A Refreshing Excursion to the Wildlands (Tarot & Satu)

[Satu]

Hands bound together behind her, Satu stood sorrowfully without complaint. It appeared she was not to be spared the indignity of being constrained, even with her agreement of good behaviour. She would go without trouble to meet the “Lady” and it was her steadfast belief that the guards would not hurt her along the way. She was scared, but she felt no fear for her life, after all they could have easily killed her in the Wildlands. Now was the time to meet their true subjugator and plead their innocence, not fight against things beyond their control. Satu frowned at her bound companion, Danna still struggled next to her, snarling and fighting, scattering her energy needlessly.

Satu did not struggle against the physical restraint, but her fingers flexed and her wrists, strong from weapons training strained against the bindings hoping for the slightest give. The pressure was firm and Satu knew she could not slip free. The restriction lent her an air of nervousness. Never had she been bound, or controlled in any way. It was a difficult new feeling to wrap her mind around and she fought the urge to labour against the injustice. Avalis would weep with sorrow at her unsettling predicament!

Each slippered foot moved with graceful placement as the guards lead them through the corridors, her green cloak swirled behind her as she travelled. If not for her bound hands, it would appear one of the elusive Konti advisors was being offered escort through the structure. A door opened and the fresh air that poured through lifted Satu’s spirits momentarily. After the stagnant air of the dungeon she needed its sustenance and inhaled deeply, opening her mouth to draw the most air into her lungs.

The Konti tried remembering where they had passed, and the stone corridors upon stone corridors branched out along the way. She stared at the signage, trying to read the words and make sense of them and her location. The vast structure appeared so civilized, but again for the handcuffs on her wrists. And when the torches gave way to windows she stopped and stared before being pulled along by the guards. Mountains? She was now surrounded by mountains, jagged and unsympathetic. The mercenary had been right; they were no longer near Syliras. But how? Satu did not know how long she had been held, a few hours, or was it a full day? But the cumulative shock of all she had been through was beginning to wear on Satu’s mind.

The guard pushed Satu and Danna into a room. The suvai-fighter rolled her shoulder unconsciously at the touch and the push slid off of her back without the force it had originated with. Inside, the Konti stood motionless and took in the large room with its numerous shelves and book and bottles. A dark haired woman sat in the middle of a circle on the floor surrounded by painted symbols. Satu knew it was the Woman. Instantly she froze, stunned. The Lady’s Heart had no colour. No feeling. It felt like… emptiness. Satu could feel nothing in it. Even the guards Hearts, dull as they were had a minimal amount of colour and life. The Konti forgot everything; even Danna standing next to her seemed irrelevant as she studied the woman.

The dark haired figure was different, more distant than anyone Satu had ever met. And as the lady spoke her greetings, Satu gave a small shake of her head. A sense of foreboding gripped her and it was hard to concentrate properly. This went against everything she had ever known, against everything she had ever felt! But her Heart reached out, tentatively once more to the Woman, refusing to believe the truth she saw with her ‘sight’. She couldn’t take her eyes off the woman, who said, “…Welcome to Opportunity.” Unsure of how to respond, Satu stared at her incredulously. Perhaps the dark haired woman was ill; she did not stand but only held her knees, sitting on the floor.

If it was a mistake to mention her gifts in front of Drainira, Satu did not know it in her weariness. But after the stresses of the day, the words tumbled emotionally from the Konti’s lovely mouth unchecked, “But where are your Heartcolours? Where do you keep them… are they blanketed somehow? You must have them…” The Konti’s eyes searched the other’s energetic body for the smallest spark of feeling hidden within and as she did so, her feet brought her closer to the woman in the circle.

[Tarot]

The woman did not immediately react to Satu's approach. She was still sitting in the middle of her circle, looking up at the Konti and smiling ever so slightly at her surprise. No matter how close Satu got to her, the result of her Heartsight did not change in the slightest. There was simply no reading. For the first time Satu understood what it was like for a normal person to see the world without the blessing and curse of Heartcolors. Was it uncanny? Was it frightening? There was no knowing what this woman was thinking.

