Chapter 46
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TIME:
5 DAYS LATER
(1 MONTH AND 14 DAYS AFTER RETURNING)
LOCATION:
BETA CHARON
30 AU FROM BETA CHARON
INNER KEIPER BELT
ASTRO DAWN'S CARGO BAY
MIDNIGHT NOSTALGIA'S HANGER
POV:
John "Johnny" Apolla
I woke up groaning my head hurting like it was trying to explode. My eyes slowly opened before wincing closed as the sound of something loud caused a new spike of pain to stab me. Something shook me. I opened my eyes, never more thankful for the dim lighting of this ship's cargo bay.
A light kind voice spoke beside me, "Honey we need to wake up, something's happening." I groaned and slowly shifted to sitting up. When I looked around I felt fear as I realized I wasn't at our quarters or on the ship at all, this area was too big and there were too many other people. No where were we I can't! "Shhh Johnny its okay, calm down, Mom and Dad are here your okay."
I managed to calm myself as the memories returned, 'That's right we were on some cursed void ship. The Astro Dawn, it belonged to our demonic metallic captors.'
I feel the ember of fear and anger begin to burst into life. Suddenly a new much louder voice echoed through the massive sprawling bay.
"Everyone is to sit down, that is an order! If you are still standing in 45 standard seconds you will be marked as "volunteering" for testing and be restrained!"
The voice of something horrible that sounds human but is clearly not gives us an order. Her almost angry voice despite sounding realistic enough actually didn't belong to a human. We just knew it, the leader had proclaimed it, before the boarding it was an unbelieving metal abomination, "artificial intelligence." Though something artificial could never be intelligent.
Some people continued to stand, but my Dad and Mom sat so I joined them. In their eyes I saw hatred but it wasn't the type that was reckless like those screaming curses at the air had.
Finally 45 seconds of screaming ended and I almost thanked the metal dogs as they went about incapacitating anyone that was yelling or still standing. I didn't of course after all they were no better than that fake thing pretending to be human.
The people who still had fervor in their hearts were dragged into a pile. Suddenly they began to lower but there wasn't any sound to follow it. Some tried to crawl and see where they were going but the nightmare hounds scratched their nails on the metal whenever someone got close. That was how they warned you, if you continued to ignore that ear bleeding sound you'd be scratched then fall asleep, and then dragged away. Those who got dragged away haven't been seen since...
Suddenly the floor returned with almost 30 bipedal metal men and a large box. When the elevator stopped they without waiting a moment opened the box grabbing what I think were handcuffs from the sound that soon started being made across the hanger.
'What's going on? We've only been awake for 2 days. Does that mean we've reached one of the apostate systems that we'll be sold to as free labor, or something worse. How long were we asleep? The adults said the system we were in didn't have anywhere that could hold us. That's why so many tried to rebel bravely, so we could hopefully free ourselves and take over the ship before we arrived at a system that did. They never succeed though.'
A trio of automatons as I think they called them eventually walked up to my family. Two reached over and dragged my parents to their feet. They struggled but one with a baton smacked it in his hand creating a loud bang. I winced as the sound sent a spike of pain through my concussed head.
My parents continued resisting until another group that was doing the same began screaming in agony as a baton was slammed into their sides almost making them fall over in pain. My parents quickly stopped and I thanked them. I couldn't bear to see Mom or dad hurt more than they were. Mom had forgotten my name when she woke up, she thankfully still knew I was her son; I don't know what I'd do if she didn't.
Finally I was dragged to my feet, I tried to glare at the flat black face plates of the robots but they didn't react at all. But the moment my handcuffs got locked I was forced to walk to the lift. With almost one hundred people standing on it not moving a muscle I feared something was wrong with them. They were yelling and thrashing but their feet refused to move.
My headache at this point couldn't grow worse; I just silently suffered through this punishment from Igna for some sin our vessel must have committed. When the metal men finally let go I tried to turn around as I had my face in someone's back but my feet refused to lift. I only then realized that these shoes looked bulky and were also too heavy to be normal, they must be magnetic boots.
Abruptly the lift began to lower without a sound. I closed my eyes expecting to hear the sound of yelling from below, but immediately everyone was almost painfully quiet besides a few gasps. Opening my eyes I saw a massive hanger and at the bottom arranged in neat rows was our fellow congregants with their hands in the sky. And in front of them were over 30 robots with firearms pointing at the crowd. I almost screamed in fear that this was how I'd die, but a sudden boneshaking fear began to grow in my mind with every breath I took. I barely had the presence of mind to notice a faint mist of something inside the hanger.
Every breath I took only caused the fear to grow. I thought it might be bad air but I never felt drowsy and my headache felt the same, so I knew enough to remove that as a possibility.
Time flew inside that hanger. I barely could concentrate as I was picked up and dropped into place at the end of the growing crowd. I tried to run, to flee, to get away from whatever was causing this mindcrushing fear, but I could only cry and sob as I was powerless to move and faced certain death.
Eventually after some time I couldn't tell I felt the fear drain away. I sniffled as I opened my eyes as a large canister was thrown into the crowd spraying something colorless but smelling strongly of chemicals. I feared it was another weapon, but everywhere it was thrown the fear was erased and people looked around hoping the danger was gone... it wasn't.
