Chromium

Chapter 16.4

First draft

It took time for the shock to fade. The new revelation had left her numb, lost and weak.  

"My mother..." She hated the squeak in her voice, but she couldn't do anything about it.  "she..."

"...she isn't your mother." Gibson repeated patiently as if cajoling a stubborn child. "You were her mission, Dia Zephyr. Or should I call you Subject Zero?"

"No." Dia said in a strangled voice. "This is a fake. It has to be!"

"Dr. Weir was just observing you," Gibson insisted. "observing her test subject."

"If what you're saying is true," She recovered her wits long enough to point out the inconsistencies in his story. "and Dr. Weir managed to escape, why didn't she just hand me over to the Empire?"

"Hand you over to whom exactly?" He asked back, his tone turning condescending. "By now you should know that this project was financed by the former emperor, the reigning monarch's uncle."

Dia narrowed her eyes. "So?"

"So you should remember what happened twenty years ago."

"Twenty years ago?" She squinted her eyes, trying to recall what happened. It wasn't easy. She was just a baby a the time. "Are you referring to the former Emperor's death?"

"Indeed. Do you remember how he died?"

"Not really." Dia said. "The only thing I know is that he died under mysterious circumstances."

"Mysterious circumstances?" Gibson snorted. "Please. After everything you went through, do you still believe in fairy tales?"

"Fine. I admit his death was suspicious." She said with reluctance. "But there is no proof that the current emperor was involved."

"If the crown prince inherited the throne as he was supposed to, I'd agree with you, but that's not what happened, is it? And please don't tell me you really believe that the crown prince really died in an accident."

Dia stayed silent.

"We both know what the truth is." Gibson continued. "The emperor killed his uncle, then usurped the throne from his cousin, the crown prince."

"Why are you telling me this? It doesn't have anything to do with my mother."

"And that's where you're wrong." Gibson disagreed. "Do you remember what was the first thing the new emperor did when he took power?"

"He wiped out everyone who supported his predecessor." Dia heard herself say.

"Imperial succession can be brutal." Gibson commented conversationally. "Anyway, high ranking officers, functionaries of the Hierarchy loyal to the previous emperor and even members of the imperial family were dropping like flies when the Collective attacked Aegis IV." Gibson chuckled. "Actually, it's almost ironic. Dr. Weir escaped from the clutches of the Collective only to find out that most people she knew were gone. Her patron, the emperor, was dead. Her colleagues? Also dead. She had no one to turn to for help, no one she could trust anyway. Do you now understand why your mother, no...why Doctor Weir had to hide?"

A wave of nausea went through her as fear and confusion stole all rational thought, his words slowly shaking her conviction. 

There has to be another explanation.

Myriad thoughts crossed her mind as she tried to find ways to counter his logic, but there was none.

"My offer still stands." Gibson's voice was like a trumpet blast, or the sound of glass breaking. It brought her back to reality. "Join me, Dia Zephyr. I know that we started with the wrong foot, but..."

"Wrong foot?" Dia hissed, while her almond-shaped eyes seemed to harden with a cold, dangerous glitter. "You kidnapped me, drugged me, and then used me as a hostage." 

"The hostage part was unfortunate," He said, conveniently ignoring the other two accusations. "but you have to admit that there were extenuating circumstances. If you recall, the situation at the time was a bit stressful."

"And I'm sure that if things get stressful again,"  Dia's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "you'll do anything, even point a gun at my head and threaten to blow it off, to save your own skin."

"That's not true. I would never do anything to hurt you."

"Really?" She glanced at the remote and a surge of viciousness, driven by anger and pain, filled her.

"Of course." Gibson said, his tone mellifluous. "Your safety is my primary concern."

He was still talking when Dia drew her gun and opened fire on the remote without warning. The hologram vanished, but that didn't deter her. She emptied a whole magazine, replaced it with a new one and kept firing, using the small bot as target practice. Only when there was nothing left of it except scrap metal, she lowered the gun. 

There was an instant of taut silence, then a soft sob escaped her. Tears ran down her cheeks, unnoticed, as she felt the pent-up frustration break free. She didn't know how long she stayed like that for, without moving, without thinking. She hadn't felt this numb - the pain too consuming to allow herself to feel it - for a long time.

Her mind was a complete mess, but when Dia spotted something moving out of the corner of her eyes, her body moved on its own. She whirled around, prepared to fire again, but when her eyes fell on the intruder, she froze like a deer in the headlights. She'd expected to find a droid, or maybe one of Gibson's creatures, but the person in front of her was human. 

"Omen?" Dia gawped at him, unable to believe her own eyes.

"Stand down, corporal." His calm, authoritative tone sounded so reassuring that in a moment of weakness, Dia raced over and threw her arms around him.

Omen just stood there at first, frozen, as if he didn't know how to respond. It was only when she laid her head on his shoulder that he finally hugged her back.