Written: Sunday. February 16, 2020.
The scene changed after that. Toby was back in Gatoprim V. He saw the three moons, the redness of the sky, the screaming. He saw spiders and wasps, ants and beetles, hive queens and their offspring, preparing to attack the incoming force of an alien species. Veergha was at the forefront of her brigade. A couple of troops looked like different variations of beasts or wildlife animals. A couple other troops looked like floraloids. And the rest had metallic armor surrounding them, or had long and sharp knives for their hands; some wielded various other metallic weapons. All of them looked hungry and ready for killing.
Veergha moved towards an insectoid at full speed. She was an amalgamation of all that were present in her troops. Her body changed rapidly, shifting from one or two species to the other, or maybe all at the same time. Toby almost couldn’t recognize her, almost couldn’t bare looking at her; what she’s become. Veergha had a smile on her face, which made it more horrific to watch.
As Veergha swung her sharp metallic talons, infecting the arachnids with a Darovian poison, Toby was doing the same thing. Her every move was his. His every motion was hers. The breach felt like that all the time for Toby. These weren’t his memories, but it might as well be, for he felt every emotion. Every hunger or pain, every strike or blow, each life she took was a life that he took.
Veergha felt no remorse. So Toby felt no remorse.
I’m looking at all the wrong places. Toby thought to himself. I’m looking for all of the anger, all of her suffering. This can’t be all of her memories. There has to be more.
So he started to fight against the memories. You’re trying to show me something, Veergha. What is it?
The scene changed again. He was now in a different world. A barren world, as it seemed. Veronnogh was speaking to Veergha. They were in a Volgan cruiser, looking at the new world from inside. Veergha was playing with her hands. They were glowing red.
“We might’ve been too late on this one.” Veronnogh said to her.
“Nonsense, My Lord.” Veergha replied. “We can still muster up a few Torveans for the evolutionary process.”
“A few.” Veronnogh said. “Not enough to satiated the whole empire.”
“Every moment we stay here to chat is another life wasted.” Veergha’s hands were trembling. “I — I grow tired of waiting, Lord Veronnogh.”
“Effects of the Xigonian Inheritance, I presume. That last planet surely did one on you, Lady Veergha. But if you insist on it, then very well.” Veronnogh opened the cruiser for her. “Learn what you can, and return immediately.”
“You mean take what I can?” Veergha ran too quickly before Veronnogh could even answer.
It took long before Veergha arrived at the planet’s surface. It felt almost like an hour of falling before Toby could see something other than clouds. The skies would’ve been calming to look at, but Veergha’s emotions spoke otherwise. As Veergha landed her feet on the ground, she could feel herself flying back towards the air again. She had to adjust her weight just to keep herself steady.
Once she was well balanced on the ground, she started to look around. This planet really is a waste. Lady Veergha thought. No cities. No people. No plants or vegetation. What did the Empire pick up on this planet?
Everywhere she turned, there was a cloud in sight — and she was standing on the ground. The world had an infinite mist, which made it even harder to see. It wasn’t the strong wind that bothered her. It was the lack of sound in the wind. Usually, even the slightest gust would emit the sound of a whisper. But in this planet, there was little to no sound at all in the passing winds.
As Veergha kept walking, the wind kept getting stronger. There was no way to tell where she was at this point. There was little to no chance of her recognizing the patterns in the wind, which direction it kept on going, or wherever the hell it was coming from. She just knew that there must at least be something worthwhile on this barren wasteland. So Veergha kept pushing forward.
She was just about to give up and bolt back to her cruiser, when she heard a soft voice coming from the winds. It kept saying the same thing: Closer. So Veergha followed the voice, and eventually found a shape in the mist. It was a silhouette of an arch. As she moved closer, the arch became clearer. When she got under the arch, she noticed another arch just in front of her. And then another arch after that, and then another after that. The winds were getting more and more aggressive with Veergha, as though it was alive and trying to push her away every time she stepped a little bit closer. Closer to what? She and Toby were thinking at this moment. What am I getting close to?
Then as if the winds heard her, the voice changed: Stop.
