Now, every time some dumbass tries to take a hit out on a Samurai, a new iteration of The Memo goes out, reminding us to Not Fuck With Samurai.
-President and Owner of PMC group Mad Gnomes during an interview for “The Silver Lining”, 2056
I pull back a bit from Cari and see her retract her fangs. “Did you sedate me?” I ask in a very flat tone.
She nods. “You were hurting me and I couldnt breathe.”
I feel a hint of revulsion towards myself build, before the warmth smothered it.
She adjusts us so that we are siting next to each other instead of tangled together. “It's a biological function of the Slitherians,” She explains.
I nod, “I know.” I say, my voice still flat. “I bought a biology dream lesson last night for them.”
I see that as she moves that she winces as if a rib was bruised.
A small box lands between us. Opening it, I see it is an inhaler instead of a syringe. Cari takes it, and I can hear, through the Scout Swarm that is always present around me, her ribs being fixed, the bones shifting ro repair themselves.
We sit in silence for a bit, with Cari holding the Raven tightly before Cass speaks up. “So that was a lot that just happened, and a lot of information was just shared. I think we should take a break and decompress.” She places a hand on Cari while turning to Outsider. “Hey, you grabbed her stuff from her place, right? Why don't you help Cari get set up in a room with it.”
Cari shifts back ro her human form and gets up, walking with Outsider to the bedrooms. I simply sit there on the blue egg couch, watching her walk away.
Cass shifts her chair to sit next to me, gently placing a hand on my shoulder. I do not flinch.
“Victor, sweety, what's going on in your head right now?” She asks softly.
“I hurt her.” I say. I feel a need for a tear to fall , and the warmth lets it. “I spoke my true feelings, and I hurt her.”
I felt her hand shift as she rubbed my shoulder. I still hadn't stopped looking at where Cari went.
“I have a question, Victor, and you do not need to answer it if you do not want to. May I ask it?”
I nod.
“You have only known Cari for a few days, and me for less than a week. Why do you feel so strongly attached to her?”
“She's warm.” I say. “She's soft and kind and safe and honest with me and my family. Jill and Roger trust her, they haven't warned me that she is a danger to us or our lives, so why shouldn't I?”
“Oh dear,” she mutters. She turns the blue egg so that I am looking at her. “Victor, sweety, you have gone through a lot, and you probably have quite a bit of conditioning that you need to work through. I have a friend who can help with that, but only if you want to. I see that whatever Cari used has done a number on you, so we can talk about this once we get it out of you. You can get a cleanse and-”
I shake my head softly, “I want this to run its course. This way I can't hurt her again.”
I see her look at me, then I see she subvocalises. She nods and lifts her hand from my shoulder.
I see a syringe appear in her hand as she jabs it into me.
I asked her to do this, Victor. Synaptic says as I feel the warmth wash away. The slitherian sedative she used had a submissive effect on you, programmed to make you desire it to stay in you and not have it removed.
I feel my mind restart once the warmth fades completely. I slouch, placing my head in my hands as I feel a migraine form. I lose my link with my swarms as the pain is all encompassing. I curl into myself on the couch, close my eyes, and focus on breathing. It had been years since I had last felt one of these, and I could only hope it would pass soon.
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The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Cari laid curled on her bed as Outsider directed a few Ravens to carry in her things from the garage. Her heart ached as she remembered the look on Victor's face as she walked away. Vacant, devoid of life and emotion and that look that filled his face when he looked at her that made her feel as loved as when her mom was still here.
“I'm never using this venom again,” she whispers to herself. She quickly scrambles out of the bed and into the bathroom, grabbing a towel and biting into it, extending with her fangs, hoping to remove all traces of that venom from within her.
Unfortunately, the towel does not let her fulfill that wish, as it is too soft and the wrong consistency to allow her to release it. A stupid safeguard from the Slitherians, something that prevents others from “milking” them.
Cari throws the towel into the massive bath tub and glares at it, trying to make it catch fire from her rage, her frustration alone. The towel mocks her by remaining unlit.
She slumps her shoulders and walks back into the bedroom, seeing that most of her things have been placed on shelves or a large desk that wasn't there earlier. She does not, however, see her biochamber.
“Is this all you could recover?” she asks Outsider, a mixed look of confusion and disappointment crossed her face.
“This was everything I could take without drawing more attention to myself.” Outsider responds. “I did load a number of things that I believe belonged to your mother, which I am moving into the next room over. There were a few machines that I could not load up due to them being too large to fit into the van doors. I was unable to recover the house security AI, unfortunately, as it was deleted beyond recovery before I arrived.”
