Chapter 36
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TIME:
2 DAYS LATER
LOCATION
CYSA, ORENTHIA
ORENTH FAMILY MANOR
POV:
Ryder Orenth
"So what happened in your own words at the hospital?"
I looked across the table where one of the guards my brother assigned to Lilith sat confused. I guess it is a surprise to be called for by your employer's brother, especially in regard to the last task they undertook. Thankfully he only looked confused and not suspicious.
'Good thing he knows his worth, that will make fact checking easier.'
"Uh well not much to say, when she was shaking hands with the hospital's supervisor she suddenly retracted her hand like she was burnt. She made a remark about not liking the sun, but I could tell she was unharmed. That's all I know honestly."
I nod that was exactly what the supervisor had said happened. Though I decided to ask some more questions to get a better grasp on the truth.
"Did Lilith act any differently after the hospital, did she look like she was in pain, or anxious about something."
His face grimaces soon it becomes a daze which eventually cleared up after a few seconds. "Yes, she seemed to be rather emotional if what you said about my fear and anxiety at the time is correct. She was either pissed, terrified, or both from how much it affected us. She thankfully calmed down before we arrived at the governmental office."
I nod my head sympathetically, she had underplayed many things about herself. First and foremost was her weakness to the sun. It clearly wasn't instantaneous like she had told me, but it was clearly very much real if she was as upset as he described. She also seemed to underplay how bad her fear "aura" is. Thankfully I had managed to advise my brother to give everyone affected a few days off.
'I would hate to see them suffer because of me withholding information.'
In regards to AI MARA’s hacking of this manor’s electronics, it would seem the idea of making a room devoid of anything electronic—including lights—would be moved forward, especially considering we’ll be able to discuss Lilith freely inside them. Though it made Meris's paranoia seem rather reasonable in retrospect; not that he could or should know how right he was. I just hope MARA won’t feel threatened by it whenever they return; she’s already made a few IT professionals rethink undergoing retraining thanks to the false belief these breaches were caused by something human. And those are the breaches we have managed to discover after combing just about everything, there were doubtless more well hidden ones.
I take a deep breath letting out a weary sigh, "I see well that is good to hear. You are dismissed, make sure you enjoy this holiday, I'm sorry I couldn't alert you to her abilities before I left you with her."
I smile with some sympathy as the man just nods and gets up leaving the room without a word. I made sure to remind my brother to tell the guards that we or rather I would pay for any therapy they needed. It was my fault even if I had little reason to think something like it would happen so quickly.
Thankfully when they were given an evaluation they seemed to only suffer from mild PTSD, but nothing more. Hopefully they'll be back. If not I would have to wish them the best.
Standing up and attempting to take my mind off things related to Lilith I left the room. Now I should focus on how I can get an invite to explore those newly rediscovered ruins.
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TIME:
12 HOURS LATER
LOCATION:
ORENTHIA PRIMARY
COMMERCIAL LEVEL 1
ENTRANCE #3
POV:
Lilith Runethari
I let go of a deep breath as I walked through the checkpoint more inline with a spaceport, they were beyond stringent. Despite me being listed as a VIP in their systems I still had to explain every piece of metal I was carrying. It was infuriating and exhausting especially after I finally recovered from my sunburn.
"Assistant, have you made sure everything on the list is for sale here?" I ask while continuing to walk, not giving the thrall a sliver of my attention. "Uh, y-yes mis–captain. But are you sure I'm needed, especially with my colleague's behavior? I mean she tri–"
I raised my hand causing her to immediately silence herself. I was rather annoyed at the newbie but I found her resistance amusing.
"It's fine Liza, I have already made sure she won't cause any trouble. Now let's focus on what we came here for, understood?" I ended my sentence with an edge of venom that had her nodding her head like a broken toy. Looking around I was happy to see nobody cared. She was an assistant and in this era's society she was viewed as easily replaceable. Mankind numbered in the low quadrillions if some are to be believed.
I sneer at nothing, just darkly amused at it all. I was certain that was not the truth after all there were systems that don't have stable hyperlanes that are probably still inhabited. There was such a system within the range of the listening post I would have to visit someday. They seemed rather rowdy as well from what little transmissions we received from them.
I day dreamed as I walked. Imagining myself visiting just those types of systems that nobody cares to visit, and setting up the foundations of my empire. That would sadly have to wait. I didn't have the numbers nor the authority to make them. I could possibly run an underground training and production facility, but I would need a place far away from probing eyes and more importantly time.
We finally arrived at the ISCA as I left my day dreams and returned to reality. Today was a rather big purchase and I decided I needed it sooner than later, the budget was 20 million credits and Mom had used every last one. I wasn't planning on negotiating, I was just going to use the few million credits from the ruins and the Sovra that came from it. Though I wasn’t sure how much extra I should add for additional security…
Once again I was dragged into a private room the moment I mentioned the amount of money I was about to spend. This time however the meeting didn't spiral into more complex negotiations. And blessedly the leering pig was nowhere to be found. The deal was rather open and shut me handing over all of my clean Sovra and even adding about eight and a half million credits to my account.
