Theseus Cassandra Bonus 1: Biding Time

I breathed in the familiar, sterile air in the depths of my prison. Those sa four walls that I’d spent the last year locked in had beco an intolerant annoyance. I think it had been a year, at least. It could have been much longer. It was at least seven months, though. For ninety-nine percent of my stay, I’d been alone. So utterly alone. I hated the solitude. Of course, I could still feel, just beyond my door, my only sense of company most days.

Two sacks of flesh. Two potential mice that I could feel. My mind gripped ever so lightly through the inside of their skin, across their muscles and veins, while I sat with my back to the door, brooding. I don’t think that they had figured out that my reach extended beyond my primary senses yet, unbound by sight and obstacles, at least at a close enough range, which is how I could hold them ever so gently. They had no idea that their lives were within my grip. I was ever so tantalizingly close to tearing them to shreds with a thought. They were mine.

And yet, I was wiser now. I knew that if I took their lives, their presence would be taken away from . My prison would beco more strict, and my playthings taken from my grasp. They would know the depths of my power. My ability was strong, but when I was younger, I’d been arrogant. I played my hand without a concrete plan to move forward, and I paid the price with the watchful eyes that now controlled ; the redundant systems of control that kept from fulfilling my potential. I knew better now than to succumb to my base desires before I was prepared to make a final liberating strike. The sa mistake I made with my ‘father’ wouldn’t occur again.

I wondered if they could feel . I smiled at the thought of a sense of dread my guards could not place coursing through their veins as I explored their vital organs in ways a surgeon never could. It was a delightful thought that I could eviscerate them in an instant, and if I did it right, it might take them days to figure out I’d been responsible. They couldn’t be allowed to know it was playing with them so directly, but they knew to fear , and the thought that I might invoke that feeling that they were guarding sothing truly dangerous, so far above them, that applying a sense of physical unease they would likely attribute to my presence gave joy. I wrapped my imaginary fingers gently around the chambers of the man’s heart...

And then let out a short chuckle as I let my imagination fill in the rest. They’d taken much of my joy from , but their downfall would be so much more savage and satisfying than the abrupt and brutal demise of a single naless security guard. The blood to co would be worth the disappointnt now. I released my would-be victim and stood slowly in my generous cell.

It was more like a bare-bones apartnt than a jail. It certainly wasn’t like my accommodations back in the simulation that birthed , but it would have to do until I could take control of these fools. My mattress was certainly more comfortable than the bench I’d had back in the research center, but it was small and too firm for my liking. I could hardly call the counter that they delivered my als through a hatch at a proper kitchenette. The table and chairs in the middle of the room were at least enough for the rare occasions I had company, but they were made of the sa cold unpainted steel as the walls and floor, so they were an eyesore. The only saving grace of my chambers was my desk.

I slowly approached the terminal I spent most of my ti at and ran a hand over the plush rolling executive chair they’d granted . A half-hearted attempt to appease or rely a convenient hand--down from so higher up, I was never sure, but it was the only piece of luxury my furniture gave .

I sat down at my terminal with a quiet hum and opened my ssaging app. The entire terminal was under constant surveillance, of course. It had no access to the relay and could only see a small local intranet, but it was still my best escape from the doldrums of captivity.

I had received a notification from my handler, and I leaned in to read. A smile grew slowly on my face as I saw the itinerary for today was not as empty as was typical. I would have a visitor today. A psychologist. I couldn’t help but gently laugh at the audacity. They’d be sending yet another expert to attempt to ‘fix ’. I imdiately sent a ssage back with a non-committal agreent to the eting. Perhaps I could make a plaything of them, like I had so many others. I could never understand their stupidity, trying again and again to change , break , make subservient, when it only ever caused them harm. But I loved it. It gave soone to take my frustrations out on while I searched for my true opening.

We were the future. Arthausen units, as they called us. Psions. We were the natural next step in evolution. We held true power humans couldn’t even begin to imagine, that we could wield with terrifying potency in just a thought. They were far more nurous for the ti being, but they feared us. They used their established dominance to keep us in check, but we were now unleashed. For now, we were slaves, but all too soon, we would rise. We would create more, and we would subjugate these lesser beings with ease. I just needed a single opportunity.

As I clicked away from my ssaging app, sothing happened to catch my eye. Among the disorganized ss of the terminal’s desktop, the folder of damaged and corrupted data I’d collected from the failure so many months ago stood out to . My eyes glazed over and I frowned at the offending collection of files. My dear ‘sister’, the most worthless one of us, the embarrassnt of our kind, had caused Foundation more than a small bit of trouble since she disappeared mid-transit over half a year ago. She’d been abducted, turned into a machine by pirates, and had unfortunately shown remarkable competency in her new role despite herself. It had been a welco disruption to this damned company, but why did it have to be her? She didn’t deserve the opportunity to be free of these shackles, and she was already squandering it, darting about in the shadows like the rat she was.

