Breaking Elysium

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


"Archangel has a phrik mine, conveniently," she remarked. Enyo was unwillingly asexual. She kind of missed getting laid...but she did not really get anything out of it in her new form. So she'd gotten used to it. Maybe it helped that she'd been a bit prudish as a human.


Regardless, she was not even remotely desirable to the rock man since she was composed of carbons. So she removed her heavy suit of phrik armour, which had also taken its share of damage during the battle. Then she stripped off her bodyglove.


xxx


While Amara and Thuella debated hair styles, Valerian had walked over to the two remaining tubes. One housed a clone of some chick called Phylis Alince, the other of some Japanese lass called Sumiko Tanaka. Had Amara ever come across Phylis' dissertation on Levitation in the Pre-Tythonian Period?


Anyhow, he frowned. "Wait, there's one missing," he observed since he had to play narrator for this section. "There was another clone of Siobhan Kerrigan. Caiomhe. She should have been at Elysium as well," he glanced towards Amara, perhaps looking a bit suspicious.

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
“Phrik mine is useful, unfortunately we cannot raid their stocks instantly.”
Zar’kahn examined her closely. “Aside from the damage noted and some heat warping under the jaw there appears to be no other harm. I have not dealt with a Human Replica Droid before, so I am uncertain of the process to rebuild the tissue lost. We would likely want to remove all the organic tissue from the affected areas to make repair easier, and then meld in replacement skin.”
The Kar’zun seemed to know what he was doing. What was unsure was how Enyo would react to be ‘skinned’ and just seeing her metal skeleton. It was possible she might rebel against the thought, or she might be totally fine with it.

XXX

Amara shrugged. “There were only five of you alive, three of your siblings had been terminated by Archangel before I got there, two male, one female. If one of them was a Siobhan clone, I did not see. Alternatively, she might have been woken up before.”

Sadly Amara had not experienced Levitation in the Pre-Tython Period. She’d likely consider it dull.

Still, she pressed on to the next target. “Thalia, clone of Jedi Master Phylis Alince,” she read from a datapad.

As she applied the drugs, the brunette opened her eyes. She looked wide-eyed at Amara, then to Valerian, finally to Alexia.
“So many clones,” she said in resignation and rolled over.
“Hello to you too! Don’t you want to hear what’s going on?” Amara asked, a bit bemused.
“Not really, I’m sure you’ll tell me why we’re in a non-Archangel ship with you, a traitor to the cause. I’m sure it’ll be interesting. For now, I’m tired and want to sleep more.”
“Well…fine!” Amara said, now sounding put out. She looked to Valerian for help.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


Enyo was not a wet hen. She nodded. "Remove it then," she said blandly. It was just fake skin. She would replace it. "You seem very familiar with the inner workings of machines," she observed, keeping her tone neutral. Maybe she was curious. Or making an attempt at small talk to pass the time.


xxx


"Fair enough, by all means go back to sleep. It's not like you have not spent an awful lot of time sleeping already," Valerian spoke. He had a clipped, high class accent. "I'm confident you know all about the surgical scar that you will undoubtedly find on your back. Close to your spine, if I recall. I'm quite certain your template does not have it. Who knows, it may be an implant. But naturally none of this is of import."

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
As Zar’khan went through the process of cutting away the false skin he showed as little interest in the task as a human might trimming a boulder.
“Machines are something we are very skilled at naturally. On Kaeshana we born after the war were not allowed much, but I became skilled in maintaining the industrial tools we had. When I left for the stars I soon found my skills in demand.”
Fetching a hydrospanner he delicately began probing the arm stump.
“As I suspected, the dislocation is clean. It should be a simple matter of replacing the arm and reconnecting the servo-motors.”
He moved next to the jaw, and after cutting away more skin from there, he examined it.
“There is a lot of carbon scoring and scratching on the inner cranium, but the blade was not there long enough to melt the phrik. Should require a simple scrubbing followed by a replacement of the teeth, tongue and skin.”
The Kar’zun nodded, satisfied. “If you wish, I can do the cleaning now. The rest will have to wait until we have proper tools and parts.”

XXX

Thalia rolled back over. “Alright, tell me everything.” She looked rather sullen still however.

“Uhh, have fun with that, I’ll wake up the last clone. What’s her name?” she asked, hovering over the Sumiko clone.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


"I see," Enyo said in her neutral tone while Zar'khan elaborated on his backstory and cut away her faux skin. Despite the hardship he must have endured, he seemed like a very mentally balanced chap. This was good because she was not the type to deal with someone's daddy issues and go on loyalty missions. Presumably most of the crew members from ME2 would end up processed under her watch. Or tossed out of the airlock.


Listening to the Kar'zun's diagnosis, she gave him a nod. "Proceed now," she said laconically. She must be fun at parties. If all the stoics got together, they could take over the Galaxy. Presumably their flagship would be called Laconia.


xxx

"Chiyoko Mizutama, clone of Inquisitor Sumiko Tanaka. I believe my template knew her. Small world," Valerian muttered. Pulling up a chair for himself, he turned to face Thalia, who was being denied her beauty sleep. He was probably enjoying himself way too much. "Anyhow, let's start at the beginning, shall we? It's a long, boring story that may or may not be true, but you will have to sit through all of it..."

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
Zar’kahn laid her down on the slab, and after affixing a powerful lamp on her torso he cut away the blackened and damaged skin, plus all that he needed to get inside her head…literally in this case.
The Kar’zun was very precise and careful, belying his large size and great strength. Using a mixture of solvents, a small grinder and a vacuum tube he was able to restore the inside of her mouth to pristine, shining phrik.

