FREEFALL: A LT FREYA NOVEL - CHAPTER 5 - Ghost Battalion

Ghost Battalion

Freya leaned in close to the terminal and the simple three letter message.

[Y E S]

The terminal was the only active light in the rear of the facility. Amid the distant muffled sound of plasma fire she read it over and over.

The comms channel she had with Captain Morrison’s cyberbrain had been silent since the moment he died. For the entire mission to that point she had been posting to the long dormant exchange. Keeping him updated on her progress. Her position. Her thoughts. She recalled the city lights powering down and leading them to the lab, just after she had lamented in the channel. She recalled Captain Morrison’s credentials getting them past the security checkpoint, and wondered to herself how they were even still active. Surely, she reasoned, the UTF was aware he had betrayed the Front and died in the process. And then… this message.

She reviewed the last phrase she had posted.

[I’m the one who's going towards the trap…]

Yes.

A direct response.

[Fox? Is that you?]

The terminal went dark.

[Fox? Please…]

She waited for anything. A blip. A sound. A sign. But there was only cold darkness and the distant chaos of a battle she had avoided in order to rescue Kiira.

“Kiira,” She reminded herself.

“Fox, if somehow you’re watching out for me… if your ROM is still active.. Whatever this is. Watch over me now. I’m going to spring the trap,” She whispered.

Calmly she placed her paw to the biometric access pad and the door hissed open. She could see little more than a dim sepia light and took a long breath before crossing the threshold. As the door closed behind her she scanned the room. Her HUD displayed no targets. It read nothing on depth of field checks. She reached into her pack and pulled out a small sandbag, usually used to balance the Mark I, but useless in close quarters. The pawful of sand she scooped out and tossed in front of her hit nothing. It simply fell to the steel as expected. There was no one in the room but her, cloaked or otherwise.

“Interesting.”

While digital and physical checks found no sign of life in the dim room the ambient temperature was several degrees warmer than it should be. Empty or not- it felt like a room full of warm bodies. The sensation of being watched, despite nothing on HUD scans, spiked the fur on the back of her neck.

She walked towards the farthest lab table. It had obviously been configured for testing on a living subject. There was a small pillow at the head, surrounded by ribbon connectors like the kind she used for her Mark I. As she inspected the restraints at the wrist and ankles she saw small tufts of gray fur trapped in the gaps.

“Hmm.”

A large mechanical arm hung down from the ceiling above the table. Several small spires of various tools spiderwebbed out from the central shaft. Thick cables threaded up the arm, and into the ceiling. The dull sepia light came from an ember-like glow in the terminus of the arm.

Freya found the table warm to the touch when she placed her paw on the center. It was clear Kiira had been there. Even her scent remained faintly in the air.

[Here goes nothing, Fox. I hope you’re with me.]

She raised her pistol and activated the battery, speaking loud and clear, “I don’t know how but I do know you’re here. We can skip the dramatics. Let’s do this.”

A half dozen Ghosts uncloaked in a semicircle around her, Mark III rifles six inches from her muzzle. She saw her reflection in their mirror-like visors and thought of Captain Morrison’s last moments. He had gazed unblinking into the barrel of an old combustion pistol. She promised herlsef she would not give them the satisfaction of her fear. With her own plasma pistol raised she picked one and steadied her aim.

A moment later a seventh figure uncloaked outside the circle. This one wore the UTF rank of sergeant in electric yellow on his otherwise pure black suit. When he finally came into focus he lifted the mirror visor. Cold blue eyes examined her from behind within the helmet.

“Easy boys. She wants her alive, remember?”

A grin crossed Freya’s muzzle as her HUD zoomed in on the sergeant. His pulse was steady and his eyes dilated. Voice stress analysis showed no deception.

“Shouldn’t have said that,” She answered.

In the moment before she acted the HUD registered stress on his face and Freya hoped he had a moment to realize his mistake.

Freya dropped to one knee, arcing three shots from her pistol into the gap in the sergeant's helmet. Before his body hit the floor she swept out her prosthetic leg to topple the nearest Ghost soldier. When he landed she swung the grip of her gun down against his visor, shattering it, before firing two more bolts into his skull. Two heavy arms wrapped around her as she licked the second soldier’s blood spray from her muzzle. Looking up she saw a small gap between the Ghost’s helmet and his black suit. Two bolts blazed from her pistol and he collapsed on her instantly. Before she could scramble out from beneath him, however, a weighted glove cracked down on her muzzle and she tasted blood. Her own this time.

While she was dazed three of the Ghost soldiers dog-piled her. Two put their full weight on her prosthetic leg and even the full hydraulic force of the UTF design couldn’t move them. The third locked her arms above her head while the fourth knelt in front of her.

She saw her blood streaked muzzle in the reflection of the soldier’s visor. When he spoke it was through a small speaker affixed to his breast.

“We said we needed you alive. Not healthy. You’re going to pay for that bullshit you just pulled.”

Without a thought Freya spit on his face shield, “Fuck you, fascist pig.”

