Project - Prometheus Ch. 10

He attacked again, but this time Korsa was ready for him. She defended herself solidly as he danced around her, trying to find an opening. Back and forth they went in the dance of blades, both adversaries trying to find an opening but failing to. Korsa, with all her years of training with the Khontaran military and the Khontaran Royal Guard, held the line against her enemy.

The man, as skilled as he was, had yet to find and exploit any weakness that the red-skinned woman possessed. It was maddening, that she dared to intrude on his property, his domain and try to take it from him! It further angered him that despite his status as a great warlord, he couldn't break this woman's defense! He had yet to test her defenses alternatively, and he smirked as he devised how exactly to punch through.

Grounding his sword, he brought his hand up and pushed upwards, like he was pushing a weight. Suddenly, the very ground rose up around Korsa and grabbed at her, pinning her arms and sword. Struggle as she might, Korsa couldn't move in the slightest! She looked over to the man, and he was laughing at her as he gloated in his victory.

"Try as you might, you four armed insect, you cannot defeat me here! Here, I am a god!" he laughed. "It's almost a shame to have to kill you. Then again..." he paused as he mulled something over. "You might just serve me as Shazza does! But first, you must be broken."

Hearing that, Korsa tried to squirm and wiggle her way out, but the floor held firm, refusing to budge. She was about to scream out in defiance, but he closed the distance between them and placed his palm on her forehead. His fingers dug into her scalp as though he was trying to burrow into her mind. She felt him try, his will battering against hers, but this, Korsa knew how to resist and pushed back.

Exclaiming in anger and pain, he yanked his arm back, as though something burned it. He breathed heavily as Korsa smiled at him, her smirk letting him know that she would not make this easy.

"Enough! There is only one place for you now. You will spend eternity languishing there and will only come out when I say you can. To the place where memories die!"

With that, he bopped her on the forehead once more and that was all Korsa remembered before it all went black.

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Natalya lay curled up in a large chair right next to Korsa, snoozing fitfully. Despite everyone's pleas, she had refused to leave her adoptive mother right now. Nats had found a chair large enough for her to lounge in and dragged it over, setting it right by the Spock. She had kept a vigil over Korsa, keeping watch over her, until she'd dozed off a few hours later.

She started awake and looked down at her mom, then up at the machine. There had been little to no change since she'd gone under. Thankfully, Korsa's brainwaves had proven to be strong enough to keep both women at a relatively safe point. Though Natalya was still mad at her for doing this, she supposed that Korsa would have done this anyways.

Korsa was a very proud and stubborn woman, but also fiercely dedicated to saving whoever she could. It was a fire that few people truly understood, Nats being one. To Korsa, all life was both precious and sacred and if she stood a chance to save someone, she would take it.

She did have limits though and there were certain people she would not treat, such as hardened killers and sociopaths. Why she treated Shazza was a mystery. Still, she supposed that Korsa had her reasons, probably to see and determine that there was good in this Xuul'khani woman. Natalya didn't fully see it, but she supposed that there was something else within the woman, other than a xenophobic butcher.

Taking a deep breath, Nats cleared her mind and focused back on the present. Korsa still showed no change and Natalya was debating on going back to both Kas and Alex. She remembered briefly that she had sent everyone to go on back to bed since there was nothing to be done. Both Alex and Kasumi had protested, saying that there was little she could do either.

"I can get away with a bit of sleep deprivation, but you sir, need as much rest as you can muster. You are the Captain of the Perseus and a lot rests on your shoulders," she'd told him, reminding him of his position.

"Very well Chief. I'll go back and get some sleep, but I fully expect you to get some rest yourself. You are needed just as much, you know," he smirked, reminding her of who she was to him.

"Agreed. You'd better come back before the night is out. I can't keep this massive man warm all by myself," Kas giggled.

"Don't worry, I will," Natalya lied, while smiling at them both.

She had every intention of staying by Korsa's side the whole night, but the comfort of Alex's arms called out to her. She was still debating whether to go when Jaesa popped up on the localized holopad.

"Natalya? Are you awake?" the AI called out gently.

"Yeah. Been awake for a few minutes and debating a few things," she confessed.

