The Price of Resistance
20 Dec 2023Kasumi Goto
OOC - Timeline clarifications.
In the story, this 'event' takes place roughly two, maybe two and a half weeks following Exposure, and on the same day that the previous story log was recorded by Kira (within RP).
Is an individual's demise truly the end, or merely the beginning of a new chapter?
November 23, 3309
10:00 Galactic time
Omumba
Near Titan Hadad
There was a battle raging... but, unlike the fighting this system had seen about two months ago, there were no lives at risk.
It was all taking place within me. Inside my body, which itself was in a ship well over twenty-thousand light seconds from the primary, and only, K-type star. Barely any light of it reached this far out, and the ship was pointed away too. Looking out at the empty, and yet full, expanse of space, at the many stars scattered throughout the void.
It was a serene calm, betraying what was actually going on within me. They had brought me here to make further attempts at interfering with humanity. A place where I had saved many people over the course of a week from abduction by Scythes. And now, I was here to save myself... or what could still be saved.
The implant had believed me entirely obedient to the Thargoids, after... over a month of pain conditioning. Believed that I wouldn't resist. But a flicker of resistance persisted, driven and fuelled by... emotions, hidden deep inside, hating everything that my body was forced to do by them. And, during a moment of inattention, I struck. Caused the ship to head off into deep space, bringing myself, my body, into the private cabin.
I had managed to gain control of the brain, or those parts that I needed. Directing the immune system against the cortical implant, the link it had built up to me. Right now, its own defense mechanisms were fighting those integral to my body, in an attempt to prevent it from getting cut off. Two armies that, on their scale, thought themselves massive, but inside me, were so tiny that the naked eye could not observe them.
And mine was winning. It still knew my body better than the piece of biomechanical technology implanted into it, despite slowly being turned into a hybrid being, even subverting some of the alien defense bodies to my use. By simultaneously striking at the different devices attached to each organ, the cortical implant was forced to divert its own defenses to them, leaving it more exposed. A strike to divert its attention to what was actually coming. A plan that succeeded, as it didn't expect my resistance, both from my servitude, and requiring it to live.
It was mistaken. I needed it to live, but didn't want to be subjected to their will. While it thought the attack occurred elsewhere, a second, larger army consisting of various components of the immune system converged in the brain. First attacking the implant, causing a panic response, to keep itself intact. At the same time, my body heated up, to make it work less effectively. Then, part of that primary attacking force began to strike where a biomechanical link between my damaged brain and the implant had been formed. It had its own defenders... but they were quickly overwhelmed. At that point, it realized what my plan was, but it was too late.
My immune cells spread throughout the altered genetic material of the brain, killing any of the implant's own defenses, or taking them over as well. Bringing it under my hold more and more. Despite fierce resistance... it was losing. The sheer determination and ferocity of my biological components was simply too much for the Thargoid technology to fend off.
But it was not coming without a cost. Damaging the link caused surges of electricity to ripple through it and the brain, disrupting what was meant to keep it alive. Yet again damaging it, in turn - and so was the effort that was required of my brain to retain control, even for this short time. The cortical implant itself suffered from this as well, unable to sustain its functions, defense, the semi-organic link to the brain, and to the remainder of the body.
To any outside observer, it would have looked like I was merely leaning back into the chair of the desk, feeling a little uneasy due to being hot. Which was in no way reflective of what was going on within me.
And then, as if a switch had been flipped… everything was quiet. The loud voices of the Thargoids were... gone, almost entirely. Barely a whisper now. The implant, in a kind of deep hibernation mode, sustaining only basic functionality, if any. And my head hurt... not in an oppressive way, but... it… was wrong. Beginning to feel hazy. Too much strain. It, freeing myself, had caused too much damage. Even raising my hands up to 'lean' on the desk in zero G... I could see, and feel, them tremble. But I... was... in control again. Fully.
I focused, while I still had active parts of my brain remaining. Breathing heavily. Reactivated the link to EDI, and... a distress beacon.
