The first thing he realized was that there was a stickiness on his skin and rancid smell. Oseser blinked his eyes open and immediately hissed in pain- looking down at himself in the darkness. He felt his couch for a minute and groaned, "Full brightness!" He ordered Aipa and lights that were usually set to dim or nonexistent flickered on. Roaches scattered from his kitchen and he jumped at the sudden movement.
"God-" He groaned, putting his head in his hand for a moment as he moved to sit up. His flesh stuck to the couch fabric and he pulled his hand away. Oseser stared at it for a moment, then slapped the side table for his glasses. He knew that they wouldn't help him identify the substance on his hand. Now black and crusty, it left behind a ring that he could relate to a coffee mug that had been well used. His eyes widened, that rotting smell came from him.
This was... blood? He stood up from his couch and started to rip off his shirt- growing more and more alarmed with every spot he found. He hyperventilated as he ripped off the sweater from his chest, then took off his pants finding blood on it. Where was he hurt? Why couldn't he remember being hurt? This much blood- he must be dying- he must be-.
He ran into the bathroom connected to his apartment to look at himself and skidded to halt in front of the mirror. His face was splashed with blood- as if he had been in a slaughterhouse. He quickly tried to wash off his face- letting the water drip through his hands turning bright red. "Oh my god- Oh my god-" He whispered, searching himself. "A-" His voice failed and he had to swallow, "Aipa, when did I come home last night?!"
The AI took a moment to respond. "You returned home at cycle four of the station's current time-keeping period." He shook where he was, holding himself up on either side of his sink. He needed a shower- he must have tripped coming home or- He twisted his torso to turn back to his main room when a sharp pain went down his arm.
Oseser turned to look at it, eyes widening. He was burnt- badly- all down his arm. His eyes widened at it, mouth a thin line. It looked like the acid burns on the men who would repair pieces of Mother. Had he gone down to the floor after being in his office. The sample... He frowned, trying to remember what had happened to it. He had destroyed it- right? He had. He was taking out the garbage when-
"You figured out Mother needed living specimens." His throat tightened and he collapsed onto the bathroom floor with a sharp enough bang he vaguely thought his neighbors would come to check on him. "Oh god, what have I done- What did I do?" He near moaned, "Where have I been, Aipa?! Where?! Track my chip- tell me-"
The AI processed and while he still raved on the floor responded, "I have no records of you being anywhere other than this room and your office, Doctor. All files have been erased by an admin user."
"Who?! We don't have an Admin on this station!" He felt the wound on his arm weep as he crawled the main room, snatching up the clothing and throwing them in the garbage too. "WHO!?"
"The station does now, Sir. By my records-" She was interrupted by another voice that was similar to her own. "Incoming Call: Office Line "Umass"."
Oseser stood up, realized he was naked, and snapped, "Turn off all lights! Answer!" He stood in the darkness, trying to calm his breathing.
"Oseser?" Anicus asked, a small picture of her appearing on the top of the monitors in the room. "Oseser, you there?"
"Here! Yes, what do you want." He snapped and she frowned at the screen.
"Why is it dark?" Her eyes narrowed and he fidgeted, coming up with an answer.
"M-My camera is disabled. For security reasons if you must know. We hold information vital to the project so you-"
She sighed, "Yes- I get it. Thank you for explaining it to me." Anicus' voice dropped as she moved her headset piece closer to her face. "I need you up here. Pareese was taken in last night. I want to question him about the sample and anything else he knows. Beltha agrees that you were framed for it and so does General Roarialis. He signed the arrest warrant."
"I thought you were only planning to detain him?" He asked, feeling around for some fresh clothing as he spoke aloud to the room. The woman shot a look at him that could kill in the darkness.
"They overruled me obviously. They thought the threat to the project was bad enough- so they plan on holding him here until trial. Meanwhile- the foreman downstairs is saying Mother is having some weird as fuck readings." She trailed off, looking at a different screen somewhere. "And I haven't been here long enough to understand what I'm looking at. How long will you be?"
