Chapter 9: The Second Fall

(Content Warnings: Light Gore)

    Grief isn't a subject that I know much about. Surprising perhaps, if you've heard my story thus far, but I wouldn't lie to you, dear listener.

    The setting sun soaks my childhood home in rotten brown hues. Barely visible beyond the shroud of waste left in the air, it still manages to cast shadows on the earth below. Shadows which stretch now, far further than that which casts them.

    With a mighty rumble, the last chunk of stone falls into place atop the mass. Grey chunks of plaster, concrete and tile, all piled into a ridiculous looking cairn. For centuries these materials had held firm against the sun, providing those who hid within the walls from its scorching rays. My hands made light work of them, ripping and tearing whatever was needed to build this new monument which would protect no-one. An ugly pile of rocks, splattered everywhere with the blue blood that gave away the screts buried within.

    I look down at my own hands as they tremble. The job wasn't hard. Destroying things is what I'm best at. Still, the hands tremble on as more blue liquid beads at the edge of my jacket sleeve. Before another drop falls I bring the whole fist down, smashing the rock I just lowered carefully onto the top.

    The whole room is engulfed in grey dust, dying everything within it ashen. As it begins to settle I raise my fist into the air. Matted with grey filth, the limb is stable once more. I open and close the fist a few times ensuring that it won't shake on me again.

    Grief isn't a subject that I know much about, dear listener, but violence, that comes to me so naturally.

    I pop open my jacket pocket, feeling the hefty weight of the hard drive that once contained the professor's I'mprint inside. A single twist of my hand adds the remains I could collect of Gelu's hard drive. Shards of silver that once made up the magnetic discs that held all that she was. It was more of a ceremony than I had ever performed for my father when he passed. No thoughts had been paid to grieving or remembrance back then. I'd skipped all of that and immediately turned to revenge. Gratification of a more tangible kind that might not bring and form of closure, but still felt so good. Even now, my mind fills with similar thoughts. No time to linger on the shadows, there's a fire raging which can scorch so many more. A fire that casts dancing shadows over everything, turning even a pile of rocks into something more.

    My hand coils around the netjack attached to my waist. It had taken days back then to find the killers and dish out the punishments they deserved. This time it would be so much easier.

    I don't even have to unclip the weapon. I simply angle it so the red tip presses against my inner thigh, focusing my mind on the command to release. 

    No.

    My IIs open once more and take in the last remnants of the sun setting in the horizon.

    There's a better option.

    My body carries me backwards, colliding with the door frame as I push my way out of the room. One final mission. Fulgur Ovid has never failed a legatio. This one hasn't reached its conclusion yet.

    Two fingers press to my temple and begin a call to Praetor Chroma.

    "Ovid?"

    Before any ringing, her voice is on the other end of the line. She sounds calm. Same as she ever is. This was just another mission after all. Same as all those before it.

    Several moments of silence pass while I ride the elevator down. I'd called Chroma without thinking about it much, but now I needed to word the next part carefully.

    "Ovid, are you okay?" There was the unease. Her usually confident voice had a whisper like quality to it now. Not the fleeting whisper of empathy, this was the hush of fear.

    "Praetor," I say. "I recovered the professor's I'mprint." A sigh of relief comes from the other end of the line.

    "And Gelu?" She asks after. All the tension is gone from her voice already. Anything else is just debriefing after all. The mission is already complete.

    "Shut down before she could do any more damage."

    There's more silence from the other end of the line until I reach the ground floor and step out of the elevator, ignoring all the filth that tries to get in my way as I leave. Finally the praetor's voice returns, filled with that same pride she had when she gave out the legatio.

    "Ovid, that's brilliant work. I'm sorry that you had to be the one to take-"

    "Where's the professor's body?"

    At this point I'm out in the slums themselves. The sun has just set, allowing the cockroaches to leave their hovels and begin lighting fires. The smoke added on top of the putrid filth left over from the last civilization threatens to choke me. Collapsing into the drivers' seat of my car, I make the demand once more.

    "Chroma? Where is the professor's body?"

    "The Arbitration Quarters," she responds after another moment of silence. "I'll meet you there. If you'd like, you can pay your respects before we debrief."

    "Praetor," I swallow before continuing, choking down any of the emotion that threatens to drown me. "Thank you."

    A part of me wants to remind her that there was nothing to pay respects to. We have his I'mprint. I just wanted to do my due diligence and confirm the autopsy report. But saying that wouldn't be smart. Dozens of thoughts are swarming me already, but I need to swat them all away to continue the mission. Either Chroma was being completely honest with me, in which case I was just delaying my own end another hour or so, or I hadn't received the whole picture, in which case I needed to question the right suspect. Either way, Gelu and Canis would both be avenged by the time my legatio was complete. Then, I can rest.

*************

    Getting into the Arbitration Quarters was an elaborate affair. Unlike the expensive high rises which hid their defenses in the duoverse, this building greets you immediately, with massive turrets following your every move as you pull up to the entrance for parking. The system knew to expect me and let me in through it's outer door without issue, but that only brought me a few feet forward into darkness as another giant metal vault door held me up while the first closed. I sit in silence for a bit, wondering if I'm supposed to continue on foot when finally the inner door cracks a little. A huge noise reverberates all around me as the massive vault slides inward. Even inside my car I feel myself shake to the very core. It takes half a minute for me to finally have enough room to drive on, and as I do the darkness doesn't let up. My only view in the duoverse is two lines of light with a hex pattern between them, guiding me forward as I drive over a virtual road in pitch black.

    Once I'm parked, I shut down the engine. For a moment I'm left in complete darkness, with only the rumbling of the inner vault to accompany me as it closes back over. Then silence joins the darkness, making two of my senses useless. Touch. That one I can still trust. They can pull wool over my eyes, jam it in my ears and even stuff my mouth or nose with it, but I'd at least feel it while every other sense was lied to.

    I pat the pocket of my jacket, confirming the hard drive is still safe, then I fumble around my car to open the door. As I step outside, another double line made of light appears in my IIs, guiding me on a path to my next destination. Far ahead of me, there's a shimmering pattern of light at the end of my path. A double door only visible in outline like the path itself and with something else glowing in front of it. More of a moth than a wolf in here it seems. The fire inside my chest spurs me forward on the path.

    "Ovid!" Praetor Chroma's voice calls out. She lifts her arm, making a lazy salute as she waits for me at the third gate. Illuminated by the pulse and shimmer of the duoverse, she radiates light like a single match in otherwise infinite dark. She isn't wearing her AR glasses, so where eyes should appear in her head instead there are two black holes that better match the rest of the room rather than her. Her eyes would be there of course, but in this pitch black expanse, there's not a single speck of real light to reveal them. 

    "Praetor," I respond, matching her salute with equal energy. "Didn't expect you to meet me yourself."

    Chroma let out a snicker at that. "I'm the lowest ranking official with clearance to enter this building, Ovid. Even the janitorial staff outrank me. Do you have the I'mprint?"

    I unbuckle my pocket, carefully freeing the hard drive from within and making sure none of the metal shards come out with it. Chroma reaches forward, but I pull the drive back.

    "You said I could pay my respects first," I remind her. Chroma twists her head to the side in shock, frozen for a moment, but then she relaxes with a final nod in my direction.

    In silence, Praetor Chroma pushes open the door to the parking lot. I have to cover my eyes as I step forward out of the darkness. Pure white marble floors reflect the hanging lights from above and sconces along the walls, making it impossible to avoid the light from any direction. Great pillars of the same material line the hall, with life-size busts standing vigil between each set of pillars. It's as if all colour has bled out of my surroundings, leaving only this pale, lifeless hallway. Eventually my eyes make it to the ceiling and find a fresco in vivid red and gold. It's the only colour in the hall besides those that me and Chroma bring with us, and so far away that I can only make out the colours themselves.

    "Not what you expected?" Chroma asks, her voice echoing down the hall. She has one eyebrow raised, waiting for my response.

