++ early hours of the morning after the PIE ball ++
Steffanie sat at the desk in the captain's quarters of the Winter Rose, slowly spinning around. Things seemed to be on an upward swing the last couple of days and for the first time in a long while she felt elated. Despite the good mood, self-doubt gnawed at her insides and she felt as though she may have missed something important or missed the chance at something.
She paused the spinning and looked at the quarters and thought back to the quarters of the other ship she had been in and how different they had been. The one had been luxurious, yet felt warm and welcoming. Her quarters on her own ship were...functional. She started to imagine what she would do to the room to make it more her own and as she reached for her data-pad to make notes, a soft chime informed her someone was trying to connect to the holoprojector. Checking the ID of the incoming she opened channels and leaned back.
On the other side of the desk an image of a young and rather tall woman flickered into existence. The image was not particularly good quality; she made a note to have the engineers take a look at the hardware. Still, she could make out the complex facial tattoo. "Good day, Ellisif. I wasn't expecting to hear from you for at least a few more days."
"Hey boss, yeah...did I wake you? Wait, you don't look like you've gone to bed yet. It's like you were waiting for little ole me to show up so we could chat."
Steffanie could not help but smile at the young woman's exuberance. "What is so important that you rang this early, or late as the case may be?"
The young Sebiestor shifted from one foot to the other nervously. "Well, it's about that little project you wanted me to look into..."
"Did you get caught?" Steffanie leaned forward, scanning the ship readouts on the desk.
"No, no, no. Nothing like that. No, I got the data...was a tad trickier than the first batch, which you could have gotten with a simple request form, by the way. Anyway, I've broken most of the encryptions and I'm still breaking down the science and techniques described, but figured you should at least see what's going on."
Another display on the desk lit up and Steffanie watched the scrolling text. "So...I was right about who. Does this explain why?"
Ellisif shook her head. "It reads like a standard medical journal/research paper with very close attention to details. This stuff...it's pushing the limits of acceptable genetic manipulation and modding. The duration and the extent...is well beyond the safeguards put in place by the nations. To be honest, the fact that you're not a raging, nigh indestructible socio-path is amazing."
"Find out what was done...this stuff was always beyond my comprehension. Let me know the moment you have anything."
"Boss? What are you going to do about her? I know you got the investigation off the ground and she's under house arrest. But the things she did to you...her own child? Tribe and Clan would put her down for such behaviour. Don't tell me you're going to forgive her and carry on like everything is good?"
Steffanie shook her head. "I would give someone the chance to make amends...but this has gone for so long. Send me updates as you can."
The holographic image nodded and then cut out leaving Steffanie alone with her thoughts.
++ Body of Transmission 2 Days later ++
Known Modifications:
* Enhanced physical attributes
* Enhanced spatial awareness/hand-eye co-ordination
* Cosmetic enhancements (coloration, hair, various other alterations)
* Increased metabolism
Potential Modifications(1):
* Reinforced bones
* Regenerative abilities(2)
1. There's a lot of theories and other notes and formula that I'm trying to breakdown and figure out so there might be more.
2. The implications and notes indicate that you recover more rapidly from injury; there is no indication that if you lost a limb that it'll grow back.
The file has very strong encryption nodes surrounding the listed side-effects of what was done. Judging from what other pages hint at, but the mood swings, self-destructive behaviour, and headaches seem to be a result of the experimentation.
I'm still learning about implant technology, but at a guess, it is possible that these side-effects may have been made worse with the addition of the implants, but I don't know yet.
There's still a lot to sort through.
Boss, forgive the bluntness, but she's not your mother...she's some kind of cold hearted witch.
++ END OF TRANSMISSION ++
Walking down the corridor of the habitat section brought back various memories from her childhood. Taking a side passage she stopped a few paces short of the entrance to the quarters she had spent most of her young life in. There was nothing remarkable about the hallway itself, warm blue-green lights provided a pleasant and soothing amount of lighting. The only thing that stood out was the form of a massive DUST soldier standing in front of the door.
