Third circle of the Empire
The mansion
When I was ready for the mission, I heard a knock on my door and said that whoever was on the other side could enter: Kadi... I doubted that another creature would ask for permission. I watched him walk slowly towards me, as elegant as a glass of champagne.
He was wearing a tieless black suit with silver details embroidered on the shoulders that contrasted with the gold on my dress. We were like morning and night, facing each other in the twilight.
"You're... Presentable." He muttered, probably still frustrated with me.
I displayed the fabric of the skirt, with all those eyes.
"And what do you think I'm thinking of you?"
He raised an eyebrow and the corner of his lips, cruelly charming.
"Aren't you the one who has to say?"
"I'm more curious about what you think that I think than what I actually think." I leaned into him, swinging the pearly eyes on my skirt. "Be sincere."
He ran a hand through his hair and, after hesitating, he studied me.
"I think you're thinking that..." Kadi gave a flirtatious little smile, and then the words escaped him, "I'm the most attractive person you've ever seen in your entire life. Did I get close?"
I blushed; because that was what he was thinking of me, and the eyes in the dress reflected it so he thought it was my thoughts. But maybe my opinion wasn't so far from that.
"Good guess... But wrong." I moved closer so that my fingers adjusted his lapel. "Because I found the most attractive person I've ever seen in my own reflection."
He laughed. And then he watched me for a moment, until the question formed in his mind and he let himself say it out loud:
"Are you ready?"
I lifted my eyes to his and, as easy as that, I felt so translucent. There was nothing I was thinking or feeling that he couldn't perceive... Everything exposed on the surface more than if I were naked; and that scared me as much as those beasts that could smell my fear whenever I sweated. Humans were dangerous too... Because we were trained from the very first opening of our eyes to read the emotions in those who watch us... The only one of our communications that could not lie.
"Don't try to change my mind." I muttered.
"I've already learned from my defeats, Doxy... You can't convince the sea to give up forming waves."
I tilted my head.
"But what if these waves are a tsunami?"
"If it's sunk deep enough..." He moved closer, his eyes sinking into me in search of the lost cities I'd swamped inside. "You can't see the waves on the surface..."
"But they're still there... And I don't want to be a tsunami..."
He lifted his hand to my face and touched it gently, calming the turmoil below.
"You're the sea. And waves are just the answer to earthquakes... But the sea never succumbs to its own storms."
And I wanted to believe that...
Maybe I could survive the feelings that exploded in my chest, and the Aulics would become the ship I would sink with my waves.
Kadi offered me his arm, which, with a deep sigh, I accepted, diving into what awaited us.
• • • ֍ • • •
We landed the ship on a street full of space vehicles on the edge of a pine forest. We disembarked into the cool of the night, and I felt the wind sweep my exposed skin through the gaps in the flowing dress. The breeze brought Kadi's fragrant scent to me, and as he turned back to me, his eyes gleaming with anticipation, I felt a shiver spread through my body, each hair bristling like hands in surrender. It had been a long time since I'd been so intrigued by what one night could bring.
We made our way across the dark purple tiles towards the entrance of a gigantic mansion. The facade was unveiled behind the trees, filled with white marble columns carved with arabesques that supported a triangular roof, also purplish. In front of it a fountain gushed jets that writhed in colorful shapes, dancing in perfect synchrony with the music that exploded in the mansion and drawing us in like flies in the deadly embrace of a carnivorous plant. This was a creature's home; and I could only remember the wreckage of mine.
In front of a pair of white marble doors, two guards, who I had almost mistaken for the mansion's columns, watched everyone who entered with their intimidating posture, but didn't bar anyone. Feigning confidence, Kadi and I walked through the entrance portal and the hall opened in front of us. Its glossy black floor reflected the ceiling, where projecting clouds moved and illusory stars blinked in an attempt to mimic the constellations that were right there, behind the layers of concrete and marble above. Inside there were also pale columns, close to the walls, where windows let in the colored lights that shone from the outside, painting the dark room with shades of violet and navy blue. From the ceiling hung chandeliers of crystal and starstones, illuminating the rounded tables and velvet seats that spanned the room. And, in the back of the room, a shiny stage was waiting for the moment to be used.
We retired to a discreet table that only had two seats. On top of it rested a bottle, which Kadi opened and poured into two glasses a bubbling black liquid that seemed to contain a starry night in every sip. I took the glass, but I wasn't thirsty.
We observed the environment for a few minutes, watching some beings entering and others already moving to the center of the room, stimulated by the music that filled every inch of that place, including our core. Many others, however, just remained in their seats, waiting for something...