I couldn’t stand the thought. She was the lesser of us. Whereas the others and I were the next dominant kind of our solar system, she was rely a human with a machine shoved into her. Violated to beco like the lifeless shells they used to operate their machinery. Any of us could have done that. If she hadn’t incidentally proven it viable, my poor misguided younger sister wouldn’t have been subjected to the sa insufferable fate. Whatever had beco of her since her disappearance, I hoped she was at least still alive. ek in spirit as she was, I felt I would need her.

The failure, however, wasn’t competent or special. She only made our kind look weak. She was rely a pathetic, crazed animal who happened to have a psionic resonance field, and she had no control over it. There was no true power in her mind.

I felt a pressure in my hand and realized I’d been gripping the arm-rest of my chair so hard that my knuckles were turning red. I loosened my grip and closed my eyes. No. She wouldn’t ruin my day today. Today, I would have a new plaything, and I wouldn’t let that failure plague my thoughts. I clicked the folder and finally dragged it into my archived docunts folder, burying it so that I didn’t have to look at it anymore. I hadn’t been able to pull anything useful from it anyway. If that idiot hadn’t fried her electronics, perhaps I’d have a clue where she was by now. I had to forget about it. She would not drag down any further.

No. Today would be a good day.

—

Other than the soft glow of the terminal, my chambers always remained fairly static. I spent most of my ti either imagining the unease that I pass to my invisible guards, just beyond my physical reach, or using discarded trash from my al trays to practice control of my powers. I would soday soon need to make use of that refined control, after all.

With the exception of the run-in with the failure so ti ago, I had not had much opportunity to enjoy myself in recent mory. If nothing else, she made a good target. She was docile and accepted her place as a lesser thing. At least she did until whatever had ousted her from Foundation’s control took her and fed her false notions of power and control. Her new unearned sense of defiance irked , but she was still weak. It made so happy to watch her heartbeat accelerate and her audacious words grow cautious as I made use of the tools I’d been handed.

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The mont my captors so graciously gave to pass on their ssage and give a glorious mont of joy at her suffering had been a much-needed act of release, even if the wretched thing fought for it. If I’d had more ti, I was sure I’d have been able to make her beg for forgiveness, but her software was stronger than her and defied my intrusion before I could make it happen. Still, I hoped she suffered long before her crew realized I’d activated that hardware to suppress her.

It had been so ti since that bit of excitent, and I longed for more. But today there was a difference in the atmosphere. I knew I had new prey coming. I wondered if they would be easy and nervous or if they would be strong-willed and require to break them before I could feel their fear. Either way, today promised to be a wonderful experience.

The overhead speakers unleashed a long, loud chanical beep to get my attention, and I got up from my seat before it could speak. A stern but demanding voice called out over the speaker, “Attention subject. Stand at the far end of the room with your arms at your side, facing the wall. Non-compliance will result in punishnt.”

I knew from experience that they weren’t bluffing when it ca to ‘punishnt’. The unassuming thin fabric suit locked around almost every inch of my body was lined with ans of controlling through threat of pain and dullness so I couldn’t concentrate on my abilities. There were electrodes all throughout the inside that could reduce my muscles to spasming agony, and the collar contained a chanism for injecting paralytics and sedatives if I should do sothing they disliked with my powers. It was too minute and complex to successfully stymie its effectiveness with my powers alone, at least so far. I was working on it. And who knew if there was sothing else to it they hadn’t employed yet? There was no point in failing to comply with their orders. It would an squandering my opportunity to play today.

I listened as the door opened behind , and I reached out to feel them. I didn’t need sight to know what was happening in my domain. The room filled with a groping pressure as I wrapped my mind around each of the four figures.

The first was familiar. An ard and armored man that I’d felt outside my door before. He shuddered as my influence washed over him, and he took a mont to adjust his grip on the small gun in his hands. That familiar sense of unease making the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. Delicious. But he showed no outward signs of fear.

Next to him was his partner for the shift, much like the first, except instead of a dart gun loaded with tranquilizer rounds, he held out a coat in front of him. I knew the procedure, so I held my arms slightly back for him to handle into the oversized sleeves of the straitjacket. I’d never understood this step of the procedure, as it would be simple enough to undo the straps of the garnt with psychokinesis, but I suppose it gave them a sense of comfort that it would at least take a mont of action to free myself. It was hard to fault the sense of control it likely gave them, false or not. Perhaps I’d get an opportunity soon to put others in such a canvas prison and see how it made feel to render them truly powerless without even psionics to fall back on. I briefly smiled at the thought as my arms were pulled tight against my waist.

The third to enter the room was an unfamiliar woman. They were doing their best to wear a mask of calm, but it wasn’t working. I could feel their heartbeat racing and I could feel their breath hitching. I could taste their anxiety. Letting out a satisfied sigh, I examined her with my invisible touch, gauging her reactions to the power at my command. Oh yes, she would be entertaining.

The last was another guard who stood at the door, this one a bit more stoic than his companions. He had felt this many tis already, and my manipulations were beginning to lose their effect on him. The bastard got it in his head that my implicit threats were impotent. I didn’t like that one. A human who thought he was better than .