The female soldier wore a stylized suit of dark crimson armour with what appeared to be an etching of a flower in the breastplate. The outlines were done in black making the design stand out against the red. A station security guard appeared to be trying to engage the soldier in a conversation of some sort of which the woman merely replied with a nod or shake of her head, much to the frustration of the man. As Steffanie drew near, the DUSTer snapped to attention and saluted her, surprising the guard.
"All is well, I trust?" she asked calmly.
"I was just explaining to the commander here that station security was not required to ensure the safety of Dr. Saissore while under house arrest."
"It is just that the board at the CAS wish to ensure all of the doctor's needs are seen to while on administrative leave..."
Steffanie smiled politely, though there was no hint of warmth to it. "Your concern is duly noted. Unfortunately, the CAS has little say in the matter at the moment. Now, if you will excuse me, I have an appointment with the doctor."
The man grumbled and stepped aside and watched as the DUSTer did a pat down before opening the door. He never saw the soldier slip a pistol to Steffanie.
Stepping into the main room of her old home brought back a sense of nostalgia to a time where things were simpler. The memories slowly became darker as she went over what had been done to her all those years. It never occurred to her, back then, why she had been kept isolated from other children or why no one came by to visit. Now, it all made sense. A noise from the kitchen brought her back to the task at hand.
The kitchen was still meticulously organized with everything in its proper location and not a speck of dirt or dust anywhere. At the small breakfast table sat an older woman in her late fifties. She wore a well-tailored white lab uniform, had her black hair pulled back into a tight bun and sported no make-up. Steffanie could see the grey hairs and the age lines in the woman's face quite clearly.
"Good morning, mother," she stated, the disdain in her voice evident as she remained at the threshold to the kitchen.
The woman took a sip from the cup of coffee before looking up to acknowledge Steffanie's presence. "Oh, if it isn't my ungrateful daughter come to visit her poor mother? I do hope you have come to tell this people they are mistaken and that you will be taking care of your poor, maligned mother."
Steffanie pursed her lips for a moment as she struggled between the want to keep the confrontation civilized and the desire to lose control. "Not quite," she replied softly with a touch of coldness in her tone. "No, I have come to ask you something and then severe all ties with you."
"But I have done so much for you. How dare you turn your back on your family!"
"Yes, let us talk about all that you have done for me, mother. Aside from essentially locking me away from the rest of the world till you put me into university. You made all of my decisions for me from what I wore to what I got to read. You even picked all of my studies for me when I went to university. You wanted me to follow in your footsteps. Every aspect of my life you controlled, until that day I was accepted into the CAS capsuleer program. That was my first step into my own life. Since leaving here, I have learned that you have been solely responsible for preventing my actual growth. If it had been out of a sense of over-protectiveness, I probably could forgive you for all of that. But you did far more than simply make my life choices for me, didn't you?"
"It was to protect you from the filth and corruption of our diluted cousins. The pure-blood must be brought back to the Gallente people. Only with that will we have the strength of purpose to put down the Caldari traitors and rebuke the Amarr."
Steffanie stood there somewhat surprised to hear the cold even voice of her mother describing racial purity. "So, I was merely to be your tool in that regard? A 'pure' ethnic Gallente? You of all people ought to know better, mother. Our strength comes from diversity not insularity."
"That is where you are wrong, daughter. I took the best qualities and refined them into the first physically perfect manifestation of the pure Garoun."
"Perfect? Whatever it was that you did has left me with violent mood swings, fits of suicidal depression, the inability to interact with people beyond an exchange of pleasantries...Isn't a mother supposed to love, nurture, and encourage their child to grow? You locked me up and treated me as nothing more than an experiment."
"Well, it is true that there were some unforeseen side-effects from the combinations and selections. Remember, you were the prototype, the first. Mistakes were bound to happen and once I have been removed from this ridiculous nonsense of a house arrest, I will account for those mistakes and improve upon the design."
She pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head as she felt the anger building. "What about dad?"
"Bah, he was simply for appearance sake. It would have been unseemly to be with child without a father, especially for someone like me. The fact that he had a job that kept him away for long periods of time was an added bonus. No, you came from samples of far stronger and purer genetic quality."