She just smiled at Satu, though. "My… Heartcolours?" She brought her finger to her lips, fascinated with the response. "I see. You can indeed single me out among any number of people, Ms. Satu. What a fearsome ability, if I may add. I have seen magic move mountains in my time, but there a greatness to your quiet power that puts those things to shame." Her tone was calm and formal, and she knew Satu's name. "What marvelous things were birthed by the chaos of the Valterrian."

Slowly, ever so slowly, Drainira rose from the floor. She was slim, but her thick dark robes made her look sturdier. "To answer your question, I have no Heartcolours, for I have no Heart to put them in. Well, I do have a heart with a lowercase 'h', but all it does is pump blood across this borrowed body of mine. It's just an organ, nothing more." Drainira smiled and stepped in front of Satu, looking her in the eye. She had dark, mysterious orbs filled with infinite curiosity.

"For the rest, I am but an artificial being. A machine, if you will - or more accurately, a golem. I was built, not born. You could say I am a doll with a very big mind, but you cannot read my heart any more than you could a doll's. I exist for a purpose, which is why I am here, rebuilding Opportunity and preparing it for more interesting times. Before the Valterrian, this was a scientific outpost of the Alahean empire. When it got cut off from Mizahar, the colonists just died one after another. I am merely repossessing the place and restoring it to its former glory." Drainira walked off and approached Danna, studying her like some rare animal. The mercenary growled at the creature. "Now, now, Ms. Danna, that is just bad form. I understand your being upset, but that is no excuse for rudeness."

The golem turned to Satu and smiled again. She had a doll's smile, too. "I was created to ensure a better future, and I am merely fulfilling my directives, believe me. I am afraid I will have to take things from you, but rest assured it is all for the greater good. Though, there is a 86% probability of you disagreeing and refusing to do my bidding." The smile slowly turned into a grin. Satu had no need of her Heartsense to realize she was in trouble. Deep, deep trouble.

[Satu]

Drainira was a Golem! Satu could feel it now, or rather, it was the lack of emotion she felt most strongly. A machine... that looked real! So real in fact that Satu could not help but try to ‘read’ her. The Konti’s normal methods were of no use, nothing lived in Drainira’s Heart, and her senses sadly verified it again and again.

The HeartSeer was rapidly finding out just how much information she took in about a person courtesy of her Gift. States of mind or intentions were often apparent to her sight before a conversation even started. Already Satu found it difficult to concentrate on Drainira’s words alone, without the added emotion for emphasis and clarity. She tried to listen carefully, as if from a far away place or a hollow void. How did people live like this? Cut off from the deep source of feeling, cold and removed from every colourful nuance of another’s Heart? It was archaic and horrible!

“Single you out…? But why would I…? I pose no threat to you; I only wish to return home.” Satu asked, bewildered. Drainira’s conversational tone almost sounded pleasant, yet matter of fact but the more the Golem talked, the more unsettled Satu became during the interview. Her eyes drifted about the room, hoping to find a clue to this end this mystery, before she looked up again in surprise, “You know my name? How do you know my name?”

Drainira moved to stand in front of Satu, and the Konti did not retreat from that curious gaze, even though she could not feel or understand what the other was thinking. Searching the woman’s eyes, Satu was at a loss and her eyes filled with tears. They were so very different, where Satu was light and tremendously emotional; the other was dark of eyes and hair, and to Satu’s mind, coldly logical and devoid of emotion.

Satu began to cry, the tears spilling over and sliding down her flushed cheeks as she held Drainira’s gaze. She wasn’t sure why she cried, she just did. Of course she was noticeably tired and scared, and she was upset that Drainira did not feel, or care, in the normal sense of the word. The situation was unbearable. But if Satu had been truly honest with herself, she would have realized: she cried for herself because she needed to feel the emotions of other people to keep herself grounded.

“But what if you could feel? If you set your mind to it… to learn? … to experience emotions? You could do that!” She sobbed, grasping at straws, trying to make this feel normal when everything about this place and this woman wasn’t. “If your body and organs work and the blood pumps, then why not make the Feelings work too? You said you have a big mind, you could learn to do it somehow!”


