Chapter 55 The other way.

Aelita was surprised by his words, either way, she didn't see a way to avoid being scanned, so she decided to just oblige him, not like she could escape or anything.

-I'll get in.

She said, with a bit of resignation in her voice.

The last time she was scanned the scanner didn't reveal too much about her body, other than the injuries she sustained from Andrew.

But this time she was sure that he would find everything that she wanted to hide, and there was nothing she could do about it.

She got into the machine, and the scan started.

When Andrew saw the results, he was beyond furious.

-Who did this to you?

He asked, with a tone of voice she never heard before, once she got out of the scanner.

She hung her head.

-My father and brothers.

She said barely above a whisper.

Aelita didn't want him to know that she also was abused by her family, but now that he saw everything, there was no need to hide it anymore.

To her people, it was shameful to reveal such things to people outside of the family.

Andrew walked to her and embraced her.

-Why didn't you tell me?

He asked, his voice soft and comforting.

The rage from before, nowhere to be seen.

Aelita's eyes filled with tears.

-I was ashamed, to be treated like this by my own family, is the greatest shame any Cheroni can experience.

She said trying her best not to break down crying.

-Don't worry, nobody is going to treat you like that ever again.

He comforted her.

His words made her cry, and she could not regain control of her emotions for a while.

As Andrew was comforting the girl, he was still boiling inside and promised a gruesome death to the ones responsible.

The scan revealed, so many hidden injuries, scars that were not detectable from the outside, and some damage that would require regeneration to return her body to its full health.

Seeing the results he was almost certain that she was not only abused but tortured.

The worst of it all was her mental health, which was much worse than his, and he suspected that she was only maintaining her sanity by focusing on engineering, it also explained her personality changes, not to mention the urge to help whoever accepted her.

He waited patiently for her to calm down, which took a while, but finally, she stopped sobbing and was now just clinging to him, like she was afraid that he would disappear.

-Aelita, you need to get into the regeneration tank and get treated.

He said softly.

-No, I have too much to do, I can't waste time like that.

She protested and tried to escape his embrace in panic, but he didn't let her.

-There is nothing more important, than getting your health back.

Everything else will be waiting for you when you get out of the tank.

He reassured her, but it only made her struggle more.

She was trying her best to escape, but no matter how much she struggled, she could not leave his arms that were holding her in place.

Andrew was surprised at her reaction, she was behaving like he wanted to toss her into hell, instead of helping her heal.

-Why don't you want to get treated?

He asked suddenly trying to understand what was going on.

A moment later she finally understood that there was no escape, and stopped struggling.

-Regeneration will remove my genetic abnormality and turn me into a normal Cheroni, I don't want that, I want to remain like this, I want to be beautiful for you.

She shouted in despair, hoping that he would understand her feelings.

Andrew was stunned, but he also understood what was going on.

-Let me show you something.

He said, grabbing her hand and pulling her to the console.

There he pointed at a fragment of the scan results that displayed the genetic abnormalities.

The words" NOT FOUND" were written as a result.

Aelita read it and was speechless for a moment.

-This has to be some kind of mistake, she said, not believing the results.

-It's not a mistake, your genetics are fine, and you are what any Cheroni should be, I have no idea why most of your kind look like that, but it's not you who has a problem it's them.

Andrew reassured her.

-If you want we can scan you again just to make sure, but I'm certain that these results are correct.

So you won't change, you will only get healed, and if it bothers you this much, we can always disable the genetic treatment in the tank, making it only capable of healing you without any modifications.

He said, reminding her that it was also an option she had forgotten existed.

Hearing his words she finally calmed down and stopped panicking.

Remembering that she was the one who explained it to him when they got the regeneration tank.

But in her panic, she had forgotten about it, and only thought about avoiding the tank like it was a torture device.

-If we disable the genetic modification, I will get treated.

She finally said with a sigh.

Not like she had any choice in the matter.

Aelita was almost certain that if she resisted the treatment any longer, he would just force her to be treated, whether she wanted to or not.

She liked that he cared about her so much, but he overdid it sometimes.

-Good, because I was not planning on taking no for an answer.

Andrew grinned.