"Like staying here the whole night?" Jaesa suggested slyly. "Before you say anything, yes, I could tell that you were lying to both the Captain and the Commander. You should head on back and get some proper rest. You are doing no one any good by sitting here, pining and pouting over your mother."

"But I need to be here for when she wakes up!" Nats implored.

"And I will tell you the moment anything changes. Being an Artificial Intelligence, affords me he ability to function without sleep. I will keep an eye on Korsa for you while you rest and inform you the minute that anything should change," she reassured the Trini-Rus woman.

"Using my own words on me, eh?" Nats groused good-naturedly. "Fine, you win. I'll crawl into a proper bed and get some sleep," she conceded. "Promise me you'll tell me if anything changes?"

Jaesa crossed her forefinger over her heart and held up two fingers, indicating Scouts Honor. Nats thought the gesture a little odd, but let it slide as she was way too tired to think about much else other than sleep. She got up and made her way to the monorail station, clambering into a cart and heading off to the Officer's Deck.

Once she arrived, Natalya walked all the way to Alex's quarters and made her way in. Alex woke up as she entered, blinking his eyes blearily. The moment he spotted her, he smiled and threw back the covers on his right side. Kas, who was cuddled up on his left, mumbled in her sleep a moment, but wasn't fazed by the action.

Natalya then undressed, letting her clothes fall away from her body, before crawling in. The second she was snuggled into him, Alex threw the covers over her, letting the warmth permeate through her. Nats was asleep in seconds, letting her mind drift away from Korsa and how she was faring while in Shazza's mindscape.

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Korsa slowly blinked her eyes open and was immediately greeted by a splitting headache. Raising her hands to her head, she rubbed at her temples, not noticing a weight that grabbed at her wrists. Though not immediately aware of it physically, her ears registered a strange sound, like a clanking noise almost. Once the headache had abated some, Korsa then opened her eyes to see what exactly it was.

The sight of it horrified her, as the weights on her wrists was nothing other than thick, heavy steel manacles! A large and heavy chain, which was connected to another heavy chain connected the manacles. The second chain ran upwards and connected to a cage, in which Korsa was ensconced in. Looking down, Korsa also saw that her legs were similarly manacled and chained.

"Hello?"

She called out into the black, hoping to contact someone, but no one answered back. Looking at her surroundings, Korsa saw nothing but darkness around her and her cage. Focusing on the chains she wore, Korsa strained with her arms and legs, hoping to break them. Unfortunately, the manacles and chains held fast, refusing to break or yield.

She tried her luck on the cage itself, but the results were the same. Refusing to give up or quit, Korsa kept trying to snap the bindings that held her. She would not let herself be caged like an animal for slaughter. There was no way that she'd let herself go out like that! It was her fourteenth attempt at it when a voice called out her.

"It won't do you any good," the voice said to her. The voice was soft and feminine, like that of a little girl. "It doesn't matter how much you struggle; the prison will hold you. Your strength here takes no precedence, no matter how much you wish to be free."

"Who are you?" Korsa called out harshly. "Show yourself!"

Suddenly, a soft, bluish white light bloomed, illuminating the immediate area. The ground was suddenly made visible to her and it appeared to be solid but littered with seemed to be a great many items. They appeared to be all kinds of keepsakes and artifacts, or at least they were. Though Korsa would have loved to get a better look at these things, she focused on the being that was the source of the light.

It was a little girl who couldn't have been any older than seven or eight years old. The girl was Xuul'khani for sure, with black skin and a full head of silver hair, but she looked familiar somehow. Korsa thought about it for a second then focused back on the task at hand.

"What do you mean, that I won't be free, no matter how much I wish it to be so?" Korsa asked the girl.

"Brute force alone won't free you from your cage. You have to have a clever mind in order to escape," the girl told her.

Mentally chastising herself, Korsa remembered that she was in a mindscape and here, the power of the mind was absolute. Focusing her will and closing her eyes, Korsa imagined that both her chains and the cage would rust away, falling apart right off her. She maintained her concentration and eventually felt the weight and sensation of the chains vanish.