Oseser thanked anyone who would listen to him that the lights were darkened. He covered his mouth with his hand. After too long of silence Anicus' tone grew colder. "Alright there, Oseser? Or will I have to run this shift by myself. I know you're under a lot of-"
"No! I mean-," He spluttered, "I mean, no, thank you. I can do it. Just a little bit of- food poisoning. Yes, from last night. I'll be there in a minute. Lost track of the time. I had a breakthrough and I..." He looked at a roach that was catching the light of the monitor in his kitchen. "I'll be right there."
Anicus looked at the black screen for another moment before it was cut off from his end, sitting back in her chair. That was odd, even for Oseser. She shook her head, snorting to herself. Oseser had a big enough time frame with his 'food poisoning' to do something she wasn't aware of- but what?
Pareese would surely turn him in and things would be back at square one again. Maybe a guilty conscience from Oseser making the report? That was usually the reason why people gave up very good positions in war to do something stupid. But Oseser wasn't that type of man from what she could tell. Her eyes flicked back to her monitor, something was definitely different. Mother's charts had gone from red and downward- to blues and greens- flashing stranger readings that the foreman and some office workers truly seemed surprised at.
But as she had told Oseser, she wasn't used to this. And even without her credentials- she was a soldier who infiltrated for rescue missions or detainment... or worse. But reading graphical charts about efficiency ratings that she didn't even know what connected to? She was a fucking soldier not an engineer. Not fifteen minutes later Oseser was at his desk, twitchy and irritated as usual. "Didn't sleep well?" She asked him curiously, running a pen across an official document. The man glanced at her with a look of utter disdain from every part of his being.
"No, throwing up is not my favorite activity." Oseser shifted, as if he had hurled after all and didn't want to talk about it. "Why do you ask, do I look tired? Because I'm in the finest shape I've ever been in."
Anicus nodded slowly, with a smile as if she believed him, "Sounds like it really put you down then. When I've had food poisoning it usually lasts a few days. Especially on station food. Where did you go to eat? Now I can avoid it."
Oseser hadn't thought anyone would question why he had been late- so he hadn't thought about how to make it more believable. Like, where he had eaten to get sick or how long it usually lasted. On a planet, people could go out of their way to get new food- on station the rumor of food poisoning could make or break a business. "I-I cooked myself." It came out wrong and he rephrased immediately, "I cooked. At my apartment."
She whistled, "Wow, I don't think I would have admitted I was such a bad cook out loud..." She chuckled at him and Oseser grew red in the face. Her smile was coy, as if she knew he was lying but wanted to rub his nose into his own theoretical shit.
"I think I'd like to do rounds now!" He snapped, standing up from his desk. Anicus stood up as well, almost laughing at his reaction. She had just wanted to annoy him a bit; she hoped it made him nervous enough to tell her everything that had happened- though obviously, she wasn't that lucky. Oseser marched his way past her, twisting back suddenly to grab his forgotten clipboard. He hissed through his teeth and Anicus paused.
The sound had brought back a memory from a too recent past. She had been on the frontlines doing a private operation again for the Syndicate. The men of the unit assigned to her protection had utterly destroyed her last mission- but she had returned alive with the information she was sent out to get...solely by stepping over their corpses. That hiss was pain, not with her proximity. She let out a breath, looking at Oseser now. "Are you alright?"
He swallowed and he picked up the clipboard more slowly. "I burned myself slightly while cooking- I've administered first aid already." He stepped away from Anicus, licking his lips. "Nothing to worry about."
Anicus stared at him and then her gaze went to his arm that hadn't picked up the clipboard- seeing his sleeve was slightly bulkier than the other arm. If he hadn't drawn attention she wouldn't have noticed immediately. But she shrugged, then followed him out of their cubicle on the way to the elevators. Oseser hit the button several times as the door struggled to shut on them. She cleared her throat. "Anyway, now that you're back. I wanted to discuss the ruins on the planet with you." The elevator stopped at the main floor for Mother and they walked toward her.
"Why?" Oseser asked her briskly as he walked toward the zone where Mother would drop her 'gifts' or 'creations' down for the team to clean off and inspect.
"I find it curious that Mother was found on an asteroid surrounding a planet that seemed to have intelligent life on it at some point. Was she a part of the planet we're surrounding?"
