Chapter 4: The Conversation with Ser'kaum
On the fifth day, Kael decided he needed to talk to his weapon.
Ser'kaum had been strange since the deactivation of the Axis. Not hostile — just distant. It coiled on Kael's forearm during the day, but at night it detached and went to the corner of the chamber, as if preferring to sleep alone.
Living weapons don't usually have their own will apart from the bearer's intention. But Ser'kaum had never been a common weapon. It had been born from an unstable fusion between bone tissue and nerve impulses, fed by Kael's intentions. During the First Cycle, it had fought against the Rejected Core. During the Second, it had remained inert, observing.
Now, it seemed... bored.
- "You want to fight - said Kael, sitting on the floor of the chamber, face to face with the coiled creature."
Ser'kaum emitted a click. That was its most basic form of communication: a bone snap that could mean agreement, disagreement, or simply attention.
- "There's nothing left to fight against. The Axis is gone. The great threats are over. What remains is... this."
Kael gestured around, indicating the modest chamber, the peaceful routine, the absence of cosmic crises.
Another click. This time, Ser'kaum slowly uncoiled and slid across the floor to touch Kael's leg. Not as an attack. As contact.
- "You miss it - Kael translated." - "Not the violence. The purpose."
Ser'kaum emitted three short clicks. Agreement.
Kael sighed. Threnaal adjusted its rhythm to something slower, as if trying to soothe.
- "Me too."
They were silent for a while. Then Kael stood and went to the small desk that the Arin administrators had installed in his quarters. There were some basic tools: a data recorder, a communicator, a symbiote maintenance kit.
He picked up the kit and returned to Ser'kaum.
- "I've never done your maintenance alone - he said." - "There were always technicians. Or Lumea. Or someone."
Ser'kaum made no sound. It just moved closer.
Kael opened the kit. Inside were small vials of symbiotic nutrient, neural adjustment needles, a microfissure sealer. He took the nutrient vial and warmed it between his hands, as he had seen technicians do.
- "If it hurts, let me know."
Ser'kaum emitted a dry click that sounded almost like sarcasm.
Kael laughed. For the first time in a long time, he really laughed.