"You collected..." My frown deepened. "You mean abducted. You stole Humans to collect data?" Etachs winced but nodded.
"It— of course, was not presented that way, we didn't view them as..."
"As what?" I snapped, perhaps a little too harshly. Etachs cringed back. "I'm sorry," I said, softening my tone. "It is just hard to hear anyone talk about a person like they are nothing."
"You know why we came here, why we picked this planet. Their genome is young and compatible with some manipulation to our own. We are an ancient race and cannot reproduce naturally anymore. We destroyed our own DNA and require other species, but there are those who have certain markers that make us incompatible. We coded the... pestilence," they halted over the unfamiliar word, "to target those incompatible markers. We didn't even know about the Fae until you used your magic to save the planet."
"So, if we can get access to one of these points we could, in theory, put information into not just the Himlani, but also the Humans?"
"In theory, yes."
"Then that is what we need to do."
"I don't know how, I already told you. "
"Yes, but there has to be someone who does."
"There is no one who will help us. Even under torture, a Himlani would never agree." I grinned, taking a step towards Etachs and gripping their shoulders.
"No, not among the Himlani population, but among their rejects."
Unleash and Upload
18124Y crawled into its bunk at the end of the day. The days for most specimens were spent in a room with mind and body numb, port hooked into something that made the time pass. 18124Y was aware that sometimes a Himlani would come through and do things to it and the other specimens. The voice that had sounded in its mind had not spoken again and as 18124Y laid down in its bunk, it reached for the feed of dreamless sleep, then hesitated. It rolled the word "name" around inside its head. It thought about having a name. Before the message, it didn't know what a name was; it only ever had a designation. It was extracted here, and it knew no place other than this. Now, though, now it knew what a name was, it knew that it was not a number, that it was not an it but a he. It knew what a name was, and it wanted one.
As it lay down in its rack, cold, hard, without pillows or blankets, it let the feed drop from its fingers, unattached. It— no, not it, he— turned his head to the side and saw that the specimen— no, the man across from him was already looking at him. He experienced a jolt of a sensation he had never felt before: panic. But just as he reached for his feed, to plug it in and comply, the other lifted his hand, and he saw that his feed was also not connected. He closed one eye at 18124Y and lifted his finger to his lips. 18124Y felt his mouth do something it had never done before. He smiled.
◆◆◆
The next day, Etachs and I went back to the Glade to scavenge off the dead Himlani. We recovered two damaged sensor nets and Etachs looked a little embarrassed when they asked me to turn away. From the squelching noise, and the black liquid dripping from their claws, I could tell that the little metal bits they held in their hands were implants. I tried to hide my grimace, but ultimately failed.
"I didn't have a choice. I need to know how to get back, and these have the scans I need," they said, their eyes lowered.
"I know," I said quietly. "I'm sorry, Etachs, that can't have been easy for you."
"It's not that," Etachs said, their eyes still focused on the floor. "I just don't want to be the monster she thought I was when we met." When they looked at me their eyes were rimmed with pink tears.
"You're not," I said, all my discomfort melting away at the anguish on their face. I closed the distance between us quickly. I cupped their face in my hands, my slender fingers stroking their cheeks. "You never were." They nodded as I swiped my thumbs over their scaled face, wiping their tears away. I let my hands linger until they met my gaze. "Let's go," I said gently and picked up my bag, the damaged sensor nets dangling from my fingers. I grabbed the watch and spun the wheel until the hands reached 3 o'clock.
From the information I had, from the journals and the notes we had found in the cabin and the book that had been magically sealed, I figured out where all the passthroughs were. Based on that and the information Etachs had managed to salvage from the implants and sensor nets taken from the Himlani, 3 o'clock was the closest we could get to the prison camp from which Etachs had escaped. This time setting was a small, coastal stretch beach on the edge of nowhere. Etachs was plugged into one of the implants, their eyes blank as they scanned the information stored inside. I sat next to them, knees pulled up to my chest, arms wrapped around my legs, and looked out at the water.
I listened to the waves lap at the sand and watched the way the sunlight sparkled on the sea. I sent my magic out into this little slice of silence and found fish in the sea, quiet, in stasis, not moving. I found gulls in the sky, held as if frozen in time. I let my mind wander to one of the gulls and found that its mind and body were open to me. I pressed into the animal and felt the freedom of flight. I felt the wind and smelled the salt, the taste of the fish flesh on my tongue, as I let my magic fill the animal, but held it in stasis. I found the bird's memories and flitted through them. They were stuttered and interrupted, fragmented and disjointed. Between the periods of stasis, there were glimpses of flight, diving into the ocean after food, and a small-framed girl sitting on the shore. I paused when this happened, looking closer. Was this Elena? Was this my grandmother, sitting here on this same beach that I was sitting at now, in the same way?
I snapped back into myself as Etachs' clawed fingers closed around my shoulder and shook me. I gasped for air, my lungs empty and screaming. My burning chest heaved as I sucked in air.
"What in the tank-forsaken fuck were you doing?" Etachs demanded, their brows drawn down in a look of panicked concern.
"I was, looking through the..." I trailed off, panting trying to catch my breath, "never mind."
