Therefore, if we removed this memory chip and didn’t take additional measures to block Ta’Zan from tracking her in any possible way, we ran the risk of losing her. One hurdle at a time…
Kallisto and Amane were already prepping for surgery, fishing for tools and sanitary paraphernalia through the metallic drawers. Douma could be difficult to kill, but an infection could prolong the healing process—and we didn’t have much time on our hands. The Perfect body could sustain damage even during and after surgery, if the job wasn’t done right. It just took longer for it to recover if it had an infection to battle, too.
“I told you. There’s always a pantry.” Raphael chuckled, then quickly checked the back of the sweet water pouch, frowning as he looked at the printed text. “I have no idea what exactly is in this, but it tastes nice.”
“Yeah, thanks for sharing, by the way,” I replied.
As soon as he’d discovered the storage room, Raphael had come out with armfuls of liquid pouches and food packs. The Draenir had rations for years in there, turning this stronghold into our new base.
“Meh. We’re not enemies. I don’t mind not letting you all die,” Raphael said, then nodded at Douma. “How is she coming along?”
Kallisto lifted the white cover she’d used to keep Douma’s head out of sight. “About two hours or so until the spinal nerve sends out its first signal and connects the new brain to the chip. Approximately twenty minutes until we’re good for surgery,” she said. “From the looks of her skin and venal aspect, she’s almost ready.”
“We wouldn’t be able to do anything without her body as close to full recovery as possible,” Amane explained. “That’s the tricky part about removing the chip from a Perfect. The operation takes a while, at least until we find the chip, and then the extraction needs to be done carefully. All this in a narrow window of time. Not that it will kill her, but the body needs to be as healthy as possible in order for the recovery to be smooth and quick. Like I said, we don’t have that much time to wait around for her to heal.”
There was a glimmer of affection in Raphael’s eyes. I figured he was fond of his siblings, despite their shortcomings. I also realized that he probably knew more about her than most. If anyone could help me understand Douma, it was him.
“You know her well,” I said.
He shrugged. “As well as most,” he replied. “What do you want to know? We were only around each other for a few days.”
“What are the odds that, after we get that memory chip back, she’ll still be inclined to follow Ta’Zan?” I asked.
“I can answer that. The odds are zero,” Amane interjected, and Raphael nodded. “Everything you know about her, from behavior to memories to decision-making processes… it’s all shaped by what she was taught, not by her genetic design.”
“I doubt she’ll find any of this normal,” Raphael added. “I mean, I don’t think that what Ta’Zan is doing is okay, and I still carry his education with me. But, then again, I may be an anomaly.”
“That worked out in our favor,” Elonora cut in, stepping into the chamber.
Her blond hair was tangled and messy, and her skin was paler than usual. She was still exhausted, and she needed a lot more sleep to get back to her healthy, strong self. However, her slightly disheveled look didn’t seem to put Raphael off. Instead, he gave her a sheepish smile and moved out of her way as she made her way toward Douma’s bed.
“What are you doing up?” I asked.
“I promised Amane I’d help. I can use my True Sight to help her locate the chip,” Elonora replied.
“Lenny, you can barely stand. Where will you get any energy to syphon?” I asked, genuinely worried. Elonora had this way of putting her wellbeing last, even when she was hanging on by a thread. It stemmed from her upbringing. Ruby and Ash had done their best to get her as far away from Claudia’s earlier nature as possible. Unbeknownst to them, however, Elonora had grown up to become the perfect balance between her mother and her grandmother—equal parts selfless and determined, with a dash of recklessness. It gave us one hell of a fighter on our side.
She smiled at me. “You’re just as torched, so definitely not you.” She chuckled.
“Syphon? Syphon energy, you mean?” Raphael asked, and Elonora replied with a nod. “Ah, yes, sentry. Sucks the energy out of people. Right. Well, I’m here.”
Elonora opened her mouth to say something, but Amane spoke first. “He’s right. Also, he’s a Perfect. You need a good dose of energy, because I need your best eyes on this.”
