The chittering screeches came from far over the next boulder covered hill. Zagreus’ chest heaved as he worked his sword out of his most recent victim. It snapped. He discarded the useless thing and spawned a new slender, double-edged, sword in his hand.

Anterra are giant ants. The small ones were as long as he was tall. Their black and red striped exoskeletons are hard as stone. Their corrosive bites can sever a limb. He had left a trail of their corpses as he fought through the onslaught. Now he fell back for a defensible position behind some low rocks at the top of previous hilltop. The tenth wave was coming.

The ground shook as the bugs topped the far hill. Then maniacal laughter drowned out all other sound. A massive lizard, four times as long as he was tall, with red and gold scales landed on the hill top with a burst of crimson arcane. She was a living embodiment of rage and hatred. An anterra near her was propelled towards him, barely a blur. Fragments of exoskeleton ricochet all around him. She shot another, then another. The bugs were no longer allies or enemies, merely ammunition.

He ran from cover to cover but the rain of exoskeleton shrapnel was endless.

“COME BACK YOU COWARD! FIGHT ME!” She hissed.

He used his shadowcat ability allows him to create an illusion of himself while cloaking him body on a distortion. He sent his decoy on a path to keep her attention, while he made his move. He used large stones for what little cover they offered as he moved in. His lungs burned, his muscles ached, as he cleared the open area between the hills. He darted around a boulder and was almost to her when he felt his illusionary copy shatter from a hit. Too late. He thought with a grin as he charged her side.

“Oh. You sneaky bastard.” She sneered unleashing a torrent of fire around her.

He jumped back then the ground shook. He staggered and fell. Her laughing face disappeared as the entire hillside lifted into the air. Boulders and anterra fell with him into the valley as the slab of stone rolled over. He hit hard with a boulders pinning an arm and a leg. The sky went dark as the massive slab of stone fell towards him.

“End simulation.” Lilithana said from nearby.

Everything vanished into sparkling motes as the illusions dissipated. He now lay on the cold stone floor of the training room. ”What do you want?”

“I came to check up on you.”

“I think your simulation is broken. How am I supposed to kill someone who can spit fire and throw half a hillside at me with her brain? Is that really accurate?”

“We have reports of Mecromancer forty-seven moving a mountain. If anything, the simulation fails because it is physically too small to accurately model the threat.”

He stretched and rotated his arm trying to get the tingly after effects of the simulated pain out of it. “What is the point of fighting her if she is just going to kill me every single time? I can defeat some of the others, but she is impossible.”

“The simulators are not purely about combat. Not every fight needs to be fought. Not every incident needs to be settled with the application of force. Also we find putting test subjects in extreme situations forces them to develop their abilities faster and learn to cope with the pressures of overwhelming force. You came close to hitting her this time.”

“It still seems pointless.” He growled and walked towards the door.

She followed. “Every candidate strong enough to wear a mecromail has always had some natural arcane ability, but I can’t figure out what yours is.”

“You just saw me use illusions to mask my presence.”

“Those are abilities that come from your polymorph form. I mean your personal ability. Is there anything else you can do?”

“Nope.” He shook his head not looking back. He had heard far too much to let this secret out now.

“Before I died, I controlled sound. It could be a tiny whisper to send a message or a reverberation powerful enough to shatter anterra by the dozen.”

“I wish I could do that.”

“Maybe you haven’t discovered your power. Or maybe your natural power just aligns with your shadowcat abilities so it’s difficult to tell them apart. I will schedule some aptitude tests for you.”

“This is your lab. I do what you want.”

“Karimere is in charge. I am just a test subject.”

“Was there anything else you needed?”

“Yes, your stress levels have been increasing. I think you should do something about it.”

“I am trying. Your schedule is pretty strict.”

“You are eight days ahead of schedule. You have only been here one hundred and ninety-four days. You can take some time off to rest if that would help.”

He had some skills, lying was clearly not one of them. “I’m fine.”

“I think you are pushing your training as a distraction from what is really bothering you.”

“Really? I don’t know what you mean.”

“Most test subjects make regular use of the companionship programs to release tension. But you have used them only a handful of times. And after your last session your stress patterns were even worse.”

Maybe if I didn’t have a murderous sociopath getting off to watching me every time I used one I might feel a little better. He groaned to himself then said, “I’m fine. It’s just been a little hard to adjust to living here.”

“Is there someone significant to you that you are missing or worried about? A family member, or friend that you left in the Deep Dark? We normally don’t concern ourselves with such matters, but we are willing to make an exception in your case.”

“I had a friend.” There had been someone he cared about. They died saving him from some horrible monster. For some reason, the more he focused on the memories, the more his head hurt. “But she’s dead now.” He remembered dense scarlet arcane energy. He realized that the attacker was almost certainly a mecromancer. Then he lost his focus.

“I am sorry for your loss.”

For some reason he asked. “What color arcane do you and Karimere have?”

She took a couple steps back. A dense black energy covered the tip of her finger. It danced like a jagged little flame. Everything around it seemed darker. “Karimere’s arcane is a deep shade of purple.”

“That’s interesting.” Why did I ask that? His head was pounding.

She quietly continued to follow as he made his way to his room. It was a simple room with a bed, shower, toilet, table and chairs. It had some kind of magic box that kept food cold, another lost technology. It would have been the envy of anyone he had ever known, but here, it was basic. He told the green eye-drone to bring him food. Lilithana asked for some too.

