Tisis

Conjecture (S)

Eva is standing there, as white as a sheet, flanked by two of the dogs.

"Eva, what did you mean by that?" Nym repeats her question, but Eva just keeps staring at the mutilated corpse of Julia.

"I...think we should take this discussion outside," I suggest.
It's one thing to kill in order to have something to eat, but to see the corpse of a close friend like that...I've seen my share of death and destruction, but this is borderlining 'too much' for even me.

Nym nods and we leave the room, leaving the corpse behind.
After sitting down and having a sip of 'the good stuff' which makes you drowsy if you have too much, Nym repeats her question for the third time.

"Ah yes...yes...I'm sorry. You...you said this 'Valkyrie' used the implant to talk to Julia and that it 'called her to battle'?"
"That's my suspicion, yes...to elaborate a little further, I assume that something used the implant to try to enslave her...and she knew it. But before it succeeded, she chose to end herself."
"And...you are sure that she didn't just go bonkers? I mean...this life is...difficult, to say the least."

I shake my head and explain, "There hasn't been anything particularly traumatic as of late. She adapted well, had a lot of joy with her new family...so either she's the best damn actor I've ever seen or...well, let me put it this way: She wasn't a typical suicide candidate."

Nym nods, "I agree. She was the liveliest of the lot of us. Sure, she had her own worries, but this suicide note doesn't match with someone with a depression. If anything, it would hint at a schizophrenic condition."
"Schizowassit?"
"Schizophrenic. That's when the own personality splits into various aspects and often manifests itself as 'voices in the head'...and more often than not, these 'voices' are harmful and try to steer them to do wrong and destructive things."
"Voices in your head trying to make you stuff...sure sounds like someone we knew, huh? Good thing she's dead."

Nym lets out a long sigh and then says the words I've never wanted to hear, "I...am not so sure about that, Sirus."
"What...makes you say that? I...I mean, we blew the whole thing to kingdom come! She...she can't still be alive, right?!"
"It...is just a gut feeling, Sirus. But Rose she...she created all life on this planet. She is connected to everything that breathes in this world. I...I want to believe her gone myself, but what...what if she had a backup somewhere? What if she is still alive...and now trying to exact revenge on us?"

Eva clears her throat audibly and asks, "This...'Rose' you speak of...who is that? I...I thought this world was uninhabited."
"You didn't tell her, Sirus?" Nym asks.

I scratch my head and reply, "I...thought I did. Didn't I? About that maniacal AI thing that wanted to use Nym as breeding stock to create an army?"

Eva looks up to the ceiling, apparently rummaging through her memory and finally responds, "I'm...sorry, I can't remember. You probably did, but I must've erased it from memory, since it was dead and we had other problems."

"Yeah, about that...you said 'even more than we know'...what was that all about?"

Eva takes another cut of liquor and downs it with a single gulp, "Yeah, sorry, it's just...a little hard to swallow, that something like that could exist."
"Welcome to Tisis, where the 'impossible' might lurk just beyond the next corner," Nym explains, but quickly falls silent again.

"This...passage about the 'one true mistress' you read to me irked me. You...remember that Nemo sputtered some nonsense about 'the will of the mistress being absolute', right? I had thought it to be the ramblings of a madman, but...in light of this development...what if he...what if this 'mistress' actually exists?"