Remembrance

Rath stared out into the hangar from the command deck of the Rattlesnake class hybrid battleship Siren of Decay. There was something to be said for torture. It yielded rather impressive results, this time at least. She snorted and turned away from the impressive array of ships towards the figure seated in the deep shadows.

"So tell me, what on earth was the reason for this, why did you do this?" she said with a voice that carried an undercurrent of incredible violence.

Isabelle's cracked lips struggled to form the words,"Ach- a . . test . . " she broke off, blood dripping from around her mouth.

"I've already said, numerous times in the past, to come directly to me if you found anything, you've helped increase the systems to a very efficient level, and then you pull this stunt, I should've shot you." Rath turned away, an ugly sneer on her face.

"I . . ach- foun . . things . . made no . . sense, so I . . ach-" she stopped talking, panting heavily, her face a grey ashen pallor.

"RAP!" bellowed Rath "Get in here and give her a shot, I want her story in full, I want her to remember everything."

Rapumtra manifested from the shadowed doorway carrying a rack of vials and a hypodermic needle gun. He bent over Isabelle and siwftly administered a dose to the side of her neck.

"She should be fine for a short while Boss, if any . . . irregularities occur, then you may lose her."

"So be it" Rath said her eyes flashing.

He nodded once and melted back into the inky blackness of the doorway.

A weak but steady voice spoke up "There were irregularities, things that didn't make sense, I was trying to work out what these were and their origin-"

Rath cut across her "You stupid fucking bitch! Have you never heard of personal configurations? I'm a pirate, outlawed under the laws put in place by the CONCORD Assembly and the Gallente Federation. The ships they create are configured certain ways, I chose to create my own configurations as they suit my purpose better. That's what you detected. I don't seriously believe I'm hearing this."

"Surely that's illegal though, not to mention highly dangerous and experimental . . ." Isabelle said quietly.

Rath just glared at her and spat one word, "Pirate!"

"So, tell me this then, after you shut down the first ship, why did you go on to do the exact same thing to the other 45 ships in my hangar, and why did you leave the Absolution? Out of all the ships."

Isabelle ingored the questions and began talking very rapidly, "My first thought was that it was a replicating virus in the early stages and that my shutting down the mainframes I'd disable it or at the very least retard its progress. I thought you'd picked it up when you entered the rogue drone complex, not the most recent one, when you were chasing another pilot." she trailed off, one of her pupils dilating oddly.

As she began twitching Rath swept from the room, not even bothering to look back as a dull thud came from where Isabelle had collapsed onto the floor.

"Rap, take out the trash please, it's cluttering up the place." she said quickly as she passed the dark doorway.

-------------------------------

Rath sat at the hangar command console, typing rapidly, watching the data scroll in a green blur before her eyes.

///DATA TRANSMISSION COMPLETE

///INITIAL FINDINGS: ALL RELEVANT DATA COLLATED - BEGINNING PRIMARY SWEEP

///PRIMARY SWEEP COMPLETE - ALL IRRELEVANT DATA PURGED: 406 FILES DESTROYED

///SECONDARY SWEEP INITIATED - PROCEED: Y/N ?

///SECONDARY SWEEP COMPLETE - ADDITIONAL 3 FILES DESTROYED

///BEGIN AUTOMATIC CONFIGURATION

///OVERRIDDEN: COMMAND AUTHORISATION - AH49IF6J3MN20YT7

///PASSWORD: ***************

///PASSWORD ACCEPTED: MANUAL CONFIGURATION AUTHORISED

///cmd: delete all data

///PURGING MAINFRAMES: STANDBY

///STANDBY

///REQUESTING NEW MAINFRAMES

Exsanguination

The steady drip, drip, drip reverberated through Isabelle's skull, pounding, echoing, non-relenting, drip, drip, drip. She was swimming in a fog of senselessness, failing to make sense of anything, the floor swirling beneath her, coming in and out of focus with equal ease.

She blacked out. Came back. Blacked out again. Came to, struggling upwards through layers on unconsciousness. Blacked out.

Liquid, being sprayed on her face, cold, refreshing, painful. She gasped, choked as it got in her mouth, spluttered. The stream stopped.

She hang, horizontal, coughing it all up. There was a click and she felt herself move, the movement made no sense to her mind, nothing did.

She blacked out.

Came to.

Blacked out.

"Wake up" a dim voice was heard through foggy layers.

"Wake up!" more insistent.

"WAKE UP!" punctuated with a sting of pain in her neck. She woke up.

She peered out through one eye, the other remained inactive, it didn't matter, made no sense, none of this did.

She could make out a blurry figure, tall and broad, standing in front of her.

"You've made someone angry" the figure rumbled.

"Personally I would've skinned you alive for what you did, but I guess she's more refined" footsteps shook the deck as the figure moved towards her. A hand gripped her neck, huge, too big to be normal, forced her head upwards, towards the too bright lights. A 'matarian face swam into focus, backlit by the stark lighting.

The huge head moved, bent her head so his lips brushed her ear "I'd count yourself lucky the boss is who she is, she's coming to see you now, you might enjoy her company better."

He let go of her neck as if she was something repulsive and headed towards the recessed doorway, silently deactivating the lights as he did.

He left the room silently, quickly, no longer needing to reveal his presence.

The docking chime sounded, she was coming back.

He moved swiftly and stood to attention as the golden hull came into the bay.

He could feel the ruby liquid sliding from the crook of his elbow down his arm, ever so slowly traversing the smooth skin. It reached his fingertip and hung there, as if waiting.

He watched silently as she approached, keeping his eyes locked dead ahead, betraying no emotion.

"She's waiting in there for you." He said stiffly. Isabelle's blood dropped from his finger and hit the deck, obliterating itself in the unforgiving grey metal.