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Chapter 13

Imacha had carried his companions down into the small conference and viewing room in sub-level 8. It was like a small lecture hall within universities with tiered seating and a wall completely dominated with a digital screen. The only difference was the room could seat at best thirty while lecture halls were commonly designed to sit a hundred to hundred and fifty. Dr. Tahk was in the hall preparing something in the holo projection suite. The venerable arkatian looked up as the three entered and smiled.

“Ah, there you all are. Excellent," he said in his gravelly whisper.

“We were told you were in here by Tahjek," said Imacha. “Wei is with us. Is this where we…"

“Hmm? Oh no no. I was putting together a presentation in preparation for tomorrow. I received a call just after the two of you left my office. Someone from the Security Council is coming for an update on our progress. That is the official word. It's a thinly veiled excuse to see Kendra however. They are worried about her presence here… for obvious reasons," he said, casting a look at Kendra. The arkatian noticed Wei a few seconds later and fixed his gaze on her. “Ah, you must be the sister of Adam Sheng, Wei. It is a pleasure to meet you and allow me to express condolences about your brother. Having heard the story, his bravery was truly admirable. If you are a fraction of the person he was, then it will be a pleasure working with you here Miss Sheng. As the others have likely told you, I am Dr. Tahk. Now, before any further pleasantries, let us leave this dreadfully boring room and enter one of the many labs down here in sub-level eight. Kendra, Imacha, and I tend to haunt labs 23A and 23B."

The arkatian folded his arms behind his back, pushing his wings about as he did so. He looked down at Wei as he passed her and moved out of the room without a word more to her. Imacha followed along in the doctor's wake. Wei stared about in a bit of awe as she looked at the massive hallways and rooms she passed through. She had spent most of her life among humans, not often going to the giant alien cities. Only recently, on her trip across the Union to get to Kendra, had she been fully exposed to the sights and sheer scale of the alien cities and buildings. Integration of humans into their society was still ongoing so not a lot of places had full facilities to handle humans which were so much smaller than the rest of the races. This lab facility drove that home so much more. It was designed solely for the giant aliens, so everything loomed over Wei in the grandest of ways.

“This place smells like a hospital," mumbled Wei as she rubbed at her nose.

“It's a lab Wei," said Kendra. “We carry on a lot of biological research here, like cutting into dead things, so yeah, it's going to smell like a hospital with all the disinfectant we use down here to keep things sterile and safe. The doctor and Imacha told me they were a hundred times more paranoid about scouring things clean in the first quarter when they weren't sure if the annelid was carrying any unidentified pathogens within its body. They worked in full bio-hazard suits. Then they discovered the annelid immune system's ability to wipe out pathogens in their body was almost one hundred percent effective. They were free of any of those problems. So, they were able to lower the protocols against such measures to what you see now. Be thankful. We would have practically been bathing in bleach if we worked here then."

“Immense hyperbole," snapped Imacha, sounding a bit irritable. “We never bathed in bleach."

Wei chuckled. “I get the picture. Still, this is amazing. They have stuff set up for humans though?"

“Yes they do. They had the resources to ship such things over within two days to facilitate my ability to work here. However, it's going to take a lot longer to get transport systems up and running for us. For now we have to get a lift from Imacha or someone else."

“I went through Guardian and Charge training in the exo-marines. No sweat there. Though, they had to 'import' a few of you giants to earth for the sessions. I'm used to being carried around. Makes you feel like a diva I tell you," she joked.

Kendra chuckled at that.

The group entered Lab 23B. Kendra was more than used to the lab and all within it by now. For Wei, who had never been in a proper advanced lab found in the Union or on earth, it was like something from a movie to her, more fiction than reality. As expected though, what drew her immediate attention were all the holographic images of the alien thing about the room.

“Is that…?" she asked slowly, voice trailing off at the end.

Kendra nodded. “Yes, it is."

“That, my dear, is the annelid," proclaimed Dr. Tahk. “It is all taken from the one specimen we have of them at this time. Could there be variance among other members of the species, changes from one to the next, definitely. Given their uplifted nature and the genetic tampering performed on their own species over what we are assuming is a vast period of time, there could be immense variety from one to another, even in their very genetic code. However, we work under the assumption that that is not the case as things stand for now. It's easier to work that way, assuming an homogenous species. If we are proven wrong in the future, given the ability to study more of them or glean information on their biology, physiology, and genetics from external sources, we shall re-evaluate our preconceived assessments."

Wei had an almost shell shocked look on her face after all that the doctor said. She glanced at Kendra as if to say 'help'. Kendra smirked.

“Remember what I told you about Imacha being smart and me not as much as you think?" said Kendra.

Wei nodded a little.

“Imacha calls Dr. Tahk brilliant and aspires to be more like him."

Wei glanced up at Imacha and the tordenchi nodded at her to confirm Kendra's words.

“I feel like an idiot," mumbled Wei.

“You're our idiot, so it is acceptable to me," said Imacha.