Hearing a slight exclamation of surprise, Korsa opened her eyes and saw that what she had wished for had happened. She was free and the chains, manacles and cage that held her was a pile of rust on the floor in front of her. Korsa looked up and saw the girl looking at her in awe, almost like she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"How did you do that?" the girl asked in a disbelieving tone.

"It's as you said, you have to have a clever mind to win here. I remembered that here, a powerful mind reigns, so I focused my will to break my prison and it was so," Korsa answered her in a motherly tone.

Now that she was free, a light emanated from Korsa, much brighter than what was coming from the girl. The surrounding area was further illuminated and Korsa saw more rubble and detritus. She also saw a great deal many cages, like hers, but the occupants of these cages were Xuul'khani women.

The odd thing she noticed was that the women in question all looked like they were the same person. Korsa noted how some looked a fair bit younger while others were older and into their prime. It was then that Korsa put the pieces together and figured out these women were all Shazza! At least, she thought so and went to the nearest cage to get a better look.

"I see that look on your face Doctor Korsa and to answer your question; yes, we are all Shazza. Parts of her at least. Specific aspects of her mind, if you want to know exactly what," the girl blurted out as Korsa was examining a young adolescent.

"How did you what was on my mind and that I'm a Doctor?" the Khontaran woman asked, shocked that the girl knew who she was.

"When you bridged your mind to ours, your consciousness melded with ours, briefly. Who you are and why you are here is known to us," girl Shazza told her.

"Then why didn't the one who imprisoned me here know this?" Korsa wondered.

"The Master. He doesn't know because he doesn't belong here. Despite our efforts to remove him, his hold on us is too strong," girl Shazza explained. "Because of our resistance, we were all thrown in here, to where memories die, as a means of punishment."

"So, you are all aspects of what Shazza is? Compassion, loyalty, love and so on?" Korsa asked.

"Yes. I am Shazza's aspect of innocence," the girl told Korsa.

"I have questions I'd like to ask you, but they can wait for a moment," Korsa stated as she turned to face everyone in the cages. "Do any of you here want to be free?"

Vigorous and slothlike nodding was the answer she received as the various aspects all perked up at the mention of freedom. They looked to Korsa with hope on their faces, each one praying and crying to be free.

"I will try something, but I'm not sure if it will work. I need you all to focus on wanting to be free," she told the aspects. Acknowledging her command, each aspect closed their eyes and believed in becoming free.

"What are you doing?" Innocence asked her.

"Freeing them, hopefully," Korsa responded before turning her attention to her task. Korsa knew that these parts of Shazza likely didn't have the iron-clad determination to will themselves free. She poured her will out into a physical entity here, manifesting into reality. It formed as a small, yellowish gold spark, which grew. It was slow at first, then expanded exponentially.

Innocence was again, taken by surprise, as she could tell what exactly Korsa was attempting. The ball of willpower continued to grow, and its strength and intensity was enough to leave her speechless. One woman had that much willpower?!? It seemed an absolute impossibility! But here was the proof, right in front of her!

Tendrils of Korsa's will snaked out of the ball which was now as massive as a small star and hanging above them. Each tendril reached out to every aspect of Shazza, latching onto each one. As it did, a profound sense of wonder, relief and hope, surged through each aspect, flooding them with the will to be free.

With each throb from Korsa's will, each version of Shazza grew stronger, more vibrant and alive. Slowly, each one of their cages rusted as Korsa's had, coming apart ever so slowly. Their collective will grew stronger, empowering each aspect to take control of their destinies. Innocence was amazed that this was happening, but then heard something that frightened her.

A resounding boom had been heard, and she had brushed it away as the effect of Korsa's will empowering her sister aspects. When she heard it again, she knew that it wasn't good. Hearing it a third time confirmed her worst fears; this section of Shazza's mind was collapsing! She raced to Korsa, in an attempt to dissuade her of her task.

"Korsa! This place is about to collapse! Do you hear it? We need to leave now!" Innocence screamed at her.

"I hear it, but I'm not leaving them behind!" Korsa told her as calm as she could. Maintaining the focus to empower the aspects of Shazza was immense, but it was something she could manage. The cages and chains were more than halfway broken, and their destruction was speeding up. Korsa fed more power into her will, giving more of herself to the aspects, hoping it would speed things along.