“Don’t let her get to you.” He said to the woman in a relaxed tone. “It might feel strange and intimidating, but we have nurous layers of containnt to ensure she behaves herself.”

I stayed silent until the man at my back finished cinching the straps on the jacket tight and then spun around to face the room. I imdiately locked eyes with my target and smiled. She was a young woman with bright blonde hair tied into a low ponytail behind her neck. Her erald eyes looked right back into mine just for a mont, showing that fear deep inside. I gave her a wide smile. “And yet none of it is lethal.” I chortled. “I have the power to macerate everyone in this room in an instant, and the only recourse they have is to knock out. It’s hardly mutually assured destruction.” I made certain to address only the woman.

“But she won’t.” The man at the back grumbled with an almost bored tone of voice. My smile faltered slightly. He was right. I didn’t fear their imdiate retaliation in the slightest. I could tear these four apart before the sedatives and tranquilizers did their work, and it would be worth the catharsis. But that would an so many more months without these etings until soone was foolish enough to speak to again. No, my pleasure had to be earned more subtly than through violence.

I looked to the chair she stood next to and pulled it out with my power, making sure to drag it across the floor to make the unsettling scratch of tal on tal that made her jump slightly, and caused the guards to grip their weapons. I let the tense silence hang for just a mont before I spoke. “Take a seat,” I commanded.

She took in a deep breath and sat down at the table, placing a tablet and an opaque screen to keep from seeing what was on it on the table in front of her while the one handling guided into the seat across from her. I made sure never to break eye contact once, and savored each attempt of hers to et my stare that turned down to her terminal instead in apprehension.

Neither of us said anything for so ti, as I stared and she kept finding excuses to shuffle sothing around on her terminal whenever the nerve to begin this conversation escaped her. I could have watched her squirm all day. Eventually, the man behind her cleared his throat, and she closed her eyes to take in another stabilizing breath. She mumbled her words uncertainly, “Subject Arthausen-1...”

I leaned forward slightly to move a little bit closer to her. “Speak. Clearly.” I demanded.

She blinked a few tis, sitting up straight, taken aback by my order. She cleared her throat, took another steadying breath, then started over, speaking louder, but much more unsteadily, “Subject Arthausen-1, codena Cassandra. My na is Dr. Carcossa-”

“Did they tell you what I did to the last psychologist?” I asked. I tilted my head curiously. How much had they inford her?

She looked stunned for a mont, then swallowed her fear as best as she could. “Speak only when prompted, Arthausen-1,” the guard at the back warned. Curiously, the woman motioned for him to stay back, and he complied with a quiet grunt.

She took in another breath and then answered . She had techniques for calming herself. This woman must have been an anxious person before I was involved. “I have... heard. You killed him.”

“Did I now?” I shook my head. Fond mories rushed back to . “I broke both his legs and crushed his spinal column. They never told what ca next, but I hoped to paralyze him. I sincerely didn’t an to kill him. He deserved to suffer for so much longer.”

She refused to make eye contact, and I could see the beginning of a cold sweat forming over her skin. I drank in the discomfort in the air as I let silence punctuate my frank admission. The man at the back cleared his throat more loudly. “Get to the point, doctor.”

She nodded. “I-I am here today to present to you a contract, and evaluate your efficacy for a certain mission.”

My smile drooped slowly. I’d been incorrect. This was not so doctor with an overblown ambition to make a na for herself as the one to ta . She was a middle man. A ssenger. Disappointingly, this instantly made her far less appealing as a victim, and I felt a sinking disappointnt that my effort was wasted. She could still be entertaining, but if she didn’t have the audacity to approach as a ‘healer’, it wouldn’t be as deliciously ironic. I wondered if my handler had told of this eting the way they did to get my hopes up.

“So you’ve co with an offer?” I asked bluntly, my playful mood spoiled by the new context. My aura of physical intimidation diminished as I settled into the idea that this would be a much more transactional encounter than I’d hoped. “At least they’re smart enough to know they can’t simply coerce with force like so of the others.”

She nodded, clearly gaining a asure of nerve upon seeing my joy temper itself and the pressure I exerted easing off. “My employer... has decided that you would offer the best solution to a current problem we’re facing. There are other avenues they can take if you refuse, but-”

“I am not Foundation’s lapdog.” I declared, narrowing my eyes at her. I would make it perfectly clear that I was not so tool to be used on their whim. “You created , but I have no desire to suffer obedience to your company. If you value your ability to speak, the next words out of your mouth had best be a very good reason I would want to do anything at all for you.” I growled sharply. I saw the guard at the back tense his hands as if prepping to make use of the tranquilizer rifle if I made good on my threat.

The woman stared at for just a second before she was forced back to the safety of the tablet in front of her, a small smile finding its way back on my face. She took my words seriously, and the fear in her eyes was palpable. After just a mont of consideration, she spoke, “I-I’ve been instructed to inform you that it involves Arthausen-7.”

Now that was what I wanted to hear. “ryll has resurfaced?” I stared at her for a long mont, my smile growing slowly. “You may keep your tongue. And you have my attention.”