Chapter 21
Ryker
Amy looked down at the group of 7 people below her and smiled. “There is no way I'm going to drag this out a second longer than I have to. I'll either die or wake up after it's all over. Ruby, can you do me a favor?”
Ruby materialized next to Amy and answered. “Sure thing, Amy. What is it?”
Amy leaned over and hugged the imposing A.I. and asked. “If this fails, can you end it quickly… so I don’t have to go through what he went through? I’m not afraid of dying, but he looked like he was in a lot of pain, and I would rather just move on. Can you do that for me, Ruby?”
Ruby had a very confused expression on her face somewhere between resignation, sorrow, and curiosity. This resolved into a confident nod, then Ruby fell backward off the side of the tank and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Amy rolled her eyes and muttered. “How dramatic can you get.” She stepped up, planted her feet, and pulled the handle. Promptly her feet were bound and down she went to the bottom, and without putting up one ounce of resistance, she exhaled and took a deep breath of the fluid and, after a few racking coughs, settled into the song of the Vren.
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Amy
The feeling that infused me at the bottom of that tank was unlike anything I had ever felt before. A cleansing sensation filled me with so much hope and promise of better days. It was so easy to let everything that had happened go and just be. When I felt as though my mind and spirit were nearly at complete ease, I felt the resonance… the presence of something… someone... like myself. I don’t know if soulmate is the right word, but that's the feeling I got. Complete synchrony in a way I had never felt before and knew I would never feel again.
I opened my eyes and found the beautiful Vren mere inches away and knew exactly what it wanted me to do. I knew how utterly wrong this was and what it meant to take the life of this magnificent being, but its soothing wave of emotion was a balm to my broken heart, and I accepted it as my own. I parted my lips and aided the pure soul along its journey and proceeded to consume the Vren in the hope that it was right and better days were coming.
Seconds after I completed the grisly deed, I felt a burning sensation well up in my stomach and radiate throughout my body. It felt like I was burning from the inside out. It was as though someone had poured magma into my veins and sent it on a collision course with every nerve in my body. I tried to scream, but no sound came. I looked out of the tank to where I knew Ryker and Ruby stood and wondered why she hadn't killed me yet. Why is she doing this to me?!? Why is she letting me suffer just to watch me explode?!? The pain reached my skull, and I felt something inside me shift and settle into place like a long-lost puzzle piece, and I sighed in relief as I accepted the comfortable embrace of unconsciousness.