"Got it," Sang said as she turned around and walked through a steel door that slid open just as she got close to it. Finding the prison cell wasn't too hard, as most of the signs on the ship were in English for some reason. Perhaps the Emperor was readying the ship for more humans to work alongside of him.
As Sang reached the prison cells, she noticed that they weren't particularly secure in any way. There were no guards around. There was just a large cell where she would be required to sit. As soon as she walked into the cell, which didn't even have a bed, a yellow field of energy appeared at the entrance, trapping her.
Sang quickly used her hacking tools to analyze the security of such a force field. It wasn't too well programmed, from what she could tell, and bypassing it would be easy. Still, what was the point of bypassing the program? The Emperor would be on top of her the moment she escaped. No, she would have to wait and bide her time until it was the right moment.
She slid down to the ground and began to ponder the plan. First, she would have to locate Van and free him from his pod. She wasn't sure if the virus would affect a digital pod, but she didn't want to risk it. Instead, she would have to break him out of his digital pod and then activate the item that was resting in her inventory. She would have to wait, of course. The hacking team that she'd brought aboard to work on the project was hopefully close to being finished. For right now, Sang knew that she had a little bit of time to wait. And so she waited, and prepared her mind for the fight ahead.
The Emperor was smart, but as she had noticed in his conversations with Van, he was also prone to a lot of intellectual stimulation. Something within that creature craved conversation, and this desire had been strong enough for Van to convince the thing to change its entire operating procedure, just so it could have a partner in crime. The rest of the Draco were all infinitely different from the Emperor. Perhaps if Sang were able to convince these Draco to turn on the Emperor, it would buy her enough time to free Van and kill them all with the virus. Yet, could they be convinced otherwise? They were a strange collective, after all, and their loyalty to the Emperor was fierce. What could Sang possibly say to these Draco that would rile them up against the Emperor?
As she sat and pondered the problem, the doors to the prison area slid open as a Draco entered carrying a bucket and a mop. It began to clean the floors, staring blankly at the ground as it worked.
"Why are you cleaning the inside of a fake room?" Sang asked the creature.
"We all must clean," the Draco replied as it continued to work on the floor. "It is our task as given to us by the Leader."
"That's weird," Sang muttered under her breath. She watched in fascination as it continued to work. Maybe this was her ticket out of here. "So, you're cleaning because the Leader told you to," Sang said. "Why do you have to listen to him?'
"Everyone serves a function," he replied. "The Leader's function is to serve as a voice to our race. He provides order."
"Does he clean?" Sang asked.
"Negative," the Draco said as he continued mopping the floor. "He states that all of his energy must go to leading us."
"Sounds pretty convenient, if you ask me," Sang said.
"Those words are irrelevant. I am simply fulfilling my function, as is he," the Draco answered. It never ceased its work.
Sang wrinkled her face. She recalled the long, spirited conversation that Van had had with the Emperor when she'd been in stasis in the throne room. She remembered the Leader's derision for the rest of his people and how they were so easily manipulated. How did he manipulate them? Maybe she could pull some strings on this creature and trick it into helping her find Van. After he found him and was sure that he was safe, then she could activate the virus and this would all be over.
"His function is to tell everyone what to do, right?" Sang asked.
"Correct," the Draco agreed.
"Does he tell himself what to do?"
The Draco paused from his cleaning and looked up at her. "No. That would be independence. No Draco can tell themselves what to do, for that is in our sacred laws. All for the good of all, one is the enemy of all."
"So, who tells him what to do then?" Sang asked again. She could see the creature was now beginning to puzzle over her question.
"I cannot answer that," the Draco whispered. He paused entirely from his cleaning and pensively leaned against his mop. "I fear that I do not know the answer."
"It sounds like he's independent then, right?" Sang asked. "He tells everyone what to do, but no one instructs him, so… I would be tempted to believe that he is singular, not collective."
"You speak heresy of our Leader," the Draco hissed. "Our Leader is not an independent, for he serves the needs of the all. As we all do."
"But you can't answer my question," Sang pressed. "You don't know who the Leader is directed by. My belief is that he is directed by himself."
"I shall answer your question in a moment," the Draco murmured. Sang could see that a small panic was beginning to come across him. Even though he was a lizard creature with a physiology very different from that of a human, the doubt was easy to see on his face. The creature lifted his hands up and chittered out in a strange, almost melodic language. A few moments later, another Draco entered. This one was wearing military gear and held a rifle in its arms.
"You have summoned this one?" the armed Draco asked.
"The prisoner has asked a question that I cannot answer," the janitor replied.
The armed Draco looked at her and shook its head. "It is not wise to provoke the ire of your captors, human woman. You will do good to keep your mouth shut."
"It's a real question," the janitor continued. "She asks who directs the Leader if he directs all of us."
"What an asinine question," came the reply as the armed Draco waved his hands dismissively. "That is simple: the Leader is directed by all of us, just as we are all directed by him."
"Do you have to clean, too?" Sang asked with a grin.
The Draco looked at her sharply. "Of course, we all must clean."
"All except for the Leader, right?" Sang replied.
There was a silence in the air as the armed Draco looked at the janitor. They exchanged glances and Sang could see that they were both puzzling over her questions.
"And so you are suggesting that the Leader is independent? That is a heretical charge," the armed one said after a few minutes of silence.
"Can you so easily refute my charges?" Sang asked.
"I cannot, but I cannot answer a great many questions, either," the armed one said.
"I know of one who can answer this question," Sang said. "The human. Van."
"You manipulate us as a means for escape," the janitor hissed, but the armed one raised his hand to stop the hissing.
"Speak your case as to why Van would know the answer," he said.
"It's simple," Sang replied, hoping these creatures weren't very good at picking up on deception. "Van is the ally to the Emperor, is he not? He was brought aboard this ship and given a lot of power. But Van is an independent thinker. Why would your Leader work with an independent?"
"So that the glory of our race can be furthered through expansion," the janitor replied. "Everyone knows that."
"I don't know…" the one with the gun said as it slowly slung its rifle over its shoulder. "It is a major security concern to have a human aboard our ship, especially when he has been given such power by the Leader."
"Van knows the Emperor well enough to tell us the truth," Sang said. "If we go find Van, he can tell us who is directing the Emperor. I know he'll back me up in telling the truth, that your Leader is nothing more than a filthy independent thinker."
"Bold words," the armed one said as it walked over to Sang and deactivated her cell. "But perhaps you are correct. Not everyone is in agreement with his decision to let you humans aboard this ship. But the Leader tells the Elders that they are wrong. No one can sway him. I have not thought of such a heresy before, but now… now it makes sense. I will take you to Van and we will see what he has to say."