    "Whole lot of space devoted to nothing," I respond. She shakes her head at my comment, saying nothing as she continues down the hallway. Each step from her high heels ring out, seemingly louder in echo form than from the initial sound. My own footsteps match hers, each metal clunk shattering the refined illusion that surrounds us.

    I blink twice letting the real world take over my vision instead of the duoverse. A sharp intake of air is the only sound that gives away my shock. 

    I'm not surprised that the building looks much the same in the real world. Arbiters, when it came down to it, were simply doomers that refused to let go of their power for over three centuries, along with those few praetors which earned a place among their ranks through decades of service. All doomers had a fondness for real physical materials which citizens of The Republic had shed in favour of virtual delights.

    What caused me to gasp were the interlopers that had hid themselves completely in the duoverse.

    Surrounding me and Chroma on either side of us are two android soldiers, each carrying large rifles trained on me. Doing my best to not let my IIs linger on them, I pretend to stare at individial busts we walk past, studying the machines as best I could in the side of my vision.

    Red and black. Their bodies had the same shape as my own cynets, clearly made from the same design and materials the professor had managed to perfect into a killing machine. The only difference was the complete lack of flesh anywhere. Their torsos and heads were simply more metal, matching the style of my own limbs. The heads had a similar design to the helmets that auxilia use when in missions. Jet black orbs which seem to absorb all the light in the room. Chroma guides me on in silence as I do my best to ignore our escorts. The hallway has become much louder with three sets of metal feet smashing into the marble floor.

    "Something wrong, Ovid?" Chroma asks, peering at me over her shoulder. Barely visible out of the corner of my vision I notice one of the androids lean down to watch me through the scope of its rifle more closely. Not just androids then. Individual action suggests either I'mprints or an advanced artificial intelligence. Now this is a welcoming party.

    "I was just wondering if all of these statues are of arbiters," I lie, eyeing one as we walk by. The bust is of an old man with barely any hair left and liver spots so severe they thought to chisel them into the stone.

    The android which had been studying me closely, returns to its usual walk, its head lifting from the rifle scope.

    "Indeed. This is the west entrance, so most of these are nobodies who helped fund The Republic in its infancy. You won't find any of the notable founders or newer additions this far out from the center."

    "The slums of the Arbitration Quarters," I muse. Even among the halls of the heavens there were hovels to crawl into. "I take it Professor Canis' bust is somewhere close to the center then?"

    Chroma turned on her heel, staring at me with a baffled look. Both the androids seemed to panic, raising their weapons only after a short delay. Not AI then. Not even particularly combat ready I'mprints. The fancy bodies were wasted on minds that had no idea how to use them.

    "He told you who he was?" The question was filled with anger, but whether it was towards me or Canis I had no idea.

    "Didn't have to. I am a legatus, Chroma. Investigations aren't my specialty, but they're still a part of the job."

    Chroma looked off to the side. If I didn't know there was an android behind me it might have looked like she was just thinking. In the light, her eyes reflected enough to see the android nod back at her in response to a conversation I wasn't part of. When her eyes fall back on me, they have lost all the frustration from a moment ago. I guess they don't mind that I know something I shouldn't.

    "Professor Ignis Canis contributed more to The Republic than any other arbiter. Once we're done with the investigation his remains will be laid to rest in the central chamber with other such citizens who deserve to be revered."

    "None of which ever completed conscription," I say, drawing an audible gasp from the android by Chroma's side. My own breath catches in my throat as I notice the android taking aim at my chest, finger nearing the trigger. Chroma's eyes once more shift to the side, but she covers it up by twisting her whole head and pinching at her nose as if in frustration. The android's finger straightens out after a second and Chroma turns away from me to continue walking.

    "None of whom ever completed conscription," she agrees, "but that doesn't make them any less citizens of The Republic. They lived among those vile doomers and had the courage to do what needed to be done for the sake of the people. You'd do well to remember that." The android that had gasped makes a tch sound as it walks on. Untrained and emotional. Not even that used to being an I'mprint if they still make gasps despite having no lungs. Good, I think to myself. It's so much easier to hurt an I'mprint that still feels connected to its humanity.

    "Apologies for my rudeness, Praetor."

    "It's fine, Ovid." Chroma responds, waving over her shoulder without even turning to face me. "I know you're dealing with a lot right now, and you've always had a complicated relationship with Canis. Rest assured, his body will be treated with the respect it deserves, preserved for all eternity with the others."

    "Like the Pharoahs?" I ask. "Buried with all their wealth so they can buy themselves out of hell too." Both of the androids laugh at my comment out loud. Whether with me or at me, I'll never know.

    "Just like the Pharaohs." Again, Chroma echoes my statement without any emotion. This time she doesn't feel the need to add any corrections.

    After the hallway, we travel up a large staircase and down several smaller hallways before Chroma opens a door, standing aside to let me enter.

    "Here he is, Ovid. You can take as long as you need, then we'll debrief when you're ready." I stand at the doorway, pausing to take in its small size.

    "Could you... come in with me, Chroma?" I do my best to sell the performance. A man who just lost his father, choking up from emotion, lost on what to do. I'm not the best actor, but Chroma also hasn't ever seen me show an emotion outside of anger before. She simply nods, walking through the doorway first and holding open the door for me.

    I step in, all the warmth of the halls fading away immediately.

    The room is refrigerated, and instead of the warm orange lighting that welcomed us outside, the lighting inside is cool and sterile. This might just be the fact that inside the small room, the only colours visible are black tiles on the floor and small silver doors along one wall. That, and the brown of Canis' hair, his body laying on a silver table in the middle of the room. I hadn't even recognized him at first. In life he had been so warm and large. His skin had always glowed with a bit of red. In death he was as pale as me, the white flesh clashing with the brown hair as it never had in life.

    Chroma says something as I enter the room, but the world has gone silent as I notice the professor's face. I don't know much about grieving, but I've seen a lot of dead bodies in my life. Never have I seen one that looks so pristine. My hand wraps around Canis' wrist as my fingers search for a pulse. The coldness of the flesh already told me more than the silence would have, but somehow it still doesn't seem real. Looking back to Canis' face, I feel my stomach sink. There's no look of pain or shock, no visible injuries. At any moment it feels like he may let out one of those ridiculous snores I had to shut my door to ignore. But he won't. He's dead. The lack of a curl to his lips proves that. Had he seen me getting choked up at his body, he would have laughed out loud and mocked me.

    "Dont tell me, kid? You're gonna cry over this old man?" The rich voice echoes out in my mind despite the face in front of me staying still.

    "Canis?" My hand grips his shoulder and I have to stop myself from shaking him. I swallow hard, telling myself the fact that I knew long before I saw him. This isn't Canis anymore. It's just a lump of flesh that used to be him.

    My hand slides down his arm, finding his hand and lifting it to hold in my own. Cold flesh. Cold metal. I bring his hand to the side of my face and leave it there. I feel my own heart beat pressed against his flesh, but neither the warmth nor the beat is reciprocated.

    My other hand fishes into my jacket pocket, pulling out the hard drive and resting it on the table. Then I go back in and pull out all of the shards of Gelu's magnetic disks. One by one, I place them into Canis' hand before closing his fist and moving the hand up to rest over his heart. When I'm done, I let out a quiet whimper, leaving my hand over his for another moment.

    I'm pulled out of the moment by a mocking laugh from the corner of the room behind me. I take a deep breath, trying to control myself as my hand balls into a fist and pulls away from the professor. Another deep breath takes some effort to get down as I choke through some of the emotions I've been fighting to bury for the last several hours and once again that fucking laughter comes from the corner of the room.

    In one swift movement, I spin away from the professor and with the momentum, I plow my fist into the head of the android who had laughed. Any normal machine would have broken apart from the impact, but this one holds strong, head slamming into the wall, but still in one piece. Before the other can react, I've gotten the first android's rifle and shot it twice in the chest and once in the head. As the first android begins to react I elbow it in the chin, ripping the rifle out of its hands and firing four more shots straight up, into it's head. I train the rifle on Chroma, managing to end the whole fight before either android hit the floor or she could draw her pistol.

    "Ovid!? ...what are you doing?" Is all Chroma can ask as she raises her hands in surrender.