Amane and Kallisto pushed Douma onto her side, prepping her for surgery.
“Do you even know what you’re doing?” I asked, pointing at all the medical tools and substances they’d put together on a metallic table.
The acid look she gave me made me regret opening my mouth in the first place. “I know every single object and substance that the Draenir ever used,” Amane replied. “You forget that Ta’Zan learned most of his stuff from them, then passed it on to me. All we did was develop and perfect it. So, yeah, don’t worry, little pup. I’ve got this.”
Amane was an interesting character, to say the least. There was a lot she was still hiding from us, out of fear or shame, maybe, but she presented herself as honestly as she could—and her bluntness was a crucial part of her personality. Well, that and the big, beautiful brain she carried around between her ears. I could totally see why Ridan couldn’t take his eyes off her.
“Fair enough. Sorry I underestimated you. Won’t happen again,” I mumbled.
“Don’t sweat it. Everyone does it,” Amane replied, then gave Elonora and Raphael a brief nod. “Come on, you two. I need a sharp sentry to help me with this.”
Raphael took Elonora’s hand in his, grinning like a devilish little kid about to do something either incredibly bold or unbelievably stupid. I knew that look all too well, and I couldn’t help but chuckle, wondering what Nevis would say if he were present.
“I’m not sure how you do your syphoning thing, but, you know, for good measure,” Raphael said to Elonora, who kept staring at his hand as it enveloped hers.
“It doesn’t require touching,” she managed.
“Too late for that. Come on, chop-chop!” Raphael quipped.
Elonora took a deep breath, taking on a peculiar glow. It wasn’t immediately noticeable, but the white overhead lights definitely brought it out. She was syphoning Perfect energy, and it had a slightly different effect on her. Perfects were definitely special.
“That feels… weird…” Raphael muttered, standing still.
“I only have one question at this point,” I said, diverting attention away from Elonora and Raphael’s weird touchy-feely sentry moment. “Amane, you said that, once we get the chip out of Douma, Ta’Zan’s system could still find her and do a live, wireless transmission of the data. That Perfect souls are practically connected to the core database.”
Amane nodded once as she cut through Douma’s white silk tunic, revealing the alabaster skin stretching over her spine and shoulder blades. Soft and smooth ropes of muscles caught my eye as Amane cleared her back completely.
She motioned for Kallisto to dip some cloths in a dark brown liquid that smelled as sharp and memorable as iodine. It had to be an antiseptic of sorts, since they used the dipped cloths to wipe Douma’s back.
“It takes a while for the system to realize that it lost Douma, to then do a planet-wide search, and find her. Being in the underground helps a lot, too. That was the one thing that Ta’Zan couldn’t fix, the system’s reach below ground level. Until we find the ten pounds of serium I need to develop a brain-blocker for Douma, I highly recommend that she stays down here,” Amane said, solving the hurdle I’d been thinking about earlier—the so-called wireless transmission of memories directly to the newly-regenerated brain.
I blinked several times, processing the information. Elonora pulled away from Raphael’s hold. He was still gazing at her as if she were the perfect sunrise. I was pretty sure
we could still reach a higher level of awkwardness, given the circumstances, so I decided to distract the big, gorgeous Perfect away from Lenny. Frankly, I was actually kind of rooting for Nevis to be the one to heal my Lenny’s broken heart.
“Hey, Raphael, do you know any nearby serium deposits? I mean, I know it’s a shot in the dark, but, still, worth asking,” I said.
Raphael offered a grin. “I might know a spot or two, yes. But I would need some help to drill and extract it.”
“We have a fae with a great connection to earth,” I replied. “She’ll gladly assist, I’m sure.”
Raphael then looked at Amane. “I have to say, you’ve blossomed since you left Ta’Zan’s side,” he remarked, resuming his position in the doorway.
“Thanks, I guess?” Amane chuckled.
