19.Sept.07

Interlude: Dark Awakening

By: Razor One

Crimson optics opened anew to the world. Gradually senses came into play, sight, sound, touch, even smell and taste soon all became apparent. Experimentally the owner of the crimson optics moved its head and observed what it could of itself.

An erudite art form for a body flowed beneath her vision, well sculpted and utterly feminine. It was ruby red in colour, and seemed to shine with a reflection that spoke of far more than mere polish.

Moving her hands - for hands seemed to be the correct term for the fascinating end points of her upper appendages – she noted a flow and grace that would have earned her the envy of even the finest pianist.

Tearing her eyes away from this fascinating spectacle, she instinctively stepped forward... and off the table that had once been horizontal. Caught off guard, she instinctively reacted and landed squarely on her feet. Though she had never stood nor walked in all her life, she seemed to know how to do these things.

“Divine, utterly beautiful,” said a soft feminine voice, “A worthy creation if ever there were one, my Delta”

The ruby red female looked towards the sound of the voice and beheld a black feminine transformer, somewhat shorter then herself. Although she knew not why, she immediately felt subordinate to the black bot, a feeling she felt was somehow out of place and at the same time as natural as anything she could envision.

“Wh-Who are you?” asked the ruby red female to the other.

“You should know, my Delta,” she said frostily.

Unbidden the black bots name entered her mind; Callisto.

“Callisto,” she whispered to herself.

She felt a simultaneous awe and loathing for the name. Though she could not identify the source of the loathing, she knew that to show even the barest hint of loathing would brook her own destruction.

“I am your creator,” said Callisto, and with something bordering on insanity declared, “That which was wicked and tainted has been born anew. Behold thee, the living one, she that was dead and now shall live for time eternal. Behold that which shall forever be my right hand and rightfully holds the keys of death and torment!”

Delta didn’t have a clue as to what her creator was going on about but presumed it was more for the benefit of others that stood nearby with reverent faces. As they each bowed their head respectfully in turn, she instinctively did so herself. Perhaps this was how all new life was greeted into the world.

“You are my fourth creation, my Delta; you are the finest and most precise, the most elegant, and the most graceful. I have saved the best parts for your construction, used the finest programming, and spared no detail on your hardware,” she said, eying her creation with a degree of expectation.

“Witness that which has come before,” she said, leading her to where three others stood solemnly.

Delta looked at them with the intentness that she felt her creator wished her to.

The first bot was crude in construction, but heavy in armour. A name came unbidden to her; Beta Nexus. Without knowing quite how she knew, she knew that this particular bot possessed strength beyond compare and could easily tear asunder any object that it was ordered to.

The second bot appeared to be slimmer and lither. To Delta’s sensitive optics this particular one seemed to be built entirely around the concept of agility. The name Gamma Hydrus appeared within her mind. Despite the bot standing perfectly still before her she knew full well that he could reach out, twist her neck to the breaking point and instantly reacquire his composed attentive stance within mere seconds.

Callisto looked on, pleased that her creation showed a natural curiosity without the need for any encouragement.

The final bot was wirier then even Delta, the body seemed to her to be more fragile, yet she knew it had strength enough to hold back any foe. Where the previous bots she’d surveyed had idealised strength and agility in turn, so this seemed to be dedicated to the senses. Indeed, it seemed that Epsilon Eridani, as she now knew her exemplified the highest degree of senses and... though she knew not how she suspected such... even things beyond sense.

As the slighter female stared at the ruby red one she seemed to have a gaze that bore through her... a strange sensation. Without knowing quite how, she stared back and saw through the wirier bot and abruptly saw herself seeing through Epsilon seeing through Delta seeing through Epsilon... Much to Delta’s surprise, Epsilon quailed at her gaze, apparently fearing something horrific.

“Excellent!” said Callisto, apparently pleased, “Witness each of your fellow creations, each one, exemplifying one of the core tenets of combat. Beta Nexus for Strength, Gamma Hydrus for Agility and Epsilon Eridani for all the senses and more!”

And with this she turned to Delta, an exultant look on her face.