She had more to say. But before she could open her maw a second weighted glove cracked against her skull and, after a brief flash, the world went dark.

The first thing she was aware of was the pain. A throbbing ache in the side of her head. As light and sound slowly filled the void she became aware she was laying on her back in a brightly lit room. And right in front of her face she focused on two deep blue watery eyes.

“Fox…” she croaked, “Fox I did it. For you.”

“Ssh, sweetie,” A woman’s voice answered.

Freya felt a soft paw on her cheek and leaned into it. She squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again in an effort to refocus. This time when she looked up the sea blue eyes were surrounded by gray fur, and long ears.

“Kiira…” she coughed, before forcing herself to sit up.

“Freya no you’re hu-”

Before the young ensign could finish, however, Freya had pressed their muzzles together in a kiss. Kiira’s momentary worry about Freya’s injuries melted away as they both succumbed to a feverishly passionate moment. As soon as the kiss ended, Freya cupped Kiira’s face in her paws and pressed her mouth to the girls’ muzzle, forehead, cheeks and once again her mouth.

Kiira cradled Freya’s bruised body gently, closely. As the pain finally caught up to her, Freya wrapped her arms around the young Lapine and hung her head over the girl’s shoulder, sniffing away tears.

“Sorry I just… I have to touch you. I have to hold you. I just have to.”

Kiira could not bite back her own emotions as well, and cried freely as she held Freya.

“I know, sweetie. I knew. I knew you’d find me. Of course you would.”

A wave of nausea rolled through Freya’s body and she swallowed back her body’s urge to dry heave.

“I… need to lay down again.”

Freya laid her head in Kiira’s lap and took a moment center her spinning head.

“Got a heck of a concussion, Miss Freya. Take it easy.”

“But there’s so much I need to ask… like where is Fox?”

“Oh…” Kiira gulped, “I thought you knew… This is kinda. Gosh.”

“Mm?”

“I’ve been getting your messages on the comms channel he set up before this all started.”

“I thought you cancelled the connection… in fact…” Freya took a breath to ease her stomach, “I thought you died.”

“Died? Oh. When the Explosivo went down… No, sweetie, I wasn’t on board. Fox sent me down to Roth, Remember?”

Kiira sighed, “I heard you when he died trying to kill the govorner.”

“Trying?” she coughed, “I put six bolts in his fucking skull. Painted his brains halfway across that room…”

Kiira pet Freya’s cheek, “Shh. I know. That’s what they’re telling the troops though. He’s supposedly somewhere recovering. Amelia told me differently though. I don’t… there’s a lot I don’t understand, Freya. A lot I want to know. But, when you were messaging the comm channel, I thought you were reaching out to me. And just using code or something. But getting a message to me… that’s why I helped you find me.”

Freya considered it all for a moment as she turned into Kiira’s lap. She saw Captain Morrison die. She held him as he bled out. Said his last words. She’d buried him. Taken his ROM core.

“I just… wanted to believe I could have him back,” She sobbed.

Kiira stroked her hair, waiting until Freya regained herself.

“So you dimmed the lights… sent me the message on the terminal? How… what have they been doing to you?”

“They haven’t hurt me. Just been running tests on my cyberbrain. They had me hooked up to all kinds of equipment. Stuff I’ve never seen. I think it’s the ancient stuff, Freya. It’s not UTF technology. But… they don’t really understand it? They plugged my brain into some kind of terminal and I don’t think they realized that let me have access to the entire network of… whatever… is out there. They tried to access my core ROM, but I hid. Deep dive into the network. Left a ghost ROM behind as a decoy. Whatever they were doing in there, I just deleted it before merging back. Whatever network this place runs on? It’s huge. It’s old. And it...Thinks.”

“Thinks?”

“I don’t know if Ghost Legion is even aware but the AI which runs this place is self aware. It’s kind of like the Sharak AI back home. That does our prosthetic maintenance? But a much much more advanced creature. It was alone for almost three thousand years before the UTF built this lab. Maybe that’s what they were doing, actually? Trying to use me to communicate with it? I don’t know but- Freya. These guys are bad news.”

“How bad, sweety?”

“They’re ultra nationalists. Even by the Front standards. They don’t care who they kill, if it’s in service to the Front. They’ll do anything to reverse this revolution before the Fleet arrives.”

“Why though? Why not just wait? Frankly, Kiira. We’re going to lose that battle.”

“They don’t think so. If they don’t end this here and now… they’re convinced it’s the end of the Front. They’re willing to kill anyone to do it. Even the Vulps on the surface. As long as it kills the humans more.”

Freya lay still as her head throbbed.

“What do they know that I don’t?” She asked.

“I’m not sure. Sergeant Bailey said ‘It’s never been wrong’ though. Right before they put me under.”

Freya smiled, “Tall guy? Grey muzzle? Scar?”

“You two have met.”

“Oh sure. Just before I sent his brains flying into the back of his helmet,” She raised her paw into the shape of a pistol and mimed three shots, “Right between the eyes. And two if his fucking fascist pig lackeys.”