"Never mind?! You stopped breathing, Anais!" Etachs snarled back at me.
"I didn't know that was gonna happen!" I replied defensively.
"You scared the life out of me, Ana, whatever the hell that was, don't do it again." They released my shoulder and my breathing gradually slowed to a normal pace. "Are you back now?" they asked.
"Oh yes," I murmured.
"Well, then we need to get on with this, Ana, we don't have a lot of time." I nodded and scooted closer to Etachs, who had picked up a small twig and had begun to draw in the sand. They scratched in the sand until a pretty good map emerged, all things considered. "OK, so the passthrough from this one comes out here..." They scratched an X on their sand map. I nodded.
"The holding facility that I was kept at is here..." They placed another X about halfway across the map. Ayesha fluttered down from her airborne exploration and alighted on Etachs' head. Etachs made a frustrated noise and held their hand out to Ayesha, a long-suffering expression painted clearly on their face. Ayesha let out a throaty squawk and hopped to their hand. They extended the hand out to my shoulder and Ayesha stepped dutifully on to it, nuzzling her beak into my hair.
Etachs rolled their eyes at the interruption and continued. "Between here and there is about..." they trailed off and did some mental arithmetic. "I'd say probably... 15... miles? I am still unclear about the exact conversion rates between how we measure distance and how you do, but that is my best guess.”
"We could do that in a day," I said confidently.
"Well, if it was just the distance, yeah, you're probably right, but there is more to contend with."
"What do you mean?"
"Ana, there are Hunters everywhere, armed with Rounders and worse. Plus, the sensors are thick around our camps, to alert anyone of things approaching, and I can't cloak fully, not since your magic changed me. Not to mention things you haven’t seen yet."
"So, they are going to know we are there before we even get close?"
"Most likely, and there is something else. We don't need to just resc
ue prisoners, Ana." I frowned at them, not understanding.
"What do you mean? What else do we need?"
"At least two portable terminals."
"What, why?"
"We have to design the message that goes out and relay it out. I thought I might just be able to do it from my implants and what we could salvage, but we did not salvage enough, and I just don't have enough knowledge. I can probably get short-range messages into other Himlani implants, but what they give the Humans is different, I don't know how to break into them."
"Fuck..." I muttered.
"Fuck is right," Etachs said. "I think we can do this though, Ana, but it is gonna take some cunning, and some brains, and for both of us to be able to move and act quickly."
"Well, I can move, but you might have all the brains and cunning," I said offhandedly. Etachs' head snapped around to look at me. My smile faltered instantly as their eyes pierced into me.
"Don't say that. You're smart and cunning and a whole mess of great things. Don't talk down on yourself in front of me," they nearly growled at me.
"Oh, Etachs, I was joking, but I mean, you're always there to rescue me when I am about to do something stupid, like at the cabin with the journals..."
"There is more to life than reading, Ana. All I did was read. You saw an enemy fighting with your sister and decided to save their life when you had every reason to kill me. It is a debt that I can never repay." I pulled my knees closer to my chest, hugging them tight, averting my gaze from theirs.
"Is that why you're here? Why you're helping me? Because you feel like you owe me? If that is the case, Etachs, then just go. I release you from the debt and I will save my sister on my own..." Etachs' curved claws gently lifted my chin from my knees and turned my face to look at theirs.
"Anais, I'm not here because I owe you, I am here because I love you, and Tatiana. The Himlani don't feel things like this. We don't love, or fear, or get angry, not really. It's why I was cast out and doomed to a life of experimentation and torture. Because I do feel love and compassion and empathy, and fear. And I love you. I have compassion and empathy for you, and the only thing I fear now is losing you."
"And Tati?"
"Yes, and Tati. You are my family now, the only family I know, and I won't lose either one of you. We're going to get her back, Ana, and when we do... then we're going to change this awful world because you deserve a better one."
I sniffled and touched my forehead to Etachs' brow, lifting a hand to curl it into their raven hair, my fingertips stroking their soft locks, and grazing against their scalp. It happened so fast; I didn't even know I did it until they pushed away. I just lost control, caught up in emotion and fear and anxiety and the comfort of their closeness. I pulled them in closer, my eyes closed, and then my lips were pressed against theirs. The moment lingered for a heartbeat, until they pulled back, their eyes wide as they scrambled back away from me.
"Etachs... I— " I started, but they shook their head violently.
"Don't," they said.
"But—"
"I said don't, Ana, this is not the time or place to do or talk about this. We need to go save your sister." They rose and scratched the map out with their clawed foot. They didn't turn back around to face me as they said, "You should probably glamour us. Safer to travel as Humans, at least for now."
The Patience of Prisoners
Tatiana opened her eyes and immediately regretted it. It was bright, unnaturally bright. It hurt her eyes and she squeezed them shut. She couldn't remember where she was or what she was supposed to be doing. She squinted her eyes against the light and let her pupils adjust. Even in the time before, she had rarely seen light like this. Fae folk prefer the soft orange glow of shaded lamps and their own magic. Not this harsh, sterile, monstrous thing that hurts to be in. The sun in the desert was never so oppressively bright as this. Eventually her eyes adjusted, and she hissed, realizing she was in an unfamiliar place. She tried to sit up and found she could not; she was restrained somehow. She looked down and saw that she was naked and strapped with some type of metal she couldn't identify wrapped around her. There was something in her arm, and the world came rushing back.
