Tisis

Kill switch (S)

Just what is going on here...?
Was it a malfunction of that implant of hers?
Or was it murder?

But there weren't any signs of struggle, just those traces of smut and the freaky liquid that ran from her ear...

Judging from her facial expression, whatever happened to her was pretty painful...speaking of which...what was she even doing in that room?
Aren't these the prison cells?

But she is a council member...why would she be locked up in a prison cell?

...maybe she wanted to visit someone, just like Eva did with me...but whom?
And for what reason?
And if she did, what happened to the guard detail she would have brought?

Could maybe an animal have caused this?
It would have to be tiny, otherwise there would have been an uproar a long time ago...but if such an animal did exist...why did it not attack us?

I lean back on my mattress against the wall and mutter, "No, that doesn't make sense...I'm overlooking something here...something important..."

A thought of how Zero hid himself in a cocoon until he was fully grown pops into my mind and my eyes grow wide at the thought.
"Shit!" I exclaim and startle to my feet and bang against the door.

"Hey! Let me out of here! The entire colony might be in danger! We need to burn that damn corpse right away!"

But no response, except for the echo of my own voice.
Go figure...why would anyone even listen...alright Sirus, Zero took multiple weeks to finish his...what did Nym call it? Gestation? But...he turned into something huge...damn, they could all already be dead out there and I wouldn't even know!"

I bang against the door again, when I suddenly hear steps coming closer and startle back.
It's just a single pair of feet coming closer though.

The door opens and, much to my surprise, Julia stands there, completely unharmed.

She walks inside and the door closes behind her.

"...you do know that you can only open this door from the outside, right?" I ask, still a bit flabbergasted.
"Don't worry about that, the mistress managed to open my door, she will open your too, when the time comes."
"The...mistress? Eva? Eva sent you?"

Julia shakes her head slowly, her movements a little sluggish.
Something...is off about her today.

"Julia? Are you...are you okay?" I ask, unsure if I should be touching her.
For all I know, the thing that got Gaia is already inside her.

Now the composure of the girl falls apart entirely and she begins crying relentlessly, what she might have wanted to say being drowned by her uncontrollable sobbing.

...lovely.
How am I supposed to handle this one now?
I know how to wring necks and smash skulls, but they don't train this out in the wild!

I let out a long sigh and do the only thing I figure I can do.
I pick up my thin blanket from the mattress and wrap it around her shoulders and wait quietly for the waterfall to stop.

When she finally calms down again, I start hearing single words that actually make some sort of sense.

Things like 'I'm so sorry' and 'This was never supposed to happen'.

...no way, is she confessing the murder of Gaia just now?
No wait...no jumping to conclusions, Sirus. That didn't work well for you in the past, it'd not going to help you now.

Eventually, when she seems to have calmed down sufficiently, I carefully ask, "Feeling a little better?"
Julia merely nods, still fighting her sobs.
"Good...now, I take it you didn't come here, because you like the view of the walls so much...so what 'mistress' were you talking about earlier?"
"M-mistress Nympromedonalas, of course."
"...yeah, right, of course...why didn't I think of her immediately when you said 'Mistress'..." I mutter sarcastically, wondering what's going on between Nym and these girls.