"Now that everyone is here and coherent I will begin to explain things." I looked up to see the voice of a very pretty woman. I almost blushed looking at her. She had white hair arranged in a braid across her head and a voice that was very calming. After waiting for a moment she continued, "Everyone here is assigned a number from 1 to 213 if your number is called you are going to be split into two groups. Now anyone can volu–"
"TO HELL WITH YOUR PLANS METAL FUCKING BITCH! I WILL NEVER ALLO– Guh!" CRUNCH, SNAP "..."
I looked over wide eyed as a man beside me began to yell at the woman as she was saying something. Without missing a beat the woman who just so happened to be nearby walked up to him. I could feel the anxiety and soon the mind breaking fear returned as I began to tremble and tears return to my eye; this was all too much for someone 13 Earth years old. If she was really a demon, my mind certainly began making her feel like one to the powerless me as she approached. When she reached the man she immediately punched him in the stomach and in a movement so quick I could barely follow and slammed his face against her knee. Then finally she kicked him in the knee causing it to bend in a direction it should never bend.
I was trembling and crying ignorant of the something wet splattering across my face. Who was this woman that would beat a man so quickly who was only yelling. When she looked up her red eyes didn't look angry or hateful, they looked disgusted like she smelled the muck of a life support system.
"Oh great, he's fucking dead... brute cant even take a hit to the head without being killed. Yaga can you please have this corpse dragged to the incinerator?" I stared wide eyed. 'Surely he... she's lying, he can't be...' I look at the man for some reason begging reality to make his chest rise proving he was still alive. It didn't. As a robot came over the mag boots worn by the man disengaged and he slumped forwards; he was promptly dragged away to be burnt into ash, to be a martyr I'd etch into my memory surely.
Two more would end up beaten to death before she learned to "be delicate" leaving a dozen more injured and unconscious. Only then did people stop trying to speak over the devil in a woman's skin. I will always remember their screams of pain and eventual pleas for mercy when they woke up being dragged off as "volunteers." She always waited for them to wake up before dragging them off. Not many that remained would be able to forget the horrors displayed in that hour spent in the cursed hanger.
I would eventually realize after calming down and arriving at our designated living space after losing the lottery, that the first man that was yelling and cursing our captor, he was my Father. By then I couldn't even muster the strength to cry, my will having shattered at the realization. Mother stopped being the same kind, caring woman I knew she was. I still sometimes hear her mumble that she wished she could have 'Won the lottery.' I hope she'll stop, she's all I have left.
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TIME:
2 DAYS LATER
LOCATION:
BETA CHARON
30 AU FROM BETA CHARON
INNER KEIPER BELT
MIDNIGHT NOSTALGIA
POV:
Lilith Runethari
I look at the screen in one of the many holding rooms for the test subjects. Everyone was just either trying to sleep, meditate, pray, or exercise. They had the air about them I'd expect from people sent on a suicide missions.
I just shake my head as I pull up the screen. This was the second to last group that had received the new "untested" MID. No one has recently tried harming themselves or each other thankfully. Whenever they first tried the MID operated by YAGA just knocked them unconscious and we would move them to being fully restrained.
Thankfully drip feeding them while we put them to sleep has become a possibility. If not I would have to expect more trouble during the journey to Zeta Zepharii. We currently plan to have them unconscious during the journey and are manufacturing the necessary IVs to keep them alive.
"Oh that reminds me, has anyone noticed the destroyer disappearing?" I ask YAGA who is certainly listening. "No, so far no ships confirmed to have allegiances to the Burningthorn Princes—or as you wish to designate them, Light Minds—have sent communications in relation to Stellar Hallow."
I mutter my thanks and stare down at the tablet. Over all fatalities include on our side rest at 6 pesanta having to be scrapped and rebuilt. On the 'Light Minds' we had about 78 fatalities a majority from their comrads killing them in their sleep, mass suicide in the CIC, or a bad reaction to the general anesthetic and of course the three I beat to death as an example.
Thankfully 168 of the test subjects volunteered with bad behavior; MARA only had to have 37 win the lottery to safely keep my promise to Temlic. That leaves me with 180ish healthy subjects for my next batch of experiments in about 6 weeks.
The Astro Dawn will be leaving in about four days after making certain we have enough IVs. Both MARA and I plan to dock at the Stellar Hallow and sell it to someone. I'll be forced to bring the thralls with me annoyingly as I may have to travel to Amber station to sell the rather damaged void ship.
Though if I do travel to Amber station I plan to buy a portable fusion generator, along with several tons of the more rare elements necessary for the robots and automatons. Neodymium is basically nonexistent so far as I have read and scanned.
If they ask me where I'm using these resources I plan to just shrug my shoulders and say I have a working MAT. From my research on human precursor discoveries they occasionally find a functional one and all class V ships feature one, so it won't put an even bigger target on my back fortunately.
Though if they ask what I'm building I plan to just say something about it being classified and glare at them. Hopefully I won't find an idiot that doesn't take that warning seriously and press forward; if I do... then I guess another bloodless corpse(s) will mysteriously be found.
'...Or I guess I could also just rely on MARA to make something up that's convincing.'