“What?” Veergha stopped moving. She looked around her, trying to see if somebody was there watching her, but to no avail. Nobody was there. The mist was so dense now, that Veergha couldn’t even see her hands if she held it right in front of her face. “Why am I stopping? Who’s there? I can hear you. Show yourself!”
Alright. The winds said to her. And as if she had blinked, the mist was fully gone. In front of her stood a voluptuous being. It’s skin was pale white; had a hint of yellow. It had scales all over its body, but it wasn’t that much noticeable unless you looked really close. There was also some sort of pattern going on around the being’s body. Like a line coming from the back, travelling down towards both ends of the beings hands and feet. It’s head also brandished the pattern, which ended just on the forehead. The being’s eyes looked calm. A gust of wind came towards Veergha. Welcome.
“I came here to collect yo — wait, how’d you do that?”
What? The winds spoke.
“Your lips are not moving,” Veergha noted, “but I can hear you clearly. Or is it the wind gusts that I’ve been hearing all this time?”
Yes. The winds answered.
“So you’re the voice in the wind?”
Indeed.
“Well, if that’s the case, I’m here to collect you now.”
Can’t. The being smiled.
“What do you mean I can’t? And why are you just giving me single words?”
Because.
Veergha waited, but the being just stood there, waiting for her to speak. “Because what? Is this like a game your kind plays?”
Then the being’s smile left its face. My…Kind.
“That was two words this time.” Veergha pointed out.
No…more. The wind whispered.
“What do you mean?” Veergha asked the being.
Look. The being said. It looked around, so Veergha did the same. When the mist was heavy, Veergha couldn’t see a thing. Now that the mist had cleared around them, Veergha still saw nothing. Just the yellow ground, and the being in front of her.
“You can’t be all that’s left.” Veergha said to the being. “I’m not one to play, fool.”
Truth. The being said. It sat down in front of her. Veergha readied her hands, and struck the being with her flames. But a strong burst of wind blew out the fire before it even got close to the voluptuous being. The being looked at her, its eyes were getting bored. Don’t.
“Tell me where the others are hiding or I’ll — “ as Veergha raised her fist to ready another attack, the being looked at her fist calmly, then back to her.
The being raised its eyebrow. Really?
“Why, you!” Veergha took several shots at the being, and each flame was put out by a gust of wind.
Veergha changed tactics. She put a hand on the ground and started focusing on it. A few moments of breathing heavily, nothing happened. “No vegetation, I see.” Veergha noted. Again, she tried on a different tactic. She raised her hands again. This time, instead of letting loose a burst of flames, Veergha brought forth a silvery thread out of the palm of her hands. It made contact with the being, but only because the being wasn’t particularly paying attention once Veergha looked as though she was about to re-attempt shooting at it with flames.
The thread wrapped itself around the pale being. It struggled inside of the thread, unable to get itself out. Please. The being looked at Veergha. Stop.
“Only if you tell me where the rest of your kind is hiding.” Veergha said to the being. The being only struggled some more. The clouds above them started to go dark. “What’re you doing?” Veergha noticed the clouds getting closer to the tied up being.
No…more…my…kind…no…more…The winds kept repeating for her. Please…believe…
Then the scene changed. Veergha was standing right in front of Toby. “It took awhile before I understood what he meant.” She said directly towards him.
“Wait,” Toby said to her. “What’s happening? Is this another memory? Or are you actually speaking to me right now?”
“Well, I kind of figured some stuff out while I was observing your memories.”
“You looked through my memories?”
“You were doing the same. That happens in a mind-breach.”
“Then why’d you cut me off while I was — err, you were talking to that weird fat alien?”
“Toae’ras was the most difficult being I’d ever spoken to. That scene takes longer than one of your Earth days to finish.”
“What did this Toae’ras guy want to say to you?” Toby asked.
“Just about what you’ve heard so far before I cut the scene, actually. Eventually, I understood that he was just trying to tell me he was the last of his kind on that planet, and that me killing him — which was exactly what I was prepared to do at that moment — would mean oblivion for his whole race. Because he was the whole race.”
“But you killed him anyway, didn’t you?” Toby asked. “Is that the moral of the story?”
“Looking back at that memory,” Veergha said. “I wish I had done exactly that. But no, Tobias, it was quite the opposite; I spared his life.”