Still crying, her hands reached automatically to cover her wet face, but they only jerked and strained at the wrist bindings in frustration. She hung her head, tears falling delicately to the floor. Other Konti might have handled the situation with more sensitivity and intelligence. But Satu was young and not yet considered an adult by her community. And for her there was no escape from the pressing emotions of the Heart, she felt each ping of the heart strings intimately, leaving her vulnerable to waves of intense feeling at any given moment.

Glancing at Deanna, Satu asked the Golem, “What are you going to do? Why do you even need us? Please! Just let us go!”

Even the golem’s smile was empty in this place where a better future was supposedly being prepared for Mizahar. It felt, wrong, deeply wrong. Drainira wanted something from Satu, but she did not own many belongings and only her suvai held any meaning for her, but she doubted the Golem had need of the weapons. “I have nothing of value to offer you,” she replied biting her lip, “there is nothing to take.”

But as the woman’s smile turned into a grin, the realization hit Satu that what a machine might want or desire, could be very, very unpleasant. And while the Konti couldn’t fathom where this journey was going to lead, she was sure it was no where she wanted to go willingly. Dismayed, Satu’s senses screamed warning upon warning. Too late she realized the mercenary had been right all along. “Escape!” Her inner wisdom urged, but Satu knew it was futile. She couldn’t even open the heavy door with her hands tied behind her, and a fresh burst of sobs sounded throughout the room, as Satu finally comprehended the danger surrounding her.

[Tarot]

The golem clasped her fingers together, rehearsing motions copied and imitated from other human beings, but ultimately foreign and meaningless to her. "Of course I know your names," she smiled, "my men have been investigating and spying on the two of you for several days now. We are still young, but growing steadily. There are many talents that we still lack, though… talents we need to borrow from the outside. My agents bring back those they believe would make good assets to our cause. You happened to catch their eye, and with good reason if I may add."

"There ain't a chance in all of the Ukalas that we'd ever help you, clockwork whore," Danna growled in response. Drainira smiled with a warmth that was entirely out of place. "But the thing is, you do not have to. Cooperation is not a requirement, at least as far as you are concerned, Ms. Danna."

She turned around, hands clasped behind her back, and approached Satu again. By now, the Konti had started to cry softly. Drainira seemed mildly interested in her tears, if only from a purely scientific viewpoint. "Tears, how fascinating. I read about them in a book. My previous employers were not prone to the act, being undead and all. One has to wonder what kind of benefit they can possibly provide, as they deprive the body of both energy and fluids. Surely nature could have come up with better coping and stress release mechanisms."

The golem shook her head. "Nothing about people ever makes full sense. Mortals truly are half-hearted efforts at best. That is why they created the Supervisors to do what they couldn't, see what they couldn't. They created machines to watch over them and show them the way, machines without their natural bias and irrationality… without the misguided, self-imposed restraints called 'ethics' and 'morals', without the random behavioral noise called 'feelings'. Mortals should not have to think, for it clearly is not what they do best. I exist to address their shortcomings, no more and no less."

She returned to Danna, and this time she pushed her towards the circles in the middle of the room. Drainira's body appeared to possess some physical strength. Danna cursed as she landed on her knees in the middle of the circle. "Yet some of you possess a spark of greatness. Too bad it is so scattered around your various specimens. Someone is good at one thing, someone else is good at another. Knowledge is so diluted among your people that gathering it is quite the task." Drainira moved away from Danna and kneeled in the middle of the next circle. Satu could see that she had positioned Danna in a larger circle surrounded by strange symbols and glyphs, whereas Drainira herself was inside a smaller circle connected to the first by a straight black line.

The golem produced a tiny knife and cut her finger. A drop of her blood touched the circle, which seemed to come to life, giving off a cool blue glowing aura. The glyphs around Danna's circle started throbbing with similar blue light. The mercenary moaned and then screamed as if experiencing sharp physical pain. It lasted less than a minute, after which the circles' activity stopped and Danna fell to the side, panting heavily.

"Good, good," Drainira nodded, "I really needed the skills of a good weaponmaster with a similar frame and weight to my own. Thank you very much for your gift, Ms. Danna." The golem smiled. And then kicked Danna in the face with a fluid motion that sent the warrior sprawling on the floor. "Interesting." Drainira walked over to Danna's location and pulled her up with eerie ease. "Let us try punches now."

