Ascent of Lies

Chapter 12

DARK ROOMS HIDE THREATS, that is a well-known fact. Dark rooms, basements, graveyards, red balloons. Those are all bad places to be around for the characters in old-fashioned Earth horror movies from the 20th century. Other Federations civilizations did not have these 'pleasures', most would not understand the fact that triggering the evolutionary imprinted fight-or-flight response could be considered pleasurable.

The Krognan-poetry from the Kirians seemed to get the closest to this rather vulgar tradition from all Federation cultures. Yet their stories about death, disfiguration and the assassinations of highly placed people certainly possessed the necessary amount fright and blood to be called horror, yet the sense of enjoyment that actual Earth horror could deliver, was lacking. Even Klingons in their brutal nature did not indulge in this type of literature, they did not believe in demons in the way that Humans did. There was no 'honour' in brutal murders and a fight with a predetermined ending was not a fight at all if there was nothing to fight for.

Humans, rather fond of their literature and their money, had tried to spread the idea of horror to other civilizations. They had failed miserably. Dark rooms, basements, graveyards, red balloons; those concepts where nothing more than what the words meant in their literal sense. They were not understood beyond planet Earth.

It could be said that horror was even less popular in the Mirror Universe than it was in the Prime Universe, considering the fact that the former was a horror-like setting in itself.

However, Anderson very much enjoyed it. One of his many libraries that were spread throughout the country was filled with nothing but horror novels. He was reading one of them now, lying on his red sofa that was lined with gold leaf in his richly decorated apartment. Athena was feeding him fresh red grapes, as if he was the god instead of her namely ancestor.

"I like those basements", Anderson said, grape juice drippling down his chin. He grinned. "Those poor little mice are so trapped, so scared, so helpless."

"Mice?"

Anderson wavered his hand. "Oh, I mean the... the victims, those main people."

Athena tilted her head, her face emotionless as ever. "The protagonists?"

"Yes those." Anderson sat up. "Oh, how I hate those miserable young sirs, who would want to be a protagonist? So boring!"

"Yes Master."

"But I simply do adore these books, my princess, I do!" Anderson marvelled. "They give me so many ideas. Just think of what I could do to that... that lovely lady Admiral Fujita Diru, that awful lady."

Athena looked up at her master and blinked. "Did the Emperor not order you to kill her?"

"Oh yes, yes! She did, she did", Anderson sighed. "But playing with her is so much more fun, so much fun!"

---

The group entered a building which looked strangely much like any other building that you could find in this street. Imzah walked in first, leading the three Starfleet officers and Arhuhi. Directly after they entered, Imzah went down a staircase which led to locked door. Imzah opened it and they reached a long hallway.

They followed the hallway for a few minutes. It looked simple and ancient, the walls were made of some bleak grey type of metal. Small lamps hung on the ceiling, each a few meters apart. They gave off an eerie green light, so little that you could only see a few meters ahead of you.

After a while, another identical locked door appeared at the end of the corridor. Imzah opened this one as well and let the others into the room behind it.