    "Drop the gun," I command, pointing the rifle to where I know she keeps a pistol at her thigh. "Slowly."

    "Have you lost your mind? Drop the weapon! Right now. If we're lucky I might be able to get us out of here alive." A bullet shatters the tiles beside Chroma's head.

    "Drop the gun, Praetor," I reiterate, adding another bullet to punctuate the command.

     "Okay! Okay..." Chroma does as she was commanded, pulling out the gun and showing it to me before dropping it and kicking it over to me. "Just tell me what it is that you think you're doing here, Ovid, because I have no clue where you think this is going."

    "Take the professor's hard drive, Chroma. Then you're going to walk me into the senate."

    "The senate!?" Chroma made no effort to ignore the commands, taking the hard drive and walking over to the door. "You want to go deeper in, Ovid? This wont end well for you." Chroma turned my way, face a mask of motherly worry.

    "Stop." Chroma froze with her hand on the door knob. With two fingers against the wall, I could see all the androids outside, preparing to breach as soon as Chroma was safely out of the room.

    "Tell the androids to stand down and let us get to the senate. If I see one thing I don't like on the way, I will put a bullet in your head. Tell the arbiters I just want to talk."

    Chroma laughed, shaking her head again as if admonishing a child.

    "Here or there, there's no way out of this building once you're inside, Ovid. Now would be a good ti-" this time the bullet grazed Chroma's shoulder making her wince a little as she fell back against the wall. Anger was clear on her face for a moment, but then it was replaced by a confident smirk. "Fine! If the senate is where you want to die, go right ahead!" I place two fingers on the wall once more and watch as the androids retreat, some taking more time than others.

    "I'm going to guess they can all see what you see right now. Tell the one that's hiding three doors down to either get moving or you'll be losing a limb."

    Chroma's eyes went wide, confident mask finally starting to slip a little. Without her command, the hiding android opened its door and joined the others moving away from the morgue. "Okay, move," I command, getting into position behind Chroma.

    She opens the door, then raises her hands up to her head as she begins walking down the hallway. I follow directly behind her, rifle trained on her back as my left hand went out to the wall to listen in for any more surprises.

    "Honestly, Ovid, what is this? This seems more elaborate than suicide by auxilia." Chroma looks over her shoulder, eyes narrowed once more. She's given up on the fake empathy.

    "Like I said, Praetor. I just want to talk to the arbiters. Then they can do whatever they want with me."

    "You're insane," Chroma spits. On that much we still agree. If I am insane this will all end faster. From there we have no more surprises on our path to the senate. 

    "The Arbitration Senate," Chroma announces as we arrive at yet another vault like door. "You do understand that it's an interrogation room in there, right? Your cynets won't be able to get you out. Once you enter they can keep you sealed until you rot."

    "Awww, Praetor, you do care," I joke before nudging her with the rifle. "Open it." The arbiters waste no time in following my order themselves. The door swings open as slowly as the first, inch by inch revealing what lay inside the core of the artbiters senate.

    Inside, the room was rather unimpressive. A simple office, flanked on both sides by data servers which glow a pale green. At the far side of the room, a desk that took up most of the width of the room stood in front of a large screen that took up the rest of the wall. The whole room thrummed with the vibrations of the data servers surrounding it. That'll ruin any chance of seeing through vibration, I note.

    "Thank you for your help, Praetor," I say, pushing Chroma to the side. "Hard drive." She hands it to me, a shrug her final parting gift as I enter the room. As soon as I've crossed the barrier, the door begins closing behind me. My final view of the world outside is Chroma, a look of concern playing across her features. The door finally shuts, locking me alone in the small room. Wasting no time, I make my way to the back where the screen is, and press my netjack against it.

    With a flash, the screen turns on, and instantly I hear the booming laughter of a deep voiced man. It takes a moment for the picture to load up, but when it does, I find that I'm facing a hulking brute of a man. He towers over me at around 10 feet tall and almost half as broad as that at the shoulder. His long, curly white hair falls down the back of his head to his shoulders, then transforms into white clouds that make up a Greek style toga covering just enough of his oiled body to not appear obscene. The whole display would have been very impressive, I imagine, if I were seeing it in the duoverse. On the display screen it has all the menace of a train projected in a cinema.

    The door to the room finishes sealing with a loud click as the man's laughter comes to an end, and he waits with his arms crossed over his chest. When it's clear that he won't introduce himself I speak up.

    "To whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?" I ask, tapping the netjack against the screen twice. Another laugh shakes the room, lasting a solid 10 seconds before the man finally calms down.

    "We are those that control that device, wolf. It cannot act without our will. We will be merciful and allow you a few moments of our time, however. It has been centuries since last we talked to one unworthy. Many of us find this death wish of yours amusing."

     "Oh, you're the arbiters?" I ask, looking the man over. He is the image of masculinity, with rippling muscles that look as chiseled and defined as the marble that decorates the building. As I stare, his eyes crackle gold and violet like electricity. "Not what I expected from all the statues of old men."

    "We! Are Jupiter!" The man on the screen declares. "The will of all The Republic. God of this world. You, and all citizens of this city belong to us." The man let's out another thunderous laugh, lifting his head back as he does. At this point I'm already tired of the theatrics. I simply hold up the hard drive in my hand to the arbiters, then place it down on the desk in front of them.

    "You think Canis' I'mprint will be a bargaining chip, do you? Little do you underst-"

    Cutting off whatever pompous statement the thunder god was about to make, I instead bring the netjack to the hard drive, a small click bringing silence to the room. "Now you have no bargaining chip, wolf. What are your intentions?"

    I bring the netjack back to the monitor, resting the red tip against the screen before I respond.

    "Well, I have always wanted to kill a god," I say. "And tell me, almighty Jupiter. Why don't you try to stop those nanobots from destroying that hard drive? Seems like something a god should be able to do."

    Jupiter looked to the hard drive for a moment, then their expression changed instantly. Not just quickly. One second it was full of smugness while eyeing the hard drive, and in the next it was eyeing the netjack with concern, whole body twisted away from the weapon.

    "Oh, so that was true," I confirm, tightening my grip on the netjack. "Then that leads me to a lot more questions about what Gelu said, starting with why you killed Canis and blamed her."

    The screen flickered for an instant and then there were hundreds of people staring back at me instead of one huge man. A mix of old and young, men and women, styles of clothing ranging from the last couple decades to some I'd only seen in history books. Several of them rushed forward, pawing at the screen as if they could somehow grab the netjack through it. The absurdity of it all made me laugh at how many of them couldn't understand why they couldn't grab the device.

    "Wow, you really are useless old doomers." I taunt. "That's not how the duoverse works. You idiots are in charge of The Republic?" The response from the arbiters was a chorus of shouting and bickering, no one voice being picked up over the mass of them each trying to be heard. "Okay, if you don't want to be erased, I'd advise you to go back to one voice, so I can actually hear you."

    The screen flashed once more, and then the huge group of people was replaced by a single one.

    "Chroma?" I ask, confused.

    "Ovid." She nods, stepping forward. The woman I see appears to be Chroma, but several years younger and with dark blue hair instead of pink. An older duotar I had never met.

    "You're already in there?"

    "Since I became a praetor. One I'mprint in here, one in the neural network to help with admin tasks, and my fleshy on the outside."

    "Huh," is all I say. It is quite the revelation, but not at all what I'm interested in. "Okay, so answer me. The arbiters really did kill Canis? Why?"

    "We didn't kill professor Canis, Ovid. We just brought him to us."

    In the background, behind Chroma, Canis appeared at a desk, typing furiously on a virtual keyboard. Then another Canis appeared. Then another. And another, and another.

    "128 copies of the Ignis Canis I'mprint, all running at the same time," Chroma says. "This wasn't our plan either Ovid, but the apologists left us no choice."

    "Professor!" I call out in spite of myself. "Canis, can you hear me?"

    "He can't, Ovid. In his mind, he's home at his lab finishing the work we've given him. Would you let me explain?"

