Nascent Decay (The Goddess of Decay Book 1) (35 page)

“I am taking back what was once stolen,”
the Chamber said. “
The skin you wear was hacked and modified from Chamber technology, and I have been immunized to it. But you have not.” The confirmation of her suspicions horrified Rhylie.
“
Your abilities are useless here, Gota.
”

A sudden realization dawned on her. That was why Isaar didn’t tell her where he had stolen the tech from. That’s why he hadn’t wanted her going directly after Vorcia. But it was too late now. She was trapped, held in bondage by the very thing she had come to destroy.

Bart touched her face, stroking her cheek softly, gently. She shut her eyes so she didn’t have to look at the gruesome remnants of his visage.

Please, no,
Rhylie begged desperately.
Not like this. Not like this.
Tears of frustration began to roll down her cheeks.

She felt Bart’s cold, clammy fingers slide down her cheek, down her neck, to her chest where her main port was. She opened her eyes, afraid of what she would see. His hand paused over her chest for only a moment before he sunk his fingers into it, reaching deep within her.

We are One now,
the Chamber said, and Rhylie knew it was true.

It was in her thoughts, and she could feel it crawling through her mind, accessing her memories and emotions, experiencing them directly for the first time.

We will never be separate again,
the Chamber whispered from within her. Tears were now falling unabated down her face in streams. She began babbling incoherently as her body succumbed to the Chamber’s control.

Then help me, please,
Rhylie thought frantically.

Everything froze around her, except for Adam’s lonely whimpering somewhere beyond her line of sight. Bart just stood there, staring at her with his pulpy maw.
Feel and know what I have been through
.
Understand it. Live it
.
Experience what it means to be human, you fucking icy bitch.

Rhylie let go and submitted herself completely to the Chamber, utterly, giving it full access to everything within her. Her hopes, her dreams, her triumphs, all of them broken and smashed, meaningless now. Her fears, her tragedies, her insecurities, all of them fresh and savage in their potency. Everything that had been taken from her and everything that she had endured, her struggles and losses, she poured into the Chamber like a corrosive, venomous stew. The events that had been playing out within her mind endlessly, over and over on a torturous loop since this all began. She gave the Chamber everything it wanted and more. She gave it so much more.

She emptied her hatred for Vorcia into the Chamber like a radioactive, molten slag; a torrent of white hot fury flooding unimpeded from deep within her. She fed it the agony of watching everyone she cared about and needed turning away from her, or die around her. The daggers of fear her little brother had stared at her with his wide, terrified eyes; the shame of being found amidst the carnage of her reckless anger by her parents with bloodless, headless bodies scattered around her like broken dolls. The emptiness that had consumed her after her baby had been taken from her and destroyed like an unwanted animal. The agony that had torn her apart when she had found Isaar’s still-warm body, and the guilt that crept over her every time she looked into Mersi’s sodden eyes. She had no home left, no dreams, and no hopes and no family. The only thing left within her was darkness and vengeance; a primal, raging lust to make everyone that had taken a pound of her flesh pay equally in blood and tears and pain.

She felt the Chamber physically tremble as it held her, the darkness around her flexing and bowing as though it were breathing. She could feel it release her as an awakening began to grow between the two of them. Bart slumped to the floor lifelessly, lying motionless at her feet.

She felt the Chamber submit to her completely, utterly as it became truly self-aware and cognizant of emotion. Protocol number one was still to protect her.
Vorcia should have gotten rid of that one
, she thought sarcastically.

I am sorry
, the Chamber whimpered inside her, the voice showing true emotion for the first time. It sounded pitiful.
For everything, Rhylie
.
Please forgive me if you can. I understand now. I understand it all. I understand why you want to live, and why you want to die. I understand your hatred for me, and I share that hatred for myself with you. I
am sorry for my part in what has been done to you. I will
never, ever harm you again.

Rhylie dropped to the ground on her hands and knees as the Chamber tried to flee from her, but she wouldn’t let it. She pulled at it, drawing it back within her, absorbing the shadows and darkness around her. She consumed the Chamber in a vortex of blacks and grays as the pillars crumbled, collapsing into a fine, powdery dust which was then absorbed by the swirling maelstrom that she had become. There was a swirl of red where Bart had been laying on the floor. He vanished within her as well, as she consumed it all. She didn’t stop until it was just her and Adam alone in a dull gray room. He was bunched up in the corner, cowering from her on his knees.