Elonora settled next to Amane, her eyes glimmering gold as she scanned Douma’s spine.
“It’s right here,” Elonora said, pressing a finger down the middle of her back. “It’s about three inches in, though. You’ll have to be careful.”
Amane smiled. “I’m always careful. Besides, I doubt anyone knows a Perfect’s body better than Amal and me.”
With Kallisto acting as her nurse, Amane performed the surgery. She was gentle in her every move, instructing Kallisto on when to hold an instrument for her, when to press or apply suction, and when to move the small table light for better visibility.
None of us said a word during that time. I was on edge, internally praying to every entity for the extraction to work. On one hand, I was excited, because we were going to get a Douma without her factory settings, a Douma we could teach and could reason with. On the other hand, I felt nervous. The old Douma, as indoctrinated by Ta’Zan as she was, knew me. Deep down, I was pretty sure she liked me, too. The new one, I wasn’t so sure about.
What if she didn’t like me? Then again, my best bet was to consider this a fresh start. A chance to start over, to not have to worry that the creature I’d been falling for would betray us and hand us over to Ta’Zan.
“It’s done,” Amane murmured, breaking me out of my complicated string of thoughts. I looked up and saw the small chip with its thin wires in a small glass bowl, droplets of Douma’s blood spreading through the clear liquid like crimson watercolors. Amane was already stitching her up, while Kallisto proceeded to clean the operation table.
“Fast and efficient,” Raphael replied, smiling. “I’ll bet Ta’Zan is still crying over your departure.”
“More like still searching for me,” Amane replied.
“I can’t blame him. There’s nothing that really sets you apart from my kind. He may consider us a better version of you and your siblings, but I don’t think any of us could achieve the level of intellect that you and your sister have reached,” Raphael replied.
Elonora and I exchanged glances, genuinely surprised by his words.
“You’re incredibly different from the other Perfects,” Elonora said. “You don’t look down on the Faulties.”
“Why would I? Because they have scales or horns or other animal features that slipped through the genetic cracks?” Raphael asked, raising an eyebrow. “Their physical appearance is simply the result of Ta’Zan’s craft. They’re what he was able to do at the time. I don’t think it puts my batch above them. In the end, we wouldn’t have been possible without the likes of Amal and Amane. Hell, they helped preserve and develop the infrastructure upon which we built our new society. All we did was learn from them and do it all faster. That’s it. The blueprints for everything are theirs and the Draenir’s. And Ta’Zan doesn’t want that to be public knowledge. He wanted to erase the past. Tailor the story to fit his narrative. Push everyone else down and let us stay at the top. I hated it. I just couldn’t accept it.”
“I suppose that’s why you and him never really got along,” Amane said, smiling. “As prolific as you are, as a Perfect, your mind came out too strong for him to mold to his liking.”
Raphael gave her a wink. “And I have you and your sister to thank for that.”
“Then help us,” Amane replied. “Help us take him down. Help us get your brothers and sisters to understand that this is just… wrong. We all deserve better, and you know that, if we let Ta’Zan have his way, he’ll destroy everything in the end.”
Raphael stilled, his expression turning serious all of a sudden. “I’m going to check that pantry again. I’m still peckish.”
Before any of us could say anything, he left us in that chamber, staring at each other. Amane put on a sad smile, then gently turned Douma on her back.
“He’s reluctant to start a war with his maker,” she whispered. “He has what it takes, but he lacks a certain… motivation.”
Elonora sighed. “Freedom and life aren’t motivational enough?”
Amane shrugged. “Not for him. He needs to be enticed. Remember, he’s about a week old. There are thought processes he’s yet to master—things that none of Ta’Zan’s instructional videos can teach him. I think this is where we have our work cut out for us, showing them a different way.”
“Well, now we’ve got two Perfects to work with,” I said. “Two who will willingly stick around, at least to listen to what we have to say. If we manage to get them on our side, we should be able to get the others, too, right?”
Amane exhaled, wiping the blood from her hands.
