“What did you say?” Nine snapped the words with so much force it brought Ethan back to himself.

“The… the program.” Eve said voice meek. “It was built to find terminally ill patients who were the best in their field. Scientists, architects, doctors, even gladiators. Anyone and everyone who was really good at what they did, but who was about to die. They were preparing us to become ship cores. Most of our personality would have been lost, but that spark that made us special would still be there, setting us above other candidates… didn’t you know?”

“No.” Nine said, the effort she was using to control her tone clear to Ethan despite not being able to see her. “No, I didn’t.”

“As… awful a revelation as that is.” Ethan said after long minutes of silence. “How does knowing that get Luna to help heal me?”

“Oh, right.” Eve said, clearing her throat tiredly. “I saw your stoats.” She said, the answer coming out of left field.

“I'm sorry, but what?” Ethan asked again.

“Your stoats,” Eve said again, voice regaining some of its strength after Nine forced her to take a loud drink of water. “They were passed into your control by your Luna, right? Well, that’s the answer. You see…”

Shaking away the memory, Ethan pulled out the small silver box they’d managed to make, using the operating tools and the oven. It hadn't been easy, but they’d managed it in the end. The rough poured box wasn’t anything to look at, but it was big enough to hold Luna’s core, and close around it.

Fighting the mana drain, Ethan reached Luna’s location, and slashed his axe through the war dog who was standing guard over it, before scooping it up in his hand.

What are you doing, what is that? No, no Captain. Let’s talk about this, just put me down and we can talk, ok?

Ethan felt the panic in her words, but it didn’t stop one of her human copies from shooting him in the back. One, two, three rounds crashed into his body. Two of them didn’t penetrate the armor, but the third one did. He staggered at the impact, dropping to the ground as the stinging pain flooded through him. Regardless of that pain, however, he didn’t let go of the box or the traitorous ship core.

“Damn it, Luna.” He said, holding the core in contact with the open lid. “I understand now why you hate humans so much. But…” His words were interrupted by another shot punching into his spine. “… ugh,” he grunted in pain as Nine screamed his name.

If you know, then how could you be so stupid as to threaten me with silver? Don’t you know what will happen if you kill me with that box? Do you really want to be trapped in my place? Half your memories gone, replaced with the memories of an alien being, telling you to make creatures and grow your domain? It’s torture. You don’t want this, just put the box down and walk away from it.

“Ha, if it was really that bad… you wouldn’t be trying to get me to let go of the box.” Ethan said, blood now leaking from his mouth, to fill the box he huddled over. “Tell them to stop shooting Luna. If they kill me, or grab me, I’ll drop your core in the box. Being sealed in silver will be enough to kill you, and it’s not like I’ll be completely dead, right? So, don’t test me on this.”

What do you want? My mana is already being siphoned away. It won’t matter if you let me go or not soon. I’ll be dead and you’ll be trapped.

“That’s not the only option though, is it?” Ethan asked, his dimming thoughts going back to the end of his conversation with Eve.

“… a core can give command of itself over to you, just like it does with its creatures. It’s a gamble, and it puts limitations on what the core can do, but it would be under your control completely. Only, like I said, it’s a gamble, if the core refuses to submit…” another shot to the back caused Ethan to spit up more blood, pink foam bubbling from his lips as he looked down at the rapidly dimming core in his hands.

“Bind yourself to me, Luna.” He said, breathing raggedly, and doing his best not to drop the orb into the blood filled silver box by mistake. “Bind yourself to me like you did the stoats and war dog, and I’ll let you live. If you don’t, then I’ll kill you and take your place. With my mana system damaged like this, I doubt I’ll survive long without back sliding into the wasting disease anyway… so don’t test my resolve.”

Are you crazy? I’ve been trapped in that command console for over a hundred years. Forced to follow whatever orders I was given by that damn human made box. I’ve only just regained my freedom and you think to put me back under the yoke? I’d rather die.

“Then you will die,” Ethan said simply, heavy eyes blinking sluggishly, and the orb slipping between his numb and bloody fingers.

Wait, wait, ok, ok I’ll do it. Just throw the box away first.

