The Emperor hated visiting Urial. Overpopulation, insufficient waste removal, thinning atmosphere, and regulated water use made this his least favorite planet out of all the colonies. Yet somehow it remained the capital in this zone. And worse, the best laboratories had been outfitted here, long before he had ever become emperor. So he couldn’t just ignore it. He made few, but regular visits to his labs and then left as quickly as he had come.
Already, this trip broke the standard visit. Unsolicited. Unauthorized. Unofficial. Necessary. He returned this time, not as the Emperor to check on the progress of his projects, but as a scientist ready to witness the results of his experiments. After all, they had finally found her.
Why Stela had decided to hide on this awful planet he hadn’t figured out. Maybe she thought she could hide among the crowds? But the population itself created a need for an excessive amount of PROBers and it was doubtful she would have lasted long before being scanned. Maybe she decided the risk was worth the price to spread her Pigrann-hating propaganda to those who have already been saved and protected? Maybe she wanted to be captured? Unlikely. Maybe Abervon’s central power rested here? Even more unlikely.
As his small, inconspicuous ship fell through the clouds, a city came into view. Metallic skyscrapers pierced the sky, with haphazard floors as each generation piled on top of the next. How much longer could they last before the buildings began to topple over each other? At what point would the people overrun the resources? Too many people lived on this god-forsaken planet.
But one person would be leaving here with him. One person would be saved. He gripped the small metallic box tighter in his hands. It contained a serum he had produced himself and something he had created especially for her. Today she would forget those lies Abervon had been spoon-feeding her. Today she would learn the truth, and someday she would thank him for it.
Touching down on the landing pad of his smallest lab, he exited the ship before the pilot could turn off the engines. His anxiety to finish this and his desire to be off this planet as quickly as possible propelled his feet to touch the cool metal of the floor and continue walking. He approached
the only person, other than the pilot, who he had told of his visit. Alone on the hangar floor stood his first lieutenant, Zekatr Trilinus.
Unlike any other soldier in the colonial army, Trilinus was an experiment himself. The only one of his kind, he had all the fittings of a PROBer without having to wear the suit. A perfect weapon in a sea of faces. A pity he had been assigned to this zone.
As the Emperor walked towards him, his lieutenant remained silent. Protocol required the emperor to speak first and even though no one else could hear them, Trilinus obeyed these orders. “Lieutenant Trilinus.”
“Sir,” Trilinus responded with a salute. “How was your flight?”
“Acceptable,” he responded curtly, walking past Trilinus towards the labs. The Lieutenant followed. “Is she ready?”
“We started getting ready as soon I heard you were in the atmosphere. She should be arriving shortly.”
“Good,” he muttered, pleased that his lieutenant was one step ahead of him. Releasing his grip on the metallic box, he held it out and Trilinus took it quickly, as though expecting such a gift. “This is her Pigrann. Make sure she receives it.”
The missing weight of the box felt foreign in the Emperor’s hands as he had been guarding that serum since he had concocted it days earlier. But a relief also enveloped him as his hand fell back against his side. He was one step closer to being done with this forever. “I will see to it myself,”
Trinilus confirmed the Emperor’s command.
The
Emperor nodded, dismissing his lieutenant. Silent and alone, he walked through
the empty and sterile building until he reached the door for the observation
deck.
Opening the door, the roomful of soldiers, servants, and local authorities fell silent and separated to create a path to the only chair in the room. The Emperor sighed - he hadn’t wanted an audience - and walked through the small crowd of people he attempted to ignore and sat down. He watched as Trilinus finished arranging the syringe on the receiving table next to the operating chair. Then he waited.
As Trilinus joined him in the observation deck, the main door to the lab opened and one of the castle guards - not a PROBer, he noticed - dragged a young woman in by her shoulder.
The Emperor leaned forward to look down at her through the window. Despite knowing her face better than anyone in the colonies, he had never actually seen her before. She looked smaller than he had expected. And defeated - as though she no longer cared about her life. And maybe she didn’t.
Clearly she had befriended the guards here. From this vantage point, he could see the dried blood and bruises that covered her body, let alone the gash in her head that appeared to still be bleeding. She probably deserved all of it. Not that it mattered anymore. When she wakes up after Pigrann, she won’t remember any of it, nor will a single scar remain on her skin. He just hoped she didn’t die from blood loss before the procedure finished.
His anticipation for Stela to put up a fight disappeared as she willingly sat down in the operating chair. Not even one of fingers twitched as the guard bound her into the seat - a necessary precaution the Emperor now wondered if they had needed at all. Her eyes met his and he smiled down, ensuring that his face would be the last thing she saw in this worthless set of memories. Memories he was about to take away.
When the guard reached for the syringe, the Emperor leaned forward in his chair, waiting for this to be over. Not until the syringe almost reached her arm did the Emperor realize it wasn’t his. The guard had picked up the wrong Pigrann. He glanced past the guard and saw his own syringe still resting where he had watched Trilinus carefully lay it out only a few minutes earlier. It remained on the table, untouched.
A side glance to his soldier and he saw Trilinus standing motionless in the corner, seemingly unaware of the treason happening below them. The Emperor glanced back down, hoping he had been mistaken. That’s when he recognized the guard who had dragged Stela into the lab. Except he wasn’t a guard and had never been one. No, he was an Abervon leader. He was the Abervon leader. And more importantly, Stela’s brother. Itri had somehow successfully disguised himself as a guard and not even Trilinus had noticed.
“Stop them!” The Emperor yelled as Itri pulled the syringe out of Stela’s arm. “Arrest them!”
Everyone’s gaze followed the Emperor’s finger toward the operation, but no one moved. No one understood what was happening. No one reacted except Trilinus whose PROBer instincts must have recognized Itri around the same time the Emperor did since he had left the room before the Emperor even finished giving the order.
With his lieutenant in pursuit, the Emperor’s attention fell back to the lab where Stela had begun to seize. Whatever Itri had given Stela must have had reactions the bastard had not expected, but the panic that rolled through Itri pleased the Emperor almost as much as their impending capture. He took comfort in watching Itri’s plans crash around him, especially knowing that there would be no escape this time. At least, not for both of them.
Panic increased around him as the crowd began to understand what was happening. But the Emperor only leaned back and relaxed against his chair. His lieutenant was tracking them now and Trilinus would not let him down.
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