At last

Chapter eight

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Clarke's point of view

The woman settled back in her chair, apparently taking her own advice to get comfortable. A thoughtful look crossed over her face - from what I could see of the lower half - as, I assumed, she tried to figure out how to approach her tale.
A few beats later, she cleared her throat. "I suppose telling you who I am is the best place to start. My name is Violet Daphne, leader of the people of Eligus. I'm known as Madam Daphne, or the High Superior."
I recalled the events of my... kidnaping? I heard that robot person mention something about the High Superior. So this was her.
I listened intently as she continued.
"My people and I awoke from hypersleep eight years ago. We couldn't - and still can't - remember how we even got on the ship and into space, much less be allowed the luxury of our own hypersleep chambers. We still can't remember much our past lives, which we believe is caused from a malfunction of the chambers.
However, there was a much more serious problem with the chambers. More than half of the chambers emitted a varied amount of radiation into their host's system. Some emitted higher levels of radiation than others, since we found several dead bodies inside of their chambers. Most of us, however, found out that we're infected with what we now call the Hyper-Plague, caused by the radiation in the chambers.
A few people woke up with mutations on their bodies, such as a few more fingers, or even an extra limb or two. They quickly began deforming into creatures that didn't even look human anymore. The sickness was spreading to other people, and there was nothing that our doctors could do for them since we don't have a cure.
The Hyper-Plague also caused the infected to forget who they were. They lost their humanity and turned into deranged, aggressive beasts that attacked anyone they came into contact with. We decided to lock them away for our doctors to continue their studies on them so we could figure out what went wrong and try to develop a cure for more recently infected people.
With people becoming infected day by day, the population of Eligus was dropping quicker than we could contain the creatures that the Hyper-Plague was turning my people into. We needed more protection for the uninfected. So, we designed the Shells," Madam Daphne paused to nod to the two figures positioned at the door.
"Their metallic outer frame is sturdy enough for no claw, tooth, blade, or bullet to penetrate. They are sentient, of course, and contain a wide range of human vocals. No Shell is the same," she smiled proudly. "They are programmed to protect our uninfected from the victims of the Hyper-Plague. They serve in our Guard.
Our ultimate goal was to get back down to Earth. We were working on preparing our ship for re-entry, until we began to pick up signals from radios on Earth. I've received reports of war plans being discussed over the radio, treasonous crimes being committed against leaders. This makes me believe that the inhabitants of Earth are a threatening force that will wipe out my people. So, I've been forced to look elsewhere for a home for Eligus.
I had also been receiving reports of a wave of radiation wiping out life on the Earth, and I knew for sure that Earth was no longer an option for my people. Until, a few months later, I was told that our radios were picking up a lone signal from Earth. Curious, I ordered that we listen in on it."
A cold realization swept over me.
That's how they had found us.
That's how they knew who I was.
"We heard you mention something about a "nightblood solution". We figured that, if this nightblood helped you survive the radiation, it could easily be the cure for the Hyper-Plague. So, we decided to monitor your progress to see if your condition worsened. Once we heard that you had made a full recovery using the nightblood, we knew that we had to find you once the toxicity levels on Earth went down," she was silent for a few moments before she spoke her next words.
"Clarke, I'm infected with the Hyper-Plague," she admitted, her voice defeated. She reached up to her blindfold and lifted it up to her forehead, revealing her eyes.
I gasped.
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