Redemption

Work out your own salvation.

Do not depend on others.

The Buddha

I made it to the ship in less than ten minutes, immediately contacting Brother Dyson on the secure vid-screen. It was imperative that I keep him from landing troops, or taking other preemptive actions, and the concern on his face told me that he was already planning something drastic.

"I will be lifting off in five minutes," I assured him, trying to dispel his anxiety. "I just need to finish the pre-flight and then I'll meet you in orbit. There is no need to further involve the Volasi authorities."

"Excellent, Brother Gent. We grew concerned when you didn't answer our communications. At first, we thought that perhaps we'd lost you again. But your monitoring equipment told us you were still alive—that you were experiencing anomalous activity in your programming. It was…curious."

He gave me a look of appraisal before continuing. "How do you feel?"

"Normal," I lied. "But I understand your concerns, Brother. A complete diagnostic seems prudent."

"Indeed. I will tell the Udek captain to clear you for docking, and then await your arrival in the Greal's hangar."

"As you wish, Brother Dyson; I'll join you soon." He stared at me for a long moment and then appeared to relax, turning away to speak with the captain.

I disconnected the link and jumped over to the maintenance closet, rifling through the tools and diagnostic equipment until I found what I needed. I used a black, T-shaped separator to pry open an access port hidden under the skin of my right shoulder, and then I reached in with two fingers and pulled out my internal tracking system. I immediately attached it to a power outlet so there would be no break in locator's continuous transmission.

After resealing the access flap I returned to the front of the ship, and I programmed an erratic escape pattern into the navigation system. The vessel would fly toward the Udek warship as expected, but in the middle of the docking procedure it would abruptly break away and dart to the other side of the planet. It would then dip into the atmosphere as if preparing to land, hopefully encouraging the warship to do the same. Once the Udek followed my ship in, it would blast away at top speed, taking advantage of its smaller size and mobility to pull away from the planet's gravity—tearing off at maximum velocity, straight out of the Volas system.

In the few minutes it would take for the warship to convert from a landing configuration to a pursuit profile, my ship would be able to substantially distance itself from the Udek, gaining a sizable head start for the inevitable chase.

With any luck, it would look like I was behaving erratically and trying to escape. But even if they did suspect a ruse, my tracking signal would be on the ship—they'd have no choice but to follow it away from the planet. The Udek would catch the ship eventually. But by then, I hoped to be finished with whatever we could do to help Idra.

I ran down the ramp and out of the ship, turning around in time to see the walkway retract as the vessel lofted itself into the air. The metallic skin shone brightly in the warm light of Volas, and the clouds reflecting off of its mirror-like surface helped the ship blend easily into the waiting sky.

I sped back to the municipal building and found Sev waiting outside for me, standing beside a white aircar with the city's emblem on both doors. There was yellow Volasi script underneath the city seal, identifying it as a police vehicle.

"Get in," he said forcefully. "The clinic is on one of the smaller islands, not far from here."

I leapt into the passenger seat and we shot into the air, barely dodging a similar car as it was coming in for a landing. There wasn't even time to fasten the safety harness and the hood of my robe flew off, buffeting the back of my head in the open cockpit.

"The Udek have left orbit," Magistrate Sev said. "Whatever you did, worked."

"For a time," I replied. "We must hurry."

"Understood," he yelled above the sound of the wind. "I told Idra's physician about you, and he is eager to examine your internal systems. He used to work in the cloning program on Bodhi Prime."

A Bodhi defector?

Well, this should be interesting.

We sank down to just above sea level and sailed across the water—the bottom of the aircar a mere meter above the gently undulating ocean. Within minutes, a small landmass appeared on the horizon, growing larger as we sped toward it. I could only see one building on the island—located right on the beach. The aircar tilted to the left, and then we changed course to head straight toward it.

The vehicle rose higher as we drew closer to island, giving me a clear view of the pristine white beaches and tropical foliage. I saw a well-manicured lawn just behind the building, and winding footpaths that trailed off into the jungle. The aircar began to decelerate and I was unexpectedly thrown forward, my attention drawn to a prominent landing pad on the roof of the clinic.

Despite the sense of urgency, there was only a light bounce as we touched down on the roof. Two people ran out of the building to greet us.

Sev pointed at me and addressed a tall Volasi wearing a white medical robe. "This is him, Doctor Mercer."

"Incredible," the old man said, his broad smile underscoring the wrinkles on his face. "A Bodhi monk. A complete, fully functioning model. I thought I'd never… I mean…I…I'm Doctor Mercer."

