Chương 205: Interlude 12 - The queen

Isaac looked around the space with barely contained fascination. The strange blend of smooth modern concrete dotted with wiring and lights, and the rough stone stalagmites and stalactites of a cave was always fascinating. He had attended previous masses here, but he had never been let this deep into the belly of the strange place. As they walked on, more and more distinct details came into view, as if the cave section were transforming into a laboratory.

The stalagmites were replaced by glass vats of unidentified liquid, merging seamlessly with the floor. The same went for the walls. Some were made of concrete, others of some strange, unidentified plaster-like material, and others had carvings he could now recognize as runes, although incomplete and way too complicated for him to follow.

The procession walked the corridor very slowly, not due to any danger, but because some of the members walked in a rather strange fashion—one of them almost slithering next to his master, while two others were so deformed that they barely swayed from side to side, making the relatively short walk unnecessarily long. They passed a double door, one half a steel service door, the other made of thick stone with no inscriptions.

Isaac, along with a few other younger people, looked on with interest, while the rest passed by without blinking. They finally arrived in a room, this one looking more and more like a laboratory, with tables, vats, and cabinets all moved aside to make space in the middle. All of the items standing around looked strange. They lacked any modern characteristics, all made of chunks of stone and metal, with additional wood here and there, almost all carved with runes.

To Isaac, they were fascinating, surely ancient items of worship, maybe even used by the original believers who followed the gospel of Lazarus. It was exciting to think about, as he could feel awe fill him. He would like to sing a quick hymn to let it out, as he did with his followers, but it was neither the place nor the time for something like that. They all stopped in the room before another large double door. This one was fully in the arcane style, but runes had been replaced by a carving.

It depicted a malnourished man dying on the ground in the lower part of the door. In the upper part, many divine figures stood, each surrounded by a halo and with their backs turned, preaching to the crowds depicted in the distance below them, uncaring about the dying person. The middle part was occupied by a lone man, lacking any halo and dressed in a plain robe, bending over the dying to touch his forehead. They approached the door.

A man in a doctor's uniform stepped forward to push it open, earning a few not-so-pleasant looks from the people around.

"My lords," he said loudly, placing his hands on the door.

"We have arr—" he began in an official tone with a great sense of pride, which was promptly cut off as the door didn't move an inch. Snickering echoed in the chamber while Isaac looked to the side, catching a glimpse of the man's apprentice. The young man just stood there on strangely flexible limbs, not reacting in the slightest.

"This— Um…" The doctor faltered.

"What's wrong, Terry? Performance anxiety? Don't worry. According to research, it's more common than you'd think," a mocking voice sounded from the crowd. It belonged to an older woman. She had plain pale skin and unnaturally dark eyes, making her age hard to define. Terry turned around in anger, ready to argue.

"Please," an older male voice cut into the commotion before a fight could break out. Isaac subconsciously relaxed at those words. They were smooth and calming, yet also hypnotic in a sense. He looked around with no small amount of pride as everyone else stopped and turned to his teacher, who commanded the room with ease.

"Let us not disappoint the masters with our manners. You are all men and women of science, are you not? Is it not the more efficient solution to just wait without an argument?" Some people scoffed while others just shrugged, but did as commanded as the small crowd spread around the room to talk while waiting. Isaac also moved aside with his teacher. The older man just gazed ahead with a light, constant smile on his face, making him look like he was on a stroll rather than in the strange place underground.

Isaac's awe at his teacher's control over his own emotions and those of others was cut short when two people approached. It was the older woman with gray skin, a younger girl trailing behind her with a similarly sick complexion. Before they could greet his teacher, the man in a doctor's coat noticed them and promptly came over with his apprentice. The scene widened the slight smile on Isaac's teacher's face for just a split second before it fell back into the previous mask of confident calmness.

"Can't let me have a word alone, Terry?" the woman sighed at the doctor quickly coming closer.

"No. I'm too aware of your scheming to that end. And it's Professor Terry to you," the man said.

"Well then, please call me Professor Helen."

"Associate professor," Terry corrected with a smile. The woman scoffed.

"For someone with a full professorship, you sure fuck up a lot. Where is your apprentice, Terry?" She spat his name, without the oh-so-important title in front.

"I don't recognize that creature behind you," she added the last part with a smile returning to her face as the one on Terry's fell.

"My work is much more advanced, dangerous, and important. Failures are part of the process, a requirement even. Had you known that, you might have become a full professor. Hehehe." The man laughed at his own joke.

"Yes, you should learn that. Hard to fail when you're playing with some bacteria while I work with a…" He paused, looking for a word for what he was working with.

"You work with what was gifted to you," Helen cut in.

"Worried they might take it away?" she asked, tilting her head.

"I heard you exposed us to the SID and to the enemy. Worried you might be taken off the research? That's why you rushed up to that door like a dog after a bone?" Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Isaac could see she clearly struck a nerve as the man gnashed his teeth in anger.

"Bullshit. My work stands here," he said, pointing at Isaac. The young man smiled lightly, bowing to Terry in thanks. He was humble in nature and always calm, just as he was taught. Well, not always calm, as his parents had a strange way of ruining his mood, but he was working on that.

"Yes," Isaac said, straightening up.

"Not a day passes that I'm not thankful for your work." That brought a smile to Terry's face.

"Right, right," he said.

"That's why I came here, actually." He turned to Isaac's teacher.

"So, Father Andrew, how is your apprentice? The incubation phase should already be over, and he looks well. Is everything going right? Is there any pain? Are his powers growing as intended?"

