encephalon Ms. Carrington. A great favor. It is no short task to elevate a Zykra servant to this level. It will take sufficient biomass and a good deal of essence from yourself. You will be weakened for quite some time. Vulnerable. There are..." he searched for the words to say.
"I don't care. I'll pay whatever it takes."
Dr. Bryant smiled a bittersweet smile. He'd remembered when he first faced something like this, and could he blame her? Of course—it worked towards his long term goals. But he'd almost wished she would just give up on Aboleth. And be careful forming such intense bonds so quickly in the future.
Aboleth was only fulfilling her duties. The duties her physiology compelled her to do. Major Masuka's talent as a commander in life certainly played a role and whatever residual personality had a part as well... But.. Was it truly like having a friend?
Would they be a friend if they could never defy you? To tell you that your ideas or actions were irredeemable? Absolute faith is not authentic affection.
He wished it was in his best interest to tell her this now. But it was not. That was never his kind of priority in life anyways, if you asked him it was far over appreciated. The Zykra are correct in seeing it as a weakness, a byproduct of natural evolution.
"Ku'senai will be receptive to your request Ms. Carrington. I would like you to be prepared. In exchange, she may ask you to do what may appear to be a terrible thing."
Selene looked up at him in disgust, as if he was a messenger on behalf of the cruel world that offered her the bitter truth that her friend had died.
"What terrible thing?" she asked annoyed.
"To invade a world. To turn over an ally. A demonstration of loyalty or capability like this."
"I'll convince her." Selene said with the upmost confidence.
"Of course. She chose you for a reason after all. It's not that you don't have any leverage yourself. Use her investment in you as a bargaining chip in negotiations... One more thing before I go—the Zykra on Endelon are becoming restless. You may want to shift form for some time each day and confer with the psyphera in the pantry."
"I don't—" Selene's breath hitched a bit as her eyes watered. She dipped her head between her knees then; "I'll do it in a bit."
Dr. Bryant didn't say anything then. If only he had a way with words... Charisma like Aboleth had. Then this would be far easier. Those fool Erikson's proved to be more beneficial than he'd believed they would be. But it was such a distasteful manor to achieve his aims of molding Selene into a proper Zykra queen.
He left the cargo-hold then.
He'd made his way to the pilots cabin and slowly filled a glass with brandy before sitting down at the hologram table which was currently off. It was quiet, besides the sounds of Raymond mopping the floor outside in the barracks hall. The low lights that simulated sleeping hours created a serene environment.
It was almost as if fate had intervened at the most opportune moment. Now he would be able to speak with Ku'senai herself. About these strange aliens. Their devices and what the purpose of these devices could possibly be. While encouraging Selene to disregard her more human sentiments.
He sipped the brandy and considered it all for a moment. So many developments. Conniving mutiny's, aliens with a penchant for violence against the Zykra, and their queen—on the verge of burning the universe down on behalf of a single servant she'd known for a short time.
So volatile. So dangerous. But there was much potential in someone so malleable as Selene.
What to do about the Erikson's? Should he make their deaths look like an accident when they arrived to Ku'senai's domain? It would be poetic justice. But perhaps their loyalties could be assured through assimilation. It's not that they are without their uses.
They sure put on a convincing act before. That's an asset he could make use of. A weapon to use against Selene's enemies. As spies, saboteurs. Potentially.
A hundred different eventualities played out in his mind. Like a great game of chess. One where he would emerge on top, with the ability to ensure his ultimate goal of complete understanding.