Anicus made her case logically, pointing out the research she had looked into and his own information on it. Oseser cleared his throat, surprised a lackey from outside their station had actually put the time into it, "Those are... several good observations... but I've already looked into it early into my promotion to Manager. The ruins and Mother have not shown any signs of connection to each other. We've dated the ruins much farther back than when we found her." He explained, stopping to look up at Mother. A man not too far away was mopping. He was large and quiet, not speaking to anyone else nearby. His beard caught the light with all it's a jewelry and the shine drew Anicus' attention.
Her eyes didn't leave the man who mopped as she spoke to Oseser. "Just seems unlikely is all. Do you think the Rabid know something we don't since they've been living in the ruins since the Rebellion?"
"Those are odd questions, Anicus." He said slowly, narrowing his eyes at the head of Mother. "Ones that I don't want to speculate on. You know what I said and that's what I've done. The Rabid just want to torture the station in revenge for being cast out. They're terrorists."
The janitor looked straight into her eyes then, his face as passive as ever before he went back to mopping up the black tar that covered the ground. Where his boots touched sizzled with the interaction- but rubberized material didn't thankfully melt. There were scars on his hands and she didn't look away for another moment.
"Who is that?" She asked Oseser and he glanced at the direction she nodded toward.
"MiKy'el. The head of sanitation for Mother. Nothing but a simple janitor. He'll do what you ask him to, but nothing more." He said reproachfully as if he could be bothered to address him at all. He didn't have time to be worried about who Anicus wanted to invite out to lunch-
There was a deep gurgling noise rattled in Mother and Anicus stepped back several more steps. She didn't want to be near this. If it was as bad as she imagined through reports of how it was done, she wanted to know where the nearest bucket was. Oseser checked the clipboard. "This should be the first test of her new objectives, correct?" He asked the foreman who waited off to the side with his team in suits and their washers ready.
"Yes sir. She's supposed to make a seed or seeds, and research will see if it sprouts anything." The man typed in the command for her to commence operation.
Anicus starred as Mother moved, she fought down the urge to make a little scream as the monster choked, rising its 'head' a little and the mouth unhinged. A thick bulge could be seen gurgling up from the tube that resembled a throat and then her maw opened wider and wider. Anicus croaked, the smell making her eyes water. Something was rotting inside Mother. "That's a little big to be a seed."
Something dropped from her maw. The whole room was quiet; shocked at the size and the smell- usually it smelt of burning plastic on the floor... but this? This was unholy. The men waited a split second longer than they should have and Oseser snapped at them. "Come on, come on, we haven't got all day."
They started to pressure wash off the mass of black tar, first on a light setting and then on a heavier one. One of the pit crew let out a scream and fell backwards. "Oh my god- OH MY GOD-" She got louder, crawling away from it. The other two men on the team went around and backed away.
"What?! What's going on?!" Oseser demanded but didn't go near the blob or what they were seeing on the other side of it. Anicus was braver, and grabbed his arm, practically shoving him toward the other side of the mound. Either wanting him to come with her to see it or now she wouldn't be alone he didn't know. Oseser felt his stomach twist as if he really had been food poisoning the night before.
They were gathering a crowd of workers. Anicus stared at the mass. Whatever monster it was- it wasn't right. The mass looked as if someone had spat out a black oily piece of bubblegum, but it had teeth and a twisted- near the human-like face. But it looked... like a dog. A very fucked up dog that had fallen into the vat and been... recycled. Anicus said nothing as she looked down at the half machine, half skeletal body of a rotting corpse. The facial features had all but been erased. The face was mutilated beyond recognition but... "Is this what you meant by all the animal experiments were... failures?" She said to Oseser, looking at him for a moment longer than she had to. She let him go, and the moment he turned away a few paces, he threw up.
XXX
The project should have been shut down a long time ago. The project should have been buried right then and the Syndicate would pull her out. She should be home in her own apartment on Romeo Station texting her. But no. She was here, listening to Beltha bitch at her men who were putting the thick mass into a body bag to eject out into space- waste management her ass.