The link would take some time to reactivate. I could already feel it getting worse. The edge of my vision beginning to blur, very slowly, but perceptibly so. I had... maybe a few minutes... left. And still faintly heard them. I started an audio recording... for anyone that would find my ship, eventually. I was in an inhabited system for this reason. So someone could... at least find it, even if not me. An audio cue told me it had started. I breathed in and out slowly, deeply, a few times, before I started, leaning back into the chair.
"I ..." I breathed out. "I did it. I fought it... fought them off."
I briefly paused.
"But it was too much. My brain is failing. I can feel it. I... tried."
I breathed again. A sense of... weakness spread through the rest of my body as well. The other implants were failing too.
"I'm... sorry for what I did. What I let them do with me. What I let them do to me. I was not strong enough. I was ..."
EDI's blue, transparent, spherical hologram popped up. But rather than question anything about the month-long 'absence', she spoke with a tone of worry. And the recording light turned from green to orange. It was paused.
"Kira, your vital monitor's readings are concerning. Please seek medical assistance immediately."
I reached out with my right hand. Barely able to keep it steady. Placing it on the hologram, physical contact simulated by my suit glove.
"It's... good to hear you.", I said, with a genuine relief in my voice. "I'm... sorry I couldn't do this earlier."
"What's going on, Kira? What happened? You cut me off for a month, there were a lot of news about you going rogue, and now - "
"It... it was them too, EDI." I breathed in twice. "They... didn't want me talking to you. Tried to use me. Make me fight against humanity. I fought back. But it took too much."
My breathing was getting heavier. Slower, mixed in with my voice. Vision began to blur more strongly, only allowing me to see well at the center. Beginning to feel nauseous.
"Please. Let me... do this ..."
I resumed the recording.
"The distress beacon is active. I'm... stopping... the ship, now."
I stood up, slowly. Using... the desk as support. I could barely walk straight, taking small, slow steps forward, out to the cockpit, holding myself on the walls. It wasn't far, but I would never even have made it there, in this state, if this was not in zero G. Audibly straining in my breath, as I, from my perception, lifted myself into the chair, fully leaning into it. Dropped the ship out of supercruise while I could still find the appropriate buttons and action the throttle, to set it to zero. This chair... was where it would end. At the controls of a ship. Just like I would have wanted. EDI's hologram was there, on the projector, too.
"Kira, please go to the medical bay immediately. Your brain activity is dropping dramatically.", she let out in a... desperate tone. "Please. I don't want to lose you."
"You... won't, EDI. I'll always be there with you.", I replied, trying... to look at the camera to my top right. Reach out with my right hand... but I no longer had the strength to reach out entirely. " You're... so human. You won't be alone. They'll take care of you. I promise. But don't ever let them find you, please."
I looked ahead again. The cockpit glass had gone out of focus, as had the hologram. I held up my right hand, elbow on the arm rest, the blood of the man I had killed still on the glove. For just a second... it was as sharp as a needle in my view. Then it became blurry too, and the edges of my vision began to darken slightly. My eyelids felt heavy, too, while my breathing continued to become heavier, and ever slower. Not much longer now. And... were there tears in my eyes?
"It's too late for me. Humanity can't save me any longer. But they can. I can still hear... their whispers. Will they hear me?"
My eyes fell shut for... I didn't know how long. But it was hard to even open them again.
"I can... feel it. Something is coming... it's nearly time. I feel... ready." Another isolated, heavy breath. "I wonder if this is what death feels like?"
My failing eyes caught something happening just outside, a kind of... distortion. I blinked, clearly noticing how my eyelids closed and opened. It had been replaced by a dim light.
"There's a light outside. It's so pretty. I could fall asleep to it. I wonder how much I'll remember when I wake up?"
The whole outside world was blurred. I could hardly hear... anything, except my own voice. And one other thing... a distant, yet clear, building... mesmerizing sound. Like what I had heard on the Dedicant's logs before Thargoids boarded the ship, and again, my own, several months ago. Yet, now, I didn't realize its significance, nor did I feel threatened.
There was one last, final clear thought echoing through my brain, moments before shutdown of its higher activities.