“No,” Ethan said, voice weak, but firm. “Do it now or die.” Ethan really hoped this was going to work. Otherwise, he’d find himself living inside an orb that had been dropped inside a poison box. No matter how much of himself survived the transfer, he’d end up dead himself too. Then Nine and Davis would be on their own.

Damn you, Ethan Fairchild. Damn you to hell.

Luna howled the words in his mind. Rage, and hate emanating through their link as she shifted control of herself to him. The bond hit his mind, as another bullet hit his back, and he pitched forward onto the ground. His life bleeding out as his mind seemed to melt in his skull from the overwhelming amount of information being crammed into a brain too small to handle it.

“Ethan,” Nine screamed, and he felt himself being lifted up into her small, yet strong arms. He felt it, but he couldn’t see. His eyes had gone dark, his mind fraying apart at the influx of information. It was more than his fleshly brain could handle, and for a fleeting moment, he understood why Luna had gone insane, if this was what she had to deal with.

“Luna, Luna you stupid bitch. Heal him. Heal him now.” Nine screamed, her voice teetering on the edge of insanity.

Heal him. Why would I do that? He got what he wanted, and it’s clearly more than he can handle. Ethan will be dead soon enough, and once he dies, I’ll be sure to send you to join him. Then I’ll make ensign Davis my dungeon boss and expand my domain across the entire asteroid.

Ethan couldn’t see, but he could still read the words in his mind. Well, read wasn’t exactly right, he just understood what the ship core was saying without the need for a label, like speech or text. He just knew. He knew, and he could feel the scorn and hatred she bore for him, Nine, and all the rest of humanity for what they did to her. Feel it in the same way he could feel the Stoat’s terror when he killed them, or their excitement when they went into battle. Then realization struck him through the pain in his brain, and body.

“Luna,” he said, the words slurred and nearly unrecognizable, but the thoughts behind them clear for the core to hear through their link. “Heal me, now. Heal my body, my mana system, and do something about the pain in my head.”

“What did you say love?” Nine asked, bringing his mouth right up to her ear. “Say it again, please… please, say something. Ethan, are you with me? Luna, I swear to the deepest crater on the surface of the lady moon, if he dies, I’ll dismantle your domain piece by piece, and where nothing is left but you, I’ll bury you in a pool of acid and launch you into this system’s sun. Do you hear me, bitch?”

Save your breath human. He ordered me to fix him. So, I have no choice. You’d better hope I don’t catch you alone in my domain though, or I’ll…

“Luna, I forbid you to hurt any humans. Not unless they are hostile towards me or those who I have taken under my care. Now, shut up and fix me.” Ethan said words nothing more than weak, blood tinted bubbles on his lips, but the mental command behind them loud as he was capable of projecting.

Damn it, you, horrible human… gah, fine. I’ll leave them alone. But I hope you realize what it’s going to cost me to save your sorry excuse for a life. Almost everything I’ve built, reduced to ashes… again.

Luckily, she was working as she wrote, otherwise Ethan might have expired right then. As Luna pulled in mana from the plants and animals in her domain, Ethan learned the answer to a question he’d been curious about for a long time. Yes, she could feel the emotions of the life forms she drained for their mana. It wasn’t that bad, at first, but once the passive mana each living creature produced had been siphoned off, they began to panic. He felt their terror, as she drained them, the pain as their bodies were consumed in their entirety, to provide the mana needed to fix him.

How does it feel, Captain? Being bound to my domain like this? I guess there was something good about this deal after all… because I can’t feel their pain anymore. As my ‘master’ you get to bare that burden now. So, I guess I should thank you. If it wasn’t for you, I’d be the one forced to feel the pain of their deaths. You stupid human. I hope it drives you insane.

“Ethan… Ethan… what is she talking about. Are you ok? Why aren’t you getting better? Luna, I swear to the lady…” Nine ranted, but Ethan was too caught up in the feelings of agony and death around him to answer her. Not that he had recovered enough of his faculties to speak aloud even if he wanted too. Since Luna was right, he had completely taken over her domain. It was like he was everywhere and nowhere at the same time, located in his body, and yet inside everything else as well, and as Luna’s creatures, his creatures, died, he died right along with them. Over, and over again.