Kendra swatted Imacha with a hand, hitting his chest. “Be nice."

“I was being nice. She's ours, so I look past the fact she is not trained in science. That is not her chosen path in life. There is nothing wrong with that."

“You didn't have to call her an idiot you big bully. Apologize Imacha," she said sternly.

Imacha glanced down at Wei and sighed. She realized he looked honestly mollified for a few moments. “I do apologize. I need more time to get used to you. I don't have the rapport with you that I had with your brother. Sorry."

“Sure Imacha. No problem. I got tough skin too. We'll get there though, to that rapport. For now, I really want to hear more about these… freaky alien worms." She looked to Dr.Tahk. “If you wouldn't mind taking this from the top please doc? Just let Kendra and I get settled on some of those tiny chairs you got on the table."

“By all means, settle in," said the elderly arkatian. He smiled at Kendra and nodded slowly.

She returned the motion to him. It was all working out.

Chapter 14

The Rider brought up the security camera feeds of the labs 19-23 on sub-level 8. One at a time it stared at them, carefully seeking out the smallest details in the labs for signs of where the Elder's remains were being held. They were filled with machinery and computers and tools meant to help study biological date, each lab specialized in certain fields of anatomy and analysis. Most of it was familiar to the Rider after careful scrutiny. The machines were rudimentary, almost archaic, but their purpose could be at least partially defined by her on sight alone. All of it was useless. Nothing it had seen yet would be appropriate to hold the Elder's body in and maintain it in a preserved state for study.

It halted on lab 21. A male kiori was in the lab, puttering about and looking into one of the many machines within the room. It zoomed the video feed in to look at an active computer screen nearby and instantly recognized segments of the central nervous system of one of its kind present on the screen. The analysis was thorough, the computer generated imagery near perfect. Their ability to study biology was better than expected but ultimately irrelevant. The video shifted to the kiori next. He was not one of the targets. Regardless, his death was inevitable. It guided the host to look upon a new lab.

Lab 23 was the one the Rider sought after. It was separated into two distinct chambers and clearly was the most advanced of all the labs in the entire sub-level. Images of the Elder filled the rooms. A large rotating hologram of it was in partition 23B. Two figures sat before the hologram. One was an arkatian, hunched over in his seat. He was old the Rider realized. Senescence had robbed the being of his vitality, stature, and youth. The Rider flicked the host's finger at a holo-control before her. A smaller screen-in-screen appeared and identified the ID of the arkatian. This was Dr. Tahkmethrahn Sakheema, one of its targets. Another twitch and the host was forced to open up audio feed on the surveillance camera. His voice came through clearly, though it too was ravaged by age, whispery and gravelly at once.

“As you can see, this race, the annelid, is a marvel of science in every way imaginable. If this one is representative of its entire species, then they are beings that have reached the pinnacle of their evolutionary development and then chose to surpass it by altering and ameliorating their own genetic code to overcome death itself. There are those that consider death as little more than any other negative condition the body faces, such as disease or an injury, and that it can be cured or eliminated altogether. What you are looking at is a species that decided to embrace this concept and follow it to the logical conclusion, rendering them biologically immortal and almost completely free from the existential threat of death itself," said Dr. Tahk.

“Is that… even possible?" asked a female voice filled with disbelief.

The Rider shifted the view of the observation node. It passed over a tordenchi which it recognized immediately as Imacha Tachai, having seen his image at the kiosk, and focused on a specific spot on the table that the holo-projector was embedded in. It had almost missed them. Two humans sat there atop the table on chairs provided for them. There were smaller computer terminals sized for them off to the side of where they sat. The Rider was familiar enough with human anatomy to easily define them as female. The one that spoke had relatively short, dark protein filaments that grew from her head down to her shoulders. Hair they called it. Her skin was pale and furless. The Rider did not recognize her thus she was irrelevant too.

The arkatian began to speak again, explaining things to the irrelevant human female, and she spoke back to him, trying to understand what was impossible for her feeble mind to grasp. All those words faded to a mere background hum to the Rider. Everything else became trivial, so much worthless distraction. The host's eyes focused on the other female sitting beside the one that spoke and the Rider saw through those eyes. It saw her. The Rider felt hate well up in it. It was a primal sensation, an ancient emotion normally banished, not allowed to them as it inhibited rational thought processes. Yet, it could not help feel it at this moment. That human, a least race, something unevolved, barely sapient, and incapable of even being used as a host, had slain an Elder of the Rider's species. It was the first one to die by the hands of any being outside their own kind in over 185,000 cycles of time. Kendra Forrest. The hate grew into a near blind rage inside it and the host trembled, limbs twitching as the connections to it received confusing signals and commands all at once.