She really tried. Six of them, in quick succession, and Danna crashed down again, barely moving. Most importantly, Drainira's style and motions were identical to Danna's - Satu could remember the scene in the dungeon. "So this is unarmed combat. I thought it would be harder. Sorry for copying those skills so quickly. Hopefully your mind will not shut down from the stress."

She turned to Satu, walking towards her ever so slowly, and smiling. "As you can see, I have an almost unlimited capacity for learning, Ms. Satu. I just need things to learn, and people to learn them from. You have me at a disadvantage, though. I cannot copy abilities such as yours, which are your race's heritage. Sure, I could remove your eyes, analyze them and make magical items out of them, but I am sure you could prove much more useful than Ms. Danna over there."

"Would you like to become my agent on Mizahar? That would be your key to freedom, not to mention personal gain." Her dark eyes glowed softly, and Satu could hear soft whispers in her ears, speaking of freedom and wealth and knowledge and power. She instantly knew this magic form was how the guards had been brainwashed into submission.

[Satu]

Sorry! Double post.

[Satu]

OOCPost Re-Edited

Seconds after Danna screamed, Satu cried out. The mercenary’s physical pain struck the Konti sharply and violently, as emotional suffering exploded in her Heart. Normally, her emotional filters helped to tone down such responses, but here in this place with its unworldly stresses she could not even pretend indifference. Without the distraction of a multitude of feelings from surrounding people, Satu was cognisant of every lick of emotion taking flight from Danna and within herself.

From inside the circle, the Golem pleasantly thanked the mercenary for “…the skills of a good weapon-master.” Satu did not know what had just passed between Danna and Drainira, but she did know that Magic had happened inside that circle. Magic had hurt Danna, who now lay on her side, breathing heavily or seriously injured, Satu didn’t know which. Chills crawled along the Konti’s spine, she had wanted to help the other woman, but she couldn’t make herself cross the blue flamed line. She had been too afraid.

A part of her mind, urged, “Go now, make certain she is all right…” But still Satu was terrified to tread over the line. Drainira had no such issues though, and Satu watched as the Golem calmly walked over and brutally kicked the mercenary in the face. Satu cried out again, this time more loudly as painful sensations filled her consciousness. But when the Golem lifted Danna up, Satu was immediately thankful; she believed Drainira was finished with the woman.

The reprieve was no reprieve at all as Drainira punched the mercenary multiple times in precision. Satu felt the resulting impact slam against her Heart, Danna’s pain and rage sounding deep within her, flooding her mind with suffering from hurt, and surprise, and shock. The speed of attack caused Danna to fall to the floor once again, and the HeartSeer almost fell too from the horror of the violence just committed. There was no escape from Danna’s emotional response; nothing physical could shut out the feelings that assaulted the HeartSeer, not even tightly closing her eyes and turning her head away.

A thought slowly grew beneath the emotional onslaught that gripped her… It was Danna. She could see her as she fought the guards... with her own style and her own fluid moves, her own… Satu’s eyes flew open. Oh, Avalis! The Golem moved the same exact way. She understood now, the Golem took it! Stole what was innermost from the mercenary and made that knowledge her own! Danna’s style now belonged to the Golem. How was that even possible? Was Danna, her only friend in this cruel place, even going to be okay?

Small, uncontrollable shivers travelled the length of Satu’s body, the cumulative shocks multiplying in her fragile mind. “My eyes? You…, you want my eyes?” panic filled her and her soft voice shook as she continued, “Useful? How?” The short questions all her mind could handle at the moment. But then Drainira stunned her again and offered to make her an agent.

“Your agent!” Satu’s eyes settled on Drainira. She heard whispers sound in her ears as the Golem’s eyes glowed softly, and Satu felt the murmur of riches slide enticingly across her senses. Promises of freedom, wealth, knowledge, and power danced in her mind. Tantalizing thoughts… for someone else. Not Satu. The Konti had no desire for powerful things. HeartSense left no room for anything beyond a simple life, anything more was too likely to overwhelm her.

