Cath

The Cradle

“Great! Send it to me; i’ll make sure it gets into the right hands.” Freyr smiled distractedly, watching Thebes walk over to them out of the corner of her eye. She focused her attention back on Rareth. “I’ll do my best. I hope you like crowds; because you’re going to get one when this mission gains the administration’s attention. Freyr politely excused herself from the two Rothians and turned to Thebes, who began speaking right away.

“Ma’am, I want to put something on the record. Memnon died a warrior’s death. The entity we encountered said it might be able to bring Memnon back. We want our comrade back, but only if he’ll be able to fight alongside us now. If there is any chance he won’t make it back out in one piece, we’d like you to refrain. It’s what he would have wanted.” Thebes nodded, having finished his piece.”

Freyr stared up at Thebes, flabbergasted. “It said it could...bring people...back?” Thebes nodded again. “Yes ma’am. It said it could try.” Freyr felt almost overwhelmed with joy, which boiled down to steely determination. “Then consider it well and truly noted.” She said, giving the soldier’s forearm a squeeze. “If I can, I'll bring Memnon back. I’ll bring them all back.”

“Dr Lang - Captain Andersen is requesting a debrief.” One of the lab techs called over from the banks of consoles. Freyr nodded her head vigorously, suddenly experiencing a rush of energy she hadn’t felt in months. “Good, ok. All of you, conference room. Now, please!” Freyr gesticulated at the assembled Humans. “That means you and your team as well.” She patted Thebes’ breastplate, rushing past him. “We all need to watch this mission back, right away.”

The Cradle

“How intriguing…” Freyr murmured in response to Rareth. She blew out her lips as she thought of it, her eyebrows raised. “This changes things completely. I won’t take up any more of your time with questions right now, Datius. I’ll watch the recordings and talk to Wetherall and Ngata as a first step.”

Freyr smiled at Nirann once he appeared. “I’m glad to see the consolidation was successful! What’s up?” She listened to his proposal, nodding a few times. “Yes, I think I agree with you. I’m not sure the other people you have to convince will see it that way, though. Put it in a written proposal anyway, and I'll present it as one of the options. Please include how long you’ll need to get the destination gate in-situ. I assume you don’t have all the parts available on Outremer? You’ll need to repurpose an existing one or something?”

The Cradle

Freyr listened closely to everything Rareth said with her arms loosely crossed. Her mouth dropped fractionally open at some of the details. “Wow, Ok. Thanks, we’ll definitely need to watch that through. You’ve no doubt made history; I wish I could've been there.” She pouted, a tinge of disappointment in her voice.

Freyr chewed intently on the knuckle of her index finger for a second, drinking in all the facts. “This just got a lot more serious. I need to regroup with my team and then debrief Captain Andersen and the other leadership. Can you have your people put together a plan for fully excavating the shell and bringing it to the surface? It sounds like there’s no time to lose, and we have to assume the entity will allow us to move it.”

Freyr thought of another thing almost immediately. Her brain was already beginning to parse the new facts and present new questions for her to answer. She raised her index finger in front of her face as if to regulate her train of thought. "Hold on...did it say why it needed the Cradle to repair itself? Does that have anything to do with the trouble we've been having in the Cradle itself?"

The Cradle

595 didn't reply, vibrating from head to toe, face muscles rigid and rippling. “She’s having a seizure, get me the nanites. Medic!” Freyr shouted, slowly but firmly freeing 595 from the harness and head gear. She snatched a microrobot delivery system from one of the lab techs. “Hold her down!” Freyr snapped, leaning over the shaking woman and injecting the nanites into her neck while some others stopped the Agent from moving.

After a few moments, the jerking movements stopped, Freyr straightened up, chucking the empty syringe down on the table. “Make a hole!” The medic called, barging through on the opposite side of the harness bed from her. Freyr reeled off any potentially important information points she had at her disposal, then let the medic roll 595 onto her side and into the recovery position. She looked at Rareth, who was watching on. “What the hell happened in there? We established contact for about two minutes before getting cut off again.”

She momentarily diverted her attention to glance across the bay. The Sacred Band were already up and had gathered around the harness containing Memnon. They were all grasping his arms and legs and had lowered their heads in solemn respect. Dr Wetherall and Dr Ngata were receiving fluids and an exam from another Human medic.

