The Beginning of Lexa

7

Lexa spun around, no longer wearing her flimsy black dress. Instead, her body is wrapped in her familiar armour and she almost sighed in relieve. But what she saw had her blown away. She was known to be composed and her poker face always worn in public. But when she saw her  her poker face was non existant  

Lexa's jaw dropped to the floor as she look at the real life Becca Pramheda standing directly in front of her. 

"How.. How?" Lexa stammered, desperate for some answers.

"I will explain everything, but why don't we have a seat first?" Becca gestured to a blood red couch that appeared in the darkness.

The brunette gulped and robotically moved to sit next to the first commander.

"We do not have much time, so I will not be delving into the details." Becca gave the brunette a soft smile. "The ascension ceremony is when the flamekeeper puts The Flame into your neck, near The Central nervous system. There, the flame attaches itself to your brain temporarily. It is possible to be unlatched, usually when you have passed. The Flame contains the spirit and minds of all the commanders before you." 

Becca waved her hand, and around them the past commanders' body seemingly materialised from thin air. Lexa gaped as her Heda appeared before her, his body good as new. 

"The only flaw in The Flame is that we will not be able to communicate with you when your mind is active. We will only be able to convey thoughts to you through dreams when you are asleep. Your mind is still your own Lexa. We are just here to guide you and provide words of advice when we need to. We will not know everything about your day, only what you let us see. Likewise, you will not know every detail about us, only what we allow you to see." 

Lexa nodded her head. Her mind was whirring fast as she struggled to process the information.

"May I ask, what is The Flame exactly?" Lexa frowned, the only thing not answered in advance by the first commander.

"It would be easier to just show you." Becca waved her hands once more, seemingly for theatrical effect, and the darkness slowly faded. In a blink of an eye, Lexa was standing in a pristine white room. Hundreds of gadgets and machinery too advanced to exist in the rural  surroundings of Polis.

Green eyes swept across the room, gasping in awe as it landed on a window. She moved forward hesitantly towards the window and viewed the outside. "This must be space." Lexa whispered under her breath as she looked upon a green, blue and white globe spinning slowly in the dark, black emptiness of space.

"Becca, what are you doing?" 

Lexa spun around as two women walked into the room, not noticing her presence.

"I am working, I will save the human race left on earth." A younger looking Becca Premheda moved around the room fluidly, determination set in her eyes as she gathered items into her arms.

"That's what you said when you destroyed it." An exasperated, smaller woman sighed, pushing her round glasses up her nose.

"I did not know then. I know better now. ALLIE 2.0 is no longer single minded. It combines with your mind. It enhances your thinking abilities and if you die, your mind is stored in the drive." The first commander waved her hand passionately after dumping her items on a desk. 

Lexa watched as the dark hair woman leaned into a circl=ular device that made the tiny object appear as large as her palm Becca used sharp metal tools to prod and adjust the mini device, with hands as steady as a rock.

"I promise you it will work this time. All we need is the addition of Gorielops into our bloodstream. Once added, our bone marrow will continue to form more in the future so that it will not run out of our system. This will keep the drive functioning." Becca explained, poking the device one final time.