Signs of Humanity Chapter 9 - Sign 4
Away from the corridors Jericho and Lilith were tracing, in a different part of the Helix Towers, formally known as the Botanical Labs, was the centre of The Tree Mothers domain. The Botanical Labs were a little different from most of the facilities in the Helix Towers as it had the dual purpose of being a Laboratory to study new plant life that had come about due to radiation released from the incident with the supercollider two hundred years ago. As well as a recreational area for the staff of the Helix Towers to relax. In its heyday, it was a stunning sight, covered in a forest of brightly coloured plant life under a stunning array of bright lights that mimicked the sun. All this encased in a glass sphere suspended just under the base of the Helix Towers beneath the ice sheet, meaning in every direction you looked was open water teeming with sea life.
That was not the case anymore, due to the lack of maintenance and neglect the lighting system only had a third of its lights still functioning making the area dimmer and colder than it was designed to be. With the reduction of light, most of the plants had died and those that hadn't were completely overgrown, fighting for what little sunlight was left. This meant instead of a lush inviting forest there was now a horrible cold jungle of mutated and twisted plants. The glass dome was also affected, the heat from the lights used to prevent the water from around the sphere from freezing, the glass from the base to near the top of the sphere was clouded with ice. With the lack of warmth, the sea life that used to congregate around the gardens has also left, the place was more like a graveyard.
This dark and damp forest was now where The Tree Mother and her servants called home. The Tree Mother or Dr Olsen chose this area because at the time she thought it would make a good metaphor for the Garden of Eden, a place of rebirth. But now with the Helix-Tower in declining health and disrepair, it was a dark and dank place. Which she found more comfortable for her grossly misshapen body. Since the increased bio mass generated more heat than her old body she often felt hot and uncomfortable so the cold dampness was an improvement. The darkness she found was also easier on her eyes, her large bulbous eyes captured far more light than she could handle and without proper eyelids to block the light she felt herself sorting out dark places.
With her cult members running around attending to her every need she was in relative comfort given the situation, but lord was she bored. From the point she awakened in the Trees body she felt lost, for a time she had forgotten who she was, it took time for her mind to adapt to the new brain it was placed in, at first, she was driven insane trying to comprehend all the thoughts of the people on the base coupled with her loss of self.
As time went on, her memories slowly began to return and her ability to read minds strengthen, she foolishly began to think she was God. Before Olsen became a Seon researcher she was fully a servant of the empire believing every piece of propaganda given to her. Since much of the dogma of Seon is based on Christianity the belief in an all-seeing all-knowing god was deeply engraved in her mind. She began to reason to herself that if I can see and know what everyone around me is thinking then I must be God. Once she found she could inhabit and control the thoughts of people on the base this sense of divinity solidified itself.
Once she developed her worshippers to become devoted followers, she wanted to put an end to those she deemed to be devils. While the thoughts of the humans on the base were organised and coherent those of the Gen X test subjects were not. They were loud, chattering and destructive they caused Olsen incredible pain to interact with, so she decided to do away with them.
But she wanted to preserve their bodies because as she saw them, they were beautiful, strong and useful, so she put the minds of her most influenceable subjects into the bodies of the Gen Xs, then had the former human bodies destroyed in a way that she thought at the time would be absolute and would aid the development of her folk. The cannibalism she knew now was her misunderstanding of the returning memories of her knowledge of nutrition and how calories help the human body operate. But no matter it can't be undone now, although it was a great regret, over time before her sense of self could come back to her, she had eventually fed all her human cult members to the Gen Xs or as she called them her chosen.
'Why did I do that' she often chided herself, she could have at any time transferred herself into a new normal body and left the Helix Towers and returned to a somewhat normal life. But now, only other Gen Xs remained what would be the point? Any of them leaving the Towers would be killed by Seon troops on site.
Olsen's memories only came back to her fully in the last couple of years, when she realised that she had put pieces of them in all the Gen X's minds at some stage without noticing maybe it was something that happened when she was first trapped in this body. Regardless once she gathered all of them back into her mind it was like waking up from a horrible dream, into a real nightmare.
At this point, she just wished for a way out of the hell she made for herself. But there was nothing to be done about it, she had thought about having one of the others end it all for her but they only ever see it as a test of their devotion and refuse to go through with it. Any attempts she made to try and deprogram them failed, mostly just sent them insane as the contradicting information snapped their minds like twigs. No, unfortunately, she has resigned herself to remain here until her mind faded away as she two was feeling the same effects as Sam, however for her it was taking a lot longer.
In the middle of her daily self-loathing, she was interrupted by Golem who lumbered in. "Mother I..." he started.
"I don't want anything from you, Golem leave me be." She snapped back at him.
"I am sorry Mother but this is Important, we have intruders in your Holy land". He answered back with great remorse that he could not do as she asked.
