Sisters of the Sands

Sacet

My mind spun, and all I could hear was the sound of my heart thumping. My brother faded into my vision, as did an audience of others around him, watching him silently cry out. I was looking down on him from above, but somehow also from the side at the same time. It was bizarre. I couldn’t move, in fact I couldn’t feel my own body. What was happening to me? Eno was trying to pull his arm away from something. Why was no one helping him?

It all disappeared, turning to black. I opened my eyes and saw something I wasn’t accustomed to. I had been living among the rocks and sand for most of my life, but now I was sitting in a circular, perfectly constructed and polished room. I turned in my steel-framed chair and saw that it had only one door.

The room was small, but still accommodated a table and two chairs. Although it was well-lit, I couldn’t seem to locate the source of the light. This wasn’t real, this all had to be some kind of nightmare.

I leant forward onto the metal table and buried my face into my arms, but as I did I reminded myself of the pain in my jaw and nose. It still hurt, but I didn’t think they were broken. My arms were covered in the same undersuit material that Tau wore. The suit covered my whole body.

The back of my neck started to itch. I placed my hand to the source of the discomfort and felt an odd protrusion from my skin. A scarred surface surrounded the lump. Surgery? No stitches? How was it scarred already? What had they done to me?

The door in front of me shuddered open. I raised my head from the table as the tall, uniformed, blonde woman entered the room with her arms behind her back. It was the same middle-aged woman from the river, Verre. She sat in the chair opposite me and folded her hands on the table.

‘Welcome back home, Sacet,’ she said. ‘If I had have known you used to be one of us, I would have treated you much differently at the river. I’m sorry we lost you to the nomads so long ago. Back then, we assumed you were dead, otherwise we would have tried to track you down. I hope the savages didn’t torture you?’

She already knew everything about me? Tau must have told her.

She smiled. ‘Allow me to formally introduce myself, my name is Verre, but you will call me Matriarch. How are we feeling today?’

It didn’t matter how nice she was to me, no matter what she asked, I would never tell her anything of value. I shifted uncomfortably. ‘Confused.’

She gave a phoney look of surprise. ‘Oh? And why’s that?’

I stood up in my chair. ‘You know damn well why! Where am I? Where is my brother? What are you going to–’

She shushed me. ‘Sit down. All of your questions will be answered in due time. You need to be patient,’ she said as I sat back down and folded my arms. ‘To answer your first question, you are in a containment chamber. It inhibits your acolyte powers, so any ideas you have of teleporting yourself out of here are pointless. But let’s get back on track. How are you feeling, really? How’s the jaw?’ This brought a smirk to her face. She found this funny?

I glared at her. ‘It stings. How did you all move so fast? Super speed or something?’

She smiled, looked back down at her folded hands and closed her eyes. ‘Hmmm! Now that would be a good power, wouldn’t it? No, no. My powers are illusionary; I create pseudo-physical projections, bending light and sound to show you what I want you to see. In reality, my trooper was standing by your side in the river for quite some time.’

Now it was my turn to be smug. ‘Well, I see you for what you really are in here, because neither of us can use our powers, right?’

She raised a single eyebrow. ‘Who says I’m in the room with you?’

My eyes widened as her body transformed, turning brown. Her hair fell out, her clothing faded away, and her body hardened and morphed into something horrific. Several new legs sprouted in different directions, and her skin became a hardened carapace. She grew and grew into a necrolisk-like form, towering over me. It was similar to a necrolisk, but also not, a faceless abomination.

The creature’s legs stomped on the steel floor as it crept closer. More stomps; there were two more terrifying creatures behind me that hadn’t been there before.

I pushed away from the table and stood, unsure of whether I was in danger.

‘They’re not... not real...’

‘Perhaps. Or perhaps not.’ Verre’s voice echoed from all around me.

The first creature grabbed the table with a claw and tossed it aside like it was nothing; it clattered loudly against the cell wall. If these creatures were real, there was no escape.

‘I’m going to ask you questions now,’ her voice continued, ‘and if I think you’re lying, then I’ll start to do things like this–’

Eno materialised in one of the room’s corners, looking equal parts confused and afraid.

‘Eno!’

‘Sacet?’

As quickly as he appeared, one of the nearby monster’s claws whipped around and punctured through his tiny frame, pinning him to the wall. Blood sprayed everywhere.

I ran to him, not caring what the monster would do to me, but it was already too late. Eno’s eyes closed and he slumped forward, going limp on the claw. I tried touching him, but my hands waved through, as though he wasn’t even there. It was an illusion, yes, but what if this was really happening to Eno somewhere else?

‘Stop it!’ I commanded. ‘Stop this madness. This is sick.’

‘So, you’ll answer a few questions for me?’ Verre’s disembodied voice called out.

My fists clenched. ‘If you give my brother back, safe.’