"So I gathered," I replied.

"And this is Medic Frew," he continued, pointing at the other, much younger man. "The rest of the clinic's staff has been evacuated due to the unique situation. The Udek in orbit, Bodhi fail-safes, I think you understand."

The first thing I observed about Frew was that he was remarkably short. And not just for a Volasi, he would be regarded as squat in any bipedal galactic species. He gave me a timid wave of acknowledgement, and then looked back at Doctor Mercer in disbelief.

I got out of the vehicle and placed the hood back over my head, and an uncomfortable silence grew as Mercer and Frew continued to stare at me. I noticed that Mercer's infectious grin had spread to Frew's face as well.

"Let's get moving," Sev said urgently. "We have very little time."

"What? Oh yes, of course," Mercer sputtered.

We stepped off the landing pad and into a spacious elevator, designed to accommodate the clinic's large gurneys and medical equipment. Each of us drifted to one of the four corners. During the ride down, the two scientists kept glancing over at me—like amorous schoolboys, sneaking looks at a girl they were secretly infatuated with.

It was a little disconcerting. But I understood.

The doors opened and we emerged in the center of a grand, circular atrium. Like the municipal building, the rooms were all positioned around the outer edge—in this case, a circumference—and each of them had a single door and window, for entrance and observation, respectively.

No one had spoken during the short elevator ride down, but Doctor Mercer was beginning to recover from his initial shock. "It was my understanding that atonement monks would self-destruct to protect the monk's secrets. I'm sure you're aware that abduction was tried several times in the past, before the futility became apparent." He paused and rubbed his chin. "Many races would love to know how the Bodhi perfected the transference process, but the danger…"

"It's true," I confirmed. "Many of my brothers were lost in the early days. But those monks were still bound by their programming to protect the information—to detonate the implanted explosive if endangered. I no longer labor under those compulsions."

"I see," Mercer said, and he began walking to one side of the room. We all fell in step behind him.

"If you worked on Bodhi Prime, Doctor Mercer, surely you have some idea how I function."

"Of course, of course," he said. "But my department focused on mental extraction and storage. Other units concentrated on rebuilding matrices, and fabricating the portable storage units. Those departments were even more fragmented than my own."

He peered into my hood to see if I was listening. "Everything was extremely compartmentalized to protect the monk's monopoly. And it was rumored that only a select group of senior monks understood every part of the process."

We came to a stop in front of one of the rooms and I saw the excitement build on Mercer's face—and the worry on Sev's. I looked through the window and understood why.

It was Idra.

It was really her.

She was asleep, with her head turned away from me—a single foot sticking out from beneath the white sheets. But even at this angle her features were unmistakable, so different from the last time I'd seen her, crouched over Idra's dead and mutilated body.

She was reborn…flawless.

I turned to Doctor Mercer, struggling to find my voice. "Do whatever you must to restore her mind. Anything. I don't care about what happens to me, or any research you hope to obtain. Just fix her."

"Uhmm yes, yes…of course," he stammered.

I looked over at Sev, and his face told me he would see it done. If it were even possible.

"Come with me," Frew said, and he reached out to grab my arm. He quickly thought better of it, and instead waved me toward a laboratory on the other side of the circle.

As we entered the room, Sev took a seat at one of three workstations, while Frew led me to a diagnostic tube set into the wall. I took off my robe, draping it over a nearby console, and then stepped up onto a small ledge placed in front of the tube. Kicking off my shoes, I grabbed the two handles mounted above the cylinder and slid in, feet first. Doctor Mercer went over to a nearby panel and turned on the diagnostic equipment.

Colored lights began to play across my body, forming oblong patterns that steadily shifted over a checkerboard outline. Then a low hum filled the cylinder, broken by intermittent, staccato bursts of white noise.

There was little I could do but remain motionless and wait for it to end.

"Remarkable," I heard Doctor Mercer say. "But how does the containment…oh…ohhh."

"Look at the way the two matrices are integrated," Frew added. "It's just as we surmised, a blending of two disparate personalities. Do you think the monks know?"

"Of course they know!" Mercer spat. "They've always known. They'd have to know to make it work. It looks like they use a second matrix to bind the original one together, keeping it coherent until transference. In the case of atonement monks, that second matrix is programmed with an intelligent agent, capable of developing sentience. The Shepherd Personality is hardwired into the containment chamber to control both the original matrix and the cyborg's own nascent personality. Look at that…"

"Well, it all makes sense now," Frew said.

"Yes, it does," Doctor Mercer agreed. "Wait, let me see if…yes. We can adapt this. With enough time, we can make this work."