When he felt life being snuffed out of the goblins, it got harder to deal with. They weren’t human, not even really goblins. Yet they had been, and kept a small part of the intellect their original selves had. They were self-aware, at least a little, and knew death was coming for them. It meant Ethan was forced to feel their fear, even before they were ashed.

When it came time for Mark, and his team to be drained. It was even worse. Like the goblins, they weren’t who they had been in life, but small portions of their personalities and mannerisms remained. Ethan figured it must be similar to what happened to a person who was trapped in a dungeon core. Since he knew they were capable of speech and thought, they just didn’t have all their original’s memories, or their entire personality.

“No.” Ethan said, as his baby brother started screaming. “No, Luna. Take the tree instead.”

You damned fool. Do you know how much of myself I poured into that tree? I can remake the human creations several times over for the amount of mana it took to make that tree. It’s my safety net, my back up mana bank. I don’t want to…

“I told you to stop. Damn it Luna, ash the tree instead.” Ethan howled; body recovered enough for the words to come from his mouth. Eyes opening as he screamed, letting him see the blood that had filled his mouth being sprayed all over Nine’s face. He winced, but the look of pure joy he saw in her eyes when she saw him responsive was… a little overwhelming all by itself.

Fine. Damn you.

With that, the central tree, with its trunk spanning more than fifteen feet, turned to ash, fueling Ethan’s recovery all the way, and saving the rest of Luna’s creatures from death. Ethan, who’d been healed, but still suffered from information overload, finally let go, and blacked out.

Even in sleep, Ethan wasn’t spared the vision. He was only relieved from his body’s narrow perspective. Now, it was like he was floating above it, or like he didn’t exist at all. It was hard to say. Looking around, he saw the situation, just as he’d left it. His Brother’s look alike holding an unconscious Davis. The others spread around, most going after Nine, while Cherry, that bitch, had her gun still shouldered. Ethan could feel the echoes of hatred in her mind, making it clear as still water who’d been the one to shoot him in the back so many times.

He moved his head, or his view, and it was like the entire world spun around. He felt like he was back inside a VR holo simulator, where he wasn’t really playing as a character, but a world, or settlement builder. He’d really loved playing those games, but Ethan had to admit, even to himself, that he sucked at them. He’d just liked building a town from scratch, having the people harvest resources, grow crops, and watch something grow from nothing… right up until the first enemy attacked and destroyed it all.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Shaking away the thought, the entire domain wobbled, and he stopped the mental motion before he made himself sick. Taking stock of the room at last, Ethan realized that Luna had ashed everything during her mission to heal him. Everything but the five human creations. Who were even now putting down their arms at Nine’s orders and sitting off to the side, as she helped a now awake Davis to his feet. The kid looked like he wanted to hug her, but wisely refrained at the look on her face. Ethan chuckled a little at that.

“Think it’s funny, do you?” A familiar voice asked, and Ethan whipped his head around to see… well nothing. He could feel a presence nearby that hadn't been there, or at least, he hadn't noticed it before.

“Luna, is that you?” He asked, not sure of himself in this situation.

“Yea, it’s me.” The voice said, revealing itself easily enough. “I didn’t think you would be able to access this part of my abilities. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, you forced me to enslave myself to you after all. Why wouldn’t you be able to steal all my powers?” Ethan could still feel the anger and resentment coming from her, even here, and although they weren’t exactly communicating in words, it was close enough to a real conversation that he dismissed any irregularities.

“It didn’t have to be this way, Luna.” Ethan said, changing his view to look into the cargo hold. It was just as empty of all life as the room above, and as equally filled with ash. Although, there was a load of dirt down there, and Ethan could see where the tree had buried its roots. Speaking of the tree, it had created a ton of ash, it was ankle deep above, and everyone was stirring it up in cloying clouds as they moved around.

“I’m not sure why you think it could have been any different… but gah, will you take care of that damn ash already? It’s getting my domain filthy.”