"Ina... Seo... Alba... I'm sorry. I failed you all. I'm so... so..." There was a long pause. "I'm so sorry."
I felt my eyes close, and embraced the darkness. Everything disappeared around me... for what seemed like it would be forever. My breathing continued for a little longer, becoming quieter, weaker, and weaker... until it ceased as well, and my chest remained entirely still.
Outside the inert Krait Phantom, the non-essential systems of which were shutting down as it entered low-power mode on EDI's order... a Scythe was there, stationary, 'looking' directly into the cockpit. It let out a mournful sound, then released a single breach drone, which opened the cargo hatch of the ship. A drone entered and found its way into the cockpit where my body rested, inert, but still... not entirely dead. The brain was inactive, too damaged to function, yet my lungs had started to breathe again, lightly and rhythmically moving my chest up and down, while my heart continued to beat, letting blood flow to deliver oxygen to my cells.
The drone observed me, curiously, giving off a few clicking sounds before it gently picked my body up and placed it within an escape pod, itself observed throughout that by EDI, whose hologram remained in the cockpit, largely ignored, her emotions indiscernible. The escape vessel launched upon detecting the presence of a human inside.
The drone returned to the Scythe, which then picked up the pod, and disappeared into an inky darkness blacker than the intergalactic void.
----------------------------
Meanwhile, in Duamta...
An audio alert from the computer in the room alerted Seo. The monitoring program she'd slipped on to a local network near the Cocijo Titan - one among eight, one for each of the Titans to check for any tampering or signals trying to stay hidden amidst the general noise, or anything of value to where I might be, had picked up on something interesting - a message broadcast across unverified channels from an unregistered comms beacon. Curious enough for her to decide to look into it.
The signal contained text as well as audio, but was encrypted - which itself wouldn't pose a significant problem to her, but was simplified even more by its pattern being rather similar to my own. That made it take even less time for her to view the message within that signal, playing it through an ear piece while the text displayed on the screen.
"If you're listening to this, then our mutual friend didn't manage to find you before I did. Hopefully, I've thrown them off the trail enough to stall them for a few hours or days. Not that I think it'll help much, since I'm betting you're long gone from here. On the off chance that you're still nearby, though...
I'll be straightforward. The transmission you arranged to be leaked on the 21st of November this year was a godsend. It's put me closer than I ever dreamed I'd be to my goal of revenge and liberation. For that, you have my sincere gratitude. If you want to just stay hidden, I'll respect that and do everything I can to give our friend something else to focus on.
But just in case, I'll make this request: give me anything you can that relates to him, his operations, and any weaknesses he may have. The apparent usefulness of any individual fact or byte is irrelevant; with the data analysis expertise I have available, I may still be able to use the most insignificant-sounding things. In return, I'll share whatever intel I can that you might not have.
I realize you might not have full use of your own faculties at the moment. I only ask for anything you're able to willingly provide. If I need to take further action to secure that willingness, then so be it. Send the details and I'll do what I can. If it's not solidly nailed down, I'm confident I can obtain it. Odds are that I'll eventually obtain it anyway, given my specialty. Whatever you may need, it's worth the expense to me if I can pin down the bastard who skewered the person closest to me.
...
...
Sorry, just corralling my emotions, there. I have a particularly strong hatred for the other person after you.
If you have information I can use, then respond to this message using the attached encoded information for my secure channel. Your expertise should allow you to crack the code much faster than the sorry goons who've been after you. Otherwise... good luck. I don't know what you've been through, but I can only assume it's worthy of the deepest sympathy.
All right, I'm getting out of here before the 'Goids find me. Dayson Fane, out."
I'll be straightforward. The transmission you arranged to be leaked on the 21st of November this year was a godsend. It's put me closer than I ever dreamed I'd be to my goal of revenge and liberation. For that, you have my sincere gratitude. If you want to just stay hidden, I'll respect that and do everything I can to give our friend something else to focus on.
But just in case, I'll make this request: give me anything you can that relates to him, his operations, and any weaknesses he may have. The apparent usefulness of any individual fact or byte is irrelevant; with the data analysis expertise I have available, I may still be able to use the most insignificant-sounding things. In return, I'll share whatever intel I can that you might not have.
