Thankfully, the two of us are left alone for most of the following day. I’m not called into any meeting or to training. Neither of us have any appointments with the researchers or anything else expected of us. Mom, dad, and Anna are all busy with work and won’t be able to come over. We have the day all to ourselves.
The start of the day is spent just relaxing and lounging in bed together until Sky eventually gets drawn out by hunger. After a meal, we both put on some warm clothes and go for a walk in the park. I’m not particularly happy with all of the snow, but the fact that I can’t get cold helps me get over it and focus on just having fun with Sky. Maybe when there is more snow, I can teach her how to make a snow man.
Besides that, we simply enjoy a nice walk outside and chat as we watch the soldiers doing PT drills and the couple of geese that stubbornly refuse to leave despite the cold.
Returning home, I put in a request and have a laptop and a backup battery brought to our apartment with a selection of movies. Snuggling up on the couch with the laptop set up on the coffee table, I introduced Sky to the wonder of movies.
After a failed attempt at explaining how this stuff works and how movies are made that just leaves Sky more curious and confused, we settle in for an afternoon of watching Lord of the Rings. Sky ended up falling in love with it all. The magic, the action, the adventure, the armies fighting, and the different kingdoms. She was hooked from start to finish. She got especially heated during the scenes that involved killing goblins.
I loved getting to spend the time with her watching one of my favorites, but the only problem was that I had to explain to her that, no this is not human history, its fiction, nothing but a story that someone came up with for entertainment. Which was something that she found to be quite shocking and hard to believe. After all, all of the stories that she had ever heard growing up had been from her people’s history. The idea of making up stories just for fun seemed like a foreign idea to her.
She spent the rest of night until falling asleep thinking about it. Thinking over the idea of making up stories for entertainment. I left her to her ruminations as I played with my shadows, practicing making different things, and just hanging out with Sky and being close to her.
Anything to keep my mind off of tomorrow. To keep my mind away from the ticking clock in my head that is slowly approaching zero. My first will be waking up tomorrow and I have a responsibility to be there…
----------------------------------------
Early in the morning, cooking breakfast and sipping at a hot cup of coffee, I keep trying to stop myself from focusing on my connection to my first. To keep myself under control and not go sprinting out of my home like a mad woman to be by his side right this very moment. Self-control, self-control, self-control…
I don’t even pay attention to what is happening around me and end up jumping a bit as Sky gives me a hug from behind.
“Ah! Sorry, did I startle you Lain?” She asks worriedly.
I let out a shaking breath and give her a kiss on her cheek. “Ya… Sorry Sky. I was lost in my head a bit…”
“Is everything alright?”
“I… I don’t want to…” I bite my lip and reconsider. Sky is the one person that I can tell anything to. I’ve already cried over this as she held me and listened to me talk all about it. I have no reason to keep it from her. “My first… The soldier that I changed into a demon like me. He’ll be waking up today. His changes are done, and I need to be there when he wakes up…”
I’m shaking as she hugs me from behind. She nods her head in understanding and tightens her hug, nuzzling up against me and letting her warmth flow into me from my back.
Behind me she says, “You don’t have to. Not if you don’t want to. We can just go back to bed, and I can help you forget all about it if you want. You only have to ask.”
I give a sad smile and kiss her hand as I hold it. “Thank you, Sky. I wish I could… But I have to be there. I have a responsibility to be there…”
I hear her giggle behind me, and she says, “Part of why I love you so much. You have enough power to do whatever you want and to take whatever you want. But you don’t. You do what you know is right even if you want nothing more than to stay at home and cuddle.”
“Sky…”
“It will be alright. I can come with you if you want? After you finish up what you have to do, we can find a quiet place and I can hold you for as long as you need. Do you want me to come with? You don’t have to do this alone.” She says, sweetly whispering to me.
My first instinct is to say no, that I will be fine on my own. But I quickly change my mind. I don’t want to be alone right now. “Please come with me…”
She nods her head against my back and gives me a squeeze. “Alright, I’ll come with you. Now, sit at the counter and drink your coffee. I’ll finishing cooking breakfast and then we can get changed and ready to go. Ok?”
My body shaking a bit, I nod and give her hand another kiss. Sitting down at the counter, I wait and eventually eat my breakfast after she places it in front of me. I can hardly taste it through the stress.
At some point, I changed my clothes and then met Sky at the door. She takes my hand and gives me a smile. “It’ll be ok. I’ll be there for you. If you must, you can run away. You can come straight to me, and I’ll hold you until you feel better. Everything will be all right.”
“Mhm…” I grip her hand and will myself to move forward. Part of me wants me to run all the way there. My instincts driving me forward to be by his side as soon as possible. The rest of me is screaming to just take up Sky on her promise, to just crawl into bed and cry. To just hope that all of this will eventually blow over and I can forget about it later.
I force it all down and make myself walk. Sky stays right by my side the whole way, her presence a beacon of security and warmth. Sanctuary and calm in the midst of a raging storm of instinct and emotion.
