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Chapter 11

"I was so hoping that this was all a big misunderstanding," Xerian sighed, as they waited. "Quirk said that the Emperor was evil, but we only really had his word for it. Quirk might have had a grudge, or the Emperor may have had noble intentions that have gone astray. But here we are again... another evil mastermind making my life a misery. Why! Why?!"

"It's part of the mindset," Niall said. "You have to have an idea, and be ruthless enough to see it through, regardless of who you hurt. Fortunately, on worlds where the balance of power is split relatively equally, it's fairly rare that the desire to harm and the ability to cause harm on that scale line up properly. Though I do say so coming from a world where Demons were strong enough to treat most other races like playthings."

"Does that put you in a good position to judge it, though?" Xerian asked.

"I would say it puts me in an ideal position," Niall said. "Since I have lived long enough to have seen the system out of balance, but have also seen sanity prevail in the new world order. As with your civilisation, most of our lot have seen that cooperation has greater rewards than infighting."

"Of course," he added, "As you say, there's nothing to stop the great and the good going off the rails. As you know, that happened to Dad... And I guess it happened to the Emperor if what he was saying was true. Hmm. I wonder..."

"What?" Xerian asked.

At that that moment there were three rapid taps on the door. Niall opened it.

"Go-time, bosses," Lautrec said. "Robots coming this way, with Quirk and a bunch of his victims."

"What'll happen?" Xerian asked. "How will it cope with having to revive multiple Protogens?"

"I assume they've thought about that," Niall said. "Either the robots will deliver each one to a separate medical station, or they have some way to keep them stable until the surgery machine is free. Suppose there was an explosion or other accident that took out a bunch of them in a single room? Surely they must have provision for that."

* * *

"Okay," Niall whispered as they watched the robots through a crack in the storage room door, having wedged it partly open. "Looks like they've split up - guess they can only revive two people per station. And Quirk isn't going into this one."

"Agreed," Lautrec said. "They took the left turning at the end of the corridor. I'll follow, you trail me and keep alert."

At the regeneration room, they crouched beneath the window, listening to the procedure.

"Info: Vital signs stabilized," a robotic voice was saying. "Cybernetic life support deactivated."

"Now," Niall hissed, and ran his stolen keycard through the door, which opened immediately with a hiss.

"Info: Brain activity satisfactory," the robot intoned. "Info: Recovery completed."

"Oh shit," Niall said, running into the room. "It's not him!"

"Urrgh," the protogen said, and a face appeared on his visor. Suddenly it displayed shock as Niall poked his gun at the cyborg's visor.

In the background the robot froze. "Warning: Surgery unit obstructed. Please clear the area. Please clear the area."

"Get up slowly and move to the wall," Niall said warningly. "I don't want you to have to go straight back into this thing for a brain replacement."

"You won't get away with this, traitor!" the protogen snapped. "The Emperor will punish you with great vengeance if you do not obey His wishes."

"Wrong answer," Niall said. His aim shifted slightly and the creature suddenly received a hole through their large, fluffy ear.

"Aaah!" he yelled. "Okay! Okay!"

"That's better," Niall said. "Xerian - tie him up."

Unhappily, the Synth took a length of cable Niall had liberated from the storeroom and began to bind the protogen's arms behind his back apologetically.

"Save your apologies for the Emperor," the creature snarled.

Meanwhile, the servitor robot had taken Quirk, who had been lying on a pull-out shelf connected to some kind of life-support system, and placed him in the recovery unit, ignoring the intruders completely.

"Info: Scanning subject," it said. "Info: Severe trauma detected. Info: Stabilising biochemistry. Info: Molecular inpainting in progress..."

"That's some pretty impressive tech," Niall said. "We'd need magic to pull off anything like that kind of repair so quickly."

"If it's reconstructing his brain from library data, that presumably means it's highly specific to protogens," Xerian said. "Pity. It would have been useful to have such stuff in the Outer Rim..."

"What do you suppose happens if they put a non-protogen in it?" Lautrec asked.

"It will convert them," the officer interjected sullenly. "Most of us aboard the Vengeance were grown in tanks and augmented the usual way, especially the drones. Others were converted into our kind. I am one such," he added proudly. "And this is one reason I am loyal to His Imperial Highness. He has given me strength, intelligence and a lifespan far beyond normal for my race. I and work to repay Him for His generosity in giving me such a wondrous gift."

"So is that it?" Xerian looked dismayed. "You plan to take Synths for your army, and convert the organics into Protogens?"

"Why not?" the protogen said. "Even traitors such as you can yet serve Him and find forgiveness. And the people of this planet shall be become something greater when they accept His gifts!"

"I'm sorry," Xerian said, "But you should always ask first before turning someone into another lifeform. And while you may call me a traitor, I only want to protect my world and my loved ones. To do otherwise would make me a traitor to the Outer Rim."