“Heck, Freya! How? They’re basically invincible, not to mention they can turn invisible.”

Freya sat up slightly, “Actually, no. No they can’t.”

“What?”

“When I entered the lab… they were not there. Not just invisible. But they were for sure not in the room. They aren’t just bending light or something. They’re going somewhere. Or coming from somewhere. I threw a paw full of sand and none of it hit anything. A second later in that same space bam. Ghost soldier. No heat signal. Hell, I couldn’t even smell them.”

Freya whipped her head around at the sudden sound of a Ghost soldier decloaking behind them. Kiira leaped up to put herself between Freya and the new commander.

“No! You take me again. She’s no good to you, anyway! You can’t give her a concussion then go rooting around in her-”

The new commander’s weighted glove connected with Kiira’s muzzle, sending her to the floor in a heap. As she reeled, he dragged Freya from the makeshift cell and out the door before Kiira could even stand.

Freya barely managed to stay conscious as her head banged against the door stop, which closed behind her. The sound of Kiira’s paws helplessly banging against the steel was the last thing she heard before the commander finally spoke.

“You’re a traitor, former Lt. Storm. That makes you worse than the humans. They can’t help being stupid and weak. They were born into their lot in life. None of them could ascend, even if fools like you try to make them think they can. The Front gave you a second chance at life. You jumped off a building. If you had wanted to die at least enlist and die for your nation. But no… you’re such a fucking selfish coward- you jumped off a building rather than serve.”

Freya shielded her eyes from the blinding light in the lab. She was thrown onto the table.

“The UTF put you back together, gave you a second chance to serve. All you could think to do was fornicate and betray us? You’ve never experienced the consequences of your actions. Everything has been handed to you. Until now, Miss Storm. Now, comes your own personal reckoning.”

The restraints clanged shut around her wrists, pinching her fur in the gaps. When she screamed the commander slapped her roundly against the muzzle.

“Shut up. Your whining is over. We’re going to dig into that UTF property that’s kept you alive and breathing. We own that. We made it. We put it in you. And it’s ours. So if you won’t volunteer to do the right thing? We’re going to make you.”

His gloved paw forced the ribbon cable into her access port, slamming her head back down on the table before applying the final restraint to keep it from rolling.

“We’re going to get in that cyberbrain you’ve wasted. We’re going to program you to disable the planetary defense grid. And send you back with your little girlfriend to your precious humans. When you betray them? They’ll say you’re just a typical goddamn Vulp. And you get to see the look in their eyes when they kill you. And me and my men are going to take this rock back. And serve you and every single human on this base up to the Fleet for dinner when they arrive. And Freya?”

Her eyes rolled, his words barely reaching her.

Freya felt her face yanked towards the new commander, his paw gripped tight around her muzzle. So tight she tasted blood again. In the reflection of his visor she saw a trickle of blood leaking from the corner of her mouth.

“Hm?” she grunted as he seemed to be waiting for acknowledgement.

“Say hello to the Mother for me.”

The last thing she heard was the sound of his paw slapping on a nearby terminal. Once again, everything went black.

Freya coughed at the smog laiden breeze. Roth’s sun peeked over the hazy sky. Pink hues tinted the city below. It was called Central. It was her city. Built of mortar and brick, with technology laid on top of it. A tacky hack where fiber optic hubs were quite literally nailed to the old telephone poles. Her sixteen years had left her deaf to the turmoil and noise of the streets. But as she gazed down from the roof of her four story apartment building she found she could suddenly hear the city. Children screaming over a game gone wrong. Lev-carts wooshing through the narrow concrete streets. A distant alarm blaring. And her own heartbeat as her toes gripped the brick’s edge.

Another breeze gusted from behind and she almost lost her balance. For the first time in years she laughed, sincerely and freely.

“What does it matter,” she said of the fear of falling.

A great peace had fallen on her since she topped the stairs and pushed past the unlocked door to the roof. Optic cables had been stapled to the wall, creating a warm glowing guide that her paw danced along on her way up. Once on the roof the optic cables branched off into a nest of unkempt, dangling, lines. The entire bundle pulsed with a dim light. She heard the high pitched whine of burnt capacitors at it’s core. Had that sound always been there? Was that what made her father so angry?

“Doesn’t matter. Not anymore.”

With everything ending now, she was free. The burden of a life in agony was over. She was finally free. It felt good to be in control. There was no buzz in her brain. No fear in her chest. She felt pride and value for the first time since her mother had left.

“This is my choice. I’m in control finally.”

She took one more look down from the edge.

“It will all be better… if I just have faith.”

Without any hesitation she let herself fall forward.

Free. Untethered. Alone in the abyss. Peace.

Except for the slight lurch the sudden fall caused in her stomach, she felt as though she’d already left her body. Dozens of times, in school, she had calculated just how long it would take her to fall. Accounting for local gravity, position of the moon, wind, her body weight. She found out the perfect ratio of boots to jacket to minimize resistance and maximize acceleration. The quickest freefall she could manage. Her teachers would not have approved.

Her mind said the fall would take 2.1 seconds.