“Most of the liquid was sucked out, but you might have some dripping. I would suggest some sterile cloth pads in the mouth to absorb the remaining liquid.”

That was all he could do for now. Garnet was calling, perhaps there was a way to parlay repair bays for further help, or they could find their own location for repairs.

XXX

Thalia gave an irritated sigh and pulled the blanket about her closer. “Leave nothing out, I’m sure you don’t need encouragement for that!”

Amara meanwhile moved to the last clone. Chiyoko. Pretty name, just like the clone.
She injected the restoration drugs and waited to see what the reaction would be.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


After taking her leave from the improvised workshop, Enyo made her way to what passed the conference room aboard the Quasar. Once she had stepped inside, she mentally swept the room for bugs. Then she closed the door behind her.


Activating a button, she hailed Garnet. The Contingency had lived up to their end of the bargain. Enyo was the type to stick to a deal if it was beneficial for her, though she was not above twisting the spirit of an agreement to better suit her purposes. She was, in a nutshell, Lawful Evil.


At this stage she did not know that the Lord Commander of the Contingency was an unstable madman. However, she was loathe to shackle herself to them and their cause. They possessed superior resources, but she was an ally, not a minion.


xxx

As Amara applied the drugs, the Atrisian woman opened her eyes. Still blurry-eyed, she took in the room of clones. Then her gaze fell upon Amara and she flinched. This was not Alexia. She recognised that face from her flash training. It was not a friendly one.


"Y-you," she hissed, still sounding tired and a little fearful. She spoke haltingly, as if she were forming words for the first time, which was true. "Where am I? Where is M-Maelion?" She looked around, trying to find a weapon she could get her hands on.

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
Garnet, who probably knew that her leader was a maniac by this point, soon appeared. For a moment she looked surprised at seeing Enyo’s damage. Even though Enyo had presumably put some clothing on, the glint of metal would be clearly visible.
“Enyo, our forces report total destruction of the installation’s defences and fleet assets. I trust this has shown you we are in earnest about aiding our friends?”
In reply, they’d ask Enyo to…sit at a monitor and watch people in corridors get mildly irritated by booby traps and ethereal voices. Enyo clearly got the better deal!

XXX

Amara tried to smile in a friendly way. “Hey, Chiyoko. Welcome to the world of the awake! Long story, we rescued you from Archangel, they’re homicidal droids using you like they used me. Uhh…Valerian…can you give me a hand here, buddy pal?”
She wasn’t sure if the man had finished his lecture to Thalia.

She stood back. “I know all five of you are confused and suspicious. You’re doing better than I was! I don’t expect any of you to take my word alone on Archangel’s perfidious plots so I will provide you evidence of what they did to me, what they’ve done to you, and let you decide. If you want to go back to them after that…your choice. If you want to go and do your own thing…your choice. If you want to work with us and let us help you, well that’s obviously our preferred option.”

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


Alas, Onyx turned out to be an insane loser fixated with glitter, random voices and boring traps. So Enyo would go on to betray the Contingency and help kill him. Presumably she'd gain the eternal enmity of the glitter bomb industry.


"It is sufficient proof," she replied. "What's the next move?" Enyo had paid attention to the holonews. It was not difficult to discern a pattern of skirmishes and uprisings involving droids across the Galaxy. They'd hit almost every major power in the Galaxy. Some had gone far, others had gone nowhere. Did the Contingency have a contingency in case their grand plan did not work out?


xxx

"So in summing up, I presume you understand the complexity of the regrettable, but surmountable predicament we find ourselves in and which you...," Valerian was deriving far too much satisfaction from keeping Thalia from her sleep.


Phylis' clone looked like she was debating whether to hit him. "Fine, fine. I get it. Now can you stop yapping before I punch you?" she grumbled.


He looked way too smug. "Such a philistine attitude, but I am pleased to hear we're on the same page."


"Oh, just shut your trap, you smug dick," Thalia sulked.


Valerian would have said more, but then Amara called him. "Just a moment."


Chiyoko looked a bit conflicted. She lacked her mirror's experience - and one might say self-aggrandising narcissism - for now. She only had the flash memories in her head - and these were incomplete. "So it was all a lie? I was made to be a slave...like Sumiko was?" she hung her shoulders. "What proof do you have? How did you 'rescue' us?"

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
“I have been called to return to our central base. I would like you to come with me. I can provide repairs to your chassis and covering. The forces of the galaxy are gathering for a united offensive, just like was planned. My drones reported that your sister recovered some clones from the facility – naturally they would not be a good choice to bring into danger. I can provide you a ship or you can come aboard mine. Whichever seems expedient to you.”

XXX

“I’m afraid so. Droids can’t use the Force, so they made us to be their Force Janissaries. It took me all too long to figure that out I’m afraid, but now I’m here to help you escape that trap early.”
Amara rose and went to the meeting room, doing the equivalent of calling up a PowerPoint presentation.
“I don’t know what your condition is,” she said, returning to the room. “I have most of it in the meeting room to play via projector. I don’t have hover or wheelchairs for you all, but we can carry you in, or I can show you by datapad. It’s better in large screen though.”
She sighed and looked at the assembled clones, so young, so naïve.
“I want to say though that I am sorry, genuinely so, to hurt you so soon after you have woken. The truth is painful, but it is a truth I must share.”

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


"The clones will be taken to a safe place," she said blandly. Amara could get them settled in. Right now they seemed too noisy and Enyo was not sure how they'd react to her peculiar nature. "Just provide me with a ship and the coordinates to get to your base. I will perform the repairs myself. Give me the tools and a repair droid." After her experiences with Archangel, she was not going to let another group of machines tinker with her.