The rumbling in the background grew louder as slowly, pieces of the detritus on the ground vaporized. They disintegrated, as though being crushed by some massive foot. Taking no chances, Korsa used what remained of her will to draw all the aspects and their cages close to her. Keeping her focus, Korsa kept feeding the aspects what they needed, as more of the area disintegrated.

"Korsa! We can't wait any longer! We need to leave now!" Innocence screamed. Opening her eyes for a split second, Korsa saw that Innocence was right. The space which held their light was getting smaller, and the darkness was encroaching closer to them. It sought their end, but Korsa's will was pushing it back, but it wasn't even a holding action.

Korsa knew that as strong as her will was, it couldn't hold against the oppressive darkness that was trying to snuff them out. Seeing no other alternative, Korsa sent a massive surge through her manifestation, shattering the chains and cages that held Shazza's aspects. With the bindings broken, Korsa pulled every aspect to her, enveloping them in a massive hug.

"OK, we're done! Get us out of here!" Korsa shouted as she now focused on keeping the darkness from consuming them.

"Where?"

"Anywhere but here!" Korsa screamed.

Grabbing Korsa's arm, Innocence focused on one place that the Master had been reluctant to touch. One place that had been the birthplace of many of the evil and cruel acts, but also was a place of great joy once. Closing her eyes, she willed the lot of them to the place where the Master wouldn't dare to attack them. At least, not yet. Imagination.

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Natalya was just finishing up replacing a set of conduits within cryo storage when her omni comm beeped. She saw that it was getting close to lunchtime and smiled to herself. Her midsection rumbled in agreement it was time to eat. Tapping on her comm, she checked the holographic livestream she had of Korsa.

Still unchanged since she went under last night though there had been both upward and downward spikes earlier. Nats supposed that some spikes would be going on, judging by the amount of brain activity that was going on. She had Jaesa broadcast Korsa's brainwaves to her in real time, so she could stay updated, wherever she was.

Hopping out of another crawlspace, Nats then told the Sentries that were watching over and assisting her, to close the hatch and wait for further orders. She walked away as they complied, heading for the monorail station in engineering. Once she arrived, she walked on a cart and directed that she'd like to go to the Officer's deck. The cart took her there without incident and she made her way to the lounge where lunch was waiting.

As she entered the doorway, she smelled the tantalizing aroma of garlic bread. Looking over at the table, she saw that Pree and Lumi were busy setting up the table. Talon and Kas were busy setting the platters of food at equidistant places around the table. Inari and Alex were nowhere to be seen, however.

"Inari or Alex cooking again?" Nats asked with a sultry smirk on her lips.

"More like Inari is offering Alex a few pointers. He's made Fettucine Alfredo, with a Caesar salad and garlic bread to go with it," Kas smiled as she set pitchers of water and iced tea nearby. Seconds after she mentioned it, Alex and Inari bustled out of the kitchen with large platters of the dish, along with seasoned and fire grilled chicken.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to understanding just how many supplies you have on hand aboard the Perseus," Nats said, smiling at her lover.

"Well, we have enough to last for quite a few years yet, between the eight of us. Even with how much I eat, there's plenty to go around," Alex chuckled.

The ladies assembled around the table giggled at that as this mountain of a man had no issue devouring anything that was set in front of him. Doffing their aprons, both of them seated themselves and passed the platters around. Everyone helped themselves to a generous portion of the fettucine and chicken. Nats in particular, ate almost mechanically, trying to enjoy the food but failing to do so.

"Hey," Alex said from across the table. "It will be all right. Korsa wouldn't have done this if she didn't know what she was doing," he reassured her.

"I'm with our captain on this. If Korsa is as strong in her mind as she is in her body, then we don't have anything to worry about. She'll be back and I almost pity whatever she faces that woman's mindscape," Kasumi said with a brief shudder, remembering the damage Korsa had wrought amongst the Sentries.

"Thanks guys. I really needed to hear that," Natalya said, smiling tremulously.

"Mama has never let us down before. Remember that job we took, on Tahrion V?" Inari asked.