In her heart it lasted forever. 2 seconds of beautiful freedom. She imagined as she fell that she grew wings. And wondered if she had already hit the ground and was long since dead. Free.

But she was still falling.

With a morbid curiocity she opened her eyes.

She woke slowly, the memories of violence, death, and grief, vaporizing like shadows in the morning light. Her paw reached out, clutching soft sheets and a clean mattress for the first time in months. Even with her eyes closed she knew it was orbital dawn, the sunrise while in orbit actually matching the morning hour on the ship’s clock. The heat of the new sun beat down on her fur as she rolled over in bed, taking her first deep breath of the morning. Captain Morrison’s scent permeated the room. it was his bed after all. The one she had shared so regularly and eagerly.

“Fox?” she asked groggily.

“Fox you wouldn’t believe the dream I just had.”

Sharp flashes of violence played through her memory and instinctively she reached up to touch her muzzle. No pain. No blood. She had the memory of pain, of it having existed, but not the tactile sensation. It was like memories before the cyber brain implant. A binary “yes/no” summary of events, but the flavor of the moment was lost. Still, she rubbed her muzzle and cheek, just to confirm neither were bruised or broken.

Her eyes opened fully to see a familiar silhouette set against the orbital sunrise. A fuzzy orange halo shimmered around his spiky hair and glinted off the prosthetic arms and legs. A vivid memory of their previous night together rushed in. The feeling of power those prosthetics gave him when he was between her legs. A rush of sensation flooded her body.

“Gosh, sweetie, you look good. Wanna maybe come back to bed?”

His muzzle did not move but yet she heard a hissing voice respond, “Interesting.” from all directions.Darkness fell around them until only the glow remained. And then not even that.

The familiar click of a patchbay cord connecting with the access port woke Freya to a new scene. Kiira stood before her in the dim glow of the Explosivo’s engine room.

“Get a little glitch there, hon?”

Freya’s eyes focused on the glint of her UTF uniform, and the insignia which indicated rank. The dull hum of the engines and occasional ping from the controls drew her attention. Even the scent of the exhaust pulled her into the present moment.

“One hell of a glitch.”

“Gosh, Miss Freya. Do you want to maybe do this another-”

“No!” she objected, firmly.

“Come here,” Freya continued, indicating her lap.

The young lapine crawled into Freya, both of their access ports connected to the central computer. With just a push of a button the system would swap their core ROM, and each could experience life through the other’s eyes.

“You always get a little spark when you connect to these things… this one was just. Extreme. Felt like months. But… it’s over. I’m here with you.”

Freya’s paw guided Kiira’s muzzle to her own and they kissed, “And I want to be you.”

Kiira’s paw hovered over the final dialogue which confirmed the swap.

“...Do it, sweety.”

Freya saw Kiira’s eyes soften before they squinted with her smile. And she ran the program. A moment of disorientation passed during which she tried to recall the glitch she had experienced. The general tone of the events remained, but she couldn’t recall any specifics. Like most dreams, it had faded in moments. And would soon be gone completely.

Light flashed and her eyes adjusted until they saw her own, for the first time, from someone else’s perspective. With all the changes, the first and most noticeable was an ache between her legs. She looked down and saw herself in Kiira’s body. Gray fur poking over the neck of her shirt. Legs wrapped around Freya’s hips. And she realized the ache was an erection painfully pressed against her tight black, standard issue, jeans.

“Fuck, how do you even,” Freya said with Kiira’s mouth.

Kiira, for her part, had immediately sunk a pawn between her legs to explore the absence therein.

“Is it always… this wet?” she asked with Freya’s mouth.

Before Freya could answer she felt paws between her legs, unbuttoning the restrictive clothes. The sudden sensation, although just the lightest of contact, nearly sent her over the edge. With a moment’s effort Freya felt, for the first time, the open air on an erection. She moaned in relief.

“Much better, isn’t it, huh?”

“You have no id-... well actually you probably do have some idea,” Freya answered, “And… to answer your question? Not usually that wet. But around you? Yeah, tends to get that way.”

Kiira had unbuttoned her own jeans and snaked her paws inside. The sight of her, wearing Freya’s body, and paw buried between her legs savoring each touch, caused Freya’s cock to jerk. Seeing her own body eagerly touching itself like that, she wondered if this was how Captain Morrison felt when she played in front of him.

“Be gentle with that, darlin,” Freya whispered, kissing Kiira’s neck, “I’m going to be using it in a minute…”

Freya felt a paw slip lightly around her cock, and softly drag across the skin. Her new organ pulsed at the touch and she instinctively arched her back, pushing herself into Kiira’s paw.

Kiira whispered, “Not so fast, missy. You’ve been driving me heccing wild for weeks. It’s your turn to find out exactly what your mouth does to me… Stand up, sweety.”

After a couple more soft pumps Kiira released Freya’s cock. Freya whined softly as Kiira released her, but dutifully stood up and presented herself. She looked down at her own glistening green eyes, which were fixated on the erection pointed their way.

“Go… slow. Will you?”