"Wanna Dance?" Kadi took me out of my mind.
"Trying to distract me from the mission?"
"Trying to remind you to enjoy the party."
As if it were so simple...
"And who said that dancing with you would be my way to enjoy it?" I opened a little mean smile.
"Her eyes, asking me to invite her."
I cracked a smile, unsure if it was the eyes on the dress or mine to blame.
"I think you're starting to see mirages, Kadi."
"I would have to be really thirsty..." His green eyes landed on me, and my mouth went dry. "Dance with me, Donecea Gaxy. It won't kill you."
When he spoke like that, it was hard to deny...
I picked up my glass and turned it over in my mouth, waking my heart. A lightness took my body, as if it were possible to lift my feet off the ground. The colors became more colorful, the lights brighter, the music louder, the feel of the fabric softer, and I wondered what Kadi would taste like in my mouth if I took him like that glass... My senses had been perfected, as evolution within the reach of the tongue and I could not escape the danger where that unbridled courage took me. Everything had become possible; and now that I could hardly wait for the host to arrive so I could strip his skin, a dance no longer frightened me.
Then my fingers pulled Kadi for me.
We moved to the center of the room and Kadi slowly took my waist, his fingers stroking the skin of my bare back and his eyes, dark, studying me. He pulled me and my body slammed into his hard, knocking the breath out of my chest and putting a smile on his face. My fingers trailed down his arm and, with a spark of courage, I let them wrap the back of his neck. I fell in his eyes... They made me feel special until I was special.
Being wanted had never been my goal, because my mother had raised me to be efficient first of all, no matter what charm I might have. I still remembered the expectations she had placed on my shoulders and knew my limits were an offense to the part of her that lived in me. Maybe it was for the best that Gaxy was dead, before the heartbreak of finding out what I was doing; and what I had given up.
My mom had taught me to rest only when I was on a pedestal that most people wouldn't bother climbing, and I'd learned to love that pain under my feet during the climb. She said that no one would help if I asked, because no one understood that pain; and those who understood it would not be willing to help.
But now that I faced Kadi, I was sure she was wrong. There would always be someone who would reach back, no matter how much my pain wasn't theirs. And those pedestals that once were my life now seemed so far below that I felt silly for having thought they were so important before.
Still, I couldn't escape the climb.
With the war, there was still do much to climb; there was still a lot to fight. But now, at least, I knew I wasn't alone.
I tried to read him as much as he read me, hoping we wouldn't fall into the trap of speculation. Kadi had the eyes of someone who, if I let him, would devastate me... I wanted to destroy him and be destroyed, consume and be consumed, cuddle and be cuddled, and the way his hand touched my waist and caressed my skin told me he would be really good at all that stuff.
A sigh escaped me as I lost myself in his emerald eyes, and I gave myself so much to them that I didn't even notice, until that moment, the third eye on his forehead. It was a golden camera that broadcast everything in real time to the rebels and, for those who didn't know, seemed to be just a gem.
"They're watching everything..."
"I think they want to see what you can do." Kadi whispered. "Or maybe they just want to enjoy the view..." I slapped his arm.
"You are more flirtatious today than usual."
He shrugged.
"You're more irresistible today than usual..." And then I hid my face in the crook of his neck so he wouldn't see me blush. "And I confess that I also imagined that I could seduce you to give it up..."
I stepped back.
"I thought you had already accepted."
"I had... But then I saw the fear in your eyes before I asked you to dance to distract you..." He blew out a breath. "I just hope you are choosing this, and not letting your hatred do it for you."
"Kadi..." I whispered. "My hatred for the Aulics is not my only reason for wanting to join the rebellion." He raised an eyebrow and I realized I needed to tell him what was on my mind. So I whispered in his ear: "I need to find out why my mother created the cure for the aericosis after she helped the revolution. I need to understand why she decided to betray them... And then why she asked me on her letters to go to the galaxy's core..." I backed away from his ear, back to his eyes. "I feel like something terrible is coming..." I swallowed hard, remembering the visions that filled my eyes when my mom injected that cure into me... Why did I feel like the end of the world was around every corner? "And somehow this is all connected... I just need to figure out how."
Kadi touched my face gently.
"Apparently you really know what you're doing." I opened a smile.
"I always have a plan."
• • • ֍ • • •
At some point the music faded and our ears were hit by the footsteps of a creature emerging onto the previously empty stage, the shock of each footfall against the marble drawing our eyes. Everyone turned to where the lights converged, illuminating a spot where, as if he owned the world, the host emerged into the light.
And when I saw him, my eyebrows rose.