Ana, Etachs, the raid. She had been running and then pain and then nothing. She barely noticed the thing clamped to her leg as her mind raced. Where was she? Where was Ana? Etachs? That goddamn bird? What had happened? She screamed in frustration and that's when she heard the chuckle. Her eyes darted around looking to see who had made the noise. A Himlani, lithe and predatory, their scales a deep blue stepped into view, their clawed feet clicking on the floor as they came. They looked down at her with eyes so cold Tatiana shivered.
"So, you are awake," the Himlani said. Tatiana said nothing, her jaw clenched in helpless rage. "I have questions," continued the Himlani, "and you will answer them or there will be consequences." Tatiana's brow drew down and the corner of her mouth curled in a defiant sneer. The Himlani looked down into her face and smiled. "Dire consequences, my little Fae friend..." The Himlani lifted a hand and raked their claws over Tatiana's bare chest.
Tatiana hissed through her teeth as thin lines of blood welled up across her breasts where the Himlani had touched her.
"Now," said the Himlani as their hand ran down Tatiana’s belly, red creeks and rivers of blood spreading in their wake, "tell me about your magic.” The Himlani leaned in close as their hand clenched, their claws sinking deep into Tatiana’s taut abdomen. “What is it and why can't I see it?"
◆◆◆
We didn't talk about the kiss. We just moved forward, not saying much to each other beyond necessary communication. Ayesha scouted ahead and I used my newfound ability to slip into her consciousness and see through her eyes. I only did it for moments at a time, now aware that my body would not take care of itself while I was inside of another being. Etachs remained broody and silent. We managed to close the distance to the camp without much incident. We encountered three Himlani but managed to evade them. Etachs wanted to kill them, but I shook my head, my hand holding them back. It would put the Himlani on alert if their roving bands stopped returning from their patrols.
The presence of Scouts and Hunters slowed us down considerably. Every time Etachs or Ayesha would spot one, we would climb into the trees and wait, silent and tense. As the sun began to set on the first day and we made camp, Etachs said nothing to me. We ate in silence, and then they pulled a blanket over themselves and fell asleep immediately with their back to me. I laid back on my bedroll and looked at the sky, tracing familiar patterns of constellations with my eyes and wishing Tati were here. When I was younger, after the Devastation, when I couldn't sleep, she would point out the constellations to me and tell me their stories. She knew all the best stories, Human and Fae ones alike. I missed the sound of her voice, even when she was being bossy or angry with me. I missed her fingers in my hair. I missed the safety I felt when I was with her. I hated that we had to be so slow in getting to her, but I knew that it was necessary if we wanted to get to her at all.
The night passed uneventfully, Ayesha, Etachs, and I trading off shifts on watch, capable of alerting each other of danger through our communion, but we didn't need to. So, we plodded on. By afternoon the next day, we were close enough to see the compound clearly through the line of trees. The area around it was clear cut. There were metallic orbs of some kind buzzing around the air and strange tripods with something affixed to them that roved in patterns. I looked to Etachs who had a blank expression on their face.
"This is going to be difficult, Ana, and I need you to follow me to the step," they said without looking at me. "The things zooming around the air are Sentinel Drones. They are equipped with Rounders to incapacitate anyone without Himalani implants." I nodded and they continued. "The tripods are Static Guardians, they can move their Rounders, but they themselves cannot move. They track movement only and have to be disarmed via transmission of the right code."
"Do we have the code?" I asked.
&n
bsp; "No," Etachs said dryly.
"Is there any way to get inside without coming into their range?"
"Also, no."
"How did you do this before?" I asked, turning to look at them.
"By getting shot," replied Etachs, returning my look with that mask of impenetrable coolness on their face. "A lot." I frowned at them. "Oh, sure, easy for you to forget..." Etachs rolled their eyes and pointed to the bronze scales where I had healed them. It covered almost half their body.
"That isn't an option this time," I said, trying to keep the wavering out of my voice.
"No, it's not."
"So, what do we do?"
"Do your people keep Gods?"
"Um... yes, I suppose."
"Pray then."
To my complete and utter shock, my face split into a grin, and Etachs, after a second, grinned back at me. For that moment we were back to ourselves. Like I had never kissed them. My heart ached as I thought about what I had lost due to my uncontrolled impulses, but I savored the moment, nonetheless.
Etachs wrapped their hand around mine, their claws gently pressed into the back of my hand. They studied my face for a moment. "We will talk, Ana, I promise, but we need to get Tatiana back first, and we need to move fast to do it." I nodded. "Are you ready?" I nodded again.
They released my hand and pressed a small bag into it. "These are the implants that were still functional from the bunch I was able to salvage from the Hunters we killed in the Glade. Tie them to your belt. I have no idea if it will work or not, but I am hoping that the Sentinels won't fire on you if you have these."
I looked down at the small bag in my hands and smiled again.
Anais Eternal Page 15