The host's eyes blinked and her jaw moved up and down, strained grunting sounds coming from her as she tried to speak. Her eyes couldn't move but she didn't need to see what she wanted. She moved her hand slowly, reaching for the shock rod she knew was tucked in her pants. She felt her pants leg brush along her fingers. They traced up the length of her thigh. Her fingertips felt the cool metal of part of the rod contact it. The fingers slid along the rod trying to seek out the button to activate it. If she could get it and touch it to her neck, maybe she could stop it. She felt the thing inside her moving there ever so slightly. Her neck was mostly devoid of sensation but once in a while she was sure she felt it move. Even the thought of it made her want to gag, to throw up, to just die where she sat. Anything to end this horror she was going through. Her hand froze. It wasn't 'her' hand anymore… again. The Rider had calmed itself when it realized the host had regained a moment of freedom and reclaimed its tool.

Tyryenna couldn't move her mouth despite how much her mind wanted to scream and scream until her throat was raw and torn. It wouldn't let her. She thought nothing could be worse than this. Nothing, no fear could ever compare to the horror of being trapped in her own body until she heard it speak to her. The sound came from inside her body, but was loud enough to reach her sensitive ears.

<Your suffering… will end… soon. But not… just… yet.>

The helpless asishi's consciousness continued to scream inside her mind as the Rider returned to its work. It stared at the screen once more, calm and composed an emotionless void again. Still, it gazed intensely at Kendra. She had to die. Her death meant more than recovering the Elder's body. The least race dared this audacity; it needed to suffer the most. The woman did not speak but did not need to. The image of her was burned into the Rider's mind by now. There was no forgetting her looks. The target was here and would be killed.

“Perhaps you would like to hear more about some other aspect of the alien, as far as we have been able to ascertain?" asked Imacha to Wei.

The Rider was, for a brief moment, surprised at the sound of the voice. It knew that voice. 'Excuse you.' It heard it just a few hours ago, right before it had reached the kiosk and seen the first images of the tordenchi's face. 'Yes, you. Quite rude of you to…' It had him and was going to end him for daring to even contact the host body, but the crowd that arrived made it choose to leave instead. It just didn't know it was Imacha at that time. A brief flash of annoyance ran through the Rider then faded immediately. It didn't matter now. In a short while the tordenchi would be dead as well as everyone else in that room. Two humans, an arkatian, a tordenchi, and a kiori; the first among hundreds of billions.

That was enough. It knew where they were. One more room remained. What it sought in addition to Kendra Forrest had to be there. Lab 23A snapped into view, a modern marvel of science for the lesser races, but a barely adequate hovel in the mind of the Rider. It scanned the lab slowly, zooming in and out at the many machines within it until it found one that was promising. It appeared to be much more secure than anything else it had seen so far in the labs. This was some manner of vault or sealed storage unit attached to tanks behind it. It recognized a biometric reader on the outside of it, having been briefed on the inferior medical technology of these lesser races before being sent on the mission. It performed rapid translations and mathematics in its mind to equate those readings to what its own species made use of. The outcome of that only confirmed what it immediately suspected when seeing the storage unit. Those were the vital readings of one of its own race in a dormant state, trapped between life and death. It would render the Elder's remains properly dead once it reached them. With that, the Rider had all it needed now. It was time to finish the demand placed upon it.

The Rider swiped left and all screens faded. It brought up a new one and began to access the building's security systems. It carefully sliced into them, disabled them, and severed the ability of any calls being made inside the facility from getting out. Next it locked down the main building of the facility. Security shutters began to lower and enclose all the building, sealing all windows and blocking all external doors. The Rider sliced the security overrides and stopped any ID cards from being able to have functionality at all. All internal doors in the facility were now open and could not be sealed yet no one could get out of the building through external doors. The shutters, solid metal security panels, covered over the mostly glass walls and doors of the lobby and many places on the lowest floor, sealing it in entirely. They clamped down into place with an echoing finality to the sound. As a final act the Rider accessed the facility's central power grid, determined that an emergency backup generator would come on line to keep all the security changes it had made operational, and killed the power in the entire facility. All the lights went out as did the security computer terminal the Rider used, plunging the lobby into pitch black darkness.

The lobby remained dark for a few moments until red lights flicked on seconds later. Those were the emergency back-up power units and lights through the facility. They were separate from the controls the Rider was using and could not be shut off remotely at all, only manually in the facility's power core. That didn't matter. The Rider's targets were trapped inside the facility with it. They could not get out. They could not run. They could not hide. The Rider rose from its seat and made the host walk towards the elevators. It had looked over the floor plans of the facility earlier, especially the sub-levels where its prey was holed up in. All it needed to do was see the plans to memorize them. It knew where they were and was coming for them. It would all be over soon.

It moved past the deactivated lifts to the emergency stairs that led down. The Rider began to head downwards, truncheon held in the host's hand tightly. It reached the main security door meant to block access into the limited access sub-levels and casually pushed it open. The Rider shoved it closed again behind it and continued on its way downwards, the host bathed in a red glow making the asishi's body look like it was already drenched in the blood of those billions that the Rider so deeply wished it could spill all on its own.