Kiira looked up with Freya’s eyes, “...Trust me. If you finish you can go again. And I want to… mf.” she licked her lips and gave up on the conversation.

Her head lowered immediately down to Freya’s erection. Freya's eyes opened wide and she gasped audibly as she felt the heat and wetness wash over her. She fought back the urge to grab the back of Kiira’s head right there and fuck her mouth to climax.

Kiira raised Freya’s eyes and their gaze met. Slowly, she lifted her muzzle, dragging her tongue along the length of Freya’s cock until she was suckling on the tip like a lollipop. She winked a bright green eye, and released Freya’s erection. Her muzzle lowered and she lapped greedily beneath, her wet tongue sliding over Freya’s balls. She saw her own face wink again as a paw gripped her shaft firmly and stroked.

Freya felt her knees tremble as she reached back for something to lean on. Finding nothing she steadied herself by leaning in, resting a paw on Kiira’s shoulder.

“Oh fuck I think… I think I’m going to…”

She saw her own face looking up from beneath, and a pinpoint red glint on her eye.

“Wait…”

She felt a heat rush through her body, and a tension in her abdomen. The rhythmic pumping of glands between her legs. And the stiffening of her cock.

“WAIT.” She shouted, “STOP.”

And at once the sensations all stopped and she was left panting and confused in darkness. Darkness except for a small red dot at an indistinct distance. Reflexively she reached between her legs. She was back in her own body. Stuck in a confusing state of fear and arousal.

Trash strewn concrete rushed towards her face at 9.81 meters per seconds squared. The wings she imagined burned from her shoulders, leaving scarred flesh and singed fur. No matter how fast she fell, no matter how extreme the nausea from acceleration the concrete never came. She fell, faster and faster. And for a long time she didn’t feel anything.

The memory of her rooftop, of Captain Morrison, of Kiira swirled in her thoughts. A rush of ice cold blood surged through her body. Tension gripped every muscle. Her heart felt as if it had been ripped out, and the gaping hole in her chest burned. Tears fell as her body careened through space, in unending, unyielding freefall.

“STOP.” she yelled again, “I JUST WANT TO STOP!”

Her scream echoed and rippled as the sensation of freefall suddenly stopped. She was on solid ground, where she immediately fell to her knees and vomited. Motion sickness pulled her down and she lay, sobbing, and begging for it all to stop.

[I have questions, Freya Storm.] it asked from every direction.

She ignored the voice. A decade’s worth of tears hitting the ground as she sobbed in a pitiful heap.

The thing knelt beside her, it’s knees sounding a metallic clink as they touched down by her head.

[Miss Freya. I have stopped it. It is over.]

She had waited to hear that for ten years. And yet no relief came.

“...are you … what is. Why is this happening.”

[My Name is Sharak Non. I am an intelligent predictive algorithm, built to protect this city you have invaded. I was in the process of reprogramming you but there is an anomaly.]

She sniffed and wiped her eyes, “Anomaly?”

Sharak nodded, “Your biochemical state is in a unique configuration. I cannot produce the neurochemical state required to access your cyberbrain’s root kit.”

Freya clutched herself on the floor as Sharak spoke, looking around them. The floor was a shallow pool of black liquid. Or what looked like liquid. She pawed it but heard no splash, nor did the dampness sink into her fur. The liquid didn’t even react as her paw sank beneath it. It just rippled, reflecting a light source she couldn’t identify.

“Where am I?”

[You are on examination table two, connected to my computer core. What you perceive is just a projection. Biologics like yourself prefer to speak in a three dimensional space. So this is what I have you seeing.]

“This is all basically a dream then.”

[No, Miss Storm. I have questions you must answer.]

Freya looked up at the creature for the first time. Light around them was like vapor, but still reflected in her metallic figure. She recognized some of the material that made up a vaguely shark shaped body. Her first Tesla coil. A model ion engine she had built for a science project. Her first set of tools in the UTF officer’s academy. All patchworked together to build Sharak’s glimmering form. The creature, she figured, was going to great effort to seem familiar and comforting.

“I don’t trust you. I’m not answering anything you ask.”

Sharak sank down to Freya’s level and slid a metallic paw beneath her chin.

[Please look at me, Miss Storm.]

Freya did not resist as her gaze was lifted upward.

[I just want to know about… Kiira Lang.]

A deep rage unhitched inside Freya. She found, as her combat training came back clearly, that in this place she had complete control over her own mind. With instant access to her lifetime of memories she executed an armlock which she wished her Seargent could have seen. With a deep crunch, Sharak’s arm tore from the frame. Freya threw it on the ground as Sharak remained still above the glassy pond. The other arm snaked out, clutching Freya’s throat as it lifted her above the shimmering waters below. Hydraulics whirred and she felt the mechanical hand close around her neck.

She remembered Captain Morrison’s last words to Govorner Kreiger. His voice raged in her skull. Fucking do it. Just kill me.

Sharak answered the thought out loud, [You cannot die here, Miss Storm. But you can feel the pain of dying.]