Beltha had ruled it accidental. A dog had fallen in; the creature had taken it like anything else- and that was the end of it. When she had demanded an answer as to why she wouldn't at least do testing, Beltha had brushed her aside with a half-assed answer of 'it's above your head'. Had the General contacted her personally? Why all the secrecy for an accident? But as the men in suits tore into the body- they found just one dog- but several animals. Like someone had dumped the entire pet cemetery into Mother and walked away. It made her uneasy- and just plain sick on her stomach.
"Then at least tell me that I've been approved to question Pareese." Anicus sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. She was going to get divots soon enough from the amount of times she did it- or honestly, probably an aneurysm from dealing with Oseser. He was now in medical- having vomited up to the point of passing out, delightfully in his own vomit, and been whisked away to be treated for not only the burn marks on his arm, but now for "food-poisoning". At least that story had somewhat checked out now.
"You may." Beltha told her with arms crossed in front of her broad chest, "But keep in mind, to let security do the leg work." Her eyes narrowed at her, "You're a manager, not a secret agent." Anicus' eyes narrowed at her. If she only knew how far and close she was at the same time. But she did have a point, Anicus knew she couldn't knock on doors and flash her badge like her team could. She would have to be quieter- she was just an acting supervisor and not the one who held their entire fate in her hands.
"I just want to know why- Why he has it out for the project." She took a new direction, "If I do get something out of him- will you be able to look into it? -Further than your nose. Anicus watched her consider that.
"If there is a substantial case behind it, of course." Beltha looked her up and down, "My men have already put him through a few rounds of questioning. I'd love for you to get anything that I haven't got out of him." The tone meant she severely doubted it but the smaller woman truly loved the idea of a challenge.
"Then while Oseser is still cleaning himself up, I'm going to check in on him." Anicus replied dryly, looking back of what basically equal to a cube of meat tar at this point still being stuffed into the bag. Beltha stopped her with a hand before she left.
"You know over thirty missing pet reports popped up last night." Beltha told her, staring into Anicus' dark eyes with her own. The smaller woman frowned, furrowing her brow.
"What? -How?" Did they not have the ability to make sure this didn't happen? Those people had their chips and trackers and- How could anyone steal that many pets in one night and not get caught- and what the actual fuck did that have to do with anything going on now?!
"All the residents that were home," Her hand dropped and her eyes glanced to see who was close enough to hear them. Beltha's teeth showed for a moment, "Said the doors opened up, and the animals- cats, birds, dogs- fucking hamsters- all screamed and ran. Checking the cameras? They disappeared. Dark hallways, vents, cracks in the wall- now this." She gestured to the body bag that was still being packed with the tar liquid. It was starting to seep from the bag now. Suddenly she was glad they were ejecting it off the station.
"That..." Anicus opened her mouth and then shut it, not having any idea how to respond to that new round of information. What could make the pets run for their lives from their own owners? A signal? Fear? "The owners didn't-"
"Nothing out of the norm. Some cookin, cleanin, watchin tv. Normal. Then all of a sudden the door opens and the pets run away. Only happened on three floors." Beltha stared at her and Anicus stared right back.
"You're not gonna tell me, are you." Anicus sighed, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Did I not just say, let us do our jobs? I'm tell'in you this so when it comes up later you don't think I'm withholding. We'll look into it." Beltha side eye'd her, "But if Pareese reveals his momma has a super dog whistle, you let me know."
"His second is his mother?" Beltha nodded that was correct and picked that point to shout loud enough it made Anicus' ear's ring to her second on the platform catwalk above them. "Oi, prep Pavel for another round of questioning too. Got it?"
The hulk of a man nodded and stomped off without a word to either women on the lower deck. It made Anicus' skin crawl that she hadn't noticed him loitering above them. If he had been a sniper, she could feel where she would have sighted her own red dot. She'd have to pay more attention to where he came and went on orders of Beltha.
"Thank you, for the information," Anicus told the taller, who nodded her head ever so slightly. "I will speak to Pareese... but honestly, which levels were they? I might be able to get something out of him. Are there any connections to them?"