I was however given a delivery date of about 4 to 5 months for the items I wasn't going to carry myself. I just shrugged my shoulders. They sounded like they thought I'd be angry, but in truth I couldn't care less. I had at least 7 months to build an image of a competent governor that would be wasted serving a prison sentence—not that I would ever submit myself to that.
Leaving the ISCA I gave myself the mission of having weapons rolling off assembly lines only a quarter of a year after my arrival. I was even going to clean the system of any possible pirates. While I was thinking about it I realized that I didn't have to fight them, if any proved intelligent and wise enough I could benefit from cooperation. I might even be able to sell some weapons if they find something to pay with, maybe humans... or metals. If they didn't bend the knee? Well they would serve as excellent marks on my Freelance record. The pirates that might be occupying my system would likely be piloting interstellar void ships not these primitive interplanetary spaceships, that means more profit/reward no matter what!
Now, I believe I need to start focusing some time on making the little miss assassin know who her master is. It would serve as fun entertainment while I return home.
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TIME:
2 HOURS LATER
LOCATION:
HYPERSPACE
ASTRO DAWN
Oh I could almost taste her mind and personality splitting at the seams. One part of her wished to serve me with everything she had. The other traitorous side however was waging a desperate battle of trying to remind herself of who she is. It seemed she was trained in dealing with being drugged or otherwise made incoherent. This however was something humanity could never dream of, a way to make a person voluntarily serve another by finding their very presence addicting.
Liza had become loyal the moment her anxiety drowned mind had felt the calm I gave her. It was a calm that promised nothing could ever go wrong if you just stayed near me. It helped that their minds convinced themselves that if they help me and fulfill my wishes I would keep them closer. It was a delusion in all honesty, but I went with it and thus reinforced it as being the truth.
I looked down at the woman gagged to prevent her from biting her own tongue off—that had certainly been a great surprise when she woke up! She glared at me hatefully now, though I only felt her fear as I just stood nearby reading an Ebook. She knew the longer I stood near her the more her personality would bend, until eventually she bent her knee to me. I helpfully enlightened her to that and soon she found out it was the truth.
"Sigh You do know that you can talk with your MID right? Though feel free to continue with the silent treatment makes your current presence more enjoyable." I mutter a few words to help her, it wouldn't be fun if she couldn't talk at all. Though her MID will need to be replaced after this I won't accept the trash she currently has attached to her brain stem.
"Fuck off whore." I smirked at the voice Mom seems to have chosen, it sounded like some ancient text to speech vocalizer.
"Now now that isn't how you refer to your master. Would you prefer me to get angry with your lack of manners?"
I could see her glare weaken as she fought with herself. She was an amusing thing and I was enjoying watching her personality slowly breaking. I had an idea on what her job would be after this, she'd be officially trained to work on communications. She had a body I think humans would call beautiful and a face that hopefully matched it, so it only made sense. It helped that Liza still suffered from some rather annoying social anxiety, so she would be trained on something else.
I had 4 positions available though I'm unsure where they will be positioned on the ship. The CIC looks to be built with one person in mind but maybe that could change. Then again I didn’t need them to actually join me often, it only mildly increased efficiency.
Back to the topic at hand that was still glaring at me while I was just minding my own business, staring at the screen of my tablet lost in thought. I was doing a good job at ignoring her, but now she seemed eager to talk and distract me. It was starting to get a little aggravating thanks to the voice selected but I wouldn’t ask mother to change it, no point any voice would be annoying.
"The moment I get out of her I'm going to make you re–" Finally I had enough of her prattling and boasting. It was starting to shift from amusing to annoying. "Can you please just be fucking quiet! I'm not asking all that much while you're enjoying your stay here! You're being so loud I wouldn't be surprised if that little girl over there is going to wake up from her coma because of you."
I watched her shrink back as I let go of some of my frustrations on her. She seemed truly afraid by the time I was finished. Or was that regret for her actions?
"I'm sorry mistres–!" She quietly whispered words of apology and almost just barely failed to properly name my position.
I sneered as I saw some of that sudden jolt of fear that her personality was being forcibly changed in her expressions. She was changing slowly, but changing nonetheless.
Now what should I do, reading doesn't sound interesting right now. Ehh how about I teach her her proper place while relieving some built up frustrations, I have been rather patient with her mudslinging. Now where would be the best room for this, torture was a pretty messy affair after all.
I smiled as she shrank further back into her cot shaking now, tears already forming on the edge of her eyes. I merely shook my head while calling for the thrall to help me move her.
"Shh shh it's alright, this will only be stressful for a little bit then you'll live in calm bliss if you take to this well. I hope you’ll look back on this with pleasant memories now. Would you care to join me on a trip to the brig?" I smiled as she shook her head. Liza had just entered the room with a wheelchair and a grim expression.