The Cradle

The creature nodded distractedly at Rareth’s suggestions, its luminescence fading fast. It opened its mouth, then closed it again. “We…” It slumped back into it’s throne. The wind rushing through the openings in the building took on a distinctly blurred quality. After a few moments it better resembled feedback from malfunctioning audio equipment than actual weather.

While Rareth was racing to finish her latest line of inquiry, 595 was staring all around her. Several packet loss and operating viability flags appeared on her specialised sensory suite. “We have to get out of here.” The Agent announced abruptly. She rose from her kneeling position and marched up the steps to the being. “If you want our help, you have to eject us this instant, do you understand?” The being regarded her feebly, lounging slackly in it’s throne and flickering continuously.

“What do you need? Power? Can we give you some energy to get us out of here?” The thing lethargically raised an arm, beckoning for her to come closer. 595 complied, edging right in front of it. As quick as a flash the creature grabbed her wrist. The Agent’s suit crackled with energy, sending fingers of lightning out to connect the whole team. The wind outside was a deafening crrrrrrkkkkkkkkkk now, whirling around them like a tornado.

”Make me proud.” The thing whispered inside her head, looking straight into her soul with tortured, unblinking eyes of sunset red.

---

595 gasped real air, jerking taut against the harness weighing her down. “They’re back!” Freyr shouted, racing over to her. “It’s okay. Let me check your vitals and we’ll get you out of this harness."

The Cradle

The being looked pleased when Rareth swung toward a solution, tapping the long tips of it’s fingers together in a steeple pointed at the team. However as the Datius continued, it grew somber, clasping its hands together across the armrests and resting its sharp chin on them. The being sighed deeply when she had finished speaking.

“I am extremely sorry, for all the unpleasantness you have experienced. It was never meant to be this way.” It’s voice seemed to be getting raspier; the light emanating from its body flickered momentarily. The snow and wind howling through the windows and across the gallery increased in ferocity. “The...Cradle… is badly damaged, like me. Now that it has been activated, it is rejecting all foreign bodies in preparation for conflict.”

One of the torches close to the doors blew out with a huff. The being snapped its fingers and the fire reignited. “And in the absence of directives from myself or the others, It is likely building its own...decision-making function.” Dr Wetherall evidently couldn't believe his ears. “Like a consciousness?” He spluttered. The being weighed up those words before responding with a nod. “Sure. I can stop it, but It’s imperative that you return me to my home as soon as possible, to prevent the corruption from growing any further.”

There was a very short pause, making it clear that the initial shock was wearing off. Dr Ngata jumped in next. “What about all the creatures we encountered on the way to you? One of us died trying to get here.” The being stared out of a high window, flickering again. “They are me; all of it is. Those creatures are the remains of my payload - imprints of organic life potential. Sadly I lost control over most of my domain long ago, my mind...wanders.”

“Can you bring him back? The man we lost.” Thebes asked, bowing his head respectfully. The being slowly swiveled to study the soldier. “I can try, if you help me heal my wounds.”

595 was keen to keep the conversation on track, so she wasted no more time in asking the most pressing question on her mind. “It sounds like we need to rescue your, uh, colleagues, too, right? To restore balance to the Cradle? Do you know where they are?”

The being shook its head, the fuzzy tendrils sprouting all over its body again. “No. I have to assume we are keeping each other safe, biding our time. If they are as weak as me...‘running’ is not an option.” 595 nodded thoughtfully, glad her gambit had paid off.

The Cradle

The figure nodded sagely at Nirann’s comment, some of its shock cloud attributes receding. “When I… crash-landed, this habitat was failing. I used most of my...payload to help life flourish here.” It glanced between the droid and Rareth. “You were my best chance of communicating incognito. I am so pleased you have returned to me, and you’ve brought news of my home with you too.” It smiled broadly at 595 and the other Humans at that point.

It focused solely on Rareth’s questions now. “We’re being hunted by the Hegemon. A synthetic, like us, but obsessed with power." The thing spat out this word again, evidently disgusted. "It is determined to exterminate us, ever since we stood up to it’s twisted plans for galactic dominance. Eons have since passed; the threat we face may be incalculable. At any rate, before we can even countenance resisting the Hegemon, we all need to return home.”