Beltha slowly shook her head. "None to Pareese." She left that hang there and Anicus narrowed her eyes at her, so she shrugged, "Level 34, 33 and 32."
Anicus ran that through her mind, and why Beltha had added the pointed stare at her. She said nothing, only nodded before adding another hasty 'thank-you' as it dawned on her. Interesting. She pulled up her station map and pulled up her favorite locations while she rode the elevator out of their research wing. Doctor Oseser, Mel'jam J. - Level 33D.
XXX
She had entered the security office like she had before and been taken to Pareese on Beltha's admittance. Sitting across from him now though, she almost wished she hadn't latched onto making this man the temporary scapegoat. While it had been used mainly to draw Oseser's neck out for her to chop, it hadn't worked. And Oseser was still a problem too, but for now, he was in medical where she could track him. But as of last night... It dawned on her only now that she could have used the system to track him in security. Damn, why hadn't Beltha brought it up?
Now the man stared at her with a mixture of hatred and fury, knowing she had been the main part of this play. Anicus fiddled with the memory record stick in her hand. A small, cylindrical bar would record the entire conversation for her later use. It also made everything out recording, monitoring, listening or trying to think in the area that was augmented or machine- go dark. An effective little bubble for tight-range communication. Not that she really expected that much of this conversation with his expression. She had to somehow convince him that helping her would lead to something being done for him. He looked bruised and tired, and very irritated.
"Doctor Pareese, I'm here to speak with you about your situation, and about some recent occurrences we're wondering if you had involvement in."
Pareese said nothing, only waiting with his arms crossed in front of him. For such a thin man, he seemed to tighten further with his rage.
"Are you aware that someone, or something, led to some thirty animals being dumped into Mother?" She wasn't going to mix words, and Pareese seemed shocked out of his pissed-off posturing for a moment.
"The leaks are from Mother. You were correct. Oseser is trying to hide the evidence. You're currently under detainment because..." Because my commanding officer wants to see if Oseser can bring back a fucked up form of life- so it doesn't matter what he does and you're just a casualty. "Because we need to gather more evidence against him before the other council members will move. Your record will be expunged and you will be listed as a station hero for your assistance. These are my credentials. I'm a Private Ops Sector servant that is here to manage the situation." She added a smile to Pareese. Sprinkle a little deception and a little bit of truth. The woman showed him her badge, and he took a full minute of staring at her before he looked at the projected image above her hand.
Pareese took a minute to process before he shook his head, "You- You absolute bitch- You have me arrested-" The anger was boiling up again and she sighed. Well, that tactic didn't usually work anyway.
"Look! I know we got off on the wrong foot- but I am actually here to help you. I didn't know Beltha was going to be that violent with you. This was just supposed to be a conversation and a paid house arrest. If you work with me, I might be able to get that arranged." She definitely wasn't keeping that promise. But also in the little bubble, she could make a lot of promises she wouldn't and couldn't keep. And right now, the other man had no idea to what extent her power was with the Syndicate.
The man narrowed his eyes at her. "What exactly do you want to know?"
Anicus went straight to business. "You found the leakage- anything else while you were exploring the pipes? He's gotten rid of the only file that you've sent. I can get into his email with admin access but I can't undo his purge deletes. I need copies if you have them."
He snorted, "Mother's disgusting blobs are everywhere. It's like a fungus in some parts of the station. Most of it's just in Petal 7- I don't know how it got there but Oseser does." He seethed the last part, "He's going to poison us all if you don't put a stop to it. My mother has a copy of all my information. That's what I want. And the house arrest. PAID, mind you."
Pareese took another breath, his breathing was wheezy at best when he unraveled himself. Not giving her really time to respond to his demands. She might put in a good word- but that's about it. Getting Oseser behind bars would be a personal delight though, so she could at least honor that one. "People have been disappearing for years. Animals too. Not that many in a night. He is escalating and it's violent- something is helping him too. Covering his tracks- maybe an AI in the system. He talks to himself constantly like a lunatic!"
Anicus thought the last part was just him, but she couldn't deny that he did seem distracted at times. The man hated speaking to people, but he was damn good at speaking to walls and glaring at you. But she nodded nonetheless. "Alright, do you know anything about the connection between the planet and the mother project?"