"What are you talking about no one would ever come here?" This was a little unbelievable she thought to herself as they were in the middle of nowhere and Seon had put a permanent quarantine on the Helix Towers, but she might as well see what Golem was on about. "Actually, on second thought tell me Golem what did you see?" Olsen asked.
"I found two scents that I haven't known before, followed them and came across a man, he smelt like the Chosen, but wrong and he didn't look like us. He looked like us before your blessing. He claimed to be a worshipper of yours from a faraway land and was sent to bring back proof of your existence. I didn't believe him as I found his scent on the remains of Gregory." Golem went on to explain how Jericho had escaped.
‘A man that smells like the Chosen... A Brute maybe, why is there one here? He must be after something; he must be powerful to be able to kill Gregory. Maybe I could take his body, that could be my way out of this horrible place no! Once I change bodies, he could corrupt my mind as I did to the others, if he were a Psychic that’s a different story. If I had of known Psychics were immune to my mind control, I wouldn't have put Sam in that blasted body.’ Olsen thought to herself.
"What about the other? You said you picked up on two scents, who was the second?" Ask Olsen to Golem.
"I am not sure Mother; they were hiding in the dark only to appear to shoot my eyes out. But it was odd, while I couldn't see them clearly, they smelled like..." Golem hesitated thinking that what he was going to say might insult his Holy Mother Tree.
"Out with it, don't think you can hide anything from me". Olsen demanded as she had an idea of what Golem was going to say.
"She smelt like you Mother". Golem said quietly, but it didn't matter, Olsen was already crawling inside his mind to see and hear everything Golom had experienced, so the words came out booming in her mind.
Overjoyed she ripped into Golem's mind to get at the memories to see what he had, she had forced so much of herself into him that it was tearing at his brain, doubling him over in pain of the unseen intruder, he began to howl in pain begging his Mother to stop, but she did not care she only cared to see what Golem had.
Going back to the memory the moment Lilith had shot Golem, and holding on the split second before the bullet had landed in his chest, like pausing on a frame in a video was Lilith's face illuminated by the flash of the muzzle. Olsen was captivated, a young beautiful face, red hair, green eyes and what appeared to be a slender neck that would have applied to the rest of her body, it seemed almost too perfect. A body like that was beyond Olsen's dreams, she could take it and leave this place, finally. 'But who's that man next to her', she thought, seeing a lanky looking man with dark blue hair. 'Must be the Brute, judging by that unusual hair he must have some kind of body manipulation ability, probably a Hell Hound, never mind he will be child's play' Olsen contemplated.
Dropping back into her body, releasing her grip on Golems mind she began searching for Jericho's, she wouldn't be able to find Lilith but Jericho would be easy. But nothing, Olsen couldn't find him anywhere in the Helix Towers. 'Damn it maybe being too close to her must be hiding him from me, no matter I'll send someone to track them in my place.' Olsen thought to herself. 'I want these two tracked, but who would be the best for the job', thinking over the Gen Xs she had under her control who is best suited for tracking? Then she remembered Marcus had been placed in the Gen X Brute, Seon had labeled "The Rat" the name was used partly because of the creature's appearance, a grotesque human form whose features had been stretched out to form the appearance of a rat including a vestigial tail. Its skin seemed to rise and fall in patterns all over its body of divots and lumps and the pigment in their skin was exceedingly dark almost completely black making it almost invisible in the dark hallways of the Helix Towers. Only points of difference being its massive bulbous eyes, so blue they almost appeared to produce light in comparison to its ebony skin.
The Rat also had extreme dexterity and flexibility allowing it to move around quickly and easily in confined spaces. Part of the research done on The Rat was to figure out if its abilities influenced appearance or if it was only a coincidence. The Rat also possessed outstanding sight and hearing that outmatched even the heightened senses of an average Brute. Now with a somewhat sane mind controlling the body, Olsen knew this would be perfect for finding her pray.
Olsen closed her eyes and reached out to find Marcus, she didn't see a point in wasting time bringing him to her and go over what Golem had told her when she could communicate everything telepathically and have him move out immediately. In no time she found Marcus in a section not too far from where Golem had lost sight of Jericho and Lilith, ‘perfect’ she thought.
Marcus was scratching around the old remains of a kitchen looking for something to eat, he found a couple of old military ration packs that he wasn't sure if they had expired yet as they tasted like chalk and had the consistency of tea leaves. But he hadn't eaten much over the last week and gulped it down greedily, following it up with some water from the container he kept around his neck. When part of the food got caught in his throat he coughed and beat his chest with one hand, while at the same time his tail that was roughly one and a half times the length of his legs involuntary slapped on the ground.
Like Golem, Marcus still kept most of his human mind and understood how to use tools and had a modicum of shame about himself. Choosing to clothe himself in a grotty tatted vest that might have been a military coat at one point to account for the numerous pockets that cover the outside. As well an old pair of suit pants that has since degraded to a pair of tethered shorts held together by the will of the owner, with a hastily ripped hole for his tail, topped off with rope suspenders holding the outfit to his misshapen body.