-Oh and before I forget.

He said, pulling her into his embrace again and surprising her with a passionate kiss.

-I also want you to remain my beautiful girl.

He said after the kiss, which surprised her completely.

-Now get your pretty butt into the tank, and let's start your treatment.

He said, activating the device and replacing the empty solution container with a new one.

She was still trying to comprehend what just happened, but hearing his voice she obediently took off her clothes leaving only the underwear, and entered the tank, not realizing what she was doing.

The prick from the automatic syringe brought her back to reality, but before she could even say anything she fell asleep.

Andrew watched as the solution filled the tank, before activating the regeneration process.

Just like Aelita three days ago, he saw the progress bar and a timer but to his surprise, it would take 160 hours for the treatment to be finished.

Seeing this he got furious again, as the treatment time, was over twice his own.

-Just, how much have you suffered?

He asked, putting his hand on the glass and looking at the sleeping beauty.

With nothing more that he could do for her right now, he decided to get dressed and have a little chat with Lanarine.

As he suspected, his clothes were not fitting him anymore, so he took his armor, as it was the only thing that could automatically adjust to his new body other than his space suit.

When Lanarine saw him in his armor, walking into the command center, she almost didn't recognize him.

He was much slimmer than she remembered, and he also had long hair right now, reaching below his shoulder blades.

However, the moment she recognized him, she started to panic, certain that he came to punish her.

-Hi, Lan it's been a while.

He said in a friendly tone, amused by her panic-filled expression.

- Lower the control to level 3.

He said, and she immediately felt more control over her own body.

-You can take a break.

 He said to her, making her stop working.

-Did you come to gloat, or to punish me?

Lanarine asked angrily.

His amusement was infuriating for her, but there was nothing that she could do about it.

-I see no reason to gloat, as for punishment, I think that you are being punished enough for what you tried to do to me.

He said still smiling.

-Then what do you want?

-I want to show you something interesting.

He said, waving her to come to the command chair.

She had no choice but to listen to him and she didn't even try to resist, not wanting him to increase the control on the chip again.

Lanarine was actually quite relieved that he didn't want to punish her.

Andrew opened the chat between the ladies and showed her some of their private conversations when neither she nor Aelita were online.

-You watched our conversations?

She asked not believing that he would do such a thing.

-Yes I did, that's why I knew about everything and was able to figure out that they would send you here if they could not convince Aelita to betray me.

But that's not all, he opened up a private conversation between the fleet commander and the diplomat.

When she heard them talking, believing that they were the only ones there, her face turned pale.

She watched one after the other the conversations and she could hardly believe what she was hearing.

-Do you still think that you are allies or even friends?

Andrew asked, seeing the color disappear from her face and her body trembling in fear and anger at the same time.

-Is this some kind of fabrication?

She asked, hoping to hear that it was.

-No this is stored in the database of the relay I placed in this system, and as its administrator, I have access to its contents.

Andrew said calmly.

-Then they were really going to turn us all into slaves and rule this system together?

She asked, still unable to believe that they would do such a thing.

-No, the moment I would become their slave, they would most likely use me to subdue all of you, and then the diplomat would take care of the fleet commander, turning her into a slave as well or even killing her.

Andrew explained.

He watched these conversations long ago and managed to figure out that the diplomat was using them for her gains.

-Then the ones still in cryo sleep…

She didn't finish this sentence.

-They would either become slaves or be killed.

He finished for her, without a shred of doubt in his voice.

-I need to warn the others.

She wanted to contact the other ladies, immediately, and tell them that they were in danger.

-Stop.

Andrew said, and her movements stopped immediately.

-Why?

She asked, her eyes filling up with tears.

-Why won't you let me warn them?

-Because it's already too late for that.

If you tried to negotiate, for coexistence, it might have worked for some time, but in the end, there can only be one victor among us, and I don't intend to serve any of you or die.

He explained.

-There has to be another way.

She said, desperately.

Lanarine knew that she would remain as his slave, but the others didn't have to share her fate.

-There is.

Andrew said and she looked at him with hope in her eyes, which disappeared after his next words.

-I can just kill them all and be done with it.