"This quest just turned out to be pretty easy, apparently..." Kadi purred over my shoulder and I nodded silently.
The host was a human.
Too easy...
"One day they asked me why I don't bar anyone from coming to my parties..." He began, speaking in our human language, but with an accent that only those who lived a long time in space had, his words slurred between the voice of a drunk and a child's. But neither I nor Kadi had that accent... Maybe because some of us tried hard to never forget. "And I always answered: why would I prevent someone from seeing me?"
Everyone laughed and cheered, as if his words were all they had been waiting to hear for a long time... Such a respected human could only have done something very important, because not even my mother, being an Aulic, received applauses from anyone.
Wearing a suit made of pure elegance that gleamed under the lights, the host slowly descended the steps from the stage, greeting the crowd with those human hands of bones, blood and ambition... Just like mine; but I think even mine had more calluses.
I took the full glass of Kadi at our table and downed the drink at once, letting myself be consumed by my own courage. Before I could go, though, Kadi touched my elbow and whispered in my ear:
"I'll be at screaming distance."
"And the screaming won't be mine."
So I walked to the host with feline steps. That night I was no longer human. I was a being of illusions, like a peacock; a being of conquest, like a lion; a being of power, like Gaxy. And, until the end of that party, I would have the key to my destiny in my hands.
I approached the host, peering through the crowd that swayed like grass on a hunting prairie. He had hair as golden as the entire metriona palace and was covered head to toe with luxuries that only a lot of greed could conquer. He talked to his visitors with a high-pitched laugh, pretending to appreciate what others said and begging them to like him, because he wouldn't survive otherwise. Everything about him felt like a struggle to be what he wasn't, to be respected more than he deserved.
I almost felt sorry for him. But his laugh was so annoying...
I caught his eyes from afar. His vision wandered over the jewels that adorned my body, exactly as it should, - frighteningly as it should - and I wondered what those metriona eyes were showing him, what he was thinking and thought I was too... Whatever it was, it made him walk straight towards me.
"What a nice surprise..." The host greeted me. "I didn't expect humans to come."
"And why not?"
"Because one has never made it this far... Besides me, of course." He let out that laugh, and every time he opened his mouth, I wondered when he was going to close it.
A tray passed me, floating on magnets that repelled it from the floor, and stalked across the room like one of the guests. I retrieved a glass of that black drink from it and took a sip, as if the answers were at the bottom.
"Times are changing..." I shrugged.
"Yes." He looked at the beings around. "With each event my clients become more and more varied."
Customers? Interesting.
"I wonder what you have to offer this time..." I said vaguely.
"The best of my technologies so far." He smiled proudly and I could almost see him salivating at the fortune it would bring him. "But the next batch is going to be even more impressive..." I raised an eyebrow.
"I'm here to see it."
But I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
He looked me over from head to toe.
"Maybe I can show you... If you're a worthy customer."
I took another sip.
"You tell me..." I shifted my shoulders and the eyes that covered my body sparkled in every inch of fabric. "If I'm worthy enough."
The host opened a smile full of pedantic white teeth.
When he looked into the mirror I had become he saw only his own fortune, his own glory, his own worth; and there was no weapon more powerful than a man's vanity against himself.
But then he came over and growled in my ear:
"Those pearls on your dress... I know they're metrionas' eyes."
Damn it.
"Why do you think that?"
"Because this technology is mine." Damn again. "Who gave it to you?"
"A friend."
"What friend?"
"One that doesn't have a name I can say." I shrugged, pretending my fingers weren't trembling around the glass.
The host pulled back and looked at me once more, as if the answers were somewhere in my skin. He opened a sly little smile.
"The metriona told me he would send an emissary... I just hoped it was someone... Bigger." Because little humans were not the creatures that were sent to space missions; and the metriona knew enough of this to warn the host about the emissary and ensure that I succeeded in Korrok's task. I couldn't fail now. "Follow me." And I obeyed, after sending a look to Kadi.
• • • ֍ • • •
The host guided me through the corridors of his mansion, white columns strewn all over the walls. I couldn't hear Kadi's footsteps, but I knew he was close to me. My body could feel his presence, like a constant force that raised the hairs on the back of my neck.
The human owner of the mansion walked to a pair of metal doors and swung his forearm in front of a panel on the wall, which glowed in response. The doors then slid aside and the entrance opened before us, to reveal what he kept there that the rebellion wanted so badly.
Under the skin... That was where the key was.
