They arrived before a set of immense doors. The attendant bowed and receded, leaving Zero alone.
On entering; hooded, silent figures, the Queen's council, stood like statues in the shadows. At the far end, upon a throne of light-absorbing crystal, sat his Queen.
Her form was deceptively beautiful, but her eyes held the profound emptiness of the void, and her power was a crushing weight.
Zero strode the long path and knelt.
"Report," the Queen's thought manifested in his mind. "Explain why your failsafe was activated."
Zero gritted his teeth as the memory of that filthy human breaking him surfaced once more. He remembered the begging, the crying, the moment he almost compromised his loyalty to the Collective. He forced the humiliating thought down and bowed his head lower.