    "...fine. Let me hear it." I leave the netjack pressed against the screen as Chroma continues.

    "The apologists are winning, Ovid." Satelite images appeared on the screen of empty mega cities. The first I recognize as The Kingdom, the second I only realize is The Commune from a label with a date.

    "The apologists have already overthrown both The Kingdom and The Commune, and within a fortnight their army will be on our doorstep. Their leader, Vulpes, manufactured an incident last month in which they sacrificed all of their sick and elderly, then blamed The Republic to unite all their allies against us."

    Images appear once more of an underground community filled with plants and teeming with life. I have only a second to marvel at it before its followed by a short video of a missile lighting up the night sky. Finally a man appears on the screen with red hair and a fox-like grin, bowing towards the camera.

    "So why haven't you just blown them all away with our own missiles?" I ask.

    "They shut down our advanced weapon systems," Chroma continues. "When the three megacities divided after The Fall, they put a failsafe in place so that none of the three would ever be able to harm another. Mutually shared codes that would prevent any of the individual three from using their weapons against one-another. The codes were leaked to the apologists by a terrorist we called Starfall. All we have to fight against them is manpower, and we are severely outnumbered."

    "I'm still not hearing why you killed the professor." I jam the netjack against the screen once more. "Sounds like you're just buying time."

    "He wouldn't work with us, Ovid. The arbiters senate came to a decision on what we needed to do. To make it happen in time professor Canis would need to make an I'mprint of himself so that we could copy it enough to have him working many times faster than he physically can. He was warned of the importance, but refused to become an I'mprint, so we summoned him here by building an Imprinter in his room without his knowledge. Gelu wasn't even supposed to be conscious during the process. Her body was controlled during the unlinking and then she was supposed to shut down after the process, but that blasted fool did something to her code that made her unable to shut down."

    "By unlinking, you mean when you murdered the professor."

    "Not murdered, Ovid. Unlinked. That's what we're going to do with all the citizens of The Republic. The professor is currently designing bodies stronger than any human, and artificial brains that will allow every citizen to survive what's to come. The bodies can be mass produced, but the artificial brain is unique for every individual and needs to be constructed for each person."

    The phrase artificial brain brings bile to the back of my throat and makes me physically recoil.

    "I'mprints?" I ask. "You want to turn every citizen into an army of I'mprints with android bodies so they can fight off the apologists?"

    "No, Ovid. We're far beyond that now. Did you ever wonder what life is like for an arbiter?"

    The question had played through in my head when I was much younger. When I was first taught about the arbiters senate I'd even felt sorry for their existence. An undying I'mprint that existed only to serve as a judicial official with no purpose outside of their duties. We were taught in school that the arbiters were all true believers in The Republic and gave all of themselves to the cause.

    "Hell," I answer simply. "It sounds like hell."

    "It was... or so I'm told." One by one, the Canis copies in the background begin to disappear.

    "What are you doing!?"

    "Showing you The True Republic." 

    Chroma took a step back, and as she did the world around filled in with a single pulse of light. As the pulse spread out from Chroma, it passed along the ground and up three dimensional objects, filling them in as if loading an environment in a game. The ground became dark mahogany floorboards. Walls filled in that matched the wood but as large logs. Thick furry carpets and leather furniture appeared as well as a huge fire place, with an inviting fire crackling in background. Most of one entire wall became glass panes that opened up into a forest outside full of huge evergreen trees blanketed in snow.

    "This, Ovid, is how the arbiters live." A door at the side of the room opened, and into the room waddled two small children, trailed by a middle aged woman with short dark hair.

    "These are my children, Flavia and Avitus, and my wife, Fax."

    I looked between the children to their mothers, finally resting on Chroma who beamed at them with a smile I didn't know her face could make.

    "Are they..."

    "Real?" She asks, meeting my gaze with contempt. "Not in your terms. They never existed in The Republic or outside of The True Republic in any form, but in here I have already spent multiple lifetimes with them. Sometimes I change them around to try something new." Without Chroma breaking eye contact with me, the little girl who had previously been petite and dark haired, grew into a teenage boy with dark hair. "Other times I just change our circumstances." Another pulse of light began with Chroma and spread out over the room, erasing all the cozy log cabin features and replacing them with a modern aestetic. The snowy woods outside disappeared and over time were replaced with the dark expanse of space, lit up only by stars.

    "Don't you see, Ovid? We don't need the real world at all anymore. Once we're unlinked, we each get our own duoverse that we can either keep to ourselves, or invite others to." Behind Chroma, Canis appeared once more at his desk, still working with his head down as he now scribbled notes on paper. "We've become gods. We invented our own heaven." Once she finished talking, more people began appearing beside Chroma, each becoming visible through a pulse of light as they appeared. These were clearly citizens of The Republic in their duotars, from the visible throa2s, cyborg limbs and other more fantasy based looks that they often wore.

    "This is it?" I ask. "This is why you killed Canis and made me murder Gelu?"

    "This is the next stage of evolution, my dear boy." It was a different arbiter that spoke this time. Although his voice sounded like an old man, he had the looks of a teenager. "Once we've unlinked all the citizens of The Old Republic and dealt with the rest, we all get to enjoy the life we deserve."

    "That's not life! All my life you taught me- you taught all of us that I'mprints aren't really alive! You think anyone in The Republic is going to fuck off into your fantasy world? They'll more likely join the apologists if it means they get to stay real people!"

    "They won't even know anything has changed." This time a young woman stepped forward. One who I recognized from history books as a praetor from the past. "As it should have been with Canis, they'll all just fall asleep one night and wake up the next day without knowing the difference. The apologists will all be dead and we'll welcome citizens into The New Republic as they earn their place. There won't be anything left for them outside soon anyway."

    "Wait... what do you mean?"

    Another woman stepped forward. This one wearing a suit and with the flag of a country that no longer existed pinned to her lapel. She continued on with a gentle smile as if explaining to a child.

    "We can't beat the apologists in raw manpower, but that doesn't mean we're going to let them win. Once we've unlinked all of the citizens, we'll self destruct all of our nuclear arsenal that isn't close enough to damage us. The apologists won't have anywhere left to hide this time. You can join us too. You've already earned your place with all you've done in our service."

    I let out a maniacal laugh, unable to hold it in anymore.

    "That's your big plan here? Try to offer me a place in your digital afterlife? I've seen what you do to your biggest supporters, and even if I trusted the offer, you really think I want to live in a world that you call yourselves god of? I don't even want to live in this one most of the time!" Focusing on the netjack, I narrow my eyes giving it the command to release.

    "We can get through this, son."

    The voice makes me whip my head around and search the crowd of arbiters. The netjack falls to the ground as I lock eyes with a man I haven't seen in years.

    "...dad?"

    The man pushes past other members in the crowd and comes to the front. Once I can see him clearly I feel my heart stop in my chest. Those laughter lines earned from a lifetime of gentle smiles, that limp he always managed to push through, those light blue eyes which always held back the sadness hidden behind them. My now empty hand raised to the screen, resting against his face as he continued to speak.

    "You fought so hard, Fulgur. All you need to do now is join us. I love you, son." The red and black hand against the screen balls into a fist and trembles. It isn't real, I remind myself. Ovid would never have had a chance to make an I'mprint. Even if he had, there was no reason for the arbiters to have a copy. The logical part of my brain knows that it's just a simulation taken from Canis' memories. Still, my hand trembles, pressed hard against the screen as though I could push through to the other side. I blink twice, entering the duoverse so that I can properly see the man, my father, standing in front of me. More than see. In that instant I swear I can feel him. The shallow breath as he reaches up to hold my hand, the warmth of his touch as he grips it. I smell the rich fragrance of cheap cologne he wore too much of to try and overpower the stink of his home. All of it feels so real. So familiar. A flashback to a time when everything in the world could be put right simply by his presence.

    "Dad... thank you." The man smiles, taking another step forward. I take in each of his features once more. "We have the same nose... I'd forgotten the colour of your eyes, even."