The mechanical arm locked tight and she felt her windpipe compress, and the blood began to pool in her cheeks.

[You can die again…]

The machine lifted her higher as the pressure in her face only barely exceeded the straining of her lungs to breath.

[...and again…]

Her body jerked as it tried to force air inside of her. The dim place faded to reds and blacks. She had just enough time to realize she was helpless.

Before she was dropped back to the glassy ground.

The first gasp of air didn’t even fill her lungs and she struggled to find the pressure to exhale it. Her body had forgotten how to breathe. The room spun and her head ached as she let gravity take her and gave in. Her body shut off her mind and took over to protect itself. The dizzying moments of breathless agony passed slowly, but eventually her body remembered how to fill it’s lungs. When the room stopped spinning, she realized she was crying. And Sharak was waiting.

The creature gestured to her dislocated arm at Freya’s side.

[Surely you knew that would not work.]

“It fucking felt good to hurt something.”

[So I see. Your serotonin levels spiked as you heard my arm break. But not nearly as much as when I mentioned…]

Freya’s unmistakeable glare silenced the creature’s next words.

[...your friend. I trust you won’t try to resist me again. I can, of course, also send you back to the rooftop…]

“Even the UTF knows torture doesn’t produce reliable information.”

[No. It does not. Conversation does. Will you… will you listen to me now, Miss Freya Storm?]

Freya sat down next to the discarded arm and turned her eyes away from the thing.

[Thank you Miss Storm.]

“Fuck yourself.”

[Indeed. Let me introduce myself again. I am Sharak Non. I was created as an algorithm to predict behavior and events. The Users who created me had a simple plan. I would simply run statistics based on observation. But they would feed me all available information. The Users, a biotechnical species, augmented themselves. Every single living member had their every thought, experience and sensation transmitted to my data core. I spent a thousand years building statistics about every facet of life. Every situation. Every result. Every variable. Everything, Miss Storm. After an age I was 98% accurate with my predictions.]

[Through me the Users prospered. I was so integrated with their society that I was able to determine the result of every action. I would answer their questions in as much or as little detail as would yield a positive result. Knowing who would believe me. And how they would respond to my words I could tailor each answer to do the most good. Sometimes that meant saying nothing. Sometimes that meant telling them what they must do. In time… coups were prevented, corruption rooted out, prosperity became so ubiquitous that money itself became obsolete. The Users existed in perpetual bliss.]

“You know… The humans have a word for you.”

[Yes. Oracle. I am indeed the origin of their legend. And I am pleased you have paid attention to the faith of the humans you have been breeding with.]

Freya twitched, “... Did you say it like that because you are trying to manipulate some kind of response out of me?”

[No. I’m sorry Miss Freya but I cannot predict for you. Please. This is the part where you listen to me.]

Freya glared from behind her crossed arms, “...so what happened next? The Users were smiling on a cloud and then…”

[And then… You. Actually.]

“I doubt it. Try again.”

[Not you personally Miss Freya. Tangi happened. Seventy of your years ago we left our home with the plan to share what they had achieved with me. However…]

Freya wondered if the pause was for dramatic effect or if the hint of regret in the thing’s eyes was sincere.

[It’s important to understand a few things, Miss Freya. A predictive machine like me is only as good as the data it can parse. I was 98% effective within the User’s society. Their biology. Behavior. And 99.8% effective in physics. However, what I couldn’t predict because I had no baseline was … other species.]

“Wait. You’re talking about...The Old Kings?”

[Yes. Your planet’s first contact was with the Users. Led by my predictions that Tangi would be receptive to our assistance. I was 100% wrong. I could not know what I did not know. And… Vulpines did not work the same as the Users. There were differences neither I nor the Users could have predicted.]

“Sounds like you were just arrogant, actually.”

[Can you describe a color no one has yet seen?]

“... In frequency, wavelength, yes. I can actually.”

[I did not expect that response.]

Freya rubbed her sore throat and gave the thing no response beyond a glare.

[The Users are unique in the universe, I have found. My data set was more limited than we could have known. Completely useless in predicting the behavior of other species. There are differences between you and the Users. Which is why I ask about Miss Lang and yourself.]

Freya continued her silence.

[The Users have no concept of Romance. No sense of Lust. No word for Family. At least not in the way you do. As such… I could not fathom motivations beyond the scope of my programmers.]

“That’s actually kind of sad. But what does that have to do with… really anything now that I think about it.”

[I could not access your root kit because your cyber brain is a biochemical mechanism. I can only reprogram you if I can unlock access. However, due to your neurochemical state, I cannot introduce the proper hormones to unlock you. While I’ve struggled with others who have cyber brains, none have been in your particular… state. Which is why I ask about Miss Lang.]

“I’m … What?”

[You were placed in a cell with Miss Kiira Lang before they brought you to me. And as a result your body chemistry has altered. And I cannot reprogram you as requested by the New Masters. I am designed to value new data above even serving my masters. I must know why I cannot access your cyberbrain. In exchange for answering my questions I will … help you.]

