(2)syl - Covenant Zero

	in 104: The Coven Returns 105: Pivot Point 106: She Tastes Blood Post: 02.22.2004 Date: 02.17.2196 Time: Morning The Coven Returns It only takes two weeks for me to find them. Or rather, for them to find me. Walking farther east, keeping to the coastline as best I can, avoiding contact with other people, robots, beasts--these have been my walking orders. For the most part, I've been able to do that. Took several days to clear the crater. Past that, I walked along crumbling cliffs, mostly. Had to avoid a few small settlements, and more than a few lone wanderers, people like me. People displaced. Further inland, the terrain became more hostile. I saw patches of nightivy and clusters of razoroak. I avoided the forests--if that's what those ruined masses of growth actually were--because of the noises I heard coming from them. Once saw a great metal monument, sticking out of the ground a mile or so north of where I was walking. It was smooth and reflected the orange of the morning sun. The tip of the monument was missing, only a jagged edge left in it's place, as if something long ago had crashed into it. Still, the monument towered over the trees, even as mutant vegetation climbed its faces, threatening to pull its crooked form earthward. Even though it gleamed, bright, sadly beautiful, all I saw was a scar. That's all it was. I turned away from it and didn't look back. They surround me while I sleep. When I wake, during the first moments of dawn, my eyes still shut, I know that I'm in trouble. The static is there, just under the surface, warning me of danger. Throwing back the foil blanket and activating the sever-whip are reflex actions. When did my defenses become involuntary? Crouching there, the plasma wire sparking against my bedroll, head turning to take account of my oppressors, each clothed in brown cloaks, faces hidden in the depths of deep hoods, I feel the static try to claim me. I beat it back down, forcing tears of pain back. Five of them. One of me. Glitch, should've bedded down in that cave, instead of at the base of the cliff. (Five vs. One) They're waiting. Small breezes stir their cloaks. Thick boots with tight leggings extend beneath. A layer of caked black grime at the soles and at the laces. "You can't have me," I say. "Anyway, I'm not worth the fight." One of them laughs, or something similar. I spin slowly, trying to get a glimpse into those hoods. Control surfaces move under my palm and fingers; the plasma wire jerks. "You may take me in the end, but it'll cost you." "There's no need for the bravado," one of them rasps. I recognize that voice. Filled with gravel. "We found her," another says. "Now what?" One of the figures pulls their hood back. "Now, we see if she's happy to see us or not." It's JACK. I relax, but only a little, as the rest of them reveal themselves. Three of them make up the rest of the coven: 2-85, PIIX, and the warlock that used to be the Technomancer known as 7. The fifth figure is Kiiziiziixii. She runs her hand through her metal hair, shaking out kinks. "Well, are you?" Kiiziiziixii asks after a moment. "Am I what?" "Glad to see us?" The modie scowls, hair talons clinking as she inclines her head. "Where did you get that, anyway?" I look down at the sever-whip. A twitch of my hand, and the plasma wire goes dark, retracting. "Off a Dokk I ran into. He wasn't using it anymore." "And why was that?" 2-85 asks, freeing his hairstalk from the confines of his cloak. "I'm assuming it had something to do with the fact that I decapitated him with it." 2-85 nods, as if knowingly. Glitch! What the glitch does he think he knows? "I'm glad to see you, syl," JACK says, moving to me. "I'm glad you're alive." Now that I've found them, I'm not sure what to say. Something in me has gone a little cold about JACK and her coven, but there also something that's yearned for her all this time we've been separated. I'm longing for the companionship of a wirewitch! I can't understand it, and yet, there it is. "I'm glad you're alive too," I say finally. And it's the truth. My quest is complete. JACK smiles, displaying circuit-stained teeth. "You eluded us for awhile. Kiiziiziixii helped us out though. She's quite adept." "I have my talents," Kiiziiziixii says. JACK's smile disappears. "I...I was worried about you, syl. When you left us on the island, and then when it exploded, and you weren't on the Rusted Whale, well...we didn't know if you had made it." "Yeah, I got out on a different boat with two other people. Somehow I survived. I think I had some help, and I don't know who from." "What do you mean?" Kiiziiziixii asks, frowning now. "The wave caused by the destruction of the island obliterated the