Incident at Facility IX

Chapter 6 - Awakening

Nytus had summoned Sergeant Rozen with a brisk call over the micro-bead. Now Rozen, Nytus and Lander advanced slowly on the door, weapons raised, trying to get a good look at the figure in the storm.

A subtle, ethereal aura, shaped into the outline of a young woman, was walking out there in the dark. Wind and rain and leaves blew around it. Whoever she was, she had no interest in hiding, felt no need to take cover. She walked brazenly out in the open, elegant strides towards the door.

The lightning struck, and even then it took them a moment to realise that they knew her.

"Edora," said Lander, ducking his head to get a good look through the glass.

"... she's alive," breathed Nytus, his mouth hanging open.

Lander and Nytus lowered their guard, their weapons dropping slightly. Rozen's lasgun, however, stayed trained on the figure out in the storm. "Something isn't right," he said, taking two steps forward. Administrator Kress looked on silently, her expression unreadable.

Edora came close to the glass. The subtle aura seemed to be emanating from her. When the lightning flashed again her pale face was clear as day, her expression serene, her beauty astonishing, but something about her was deeply disturbing. There was blood underneath her nose, over her lips, on her chin, and tears of deep crimson streaked down her face. Nytus' breath caught in his chest, a part of him felt compelled to fall to his knees.

"Private Edora, report," said Rozen, touching his micro-bead.

"I don't think she's even wearing it, Sir," Nytus remarked, unable to take his eyes off of her. The civvies watched from behind them with a kind of hushed, fearful reverence.

Private Hein stared through narrowed, restless eyes. He took a step backwards.

Edora was right next to the glass now, her face, so enchanting, so terrible, looking through. Her eyes were wide and beguiling, the blood tracks stained her pale cheeks. She lifted her left hand, and placed it against the glass.

"What is she doing?" Nytus said quietly.

"I wonder if even she knows," Rozen said, a warning in his voice.

There was a moment in which time seemed to stop, and reality seemed to take a breath, and then a force that sent a shockwave through the air and ignited the mind, pulsed from the doorway like an explosion recorded in slow motion. Edora's white-blonde hair spread out and billowed in some ethereal wind as the reinforced glass panel in front of her cracked like a thin sheet of ice, a dazzling glow emanating from the expanding fissures in the pane. A moment later, with an almighty crash, the broken glass flew into the room and scattered like crystalline rain onto the dark metal floor. When Edora stepped through the empty frame the flashing red bulbs above her popped and shattered, scattering more glass around her serene, saintly figure. As her right arm came through the gap behind her, Nytus could see that she was holding her autopistol.

"What is this?" Rozen said, a hint of awe in his voice, his weapon pointed at Edora's chest. Astea Kress stood a short distance behind him, looking at Edora with wide eyes.

Edora had a wicked expression on her face, her blood-stained eyes narrowed as she spoke. More bulbs popped over her head as she approached. The dark corridor seemed to light up with her passing. "I know what you really are," she said with a smile. Her voice was familiar but profoundly changed. It could be both heard and felt. It was quiet as a whisper yet filled the air like a shout. It was as disturbing and as wonderful as the tears of blood that rolled down her cheeks.

Nytus gaped. It was difficult to tell, but Edora seemed to be looking at the sergeant. A sick feeling lurched in Nytus' stomach as he realised that she was slowly raising her pistol.