S-2879 • L11 Irraluna • D00-D15
"Irraluna opens silence in fine radiance.
The thread grows, curves, anchors presence.
Lilibe sings high — and the sky reveals itself.
Irrasi seals fullness in living light."
Kiara and I took turns caring for Trix beneath the moons.
When she described the symptoms, I concluded her brain had rid itself of the nanites.
I cleaned her blood with saline, but some had spread through her bloodstream, affecting the muscle tissue.
Her movements were temporarily reduced.
Even so, her recovery was faster than I expected.
And not only hers.
Maybe it was because of how many times mercenaries had suffered violence, accustomed to having their bodies mutilated, bones broken, organs damaged, and so many other physical, psychological, and emotional abuses.
But they showed an exceptional recovery rate.
Their bodies learned from pain.
Absorbed it. Evolved.
As if even suffering were transformed into strength.
My nanoscientist side burned with curiosity.
Imagine a medical nanodevice woven from DNA that powerful?
Even when I worked in the emergency room, I had never seen anything like it.
Their ability to readapt and recover far surpassed the most advanced medical nanodevices I had connected to.
It would be plausible to see some of them reach old age.
Everyone in Zenith longed to live forever.
That was still far from reality.
Only life-extending nanotechnologies existed.
"How much longer do we have to wait?" Kiara asked, impatient.
I rubbed my shoulders, sore from tension.
"I don't know.
She could recover today, tomorrow, or any other day.
She already has eighty-nine percent of her movements back in half a lunation.
It's admirable."
The android nodded and left the room.
I turned my attention back to Trix, resting on the sofa.
Her days consisted mostly of sleep.
When awake, her speech sounded disjointed.
I assumed her thoughts were tangled.
That resonated with my own wounded trauma.
I tried to occupy myself with Trix.
Or immerse myself in thought.
The Mother and the Witch gave me strength.
When I slept, nightmares haunted me.
I woke startled, short of breath.
Kiara was always there to soothe me, to keep me present.
She brought comfort with her presence.
S-2879 • L11 Irraluna • D15 Irrasi
"Irraluna radiates its peak in living silver.
Irrasi ignites fullness above.
The tide sings wide, open sky.
The story moves whole, in total light."
It was early.
The snow distracted me.
I felt a few cramps approaching.
"W-water."
Trix moved.
I ran to lift her head.
I pressed the water bottle to her lips.
As she responded, I offered more.
She drank half.
She gestured for me to stop and ran a hand over her forehead, sliding her fingers over the nanometallic scars on her cheeks.
She seemed to be reflecting on the nanotecnological marks.
Her gaze distant.
Hawk eyes stared into mine.
"You're familiar.
Feels like I've seen you before, just forgot where…"
I swallowed hard.
Her gaze pierced me, as if searching for something buried in my expression.
I held back a shiver.
She must have seen my photo on the contract.
I wasn't wearing a mask.
My hair was its natural color, black.
I worried she might recognize me.
Her ability involved sight.
The chances of her connecting the two things were enormous.
I swallowed hard.
"I recently became Kiara's apprentice."
That would have to do.
She took her hands from her face.
"Whatever.
I must be hallucinating again."
I sat on the sofa beside her.
"How are you?"
Trix moved her body more easily.
"You're recovered.
At least physically," I diagnosed.
"I'm fine.
My head, though…
Forget it if you want to hear that my head is fine.
Everything in here is fucked.
This is just one more thing for my collection."
It surprised me how naturally she said it.
I mean, Denden was also aware of his psyche.
All of them were.
All of them knew their burdens very well.
All traumatized.
Maybe admitting the truth made it easier to navigate.
One less weight to carry.
One more tide to swim with.
"I'll call Kiara."
Before I could stand, Trix held my arm.
She looked away.
"Spasibo.
I know you saved me.
Now I owe you a favor."
Trix pressed her lips together.
My mouth parted in surprise.
I recovered my composure.
"No…"
"We're not discussing this.
I don't want to owe anyone anything, just…"
She stood with admirable firmness and straightened her back, her expression proud.
She didn't even look like someone who had nearly died.
