VIII
The Archivist sat back, looking at the dark monitors.
Kean.
This was not a part of the experiment. This was something much more dangerous.
It
had been believed that Kean was a myth. A story to frighten the
deconstructionists and lesser human beings into submission to the
Archivists. However, every Archivist in power was led to the Caverns,
the vaulted torture chambers beneath the Cells, and shown the records
and tapes of Kean.
The fact that no one had ever seen Kean had
leant to the myth of her. In fact, except for the Archivists, no one had
even heard of Kean in over a century. She was more than a ghost, but
everyone, including the current Archivists, believed she was no longer
in existence. How could she have hidden for so long? Surely someone
would have realized she wasn’t human by now.
Suddenly, the
monitors blinked to life and began flashing out of sync. The images on
the screens were Kean, her silver eyes revealing part of her would never
be human. The part of her those long gone Archivists had sought to bind
to a gynoid, to flesh. The part of her that made her the most dangerous
of the three.
Chilled, and intrigued, the Archivist leaned
toward the monitors. What if she could be captured? Surely she could be
made to heel, like any other machine. Wouldn’t it be a crowning glory if
she was taken alive, forced to serve? She would have to be tortured,
brought to the begging point, broken. She would have to be muted as
well. If she was allowed her tongue she would use it to rally the other
machines, use it for the mysterious power she supposedly wielded. It
would be a shame to lose that power, whatever it was, but better to lose
it than to lose one’s life.
Yes, the Archivist would reclaim Kean and force her back into the Caverns.
No comments:
Post a Comment