ATALIS

CHAPTER 12: REVELATIONS

I look up from the ground and see the light dissipating. Memories finding their way home. The ethereal light in the room dims and then vanishes, leaving us in the darkness. I stand up and then head toward Nathan, feeling drained in a way that I can't explain.

"I've been on a few ventures through the years, but nothing as strange as this." He shakes his head.

"What do you think it was?" I ask him, glancing back at the huge body on the ground.

Nathan takes one look at me and then gestures toward the huge body. "I have no idea? What the fuck kind of question is that? A native? It's certainly not from any other planet we've been to. Considering we've only colonized the moon, Mars, Europa, and a tiny research lab on Titan, it's not from any database I know of, and I know a considerable amount. Whatever that thing is, I don't ever want to see something like it again. The things I saw when it screamed... things I'd forgotten, buried, or thought I overcome. I don't want to consider what that thing was. I don't even want to think about it anymore. Now that it's dead... what have we done? Have we just killed something native to this planet? Or have we just released something?"

"Released something?" I raise my eyebrows and he gestures to the broken part of the chest cavity.

"You ripped it's heart out. Why were you the only one unaffected, Hayden?" he stands up to his full height and walks toward me. I hold my ground.

"I found something on the Promise. Something I can't explain. That gave me the power to fight back, to be unaffected by them when others aren't," I explain. I did find something on the Promise; the keycard. 'That' infers that it's the keycard that I'm referring to, but it's insinuated and not explicitly stated. As far as I know, I don't know why I can fight back against them, and as I say the words I wish I could take them back and instead state that I just don't know.

Maybe this is for the better. Maybe this will mean he won't run any tests or anything on me. I look up at him and he pulls his helmet off, letting his ponytail fall out.

"I think it would just be better for you to tell me the truth, Hayden. You don't have to hide it from me anymore. You're an android."

I look around to see if anyone is in direct earshot and then look back at him, my brows furrowing slightly. "You should talk to my father."

"I will." Nathan reaches out and places a hand on my shoulder, his mood seemingly lightening as he does so and a small smile spreading across his face. "If you are, and if you can resist these creatures and what they do to the rest of us, then you're our ace up the sleeve. You killed this one. Who knows how many others might be here, or if there are other beings that we have to face or learn to live with? I'll talk to your dad, sure, but you know that I know. But I have a warning for you."

I straighten slightly.

"I assume you broke that man's neck for a reason."

"Yes. He wanted the heart, and he wasn't human. Not fully anymore. I could see through his disguise when the light shot up into the air," I explain hastily. "I would never hurt someone without intentional cause."

"That's all I needed to hear." Nathan relaxes visibly. "And you know that you have a friend in the security corps."

He turns to leave, but I grab his arm and turn him toward me. "Why did you strip Candice of her rank?"

Pain flashes through his eyes and he looks at his feet, then back up toward me. "Because I don't think it's wise for her to be in it."

"That doesn't explain it."

"You're right, it doesn't. Candice doesn't want to be in the security corps. Not really. She loves animals, she loves helping people without having a gun at her side. She's got great aim, but she has trouble talking to people in a professional manner. It's a favor to her, honestly. Or that's the intent behind it."