“Clive? They killed Clive?” Cari asked quietly, despair taking over as she slumped to the floor.
Clive had raised her in place of her father, as he… wasn't in the picture for a while. When Tsubuki was away on a mission or an event that Cari couldn't go to, he was always there, a warm presence that acted as an anchor for her.
The last conversation she had with him was about how she was in danger, and that she should ask for help from any of the many Samurai she knew. He tried to talk her out of her plan to seduce someone at the gala, saying that that was too unreliable, too reckless to work. He at least got her to promise on a baseline strength, and that if no one met it, to ask Heracles for help.
The last thing she said to him was that she would call after the party was over, to assuage his fears and worries.
And now he was gone, the last being in her life who she knew cared for her unconditionally, the last person of her family.
Tears fell unceasingly as Outsider knelt and hugged her, acting as an anchor, radiating a warm heat that a robot should not have. Cari clung to her, silent tears flowing into Outsider's dress as she mourned the death of her father figure. She mourns her mother once more, knowing that the last link, the last vestige of her was gone. And she felt fear towards Victor for what she did to him in a state of panic while he showed a state of weakness.
Cari could only imagine how betrayed he would feel once the venom was gone. Oh. That's right. The antivenom. She pulls back from Outsider. “Th-I need to get Vi- him the anit ve-venom,” she stutters out between ragged breaths.
Outsider shakes her head. “Miss Cassandra administered a cleanse moments ago, Madame.”
‘Oh Goddess, a cleanse.’ She thought. While it would work, forcibly removing slitherian sedation venom like that would have very unpleasant side effects. But it was too late to fix it.
Outsider helped Cari up and moved them to two chairs that also had not been there a moment ago, but Cari simply didn't think about that. She was trying not to think about everything she lost over the last week.
A warm cup of some liquid was placed in her hands. She smelled chocolate and cinnamon and cream. She looked up at Outsider and saw eyes full of concern and warmth, but no judgment.
“Why…. why do you look at me like that? Why help me after I hurt your master?” She whispers, her throat taught with anxiety and despair.
Outsider sighed, “Because you are hurting, Madame. And Victor would never forgive me for neglecting you as you are now.”
Cari is shocked. “Madame?” She whispers incredulously. She heard Outsider call her that earlier, but that didn't seem right. “I cannot be that to you, not to him.” She shook her head softly.
“You are worried about reprisal from Victor? From the others?” She asks softly. Cari gives a small nod, and Outsider shakes her head, not taking her eyes off Cari's. “You need not worry about that. If your actions were deemed a threat, Leman would have dealt with you right then and there. Victor was in pain, he was hurting you, and you helped him, and you helped yourself.”
“Bu-but!” Cari says, her voice raising. “I drugged him! I used a venom designed to- to control him! To make him a slave to protect me!” She was shouting by the end, her hands clenched tightly against the warm mug.
“And yet you offered the anti-venom after trying to rid yourself of any remaining venom, didn't you?” Outsider's voice remained steady. Not accusatory, not overly warm. Simply stating a fact. “While I must admit that Victor became very attached to you in a very short period of time, did you lie to him, or manipulate him using any other slitherian technologies or techniques?”
“No! Of course not!” Cari said forcefully. “I mean, I intended to use the venom once we were alone… but after talking with him, after seeing the remorse he felt at-at failing mother… I couldn't use it” her voice fell to a whisper.
“And that is why I refer to you as Madame.” Outsider said with a soft smile. “Because you feel remorse as well towards your actions, as necessary as they were. And, as an unintended consequence, we have learned of how scarred Victor's heart truly is, or at least some of it. Miss Cassandra is working with Synaptic in order to schedule an appointment with a friend of hers who might be able to help. I would like to recommend you see them as well, however that is your decision, not one I have any right to influence.”
Outsider places a hand on Cari's. “He does care for you, Cari. And for the short time that you have been here, we all have accepted you. Jill, Roger, Cody, and Buddy, as well as us commanders have all accepted you as family. It is your decision on how close you desire to be with us, but know that you have a home here.”
Cari looked into Outsider’s eyes, and even though she knew, in part, that she was a machine and that she could easily manipulate her features, Cari saw warmth, hope, and acceptance in her eyes.
Cari looked down at her mug and saw the cream had started to melt into the warm drink. She took a small sip and focused on the warm, smooth liquid.
It reminded her of home with her mother, curling up on the large chair, under the blankets as her mother summoned a tiny snowstorm for her.
The tears returned, and this time Cari did not weep silently.