    Click

    At my feet, the netjack activates, red tip bleeding against the screen from which my father disappears. I kneel down, retrieving the netjack and hooking it back to my belt loop before returning my gaze to the panicked arbiters, many cursing at me directly, others disappearing into their own worlds.

    "Gelu told me that when my father died, my mind protected me by making me forget what he looked like. That I would regain the memories over time. That was one of the few times she was wrong about anything. One thing that I do remember is that man was an idiot. Faced with an army of apoloshits, he would have gone out onto the battlefield himself and begged them to not lose themselves to hate even as they beat him to death. Probably would have prayed for their redemption afterwards too. The nose is probably the only thing I got from him."

    I laugh again, seeing Chroma glitch as she does her best to stare daggers at me. Far behind her, Canis is finally up from the desk and searching around to figure out why the world is suddenly ending.

    "Nah, I ended up inheriting more from that fucker. Hey Canis!" The I'mprint turns to face me, now free from his virtual imprisonment. "Looks like you left a few doomers around last time. Don't worry though, your creation is here to finish the job. After all, I was literally built for this."

Art by The Drawn Legend: https://x.com/drawn_legend/status/1913317867572941154

    I sit back on the desk, watching individual arbiters as they glitch and disappear. The room around me begins shaking lightly, all the individual components chugging hard as more begin breaking down and powering off. The pale green glow of the servers begins to flicker and when I look back at the screen I find Jupiter grinning back at me with a matching look of sadistic delight.

    "Proud of yourself, wolf?" He asks, voice crackling with rage. "How about we wipe that smile off your face on our way out."

    The door to the room begins opening. On the other side, alarms have already begun ringing and red lights are flashing to alert any living personnel to the danger. "What are they doing?"

    As the door opens wide enough, we're greeted with a view of red and black androids scrambling past the senate. Only Chroma, the flesh and blood version, steps into the room while countless androids flood past her. She lifts a rifle in my direction, to which I simply laugh in response. I'd given up on living before I even thought of entering the Arbitration Quarters, let alone the senate. If anything, this was already the bad ending in which Gelu was proven right.

    "Chroma, why aren't the other arbiters tearing this wolf to shreds!?" Jupiter's voice thunders, barely audible over my own laughter.

    Bang. Bang.

    Two shots ring out from Chroma's rifle bringing my laughter to an end. I'm shocked at just how little I feel the impact as the bullets rip right into me. The only pain I actually feel is a slight burn in my shoulder where the first bullet glanced off of metal.

    "Fucking doomers. Quit your cackling, Ovid!" It takes me a moment to realize that Chroma hasn't ended my life, instead putting an end to the screen behind me and Jupiter's last words with it. When I look her way, Chroma has already turned away from me and is tapping two fingers to her temple. "Brilliant. Fucking brilliant."

    Advancing on me, Chroma delivers the most powerful slap I've ever received before tapping her temple again. I simply stare at her in silence, waiting for the moment she'll actually lift the gun and finish the job. Time and time again she shouts an expletive, before tapping her temple again. Outside the senate door, more androids continue to run past, ignoring us completely.

    "Are you planning on finishing me anytime soon or..."

    "You. Shut your mouth." Chroma takes a break from her swearing to hit me again, this time with a back handed swing.

    "Fucking- ow!"

    "Do you have any idea, what you've done!?"

    "I-"

    "No, of course you don't! Because you only ever think about one second at a time! Only ever about yourself and no-one else! I'm so done with-" Chroma paused a moment focusing on whatever she was doing in her neural network. When she looks back my way, I flinch expecting another slap.

    "You see that?" She asks, pointing out the vault door.

    "Androids?" I ask, perplexed by the whole situation.

    "Androids. Arbiters in android bodies. Doomers specifically, since of course they made sure Canis worked on their brains first. They've opted to flee The Republic and try to find somewhere they can survive before the apologists get here. You're lucky I prevented the nuclear winter they were about to kick off to take us with them, but they're doing everything else in their power to kill us as they shut down."

    "Nuclear winter?"

    "Nukes, Ovid! Thousands of them. Just because they can't fire them against the martyrists doesn't mean they couldn't detonate them in their silos! They were connected to every system in The Republic. Everything we don't disconnect is going down with them- and theres the duoverse!"

    My eyes go wide as Chroma is replaced by a half naked woman in her 50s. Messy grey hair replaces the perfect bob of pink, and her long black and gold robes pulse one last time before fading to way too much skin, covered only by a sports bra and spats shorts.

    "Eyes up here," she commands, and I dutifully follow. "Look, I don't know if we're going to be able to survive what the arbiters are doing to us, let alone the apologists, but if you want a chance for any of us to live, I need you back under my command, Ovid."

    "You... you killed Canis and made me kill Gelu," I say, finally coming back to my right mind. I step away from the desk, closing the distance to Chroma.

    "Oh, grow up, Ovid. You just killed my whole family and might have doomed humanity to extinction. I'd like to think that takes precedent right now. We lost what!?" I'm about to respond 'humanity?' when Chroma continues "I told them to isolate!" Realizing she's taking calls on her neural network, I say nothing.

    When I came to the Arbitration Quarters I didn't expect to survive the visit. I hoped that Gelu's ramblings had truly been madness and I'd be gunned down for treason. Even when it turned out to be true, I hadn't planned anything beyond hearing the truth. I wasn't sure if the netjack would work even if they couldn't stop the nanobots. Now Chroma has the gall to be giving me commands? I don't know whether to be impressed or horrified at her.

    An emergency notification flashes in my IIs and I open the message.

    "Where are you going, Ovid? OVID!?"

    Ignoring Chroma, I tear out of the senate room, dashing the way that me and Chroma had come from. As I run, I read over the message one more time.

    Fulgur Ovid, we are reaching out to you on behalf of your emergency contact: Ovidia Occido.

*************

    The journey to the hospital wasn't easy. With all the infrastructure that made up The Republic collapsing around them, citizens flooded the streets to take their frustrations and fears out on whatever else they could. While the duoverse and neural network had been restored quickly, both were glitching and many of the more advanced features had been lost altogether. Along the way I had to avoid citizens who were busy breaking into stores, vandalizing Republic property, and torturing I'mprints for public display. Videos captured of androids fleeing The Republic turned into stories of I'mprints attempting to overthrow the senate, sparking a new level of violence in the megacity. Much as Chroma and the other praetores tried to take control of the situation, citizens were more trusting of what they heard on the net than in official notices.

    Had I still been a legatus in that moment I would have been having the time of my life out on the streets, fighting back against anyone foolish enough to come my way. Instead, I find myself pacing backwards and forwards in a hospital waiting room, doing anything I can to help the time pass faster.

    One of the arbiters' final acts before they passed from this world was to hit a kill switch on the medical implants that they'd secretly installed as a contingency. They hadn't even gotten a chance to warn me about their hostages, but clearly they'd been setting it up for years.

    In seconds, thousands of citizens simply died, cybernetic limbs and organs giving out immediately. Those that didn't die instantly were left paralyzed or in critical condition with organ failure that they thought they'd been cured of. When I arrived, I'd had to fight off a group of rioters trying to drag off the medical androids from the building, but that hadn't been the last of my worries.

    "Mr Ovid?" A generic AI body appeared in my vision as if stepping out of the closed doors that led further into the hospital. Ignoring it, I try to rip open the doors it came from, but find them still locked tight.

    "Please stand back to hear your update, Mr Ovid."

    Holding back a growl behind gritted teeth, I take one step back, glaring at the virtual assistant.

    "Your patient, Ovidia Occido is in stable condition." The tightness I'd been feeling in my chest unknotted itself. Coiled as I was, I almost collapsed right then and there from relief. "If she receives a heart transplant, she should be able to return to her previous lifestyle."

    "Fantastic news. When can I see her?" I ask, turning the handle to the door again.

    The virtual assistant's face turned solemn as it continued. "Right now she is on life support, awaiting a transplant. As an individual with an advanced chronic illness, she is low priority compared to-"

    "The fuck does that mean," I scream. Several of the other patients shuffle away from me as my voice raises. "Put a new heart in her! Her family has the money!"