Verre’s laughter echoed. ’You’re in no position to bargain. You want your brother to live? Then answer my questions.′

I begrudgingly nodded. ‘Fine.’

The monsters faded away, as did the table, the chair, and Eno, too. I reached out to the walls to check if they were an illusion, but they were real.

Verre reappeared in the centre of the room, displaying a hard smile. ’Question one: how far can your portals really go?′

My racing heart jumped. I couldn’t tell her that. If she found out I could portal to anywhere I had been before, they’d force me to use my power against the nomads.

I shrugged. ‘I’ve never thought about it before. I’ve only ever teleported to things that are fairly close by. If I can’t see it, then I can’t get there.’

She stared at me for a while, before several large globes of light appeared above our heads, hovering and spiralling. They grew brighter and brighter as they encircled us. Verre was difficult to see, now only a dark silhouette.

‘Your brother, he’s a little young to be travelling in the desert with you, isn’t he?’

I shielded my eyes. ’People like you didn’t give us a choice.′

‘Is he an acolyte, too?’

‘What? No. If he was, I bet he’d be killing all of your people right about now,’ I replied, and there was another silence.

‘... That’s a shame. Now, I’ve decided that you’re going to be a soldier for us again. You’ll have a great, new home here in the capital city, and you’ll follow every rule and order we give you.’

I furrowed my brow. ‘I’ll never kill for you.’

’Mmmmm, but you have killed, haven’t you?′ Her silhouette moved closer. ‘Tell me what you think of Tau. You seem to be quite fond of her, saving her so much. And why is that? Why would you put your life on the line for her?’

‘Because she didn’t seem to be... like you people.’ I looked down. ‘But maybe I was wrong.’

My vision started going black. What was happening? Verre disappeared again. An image of Tau appeared in front of me where Verre had been. She was tied up again on that pole, screaming for help, not able to see me.

‘So, if I ask you to kill... hmm, no,’ Verre’s voice resounded, now booming in my ears. ’But her? What if she wanted you to? Needed you to? Yes? Like... perhaps... that man in the village?′

Tau must have told her about him, too. The images of her washed away, replaced with the gruesome sight of the soldier I had killed, limply hanging from the rusty spike.

‘Do you... hate them? What he could have done to her, is that what made you want to kill him?’ Her words were phasing in and out, as if they were spoken by hundreds of voices at once.

‘No! I was just protecting my friend. I didn’t mean to kill him.’

‘But you did. You did kill him. Look at what they did to that village as they tried to find you.’

More hallucinations formed onto the dark canvas in front of me, this time of the nomads. They were all lying on the ground, dead, torn to pieces by the red beam of energy, shooting from one side of my sight to the other. Still annihilating the huts throughout the village, even now. The villagers who were still alive screamed and reached towards me, steam rising from their cauterised wounds.

‘No, that’s not what happened.’ The visions were all around me now. ‘Enough of these tricks.’

I knew it wasn’t real. If I just closed my eyes, maybe I could ignore it? I took a few steps back and felt a wall, then brought my hands to my head.

’I’ll ask again. Do you hate them?′ she said. Her voice was now so distorted she barely sounded like a person at all. ‘Wouldn’t you like to... punish more of them?’

I just wanted this to stop and so I caved. ‘Yes! Yes, now please stop this!’ The veil of deception lifted like a curtain from my eyes. The room reappeared; Verre stood beside me with a stern look on her face, and the table and chairs had returned.

Verre moved behind her chair. ‘Correct answer.’ She clasped her hands behind her back. ‘You have an implanted tracking device, so it doesn’t matter where you try to hide, we will always be able to find you.’ I stroked the scarred flesh on the back of my neck again. So that’s what it was. ‘It contains an acid capsule. When remotely triggered, it releases its contents and burns through your spinal cord. If you’re lucky, it leaves you completely paralysed. Even with the best surgeons, trying to remove it will kill you. If you leave the city, or if you enter a place that is off-limits to you, I merely need to flick a switch and end you.’

I shifted uncomfortably at the thought.

’You will train and fight like one of us again. You’ll receive assimilation sessions every day. If you disappoint me, I’ll have your little brother killed. And if that doesn’t convince you, then I’ll just kill you instead. You will bow to our queen if you ever get to see her, and you will show the proper respect to your superiors at all times.′

Verre sat back down on her chair, folded her hands onto the table and continued, ’If you honour this agreement, you will live a life of luxury. Everything you need will be provided. I’ll even see to it that Tau can help out with showing you around, help you adjust to your new life.

‘And one last thing. I’m not entirely convinced you’re worth my trouble. You are lucky to be alive. Every day, you should be striving to become stronger and better than what you already are. Prove to me you’re worth keeping!’

Verre’s body dematerialised in front of me. I spun around and watched as the room transformed from solid walls and floors to metal gratings, a cage.

