Heart Like a Machine

Chapter 88

I was on my hands and knees, breathing heavily and there was sweat rolling down my forehead. The ground beneath me was fading in and out and I could feel my head throbbing and pounding. I fell to my knees and my hands reached up, clutching my head as my forehead was against the ground. People were whispering and I could hear voices inside my head, people walking in and out of my vision. The most prominent one was Aloy. Her lips were moving, but I couldn't hear what she was saying. I clenched my jaw together before opening my mouth, letting out an ear piercing yell as the people and the noises faded away.

"Anything, Nova?" Londra asked.

"No sign of different nueral activity."

"Keep working at her! I'll get the Quen guards back in here to teach her a lesson. I won't stop until she cooperates and gives me what I want."

"Like I'd give you what you want, you bastard!"

"Quiet you!" he came over to me, kicking me in the stomach.

I let out a groan as I fell to my side, curling inwards as my arms wrapped around my stomach. 

"Get the Quen guards in here. They'll have their enjoyment with her."

Londra walked out of the room and two Quen guards replaced him. They picked me up and brought me over to their 'torture wall' as they called it. They set me down and was about to begin, but I slowly stood up.

"Can I please go to the bathroom?"

"No."

"Come on," I breathed out. "A girl can't take a piss?"

"Fine," the guards said.

"I-Is there a facility I can go in?"

"There's a bush over there."

"Great," I sighed and walked over to the bush. "Can I get some privacy?"

The Quen guards walked out of the room and the doors closed behind them. Poking my head out from the bush, I crouched down and tapped my Focus. I couldn't exactly call Aloy and tell her my coordinates, but I knew a way I could. I started to tap things over and over until I typed in the coordinates, sending it to both Aloy and Lis. Once I was finished, I locked my Focus once more and removed myself from the bush.

"Alright, you can come in now," I said, slowly walking back to the wall.

They came in and shoved me against the wall. They removed my armor and made me face the wall. I knew the procedure. I'd get whipped for a bit until they were satisfied. Then I was punched and kicked around until I felt like every bone in my body was broken or to the point where I couldn't lift myself up. Afterwards, they'd burn me with heated knives and blades. They even brought in a fire Clawstrider for even more heat. It was never enough to make me break. 

So there I was, after their torture session, I was laying with my back facing the ceiling since there were whip marks littering my back. It hurt to lay on my backside no thanks to that. The entire right side of my face felt numb due to the heat, while my left side was in huge amounts of pain due to them punching it senselessly. I knew there was a black eye since my eye was swollen shut. 

"You!" Londra burst into the room. "You sent out a message! What the hell was it?"

I just let out a laugh, "Like I would tell you anything."

"You're going to or else."

"Or else what? You've beaten me senseless," I slowly started to push myself up. "You've electrocuted me to the point where I thought I was going to die. And the only thing you haven't done is threaten the people I love most."

"Because I don't know those people!"

"And you never will. I knew I could withstand your torture, your endless speeches of creating a new world, but my final straw was when you crushed the one thing that meant everything to me!"

"That rubbish ring? It was a piece of trash!"

"It came from the heart of someone I love. That's all that matters. That's all that will ever matter! I don't care if you want to make me your wife. I will never be a slave to you, because that's what you want."

"Don't you see, if we come together, we can both rule our new world as Gods! The people we create from the Quen's DNA can be our disciples and we can teach them everything we know! They'll have to believe us because we will guide their way. We will show them the world and everything there is to it! And you can even be immortal. So no more injuries, no more death and sadness. You can put your past life behind you. What do you say?" he walked over to me, helping me stand up.

His hand grasped mine and held it gently. His touch was cold, not warm like Aloy's. As I met his gaze, he smiled at me. I gritted my teeth together as it was a smile of a man who was going to do deadly things to this world. It was a cold smile, not welcoming and warm like Aloy's. Hers always made my heart flutter whenever I saw it. It made me feel welcomed whenever I saw her smile as she greeted me when I came back from who knows where. And I'd return the gesture, welcoming her into my embrace as we got ready for the night. Some nights were spent with the two of us sitting on the beach, watching the stars. She'd point out some of them to me and tell me how they were found. 

But as I stood in front of Londra, those memories were being replaced, overwritten to where it was him instead of Aloy. He was greeting me as I was inside the house we shared. Us sitting outside and watching the stars. Us sharing a life together.

"O-Oh," I said as I held onto his hand.

"See? Now you can finally see what I want," he leaned towards me.

Growling, I headbutted him, even though it didn't do anything due to his shields, but it was enough to make him slightly stumble. 

"Why you!" 

He removed his hand and back handed me across the face.

"Nova! Get over here and begin the MSP sessions."

"Yes, Walter," Nova floated into the room.

"Enjoy your last memories with those person you think of," he said and walked out of the room, leaving me alone with Nova. 

"Please, Nova," I said.

"Just open your eyes and let the video play out."