The walk is long and painful for me, but eventually we arrive and are quickly invited into Dr. Doe’s main office, where she greets us with a smile. “Hello, Lain, Sky, it is good to see you. I assume that you’re here because Private Smith should be waking soon?”
I force down my feeling and Sky gives my hand a reassuring squeeze, I swallow a bit and say, “Ah, that’s right… He’ll be waking up here soon. I can feel it…”
Dr. Doe smiles at hearing that, but quickly drops it as she watches me. She can clearly see that I am not happy to be here.
“Lain, you don’t have to…” She tries.
I interrupt, “I do. I have to…”
She gives me a small smile and nods, “Alright.”
She continues after grabbing a file from her desk and making a quick call on the landline, “Yes. Yes sir, he’ll be waking up soon. Thank you, sir, we’ll see you there.” After finishing her call, she comes over to us and says, “Well, I’ll lead the way then. Private Smith is in observation room three. Some others and I will be watching from the next room and might have some requests as things progress. We will have to see though. You will also be meeting with a very important person, just as fair warning.”
I nod my head as Sky and I follow her down the halls, “Requests?”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“The connection that you share with Private Smith. Depending on how far your control over him goes, we may have to make some requests of you. I’m sure that you can understand that we don’t look too fondly upon slavery and mind control?”
I nod weakly, “Of course. I don’t want him to be my slave…”
“Well, that is certainly reassuring. We will go over the details when we get there.” She says.
After going down a couple of flights of stairs, we turn down another hallway and eventually stop in front of a door labeled as observation room three. The entire way down, I could feel that we were drawing closer to him. I look to the door that is next to this one and Dr. Doe quickly notices.
“Yes, he’s in the next room over. This door leads to the observation room where we shall be watching. We are going to wait here for everyone to show up first and then you can go to him.” She tells me.
Unlocking the door, she lets us in and follows after us. My eyes instantly go to the window and lock onto him. He really has been growing…
My heart rate quickens, and I can feel as Sky gives my hand a squeeze. Letting out a shaking breath, I rip my eyes away from him and the two of us move over to the side to sit and wait. I just keep staring down at the floor as Sky holds my hand, whispering little reassurances into my ear and telling me how much she loves me. Her presence is easily the only thing that is keeping me sane right now.
We wait for about twenty minutes and eventually an old man in uniform comes walking in followed by several researchers that I recognize and a couple of high-ranking officers. No guards though, a clear sign of trust at least. He has lots of medals on his chest and stars on his shoulders, probably someone very important. He gives me a short look over before turning to have a conversation with Dr. Doe. I ignore them as they talk, choosing to just keep staring at the floor and ignore the annoying countdown in my head.
As I fight to keep my focus, a pair of polished boot shows up before me. Looking up I find the old man looking down at me, a tired look on his face as he looks me over.
Eventually, he speaks. “I do believe that your name is Lain, correct?”
“Yes, yes Sir…”
He nods, “Apologies that we haven’t had the chance to meet until now, I tend to be rather busy. But this matter is rather important, so I made an exception. I am General Hernando Louise, I’m in charge of this base.”
He reaches out his hand, and using the one that isn’t holding Sky’s, I shake his hand.
I push through my chaos of emotions and instincts to say something, “It’s nice to meet you Sir. I, I guess that makes you my employer then… It’s nice to finally meet you.”
He nods his head and then turns to Sky, “Miss Sky, it’s a pleasure to see you again. I assure you that I am still carefully considering your request. Depending on how things go here, I may be so inclined to make my decision sooner.”
He has met Sky before? What’s this about a request?
I turn to ask Sky what it is he is talking about, but she stops me and whispers into my ear, “I’ll tell you about it when we get home. For right now, it isn’t important. I promise.”
For a few moments I am driven to push and ask regardless, but I stop myself because I trust her. If she says that it isn’t important, then I can just leave it for later.
I nod, “Ok…”
She smiles back to the General and gives him a short curtsy from her chair. “Yes, it is a pleasure to see you again General Louise. Do you mind if I ask what it is you meant by your last statement. Do you intend to make some kind of deal with Lain?”
Some part of me, in my current state of overflowing instincts, rises with interest at the notion of making a deal. A small flood of excitement goes through me, and before I can stop myself, I am looking to the General with a smile. “Be careful when making deals with a Devil. Such things go beyond mere ink and paper, hahaha.” I shake my head and force myself to focus, “Sorry, sorry… I’m not in my right mind right now…”
He looks down at me and thinks for a short while, simply observing me. “Hmm, Dr. Doe did inform me that you were going through some difficulties at the moment…” After considering for a while, he continues. “We can shelve that matter for another day, I’ll be sure to invite the two of you to my office so that we can have a proper discussion once you have yourself back under control. It wouldn’t do to discuss such things when you are clearly quite stressed.” He nods his head and walks over to the window, to look over Private Smith in the other room.