It wasn’t the only cage in here. Other roofless cages were suspended from the ceiling. Each was featureless with no furniture, not even a bed. They contained aimless men, staring at me.

My eyes were drawn up to a catwalk that overlooked all of the cells. Female scientists and guards gazed back down at me. Verre stood in the centre, eyes squinted at me. She had been controlling her illusions from above this whole time.

My cell door shuddered and raised open. The water acolyte that had helped defeat me stepped in and gestured for me to follow.

Back up at the catwalk, Verre still stared down at me. The other women dispersed and began examining the other cells and some nearby equipment. I walked towards the door and left my cell.

I stepped out into a steel corridor and faced the water acolyte, who was still wearing her armour.

She smiled. ‘Come this way, Sacet.’

To my side there were three other soldiers. Iya, the child acolyte, was among them. Her arms were crossed and she was pretending to examine the ceiling as if that was more interesting than I was.

The water acolyte put her hand on my shoulder as we walked down the corridor. ‘Sorry about punching you in the face. I hope we can still be friends? I’m Malu by the way.’

My nose still hurt from her blow, and now she wanted to be friends? Was she serious? I knew Verre and all her minions were still watching me, so I’d have to play nice.

The other three followed close behind. I admired the sleek chrome the corridor was made from. A bright, neon-red line was lit along our path. I vaguely remembered traversing corridors just like these when I was young.

Malu occasionally looked back at me and gave an awkward smile. ‘I’ve been ordered to show you around the place and get you settled in. If you have any questions, I suppose just ask away?’

We turned left and entered a large chamber with windows, possibly the facility’s entrance hall. Through the windows was a starry sky.

‘Not feeling like talking, right?’ Malu continued. ‘Still in a bit of shock from your ordeal? I can honestly tell you, I know the feeling.’ She focused on the exit and lowered her voice. ‘It’s normal.’ She smiled again. ‘Anyway, let me be the first to welcome you back to FDC, your home.’

As Malu approached the door, it opened to reveal a bright city in front of us. The buildings were enormous. I couldn’t see anything desert-like, everything was steel and technology, aside from some distant mountains.

This place was most certainly not my home. If I wanted to portal away and escape, I could do it so easily now. But I remembered my brother, and also the tracking device...

It took me a while to break out of my awe, realising Malu had already started walking down the stairs in front of us.

Iya prodded me from behind. ‘Move!’

I made my way down the stairs and caught up with Malu. There was a large station at the bottom of the stairs, with benches for people to sit. There didn’t seem to be anyone around except for us.

‘Where is my brother?’ I asked, my jaw still aching.

‘He’s safe,’ Malu replied, looking back at the facility behind us as we descended. ‘So long as you and he both follow instructions, you’ll be fine.’ She pointed at the city. ‘I was told you were from this city once. Do you remember how to get around?’

I shook my head. Aside from a few scattered memories of training, I had essentially purged it from my head long ago.

‘Well, the city is broken up into numerous sectors,’ she continued. ‘In the very centre is the Royal Citadel − that’s where our queen lives and commands us from. She has her very own Royal Guard detachment of the military, and only the most loyal of soldiers are chosen for it.’

Towards the centre of the city was the elaborate golden tower of which she spoke.

’Just outside the Citadel is the Residential Rim. It’s tradition for the queen to surround herself with her people, and so dormitories and apartment buildings were built encircling it.

‘On the far side of the city is the Commercial Quad, where the civilians usually work.’

There were tall, sleek buildings behind the Citadel tower. Bright neon lights covered the surfaces of the skyscrapers. It was so surreal and alive with colour.

‘At the moment we’re in the Prison Quad, which includes a massive mining operation underground. That’s where your brother is right now.’

‘Wait, wait,’ I interrupted. ‘Eno’s underground? He’s claustrophobic; you can’t keep him down there.’

Iya smirked. ‘We can and will.’

Malu ignored Iya, stopping now on the station platform. ‘We’re about to travel to the Science Quad, that’s where you’ll receive your assimilation sessions every night.’

She pointed to our left, down the thin pathway connected to the station. The buildings in the direction of the Science Quad were industrious, with black plumes of smoke billowing from their chimney stacks.

‘And back over in that direction is the Military Quad. That’s where all of the military trains, eats and sleeps,’ she said, gesturing to the right side of the station. There was a gigantic grey facility in the distance.

‘Although you’ll be staying with me in the Residential Rim, so you won’t need to worry about that. You’ll just do your training there.’

Malu followed my gaze. ‘If you ignore the fact that we’re at war, it’s the safest and nicest place to live in the world... Well, if you’re female. No other city on the planet can compare.’

There was a loud groan from behind. Iya stepped forward towards a small pedestal and then pressed a button on it. She shot a frustrated look at the two of us. ‘You want to stand here talking all night?’