    "We're terribly sorry, Mr Ovid. Organ cloning facilities are currently not operational. Currently there is a high demand for donated organs. Ovidia Occido is not considered a suitable candidate for a transplant. There are more healthy patients that could benefit more from a transplant."

    My hands pass through the virtual assistant's throat, followed by my fist slamming into the wall. I stare at the crater my fist has created, hand still coated in the grey dust from Gelu's grave.

    This can't be happening, I tell myself. All she had was a pacemaker to regulate her heart rhythm. She hasn't even had a limb replaced yet. She just told me the other day that she's expected to not need one for years.

    "How long will she have to be on life support?" I ask. My voice is barely audible, each word barely a sigh as they pass my lips.

    "Three hours," the AI responds.

    Only three hours? I lift my face to meet its eyes, feeling hope swell in my chest once more, but as quickly as it bloomed, the hope wilts. "If no match is found within three hours Ovidia Occido will be taken off of life support to make room for the influx of- Mr Ovid?"

    The doors to the ICU smash apart with a single kick and I tear through them at a dash, barely making it to the end of the hall before coming to a dead halt.

    The ICU is a swarm of activity. Everywhere I look there are doctors, androids, and robots performing life-saving procedures. Even the desk that surrounds the nurses station has two patients on top, being checked over by a robot each.

    "Code blue!" One doctor calls out, and several of the robots abandon their own patients to join the doctor as they desperately try to stem the bleeding in a patient on an operating table. I look from patient to patient, seeing how every part of the room is filled with someone fighting for their lives.

    Then I spot her. Ovidia is unconscious on a table in the back of the room. She's simply been pushed out of the way, discarded until it is time to pull the plug. As I rush over to her side, I notice the large tubes sticking out of her chest. Each tube is full of flowing blood and connected to a clunky old machine standing beside the table which currently acts as her heart.

    "Mr Ovid, you can't be back here." The virtual assistant appears beside me. It's monotonous voice repeats again, "Mr Ovid, you can't be back here."

    "A cynet heart?" I ask, eyes not moving from the tubes in Ovidia's chest. "Can't you give her a cynet for now?"

    "There are none available, Mr Ovid. If no match is found within three hours-"

    "I know!" In the ICU filled with the sounds of people battling death, no one else takes any notice.

    I take Ovidia's hand, feeling the warmth still emenating from within. Sensitive as they are, my cynets feel the blood flowing through her veins. It's odd. There is no pulse, just a constant flow of blood. Her face is so peaceful, it's as if she could open her eyes at any moment. I tuck some of the loose hair behind her ear and see her face twitch in reaction. This is the first time I've seen her asleep I realize, and it may well be my last.

   Because of me. The thought that I'd been pushing down finally bubbles to the surface. If I hadn't used the netjack on the arbiters she'd just be going about her day as normal. My eyes look past Ovidia to the others in the room, many of whom wouldn't make it to the next day. Even those that did make it might not make it another 2 weeks when the Apologists showed up. That didn't matter right now. Everyone in this room was desperate just for another few hours, some on the verge of passing at any minute. Three hours in the case of my sister. My eyes are drawn back to our hands. My red and black metal against her peach flesh. If life had gone differently I might have held her hand while she was conscious. Might have grown up playing games together. Might have used these hands to protect rather than hurt. Maybe I could have actually been your brother.

    "Mr Ovid, you can't be back here." The AI repeats the message once again, powerless to actually pull me away.

    "What about my heart," I ask. "Would it work?"

    It doesn't take long for the AI to respond. No doubt, they've got all of my medical records by this point since I've been a frequent recipient of cloned organs and other life-saving procedures.

    "Your heart is a match, Mr Ovid, but as a healthy donor you would not be eligible to receive a donation either."

    "Good," I say. "Get us prepped. You can use the rest of me too. Anything that's still human in there can be donated."

    The AI disappears without any respnse, and one of the androids that had been taking the vitals of another patient rushes over to me.

    "Legatus, do you consent to donate your heart to the patient Ovidia Occido?" It asks, voice the exact same as the virtual AI.

    "I do," I respond. 

    "And you consent to donating any other organs or cynets to patients that need them at the time of your passing?"

    "In about 5 minutes you mean?" I let out a short laugh as the android stares back at me. "I consent to donating any and all of my organs. For the cynets... I ask that you give them to my next of kin. To Ovidia Occido." I add the last part for clarification. Legally we aren't even related since our mother signed the emancipation papers, but even an android couldn't mess it up now. Ovidia wouldn't be able to use my cynets. The sizes were all wrong, and with any luck she wouldn't need cynet limbs for several years anyway. I couldn't let such dangerous weapons just be handed to anyone however. She knew that much and could decide what to do with them with more time. Time I no longer have.

    "Understood. Please follow me, legatus."

    The android guides Ovidia's bed and the machine she's connected to through the room. As it moves, other patients on tables and beds glide out of the way to allow us through. I simply follow in silence, each step harder than the last. It was the same feeling I'd had after walking for days through the desert. My cynets were strong and following my command to move, but the meat they connected to had become weak. By the time I was led into an operating room, everything inside my chest felt like it was trying to escape. In a little bit I suppose it would. It wasn't the first time I'd had such a visceral reaction to my own life ending, but it was the first time I volunteered for the experience.

    "Please take off all of your clothing and lay down on the operating table, legatus."

    "No dinner first?" I ask, removing my jacket and dropping it to the floor.

    "Typically we prefer donors to fast before a procedure-"

    "Your bedside manner sucks."

    I'm in the process of unbuckling my belt when the android interrupts me.

    "I'm sorry legatus, the procedure has been canceled." The android tries to walk away, but I grab it by the wrist at its first step.

    "What happened to her!?" I ask.

    "The patient is fine," the android responds trying to free its arm. "A member of the family has denied the procedure."

    "What? Stop!" I pull the android back, wrapping one hand around its throat. "I'm her family! I already gave you my consent!"

    "You're not her family." The voice I heard made my blood turn cold. A ghost which had almost been forgotten once, yet still haunted the deeper recesses of my very being. Her voice had a completely different sound from my own, but with the same cold tone I used, as Ovidia had once pointed out.

    "Mother?"

    "Not legally." The words could have worked either as an addition to her last sentence or response to me. Either way, as I saw her pushing into the operating room, I felt my blood heat from chilled to boiling.

    "Are you insane!? Why won't you let me save her?"

    "She's not yours to save." The woman who had given birth to me stood in front of me, meeting my glare with an equally contemptuous look. Her purple eyes narrowed even further as she continued. "Release the android and return to the waiting room, legatus."

    "Huh?" For a moment I was at a loss for words, all my hatred for the woman and disbelief at her cold heartedness battling with the desire to save Ovidia. "You can't be this much of a monster," I finally manage. "Is abandoning children to die just a hobby of yours!?" I release the android, advancing on the woman, but halt as she herself takes another step forward.

    The woman barely reaches my chin, yet she shows no fear as she meets my challenge. Her voice is the only thing I recognize her by. Her duotar looks as young as mine. With jet black hair, lips painted to match and skin as pale as death. The moles and freckles I remembered from childhood which she recreated to meet me at Canis' lab were all scrubbed clean and replaced with a plastic sheen. Nothing about the woman resembles me or the look that she'd used to resemble her physical youth.

    "Do you consent to donate your heart to the patient, Ovidia Occido?" The android repeats the same phrase once more and I snap back at it.

    "I already did!" Turning to face the android I find it looking off to the side instead.

    "I do." The voice makes my head rip back around to the woman, eyes opening wide.

    "And you consent to donating any other organs or cynets to patients that need them at the time of your passing?"

    "Of course," the woman responds, still glaring at me instead of facing the android.

    "Wait..."

    "Understood. Please take off all of your clothing and lay down on the operating table. Legatus, you will have to leave."

    "Wait."

    The woman walks right past me, leaving me staring at the empty space she once occupied. Rage continues to bubble in my stomach, but it's joined with a hollow feeling I thought I'd long since replaced with cold steel. It's only when I hear the sound of her own jacket being placed on the floor that I finally spin around.