We entered the room, gray as the inside of a safe, the silver floor connected to the ceiling by pale columns... And completely empty. Why so sealed then? What was happening? I heard the sound of doors closing behind me and sent a sidelong glance to the narrowing doorway, where Kadi quickly slipped through and locked himself there with us.
When the host turned to the entrance and saw the intruder in the vault, he ordered to something I could only imagine were the walls:
"Kill him."
In the blink of an eye, the columns supporting the roof sprang to life and sped toward Kadi. Guards... Every column we passed in every corridor of that palace had been guards.
And I thought that would be easy...
Claws exploded from one of Kadi's hands and slammed into the guards, shattering them in a shower of white plaster pieces. Some of the enemies collapsed like crumbling statues, but there were too many for Kadi to defeat. I tried to run towards him to help somehow, but the host grabbed me by the arm with a lecherous smile that seemed to revel in the chaos and stopped me from going. One of the guards threw himself on Kadi's arm and pinned him to the ground, while the others hit him with marble kicks to the face. Scarlet splashed across the floor and I tried to wriggle free once more, but the host was stronger than me.
"The key!" Kadi grunted as a blow landed in his ribs and I swore I heard the sound of bones breaking. "Finish the mission!"
He was suffering because of me; because I was so addicted to flying close to the sun that my burned eyes couldn't see it anymore... But as much as it made sense, that wasn't how I felt. It couldn't be my fault.
It was the host's fault!
When I felt the fire burn in my veins I pulled the scalpel from my dress and flew it down the host's throat, narrowly missing my aim to rip his face open. The man grunted and flinched, unsteady enough that I could move closer. I reached out and pressed the tip of the blade into his neck, holding myself tight to keep from digging it deep.
"I've spent many years studying iatrics, so don't doubt me when I say that if you make any move, I'll tear your carotid." I growled in his ear and the host chuckled, holding back the curtain of blood running down his face. I squeezed the blade a little more. "Tell them to stop. NOW!"
He held up his hands in a sarcastic surrender and ordered his guards to stop, like he was just doing me a favor. Kadi fell, panting, back to the ground, as I held on to keep from running toward him and ending up losing the host's artery. I could stick the scalpel in that damn man just for the pain he'd caused Kadi, but that wasn't in our plans. So I just hissed:
"Open the doors and kick out your guards."
Which, to my surprise, the host obeyed. He slowly approached the door, unlocked it with the key in his arm and ordered the guards to leave, while my blade held onto his neck. Maybe he could break my hand and steal my scalpel, but I doubted he would dare now that Kadi stood up, staring at him with pure blood in his eyes.
When we were alone, I retreated to Kadi's side.
"What do you want? Starstones?" The host growled. "You can take as many as you like. A bucket is not needed for those who have a waterfall."
I stared at Kadi. His jaw was set, as if he was thinking about accepting the deal, picking up the starstones and simply turning away. He didn't do the works of the rebellion for free, after all; Kadi needed those stones for some reason. But there he just sent me a sideways look and whispered:
"The key is more important."
"And Korrok told you why?" I raised an eyebrow.
"No... He just said it wasn't the kind of mission we could fail."
"And that's why you wanted me to give up? So I wouldn't get in the way?"
Kadi stared at my crossed arms and shrugged.
"You are the one saying that."
I snorted. But looking at the wounds on his face that I hadn't been able to stop, could I really blame him? I turned to the host.
"We want your arm."
And I reached out my hand to receive it, but he didn't even move.
Kadi approached the other human with steps that made me shiver, raised his glowing claws in front of the host's face, and roared with his voice between his and the fevino's:
"You give her your arm or I'll rip it off. Your choice."
But the host didn't move now that all his smiles had crumbled and he looked like a pale statue.
Kadi grabbed it with the fevino strength. I covered my hands with gloves and the host tried to pull away, but he wasn't strong enough. I saw his mouth think of muttering a plea, but apparently he was too proud to do it, so I stuck the needle in his arm and squeezed the plunger for the anesthesia to invade his body. I wasn't a monster; and I didn't want his screams to get the attention of the guests.
When I was ready to cut the skin, my eyes made the mistake of falling into the host's pale face. He might be a rich bastard, but his eyes were as human as mine; and how could I fight for a better Empire if I was so willing to tear the skin of a being like me on the orders of worse ones? Humans should come first than missions, Empires and even than the force of my disgust, because it would be for us that I would try to change everything; for those who hadn't even been deemed worthy enough to be here and yet were; for those who, when I became an iatric, I vowed never to use my knowledge to hurt.
And that man was a human too.
Not easy at all, really.
My fingers could no longer bring the blade closer together, as if the skin could repel the scalpel. So I tucked it into my dress and Kadi stared at me.