He stripped and grabbed a quick shower before their food arrived. He put on shorts and sat down at the small table as the golem returned with their meals. “What are you really doing here?”

“I am concerned about you.”

“Me or that damned Cradle.”

She hung her head, “Even if everything we planned is successful, I doubt we can save half of the races at this point. This work is about survival. But once we find the Cradle and save Endrala, you will be free to run off and do whatever you want.”

Why did I mention the Cradle? This was the second to last conversation he wanted to have today. “I agreed to your terms. Stop preaching or trying to sell me or whatever it is you are doing.” He ignored his food, his appetite was gone now.

“I am sorry.” She poked at her food as they sat in an uneasy silence. She finally said, “There are other companionship programs. Male, female, poly, susneran, guanting, infernal, others, whatever you need to de-stress. We don’t judge, we just need results.”

“I told you. I’m fine.”

“With your natural affinity for illusions I have considered the fact that you can easily detect illusions might be causing, performance issues. We can acquire you a live mate if you wish.”

“You would just take someone from their home?”

“Yes. I can budget enough food for two at time. Four if they only eat nutrient supplement.”

“Sex slaves? Sounds nice. Could just get me a new one every day.” He joked.

“That would disturb the populations too much. I could possibly get you a new one each quarter year, depending on circumstances.”

“I was joking. Do you really think I want that?”

“Many people joke about things they want but are uncomfortable with discussing.”

“Then what would happen to unwanted ones? Do they just get to go back home?”

“We could not continue to feed them and anyone who has lived here for any time would be a security risk. They would most likely end up as test subjects in one of the minor experiments.”

“Do you even hear yourself?”

“I could take time and word it nicely or pull some kind of trick to make you feel better, but that does not change what I am doing. I am trying to find a solution to your problem. If you are unsatisfied then I will have to find some other way to help you.”

“The Endralan culture you claim to want to rebuild would never allow such practices.”

“Every test subject here is a slave. They have no rights, no laws or government to protect them. I have violated people’s rights every day for millennia. I am a monster. I have accepted that.”

“I didn’t mean . . .”

“Yes you did.” She cut in. “I am honest with you. Please be honest with me.”

“How long have you been doing this?”

“Over four millennia.”

“Is all of this worth it? Do you really think you are any closer to your goal than you were four millennia ago?”

“Yes. You are proof that my work has not been in vain.”

“What makes you think I won’t just die like the two before me?”

“Those were early tests. They even predate me. We have much more experience implanting mecromail’s now and we know what to look for in a candidate. If most of the data had not been destroyed when this place was abandoned we would not have needed so much experimentation.”

“But I could still die.”

“I can’t let that happen.”

“Like I believe that. You let Cinder damn near kill me. You even promised to bury me on the surface.”

She gave a weak smile. “That was a joke. I would have interfered if Kytheras had not done so.”

“Yea right.”

“You only saw a tiny fraction of Cinders power. If she hit a non-mecromancer with full force there would be nothing left but a red stain. I locked her power levels before she attacked.”

“That is not helping my stress levels.”

“Don’t worry about Cinder. If I tell her to back down, she will. Promise.”

He got up and got a hotspice drink from the coldbox, took a long drink then sat back down. “I do appreciate your honesty, even if it is often disturbing.”

“I am a dead woman, maintaining dying machines, to save dying species, on a dying planet. I expect to be surrounded by death until this mecromail that sustains me finally fails. I just hope that I can give our people a fighting chance before that happens.”

He had no way to respond to that. He closed his eyes and leaned back. After a double with the wave attack simulation everything still throbbed. He rubbed his aching shoulder.

“I could give you a massage if you want.”

He chucked to himself. “Yea. Your hands make a nice ice pack.”

“While I say that I am dead, it is more accurate that my body has extremely slow metabolic processes, similar to hibernation. But I can change that.”

“Huh?” He looked at her.

Her cheeks flooded with a golden color and it spread throughout her body. “Since you don’t like the companionship programs, and don’t want slaves.” She stood and removed her cloak revealing a warm inviting body underneath. “I will personally help you with de-stressing. Anything you want. If you are too shy to speak, just stay quiet and let me help you.”

He nearly tripped over his chair as he jumped to his feet. He could sense her presence and her scent was intoxicating. Her lustful intent was unmistakable. He backed away only to find a wall. He was trapped. She smiled and squeezed his shoulder. Her emotions were overwhelming. The mental link was instantaneous and instinctual. Dammit.

“What was that?” Her head tilted.

“What was what?” He could hear the tremble in his voice.

*You have mental powers?* She sent, her surprise total. *This explains so much!*

Cinders thought drifted into his head. I have a test subject running loose and Lilithana’s off trying to screw the resident idiot.

Lilithana’s eyes went wide as she slapped a hand over his mouth. She sent, “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?!”

He sent back, *I did nothing,* trying his best to not have a heart attack in the process. Somehow, in his panic, Lilithana had been able to hear Cinder. How that had even happened was a problem for later.

She stared at him. He felt a moment of her murderous intent but it quickly softened along with her expression. “I believe you. You pitiful fool.”

Before he could respond the lights went out. Then there was a small flash and the presence that was Lilithana moved to somewhere else far away. A sickly sounding alarm went off and an emergency light flickered several times then died.

*Get back here.* he sent to her.

*Wow. I am half a kilometer away. What kind of range do you get with that power? *

*Where did you go?*

*Stay there and I will be back as soon as I can. Stay in your room. Keep the door locked. Going back to dead mode.*