The scene changed after that. Toby was back in Gatoprim V. He saw the three moons, the redness of the sky, the screaming. He saw spiders and wasps, ants and beetles, hive queens and their offspring, preparing to attack the incoming force of an alien species. Veergha was at the forefront of her brigade. A couple of troops looked like different variations of beasts or wildlife animals. A couple other troops looked like floraloids. And the rest had metallic armor surrounding them, or had long and sharp knives for their hands; some wielded various other metallic weapons. All of them looked hungry and ready for killing.
Veergha moved towards an insectoid at full speed. She was an amalgamation of all that were present in her troops. Her body changed rapidly, shifting from one or two species to the other, or maybe all at the same time. Toby almost couldn’t recognize her, almost couldn’t bare looking at her; what she’s become. Veergha had a smile on her face, which made it more horrific to watch.
As Veergha swung her sharp metallic talons, infecting the arachnids with a Darovian poison, Toby was doing the same thing. Her every move was his. His every motion was hers. The breach felt like that all the time for Toby. These weren’t his memories, but it might as well be, for he felt every emotion. Every hunger or pain, every strike or blow, each life she took was a life that he took.
Veergha felt no remorse. So Toby felt no remorse.
I’m looking at all the wrong places. Toby thought to himself. I’m looking for all of the anger, all of her suffering. This can’t be all of her memories. There has to be more.
So he started to fight against the memories. You’re trying to show me something, Veergha. What is it?
The scene changed again. He was now in a different world. A barren world, as it seemed. Veronnogh was speaking to Veergha. They were in a Volgan cruiser, looking at the new world from inside. Veergha was playing with her hands. They were glowing red.
“We might’ve been too late on this one.” Veronnogh said to her.
“Nonsense, My Lord.” Veergha replied. “We can still muster up a few Torveans for the evolutionary process.”
“A few.” Veronnogh said. “Not enough to satiated the whole empire.”
“Every moment we stay here to chat is another life wasted.” Veergha’s hands were trembling. “I — I grow tired of waiting, Lord Veronnogh.”
“Effects of the Xigonian Inheritance, I presume. That last planet surely did one on you, Lady Veergha. But if you insist on it, then very well.” Veronnogh opened the cruiser for her. “Learn what you can, and return immediately.”
“You mean take what I can?” Veergha ran too quickly before Veronnogh could even answer.
* * *
It took long before Veergha arrived at the planet’s surface. It felt almost like an hour of falling before Toby could see something other than clouds. The skies would’ve been calming to look at, but Veergha’s emotions spoke otherwise. As Veergha landed her feet on the ground, she could feel herself flying back towards the air again. She had to adjust her weight just to keep herself steady.
Once she was well balanced on the ground, she started to look around. This planet really is a waste. Lady Veergha thought. No cities. No people. No plants or vegetation. What did the Empire pick up on this planet?
Everywhere she turned, there was a cloud in sight — and she was standing on the ground. The world had an infinite mist, which made it even harder to see. It wasn’t the strong wind that bothered her. It was the lack of sound in the wind. Usually, even the slightest gust would emit the sound of a whisper. But in this planet, there was little to no sound at all in the passing winds.
As Veergha kept walking, the wind kept getting stronger. There was no way to tell where she was at this point. There was little to no chance of her recognizing the patterns in the wind, which direction it kept on going, or wherever the hell it was coming from. She just knew that there must at least be something worthwhile on this barren wasteland. So Veergha kept pushing forward.
She was just about to give up and bolt back to her cruiser, when she heard a soft voice coming from the winds. It kept saying the same thing: Closer. So Veergha followed the voice, and eventually found a shape in the mist. It was a silhouette of an arch. As she moved closer, the arch became clearer. When she got under the arch, she noticed another arch just in front of her. And then another arch after that, and then another after that. The winds were getting more and more aggressive with Veergha, as though it was alive and trying to push her away every time she stepped a little bit closer. Closer to what? She and Toby were thinking at this moment. What am I getting close to?
Then as if the winds heard her, the voice changed: Stop.
“What?” Veergha stopped moving. She looked around her, trying to see if somebody was there watching her, but to no avail. Nobody was there. The mist was so dense now, that Veergha couldn’t even see her hands if she held it right in front of her face. “Why am I stopping? Who’s there? I can hear you. Show yourself!”