There was a strange humming sound coming from the right side of the tracks. A hovering vehicle barrelled down the tracks from the right, and the humming grew louder. It slowed, eventually coming to a stop in front of us. Its doors opened.

We entered, ducking our heads to get in. There were several rows of seats, all of them empty. Malu went to the front of the carriage, next to a window, and I sat next to her. Iya and the other two soldiers sat a few rows back. Malu stared out the window at the starry sky. There was a jolt as the vehicle pulled away from the station and rapidly accelerated.

I looked at Malu. ‘I have to ask... were you born here?’

She broke away from her stargazing with an insulted look on her face. ‘Are you asking because of the colour of my skin?’

‘Yes, I’m sorry. It’s just that I was told it was rare for Dominion soldiers to have darker skin.’

She sighed and shrugged, as though she had told this story before. ‘I was a nomad. It’s probably why they asked me to show you around, actually. My family was captured when I was little and I was assimilated like you soon will be. Normally when people ask me that, they mean to offend. I’ve worked hard to be respected, even feared, and yet my superiors still talk to me like I’ll never be good enough.’ She looked at me again. ‘Sorry, I got a little carried away.’

‘No, that’s okay,’ I said, not sure what else to add.

I looked outside the window at the city as the vehicle hurtled down the track. I couldn’t help but notice how sleek and clean the city was compared to a nomad village. Malu folded her hands on her lap.

‘Wasn’t Tau supposed to help show me around, too?’ I asked.

‘She’s still debriefing, you put her through a lot.’

I lowered my brow. ′I put her through a lot?′

‘She’s told us everything she can so far.’ She gave a sympathetic frown. ‘Sorry about your grandfather.’

I angrily averted my eyes. A part of me didn’t want to see Tau again after what she did.

Malu brushed my shoulder. ‘I can’t imagine what you’re going through right now but... my mother taught me the nomadic last rites. Tomorrow we could hold a little ceremony for him?’

I attempted a smile. ’Oh. I was never taught that. That would mean a lot, thank you. Is that even allowed?′

‘Well... officially, no. But I think you’ll find most of the people in this city quite accepting when it comes to belief in the afterlife.’ She smirked. ‘And if anyone complains, they’ll answer to me, okay?’

I nodded.

She stood and held onto the handle railing on the vehicle’s ceiling. ‘This is our station.’ The vehicle came to a stop, its door again rising for us. Malu motioned to the platform, so I stood and one by one we all exited the vehicle. I followed Malu up the steps towards a dark-grey facility next to the station.

My knees weakened. ‘Um, this assimilation thing?’ I began, hoping Malu might be able to put me at ease.

Malu gently held my shoulder. ‘I’ve taken this procedure myself. So... don’t be afraid, at worst you’ll turn out like me.’

Iya let out another groan, and I gave a polite smile, which quickly disappeared. In truth, I was terrified. What would this assimilation procedure entail?

‘A team of scientists will take care of you,’ Malu continued as we walked. ‘They use a mixture of acolyte powers and technology to change you for the better. One woman will focus on your mind, she’ll change the way you think. Another will focus on your powers, she’ll work on awakening your true potential.’

A thought occurred: what if, during their work, these scientists accidentally set off the acid capsule near my spine? I was queasy thinking about it.

We entered the facility and walked down the grey corridors. There were soldiers posted everywhere. Scientists were performing experiments in the various laboratories we passed. One room we passed contained rows of strange white capsules suspended from the ceiling. There seemed to be unconscious children floating inside of them.

‘I’ll bring you here at the end of every day,’ Malu called back.

I realised I had been transfixed on the children, so I quickly caught up with her farther down the corridor.

‘They will gently put you to sleep for the procedure,’ she continued. ‘Then I have the honour of carting your limp, sleeping body back home to your bed. Every morning you’ll wake up a better person than you were.’

She stopped and grabbed my shoulder. ‘And, if I can give a piece of advice? Don’t fight it. The more you resist, the more painful it will be. The first lesson you’ll be taught will just be: don’t kill women. I’m sure you already agree with that lesson, right?’

We entered through the doorway at the end of the corridor. A team of scientists were waiting, all eyeing me with intrigue. Each had white streaks in their hair. There were also at least ten soldiers posted around the room. Everyone went silent as I walked in. Malu led me to a table in the room’s centre.

I was starting to fade out. I couldn’t hear what the scientists were saying. Everything was fuzzy, as if I was going deaf. Satisfied I was being adequately guarded, Malu and Iya backed away to the previous corridor.

The scientists advanced. My body naturally tensed, ready to fight, but I again had to remind myself of what was at stake. They laid me on a table and adjusted some straps around my arms, legs and head so I couldn’t move. One of the older scientists picked out a needle from a nearby tray and pressed it into my neck. I didn’t fight back; it was hopeless. My mind was going to be taken by these people and I was never going to be the same again.