Chương 30: Strawberries

A few days passed and there was yet to be any sign the lockdown would end. Nix couldn't deny Dan and Ari's efforts were commendable… but they were ultimately pointless. Between the two of them, they somehow managed to be anywhere K'tan ended up, without alerting the man to their observations. It helped that there were a lot of kids around either being lazy and messing around in the lounge, or moving between their rooms and the ritual hall.

But it didn't matter how well you followed a man when he did nothing but bite his nails for days on end. Even Little God discovered nothing of note. K'tan had become a jittery mess and so unable to hide his worry that even the less observant of the kids had noticed. Considering they apparently knew of his involvement in the missing children, it wasn't a surprise that he suddenly found himself both avoided, and the centre of attention in any room he entered. It didn't help the man's paranoia.

Nix relished in his fear, but also pondered why exactly he acted so. He had the backing of the Fleshsmiths. They weren't the biggest cult, but they were large enough that most didn't want to paint a target on their back by reporting the man to any of the other cults that might help. Of course, he could just be scared of Tarchon. That was fair. As an upper creed, the Technocultist could pretty much get away with whatever he wanted, as long as he didn't insult or anger equal or higher creeds from different cults.

But, the most likely answer Nix could see was K'kali, or her disappearance. Had she betrayed him? Did the cult abandon him? Those, along with many other questions were surely spinning through the overseer's mind. The cults protected their own… but when it came to the Rearing Wards, none would want to have their dirty fingers caught anywhere near. It was possible they'd abandoned K'tan. They would certainly consider any who reported the man an enemy, but they wouldn't reveal themselves to help him.

Not unless they could do so behind the scenes. If there weren't so many of her ward-mates around, Nix would have attempted to kill him already. It was that perfect of a situation for her. No support from the cult. No accomplices. Nothing to help him when Nix struck. Only because there wasn't a moment in the day that she could find him alone, had she not taken the opportunity. Nix had told her two ward-mates that she would let them help, but she didn't truly intend to let them participate.

Their thoughts and efforts were appreciated. Their desire for K'tan's death was commendable; none of the others in the ward were willing to do the same, and Nix didn't believe for a second that the kids could know of K'tan's nature without a single carer learning the truth. They were cowards. Dan and Ari weren't. But they would still get in the way. Nix had resolved herself to killing the man with a ritual. Telling the two of them that would be faced with clear opposition.

They didn't care how it was done, as long as he couldn't sacrifice anyone more. For Nix, it needed to be more. He'd been the origin of her pain, and he needed to die suitably. In these past few days, K'tan had been throwing in effort to isolate Nix again. He was trying to do it subtly; by encouraging her to use this time to work on another name, and practice her rituals in her room — not the ritual hall with the others — and for now, Nix went along with it.

She figured if he believed she was as isolated as she'd always been, she could use that perceived control against him. Dan and Ari still came over at night, and when she'd told them her intent, they'd… well, they didn't agree, but Nix had convinced them. They still came over every night, but it was brief. If K'tan discovered them, it would ruin the ruse. Thankfully, Little God was good at watching the man to make sure he wouldn't make a sudden inspection.

Right now, she was waiting for Tarchon or whoever that man assigned to investigate their ward. With the corruption spreading from the secret entrance, it would be discovered almost immediately. Nix could see two outcomes. The first involved K'tan playing dumb when it was discovered, then after waiting out the lockdown, he would go out with that shroud of his and get in touch with the Fleshsmiths. The other option was that he would try to sneak out before they came to do the same.

His lifeline was the Fleshsmith cult, after all. He would do everything to get in touch so that they defend him from Technocultist persecution. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Regardless of the option, Nix was ready to follow and chop off his legs before he could resist. She doubted his path would be out in the open this time. This was good; nobody would question his screams.

Nix was currently sitting on the floor of her room, flipping through long memorised pages, and considering her options. There was only two rituals in the book that would make use of a human sacrifice. Both of which used them poorly. The first was a simple cultivation method. The same one Nix was pretty sure didn't actually achieve anything. Neither the addition or improvement of a name, nor the empowerment of one's body.