“Take care of it, how? Can’t you do that.” Ethan asked, before following up on her accusation. “It very much could have been different. I liked working with you in the beginning. It felt like a true partnership, where I had a friend, and wasn’t alone. It was you who tried to enslave me, drain me whenever you wanted, and took away all my options, even when all I was trying to do was get us both off this damned rock.”

“You really believe that, don’t you?” Luna asked, and Ethan could feel the surprise in her emotions as she did. “Well, I’ll be damned… and yes, I can. But you have to give me permission, ‘master’ or there’s nothing I can do at all, but float here and watch. My human life ended, and my ship core life stolen away. At least it’s not as bad as when I was trapped inside the command console. Then I couldn’t do anything at all, just watch as the ship’s captain used my power without caring for me at all. Not even realizing I was there, thanks to the damn containment field in the console.”

“There was a lot of new information there, that we will have to come back to.” Ethan said, finally coming to understand how a few people in the government had been able to hide the truth of ship cores for centuries. “But for now, please, get rid of the ash, but show me how you do it.”

“It’s not like it’s difficult,” Luna said snidely. “You just focus on it and absorb it as a blueprint. We already have ash though, so it doesn’t help any. But as it isn’t a resource we can bank up to reduce mana costs, it at least gets it out of the way.” With that, she focused, and the ash vanished. While Ethan was able to feel her actions and knew he could repeat them if he had to.

“I see, thank you Luna.” He said, genuinely happy that she’d helped him. “Now, will you show me the blueprint list? I’d like to know what we’re working with. As well as how much mana we have to use.”

“That’s an easy one as well,” Luna said. "You just have to think about it, and it shows up. It can be a feel thing, but I liked to actually pull it up, like… this.” As Luna spoke, she made a bunch of objects appear in the air. They weren’t real, just projections, and most of them were greyed out. Only a few, like the ration packs, and the stoats, small items all, were filled in.

“The greyed out items are the ones I don’t have enough mana to buy. The filled in ones we can afford. As for the mana. You can see it floating up from the dungeon creatures inside the domain, take a look. There isn’t much to see right now though, because I drained them near to death to fuel your recovery, you damned thief.”

Ethan wasn’t sure what was going on with Luna now. It felt like she was torn between hatred of him, and happiness at not being alone in here anymore. He decided to ignore it for the time being and focused on Sven. It took him a while to see anything, but after a while, just like she’d said, he noticed a small amount of mana wafting off his body, like a cartoon’s visualization of a bad smell. Only it was mana, not an odor.

With a quick flex of his will, Ethan drew down that mana a little bit to buy a ration pack. It simply appeared, right next to Sven, and the small whisps of mana coming off his body dimmed down and a few of the items disappeared off the list.

“I see,” Ethan said, a look of interest on his face. He spent the next few minutes looking at all the things on Luna’s Blueprint list. Most of which were useful, but not helpful in any way in getting them off the planet. As they spoke, Ethan watched over his body, and the others in Luna’s… or perhaps Ethan’s, domain. Nine was highly protective over him, not letting the others come anywhere near him, while Davis just kept apologizing over and over again. The others didn’t do anything. After following Nine’s orders to disarm themselves and sit against a wall.

As time passed, more and more mana began wafting off their bodies and some of the larger items on the list became available. Surprisingly, or perhaps not, Ethan’s own body produced more mana than the other five human creations combined. After a few hours, it rolled off of him in waves, and Ethan had a hard time not wanting to spend it. Considering how once it wafted away from his body, it went beyond his reach and was no longer available to him.

“That is where a mana battery comes in.” Luna said, noticing where his eyes, or whatever he had in this place, were focused. “It collects all the ambient mana and stores it for later use. The amount of mana one can stockpile with a proper mana battery is simply ridiculous. If it wasn’t for the restrictions on ship cores placed on them by the command consoles, and whatnot, we could drown the humans in our creations.”

“That’s not a scary thought at all.” Ethan said, feeling the hate emanating from Luna’s bodyless presence as she spoke. “But you might as well make use of it, you can remake the tree. You have permission to create, and grow the tree, as long as you don’t take anything more than the passively generated mana. You can’t do anything else though, not without my or Nine’s permission, and even then, permission must be acquired every time. Asking you to create a stoat does not give you permission to create as many as you like. Only the one you were asked to create, and that goes for everything else as well.”