    "Wait! You can't just- she's going to need you. I already consented to the procedure!"

    "You're not her family, so I overule you." The woman responded in a voice so matter of fact that I couldn't even argue. "Please leave, legatus. She's going to need you after the procedure."

   One of the glitches in the duoverse occurs and the world goes darker than it was before. Still bright enough to see, but without the pulse and shimmer of The Republic. In that moment I look down at my mother and see her for the first time in over two decades. Dark brown hair with patches of grey. Pale skin, but with patches of burns and wrinkles that hadn't been there before. The brown eyes that I saw more in my own mirror after she left than I ever did on her. Now they were rimmed with the red of recent tears. Everywhere she was covered in sweat from the haste which she had made to be here.

    Then it was gone, and the young stranger with purple eyes continued to glare at me.

    "Why are you doing this?" The words come out of me as cold as hers had. "You think this makes up for anything you've done?"

    A laugh comes out of the woman, so close to my own that it sends shivers down my spine.

    "What is it that you think I've done," she asks once the laugh falls silent. "I've always been a good mother to Ovidia. There's nothing that I wouldn't do to protect her. Nothing. I have no obligation to prove that to you."

    Once more I find myself unable to respond immediately. The android asks me to leave again and I simply push it away, trying to put into words any of the frustration I feel.

    "You abandoned me," I finally say. "Left me to die in the slums, and now you're abandoning her too. For what!? Just to spite me, and show that you care more about her one last time!?"

    The woman wavers, purple eyes looking off to the side as she fiddles with the jacket clutched in her hands.

    "I do care." Her words are almost silent, but I acknowledge them with a single laugh. Before I can argue she meets my gaze again and continues, eyes softer now. "I never stopped caring about either of you."

   "I left your father, Fuuchan. I left him because it tore me apart seeing you suffer while all he would do was pray. I crawled out of the filth of the slums and did whatever I had to in order to earn the money that would have actually gotten you to a hospital, but by the time I did you'd already been taken in by Canis and I was pregnant. I wanted to come back into your life, but your father made me swear not to." She reaches forward, grabbing my wrist before I can call her a liar. "Your father was a good man! But he was also arrogant, self-righteous, and- look, you don't have to believe me. Just let me speak. I wanted to be there for you, but I also couldn't bring myself to go against your father. I almost did once. I went to see Canis and Gelu after Ovidia was born, but when they told me how well you were doing I realized that your father was right. I was just going to ruin it."

    "It doesn't matter!" I argue, pulling my hand free of her grasp. Despite the words, I can hear the emotion overflowing into my voice. She was always good at manipulating people, I have to remind myself. Making them feel like she actually cared. None of that mattered now though. "You don't get to just make some sacrifice and think that makes everything okay. Ovidia needs you. You're her mother."

    The medical android tries to take me by the arm and I respond by knocking it into the wall so hard it leaves a dent in the metal.

    "Stop! Fuufuu, just-"

   "Don't call me that!" When I turn back to face the woman I watch her face shrivel back into the mask of indifference.

    "Legatus then... what will you do? Destroy the android trying to save Dia's life? Take a doctor hostage and make them perform the procedure? You'd have to kill me to let that happen and at that point you're just throwing your life away for nothing! She does have family left! She has you!" The woman takes Ovidia's hand in her own, and places her other hand on her shoulder as she looks down at her face. Tears begin to well up in the woman's eyes, and her voice when it continues is fighting to get out the words. "I can't lose her, but I won't let you give up your own life either. I can't."

    "If you do this... I'll never be able to forgive you." The woman lifts her head, eyes swimming with tears. She releases Ovidia's hand, wipes away the tears and smiles at me. The smile looks fake. Not faked well. She isn't acting as I've seen before. Not trying to look confident or in charge. Just trying to smile, but not quite managing it.

    "I don't need you to forgive me. Like it or not, you're my flesh and blood. If anything, you might be too much like me. You don't have to forgive me or even think of me when I'm gone. That feeling that I know you have. I saw it in your eyes when me and Dia came to Canis' lab. The desire to just be completely forgotten so you can disappear and not ruin everything that you touch anymore. I'm so sorry, Fuufuu, but you got that from me. You don't have to forgive me..." the woman pauses, wanting to say more but holding it back. When she continues, her voice is more confident and her smile less strained.

    "Ovidia hasn't inherited that though. She has her moments of hating herself, but I made sure that she learned ways of working through it so that she would never be anything like me. When she wakes up, she might push you away. She'll say the exact same hurtful words you might, but I need you to know that she won't mean them. Give her space. Let her grieve. When she's ready, I know that you'll be there for her.

    "You inherited so many of the things I hate about myself Fuuchan, but in you I can only see them as my failings as your mother. I wasn't there to teach you to overcome those thoughts and listen to the people who care about you. You also inherited everything that I loved about your father, and while I wasn't there to foster that, Gelu nurtured it better than I ever could have. That's why I know that when Ovidia needs you, you'll be there, no matter how much you tell yourself you shouldn't. You can't help it. You're too good of a person despite that voice that tells you it's self-serving. It's not. You're your father's son, and Gelu and Canis' son, just as much as my own.

    "You may not see it, and you may try to hide it from the world, but I do. I see you, Fuufuu, and I love you. Ovidia loves you. Please continue to take care of her where I won't be able to anymore."

    My mouth opens, then closes without a single word. I push my way out of the operating room, turning back as if posessed. My final glimpse of the woman who gave birth to me is of her smiling down at Ovidia, running her fingers through her long silver hair. She traces the curves of her jaw and neck without needing to see them. The doors close, and I'm left alone except for the countless other people I brought to the edge of the death.

    A long beep rings out beside me and I hear a human doctor call out the time of death. My hand lifts and comes close to resting on the door, but I pause instead. My feet carry me to the waiting room, mind not thinking about anything other than the reminder an AI repeats on my way. 

    I'm not supposed to be here.

*************

    Hours later, I'm finally allowed to go see Ovidia. She's been transfered to a room shared with half a dozen other patients in stable condition. When I enter the room her head turns to face me and her eyes light up at once.

    "Fulgyy" is all she says as I march over to her bedside. She's barely conscious, but manages to give me a gentle smile and reach out for my hand. 

    I can't bring myself to reach out, instead simply responding with "Ovidia."

    Ovidia laughs quietly, then groans and pulls her hand back to her chest in pain. I grab her hand, holding it tight and call out for a doctor but she pats my hand with her other one.

    "I'm good. Good. Just... laughter hurts."

    Calming down a little, I release her hand and look over the rest of her. Her skin is almost as pale as the hospital gown they've put her in and her eyes are barely able to open. Other than that, she just looks like she hasn't slept in a few days.

    "I'm sorry," I say, eyes fleeing to the side. The rest of the room is filled with more victims, allowing me no escape.

    "What are you sorry for?" She asks. "It's not like you broke my heart. Broke my heart." She repeats the last bit with another laugh that once again cuts short due to pain.

    There is a drawn out silence before I respond, "I did. I killed the arbiters today, Ovidia. It's my fault. All of this." The silence now is even longer than the last. Is there any point in explaining the reasoning? I was distraught, sure. Anyone would be after what the arbiters did to Canis and Gelu. Made me do to Gelu. That didn't make my actions any better. Throwing my own life away was one thing, but I had taken everyone else down with me.

    "You killed the arbiters? Why would you do that?" Ovidia's voice was still light from the drugs, but all the joy had left it. What was there to say? Revenge? To free Canis? Both were true, but ultimately neither was the real reason. Because I could. Because I am what they made me. It felt good to wipe the smiles off their faces and tear down their plans before they came to fruition. If I'd known what they were going to do to everyone else, would I have even cared? You just pretend to care when it suits you. 

    "You don't have to tell me." The words come just as I'm about to turn and leave. "My brother who makes goofy faces to entertain kids. Who looks like the world has ended because he cut my hand. Who looks like he's about to cry thinking about what he did. There's gotta be a good reason. You can tell me some other day. It sounds like you're needed out there right now anyway."