The ritual type was usually slow, but one could pass days or years with a sufficient enough sacrifice to empower it. The other was a form of summoning. It usually allowed the binding of rather basic spawn for some basic tasks. Empowering it with a sacrifice would summon a stronger creature… but it would rely on the skill of the summoner to lock the beast to a set of commands.

She was tilting more towards the opportunity to improve her body, but considering her near-certainty the ritual was a sham, it might be best to just go for the summon, despite the risk. Having a physical beast to fight alongside her wouldn't be terrible. As long as she could control it. It was really a shame she didn't have access to any cult tomes. She was sure even the first and second creeds had much better rituals available to them than these shoddy things.

So sure, that she considered sending Little God after their tome collection. If he was as powerful as she thought he was, not even the upper creed's best repelling and detection runes could stop him. The only problem… Little God was illiterate. How the fuck can a god be illiterate!? She screamed in her mind as she glared at the floating sphere. You're a living eyeball; how do you not understand written language?

She wasn't sure if Little God was just messing with her, or it truly didn't know, but it picked up each word as soon as she read it once; so it's not like it can't learn. But any effort to teach it would take forever. And she'd thought sending the little guy in to copy all the most secret cult documents was such a good idea. Nix jumped as a trio of heavy gongs trembled the earth beneath her feet. She leapt to a run, and was out the door before the ringing in her ears could settle.

A few heads popped out of rooms as she passed, but she ignored them. If she was right, Tarchon had returned to begin the investigation. Only him, or someone of equal creed could knock that loudly. Well, she hoped it was a knock. If it was a series of explosions outside, then that would mean some pretty bad things for their ward. But apparently K'tan was of the same mind as her, as she found him already rushing down the hall ahead. She followed, not too close.

They both made it out into the main hall just in time to watch the shutters grind their way open for the first time in days. Tarchon's feet were obvious, but it was the dangling legs of someone else that caught Nix's eye. They swayed a foot from the ground, but did not kick. They were entirely lifeless. As the metal shutter rose higher, she felt an odd mixture of dread and excitement flood her veins. Dangling from the neck in Tarchon's hand, was K'kali. Pale face and hollow eyed. Dead.

Tarchon casually tossed the body out before him. It tumbled and rolled, before it came to a stop with arms splayed and head tilted back. It almost looked like the dead eyes were looking her way.

"I was quite surprised to find this one outside — dead and tossed into the depths — when I know I put this Ward on lockdown myself." More people were running out from the hallways, but when they heard and saw the sizzling heat flowing off the Technocultist's mechanical parts, and heard the whirring, barely subdued fury in his voice, they froze in place.

"The Soulsinger will be here to interrogate the dead soon, but for now; everyone is to return to their rooms. I will be performing the inspection earlier than planned." It didn't matter where you were, whether right in front of the man, or deep in the corridors, everyone heard his commands. And anyone who held any sense knew to do as he said. Nix risked a glance at K'tan before she followed the fleeing crowd, and found the man no longer bothered to hide his terror. K'kali was found dead.

Considering who she went out to meet, it wasn't difficult to put two and two together. She noticed Tarchon send a penetrating stare K'tan's way, and she was sure the overseer nearly shit himself. Just being near the man, Nix felt that glare and had to suppress a shiver. Fortunately for K'tan, the Technocultist passed down the hall to K'kali's ward first. He took a moment to collect himself, but she could see his mind cycling a thousand times a second. When he turned and found Nix watching, he snapped.

"You heard him. Back to your room." She spun, and did exactly as asked. There was no point opposing him now. In a few minutes, she would get to watch the man squirm as he tried to explain the presence of the hole beneath the floorboards. If she didn't hate him so much, she might even wish the man luck at trying to act dumb about the metre deep hole through solid metal. Her eyes crossed Dan's as she made her way back to her room, and she could see wariness in his gaze. She could understand his feelings.

Change was sometimes a scary thing, but in this life, in everything besides her mutations, she welcomed it. Nix slid into her room, and lingered by her door. She was waiting for the heavy thumping steps to come their way. They would be soon. Tarchon clearly suspected K'tan, and he would be down here right after he discovered nothing out of place in K'kali's ward.

"K'tan is coming."

"Wha-" she spun to Little God who was looking right through her just as the door slammed into her back. Her body flinched to the side, but she was too slow. K'tan's hand covered her mouth, and she smelled strawberries.