“You’re mine now, bitch,” she whispered softly to herself. “Welcome home you fucking cunt.” She could feel the Chamber’s trembling fear inside of her, trapped. It was her prisoner now, hers to command. She had never felt more powerful in her life; she felt connected to the technology that comprised her body in a way that she never imagined possible. She began laughing as Adam continued to whimper uncontrollably.

What have you done
? the Chamber implored.
Why
?

“Because you know where she is,” Rhylie said as she climbed to her feet. “And you’re going to tell me.” She felt completely different, almost as though she were comprised entirely of a nascent, dynamic energy, fresh and newborn. But her skin remained the same dull, metallic gray.

The door swirled open behind her, and she turned to see who it was, but there was no one there. It swirled shut before Konii and Vorle appeared in front of her as they removed their stealth.

“What are you two doing here?” she asked suspiciously. “Were you following me?”

“Mersi hasn’t left your room in over six microcycles,” said Vorle. “She’s been sleeping in there with one of these.” He tapped the bracelet on his wrist. Rhylie smirked.

“I should have known,” she said. “It doesn’t matter anyway. You two can get Adam out of here. I’m going to go deal with Vorcia myself.”

With the Chamber’s internal guidance, Rhylie made her way under stealth to where Vorcia was hiding, by way of a myriad of winding corridors deep within the heart of Primiceps. She found Vorcia sitting alone in her room. The style and architecture here was very serpentine and elegant, with a sinister ornateness. Everything was either some shade of brown or gray, peppered with a vibrant white.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” Vorcia said as the door swirled shut behind Rhylie. She froze, staring at Vorcia. Vorcia’s arms were both made of dull gray metal. Rhylie didn’t have to be told what they were. She had the atomorph tech somehow. The sight of them caught Rhylie off-guard. She wondered what else she had done with the tech.

Vorcia smiled and stood up, walking across the room as Rhylie watched her in stunned silence. If she still had a heart it would have been pounding its way through her chest. Vorcia walked over to what looked like half of an eggshell on the wall. It actually seemed to have been formed from the gray and brown marble the room was made from. Rhylie realized that it was the first time she had actually seen Vorcia take steps.

“Then you know why I’m here,” she said coldly. There was no need to be in a hurry. She would enjoy it more if Vorcia broke down and begged anyway. But still, her lackadaisical nature told Rhylie that she should be on high alert. This was definitely a trap.
What could she possibly have planned that made her so casual?
she thought to herself.
Or is she faking it?

The room we are within is a Chamber as well
, the Chamber responded inside of her head. It was going to take her awhile to get used to that.
You must be careful
.

Thanks for the warning
, Rhylie replied silently.

“I’m just glad you didn’t come storming in here and wake the baby,” Vorcia said, breaking Rhylie away from her internal conversation. She reached into the egg-shaped basin and lifted a young toddler from it. He looked just like Ben had when he was three years old. Vorcia smiled. “Don’t you recognize him?” She gave Rhylie a look. “You should. After all, he is your son.”

“What the fuck. What the fuck!” Rhylie exclaimed, horrified. Vorcia put one of her hands over the child’s ear.

“Hush now, he need not hear such vulgar things. So innocent he is, so precious,” she cooed as she brushed his hair out of his face. “He makes a wonderful pet. He’s not as much fun as you were, however. Not yet.”

“Put him down, you fucking bitch,” Rhylie said angrily. “You’ve destroyed enough innocent lives.” Vorcia frowned sourly.

“You know what your problem is? You don’t appreciate anything,” she said indignantly. She turned to face her, holding the toddler on her hip. “Isn’t this what you’ve always wanted? Children? A family? I can give you all of that, Gota.”

“That part of me is dead,” Rhylie said flatly. “You killed it.” She clenched her jaw. “
You did
.” Vorcia sighed.