He shook his head, "Not my division... But I always suspected that something was wrong with the monster. We aren't allowed access- the other leaders and I- to his labs like you are. I've only seen the beast in images and it's vomit too." He shivered in his seat. The planet predates it though from what Gilchrist has said."
"Gilchrist is the head researcher on the surface, correct?"
Pareese nodded, "Him and his daughter, Spectre."
"Do you think the rabid are down there?"
The man rolled his eyes, "The Rabid are a myth!" He shouted, her brows raised and he shook his head. "They are literally a story you scare the newcomers with. The elevator was old, the Rabid are something that happened during our grandfather's times. They died out a long time ago and now we blame everything bad in the station on them. Don't fix anything, make up a ghost story! The station dwellers here are superstitious hicks!"
Anicus huffed, "Beltha, Oseser and pretty much everyone else is convinced otherwise."
Pareese rolled his eyes at her, "Like I care what any of those narrow-minded people think. The real threat is Mother. Oseser's father was an evil bastard- perhaps only mildly worse than his son. Mi'kyel was disfigured by the man several times. The entire family is a war crime."
With what things had been pointing toward so far- it seemed like it. She didn't argue as she asked, "Anything you've noticed gets rid of this fungus?"
His eyes darkened, "Fire. And it doesn't like it. It's only little patches here and there, so we can take care of it with plasma torches, but still. It's spreading."
That was enough information for now she figured, and stood up, pushing the chair back underneath the table. "Thank you Pareese. I'll speak to the council about your situation immediately and will return if I have any more questions." Pareese actually looked a little pleased as she left and the smile dropped as soon as she was out of the airlock.
XXX
Thoughts bounced around her head on the way home. She put her hands into her jacket pockets with a sigh, heading toward her apartment. The hallway was cold, just like the rest of the station, and completely void of sound. Or... rather save one. She slowed down to listen to the sound of running footsteps coming toward her- she frowned, spreading her legs slightly apart- ready to take on whatever attempted to jump her if that was the intention. Around the corner came a boy with a purple sash on his waist, he barreled into her and then rolled around her. "Sorry ma'am!" He yelled over his shoulder as he kept running at full speed around her.
"Kids." She shook her head, breathing out a sigh of relief. Anicus had wanted a family at one point, but with the war, she didn't see it as a good time for starting one. Something crinkled in her pocket and she froze mid-step. Her fingers carefully reached inside her pant's pocket, knowing that she hadn't had anything on her before the teen rolled off her. Her eyes zeroed in on her door and she got inside first, locked the door, and then pulled the note out of her pocket.
It was handwritten in a script she didn't recognize- and anyone could tell Oseser's scribble at a mile. This was not someone she had seen yet, and she had a near-perfect memory.
'The Rabids are not what you think. If you want to know more about the beast I suggest we meet.' She read to herself then moved her thumb out of the way of the location: down in the cargo hold, this one used for standard types of non-refrigerated material. Anicus licked her lips, "Helios... We have contact."
He war whooped before jumping into an earpiece she pulled from her locked side drawer with a sidearm. Coat packed and ready, she left, slipping what almost looked like jewelry over her ear. "About time I got to look around." Helios purred in her ear.
She put in her own code for putting the apartment on defense. She walked out of the apartment and the door locked behind her, heading back the way she had come for the cargo hold. Anicus didn't leave her room without a gun on her now, weapon scan permits would have to be gotten sooner than later, but Helios could take care of scanners until then. "Looks like the Rabid wants to talk after all."
As Helios took all the data she had gotten from her conversation with Pareese, he laughed at her observation. "Pareese would be losing his mind at the moment." She snickered too, knowing exactly what he meant.
XXX
The cargo hold was a dark place and she could swear she heard the sounds of dripping liquid from Mother in there too- but didn't see any pools of it. Crates were stacked far above her head with holding dates and numbers on them. It was almost like where she had been taken to see Mother's core samples, only this was at least far less cold and a lot smaller.
She stopped under the box that had the numbers written on the sheet of paper in her hand. A voice, low and gruff, called out to her. "So you're the one the Syndicate sent."