“Speaking of which, I don’t think we should tell Douma about her past just yet,” she replied. “I suggest we ease her into all this. Let her see what we’re like, tell her what she could do, who she could be.”
“Wait, should we not tell her that Ta’Zan made her?” I asked, slightly confused.
“We have to tell her where she comes from,” Elonora said. “But I think what Amane is saying is that we hold off on revealing what she did for Ta’Zan. It makes sense.”
“If we overwhelm her with her recent past, we may cause a shock. She could run off, even if I implant a new voice and wing suppressor. There’s only so much I can do to stop her, and you all know that keeping her restrained from the very beginning will only make her hostile and frustrated. This is our chance to start over. We have to be smart about it.”
That, too, made sense. It didn’t feel exactly right, but it would serve us all in the future. Easing Douma into who and what she was seemed like the lesser of all evils. This was a new beginning for us, and we had to be careful. The last thing I wanted was a loop of us running around to get Douma back.
Elonora
For the first time since we’d gotten to Strava, I felt truly safe.
It was incredible what a slice of peace and quiet could do to one’s psyche, especially since there were so many creatures out there hunting us. I missed my parents, and I worried about my grandparents and Varga, in particular. I didn’t know if my brother was okay, but I found myself hoping that he’d been taken prisoner. I couldn’t bear the thought of him gone from this world. I downright rejected that idea.
The next day, as my eyes peeled open, I heard the little birds’ trills from the surface. There was an upside to my heightened vampire senses. My strength and vigor had returned to me. Sleep was essential, especially when we spent so much time and energy running and fighting.
Nevis was next to me, fully healed and still sleeping. For some reason, we’d gotten close to one another without saying much. Of course, we’d talked about the mission and what we had to do, but still, there was something else brewing between us—something I didn’t think I’d experience again, especially not at this level of intensity. I only knew that it made me feel amazing on the inside. My heartrate increased whenever he looked at me. My senses flared whenever he touched me.
He’d sustained significant damage the other day. That, coupled with exhaustion, had taken its toll on him. Nevis had been sleeping for over twelve hours straight. His skin regained its pearlescent glow as he opened his eyes and saw me lying by his side.
The most incredible thing happened to me when Nevis smiled. My hear
t fluttered with the energy of a swarm of butterflies, and I couldn’t help but mirror his expression. My lips tingled, and I wondered once more what it would feel like to kiss him. This wasn’t the time or the place, but, still, a girl could dream…
His smile quickly faded as he analyzed my expression. “You haven’t slept much,” he said. He was right. I’d only caught about eight hours in total. Technically speaking, that was enough for me, and I felt strong enough already, but I could’ve used another four to six hours to fully replenish my batteries.
“I slept,” I replied softly. “But I had to wake up to help Amane with Douma’s surgery. Then I spent some time watching over her and Dmitri, who was utterly exhausted. Then I talked to Raphael. I got another four or five hours after that. I’m okay, though.”
“You could rest a little while longer, though,” he said, sitting up. “We all need to be fully recharged for what comes next.”
“I will, no worries,” I murmured.
I moved to get up, but he caught my wrist and held me down. “Don’t go.”
My brain stopped functioning for the better half of a minute, as I lost myself in the icy blue pools of his eyes. “Why?”
He frowned. “We’re not done talking.”
I wasn’t sure how much talking I could do at that point, since all I could focus on were his incredible eyes and the soft shape of his lips. The more I stayed close to him, the more I wanted to kiss him. His aura vibrated in various shades of gold and royal blue—the former was deeply emotional, an affection I’d yet to fully comprehend. The latter was concern.
“Okay. What do you want to talk about?” I asked, then briefly glanced around the room. The others were already up, buzzing around in the other chambers. Since Raphael had discovered the pantry, most of our team was secured in terms of food and water. Only Rose and I required hunting for our dose of fresh blood.
A Shade of Vampire 64: A Camp of Savages Page 15