Without a doubt, she knew the guards had succumbed to Drainira’s power. Brainwashed! Unhappily she remembered their dulled Hearts, and how muted their senses appeared to her gentle probes. Oh! To be one of them! It hurt her soul to think about living and feeling nothing, except worship for a machine. If her Heart could have flown, she would have sent it away at that moment to save it. The fear of living without emotion was greater than the fear of ending up in the magical circle. And Danna’s emotions throbbed in her still; she could feel the thick hurtful pulse beating at her senses and wearing her down. Suffering. Anger. Suffering. Anger.

As Satu watched Drainira, she saw a polar opposite of herself looking back. They were foreign to each other, unable to understand the very foundations the other relied upon. The Konti could not see the benefits of living emotionless and without feelings to guide her, and the Golem was not able to see the benefits of working with more organic knowledge than facts or figures. The HeartSeer knew they would never see eye to eye.

Satu’s tears had slowed, but her face and eyes were still wet. She was afraid to speak the words, but the truth came out anyway. From somewhere she found resolve. “I can not…” she whispered. “Avalis help me, I can not do it! I can not be your agent. We are too different you and I…” She wanted to lie, to buy more time to think, or plan. She almost attempted it, but Drainira would have known. Everyone had always known when Satu lied, the obvious play of emotions across her face and body gave her away every time.

“I am Konti...” she said, trying to explain. It was important to make Drainira understand, but Satu did not know how to have this kind of conversation, or how to make the Golem believe the truth she spoke. Rhetoric did not come strongly to her.

“We are a self-sufficient people,” she said with a quiver in her voice, holding Drainira’s gaze. “We work together, for the community. Each of us contributes… without interference or direction. We lead simple lives.” She took a breath, “I am truly sorry. I do not know why someone would create such elaborate machines to organize their lives, but then I do not know the other races.” She thought the other races barbaric, but decided not to mention that fact. “There is peace and harmony on Konti already… perhaps the others just need more time…”

[Tarot]

The robed golem girl leaned closer to Satu, her breath tickling the Konti's cheek. The expression on her face was one of mild surprise, though it did not look natural, more like an imitation not rehearsed often enough. Danna was barely moving on the floor, even unable to roll on her back for the time being. She had taken a memorable beating - Drainira's body, whatever it was made of, was stronger than it appeared.

"Yes, your eyes may be a repository of secrets." She whispered in Satu's ear. "Your kind did not exist before the Valterrian, or surely we would have performed countless experiments to understand and reproduce your powers. Our work on Isur arms was very promising, after all." She took a step back, staring intently at Satu. The seer could not read the golem's heart, but she could almost see the calculations flashing before Drainira's eyes as she contemplated the Konti's fate and reduced it to multiplications and divisions.

She was still computing when Satu let the truth slip out. She was not going to be as cooperative as the golem hoped she would be. Truth told, Drainira failed to understand the Seer's reasoning. It looked so irrational, she found herself tilting her head and raising a brow in a most grotesque way. "Thanks for providing this information, Ms. Satu. My knowledge of the Konti is still fragmented, but growing by leaps and bounds." Dangerous people. Seers, free thinkers, potentially inspired others to change the status quo. Ability to disrupt a perfect society. To be greatly reduced or downright culled eventually.

"I must admit I fail to understand your arguments, however. You are turning down a high-level operative task before you even learn what it is about. In case you haven't noticed yet, you are my prisoner, Ms. Satu. That is a remarkably weak position to negotiate in. It is entirely within my powers to assign you to much lower tasks - unskilled labor, if you will." She smiled a little. "Opportunity is an orderly place where everyone lives in harmony under my guidance. It is a scale model of what Mizahar will eventually become. I apply extensive notions of psychology combined with magical conditioning to keep the peace. People are chaotic unless their instincts are curbed, or fulfilled."

"Right now, the male to female ratio in Opportunity is roughly 4:1," Drainira commented, her expression unchanging like no living being ever could. "While it is a necessity due to the heavy labor involved in returning the fortress to its former glory, there are… issues with this kind of social setup. I believe the saying is 'boys will be boys', Ms. Satu." The golem clasped her hands behind her back, smiling. "So, since you will not consider being my agent right now, I am going to assign you to the sexual satisfaction of Opportunity's male residents for the next three days. We all make ourselves useful around here." She patted the Konti's shoulder, as if congratulating her on a promotion.

