"This emotional response is precisely why the improvements are necessary," his father replied. "Your time among primitives has corrupted your understanding of efficiency. You speak of feeling as if it were valuable rather than a distraction from purpose."
"And what purpose is that?" Sebastian challenged. "Expansion? Domination? Processing everything natural into something artificial?"
Cornelius stalked closer, his mechanical eyes scanning Sebastian's face. "Purpose is perfection, Sebastian. The elimination of weakness. The transcendence of natural limitation. This has always been the goal of House de la Sang."
"There is strength in what you call weakness," Sebastian argued, thinking of the orc settlement, to the magic that flowed through everything they touched. "The orcs understand this. Their connection to each other, to their land, it gives them power we lack with all our brass and precision."
For the first time, a hint of expression crossed Cornelius's face, a slight narrowing of his mechanical eyes. "The primitives have indeed corrupted you more thoroughly than anticipated." He reached out suddenly, grabbing Sebastian's throat, fingers pressing against the brass components. "Perhaps you require additional motivation to embrace your restoration."
Sebastian struggled against the grip, but his father's strength was overwhelming, especially with his own hands bound behind him and his body weakened from battle. Cornelius forced him to his knees, then pressed his head to the cold floor, holding him there with calculated pressure, enough to dominate without causing permanent damage to valuable property.
"Your primitive companion." Cornelius’ voice was unchanged despite the violence of his actions. "The warchief. He is being held in the lower chambers. Alive, for the moment."
Sebastian's body went rigid. "Boarstaff," he whispered against the floor, shock and horror washing through him at this revelation. "You captured him?"
"Is that its designation?" Cornelius asked with clinical curiosity. "Interesting. My scans indicate unusual physiological responses when you speak this name. Your pulse accelerates. Your respiratory rate increases."
He increased the pressure on Sebastian's neck, forcing his face harder against the floor. "Your attachment to this primitive is a symptom of your degradation. Another weakness to be eliminated during your reconditioning."
Fear for Boarstaff overwhelmed Sebastian's own pain. Not the regulated concern of a vampire noble, but raw terror for someone who had shown him compassion when he deserved none. Who had fed him with his own blood. Who had touched him with gentleness Sebastian had never known existed.
"Don't harm him." The words emerged as a plea rather than a demand. "He has nothing to do with this."
Cornelius released Sebastian's neck, stepping back as if to avoid contamination. "On the contrary. My analysis suggests he has everything to do with your current condition. The primitive has influenced you significantly. Perhaps even... emotionally."
The way his father said "emotionally" made it sound like a disease, a corruption that required immediate treatment.
"Here is what will happen, Sebastian," Cornelius continued, moving back to his desk with mechanical precision. "You will submit to complete reconditioning. Your brass components will be replaced with improved versions. The primitive contamination will be purged from your system. You will be restored to proper function within House de la Sang."
He activated another panel, and a new projection appeared. It was a live feed from the lower chambers. Boarstaff lay unconscious on a metal table, restraints securing his powerful body. Zarek stood nearby, examining a tray of instruments with calculated interest.
"If you resist the reconditioning process," Cornelius said, "Zarek is authorized to proceed with his research on primitive pain thresholds. He has developed several experimental techniques he is eager to test. The process will be extensive and terminal."
Sebastian stared at the projection, at Boarstaff's vulnerable form. Horror and rage surged within him at the sight of the warchief bound and helpless. Emotions that would have once been regulated into manageable impulses now threatened to overwhelm him completely.
"You would torture him just to ensure my compliance?" Sebastian already knew the answer. His father's calculations always produced the most efficient path to his goals, regardless of the cost to others.
"Torture is an imprecise term," Cornelius replied. "Zarek would be conducting valuable research on primitive physiological responses. The subject's suffering would serve a purpose, which is more than can be said for most primitive existence."
Sebastian closed his eyes briefly, weighing his options. If he submitted, his father would replace the transformed brass with new components. Would everything the Heart Tree had awakened in him be erased, would he return to the regulated existence he had escaped? But Boarstaff would live.
If he refused, he might maintain what he had become, but Boarstaff would suffer and die at Zarek's hands.
No choice at all, really.
"There is another matter to discuss," Cornelius turned off the projection of Boarstaff. "The human child."
Sebastian's head snapped up. "Sarah?"
"Is that its designation?" his father asked with mild interest. "Lady Elisandra has expressed significant displeasure at the theft of her property. The child was to undergo preliminary brass installation under her supervision."
The memory of Sarah's nightmares flashed through Sebastian's mind, her terror as she dreamed of brass being put inside her. The reality would be far worse than her fears.
"She's just a child," Sebastian said, unable to keep the horror from his voice.
"She is raw material," Cornelius corrected. "With optimal potential for early improvement integration. Lady Elisandra had already begun the preparatory conditioning."
Sebastian thought of Sarah's small arms around his neck, her impossible trust as she recognized him in the darkness. The way she had called his name, believing he would save her. Another emotion surged through him, protectiveness, fierce and unfamiliar in its intensity.
