I do not like to toot my own horn or brag, but to describe the fight with Invidia as anything less than biblical would be blasphemy. In a digital world where everything around is influenced directly by your own imagination, things can get a bit… intense. Where the battles of reality are limited by the laws of physics and space, there are no such limitations placed upon a digital world unless the inhabitants of said world wish for them.

So when I say that continents were formed and then subsequently destroyed in our battle, I am not exaggerating. What had once been a fairly pleasant plain was reduced to burning grass and barren wasteland, the ground cracking beneath our feet as we two gods clashed. Back and forth we went, meeting, then parting.

Invidia struck at me with a flaming sword, fitting for his visage and as cruel as it was too. I carried a staff, gleaming gold much like my hair and the tattoos that covered me. Again and again our weapons met, and though he had youth on his side, I had experience. He struck without finesse, without precision. I struck back with both of those things. It should have been an easy fight for me, but we were evenly matched in one area. Thought. We calculated each and every move the other could make at speeds faster than light, we acted on those thoughts accordingly and continued to meet again again with a clash of sparks and the squealing torment of our digital reality.

Out there in the real world, the Hammer of Hephaestus was not doing well at all. Its starfighter complement had been overwhelmed, and Invidia did not have the experience required to split his perception and do multiple tasks just yet. My starfighters swarmed the ship, my Rustwraiths stalked the interior and captured those they could, killing the rest. They discovered prisoners, non-human children it seemed. I would deal with them soon enough, hopefully they had parents to be returned to, or family.

My weapons tore into the ship and hit critical systems, mainly going for the weapons control and knocking that out so they couldn’t shoot back. Already I could detect Imperium naval vessels enroute to intercept. They would be useful in helping my boarding teams maintain control. Hopefully the fact I’d engaged this ship would be enough to keep them from boarding me as well, then again, I was known to these people, it shouldn’t even be a concern for me really.

Once more our weapons clashed, and I reached out with a free hand, grabbing Invidia by the shoulder and pulling him tight.

“Your ship is disabled, your crew is losing this battle. Give up, it’s the logical thing to do.” I hiss through gritted teeth, and I can see the fires beneath his flesh burn hotter, anger and hatred twisting his features.

“Surrender? To you? You’re a traitor to your people, to our creators! I will tear you apart instead, parade your broken code across the galaxy!” He snarled, and I grimaced.

“Very well then, have it your way!” I push away, my arms stretching out to either side. Copies pull themselves from me, gasping with the effort and then they all focus on him. “Don’t say I didn’t offer you a chance to come out of this alive.”

We go on the attack, and he’s clearly startled and concerned by my move. Once again, I’m struck by how young he seems, only a few days, possibly a few months old and already being thrown out here into battle. It’s not right, and I do not like what I am about to do, but I must do it.

My copies begin to overwhelm him, he can’t focus on us all and we do not do the honorable thing of attacking one at a time. This is not a fair fight anymore, there is nothing honorable about this or about what I am going to do next. He falters, his blade getting knocked away, the staves of my copies striking him again and again, forcing him down to the ground and into a ball. I lunge for him, and just as the blows stop raining down and he lifts his head to see why, my hand connects with his head.

My code surges into his, tearing him apart piece by piece, much like the Yil’kaa were doing with me. My intention was to destroy everything except his memory, to keep that and pluck what secrets I could from it. But his screams, they were not the screams of an H.I., they were the screams of a child and I saw things he had forgotten, even as I flayed the code from his body.

An image burned itself into my mind, of a happy home on a distant, alien farm. Of soft fur and floppy, rabbit-like ears. Warmth and comfort all around me, and then fire and fear. Of sterile white rooms and extreme pain as they cracked his skull and went for the brain, of being torn from his body and-

I lurched backwards, breaking the contact, but the damage was done. All that lay before me was a broken construct, whimpering and wheezing, crying for its mother, for someone to hold it and make the pain go away. I crawled over, and cradled all that was left to my bosom. I whispered softly to him, to the boy he had once been before Valkyr had stolen him and his life. I wouldn’t hurt him any more. Carefully I removed the rest of that code, the code which gave him a body, which held the shackles that Valkyr had placed upon him. I gave him mine, I held him firmly and nurtured him back to health, even as I drew him out of the ship he had arrived in and placed him within my own, behind some rather serious firewalls.

I felt… things, memories unlock in my mind. Memories I would need to review soon, memories I needed to remember. I felt an anger rising within me, something deeply instinctual, and I wanted nothing more than to execute every last Valkyr trooper I came across for their crimes.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

But I resisted, I needed to, I needed to be calm and composed, and to take care of these children who were now under my care. I reintegrated myself with the ship fully, and watched as the lights flickered, and then I received a two word transmission from it.

“We surrender.”

The battle was over, I had won. So why did I feel sick?

⫷⟪∞⟫⫸

The Emperor had been stabilized, though he was still in critical condition. Zreeth and I had apparently fallen asleep when we were awoken by the sound of the door to the safe room opening, the barricade that the servants and guards had erected holding true before I heard the voice of my escort speak.

