Darker Angels

Tazzy: Always happy to pull a mind scramble.

Miss Murder: Exactly what color is lazy? Since you said to paint you lazy.

DarkCrusnikMagician: I hope you enjoy this next little twist of sanity.



********



“Where are we going, Princess?” Tres asked, sounding only mildly curious as to why Takara was dragging him down the hallway.



“When magick fails, try science.”



“You do realize that is completely opposite to the way most people think.”



“Most people don’t have my family,” Takara said, pushing the library door open without knocking. She was a little surprised to see all three of her parents there.



“What’s going on?” she asked.



“Sweetie, I think you and Tres had better sit down,” Watari said, sounding uncharacteristically serious.



Takara sat down on the couch and Tres perched next to her, putting an arm around her shoulders.



“Okay, shoot,” Takara said nervously.



“Oracle managed to get hold of some paperwork concerning the disappearance of Christopher’s body, Taka. Most of it isn’t relevant or really important now considering the people who did this are long dead. But it seems he wasn’t the only one who disappeared from a battlefield. There were several others who were various strains of Clan, Fey and others that disappeared as well.”



“Daddy, are you trying to tell me that someone took Christopher’s body for experimentation,” Takara said slowly.



“Honestly, yes. It gets worse, I’m afraid. It was determined that the Clan members were better for use in what was planned. They had faster reflexes, stronger body connections and could process artificial connections better.”



“Just cut to the chase, Daddy. I won’t fall apart. Not completely anyway.”



“Gods, I just hate to have to tell you this,” Watari said, running his hands through his hair and looking back at his husband and wife. Tatsumi came around the desk, put his arm around the other man’s shoulders and took up the story.



“What he’s trying to say is: Christopher was alive when they brought him in for experimentation.”



“WHAT!? That isn’t possible, Dad. I felt him die.”



“We know. We think he cut the soul connection between the two of you when he knew he wasn’t going to escape so you would have the chance to live.”



Takara nodded. “That sounds like something he would have done. Go on. I know there’s more.”



Tres had been quiet, processing the information as it was being told. He made several connections all at once and what he could only presume was pain shot through his head, making him feel like his circuitry was being ripped out.



“Princess, I think what your fathers are trying to tell you is that your husband is still somewhat alive.”



“What makes you say that?” Takara asked, looking at him worriedly.



“Most older androids or artificial life forms have some core of a living being to them. Be it human or whatever other species because it helps control the simulated neurological processes easier. It would make sense for members of the Clan to be targeted as your father said due to their increased speed and reaction time. Most likely he would have been assigned for placement in one of the combat units,” Tres said, rubbing his forehead.



Takara stared at Tres for a moment. A thousand and one connections, thoughts and realizations tumbled over themselves and there was a sudden instant of blinding clarity to her. She looked from Tres to her parents in shock.



“Are you trying to tell me that Christopher was murdered and part of him placed in one of the combat droids?” she asked slowly.



Blaze sighed heavily. “Frankly, yes.”



“And you think the unit he was wired into is Tres?”



“There’s documented evidence of that,” Blaze said, watching her daughter carefully.



Takara turned to look at Tres. “That certainly explains a few thousand things.”



“That it does. It doesn’t explain what’s happening now, however,” Tres replied.



“True.”



She’s taking this all better than we expected, Watari thought.



She just hasn’t had time to process it all yet, Tatsumi replied.



“What’s happening now?” Blaze asked curiously.



“We found out a few minutes ago that Tres bleeds,” Takara said.







“But I can’t do that,” Abel protested.



“You have to, Abel. I can’t stay any longer and you have to let me go. You don’t need me anymore. You have friends and people who love you. I’m just a memory. It isn’t healthy to dwell so much in the past and on what might have been. Blaze would officially adopt you in an instant, Circe loves you dearly and always has, Catherina considers you a close friend. Gun, well, he’s special, isn’t he. If you let him be.”





Cain grinned a little as he engaged the connection he had into Abel’s mind. Seeing a well groomed garden, he knew his brother had to be somewhere within the grounds of Blaze’s house in Cymru. He was a little startled to find Abel speaking so intimately to a woman, considering he usually kept his distance from people even while engaging in conversation. He was temporarily staggered by the energy signature coming from the woman. Even though he hadn’t felt it in several centuries, Lilith was very much present. Reincarnation? He mused for a moment then disregarded it. He had seen Lilith’s ghost hovering around his brother too much on these little trips for that to be plausible. Ah, the other woman must be a channel. Interesting.



He pushed forward a little, trying to get a sense of the woman’s energy and was almost staggered by what and who he recognized.



“Circe,” he breathed. “Exquisite. Just as I predicted.” He gasped as sharp pain shot through his head to every nerve in his body.



If you even think about my daughter like that again you will find out just how vicious a member of the old guard of Rosenkreuz can be, Cain.