XLIII.

Vagari shot off across the room, claws raised. Even as bruised and beaten as he was, he still made it to the desk before the A.I.’s turret actualized. He could hear BP shouting in the background, distant pleads overshadowed by his rage. He mounted the desk and made to strike Tehom down. She was much bigger up close, a fetal monstrosity as large as he was. He could see her eyes now, beady things with dual pupils staring daggers at him. What he didn’t see was anything resembling fear, and as he brought his claws low, he soon discovered why.

The psychokinetic blast rung like a bell as it knocked the wind out of him whilst throwing him clear across the room. His head swam with the nausea that came with it, causing the red room to spin. Once again he could hear BP hollering, see her blurred image standing above him with her arms outstretched. Again? Vagari thought angrily. She was defending him again? Tehom moved the desk away with a gentle wave of her hand as she rose up from her throne, propelled by mind alone. Small vestigial legs dangled beneath her bulky frame as she drifted lazily towards them. “Don’t you,” Vagari stammered as he struggled to his hands and knees, “don’t you fucking touch her!”

“If I wished her harm, she would already be dead,” Tehom uttered darkly, whispers of psychic laughter trailing behind. “That goes just as easily for you, Vagari. I misjudged you before. I thought you were an ant – a thing to be squashed. But now I see that’s only partially true. You’re an insect for sure – smallminded and all too willing to bite and sting blindly.” Vagari threw a punch. It would have been weak even if it struck skin, but it rung especially hollow off the wall of unseen energies surrounding her. “But, I’ve seen what power you have when provided with the right motivations… The girl as well. We both know the… potential of her stock, don’t we? Molded properly, she could become…”

“A monster?!” Snapped Vagari, slamming his fists against the force to no avail. “If you think I’ll let you turn her into… that thing…”

Tehom burst out in laughter, a deep resounding cackle that reminded Vagari all too much of a Halloween witch. “A monster?” Tehom questioned proddingly. “There truly is so little about this world you understand… It’s bordering on unforgivable, to be honest. Despite your disability in retaining your human mind, you seem to have well and truly strived to learn as little as possible in your years of activity. You haven’t even asked why I’ve let you live – why I didn’t simply have you killed on sight.”

“Why?!” Vagari spat through clenched teeth.

“Now you’re asking meaningful questions,” Tehom replied with a vicious grin. “To offer a stay of execution – a partnership really.”

“Why, why would we ever work with you…?” he asked, taken aback by her suggestion. “After what you’ve done…”

“Well, to survive, of course!” Tehom announced almost cheerily. “Not only in this moment, but in the near future as well, if you play nicely. The Tevat is, as even you must have noticed, a very large vessel – much of which is designed around genocide. It’s not an ark, it’s a weapons platform made to level civilizations, and it’s coming our way, because of you.”

Vagari averted his gaze, his rage subsiding with the very real threat upon the horizon. He hadn’t given it much thought just yet on how he was going to down such a large ship or take on the army of angels that no doubt walked in it’s wake. As much as he wanted his revenge, revenge would have to wait a bit longer. “What do you suggest?” he asked, a weak offering of cooperation. “Someone crashed the damned thing before – so there must be a way.”

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“I did, in fact,” Tehom offered dryly. “Years of planning while Mars burned, and connections on the inside.”

“But we don’t have years,” BP piped up, lowering her arms with a few glances to Vagari beside her. “Do we?”

“No, little one,” Tehom answered plainly, “we do not. We have one, at the most. The Tevat doesn’t need a crew to run it – only the Godhead. Every inch of it is under her direct control, including everything she needs to make it fully operational again. Repairs will take time, though, a commodity we’re in too short of supply to spend bickering over those already dead.”

“Then what?” Vagari asked exasperatedly, his exhaustion sinking into every corner of his frame. “Again, what do you suggest we do?”

Tehom seethed annoyedly as she spun about and drifted back towards her chair as if the answer had been given thrice already. “A war is fast approaching,” Tehom announced, “one you are ill-equipped to face. I have an army, but they’re only cannon fodder, as you well know. Meat for the machine. I’ve been preparing for this day for quite some time, but the results of that preparation are… lacking since the timetable moved up. I was fully expecting the Godhead’s confinement to last another hundred years or more. But not all is doom and gloom – not yet. As fate would have it, my annoyance at a lack of heavy hitters at it’s peak, you two drop squarely in my lap.”

“What do you mean?” Vagari asked, inching forward to follow.

“Oh don’t be coy,” Tehom uttered. “I’ve had eyes upon you this whole time, remember? I’ve seen what you became aboard the Tevat. And, more so, I recognized the power… Countless years trying to resurrect the Great Mother, all fruitless, with no rhyme or reason as to why. But you’re why.”

BP stared up at Vagari, a questioning look plain on her face. “Vagari, what is she talking about?” she asked. “Who is… the ‘Great Mother’? Is she the same on Xu mentioned?”

“Yes, Nintu,” Vagari answered quietly. “My memories… cleared, when I was aboard the Tevat, during my fight with Xu’s abomination. The demon from my nightmares, the one I brought into this world, that I thought… doomed it… She wasn’t a demon at all, but a goddess – the GOD of Mankind.”

“And many other kinds as well,” Tehom interjected knowingly. “She was Nintu, the Shassuru, our mother goddess… and the only real hope this universe had. Her soul now lies within him.” Tehom laughed and sighed through clenched teeth. “It’s a bewildering notion, even to me, I must admit. Ignorance isn’t something I’m particularly fond of feeling. But… This isn’t a total loss. You seem to be able to tap into her power, and with training, you might even have some semblance of control over it.”

“You want to weaponize me?” Vagari asked with a renewed spike of anger.

“Not just you,” Tehom replied honestly as she reclaimed her throne. “I’m going to weaponize you both, and you’re going to let me – no, beg me to do so. Because, you know what the alternative is: an ashen wasteland cratered with the footsteps of giants.”

Vagari glared for a moment and then turned away. He glanced down at BP who seemed to be thinking things through. He already knew what her decision would be. She was the kind of person who was more than willing to sacrifice it all to help others – something she had proven several times over. “I need time to think,” Vagari announced.

“You can have it,” Tehom allowed with a nod of her grotesque head. “But don’t take too long to come to terms with your situation. I am not a patient sort, and neither is our foe.” Tehom waved her shrunken arm dismissively before calling out, “Nabu, construct a suite for our guests. As for you two, just follow the light as you have, and rest. We’ll continue this in the morning.” Vagari would have rather leapt over the railing and skydived to the wretchedness of the lower sector than spend the night there, but somehow he doubted she would even entertain the attempt. He looked to BP again. She was exhausted, worn, and bruised from their ordeal. They both were. Neither was in any shape to fight, barely able to stand as they were. It seemed that Tehom’s ‘offer’ was one they couldn’t refuse. Vagari sighed and nodded for her to follow.