boat I was on. Killed one of the passengers. Knocked me unconscious. When I woke up, I was naked and on a different boat." "That explains the new skinsuit then," JACK says. "Looks good on you. Shows off your body." My mind, irrational as it is, thinks of Phoenix at that. I catch 2-85's eyes just then, and I realize I'm blushing. Stupid Phoenix. I glare at JACK. "Glitch you." "I want to put my arms around you," JACK says suddenly. I'm stunned at the abruptness of her verbal redirection, and I can only nod and resist a sudden urge to burst into unexplained tears as she puts her arms around me and pulls me tight. I'm hugging her back, the coarse texture of her cloak underneath my fingers, the smell of wirewitch tickling my nose hairs. I stroke a hairstalk with one hand. Tight bundle of smooth wire brings some comfort--to her, to me. Her cloak moves as if alive. Lower, a hairstalk wraps around my ankle. Despite who she is, despite what's between us, despite everything, it's the best hug I've had in a long time, and I sink into it. It's like falling into a soft bed. We rest our heads on each other's shoulders. I exhale. I sniffle, but just a little. "We need to talk," I say eventually. "Yes," JACK whispers in my ear. "Alone." JACK pulls back, but her hairstalk remains at my ankle. "Just you and me," I say. "It's only about us anyway." JACK nods. She makes some gestures at the coven, and they gather nearer to the base of the cliff. Kiiziiziixii stands apart, fiddling with a hand weapon of some sort, cleaning it, adjusting it. We walk. I tell her everything. And I do mean everything. All the while, my mind questions the wisdom of telling her everything that's transpired since the destruction of the island. I ignore it. I need to tell somebody. I can't be the only one trying to make sense of my life. Friendship with a wirewitch is unique, dangerous--most wouldn't even consider calling it friendship. But it's what I have. I can't trust her, not really, but I'm doing it anyway. --the boat my finger the Dokk the sever-whip the killing the con artist the night whispers the Zannathan the blood the hypercurrent the poisoned earth the Sentinels the Slaughter Droid city the Haven the android the sharpened clown the secret revealed the journey east the cliff the night with Phoenix the city of Die Droid Die the back room the raping of the youngling the dark angel rage that took me the journey continued the Chrome Knight the metalmorphosis the static dream the eternal kiss the momentary kiss the infected wound and finally the death of friendships-- I tell her all of it. She drinks it in like a desert plant desperate for water. When I'm done, she puts an arm around me and tells me what happened to her since the death of the island. --the Rusted Whale the darkened ship the attacks the terror the horrible dreams the return to the mainland the journey inland the makeshift city of the Pure the assault of the mad Technomancer Kreep and finally the decision to seek me out-- I'm not sure she told me all of it. I find, after a second of thought, that I don't care. "Why did you come looking for me?" I ask, stopping beneath a crooked tree. Her eyes, those blue orbs, swirl like tornadoes. "I didn't believe you had died when the island detonated. I had to make sure you were okay. You're my friend." "Wirewitches don't have friends." "That's not true. I have you." My words, when they come, are choked. "I--I so much want that to be true." "It is true. When I didn't have anybody else, after the eoas, you were a friend. Nobody else would've been that to me. I don't want to give that up." It's staggering, if it's the truth. "You're not in debt to me. You don't owe me anything." "I know," JACK says, fingering the hem of her cloak. "Somehow, I think we belong together." The static, which has been quiet for awhile, begins to rise up. I think it senses what I'm about to do. What I have to do for this to work. Glitch, this isn't going to be fun. "Okay," I say. "I believe you. Even though you're a wirewitch, I think of you as a friend. At this point, you're my oldest friend. Really, I'm not sure what type of friendship this can really be, but I want more of what we have between us. Maybe spending more time together can help us work on this. It's a dangerous world, and we're stronger if we band together. This is what I want with you. Not your coven. You. It starts between me and you." JACK puts an hand on my shoulder. "That's what I want too." I grasp her hand, reveling in the contact of her metaskin for a moment before letting it drop and fall to her side. "Then it really hurts me to say this, but you and your coven have been nothing but poison to me. I don't want you anywhere near me."