Just kill her, the voice whispered in her head. She's vile, uncaring and will do it again and again. You would be doing everyone a favour by putting her down.
Steffanie gritted her teeth and glared at her mother, sitting there, prim and proper as though she had done nothing wrong. She clenched her fist tight, the knuckles turning white, as she tried hard not to see all the dark feelings she had personified in her mother.
"When I came here, I found myself faced with a choice to make. My first choice was to walk away after our discussion and sever ties with you completely. The other option, which to be honest, after hearing your little speech, is far more tempting, is to put a bullet in your head and put an end to your experimentations."
She drew the pistol and took mild satisfaction at seeing the look of shock on her mother's face. She walked over to the table, sat down and placed the pistol on the centre of the table. Leaning back, she placed her hands on her lap and stared at her mother.
"Now, I am trying to figure if it would go against my code of honour to kill you for what you have done. Federation law would have you spend time in prison, but I have a feeling that due to your expertise and some favours, the amount of time spent would not even meet the base standards of seeing justice done.
"Yet, as I am the one wronged, do I have the right to dictate the penalty? Now, going back far enough there was trial by combat where the accused could prove their innocence by besting the champion appointed by either accused or the noble lord. Seeing how you want to see the rise of the pure Garoun, I think this trial by combat is most apt."
She picked the pistol off the table, ejected the clip and removed all but two rounds. "Normally, the combatants would stand in a ring with weapons appointed by the lord and they would fight. Usually to first blood or yield. If the circumstances were dire enough, going to the death was also allowed."
Steffanie placed the pistol back on the table with the pistol grip facing her mother. "The rules today are fairly simple. A timer will count down from ten and buzzing as it reaches zero. Whoever can kill their opponent first, is right, by the rule of law." The look of shock on the other woman's face quickly vanished as her eyes narrowed. Steffanie ignored the look and produced a timer and set it on the table as well.
"Before we begin the counter, is there anything you would like to say?"
"I should have biomassed you before your first year," her mother hissed.
There had been a time when that comment would have knocked her off balance. She smirked grimly and started the timer, bowing her head, eyes closed and hands on her lap. The ten second count seemed to drag on forever and then the buzzer sounded. She waited, hearing the other chair move, the sound of a hand frantically grabbing for the weapon, yet she did not react. The distinctive sound of metal sliding across the lacquered surface was what she had been waiting for and in that moment she reacted.
Steffanie shot out of the chair, right hand drawing a long thin blade from within her coat. With her left hand, she grabbed the wrist of the hand that held the pistol while she gracefully slipped in behind her mother. With a slight twist, she brought the hand down hard on the edge of the table. As the pistol bounced across the table, Steffanie forced the hand flat on the table and pinned it there with the blade.
The cry of pain and shrieks that followed were the first true emotional outbursts she had ever seen her mother commit, yet it brought her no joy or satisfaction. Still standing behind the older woman, she leaned in and whispered softly into her mother's ear.
"This is what you created, mother. In a way, we are very much a reflection of each other. The only difference is, I have chosen a better path."
She stepped away from her mother and looked at the sobbing woman. It would be so easy just to end it, it is all that she deserves. Shaking her head and taking a deep breath she set a datapad on the table. "In another age, I would have no qualms with ending your life. However, by our current laws, that option is not afforded to me. Goodbye, Chantelle Delacroix. You are no longer a Saissore."
Steffanie opened the door unsurprised to see a stand-off between her personal guard and five security personnel. The guard in charge was about to say something when two men in suits entered the scene. She waited patiently as they spoke in hushed tones with security detail which promptly backed down and left the area.
"All the documents, notes, everything is on the datapad as requested," she stated without really looking at either man. "I have fulfilled my side of the contract gentlemen, I trust you have taken care of yours?"
"Miss Sinulf will not be flagged as a security risk, while under your employ. The other arrangements have been taken care of."
Steffanie nodded and signalled for the soldier that it was time to leave. Walking away, she felt a small measure of peace.
Author
Topic: Revelations (Read 635 times)