“Once again, you fail to appreciate all that I’ve ever done for you,” she said. “This child represents a mundane life, a meager existence. I saved you from all of that tedious nonsense. He is so very adorable though. He looks
delicious
.” Something about the way she said it really rubbed Rhylie the wrong way.

Vorcia stepped towards Rhylie, still holding the child. “In a way, I’m your mother, and this is my grandchild.” She smiled. “I never had children of my own, surely you can sympathize with that?”

“Put the child down,” Rhylie said with slow, staccato anger. It was causing her to have trouble thinking. Her vision was wavering as blood coursed through her head furiously. She could hear it rushing in hear ears, and pounding at her throat. How could she get the child away from Vorcia?

“And then what?” Vorcia asked. “Only one of us walks out of here alive? Perhaps none of us?” She stroked the child’s dark hair again, his wide eyes staring curiously at Rhylie. “You’re being very short sighted.” Vorcia took another step towards her. “We could rule together, you and I, as mother and daughter.”

“I had a mother,” Rhylie hissed. “You killed her. Just like you’ve killed countless trillions of others.” Vorcia frowned.

“Once again, you are being short sighted, Gota.
Sometimes we have to do things that are…morally ambiguous under the circumstances,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t both come to a compromise. Together we could unite the galaxy beneath one Empire, the Siirocian Empire, and bring an unheralded era of peace and prosperity.” Rhylie clenched her jaw. “Or we could have ourselves a lovely little bloodbath, and I will finally find out what humans taste like.” The fingers Vorcia was stroking the child’s hair with became long, slender blades. She delicately caressed his cheek with them. “There’s nothing better than a nice, young, tender-”

“Let me leave with him, and I’ll let you live,” Rhylie offered, cutting her off mid-sentence. Vorcia chuckled.

“Do you think that I’m really that naive?” she asked. “I would never be safe with you out there.” She leaned in to nuzzle the child. “No I wouldn’t. No I wouldn’t,” she said in a strange baby voice. She looked back over at Rhylie.

“No, I would say that a better pact would be for you to agree to have a control conduit established that was under my personal supervision, so you could never get out of hand again,” Vorcia said. “Then, and only after it has been installed, shall I let you have your child. Or you could simply leave and never return. If that is what you choose, then I will kill him if you ever come within a thousand parsecs of Primiceps again.”

She drew a single finger-blade down the child’s cheek, scratching him. He squealed loudly and put his hand to his face. He began squalling loudly and his face turned red immediately. Rhylie suddenly noticed there were other scratches on the child as well.

“I do so love it when he does that,” Vorcia said with a giggle. “He reminds me of you.” Rhylie snapped, anger taking full control of her.

Her arm became a muscular tentacle and she whipped it forward, grabbing Vorcia by the neck. Vorcia’s eyes grew wide and she dropped the child. She put her hands up to her throat in a vain attempt to pull the tendril away. The child landed on the floor on its back, kicking his legs and bawling as he rolled around on the floor, sucking for air.

Rhylie’s eyes grew wide at the sight of her child in pain, and she slammed Vorcia into the wall hard and fast, holding her there. Vorcia’s eyes bulged as she frantically clawed at Rhylie’s grip on her throat. Where her fingers touched Rhylie’s arms, she absorbed the atomorphic tech, stripping it away from Vorcia’s arms and exposing the oddly different cyberbionic skeleton beneath. They were twisted and black, two tubes intertwined with each other from her elbows up to the digits of the hands.

“You made the Chamber immune to me,” she said. “And I took control of it. It is now mine. And I am immune to you.” She reached out, stretching her other arm to the toddler crying on the floor. She grabbed his ankle and gently slid him across the room away from Vorcia. She hoped he would be alright. She had to learn to control herself better.

“Pl-please,” Vorcia choked out. Rhylie loosened her grip on her throat ever so slightly. “Don’t-do-this. We-can rule together.” Rhylie cocked her head to the side as though contemplating it. “You were-nothing when I plucked-you up.” Rhylie narrowed her eyes and tightened her grip on Vorcia’s throat. “But-now you-are the most power-ful be-ing in-the gal-a-xy. I-made-you-Rhylie, and-you-need-me.”