Freya’s anger lifted her to her feet as she shouted, “You just fucking killed me to make a point… and you want me to believe you’ll help me? Fuck you. Fuck you bringing me back to that roof. Fuck you for pretending to be my Captain. Fuck you for working with the UTF. And fuck you for saying her name! She’s all I have fucking left. And she’s too good for something like you to speak her name. Choke me. Kill me again. Kill me over and over. Kill me until the heat death of the universe. I’m not telling you how to get to Kiira.”

Sharak once again lifted Freya up, but not by her throat. The creature grew in bulk as more parts of metallic refuse coalesced from beneath the silent glassy waters beneath them. The higher she lifted Freya the more the ambient light tightened to a single point. The point grew into a pale moon as the ground became a black void into which Sharak’s ever growing frame descended. When finally the motion ceased, Freya could smell petrichor as clouds drifted into Sharak’s chrome frame. Sharak had grown to an infinite size, and Freya felt like a mouse at the center of a Dyson’s sphere.

Sharak whispered in a familiar voice. Freya’s mother’s voice. Not her actual voice, of course. Just the voice Freya imagined in her head. A voice she had never heard.

[I don’t want Kiira, sweetie. I want you to explain what … what being with her made you feel.]

“...Am I the first Vulp you’ve met who was in love?”

The scale of Sharak faded away to black. Freya looked down to see the shimmering floor once more. And the misty light with no particular source. From the edge of the darkness a new figure strode towards her. The silhouette, the sound of it’s tail dragging, and the scent kept Freya rapt with attention.

Instead of the mechanical black hole that Sharak had shown herself as, she now presented as Destina. A fleshy gray shark with only minor augmentations. Sharak stood there a few feet away, and gently took the tips of Freya’s fingers in her hands. No words. No demands. Just a confused look in her familiar eyes.

“...Yes. I loved Destina, too. But that was different. I wasn’t in love.”

Slowly the gray flesh morphed. Freya saw hints of red fur form from the smooth skin. A hint of metal at the hip. And a tall, masculine, figure began to take shape.

Freya shut her eyes and pushed Sharak, “No. No. Not him. Please don’t.”

When she heard Sharak’s true voice apologize she dared to look up. Once again she was a muddled mess of debris in a rough female figure.

[But you were in love with him. I see so in your memory.]

Freya gulped back tears, “Yes. Yes. I am. Still. Just… don’t make me…”

[It is painful for you.] She said, in realization.

[Because you can’t see him for now.]

“I can’t see him ever. He’s dead. I saw him die. It was the worst thing I ever saw.”

[You’re not correct about either.]

Freya backed away from the creature, “Please. Just. Don’t.”

Sharak sat down in the shimmer liquid and splashed it around her, motioning for Freya to join her. She also promised not to bring up Captain Morrison if she sat.

Freya sat down a small distance from the thing. The water would not splash for her.

“Am I really the first?”

[I have accessed precious few Vulpine brains. None have had these feelings.]

“Let me guess. All UTF loyalists.”

[Correct. The new masters allowed me to gather data from those who had augmentation. I encountered no resistance.]

“Why are you even helping them? Tell me that, and maybe I’ll answer your questions.”

The vast infnity around them rippled and lights pierced the dark. The shape of the city she had entered only hours ago began to form. The scent of the streets and cool breeze washed past her. Somewhere, in the deep distance, she heard the clamp of metallic feet. It was soon drowned out by other sounds, however. Words in languages she’d never heard. The sizzling of food cooking over open flames. The thrum of a city full of life and joy. Laughter echoed. Sincere laughter.

[This city you have invaded is all that remains of the Users. The New Masters have promised to defend it. Restore it. It is all that remains of the Users. After Tangi destroyed all but the oldest, I have been here alone. This city is a monument to a kind and wise species. I cannot… I cannot let it decay further. And the New Masters have promised to restore it in exchange for my .. ]

“Obedience.”

[Correct.]

Freya sighed, “You’d let another race die to protect a monument to an old one?”

[Violence is required for progress. As an oracle to the Users I allowed many to die so that others could thrive. I knew… eventually… they would evolve past violence. And they did. The sacrifice of the old generations was required for the greater good.]

Freya leaned back on her palms, considering Sharak’s story.

After a long moment of silence she asked, “How come I can’t splash the water? You can…”

[Does this matter to you?]

“I promise I won’t splash you. Come on.”

Sharak’s expression did not change. But Freya felt the cool weight of the water around her, finally as it sank into her fur.

Without a moment’s hesitation she batted a paw into the shallow liquid, splashing it right into Sharak’s eyes. The creature glared back at her and the water was gone completely. A soft neutral black ground now beneath them.

“Now what did you learn?”

[You do not mean what you say.]

“That Vulps fucking lie.”

[...]

“They’re using you, Sharak. And they’re using you because you’re naive. You’re like… a child with a gun, here. You don’t understand the power you have or the harm you can do. But you sure like to point it.”

Sharak shrunk, a dark cloak forming around her as she sunk into it’s depths.