“And you, my Delta, a blend of the greatest of all these traits and more. Though you can never match singly what any of these dedicated servitors can accomplish using their greatest strengths, you yourself are capable of so much more than any one of these bots. You are my chosen, my cherished, and my very heir.”

Delta was speechless. It was as though all that had come before her had merely been the forerunners to her creation. It was as though her own creator had laid great foundations merely to place Delta at the very apex of Callisto’s creations. Unbeknownst to her, there was yet more to come.

“These that you see before you are yours to command, my Delta, but not as the hierarchical nonsense of commander and commanded that has marched countless times before... no... For in my infinite benevolence I have granted you a gift so powerful as to rule the minds of these mere pawns as directly as the palm rules over the fingers. As surely as the mind directs the body so too shall you direct these subordinates in a manner equally as direct and unflaggingly eternal.”

With a jolt Delta felt her mind expand. The sensation was incredibly unsettling. Something clicked within her mind and she could feel herself standing in four separate positions, seeing the room from four separate and overlapping perspectives, each one as valid as the other. She felt strong enough to crush all that opposed her, lithe enough to dodge any blast, and aware enough of her surroundings to know wherever any foe might dare approach.

Through eyes not her own she saw herself clad in ruby red armour standing near on a full head taller than her own admiring creator, the look of shock, surprise and delight warring on her face simultaneously. She realised that Callisto hadn’t been speaking in metaphor; she was meaning it quite literally. Experimentally she thought of moving Gamma Hydrus’ left hand up, and to her delight it came up at precisely the swiftness and position she desired.

Callisto looked on with approval and encouragement written on her face. Within moments Delta had mastered commanding each bot to walk under her orders... then all of them at once, each three marching in step, then out of sync. Eventually she learned to have them moving in entirely different directions, and soon she found she could direct them quite adeptly in combat manoeuvres whilst still being self aware.

Callisto smiled when it became apparent that her ward had mastered the ability bestowed upon her.

“Know that so long as you remain loyal to me, Delta, that this gift, both of life, and the extended consciousness that I have bestowed upon you shall always be yours,” then a darker look came into her features that Delta had not seen before, “But know that if you should choose to stray from me and spurn these gifts, then they shall be removed from you... forcibly,”

The thinly veiled threat hardly mattered to Delta. Betraying Callisto was something she could never consider. It was unthinkable to her. Callisto had given her life and this... strange extended consciousness. No... For these gifts and more she would remain forever loyal, forever obedient to her creator...

“Mistress Callisto,” Delta said reverently as she knelt in awe before her creator, “This humble servitor awaits your first order,”

Delta was filled with Trepidation. Every fibre of her being yearned to obey Callisto and she was eager to do whatever work her creator had intended her for. She didn’t care if it were mere menial labour or the most glorious work imaginable. Delta knew here and now she would lay down her short life for Callisto. Despite this... a small part of her crawled at the thought of dying for Callisto. She buried such misgivings quickly.

“You, my Delta, were created for one reason, and one reason alone,” said Callisto with a voice that dripped like honey, “You were created to destroy an annoying band of Maximals. They have been a minor thorn in my side for some time. I want to see each and every one of them dead but before that... I want them to suffer. I want them to experience the likes of pain and shame and humiliation and defeat before I let them die. Their suffering shall be legendary, and all the more legendary because once they are dead none shall know of the terrible things that I have lain upon them.”

Callisto was breathing raggedly, as though she held back a rage barely kept in check. This caused Delta to bridle with her own rage.

“But worse than mere Maximals are Predacons that choose to ally themselves with such filth! Even now a paltry band makes their way here to lay waste to all I have worked for.”

“Maximals”, she thought, “They must be a vile race to have infuriated my mistress so,”

“Go now,” said Callisto, her voice thick with hatred, “Make them suffer! Let them know what it is to bear the terrible yoke of my wrath!”

“Death to the Maximals!” Roared Delta, her voice thick with bloodlust.

“Death to the Maximals!” chorused the three Bots held in thrall to Delta.

With all the energy of a storm Delta and the trio of her subordinates left the room they had been created in. As Delta wormed her way through the bowels of a ship she knew to be home to an outside world she knew to be the battle field upon which she would spill Maximal mech fluid, she couldn’t help but smile.

One way or another, all Maximals would die by her hand.