"Oh yes, we are really grateful for the work you did." Andrew bowed a little, and Isaac followed.

"Right," Terry said with a growing smile.

"So…" He finally switched to what he had really come for.

"I heard you, or rather your apprentice, achieved a great victory."

"Oh yes, that is true," Andrew confirmed. Then a stretch of awkward silence descended over them as Isaac's teacher didn't follow up with any explanation. Isaac smiled in his heart. The information was only for the ears of the higher-ups, not for just anyone.

"Great to hear," Helen cut in, finally breaking the awkward pause.

"Yes, yes," Terry picked the conversation back up.

"Please, after we report everything, do come and visit. I would love to examine your pupil."

"We sure will," Andrew agreed. Isaac almost turned to him in surprise, but stopped himself. Father Andrew never did anything unless there was a purpose to it. He would never agree to a useless meeting like that, especially with that strange man, unless he planned something. They continued with small talk in a rather awkward atmosphere until a loud groan from the massive door cut through the low hum of the surrounding discussions. The door opened, revealing a man in long, flowing dark robes.

They all fell to one knee. Isaac glued his eyes to the floor, not daring to look up. He knew who that was—an angel. A man who went through the trial of Lazarus and received his blessing, his miracle. Isaac never thought he would see an angel. Even though the new arrival looked like a normal man, Isaac was sure there was more to him, much more. There had to be. If he looked up, his eyes would surely burn. Yes, that had to be it. That was why they all knelt.

One blessed by Lazarus was surely an incomprehensible being.

"Come," the man's voice echoed, and all the older people gathered got up, organizing their documents and straightening their clothes, ready to report. Only once the group entered and the door closed did the younger people rise. The reporting took a few hours, which Isaac spent in the room, standing around, waiting for his teacher to walk out. Finally, the door opened once again, and the older people came out, all looking tired, some content, others angry or sad. But most important of all, his teacher looked happy.

One had to know him to tell, but the light spring in his step was all Isaac needed to know.

"Father." He bowed a little.

"You did well," the older man told him.

"The masters have given me a reward for you." Those words exploded in Isaac's mind like a bomb. He could only dream of what that might be—something beyond the fantastical powers he already wielded? Was there more to be had? There had to be.

"Father Andrew," Terry approached.

"Is my invitation still of interest to you?" he asked, a rather sour expression. Isaac's teacher agreed, and they walked out of the labyrinth of tunnels and passages and into another part of the small underground complex, the squirming movement of Terry's apprentice making the walk rather slow. Finally, they arrived at another set of decorated doors. But this time around, Isaac could feel it.

The call, the presence, the overwhelming need to enter, so strong he almost ran in front of his teacher to see the thing on the other side. He saw it only once before, when the worm was germinating, and now he would reunite with the queen. He could not wait, as it took every ounce of will to stay still. Finally, Terry deactivated the complicated arrays on the door and pushed them open. And the moment the other side was revealed, Isaac fell to his knees.

There they could see a chamber, a massive, decorated chamber with a high ceiling, and in its middle, on white, glass-like translucent threads, SHE was suspended. The queen. A massive ball made of many thick, slimy white worms intertwined into a perfect sphere. They all constantly moved, crawling over one another, yet none could escape, as in all that movement, one could never see a tail or head poke out.

All were twisted around the thing deep in the middle, a thing Isaac could hear right now in his head, telling him to come closer, to join them, to carry more of her children. He could barely resist the commands. Thankfully, the curse activated before he lost his mind, shooting pain through his body as he felt as if his bones had been set ablaze. Isaac fell to the ground with a wide smile, reveling in the pain and the voice, the mixture that assaulted his senses.

One was a gift from the queen, the other from his masters, a perfect cacophony of blessings, reminding him of who needed him, who wanted him, and the greater whole he was part of. He reveled in it as he squirmed on the ground in involuntary muscle twitches. Father Andrew only looked at him for a few seconds before turning his eyes to the mass of worms hanging in the middle of the chamber.

"If we take out the queen, how long before the guards die?" he asked without any further small talk. Terry frowned deeply.

"Days, maybe. But the effect on the whole place… it might be terrible. Why?" Father pulled out a document from his priestly robes and passed it to Terry. The man took it and began reading with a growing frown as anger finally fully cracked the mask of indifference.

"What is the meaning of this?" he spat.

"Your recent failure and that pathetic trap risked exposing us before it was time. So you will now do as I command," he said, putting emphasis on "I," not leaving any room for discussion.

"And this is my first order."

"No!" Terry shouted.

"My work, my life's wor—" He wanted to continue screaming, but one look from Father Andrew stopped him as the older man met Terry's eyes.

"I suggest you see the sigil on that document and rethink any insubordination," the priest said in a low, steady voice. Terry hesitated, his face finally falling.

"What if it is for naught?"

"You underestimated the enemy. I do not. If we assume he has a swift mind, he will figure out this place sooner rather than later." He turned his eyes back to the ball of worms hanging in the middle of the room.

"Your understanding of our purpose is lacking. No, not lacking. To be quite frank with you, it's pathetic. You are pathetic. For someone with the resources granted to you and the title of professor, no less," Andrew said with deadly seriousness, "your results are subpar."

"It was my research!" Terry began, once again stopped in his tracks by Father Andrew's gaze, the older man's eyes somehow freezing every muscle in the doctor's face.

"Yes, and for that, I shall give you one last chance to redeem yourself," the man spoke, but this time around, Isaac was not mentally present to notice the shadow of a smile crossing the priest's face.