Prichina was happy.

A hand patted her side and she let out a low grumble. Very happy! And that was good!

Good food, good companionship, good life. Bit cramped, but good. Everything good!

And that was good.

Prichina’s thoughts may not have been at towering heights of eloquence but that didn't matter, because… Well, she was content.

“Feeling happy today are you girl.” He spoke in a serenic voice, brushing her fur. She shook slightly.

“Yeah, that feels alright doesn’t it…” The voice grew, soft, lower. He came close to her ear. “Eat as much as you want girl… eat as much as you want.”

Nothing profound, he knew she didn’t need anything profound. The fruit was profound enough. Profoundly tasty! Very!

“We need to go soon, Prichina, it’s the day.” The voice faltered. “The day you were made for… Sorry” She continued eating, he liked to make sounds at her sometimes.

“You’ll die, I think.” The hand continued brushing. “I’ll die later, but… well, I knew this was coming for some time. You, well, I never had a pet before, but animals always fascinated me. These things that felt, but weren’t alike humans at all. Completely different than Synths… they feel similar to us because it was the only way we could make them. I wonder what you think of me, this monster that I am.” He held out a fruit, she took it in her trunk then patted him on the shoulder.

“You're not making it any easier on me, you know.” He tried to curve his lips, but couldn’t quite get there. The hand brushing her shook slightly. “It’s time for the mask to come on, I think.” The hand moved away. “None of that now.” He admonished himself. “There’s work to be done.”

-------

The great beast crashed through the ceiling, trumpeting a deafening call as it broke through the ceiling. large chunks of rubble rained down upon the crowd. All were too stunned to move, people from both sides were crushed, gravity did not care about your beliefs.

The mammoth followed landing headfirst, skull cracking under the impact, flesh tearing. Spark couldn't understand what was happening until he heard the man yell.

“LYRCEN! THE FREE BROTHERHOOD HAVE COME TO RESCUE YOU, DEAR FRIEND! ALL AGAINST TYRANNY WITH ME!” The madman with the battleaxe yelled proudly, slicing open the first person in his way.

He had just…

The stunned silence turned to screaming. Ky had done it, he had finally gone too far. Too out of control.

Could anyone actually stop him?

Did anyone want to try?

“CLOAK” Spark yelled at Linaya, she panicked and pressed the button. “We need to get out of here!” He started to move toward the exit. The only exit.

The only problem with his plan was that everyone else had the same idea.

A tidal wave of bodies knocked over Spark, trampling. Rushing. Some avoided him. Others didn’t care.

All knew they needed to leave.

He had too-- A foot smashed into his head-- He had to move, had to get up, had to--

He grabbed at the rushing people around him, dragging himself up by their clothes. One fell but he just grabbed a different person.

To the edge, I have to get to the edge.

The crowd was slowly down, movement thickening. People tripped to never be seen again, Spark felt something soft under his feet. He wouldn’t look down. Couldn’t.

A punch and a kick, a desperate push. Someone might have bitten him. He didn’t care. He saw it, the wall! The edge would be safer. He had to get there, he didn’t want to die. Not like this! He needed--

Spark reached the wall, was pushed up against it. Moving had been so hard… just so hard. But he had reached it. It was safety.

For him.

The human woman pushed against Spark, looked at him. She didn’t seem to be in pain, just surprised. Her mouth was opening and closing, not a sound being made. Her eyes widened in fear, tears started coming down, smearing her warpaint.

Spark looked at her strangely.

We’re at the edge, no danger of being trampled, why is she…

Spark looked down, a man’s shoulder lodged against her chest. He was in a similar position but Spark had one advantage.

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He didn’t need to breathe.

Spark tried to move his arms, tried to get them in between the two, push the man off of her. Tried. But he wasn’t strong enough. The woman couldn’t even struggle, her body slowly shutting down. Spark saw in her eyes a quiet desperation, a fear of what was to come. He stared at her hopelessly. He could only watch as the colour slowly faded from her face, as even the small movements stopped.

She didn’t look dead… just passed out, like a person who had drank a bit too much. Like his mom after a particularly bad day.

It could almost be called serene.

If you didn’t know.

Spark needed to do something. Anything.

He placed his hand over the corpse beside him and pushed. Pushed to free himself, pushed to get through. He couldn’t save her, he had failed at that.

But he needed to do something. He couldn’t just save himself and live with this.

Spark crawled over the clumped people. Scurrying over the tightly packed bodies. He had to get to the back. Had to stop people from rushing in, had to stop the tide.

Spark Fought off grasping hands weakly pulling at him. Not trying to take him down but to pull themselves up, doing anything to escape. They needed to escape.

