“Gehenna, your systems are weakening. Is your life linked to Jace's?” Khoth asked.
Gehenna’s life is linked to mine? Jace mentally gasped since it seemed his body could not handle doing that.
Yes, Jace, Gehenna answered him. It is.
So if I had died bringing Metal Rain then you would have, too? He glared, again, mentally, at her. Why didn’t you tell me?!
Because there was no other choice for you to make. Live or die, we were going to do so together. It was only right since… well, since I made so many choices for us both before, she answered, which perplexed him as he only recalled her offering him paths and he had chosen what to do in the end. And I did not want to unnecessarily worry you.
Unnecessarily?! Jace balked at the very idea of this. His whole life he had been fragile, at best, with death something he often thought might take him early. Now, here, he was finding out that he wouldn’t be the only one affected by that fragility. I wouldn’t want to hurt you Gehenna! I wouldn’t want to take you down with me!
Jace, you are not responsible for me, Gehenna sounded very firm about this. I was the one… well, the Osiris was the one really, because it needs a pilot, all of the Precursor tech does… just a single pilot would change everything.
Jace frowned, mentally, and said, I do not understand. You’re not making a lot of sense here.
There was a pause and then Gehenna said, Your mother was pregnant with you when this room was last opened.
There was a hiss and various mechanical sounds. Grinding. Whirring. Something opening perhaps?
This is the Osiris’ Core, Gehenna stated, though she sounded incredibly weary and breathless as if she’d been running uphill for a long time and was simply out of energy. This will allow us to have a complete connection soon, Jace. And not just me and you, but you and all of the Precursor tech… well, theoretically. In time. But there was some damage--
Damage? He parroted.
Don’t be afraid.
Jace hadn’t been until she said that and wondered what he should be afraid of exactly. This unknown damage? The connection? The Core? What she was about to say about his mom?
There was a young scientist who worked here before you were born. Her name was Dr. Helen Rancic, Gehenna explained clearly and concisely. She was investigating this part of the Osiris when a door that had been shut, suddenly opened.
The door we just went through?
Yes, exactly.
There was the sensation of moving, gliding over the blue-black floor, and then the floor ended and there was a pool of electric blue in view. It was the color of Thaf’ell eyes, he thought. But there likely was no connection between them other than that both were beautiful.
The pool was a huge tank built into the floor. There were conduits leading into the tank. Coils of all different colors with needles and barbs on their ends bobbed almost like lazy snakes in a dull current. These coils hooked into the tank’s walls, attached to cylinders, filled with who knew what.
Gehenna continued, Dr. Rancic should have called others. She certainly shouldn’t have gone in alone. She shouldn’t have gone in at all. But it was so very exciting and she was always one to leap before she looked.
Jace could easily imagine that. A door in a spaceship suddenly opens! Dr. Rancic might have seen it as an invitation. Maybe the Osiris was reacting to her, her specifically. He could imagine her hesitating on the threshold. Her lips parted to call to others, but then… maybe she saw the glowing pool and she couldn’t help but go in without saying a word.
So she went inside and the process to become the Pilot was started, Gehenna told him.
And, for a moment, he had a vision of what had happened. He could see a woman with black culottes, a white button down shirt and a long white doctor’s coat. She had on black shoes. She was on the edge of the pool. She was trying to get away from the pool. But there were things coming out of the pool, ripping through her clothes, trying to reach skin. Jace blinked and the vision faded.
Your mother heard the commotion, Gehenna continued in a voice that was strangely light yet filled with dread and sorrow. She often came to the Osiris by herself to simply absorb the wonder of it. She was its caretaker. She wanted to also be the person who extracted more of its secrets to help the United States of America and the world.
There was another vision. He saw his mother in her uniform. One of her hands rested, unconsciously, on her protruding stomach. He saw her head lift and her eyes widen as she heard Dr. Rancic screaming. So much screaming. His mother lit off like a shot.
“Corridor 5! There’s an incident in Corridor 5!” His mother shouted into the walkie talkie she’d unclipped from her waist.
She was so brave, Gehenna stated with what sounded like respect. She saw what was happening to Dr. Rancic and still went inside. She didn’t wait for backup. She didn’t hesitate. Later, she regretted not hesitating. She felt she had forgotten about you. But that wasn’t true. Because you take after her, Jace. Neither of you can help but act bravely when others are in trouble.
Another vision of his mother. She raced to Dr. Rancic by the pool. There was a coil--not completely unlike what surrounded him--but this one was clear that was attached to the base of Dr. Rancic’s spine. Another was fastening itself to the top of her spine. His mother tried to yank them off. Dr. Rancic screamed.
“NO! DON’T! THEY’VE DRILLED IN!” Dr. Rancic shouted.
A third coil was rising up from the electric blue water. And another. And another. They were going to pull Dr. Rancic down into the pool.