	Post: 02.23.2004 Date: 02.17.2196 Time: Morning Pivot Point "What do you mean?" JACK asks, a confused/hurt look on her face. I feel the anger, the static, rising; I'm actually pointing a finger in her face. "Don't glitch around with me! You know exactly what I'm talking about! You know what I am, what I believe in, and you know what you are, what you do. So don't keep saying you want to be my friend when you aren't going to do anything to help it along." "I can't change what I am." "3-43 tried to change me. You changed Q'and'q right in front of me! Then he tried to change me! Then PIIX changed 7! I can't stand what you're doing--it disgusts me!" "I know you don't agree with what we do--" "It's more than that. I despise what you do. I put up with it, continued to tolerate it, even though it sickened me. I tried to tell you. Apparently I wasn't forceful enough. You didn't listen." JACK moves away, spotting a small rock a few meters away. Before she sits down, she throws her cloak back, setting it aside. Her torso is tightly wrapped in dark gray bands of material which flex with the rise and fall of her chest. Her arms and shoulders are bare. A simple belt is around her waist, where she's clipped a pulse dagger and couple of smaller throwing knives. A holster is strapped to her right thigh. In it rests an oversized hand weapon--a beam weapon of some sort, judging from the size of the power supply attached behind the handle. Her legs are wrapped in the same material as her torso. The material is tucked into scuffed gray boots which come up to her calves. Chrome buckles gleam at the side of those boots, somehow able to resist the mar of this filthy planet. Freed, her hairstalks roam of their own volition, moving to subconscious commands she's not aware she's sending. She sits. She exhales. She stares at me. Blue, tumultuous torment broadcasting from those orbs. I feel oddly convicted. How different she looks now than she did...back then. Older, mature, vibrant and strong. Even as a youngling, she was a force to be reckoned with. Even more of one now. And yet, how much of the inside has changed? Is the wirewitch skin she wears just a facade, intended to reinforce the illusion of her maturity? Inside, is she still a thirteen-year-old youngling who continues to see me as a companion? Is she just clinging to me because I was there when her coven was slaughtered? Does she think of me as her protector? No, I'm not strong enough for any of that. "I don't know what to say," JACK says. "Regardless of everything we've been through, I want to be near you still. I know that doesn't make any sense. I'm sorry I don't have a better reason than that I want you as a friend. You were with me...when the eoas took the others. You stayed with me. I don't understand why, but it affected me. I can't get it out of my head." "I didn't have anybody else either," I say. "I know that was part of it, but I think it's more about who you are than anything else. If you weren't the person you are, you would've left me on the street. This world isn't friendly toward wirewitches. Our flesh sells high; that makes us prey." "Even though you're more predator than prey." JACK shakes her head. "Sometimes, it just doesn't seem that way." "This changes nothing," I say. "I appreciate your emotion, your words, but I can't have you or your coven around me anymore. Cold and simple, wirewitches kill humans. You're a threat to me and anybody I meet." "That's true, from a certain point of view. But there's another reason, other than my desire to continue our friendship, why I want to stick around." "What?" "I have a feeling that you need me--no, not just me, the others too. The rest of the coven. Kiiziiziixii too. And whoever else might join us along the way." "That's crazy. That's glitched. You can't know that." "Maybe not, but the sensation is there. Besides, I feel better when you're around. Can't explain that either, but it's true." "Doesn't make any sense." "I know, but the others feel it too. They told me." I can only shake my head. "This isn't