But Spark stopped for no one. He couldn’t. He needed to--

Spark saw an arm, a small arm. Not even close to being able to grab him. A child’s arm. He looked down and saw a small girl’s head poking out between the bodies. She was covered in the grey warpaint. Her parents must have brought her here. To witness a execution, to a place that could have become a fucking battleground…

A small Human girl might die because of the passions of her parents.

It was too familiar. He had heard this story before.

Spark couldn’t let that happen.

He grabbed the girl’s arm, pulling as much as he could. He couldn’t even move her, not enough of an angle. Not enough strength.nothing to push off against. He couldn’t--

His body went into overdrive. Energy reserves were spent in moments, the Synth equivalent of adrenaline. It only activated in extreme distress. Spark had never experienced it before. Never thought it would have much of an effect.

But today? He pulled, and the girl followed. Her arm dislocated but she was alive.

Barely.

The girl’s breath was faint, gasping like the woman. He was running out of time.

With her shoulders above now, Spark reached for the underneath of her armpits, pulling. He wriggled her until she came free.

With the girl out, he needed to escape. Spark took a moment to access.

Looking around he saw others emulating him, crawling over the cramped people. Unlike him however, they were trying to push forward. The people were piling up, and those who didn’t climb risked being crushed.

Still, the crowd moved forward, but ever so slowly, a grind crushing those unlucky or not strong enough to escape. Spark had no idea what was happening, but from the looks of it there was much more danger in running than from the room.

He looked at the faintly breathing girl in his arms. She stirred him to movement, only one thought in Spark’s mind.

Hang tight, I’ll get you out.

-------

Cradling her in one arm Spark had been able to get them both out of the tunnel. When he laid the girl down however he found her breathing was not improving. Shallow, quick, harsh, desperate. He needed to get her help, needed someone. Around him though were only the strewn about bodies of those left behind and the completely despondent.

Spark had completely forgotten about trying to get the crowd to stop..

It might have made him a terrible person but he had decided the girl was more important. He made his choice and he would live with it.

But only if she lived. So he ran to possibly the most dangerous part of the room, the area where the confrontation was taking place. The stage where Ky stood with his bloody axe and armour, facing down the only people not running or panicking,

Carrying the girl, Spark reached the stage. Ignoring the monologue of the shouting madman.

He called out “Help! She needs help medicine or--”

“AHA!” Ky yelled at Spark turning his axe towards him. “YOU’RE PERFECT FOR MY SECRET PLANS!”

“Leave the kid out of it Ky!” Terrick shouted. “You’ve caused enough death already.”

“I HAVE ALREADY TOLD YOU I AM NOT THIS ‘KY’ YOU SPEAK OF. I AM ULDIROAR, DESTROYER OF WORLDS!” He noticed the kid in Spark’s arms for the first time. “WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER YOU FOUL MACHINE!”

“You did this!” Spark screamed at the madman. “You got all those people killed!” He pointed at the mass still escaping, bodies strewn about in its wake. Spark turned to the other people on the stage, the sane ones. “She needs treatment! Someone please help!”

They looked to Ky. Bloodied and willing to kill, he had absolute authority, of a sort. Ky in turn, stared at Spark, he spoke quieter, a gentle query . “If I offered you a deal, her life for yours, would you take it?”

‘Yes.” Spark responded instantly. He had decided her life was worth more than the crowds, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he just let her die.

“GOOD!” Ky cheered. “YOU SHALL BOTH COME WITH ME, TRUNKY, AND LYRCEN! WE WILL MAKE A DARING ESCAPE FROM THIS DEPRESSING AFFAIR.” He grabbed Lyrcen by the arm and rushed to Spark. Most of the council were silent but one couldn’t hold their tongue.

“Ky.” Falia simply said his name. Not looking at anything through her missing eyes. “You know this is it, right? What you did today… there’s no coming back.” Ky didn’t respond but his pace did falter. “Is it worth it? Your plan? Tell me it is! tell me you know what you're doing… Tell me you're not...” She didn’t say the last word. Insane. All the council knew the answer.

But the woman who had carved out her own eyes had never been sure.

Ky laughed. Haunting, terrible, soaked in gore. “You had to ask...” He whispered so quietly only Spark and Lyrcen could hear. “YOU KNOW THE ANSWER!“ Ky yelled, turning to glare at her.

It really didn’t have much of an effect and Falia walked forward, breaking from the group. “Why are you taking him? What do you hope to gain?” She asked in a low voice, intense. Only those close could hear.

“VICTORY! IT DEMANDS EVERYTHING! OBVIOUSLY!” He yelled for everyone around them. Falia just shook her head.

“Spark?” She asked. Searching for him.

“Yes?” She honed in on his voice, grabbing at him. When she found him Falia whispered in his ear. Urgent.

“Record it all, give it to both Hvaldi and Terrick. Stay away from Tovadin and Dyrian. Leave me out of it. Please.”

And like that she walked away, leaving Spark to go with Ky.