Alright. The winds said to her. And as if she had blinked, the mist was fully gone. In front of her stood a voluptuous being. It’s skin was pale white; had a hint of yellow. It had scales all over its body, but it wasn’t that much noticeable unless you looked really close. There was also some sort of pattern going on around the being’s body. Like a line coming from the back, travelling down towards both ends of the beings hands and feet. It’s head also brandished the pattern, which ended just on the forehead. The being’s eyes looked calm. A gust of wind came towards Veergha. Welcome.
“I came here to collect yo — wait, how’d you do that?”
What? The winds spoke.
“Your lips are not moving,” Veergha noted, “but I can hear you clearly. Or is it the wind gusts that I’ve been hearing all this time?”
Yes. The winds answered.
“So you’re the voice in the wind?”
Indeed.
“Well, if that’s the case, I’m here to collect you now.”
Can’t. The being smiled.
“What do you mean I can’t? And why are you just giving me single words?”
Because.
Veergha waited, but the being just stood there, waiting for her to speak. “Because what? Is this like a game your kind plays?”
Then the being’s smile left its face. My…Kind.
“That was two words this time.” Veergha pointed out.
No…more. The wind whispered.
“What do you mean?” Veergha asked the being.
Look. The being said. It looked around, so Veergha did the same. When the mist was heavy, Veergha couldn’t see a thing. Now that the mist had cleared around them, Veergha still saw nothing. Just the yellow ground, and the being in front of her.
“You can’t be all that’s left.” Veergha said to the being. “I’m not one to play, fool.”
Truth. The being said. It sat down in front of her. Veergha readied her hands, and struck the being with her flames. But a strong burst of wind blew out the fire before it even got close to the voluptuous being. The being looked at her, its eyes were getting bored. Don’t.
“Tell me where the others are hiding or I’ll — “ as Veergha raised her fist to ready another attack, the being looked at her fist calmly, then back to her.
The being raised its eyebrow. Really?
“Why, you!” Veergha took several shots at the being, and each flame was put out by a gust of wind.
Veergha changed tactics. She put a hand on the ground and started focusing on it. A few moments of breathing heavily, nothing happened. “No vegetation, I see.” Veergha noted. Again, she tried on a different tactic. She raised her hands again. This time, instead of letting loose a burst of flames, Veergha brought forth a silvery thread out of the palm of her hands. It made contact with the being, but only because the being wasn’t particularly paying attention once Veergha looked as though she was about to re-attempt shooting at it with flames.
The thread wrapped itself around the pale being. It struggled inside of the thread, unable to get itself out. Please. The being looked at Veergha. Stop.
“Only if you tell me where the rest of your kind is hiding.” Veergha said to the being. The being only struggled some more. The clouds above them started to go dark. “What’re you doing?” Veergha noticed the clouds getting closer to the tied up being.
No…more…my…kind…no…more…The winds kept repeating for her. Please…believe…
Then the scene changed. Veergha was standing right in front of Toby. “It took awhile before I understood what he meant.” She said directly towards him.
“Wait,” Toby said to her. “What’s happening? Is this another memory? Or are you actually speaking to me right now?”
“Well, I kind of figured some stuff out while I was observing your memories.”
“You looked through my memories?”
“You were doing the same. That happens in a mind-breach.”
“Then why’d you cut me off while I was — err, you were talking to that weird fat alien?”
“Toae’ras was the most difficult being I’d ever spoken to. That scene takes longer than one of your Earth days to finish.”
“What did this Toae’ras guy want to say to you?” Toby asked.
“Just about what you’ve heard so far before I cut the scene, actually. Eventually, I understood that he was just trying to tell me he was the last of his kind on that planet, and that me killing him — which was exactly what I was prepared to do at that moment — would mean oblivion for his whole race. Because he was the whole race.”
“But you killed him anyway, didn’t you?” Toby asked. “Is that the moral of the story?”
“Looking back at that memory,” Veergha said. “I wish I had done exactly that. But no, Tobias, it was quite the opposite; I spared his life.”
End of Chapter.
* * *
* * *
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