Sev's voice echoed loudly through the tube. "Time is a luxury we don't have, Doctor. What can you accomplish right now? Can you do it? Can you use this new data to restore Idra?"

"I think so. Yes…that could work. If we extract the monk's personality matrix from the containment chamber, and then program it with hers instead, we can transfer Idra's stored pattern into her new body. Probably."

"Probably?" Sev said.

"I should study this for months before I even attempt it! You have no idea what you're asking me to do!"

"Of course, Doctor," Sev replied. "I do understand. But please…you must try."

"I will," Mercer said. "But there's something else, Magistrate. I have no idea what we'll find when we reintegrate the monk's consciousness back into his body once we're done. There are two interrelated personalities at work here. The chamber was designed to keep them separate, but connected. I will have to extract both as one complete matrix to reset the chamber for Idra."

Doctor Mercer looked at the display and frowned. "When we transfer him back into the device, I don't know who will wake up. It might be the monk, the killer, both…"

His voice dropped to a whisper. "Or maybe nothing at all."

"It doesn't matter," I called out to them. "Begin the process. The Udek—"

The building shook violently, and then the lights flickered on and off a few times before failing completely. The sensor beams in the diagnostic tube went out as well, and I was swallowed by the darkness.

The machine's low hum began to fade away, like a distant siren winding down. And then the emergency illumination sparked to life, bathing the room in a pale blue glow that intruded into the cylinder.

I twisted my head uncomfortably and looked into the lab, trying to discover what happened. Sev was still seated at the console, and the light from the display highlighted his worried face. I could see information from the screen dimly reflected in his pupils.

"It's the Udek," he said. "They've taken out the facility's primary power station. Now, where are they…? Wait. They're landing troops on the roof. We have to move. Now!"

Mercer and Frew ran over to grab my shirt, trying to pull me out of the machine.

"We have to remove the containment chamber from your chest," Doctor Mercer said urgently.

As soon as my arms were free, I pushed off the wall and jumped down, tugging off my shirt as I ran to the nearby surgical table. I laid down on it and placed my arms at my side.

"Do you need anything for pain?" Mercer asked. His back was turned to me as he grabbed a needle kit, preloaded with a wide assortment of medicines.

"A local anesthetic will be fine," I assured him.

Frew strapped my hands to the table, and then Mercer made numerous small injections in a circular pattern on my chest, tracing out the area where the soul—the containment chamber—was installed. I felt my upper torso go numb, and my breathing became shallow and erratic.

"Maybe we should put you under," Doctor Mercer said nervously. "I don't know what you will experience when we…extract you."

"No!" I said vehemently. "I want to be aware."

"It's your awareness that I'm concerned about," he replied.

Mercer looked at my face, desperate for any sign that I might change my mind.

"Very well." He sighed.

Doctor Mercer bent below the table and pulled a scalpel out of the storage base. Taking a deep breath, he placed his left hand flat on my chest. He was shaking…tentative. Frew was at his side, holding a suction wand and looking equally perplexed.

"Go!" Sev yelled. His voice competed with the sound of explosions overhead as the Udek blasted their way through the building. "They're coming!"

Doctor Mercer leaned over me, and despite his obvious trepidation, I never felt a thing. I watched with fascination as he cut away my skin, pulling back my faux ribs to expose the black container fastened inside my chest cavity.

There it was: The soul I was created to protect.

Using both hands, Mercer reached in to grab it.

This is really happening!

I heard several clicks as he detached it from the secure housing, and then watched the umbilicus dangle as Mercer lifted the container from my chest.

"Wait!" I cried out. "Magistrate Sev, come over here. Please."

A large explosion went off nearby, and Sev glanced at the door expectantly before running over.

"Yes, monk?"

"If they do manage to wake me…and it's him. I don't want that. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I do. And regardless of what else happens here today, he won't leave this building alive. I promise you."

Sev's voice was stern. He remembered what that animal had done to his daughter, and I was certain he would do whatever was necessary to make sure Fallon Gent remained dead.

"I am sorry for what happened to Idra," I said sincerely.

"I know, monk. And thank you."

He motioned for Doctor Mercer to proceed. And at the old scientist's direction, Frew reached behind the container to grab the umbilicus. My last vision was his trembling hand, twisting the connector ring to one side…and pulling.

Then everything went black.

{Connection terminated}

{Data loss in progress. Data loss…complete}

{Emergency Destruction Protocols…}

{>>>DISABLED!}

{Shutdown imminent…}

{…}

…

..

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