After his coughing fit Marcus sighed heavily and glanced back at his tail, he could never really get the hang of moving the thing, half the time it seemed like it had a mind of its own, other times it gave away his emotional state without him noticing, like he was some kind of overgrown dog. He at least could manage to master it enough to help balance his new form that seemed to be a bit top-heavy with his new broader shoulders and larger skull, but he usually walked on all fours which were easier since his arms were longer now, almost as long as his legs. He could however use his tail like a massive club to swing at things, a handy trick when he had to fight over scraps with the other followers.
Just as he was about to have another attempt to choke down more of the solid brick, he noticed a familiar ringing in his ears as the periphery of his vision began to darken, his head began to feel heavy like a dominating thought was weighing it down. His mistress has called him, suddenly that dominating thought eased and became a clear voice in his head, "Dear Marcus, it is good to see you doing well", the voice echoed and bounced around in his mind. "Mother, I am honoured you would call on me, what may I assist you with today", Marcus responded to himself as he bowed his head to seemingly no one, like all the other Gen Xs in the Helix Towers, Marcus was completely subservient to Olsen, it was impossible for him to think otherwise.
Although in Marcus's case the way he devoted himself was a little different to many he would often undermine his fellow followers if it meant he could gain greater favour with Olsen. This wasn't by mistake in his former life Marcus was quite the boot licker, but in a way that saw himself move quickly up the ranks in Seon, his particular style of favour seeking, often involved him using underhanded tactics to get results, often these results were outstanding and often extremely beneficial. It was this behaviour Olsen wanted Marcus to keep when she subjugated him so she allowed him to keep a greater awareness of himself than others under her control. This made him an excellent pawn for her to use.
"My dear Marcus there are some little mice that have made their way into our home, I would like you to find them for me," Olsen said in a condescending yet provocative manner, after all, she only saw her followers as playthings for her to torment. "Yes, my Mother, tell me where I might find them and I will root them out for you" Marcus responded outwardly, however inwardly he was cursing the mouse comment, wanted to question why she couldn't find them her damn self and what was in it for him? Olsen knew all this and chuckled at the fact he could not bring himself to confront her, after all, she was essentially God to this man. "Now Marcus you know I don't use words to tell you such things, words are too vague and lacking in context for what I require of you." Again, Olsen drolled condescendingly.
"Yes, of course, Mother, forgive me," said Marcus, he didn't forget he just hated what she was about to do, it was unnecessarily painful and he was hoping she could do without for a change. "That’s quite alright shall we begin?" Olsen mockingly asked. "Yes," the second the word formed in his head, a pain like no other came over the man. It was like a great hand had slithered up his spine into his skull and latched on to his brain and was using its enormous grip to crush it.
Olsen was pouring the memory of Golem's encounter with Lilith and Jericho into Marcus's mind. All the subconscious details that Golem had missed amplified. The pain from the attack tore at Marcus like they had Golem only this time it was much longer and slower in order to make Marcus remember exactly what Jericho and Lilith looked like, smelled like and sounded like. So many little details Golem had already forgotten but would be essential for Marcus to track them down.
Olsen wasn't wrong this was information that could not be communicated with words, it was something Marcus would need to have lived to understand. However, she could have removed all the pain from the memory and only given the knowledge Marcus needed, but... Well. Where would be the fun in that? What's the point in having a plaything if you can't see how far you can push them before they break?
As soon as the pain started, it ended, leaving Marcus in a collapsed heap on the floor breathing heavily as he tried to catch his breath after the shock of the new memory being forcefully added to his mind. He quickly gathered himself and pulled himself back up to a sitting position "Thank you, Mother, what do you want me to do once I find them" ask Marcus still breathing heavily.
Olsen chuckled to herself "For now I want you to just observe them, don't engage with them, I want to know what they are looking for, I will check in with you once an hour for updates. Once I know how I want them handled I will have you carry out the rest of my plan. But Marcus, I will have you know that no harm will come to the woman do you understand? The man is of no consequence to me if he dies, he dies. But if so much as a scratch is made to that woman, I will have you subjected to such never-ending torment the remainder of your life will be a never-ending hell, do you understand". Olsen demandingly stated.
"Of course, Mother, I would never upset you, you know this. On my life, will I allow no harm to come to this Woman". Marcus said bowing to no one, some of the words catching in his throat, he knew just how cruel and petty Olsen could be.
"Good, now go, I will be in contact in one hour", as the ringing disappeared and the edges of Marcus's vision returned to normal, he rose to his feet and spun around sharply using his massive tail to hit and throw a nearby table across the room. He took a deep breath and waited a moment for the anger to subside, once he was calm again, he gathered the brick of half-eaten rations and stuffed them into a pocket of his tattered vest and slowly creeped out of the room. Using the new foreign memory as a guide he began to head towards the room Golem last encountered Jericho and Lilith.