going to work. I want to like you--I do like you! I want us to have a friendship, but I can't handle what you wirewitches do." "This feeling I have is strong," JACK says, putting her hand to her forehead. "None of us knows the danger that's still threatening you. We still don't know why the eoas came after us, or even how they got on the island. It's unlikely they were after a simple coven of wirewitches, so that would mean they were after you." I sigh, remembering those six-legged killing machines laying waste to JACK's original coven, brown blood and blue blood mixing. "I know, I know." "Here, in the Free States, eoas roam free, and there are worse creatures than those. You said it yourself, wirewitches are predators. We can help you. We can protect you." "I know that too, but--" "Your friendship means that much to me. I..." JACK's face becomes a telling portrait of conflict. I want to reach out to her, comfort her, touch her. Glitch this effect she has on me. She breaks through my revulsion for what she is and what she's done. I can't forgive her, but I want to. "You what?" I ask. "I--I'll do whatever you want me to. Just tell me." (never trust a wirewitch she can't deny what she is like) (you can, angel) "Let me be clear: I want you by my side. If you're willing to do whatever it takes, then there's really only one condition I have if we're going to stay together. You already know what it is." JACK bows her head between her knees, wraps her arms around her ankles. When she speaks, I can barely hear her. "The coven. It's still incomplete." "I don't care. It can't happen again." JACK doesn't speak for quite some time, but her hairstalks trace alien design in the dry dirt an decaying grass. She seems younger now, huddled there like that, retreated back into the real thirteen-year-old youngling inside the husk. Something twitters in the distant trees. Branches snap. Leaves strain and crackle. Whatever it is, it isn't big. I ignore it. Phoenix is back in my mind so suddenly that I take in a sharp breath. The image I get is of myself ripping his jumpsuit open, putting my mouth to him. Static goes wild. Glitch glitch glitch! I don't need this now! "Okay," JACK says. I shake my head, willing Phoenix's facemask of pleasure out of my mind. I affected him, and he turned his back on me anyway. I hate him for that. "What?" I ask as JACK strides up to me. "I agree to your condition." "You know, it can't just be you. It has to be the entire coven." "I speak for them. I lead them. They will do as I command." "What about PIIX? You didn't tell her to give 7 the witchkiss, but she did it anyway. You told me things were changing. Since cyberspace fell, wirewitches have been acting differently. How can you be so sure of yourself anymore?" JACK's eyes narrow, giving me a steady look. "I lead the coven. Every one of my witches and warlocks will do exactly as I say. I swear to you." (never trust a--) "I believe you," I say, taking JACK's hand, "but I need to hear it from them. I need them to look me in the eye and tell me themselves." "You would make a powerful wirewitch, syl." (Not a chance in Eiech, witch!) "You understand that I would rather die than be changed, don't you?" Cautiously, JACK nods. "No wirewitch will initiate the witchkiss with you again while I and my coven still live." "Thank you." "We have a custom that applies here. I do not know if it has ever been done between wirewitches and humans--I doubt it--but under the circumstances, I think it's appropriate. We use it primarily to establish alliances between covens, but it can be used for any purpose. It is called Covenant Zero. Once in place, it cannot be removed. It is a lifelong oath." "What happens if the covenant is ever broken?" "Death is the only way out of Covenant Zero." "And your coven would enter into one with me?" "Yes. They will follow my lead." This is it, we've reached the pivot point, and we're turning. I let out a wavering breath. "Okay, let's do it. Where do I sign?" JACK squeezes my hand, laughing. "Not where you'd expect, that for sure."