"Fuck, I really did hear a familiar voice."
Kiara entered the room smiling.
"Yeah, I'm tired of this shit.
Where's that little princess?
I have business with her."
Kiara brought Anichka into the room.
In front of Trix, her face flushed.
The princess started trembling, eyes wet.
She looked like she would fall apart at any moment.
Even I grew anxious.
Everything was so unpredictable.
"I-I—"
Trix silenced her with a wave.
"Quiet.
I want your voice on mute."
She gestured to Kiara.
The android placed a hand on her hip and spoke, explaining almost everything, but omitting some things, especially about Saymon.
Why?
Kiara was cunning.
So I let go of her reasons.
"And… she's the Pakhan's daughter."
Kiara stared at Anichka.
The girl was in tears.
Trix's eyes widened.
Her shock turned into a smile.
A malicious smile that foretold vile intent.
Cruel flames ignited in her eyes.
Trix approached slowly, and the princess retreated with each step she took.
A powerful murderous aura moved with her.
Anichka's terror surpassed human comprehension.
She hit the wall.
No room left for another step.
Her terror spilled through the room and reached my being.
I could feel her sweat mixing with the tears.
Her heart beating so fast, about to tear through her chest.
Her throat hurting from swallowing sobs.
Her head throbbing from the pressure.
The air grew heavy, as if something invisible pressed against my chest.
Anichka tried to move back, but Trix's pressure cornered her.
"P-please, I didn't mean to, he was going to kill my sister."
"Sister?"
Trix leaned over Anichka.
Her cruel smile widened.
The princess nodded.
When Trix slammed her hand against the wall, the princess shrank back.
The mercenary ran her fingers through her hair and moved the strands stuck to her face.
She stroked her cheeks.
Anichka opened her eyes, unsure how to react.
Trix smiled like a psychopath.
"It's funny and ironic how fate works.
You did this because you wanted to save your sister while trying to kill the other one?"
She lowered her hands to the girl's neck and caressed it.
Sister?
Did she say they were sisters?
I looked at Kiara.
She seemed unaffected by the revelation.
"W-what are you talking about?"
Anichka asked what was on my mind.
Trix tilted her head back and laughed.
A laugh that discharged electricity through the bones.
The princess startled.
The mercenary ran a finger along the girl's jaw.
"Let me guess, he's the best papa in the universe.
Promised you the world.
He's your hero.
Your mother wants to separate you.
He's sad.
His heart breaks every day away from you.
All he wants is to be with you, every day.
With nothing and no one separating you.
You find a way to join him."
Her voice turned furious.
Trix tightened her fingers around Anichka's neck.
"For the first moons, everything is magnificent.
You're so happy you could float."
Her voice grew more enraged.
"Then, cycles later, he locks you in a dark room and straps you to a stretcher.
You lose all sense of time. Space.
Everything you feel now is pain after pain.
Pain per second."
Anichka's eyes widened.
She tried to pull Trix's arm away, in vain.
"You wonder why, but honestly, you're so drugged you can barely think.
You hear:
She is perfect because she is blood of his blood.
She will be the weapon that makes everyone bend."
Anichka's face and eyes turned red, almost purple.
"Guess what?
It was all a lie.
He reduced you to a weapon.
Used you in the worst way.
Destroyed your heart."
Her words held the force of hatred, sadness, and resentment.
"He took from you the one you most… loved."
Trix added more pressure.
Anichka was suffocating, her feet swinging, her hands trying to grasp the final threads of life.
Soon she would be…
I had the urge to run to her, but Kiara squeezed my shoulder.
I forced saliva down my closed throat.
I stayed where I was.
Powerless.
One more…
One more death…
It was unbearable to keep watching.
The android pressed her touch, scolding me with her gaze.
I nodded.
I was suffocating with Anichka's lack of air and with Trix's tearing pain.
My heart heavy.
I wanted to cry.
"Do you understand what I'm saying?"
Trix lowered her voice and looked down.
Slowly, she released her.
Anichka fell to her knees.
She dragged air into her lungs with a desperate hunger to live.
Her hands held her chest.