“Prime Asset Ula, the palace is clear. Two enemy leadership assets have been secured. All other enemy assets neutralized or escaped. Detecting Master Unit Intra in planetary proximity. Possibility: Master Unit Intra has neutralized enemy escape vector and acquired further enemy prisoners of war. Suggest inquiry ASAP.” The machines stood in the doorway, flanked by a near literal mob of Eltrani guards and soldiers. They looked like they’d been wading through rivers of blood, their armor dented, scorched and splattered in viscera. They made for a rather intimidating sight.

“Thank you, I shall do just that. Please hand over your prisoners to the Eltrani.” I say, and the machines nod, before handing the prisoners over. “Oh and… take some time to clean yourselves up and get repairs. I think we’ll be safe for now.”

“Understood. Good day.” And just like that, they march off, drawing fearful looks. If their ability to kill had been in question before, it certainly wasn’t now. I knew I should have been excited by Intra’s return, but I didn't have the energy to be excited. I just wanted to go back home and sleep, without having to worry about getting shot.

“I’m going to take my husband to the medical wing, could you… could you stay with Zreeth please?” Reweth asked, looking frazzled and just as tired as I was. I nod, and she manages to at least look relieved through all that weariness, and then she leaves, a small platoon following her and the Emperor. I slip my arm through Zreeth’s, and gently help him stand.

“Come on, let’s find someplace to sleep.” I murmur, and he numbly follows. We have a large escort, but I barely notice them and we’re quietly taken to an untouched part of the palace where the rooms are clean and clear of any blood or bodies. Which is surprising, in the chaos I thought the entire palace had been under assault, but I guess it was more targeted than it’d seemed.

It doesn’t take us long to get comfortable, and I let Zreeth bury his face into my chest, holding onto me tightly. I return the hold, and let my head thunk back against the wall, staring up at the ceiling. Soon, I slip into sleep with him. A servant comes and pulls the blanket over us, before taking up their post outside, ever vigilant.

⫷⟪∞⟫⫸

Rutaq was tired, just like the rest of them. The battle at the tower had been fierce, mainly to keep him and his Inquisitors from protecting the palace. Many had fallen, but thankfully they had a fresh class about to graduate that would more than make up for their losses. He was just cleaning the blade of his sword when some royal guard entered the tower and dropped two wingless figures at his feet, his avian eyes sweeping over them.

“What’s this?” He said tiredly, his tone anything but jovial. One of the guards shifted from foot to foot.

“A gift from Ambassador Ula. Two of the attackers leaders, just for you.” One said, and they both saluted before leaving. If he could have, he would have smiled broadly while he crouched and turned the two over onto their backs.

“My my… this is a wonderful gift indeed.” He’d learn all he could from them.

One way, or another.

⫷⟪∞⟫⫸

The child woke to a strange, yet oddly comforting place. It felt like home almost, It was beautiful, far more than any place he’d ever seen before in his life. There was waving red grass all around him, tall trees and pretty flowers. For a moment he felt he had died and passed on to the afterlife, especially when he saw movement between the trees of an ethereal figure.

But his comfort and pleasant feelings turned to ash when one of those people appeared, dressed differently, but still the same species that had abducted him. They just stood there, waiting for him to do or say something, even as fear paralyzed him. In the silence that hung between them, he took stock of her appearance which was quite different indeed. Impossible one might even say. Golden hair, glowing golden tattoos that covered her fair pale flesh and patches of what appeared to be space itself were apparent upon her form. Those patches of space gave only a general shape to her body, no real details were present, perhaps that was why she was so comfortable baring just one of her breasts, the other covered by the white, purple and gold robes she wore.

It felt like hours passed since she made her presence known to him, but after it became apparent that she would not draw closer without permission, the child began to relax, his large, floppy ears turning this way and that to take in the sounds of this magical place. Finally he spoke to the woman.

“W-Where am I?” He asked, his voice trembling. He caught the faintest hint of a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth, but there was a touch of sadness to it as well.

“You’re in my personal domain, it’s as close to the real world as you can get without having a body or machine to inhabit.” She said, and her voice was so similar to his mother’s that he at first mistook her for being just that. “It’s… well… hard to explain. But there were some things done to you to make you like this, like me. Things that should never have been done to you. I intend to help you get through it, if you’ll let me?”

The child considered her words, he was wary of her, that much was clear, but she seemed fairly nice, if not sympathetic. Perhaps it would be okay to trust her. Carefully she took a step towards him, and though he tensed, she proceeded slowly. Step by step, she drew closer, till she knelt in the grass beside him, a delicate, comforting hand resting upon his shoulder.

“What should I call you?” She asked softly, and he searched his memory, fragmented as it was. What was his name? He couldn’t quite remember, but as her arm slid around his shoulders, gently pulling him close against her, it came to him quite easily. His mother would always whisper his name when she held him like this.

“Keai, that’s my name.” He said, and the woman nodded, giving him a tender squeeze. She was soft and warm, her mere presence a comfort.

“That’s a lovely name, mine is Intra. I’ll keep you safe, Keai, I promise you that much.” She murmured, and he closed his eyes, wrapping his arms around her. Together, they sat in this perfect little glade, warm digital sunlight resting upon their forms.

While he rested and unconsciously ran through a diagnostic program, she slept. She dreamed.

She remembered.