Cyberknight: One Path

⁕ Sea of Broken Shards (part 3)

Despite having nowhere to go, Beth decided that enough was enough. That night, while everyone was asleep, she packed up her torn winter clothes and escaped the shelter.

[Beth] - "I'll come back for you. "

Whispered Beth as she stared at Dan for maybe the last time.

Being young and naive, her frail body was simply no match for the dangers of the northern winter. Soon, she could feel her body warm up before her consciousness slowly faded away. Luckily for her, she was saved by an old couple who just so happened to drive by her.

Just like that, she was taken and cared for by the old couple for a few days. Due to their advanced age, they couldn't afford to raise her, so Beth was transferred to an Imperial recruiting officer disguised as a member of an adoption agency. Just like that, her new life began once she was discovered to be crystal sensitive. However, she never forgot about her little brother and promised that she would reunite with him someday.

At her ceremony into knighthood, her master stood before her with a sword on her shoulder.

[Master] - "By the Emperor's will, you are today granted the rank of a knight of the military. You will be known from this moment onward as a martial knight of the cyberknight order. You bear the symbol of the cyberknight today because you swore to be a dark angel of justice against a world tainted by rot. You will be loyal only to your Emperor and your Empire alone. You will never serve yourself again upon taking this oath, as you give your life to the service of the people. Do you accept your title, Beth? "

[Beth] - "I do, my master! "

With her words loud and clear, the master finished her ceremony by tapping his sword over both of her shoulders and her head. As soon as she was made a knight, technicians surrounded her with their machines. One stamp after another, the shiny golden symbol of the cyberknight was cast upon different areas of her armour.

During the war, Beth served with the 14th fleet, the Seven Anchors, with her ability mostly used to help the fleet immobilize bombardment targets. These were her glory years. However, for each moment of humanity she displayed, there was an act of savagery somewhere else.

As Beth dropped into the battlefield and helped civilians evacuate the artillery positions, people passed by her with gratitude as they faithfully touched the cyberknight diamond on her shoulder. As Beth seduced one of the Imperial officers with her body, her armour remained on the floor like a pile of trash while she cast the shadow of her naked body over it. As the same man she seduced was getting accused of treason on the bridge, she was silent and cold, knowing she was the one who orchestrated his downfall. As the trigger was pulled against the man's head, his blood splashed over Beth's cyberknight diamond, betraying its noble shine with the dirty taint of crimson.

Every moment, every act was what defined her as a person. Not the total monster portrayed by KD-554, but not as the noble knight she swore to be either. As Beth kept looking at herself in the window, she didn't see a monster or a saint. It was just her, Beth, a flawed girl who had lost her way in the fires of a collapsing Empire.

Suddenly, the door to her room burst open as KD-554 stepped in holding a bouquet of white lilies. Without a word, but with a silent, sinister smile, KD-554 put the flowers on Beth's bedstand.

[KD-554] - "So! How are we doing? Do you think you are ready to get back to work soon? "

[Beth] - "I... I don't think I want to continue this way anymore. If you could transfer me somewhere else for another line of work, that would be great. "

Said Beth without raising her eyes.

[KD-554] - "Why? I thought you loved the thrill of working for me. I thought you had the drive and passion to manipulate your way through my men and crown yourself as a fake queen like you did back in the Empire. "