“He really has become quite the specimen of a man, hasn’t he…?” He asks himself. Turning back to me, he says, “I will be blunt with you and not beat around the bush. The reason that I am here is primarily because of the concern that you might try to take our soldiers from us. While your record with us so far has been nothing but good and you have yet to show any signs of wanting to harm us. We have to take this matter for what it is. You have the power to turn people and, quite potentially, to subvert their loyalties. If you were so inclined to do so, you could create quite a problem for us here.”
I shake my head, “I wouldn’t do that.”
“Mhm. I believe you…” He says, brushing at his beard. “If you did, you wouldn’t be looking the way you do now, would you? You would be excitedly waiting for your ‘First Warrior’ to wake up so you could order him around. No?”
I simply nod my head and shake in my chair. Sky tightens her grip on my hand and rubs my back.
He continues, “Instead, you are quite clearly tearing yourself apart. Your body wants you to do more, doesn’t it? But you're holding yourself back. Why?”
I look up to the floor and look to him, locking eyes as he watches me impassively. “Because… because it would be wrong. I know I’m not… I’m not human anymore… But if I give in. Then I would be nothing but a monster… He’s a person…”
He watches me for a long while before finally speaking again. “Then prove it to us. Prove to me that you’re not a monster.” He turns back to window and continues speaking. “When he wakes up, we need you to confirm a couple of things. First and foremost is just how far your control goes. Second, is that he is still himself. That he hasn’t been replaced with a monster… After that, depending on just how deep your control is, we need you to release him from it and…”
I interrupt, a rush of rage and guilt tearing through me, “I can’t! He’s mine, he can’t be released!” I shake my head and force down the anger. “Sorry Sir. I’m sorry… but I can’t. I just can’t…”
“I see…” After a few moments he continues, “Then you will need to lessen your control over him as much as you are able. You can do that, no?”
“I, I can try… I have my own rules I have to follow… Deals cannot be broken…” I say swallowing back some saliva and biting at my lips.
“Very well. After that, we need to ensure that Private Smith’s loyalty is still to the army. That he is ours to command.” He stops and watches me as I fight down my anger at him calling Private Smith theirs and resumes after I get myself back under control. He doesn’t seem too bothered by my anger at his words, probably already having been told about it beforehand. “This is part of how you will prove that you aren’t trying to take our people for yourself. I need you to voluntarily hand him over to us to the extent that you are able. As a sign of trust, and that we will be able to continue to work together peacefully in the future.”
I push through my bodies desire to rage at such an idea and try to say, “I, I understand… I’ll see what I can…”
Sky interrupts me and speaks to the General, her voice polite but pointed. “There is another reason that you want her to hand over her warrior to you, no? Surely it is not purely out of love for your fellow man that you want her to hand over what is hers.”
“Miss Sky, Private Smith is not a possession to be owned.”
“A possession, no. But even as I am now, I can feel that someone holds dominion over that man. It is not like with any other person. He has been claimed by a force that goes beyond mere words and promises. He is Lain’s. I apologize if I am being rather forward, but if you expect us to work with you in good faith and with trust, then you should at the very least be completely honest with us with your intentions for her warrior. She has fought and bled for your people; she deserves at least that much.”
He looks to Sky for a long while and considers his words before finally speaking. “Very well. I may as well say it now, seeing as this pertains to the deal I had mentioned. Yes, we want Private Smith because of what he is now. The same reason that we are so accommodating with Miss Lain here. If he is even half of the force that Miss Lain is, we cannot afford to have him being outside of our control. We are fighting a war for humanity's survival. We want him. No, we need him.”
I speak up after he finishes, feeling exhausted by everything and wanting nothing more than to go home. “This deal… Depending on how thing go here today, you want me to make more Demons for you, don’t you? Super soldiers that you can send to fight the monsters…”
He gives me a slow nod, looking as impassive and tired as he has since walking in. “That’s correct. You have only to look at the results of your own work since coming to us but a couple months ago. The expansions to the base, our work in the city, the lives you’ve saved. There is only one of you, but if we had more…?” He leaves his question up in the air and I simply nod my head, understanding his reasoning.
Even if I don’t much like the idea… And I used to love the idea of making more demons like me. To not be alone… But now that I know that there is a price for those that turn…
“I understand…” Sky tries to stop me, but I reassure her with a gesture. “General Louise, please give me some time to think this over…”
“Of course. As I said, we can talk this over in my office once you are feeling better. Although I must insist that you don’t wait for too long. We may be in need of your ‘Demons’ in the near future.” He finishes his statement with his eyes on Sky. A message clearly held in his words for her.
I look to her, and she tightens her grip on my hand. “Don’t worry about it for now. I’ll tell you everything later, it’s not important right now.” She reassures me.
I give her a little smile and nod, “Mhm, later...”
Taking a deep breath, I stand up. “Alright… In the meantime. I have something I need to do. A responsibility to take care of…”
Giving Sky’s hand one last squeeze, I let go and head for the door.
Dr. Doe ask me curiously and a bit worried, “Lain?”
I simply gesture to the window as I open the door. “He’s waking up...”
Stepping out, everyone else turns to the window and watches as the large figure begins to stir. Sky’s eyes never leave my back as I walk out the room.