"We will talk again in three days, unless you had a change of heart about your decision?"

"Bas… tard…" Danna muttered, spitting blood on the floor.

[Satu]

“You can’t understand, because you don’t feel! If you did, you would know all this to be wrong! This plan… this…” a muscle in her shoulder jerked because she could not lift her hand to gesture all around her. “You are missing great truths, Drainira! There is so much more to life beyond order and calculations. And you can not even envision it!” Her voice was rising higher, threatening panic. The Konti, desperate now, leaned over slightly, aching for the Golem to see and understand, “Your creators made you powerful. But incomplete! Why can you not see that?”

It was futile to argue. She knew that, or at least a part of her did. The more Drainira moved and spoke, the more it was apparent: she was constructed, complete with fake expressions and false concerns. Even the Golem’s breath on her cheek was sterile and artificial, empty of the normal smells of life. How could people follow a machine? Impossible!

Satu willed herself to stand straighter and face her captor squarely. Even with the Golem inches from her face, the Konti would not back away now that she had made her heartbreaking and possibly life-threatening decision. She stood almost steady, but it was the body’s physical memory of standing straight that allowed her to do so, not inner courage. And though she stood tall as a suvai fighter, the vulnerable look in her eyes was all HeartSeer, and each minute that awareness threatened her posture.

Red Pain and Anger, flared again in Satu’s eyes, the intensity pounded at the Konti as it continued to radiate outward from Danna. The hurt did not lessen or stop; instead it became bottomless and dragged Satu into a lethargic state. Heavy and distracted, the emotionally burdened Konti wished for retreat from this madness. Even the little holding cell now seemed a place of refuge. How she wished to return to it in her weariness.

“I don’t even understand how I could possibly help you...” she pleaded. “Tell me all you want about this task. I do not think it will matter in the end.” Careful, careful her senses warned. “I can not live as a conditioned slave… without thoughts or feelings to guide me.”

Drainira was right; she was in no position to bargain. Even in trying to save her ethereal soul, she might well lose her life. No one knew she was here. There would be no miraculous rescue. To one thought did she cling then: her battered spirit was still free, that could not be taken from her! The tears that blossomed freshly in her eyes did not fall. The slight lift of Satu’s head held as Drainira discussed sending her to lower tasks. The Konti was relieved. They could work her harshly, but her connection with her spirit could not be broken by manual labour or any number of mindless tasks.

But her stance began to wilt with each word the Golem added. Male to female ratio. Boys will be boys… Sexual satisfaction… What could it mean? It was as if all the thoughts in her head disappeared at the same time. She was left with an empty space, where Drainira’s words alone floated menacingly.

“But I, I have never… with a man…” Satu tried to say to Drainira’s touch on her shoulder. Only to be interrupted as the thinly held posture finally crumbled and the knees buckled. She was not aware of the slide down to her knees or of the cloak that billowed around her in its descent. Her eyes were distant, never had she imagined… never, that such cruelty existed. The shock threatened to suffocate her Heart.

Wildeyed, the Konti glanced at Danna spitting blood upon the floor. It seemed the mercenary was now the one to be envied.

“I will not change my mind,” she tried saying bravely, unable to look at Drainira as her voice shook uncontrollably. “I will not change my mind…, I will not…,” she then whispered to herself, hoping it was true. At what cost did one willingly let freedom go? Satu was afraid she would soon to find out.

[Tarot]

As Satu's world seemed to come undone, Drainira loomed over the fallen Konti, looking much bigger than she really was. Her expression was not unlike that of someone expecting a guinea pig to make it out of a maze and watching it get stuck at the first dead end. She shook her head. This girl was useless at a first glance, yet Drainira had a perfect use for her. Her very innocence would be her best asset. She was exactly the type anybody would trust, and she carried the inherent respect people had for the Konti. Satu was ideal. She just needed to know her place. Drainira would be sure to sting her until the guinea pig found the exit to the maze.