Anicus didn't turn around to look at the voice, "And you're MiKy'el... right? So you're the leader of the Rabid- and Oseser thought you were a simple janitor."
The man's voice did not change, but he repeated Oseser's words. "Ah yes, well. It is 'so easy a monkey could do it'."
Anicus shrugged, "I don't speak for my partner. Oseser has problems that would take us all night to discuss. And I highly doubt he suspects you of running an underground terrorist organization. Or am I being too hopeful of who you really are?"
"You're quick." MiKy'el nodded to her, standing straight. "The Rabid have no leader. Just each other. But for now, I represent a spokesperson on behalf of them all."
"You must be pretty highly regarded if you speak for all of them. There are quite a lot of you I understand."
There was a long quiet pause before he spoke again, "Not as much now."
Anicus moved out of the light to see him better and he didn't back away from her. "There are things you need to know about Mother. Things that you should keep away from the Syndicate at all costs."
"Tell me what they are and I'll determine if it needs to stay away from the Syndicate." Her voice was soft, "I can get you asylum in the Syndicate for your crimes. If the Rabid were under pressure to do these things by Oseser I can get you-"
MiKy'el snorted a laugh at her, "Do you think we care about absolution from our sins? You think Oseser is behind all of this? No- You have no idea who is behind all of this. It's her."
"Her? Mother?" Anicus rolled her eyes, "I'm done with the religious shit-"
He hissed at her softly, holding up a hand to lower her voice, "I do not worship Mother as others do. None of the Rabid do- I believe in the old gods of man that know this is an abomination. Mother herself has become sentient and each day she grows stronger."
"Do you have any way to back that up?" Anicus crossed her arms.
"The accidents are her doing. Testing her abilities among the station's protocols. She speaks to some people through the chip in their necks- making them do things. The Rabids have chosen to live free from her influence and aid the station where we can in hopes that we can eventually kill the creature down. We need Oseser to find out how."
"She speaks to people? Through their chip?" Disbelief was thick in her tone. There were thousands of reasons why people didn't just do this constantly. The chips weren't designed to be neural links or transponders- just trackers. They shouldn't have the capability!
MiKy'el nodded, "Oseser hears her. Anyone with a chip hears her bidding from time to time. Every single accident was her doing. The elevator crash we were only able to rescue those trapped inside in the nick of time before the shaft exploded in an attempt to kill us off. Most of us are planetside now, trying to rebuild on its surface. But the supplies never last- so some of us stay here to send them resources and power cells to the fabricators. Ones that your government covets so greedily."
That explained it- they really weren't transporting people via the shuttles. It was just the supplies that they already believed were going to the right people. Gilchrist must have been working with them as well. "Why are you telling me all of this?"
"Because I need you on our side if we are able to be free. Mother is too powerful for anyone to control. You have to keep her from spreading. This is only the beginning."
Anicus shook her head, "Do you realize how all of this sounds?"
The man did not speak for a moment, "I know you do not believe. But soon you will see. Pareese will be in grave danger soon enough. Oseser will move things into play for her to rise. It has been seen."
"Who has seen this?" The woman thought for a few seconds before looking back at him, "What do you want?"
"We have our ways to see what will come." He smiled, knowing she was working with them after all. "Oseser. He knows how to destroy Mother."
Anicus huffed, "I know how to destroy mother and you know that. You just want revenge. Well, you can't have it yet." The soldier moved away from him, "Yet." There was a noise in the distance and she wondered if it was his friends.
There was a silence then. As if she had said something that he hadn't known. Mikyel shook his head slowly, watching her back away and leave their meeting."Send word with LeLush if you change your mind. Or if you... decide you would like to share your knowledge." There were more people now watching her leave than had been there when she came in.
"I think we should have skipped this meeting..." Helios murmured worriedly, finding a route for her and locking every door behind her quickly on the way back to her apartment. She didn't think they had made friends, but they hadn't outright killed her. And that had to count for something...
Helios sighed in relief as he checked the security cameras in the halls behind her. "Clear, but good grief, my risk assessment nearly shorted me out."