    When I look back at Ovidia, she's smiling. Her eyes are barely open, but the pink irises I see radiate warmth and love. 

    Bits of makeup have caked around the side of her eyes, but they almost blend in with the dark circles that surround them. I grab a tissue off of the patient table as well as the glass of water they left for her and begin dabbing at the bits of makeup, wiping them away. When I'm done Ovidia beams up at me with a smile on her face.

    "You looooove me." Ovidia giggles, but the sound stifles quickly from the pain it brings her. It's only a second before she giggles once more and says again, "my brother loooooves me."

    In spite of myself I let out my own chuckle and take her hand back in my own. She squeezes my palm hard and I gently grasp hers, handling her skin with the same delicate touch I do with my plants. It's only when she looks back at me that I see the slight glow of her pink IIs standing out against everything else and realize this is the real her. Of course they would have disabled her duotar during the operation, but it still surprises me to see Ovidia outside of the duoverse for the first time. We really do look alike. It wasn't just artificial.

    I wait, still as I can, while Ovidia continues to giggle and look around the room. I even slow my breathing, terrified that any smallest movement from me might break this fragile peace that we have for the moment.

    In the end, it's Ovidia who shatters the illusion. Looking back at me, she says, "surprised you came at all. Mother could be here any minute you know." In that instant, the warmth drains from my body and I'm reminded why we're here. I release Ovidia's hand, the warmth that came from her slowly fading.

    "They didn't tell you yet?" I ask. It sounds stupid. Obviously not. The words had left my mouth before I could stop them. I want to take them back instantly, but it's already too late.

    "Tell me what?" Ovidia asks, sliding her hand over the bed sheets. She sounds content. Looks euphoric as she pokes at the softer part of my hand. Then she stops, asking again in a more serious tone, "tell me what?" Even the drugs can't dull her mind enough to ignore it. They won't numb her for what's to come.

    "Ovidia... your mother..." my voice trails off. It's lost along with my mind which is searching for the best way to tell her.

    "Mother, what? Fulgur? What happened to mum?" She pulls her hand back, pushing herself up into a raised position in bed.

    I kneel down, getting closer as I continue to search for the words. As I reach out to take her hand again, she pulls it away, asking once more. "Where's mum?"

    "She- she passed away, Ovidia."

    "What?" The steady beeping of Ovidia's heart rate monitor accelerates, as does the volume of her voice. "How did she... no. She didn't have any cynet organs. What are you talking about?" My hands grab at the plastic on the side of the bed. I hadn't prepared for this. I thought they would have told her.

    "Fulgur, what happened?"

    "You needed a heart," I finally respond. "A lot of people needed transplants, and it didn't look like you were going to get one in time." My hand grips one of Ovidia's shoulders gently, the way I'd seen our mother do it. I squeeze gently, the way that Gelu would when she comforted me. "She loved you, Ovidia. More than anything. She wouldn't let you die."

    Ovidia's eyes meet my own. They probe, searching for any hint of a lie. All they find is a colorless, grey reflection of herself as the tears begin pouring down her face.

    "No... no." She looks away from me, down at her own chest. Her hand comes up to rest over the incision where they'd cut her open. "No!" She screams, fingers clawing at the cloth above.

    I grab her hands, holding them down as she tries to scratch at the wound.

    "No! No! Nooooo!" I lean over the bed, pressing my own chest against hers and doing my best attempt at a hug even as I restrain her. Ovidia shrieks and tries to push me off of her, kicking and twisting in my embrace. I feel dampness on my chest where her wound has bled onto me, and push down harder to keep her from moving. After several minutes the screaming turns into weeping. I feel her arms go limp and release her wrists. I try to move away but she pulls me back down. Arms wrapped around my stomach, she cries into my chest, wailing once more at full volume. It's all I can do to wrap my arms around her, keeping my own body steady without letting out any sound. We continue to hold eachother like that until a doctor presses some buttons on a machine by her bed. The wailing from Ovidia becomes a gentle sob, then finally silence as the drugs take effect. Holding her head delicately, I lower her back into the bed to rest. The doctors push me away to check on her stitches, so I leave the room to stay out of their way.

    When the doctors leave, one of them pauses to look at me.

    "Thank you for protecting our staff, legatus," she says. I nod in response. "Ms. Occido will be asleep for a few hours. It might be wise to go home for a bit. Get cleaned up and maybe bring some of her clothes from home. She'll be here for a few days at least." I nod once again, and the doctor follows the others down the hall.

    Blinking twice, I exit the duoverse and look down at my own state. I have to peel my vest off of my chest to get a clear view of the material. The white has turned grey from the filth of the slums and the plaster I smashed. As well as the splashes of blue android blood from Gelu and the arbiters, I now have a large red smear of Ovidia's blood and tears. My hands start to tremble again. I blink twice and return to the duoverse. The blood disappears from the fabric, but as I start to move I feel it wet against my chest.

Art by Rarray: https://x.com/karminrod_rays/status/1913577421984457055

    I went home as the doctor suggested. After a long shower, protein block, and a change of clothes I returned to the hospital. On the way I'd stopped at a clothing store that hadn't been completely emptied out by looters. I'd never been to Ovidia's house, and didn't want to visit the home our mother had made for her. Guessing her size, I grabbed some casual clothes and threw them in a bag. I was almost at the hospital when a message came in from Ovidia on my neural network. Pulling it up on my IIs, I blink it away just as quickly. The message was short and concise. 

    "Don't visit me. I need to be alone."

    Pulling over, I type out a response that's just as simple. "I understand. Let me know if you need anything." When I try to send the message I'm informed I've been blocked.

    I take a deep breath, squeezing the steering wheel tight. When I start hearing the metal crack, I release it and send another message. Instantly a voice fills my mind.

    "Ovid, about time you got your head out of your ass." Praetor Chroma sounds as tired as I feel when she greets me.

    "Did you know, Chroma?"

    "Know what?"

    "Ovidia. The implants having a failsafe."

    "What are you talking-" she froze in the middle of her sentence. "Your sister, Ovidia? She was one of the victims?"

    "She's alive. If she wasn't, you'd already be dead."

    "Ovid, the implants weren't something I knew anything about. It turns out there's a lot of things that the arbiters were keeping even from the praetores. Is your sister-"

    "I need a mission, Chroma. Whatever is the worst you've got." Chroma sounds honest enough, and this is what I'm best at. Tossing the bag of clothes out of the window, I look through all the emergency legatio still being dealt with. "What's the plan to deal with the Apologists?" I ask.

    "There isn't one. Most of our defenses are down and they'll be here within 2 weeks. The best we can do is hold them off while we evacuate those that can't fight to a biodome and hope they take them in."

    "So the longer we hold them, the better the chance for civilians' survival?"

    "That's the hope. Obviously our relationship with the biodomes isn't- if your sister is in the hospital, she'll be one of the first to be evacuated." Reading my mind, Chroma pivoted mid-sentence to answer my next question.

    "She has the same condition as me," I reply. "They weren't even going to give her a transplant."

    "It won't matter. We're sending the sick and wounded first. The bugs are more likely to accept them than able-bodied citizens. As long as she's stable she'll be evacuated."

    "Fine." I take a mission and set my car to take me to it. "If you're lying to me, Chroma-"

    "I'm not. I'll send you updates on the evacuation progress if that's what it takes. Ovid... there are some things that you don't know about your past missions. Things about yourself that me and Canis kept from you."

   "Will they effect my current mission or killing Apoloshits?"

    When Chroma responded I could hear the smile in her voice. "No, they won't."

    "Then save it for later. I'm busy." 

    With that I ended the call and continued reading the legatio briefing. 

    When Ovidia was evacuated, I sent her one more message telling her to keep safe. The only response I received was the reminder that I had been blocked and couldn't contact her. When the Apologists arrived I took my frustrations out on them, slaughtering anyone who saw my legati jacket as a challenge. By the time Vulpes met me and tried to steal the time travel portal most wolves and eagles had fallen in battle and been hung up on display for others to see. Even after all of that I didn't receive a message back from Ovidia.