"How strange," she murmured, "about 78% of you are like this at first, even though the books say that such couplings are pleasurable. Your brains are poorly coded to be sure." Her patience was not infinite, and after a few seconds of watching Satu tremble on the floor she pulled her up with ease. It took her only the left hand to lift the Konti effortlessly. She would probably be able to throw her across the room just as easily.

She started dragging the Konti away by the arm with an iron grip, though still half-smiling in a way that totally wrong. Danna's gaze crossed hers for a split second. The mercenary, still lying on the floor in pain, mouthed the words for her to see. "Be strong." There were a sadness and a rage in the woman that were entirely for Satu's sake and shadowed the abuse Danna herself had taken from Drainira and her lackeys.

"You are correct on one point, Ms. Satu. I am incomplete." She turned her head with wide eyes staring into Satu's own pools. "But I will be complete. I will be perfect at the end of this. And you will serve me, either as a willing enthusiast or as a shackled slave. I can use you either way, but the first way will bring joy and rewards."

The golem opened the double doors. The guards were still there, all of them and maybe even one or two who hadn't been present before. Satu could see them grin lecherously; apparently this was a recurring scene in Opportunity and they were used to being given females as toys. The sticky aura of lust hung around their bodies like a bad smell.

To claim nobility was one thing; to actually be noble when the time came was another thing entirely. There was no doubt in Satu's mind. They would take her somewhere, maybe to the cells, maybe elsewhere, and have their way with her. A couple of them would be gentle; the rest, not so much. Some would take turns; others wouldn't be able to wait. Three days may as well be three years for someone's sanity. Drainira was aware of that.

"Here we go," she whispered in Satu's ear. "It's not too late, you know. Be my agent… all you have to do is be in the right place at the right time when I give the order every once in a while. No particular skill needed aside from your pretty face and sweet voice. Which one is it? Are you giving yourself to them, or to me?"

[Satu]

“How many times you ask me!” Satu’s tone was frenzied. “I have made up my mind! I have answered you! Many times I have answered! Why do you keep asking the question…?” she almost pleaded. The question was inherently dangerous and every repetition of the question even more so. Each time the Golem asked Satu to join her; the Konti felt the growing allure of safety in the offer. Each time the pull was stronger, and the HeartSeer’s resolve weaker. False Safety! Her senses warned. It sounded so simple and uncomplicated just to accept.

But then she would be Lost.

Drainira’s grip on her arm was brutal, she would be bruised a deep, thunderous purple by the force behind it. How could one small arm harbour so much strength? It was the strength of a machine, and not a woman that resided there. Satu could not even call her a beast, for that meant that she harboured emotions and feelings, and a machine had none. It was too much to take in! Satu’s mind began to circle in an attempt at self-preservation.

That smile is not real. Drainira is not real. She is machine. She was made by someone. Machines have no emotions. You can not follow a machine. You will be lost if you follow a machine…She is a machine.

The words became a makeshift mantra that repeated itself in various ways, allowing the HeartSeer’s mind to stay in the present, without withdrawing to a place of inner retreat. She needed relief from the pressure she felt. If not, fear would very soon change her answer to Drainira’s question.

And then she would be Lost.

The double doors through which Satu and Danna first entered the room, now opened again as Drainira ushered her towards the same guards, with a few new additions. The men’s faces were recognizable, except now, the formerly blank looks held lecherous grins… How could they possibly know so soon what Drainira planned? Her gaze caught the Captain’s, and then travelled from one man to the next, slowly resting on each in turn as their vicious, hungry auras became oppressive to her eyes. Tainted by the contact, her Heart and mind filled with images of ruin. I can not do this! She was tormented by thoughts of those men physically and emotionally touching her. I can not go with them! But again the words materialized from within…

Machines have no emotions. You can not follow a machine. You will be lost if you follow a machine…She is a machine.

Quickly, quickly! Her mind implored, Choose now! Satu needed to end it right now, or the fight was lost and Drainira would win. Squeezing her eyes shut tightly, the HeartSeer gave a little lift of her chin in the general direction of the guards, “I choose them…”

And Satu was lost. Lost in Opportunity.