Endosymbiosis

21. Sentinel Lymph Node

Second circle of the Empire
Protection District

I'd forgotten how much humans were capable of letting one another down... I'd forgotten that believing didn't change one another's view and trusting didn't make them trustworthy... And Kadi was a human like any other; just as destructive and disappointing. I couldn't just forgive him for poisoning a creature - an Aulic, at that - but in reality, I didn't even have to. I just poisoned him with my silence, and maybe when we reached the galaxy's core, I would open my mouth just to thank him. Until then, I had nothing more to say.

We took off away from the Destruction District and I hated how much there was nowhere to hide on that ship.

"Doxy..." I couldn't even pretend I didn't hear him. "I don't like it either... But I don't believe that the only solution is on the galaxy's core.

"You don't believe me?"

"I don't even know what to believe! You never told me what you plan to do there!" In his eyes I saw how much he was struggling to trust me, even against all his instincts. "How will you solve all this, Donecea? How do you want to save the Empire?"

I sighed. I hadn't been innocent enough to think I'd get to the core without having to give answers, but I've never been prepared for it. How could I put that feeling into words? Maybe if I didn't tell him, he'd give up on the deal and leave me on some planet along the way, to take his chances with the fevino. Should I try to trick him with the wrong medicine on his next dose? If I tried again, would he be suspicious? And did I have the guts to make him a target if needed so that I could get to the core? Perhaps he had the courage to make me one, if that was the wish of the rebellion...

"I want to help you..." And then all my walls collapsed. "I just wanted to understand you first..."

Maybe I could trust.

And maybe I could give him the right medicine on the next noxdiem.

"There's a disease in the galaxy... Which arose long before Earth joined the Empire..." I began, avoiding the surprise in his eyes, because he didn't expect me to give him answers. "It manipulates and controls the infected, to the point where they want nothing more than to join the Queen and destroy the Empire with sheer chaos..." I swallowed, pressing my nervous hands together. "The Empire was perfect before... But then the disease brought about the injustices that dominated the worlds and fueled their rebellion, a mere consequence of a much bigger problem... But if the disease is eliminated, everything will return to the same harmony as before." I lifted my spine in a surge of courage. "I believe the Queen is at the core of the galaxy... And I intend to kill her."

Kadi didn't say anything for too long, digging circles with his feet into the ship's floor. Maybe he didn't understand how a disease could eat away at the Empire from the inside out, but I'd seen up close what it could do with the minds it touched.

"How do you know all this?"

"My mother was studying the disease. And she left me instructions." I threw the letters on his bed, where was written every step that I should make mine.

"But how do you trust this to be right? How do you know it isn't just a... Mistake?"

Gaxy didn't make mistakes.

"I'm not the only one who is looking to end the disease." I revealed, making an eyebrow rise in his face. "Some Aulics are too. And they can help us."

Kadi opened the smile of someone who knew he was about to face danger - and wouldn't run away from it.

"So let's make another stop before the core?"

I nodded.

"In the Protection District."