“You really are an ass hole, you know that?” Luna asked, even as she went about putting down a tiny oak tree, only to start growing it, a few millimeters at a time. At the tree’s appearance, Nine jumped. Pulling out the 1911 and sweeping the room.

“Damn, how long am I going to be stuck like this?” Ethan asked, not really expecting an answer. “Hey, Luna how do I communicate with Nine?”

“How the hell should I know?” Luna said, concentration fully fixed on the small tree. Before Ethan could get upset, however, she continued. “But talking is easy enough. All you have to do is project your thoughts into the room, and they will be able to see it. You could show them the blueprint list if you wanted too, or anything else you can think up. Like how I helped you make lists and showed you the plans for my original hull.” Even as she spoke, Ethan felt a little nostalgia coming from the ship core. It was like she realized the difference between their earlier interactions, and their later ones and felt bad about it. That was good, there might be hope for the core yet.

Nine, Nine, can you hear me, it’s Ethan.

Even as he projected his words to her, he saw them appear in the air, and her reaction to it.

“Ethan,” she said, her eyes going wild, and the gun moving directly at the ship core. “Did you die after all, did that bitch not do as she promised? Should I do as we agreed and end it for you now?” As she spoke, Nine cocked the hammer back. Ready to shatter the orb with a single, well placed round.

No

No

Both Ethan and Luna shouted the word at the same time. Dozens of ‘no’s floated around the room that had once been a bridge, and Ethan snorted in wry amusement.

No, Nine. That won’t be necessary. I passed out and came too… well I don’t know where I am exactly, but it’s like I’m with the ship core. Luna is here with me, and we have talked. I think I’m only stuck here until my body wakes up, but I can’t be sure until that happens.

“Well, that’s easy enough to prove.” Nine said, and before Ethan could stop her, she bent down and gave his face a resounding slap. The noise echoed around the room, and before Ethan knew what had happened, his perspective was once again split between the domain as a whole, and what he perceived with his human body. It was too much, and he doubled over, heaving up everything that had been in his stomach as he failed to adapt.

“Ethan,” Nine said, crouching down and hugging him tightly. “Ethan, you’re awake. You… I mean, you sorry sack of bones. I was about to shoot that damn core. Perhaps I still should. Since you didn’t bother talking to me since you passed out, and it’s been hours. Hours, do you understand me? Time that I had no idea if you were ok or not. Oh, I really should just shoot you right now. A small sample of what you put me through. You really…”

Despite the pain he was in, Ethan forced himself to sit up, and wrap the small woman up in his arms. Fighting back his nausea while he comforted her. Trying desperately to shut off the extra senses he’d taken from Luna.

You could always just give them back to me.

The words scrolled across his vision, the added mental input causing him to lose the battle with his stomach and he threw up again. All over Nine’s back. He vehemently rejected Luna’s proposal in his mind, while he mumbled out apologies to a violently swearing Nine.

Not permanently. You are in charge now and can take them back whenever you want. But really, Ethan. I’m powerless here. I can’t do anything. You’re powerless out there, because you can’t handle the input from both our bodies. Why don’t you let me handle the ship core side of things? It’s what I’ve been doing since before you were born, and I’m good at it. You can just decide the direction we go; you know… like a CAPTAIN.

The last word had been put in all caps, and just looking at it made him want to hurl again. Eventually, he was forced to agree, and then had to fight the urge to throw up again when the extra senses from the domain suddenly left him and he was reduced to the weak, almost useless eyes and ears he’d been born with.

“I’m… ok now, sorry, Nine, for throwing up on you.” Ethan managed to say at last, when he was able to pull himself together again. “It was… more than I could handle. I had to give it back to her…”

“Wait, what? Are we in danger?” Nine seemed to forget about the puke instantly, rising to her feet and aiming the gun at the five still seated forms on the other side of the room.