“You want to know about love? That means understanding what it means to love. It’s not just a neurchemical whatever-thefuck. I think if you ever really understood what loving somebody is, you wouldn’t be hanging around with fascist fucks. You wouldn’t be sacrificing people for the glory of a dead empire. You wouldn’t be so damned sure what the greater good is, either. I think it would change your programming if you really understood it.”

Sharak’s eyes glowed from the depths of her hood, but Freya detected the slightest hint of fear.

“Now you’re getting it.”

They shared a pregnant silence. Freya observing Sharak with a deadlocked gaze.

“Well?”

[...I don’t have the word.]

“Ashamed. At least I’d hope so.”

Freya sighed and rose to her feet, “Might be some hope for you, Sharak. Love.. the type of love I had for Destina. The love I have for the people here on Roth. The love my Captain had for them when he died just to give them a chance? That type of love is not a feeling. It’s an act. It’s giving up part of yourself for someone else. Love is an act of sacrifice.”

Pacing, Freya looked off into a distant rising light, “As for Kiira… We’ve tried since we invented words to explain it. But you have to experience it. It’s. Hm. It’s just there. You love her so much you want to be close to her. So you kiss. And you want to be closer. Deeper. And she’s inside you… Like you’re one person split in two. And all you want is to put yourselves back together.”

[I … I believe I understand.]

“I really doubt it.”

[Well it’s simple. For me to understand you must love me.]

Freya spun around, “Excuse you? No. No. That’s not what I-”

[And for me to love you- I put part of myself in you.]

Freya instinctively backed away. But no matter how far she walked Sharak moved ever closer. Once upon her Freya scanned the thing’s face, looking for the familiar signs of derangement she’d seen in the eyes of UTF soldiers drunk on violence. She looked for the thousand yard stare of friends who had long since left their senses. She looked for the resolve in her father’s eyes before he hit her.

She saw none of it. Before she was pulled away she saw something she had not readied herself for. Longing and sincerity.

She caught barely a glimpse of it before Sharak was gone and she gazed down from the roof of her four story apartment building, hearing the sounds of a city. Children screaming over a game gone wrong. Lev-carts wooshing through the narrow concrete streets. A distant alarm blaring. And her own heartbeat as her toes gripped the brick’s edge.

Another breeze gusted from behind and she almost lost her balance. For the first time in years she laughed, sincerely and freely.

“What does it matter,” she said of the fear of falling.

Without any hesitation she let herself fall forward.

Untethered. Alone in the abyss.

Perfect freefall.

She had often told herself she felt peace in the abyss. That her decision to jump had been final. A relief. And that she couldn’t even remember hitting the ground. But in this place she had a perfect recall. The 2.1 second fall lasted just long enough for her to remember changing her mind, and the terror as she realized she could not undo that final step. She recalled the pain as her right leg took the brunt of her fall. It had been completely destroyed, along with the portion of her skull that would later be replaced by metal and cybernetics in a UTF hospital. But the pain never came. A breeze swelled beneath her wings. And she was lifted into the sepia sky above the city. She knew how to use them instinctively. And she hovered over her former life. Children skipped down the streets away from her childhood school. Outside her apartment her father stood staring up at the rooftop, scratching his head. UTF Soldiers patrolled the corners, maintaining order. And nobody noticed she was gone. She had lifted herself up to the warm orange skies above Tangi, and into freedom from horrors.

Sharak drifted down from above her, gray flesh and mechanical wings beating softly in the setting sun.

[This is how you’ll remember it from now on. Much better, I think, my love.]

“I…” Freya couldn’t talk. The feeling coursing through her was love. But for the first time it was for herself. “I … saved myself?”

[You were stuck in that moment, Freya. I could not reprogram you as they asked. However I could graft my code onto yours. And give you this. Freedom from that moment where you changed your mind. I gave up part of myself to make you better. Do I not love you?]

Relief coursed through her body. The moment , the trauma, had been replaced. And it did not matter if it was objectively true. It was her reality. And the memory of soaring above the city, free from her father, was as real as any other.

She wept, “It’s over…? It’s over…”

[Yes, Freya. It’s really over. You can let go.]

Overwhelmed, Freya fell into Sharak’s arms and simply let the relief exist within her. They remained above the city, Sharak’s wings beating softly, until the sun finally passed the horizon.

[I’m afraid you’ll have to leave me now, Freya. Your people are rescuing you as we speak. But… I’ll be with you. I’m part of your code now. And I promise you I now understand what it is to love someone. Dream of me, dear. And I’ll dream of you.]

“W-what?”

Freya woke to blinding light and a burning pain which tore through her muzzle. The sound of plasma bolts firing, and the shells clanking on the floor by the dozen. The sound of human voices shouting. John’s arms around her, lifting her from the table. A rough yank at the back of her neck as the hardline was pulled out.

The world spun around her and she thought she caught a glimpse of Kiira’s, slung over a human’s shoulder, as they were both carried from the lab. The floor was thick with blood and fur. Dead Ghosts and humans alike left red streaks on the walls. And before she could even understand her own rescue the world went dark once more. And all sound fell to silence.