"What is the problem?"
"I'm not like them..."
I'm not like Gaxy. Because I need to be better.
"Doxy..." Kadi warned, distracting himself a second long enough for the host to break free and retreat across the floor, but he didn't make it far.
"But I will not give up." So I lowered myself to the level of the host and, with an unusual delicacy, asked: "What were you going to show me?" But he didn't answer. I approached slowly, hands and nails scraping the floor, as if I might attack at any moment. "Tell me soon or worse beings will come after you. And they won't do you the courtesy of using anesthesia."
"I know that!" He growled. "That's why I can't say anything."
I sighed and looked around for answers the host wouldn't give us. It was then that I saw on one of the walls of that safe a second panel, different from the one that opened the door through which we entered. And when I turned to the host, he was now agitated, trembling, nervous... That was where the answers were hidden.
I pointed to Kadi, who quickly understood and pulled the host by the arm toward the panel. The man screamed how stupid we were as he tried to break free, but his fury only made me even more curious to know what he didn't want us to see. When his arm was close enough to the panel that it could identify the key beneath the skin, the wall creaked and dipped to the ground, revealing a large shed.
"No! No! No!" He screamed. "They'll KILL me!"
But we couldn't care less now that we were faced with a room filled to the brim with unfamiliar machines.
I approached slowly, reluctant feet guiding me through structures that ranged from delicate wires to armor-like metallic masses... Enhancements... and all designed to create soldiers from ordinary beings. That was what this party was for, apparently: to sell improvements to the rich; and this was the next wave. I sent Kadi a look, as surprised by all this as I was.
'This seems more important than a key..." I whispered and he smiled reluctantly as I turned back to the host. "Who will kill you?" The man choked on his words, his neck hanging on the rope of his secrets.
I slowly approached the enhancements and slipped my fingers around one that looked fragile enough to not withstand the force of gravity. Before the host could beg, I pushed it to the ground and the upgrade shattered in a shower of metal shards. A roar erupted from the host, as loud as if he himself had fallen from the heights of the world.
"The Aulics have reserved these enhancements!" He yelled, before I approached another one. "And they'll kill me if I don't deliver them! All of them!"
"Why would you show them to the metriona's emissary then?"
"He wanted to know my products! To order the next shipments!" The man swallowed. "But I couldn't show it to anyone! Much less for earthly humans like you!" He spat, as if being from Earth was the biggest curse possible. "They'll kill me for this!"
Kadi laid a heavy, clawed hand on the host's shoulder.
"You're rich, aren't you? So run away." The human cringed under his weight and shook his head sideways, as if that was impossible. He had probably never fought for himself to value the power of courage; and he had never been taught to see the people around him other than tools he could use and discard. "And if at any noxdiem you get enough courage, join the revolution. But not now... You probably wouldn't survive the loyalty test."
I sent a sharp look to Kadi, who sent me a smirk.
"Why did the Aulics trust you to build these improvements?" I asked the host, ignoring Kadi, who approached the rows of enhancements to inspect them.
"Being a human?" It wasn't quite what I had in mind. "I'm good at what I do... Good enough for them to forget what I am."
I snorted and sent a look at Kadi. He was distracted, trying on with his clawed arms a metallic glove that fitted him as perfectly as if it had been made for him... And that's when I realized... Even so varied, those machines followed a very clear pattern: all had been built with one species in mind:
"Humans..." I gasped. "The enhancements were made for humans."
The host confirmed.
"So that everyone can be good enough too."
I looked around at those machines. I doubted they were capable of making the Empire see humans as anything other than disposable tools; I doubted that any power we had would make them forget what we were. That wasn't the answer Earth was looking for... It was a sentence. I blinked at the tears that tried to form in my eyes as I flew them through the chaos those upgrades would cause if they were in humans' hands and summoned Earth to war.
Aulics and rebels despised humanity alike, so why should we fight for any of them? Why should we take their battle as ours if we were expendable on both sides? Why would we shed so much blood if we were always replaceable? Earth had struggled hard to recover from past crises, but from a battle like this there would be no going back; and this was not a death worth fighting for.
I faced the host, the man who delivered Earth on a platter to the Aulics. Couldn't he see what he was doing?!
"Have you ever stopped to think how many humans will die if these improvements reach the hands of the Aulics?!"
"We are in a war!" He growled. "Someone has to die!"
He saw it very well from there, in his mansion in the heavens. He just didn't care. Just as I should not care about him.
"Let it be you then." I stretched my spine. "Because the Aulics won't have any of them."