"Hmmf," the Protogen said and went quiet.

"Info: Vital signs stabilized," the robot said a few minutes later. "Cybernetic life support deactivated."

"Oh!" Niall said. "Looks like our cue is coming up."

"Info: Brain activity satisfactory," the robot intoned. "Warning: Custom module loaded. Switching to unofficial post-revival process."

"Now!" Niall hissed. Lautrec leapt at the robot, knocking it over and began clawing at it.

"Warning: Unexpected event during surgery."

"Grab him!" Niall yelled, as they fought to prevent the robot getting back up.

Xerian found an emergency stop switch and pressed it, the restraints sliding into the operating table. Quickly, he picked up the limp protogen and hefted them onto his shoulder.

"Time to go," he said. Niall and Lautrec backed off and headed out of the door, leaving the robot and the trussed-up officer behind.

"Error: Patient not detected. Aborting procedure," was the last thing they heard from the robot as the raced to the nearest elevator.

Niall tried his stolen card on another door, stuck his head in and then gestured for the others to follow. Quickly, he raced out again and ran the card through the readers on a few more doors, hoping to confuse matters.

"Okay," he said. "I say we need to get back to Quirk's home territory but I'm not quite sure of the way. Meanwhile, we'd best see how he is."

"Urrgh," the protogen said, as Niall shook him gently.

"Quirk? Can you hear me?" the vulpine asked worriedly.

"Fox," he said. "Niall... Xerian... I don't feel too great. What happened?"

"Praise the Emperor...?" Lautrec prompted helpfully. Xerian scowled and prodded the cat angrily with his foot.

Quirk's visor flashed "KiLL" for a moment, and he shook his head. "That's not funny," he snapped, and looked around groggily. "Oh," he said. "Oh no. Oh no... They... They got me, didn't they?"

"I'm afraid so," Niall said. "But I'm really glad your're back."

"If what I think happened... really happened..."

"I appreciate you're recovering from major surgery, but we need to move before the Emperor's friends find us," Niall said. "We can help you if you need it. I can carry you, but we're not quite sure how to get back to your den. Where's the nearest hideout?"

"I think I can walk," Quirk said. "I'm just... It's a bit of a shock."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Xerian asked.

"No... I'm not," Quirk said, and his visor looked miserable. "But I don't think it will stop me from coming with you."

* * *

"What's up?" Xerian asked with concern when they had reached one of Quirk's outposts.

"Okay," the Protogen said. "Given how foggy my recollection of the last few hours is, I'm guessing that it's something like this - they killed me, and turned me into a mindless drone."

"Yes," Niall said. "They took us to the Emperor, who turned out to be every bit as evil and crazy as you told us. They brought you in as well, like some kind of trophy. Then the kangaroo, P3T3R switched off the lights, and your buggy implants went completely haywire."

"Shit," Quirk said. "I hoped that was a dream."

"The Emperor liked your dress," Lautrec put in. "And I think he had the hots for your as well."

"Did I get him?" Quirk asked hopefully. "I guess that's too much to ask for, right...?"

"'Fraid so. He ran to some kind of panic room, while you killed three or four of his officers," Niall said. "And then... well, I had to... Well, power-cycle you. With a gun."

"I knew it," Quirk said, and slumped into his chair. "But how did you reprogram the surgery unit? Did P3T3R help with that?"

"We used brute force," Niall said. "Grabbed you after it had patched up your brain, but before the lobotomy procedure could start."

Quirk made a sobbing sound.

"That means..." he said.

"This is why you didn't want to hack the surgery units, isn't it?" Niall said gently. "Because you know that you'd have to confront your guilt."

"Yes," the Protogen admitted. "I told myself I was putting them out of their misery... Ending their suffering... That they were already gone and just empty shells. And now... Now I'm living proof that they could have been cured!"

"Take comfort that their souls are free," Niall said. "In that sense you have ended their suffering. But I do understand this kind of regret... I too have slain and caused the deaths of people, and I regret it."

"One more thing to make the Emperor pay for," Quirk snarled, and flashed "KiLL" briefly again. "What should we do next?"

"Well, if you want my advice, we should make modifying the surgery units our next priority," Niall said.

"But, Zuki!" Xerian wailed. "We made a start with the cloaking device. Now we have to find out if he's okay! The Emperor might use him for some horrible experiment! He might just k-kill all the captives if he thinks their usefulness has ended!"

"Surgery first," Niall said firmly. "That gives Quirk a safety net in case things go south, which they probably will. But then, immediately afterwards, we look into the captives. I agree, that is definitely overdue."

"And then," Quirk said, grinning evilly, "I want the weapon from Deck 8. When I meet the Emperor again, he is toast!"