Rising and falling quickly.
Even she seemed unable to believe she was alive.
I wanted to help, but I restrained myself.
It took so much strength to show indifference.
I pressed my fingers into the sofa.
For a moment, everything went quiet.
The wind blew outside.
Anichka could only cry.
A bloodthirsty aura surrounded Trix, her expression implacable.
There was something else.
Ah, yes…
Now she had a target.
Trix straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin proudly.
"Send me Cloakify one more time?"
She turned to Kiara.
The android nodded.
Trix walked to the weapons table.
"You know…
I could do this from kilometers away."
She picked up her sniper rifle and caressed the barrel.
Then she slung the weapon across her body and picked up an intricate dagger with aged golden details at the base.
She spun the blade in her hands, pressing the tip against her finger without drawing blood.
"You know me, Kiki.
I like to bring bastards to their knees, see them tremble.
Beg with terror in their eyes.
Break out in cold sweat with their throats closed."
She laughed wickedly.
Then she sheathed the dagger.
I held my breath.
I took those words for myself.
Kiara nodded, unmoved by the malignant declaration.
"What do we do with the girl?"
Trix shrugged.
"Whatever you want.
She's no longer my problem.
Just another svoloch'.
I want distance from more of them around me.
Except you, of course."
She winked charmingly at Kiara and handed her a playing card.
"The address to drop her off is there."
Kiara ignored Trix's advance and took the item.
A fleeting shadow crossed her face.
The Eight of Cups.
One of Saymon's cards.
The mercenary turned.
As Trix was leaving, Anichka stared at her with an unreadable expression.
She stood.
"I-is it true?
Are you…?"
An anguished and hopeful tear slipped down her wet face.
"Are you my sister?"
Trix was about to cross the door.
She turned her head.
Whispered.
An icy whisper that echoed through the wooden walls, slipped through the cracks, more wintry than the wind outside.
"Forget it.
It's better if I'm not.
I'm going to destroy the last remnant of the blood of my blood."
She sentenced, and left.
I breathed as I hadn't breathed in ages.
Anichka covered her face and began crying again.
Maybe because she understood what Trix intended by going to Khalmer-Yu.
Maybe because she was already allowing herself to grieve.
Or maybe it was the simple relief of being alive.
Whatever it was, she surrendered to tears and flooded the room with them.
"Hey!"
Kiara pointed at the girl.
"Don't cause me problems."
She gestured for me to follow.
We walked to a room upstairs.
The android leaned against the wall, holding the card between two fingers.
"He knew."
What did Saymon know?
That Trix was the Pakhan's daughter?
Or Anichka?
Or both?
Before I could open my mouth, Kiara slipped the card into her pocket.
She rubbed her temples.
"Better rest.
Tomorrow we finish this mission and go back to Brazil.
No obstacles in our way."
She seemed to want to say more, but kept it to herself.
Knowing that asking would be useless, I said what troubled me:
"Trix might recognize me."
Kiara raised an eyebrow.
"Worried about that?"
"No…
I mean…
Yes…
I don't know."
I rubbed the back of my neck.
"The way she said those things…"
Kiara nodded, calm.
"Trix is the least of your problems."
I frowned.
She ignored my doubtful expression.
"Right, rest up."
She went downstairs before I could answer.
I looked awkwardly toward the stairs.
What the hell did she mean?
It was the first time Kiara had shown unease.
Though it was hidden beneath a dense layer, I captured a faint change in her.
I concluded that, like another being, she had reached a limit.
Maybe, by suggesting I rest, she was speaking more to herself than to me.
Kiara's essence had evolved far beyond any scientist's assumptions.
After all, technologies are extensions of the soul.
Maybe that was the reason they controlled the existence of corrupted androids.
After all, sentient nanotechnology like her would mean freedom and autonomy for machines.
I approached the window.
Snow fell endlessly outside.
White, silent.
As if the world were joining in stillness with the pain we carried.
I rested my elbows on the sill and my chin in my hands.
When I breathed warm air, vapor condensed on the glass.
I wrote Maia's name.
I smiled.
I let the memories come.