	Post: 02.24.2004 Date: 02.17.2196 Time: Morning She Tastes Blood In the shadow of the cliff, I press her flesh closer, sucking. The static grinds away at me, furious at the intimate contact. My lips, my tongue lapping. Her metaskin rough under my peeling lips. I'm a little nauseous and a lot adrenalized by what I'm doing--partaking of her in this way. The taste of her is an intoxicating concoction of metal and fire and salt and the addictive tang of sweet/sweat. Greedily, I'm using her longer than I should, but I'm powerless to stop. JACK grabs the back of my head and swears. "syl...enough...please..." I break away. No, I was pulled away! It's 2-85. His hands are on my cheeks, holding me away. Something drips down my chin. Looking down, I see blue blood splattered between my feet. JACK's blood. What did I do? Glitch! She holds a thumb to her wrist, covering the slit, stopping the flow of blood. Her eyes are worried, but she simply says, "Wirewitch blood, given of our free will, dwells inside you now. The coven enters into Covenant Zero with you, (2)syl. Will you, in turn, enter into Covenant Zero with the coven?" "I will enter," I respond, wiping at the wetness on my lips and chin. The backs of my arm and hand come away streaked with blue. I just drank technosite-infested blood from four wirewitches. Glitch me straight to Eiech for doing it, but it's necessary. God, but JACK's blood was potent. My knees may not work right for awhile. "Will you offer your blood freely?" JACK asks. "I will," I say and take the long knife PIIX hands me. Over there, meters away, Kiiziiziixii watches, frowning. I put her out of mind and bring the knife against my palm. There's instant pain and instant static and instant blood. Bold and red, it flows from the center of my palm and from my middle finger. Glitch, must've nicked it. (right where it was bleeding before remember on the boat oh deft angel) I learned his name only minutes ago: 7-07. He steps to me first. He's a massive hulk of a warlock, and he has to get on his knees. Blood drips off my palm when he tilts it, dragging his circuitstream-plagued tongue across. I shiver uncontrollably until he's done. PIIX is next, the hairstalk growing like an unwanted growth from her forehead swaying side-to-side. I inhale as she opts for something I didn't expect, taking my middle finger into her mouth. The sensation of her tongue flicking over the tip of my finger is too intense! It's enough to make me pull away, but she grabs my forearm, and holds me fast. Her eyes tractor-beam with mine, daring me to try again. I'm not strong enough to free myself from her grip, and she knows it. The blood in my upturned palm continues to pool, much like the static in my mind. I grit my teeth and bear it, praying that she'll tire of tormenting me soon. When she finally does withdraw, her hairstalk bumps my hand, causing the blood there to drip onto her hairstalk. Red on Blue makes Purple remember? My crimson slides down her stalk, and she smiles. The static threatens to take me. A surge of defiance wells up within me, and I hammer the static back. I'm breathing deep now, barely recovered when 2-85 looms close. He doesn't even look at my hand, instead fixing me with those same orbs he fixed on me back in... ...that glitched haven where he gave me my second witchkiss the glitched warlock g'ekk... ...he does something he shouldn't. He plants a kiss, not on my palm, but on my wrist. Right on the veins there, right on the joint. Right in my center. Something in me explodes. I cry out. It's such a mixture of pain, pleasure, and static that I don't know how to describe it, except that my eyes go wider than wide and I'm gasping, unable to breathe. "What the glitch did you--?!" is all I can manage, but he's already suckling at the valley of my palm. Tearing my eyes away, I look at JACK. Except for an almost imperceptible movement in one eyebrow, she's impassive. Abruptly, 2-85 moves away. My body is ready to collapse. I feel...deflated, as if my body is a creased piece of paper, about to fold up and float to the ground. JACK puts a hand on my head, patting me. It's intended to be comforting, but it just causes the static to oscillate painfully. "Hurry, JACK..." I whisper. She does, going about the drinking of my blood with resolve and efficiency. I'm so drained and dizzy from the others, that I only marginally feel her. By the end, I'm on my knees. Then, it's done. "Human blood, given of my free will, dwells inside you now," I say. The words are hardly more than my lips mouthing the words, but I know the wirewitches can hear. "Covenant Zero is formed between us." "Death is the only escape from Covenant Zero," JACK says. "I will never choose death." I repeat her words, as do the rest of the wirewitches. JACK helps me to my feet, leads me over to my bedroll. "7-07, bandage her hand." The warlock leaves, presumably to retrieve a medkit. "Thanks," I say, sighing as the static begins to fade. "We're in this together. We will help you." I smile. "Thanks. I believe you. Your friendship means a lot to me." "Now you just have one thing to decide." "And what's that?" "Where are we going from here?" Even as Calamity's last string of secrets spring to the front of my clouded brain, reminding me of my continued defiance, the thought ricocheting around in my skull is simplistically selfish: Cosmic glitch, JACK, why did you have to ask that? Now that my quest to find you is complete, I don't have many options left. Just unsolved mysteries. And those are only gonna lead me in one direction. JACK must sense my mood, because she strokes my hair and softly says, "We're going west, just like the rivot bot said to, aren't we?" Nodding, I fix my arms around her and hold on with everything I've got.
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