“What do you wish of me,” the Apostle managed.
Destroy the central tower and erase all data in the computers.
“I don’t trust you,” the Apostle screamed.
You have no choice. You will do it, or I will take your body, ripping your mind and consciousness right out of it and tossing them into the void. You will become nothing more than an extension of me.
Desperation gave her the strength to speak, and to think. There was nothing she could do. Trapped, she had but one choice. Obey. She had no doubt that he could deliver her to oblivion as promised, and she would avenge no one dead. She was completely trapped.
“Very well,” the Apostle gasped. “Release me. Release me!”
The pressure eased off of her and that horrible dark visage vanished from her
sight. She was once again in control of her own body, and able to think freely once more.
It was like being able to breathe again after so long without air.
Oh yes, and I want you to kill the man that shot you. He will try to interfere.
Snarling, the Apostle bared her fangs. Cain would die a very slow and painful death for this.
You’re welcome to try. I would welcome death, but you do not have the power to end my life.
The words startled her. For the first time she truly understood how deeply she was snared. He could hear her thoughts. He knew every single thing that went on inside of her head. How was she supposed to fight an enemy that could see her every thought and action before she even realized what she was thinking or doing? How was she supposed to fight against him when he could make her do anything he wished? No wonder he was amused whenever she thought of killing him. It had to be like watching a little puppy that thought herself terribly fierce.
Frantically, the Apostle tried to think of a way to shield her thoughts. There had to be some way that she could plot against him without his knowledge. She would be his slave no longer, and he would pay for violating her with his life.
Cackling madly, Cain made no response.
“Destroy the tower,” the Apostle repeated her orders, “erase the computers. Kill the man that shot me.”
First you must lock the security systems. The Goddess that rules this world will stop you if you don’t block her attempts first.
Shuddering, the Apostle realized what she would have to do in order to complete Cain’s commands. She would have to bend the minds of others to her will, the same as he was doing to her. She could not believe that she’d allowed that thing to take complete control over other people, spreading his influence like a plague. Did they feel what she felt when Cain pressed down on her? Was that what she’d been doing to people all this time? Passing her curse on to countless others like a plague? Was Cain lurking in the back of every mind she’d touched and manipulated? The implications were horrifying.
“What have I done,” she gasped.
What if every person she’d touched with her power was now an Apostle of Cain?
What if Cain could control every one of them as he could her? There were entire worlds full of billions of people converted to Cain’s gospel through her powers. Did all of them have the power to pass it on to others? That explained the rapidity with which it spread through every world she’d preached on.
She had a sudden vision of darkness sweeping across the whole of creation,
destroying everything in its path with her at its head, directing the flow. Stars went out of the sky, one by one, as the plague descended upon them, and it was all her fault. Her foolish pride in the title that she despised was spreading ruin, chaos and darkness throughout the universe.
“What have I done,” the Apostle slammed her fist into the wall. “What have I
done!”
There was only one thing she could do now, follow Cain’s orders lest she be
destroyed for standing against him. She had to spread Cain’s plague of darkness into the minds of others in order to accomplish his goals, whatever they might be. There had to be some way that she could break free, some way to defy him. How could she stop the tide of darkness that he’d sent rolling over all creation by using her as his puppet?
Cain was so very eager. She could feel it rushing through her like wildfire.
Whatever he wanted this badly, she couldn’t allow him to have, but there was nothing she could do to fight against him. She had to obey.
*****
Appearing beside Gabriel, a hologram of Allie grinned widely.
“Just like coming home. I copied myself to the mainframe and have at least
partial control over the facility. Over the next six hundred years I did a lot of tweaking and automating to give myself more freedom, but none of that has happened yet. I have very minimal control over most systems. Damn it. It is like having my hands tied behind my back!”
Looking at her, Gabriel sighed, letting his eyes drop back to his lap. Unable to get the image of the poor little girl he’d murdered out of his head, he saw her everywhere he looked. He heard her horribly rasping voice, begging to die.
A tear ran down his face, and he didn’t bother to wipe it away. He’d been no
saint in his life, but the thought of taking a child and doing what they’d done to her turned his stomach.
“You can take your Sa’Dhi back now,” Allie gestured to the console that, in six hundred years, she would use to copy herself to his Sa’Dhi.
Sighing, Gabriel stood. Even that much seemed an effort. Depression weighed
heavily on him, making him want to curl into a little ball and forget about the world while he cried. He thought that he’d completely walled off his emotions forever to protect himself from abuse by his father and the bullies throughout his formative years. He didn’t know how to deal with them. Sam had opened the floodgate within him, and now he couldn’t close it, or even slow the flow.
Careful not to look through the window down into the pit where Allison’s
mutilated body rested, still strapped to the torture rack, Gabriel walked to the console and removed his Sa’Dhi.
When he plugged it back into his hand, a second, much more lifelike image of
Allie appeared, standing next to the hologram. The two of them looked at each other, winked, and smiled.
“Please Gabriel. Stop moping. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I’m going to have nightmares about that until the day I die,” Gabriel sighed, allowing himself to glance at what he’d done to the little girl below. Her head from the jaw up was gone. Blood, brains, and bone were splattered everywhere.
“Imagine how it is for me,” Allie pointed to the dead little girl. “I was the one that had to live through it. I used to believe in god when I was a kid. I prayed to him every night, then that happened to me. Now, I am the closest thing to a god this world has ever seen. So you listen to me. I wanted this. I needed this. Stop blaming yourself for it. You did not kill me, the scientists that ripped my mind from my body did. Get over yourself, Gabriel. I need you. There is still work left to do, and I cannot do it myself!”
Gabriel wanted to believe her. He wanted to believe that he was not at fault for Allison’s fate, but he was the one that had put a gun to her head and blown it clean off.