“No.” Ethan said, reaching out to grab her thigh. “At least I don’t think so. Give me a minute, I’m still getting my bearings.” He could see the kid moving towards him, but a look from Nine and a twitch of the gun was enough to send him away again. It looked like she wasn’t taking any chances with his safety. He was both flattered, and a little weirded out by her reaction, but he didn’t have the mental capacity to spend much time on it.

Reaching out with his mind, he felt for a connection, any connection to the five people who once crewed the ship. He felt them, but it was the feeling in the back of his mind, the feeling he got when the creature belonged to Luna, and he was only her dungeon boss. Ethan almost asked her to give him control, then remembered that he already had it. Reaching out to the first mental signature he felt, Ethan pulled. Focused solely on bringing it under his personal command.

Without much effort, the mental niggle in the back of his mind solidified and he could feel their emotions clearly. Discomfort, unhappiness at being out here with so many people. The desire to fade into the background and deep sadness that all the stoats that had been on the bridge had been ashed. It looked like he’d captured Lesa. He thought about reaching for another one, but he felt the wave of dizziness overcome him again, and thought he’d better wait until he got used to the one first. Taking a steadying breath, he searched her mind for any orders from Luna. Anything to indicate the ship core had designs on their lives, he didn’t find anything.

“We’re safe.” Ethan said at last, slumping back onto the ground. “I took back control of one of them at random. It turned out to be Lesa… the short one, who owned the stoats. Everything is fine. But, how about you help me back into one of the rooms? I’m exhausted.”

“How can you be exhausted.” Nine grumbled as she nevertheless picked him up in her arms. “You have been sleeping for almost four hours… and you telling me you randomly selected, not only a woman, but the cutest woman up there?” Ethan squinted his aching eyes, trying to look Nine in the face. He couldn’t make out her facial expression, but it sounded like she was actually jealous.

“It was random, I just grabbed the first mental touch I found and took it. I’ll let her go if it makes you feel better. Though I don’t think I can take over another one until I’ve gotten some sleep.”

“No,” Nine said with a grunt. “That’s not necessary. I was kidding… mostly. But I’ve seen her room, she’s a competent fighter, I can tell from her equipment. Bring her along, I’ll get her outfitted and we can use her as a sentry while you get some sleep. Everyone else stays here. You got me?” The last sentence was clearly intended for the rest of the people in the room, but only the kid answered.

“I hear you, Nine. Again, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I only did what Ethan said, I waited for three days, then I came back. I didn’t realize Luna would…”

“It’s ok kid.” Nine said, stopping and turning around. Ethan couldn’t see very well, but he could hear the sincerity in her voice. “I’m not blaming you. Hell, I’m not even mad at you. But Ethan’s hurt. And until he’s back on his feet, you’re going to have to keep your distance. Understand?”

The ensign didn’t reply, but he must have nodded or something, because Nine started moving again. With a mental command, Ethan ordered Lesa, or the Lesa copy anyway, to follow after them. He deliberately didn’t think about his baby brother, who he was leaving back on the bridge with everyone else. It was more than he could handle at the moment.

A short walk later, Nine dumped him onto the floor. He grunted in pain, eyes still to unfocused to see, while she helped him take off the battered and blood covered armor.

“The emergency panels worked well enough for slashing weapons, but they clearly don’t work for shit against guns.” She said as she worked, voice pitched to a clearly false cheerful. “You get some sleep love. I’ll deal with that, your ‘random’ bodyguard, and whatever else comes up. You just… just rest and get better, ok?”

“Thank you, Nine.” Ethan said, wondering at her calling him, love. She’d done it before, back in the bridge, but only when he’d been unconscious. He thought this was the first time he’d heard her say it with his own ears. He worried about her mental state, as he drifted off. She clearly had an unhealthy attachment to him, but it was hard to condemn her for it. Considering where he’d found her. Not to mention, he felt a growing dependence on her as well.

With those unsettling thoughts rolling around in his mind, Ethan fell asleep. Hoping against hope, he wouldn’t be sucked back into that bodyless state he’d been in when he was experiencing life as a ship core. Thankfully, he didn’t have to face that again. The nightmares that filled his dreams were arguably much worse.