The Cradle

The being mimicked a wide, empathetic smile, with a slash of lighter coloured energy emerged on its facial area. “Look at you all… So strong, and loyal. It makes me proud - with more time, perhaps we could’ve made things right. But I fear it’s too late now; our persecutors were numerous then and will only have grown in number over time. They will crush you if they discover you harboured us. They oppose our desire to spread life throughout the universe. They seek to control it all.” The creature theatrically clenched one fist, to illustrate.

595 jumped in here. “Who is ‘us’? I see only one of you here.” The being stared at her, before stalking back to its throne and lounging on it. Its shape grew less recognisable as fuzzy, crackling appendages grew out, making it look like the manifestation of an electric shock. “There were four of us, before. But, one of us was killed by our foe as we tried to escape. We’re scattered across this galaxy, badly hurt and hiding. We can’t communicate directly, or they’ll know where we are.”

The thing leaned forward in its seat, grasping the armrests with both hands. “But if you return us to our home, we can start to heal. And then we can lead them away from your civilisation. You’ve hidden our home well, behind your shields and underneath your city. But it won’t take them long to join the dots once they arrive.”

The Cradle

The shape blinked out of existence, reappearing behind them. 595 slowly rose to her knees, but maintained a non-threatening pose. “This is not about power, not yet.” The thing replied. It charged up the ‘P’ in ‘power’ until it echoed around the gallery. This thing accented the Human standard language quite thickly; the Agent also noticed a faint background noise when it moved and enunciated, like the hiss of a distant wildfire.

“You’re hiding something of ours. Our...home. It’s begun...waking, hasn’t it?” 595 flinched and closed her eyes when a blindingly bright hand reached down and stroked her bare cheek. “Shhh, it’s alright. I mean you no harm.” The thing soothed, the ambient hiss growing slightly as it moved away from her and sloped over to Rareth. “You have witnessed things you do not understand, and you come here seeking answers?” 595 moved her face away from the thing’s wandering hand and nodded her head.

It gave off what could only be described as a sigh, and slid a finger along Rareth’s shoulders and back as it shimmered past. “I’m so sorry.” It walked in front of them. “I fear that means our foe draws nearer, and that puts you in grave danger. You must help us return home, so we may escape. Otherwise, they will destroy us all.”

The Cradle

595 actually laughed out loud, shaking her head in derision. “Transparency? Oh that is rich, coming from you Datius! The pointy end of the entire Rothian apparatus, elevated to mythical status and shrouded in mystery, attached to wars across the galaxy, is asking me to explain myself.” Dr Wetherall, who’d been watching this exchange in shock with the rest of the civilians, raised a hand and tried to interject. “Umm, the floor...”

“Stay out of this!” 595 snapped, before jabbing a finger at Rareth. “Perhaps we should start with you explaining that wormhole tech you’ve been keeping a secret. That would’ve been useful to know about before Memnon died protecting your flank. Maybe we could’ve done things differently.” The Agent stared at the Datius, as dull blue lights emanating through the hairline cracks in the plaza beneath them started shining brightly in patches where the snow wasn’t piled up. “We need to-” Thebes started but couldn’t finish.

“ENOUGH.” a voice boomed in their heads. 595 saw Rareth and Thebes were picked up like ragdolls, to float a couple of feet from the floor. Then she realised the same entity had immobilised her and the civilians in the air as well. An invisible manipular field forced their arms to their sides and their feet together. 595 tried to speak, but she couldn’t move a muscle. Their suits powered down, and one by one they floated in a line toward the door. 595 tried to send a message using her mind implant, but that seemed to have ceased functioning too.

They entered through the double doors at the front of the structure, into a grand rectangular gallery. Pillars stood on either side, and the high, open windows behind them were embedded in thick outer walls. Torches flickered in their sconces, but the real light in the room came from the figure sitting in a throne at the far end of the room. It looked Human in shape, before morphing into a Rothian silhouette and then back again. It seemed entirely composed of light energy, with no real features other than an outline.

The rest of the Sacred Band were already lying prostrate on the floor a short distance from the steps leading up to the throne. The invisible fields laid 595, Thebes, Rareth and the civilians alongside them, heads facing the ground. Eventually, the Agent realised her muscles worked again. “Are you ready to talk to me? I don’t have much time.” The being asked out loud, in a dry, raspy voice.