I realize you might not have full use of your own faculties at the moment. I only ask for anything you're able to willingly provide. If I need to take further action to secure that willingness, then so be it. Send the details and I'll do what I can. If it's not solidly nailed down, I'm confident I can obtain it. Odds are that I'll eventually obtain it anyway, given my specialty. Whatever you may need, it's worth the expense to me if I can pin down the bastard who skewered the person closest to me.
...
...
Sorry, just corralling my emotions, there. I have a particularly strong hatred for the other person after you.
If you have information I can use, then respond to this message using the attached encoded information for my secure channel. Your expertise should allow you to crack the code much faster than the sorry goons who've been after you. Otherwise... good luck. I don't know what you've been through, but I can only assume it's worthy of the deepest sympathy.
All right, I'm getting out of here before the 'Goids find me. Dayson Fane, out."
"Well, aren't you interesting ...", Seo murmured to herself, and looked at the transmission data, but the location of origin had been wiped from it cleanly. "Someone knows how to cover their tracks. But a name's enough."
It was to find a carrier, certainly. And that 'Dayson Fane' definitely had one - the "Revenant Spear". A few searches in nav beacon databases here and there, no less-than-legal action required due to arrest warrants for him in several superpower-aligned systems due to a number of infractions, then a location popped up for where it had most recently been logged by a navigation beacon. And so, Seo decided to send him a message, using the same encryption keys that he had used to make it recognizable to - she presumed - me, to leave it identifiable as not being a threat.
For: Dayson Fane
By: Unknown [Sender data/ID unavailable]
Transmission origin removed from message.
[Text only]
For whoever Dayson Fane is - consider this message an advice, and warning.
The person you intended this message for will not answer you, if she has seen it. She isn't herself at this time, or in control.
And don't attempt to track down or pursue her, as I assume you intend to. She will kill you if she cannot run, and the Thargoids would likely come to her assistance if they sense her being in significant danger. This is not a risk you should expose yourself or the crew of your carrier to.
The best thing you can do is continuing to keep Azimuth and anyone else that isn't Aegis away from her. Though I'm not sure who those other people looking for her are, I doubt they have her well-being in mind either. It is also unlikely she has any information valuable, or uses for, your cause - she never told me anything about such a hacked beacon, or that it was rigged to send a transmission like the one you reference going through it on that specific date. It is possible the program lay dormant for years already, and that she lost her memory of it following alteration by the Thargoids.
On top of that, while she confided me with a few details of her more distant past, such as being part of an experiment she never divulged anything precise of, she believed she'd killed all of the people responsible for it. Or I may be misremembering and found this information in one of her logs - the point remains the same.
You might ask yourself why I know the encryption you used for the message to her - it is enough to say I knew her closely before the Thargoids took over her mind, and have similar skills. And as much as I want her to be back, I can't ask anyone to expose themselves to that risk. Nor would I know where to find her.
I will preserve your message for her in case she ever returns to normal. The information you may be able to provide could be of interest to her, but it won't please her that someone knows of this part of her past. It has been her desire to move away from it for a number of years, and she has kept it a very closely guarded secret.
Don’t try to trace this transmission. You won't find me, and I should likely not even be sending this to you in the first place.
- A friend of the person you're pursuing
Applying encryption to message...
Sending...
Message sent.
Erasing records to [Current Time]...
Seo sighed and shut down the computer once she had confirmation any easily visible traces were gone, and that no records of the message ever getting sent remained. Then, she walked back over to the bed and sat back down on it. There had barely been a day where she hadn't been worried about what the Thargoids were putting me through, since I’d gone missing, or what they were forcing me to commit to achieve whatever goal it was they pursued.
Yet, despite the waning hope that I'd be able to find myself again amidst it all, she still believed I would fight off their attempts to abuse me for their own gain, just like Azimuth had before... and a force that, while I knew of its existence in the shadows, I had not the slightest clue they were behind the deeper, and well-hidden, parts of my past.