The prisoner arrived days ago. They brought her here bruised, disarmed and naked.
She’s a good fighter: only a teenage girl, but she managed to knock out the first guard twenty seconds after opening her eyes. If the guards weren’t Myridians, she could’ve escaped right there.
But Myridians are tricky. They can create copies of themselves at will: if you want to knock out one, you better be prepared to do the same with an another thousand.
They tried to interrogate her, but the prisoner can’t understand a single word. The guards are professionals: they don’t resort to outright torture. They know how to break prisoners.
They provide her drinking water and nothing else. No food. No clothes. Not even a bed.
She just sits there, alone, on the cold floor of hard stone. Meditating.
Thinking.
I am Null. I must remember that. I have to keep focused.
I can’t remember what happened after the teleportation. I’ve been separated from the Many and imprisoned here…wherever “here” is.
I couldn’t understand a word the guards said, meaning it wasn’t any language known to mankind.
There is no way out. The walls are solid. There’s a locket on the other side of the prison bars, but I can’t pick it without any instrument.
They’re either trying to break me or they don’t care if I die. I’m cold. Hungry. Thirsty. Tired.
“Oh God I’m gonna die here alone and naked and scared!”
Shut up, Noriko. I’m trying to think here.
“Where’s Dad? Where’s everybody? What am I doing here!?”
You’re not doing anything. I’m the one in charge.
“I was here first. I’ve been you until Athena messed things up”
Really. You’re an angsty teenager with no original thought and no future. I am Null.
“You’re the one afraid of her human personality. So afraid that you locked me in a corner of your brain and pushed away everyone we know. And now you’re gonna die alone”
Shut up. I’m only hearing you because I’m tired and hungry and so far away from Earth that I can’t connect to the worldmind.
“So basically we’re going insane because you can’t hear seven billion voices in your head anymore? That’s a new one.”
I’m not insane. Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep all the knowledge of the world inside your head!?
“Great, now I’m arguing with myself. You ever think Mom was right?”
Shut up. I am Null. I have no mother.
“She said I’m nothing. All that genius, and what have you done with it so far?”
Noriko is nothing. You are nothing. I am Null now. Null doesn’t need anyone.
“Keep telling yourself that and eventually you’ll believe it. Oh wait, that’s exactly what you’re doing now, aren’t you? Come on big head, you’re the smartest girl on Earth. You know what you need to do to get out of this mess”
Alright. We’ll try things your way. But if we die, I’m never gonna listen to you again.
“What if it turns out I’m right? You’re going to tell our friends that you’re hearing voices?”
Don’t push your luck.
I open my eyes, ready to take on the world. Then slam my head on the wall so hard I break my nose. This should work.
I regain consciousness with the unmistakable smell of disinfectant. There’s something restraining my head, but I manage to look around enough to understand I’m in some kind of medical facility.
They have tied me up, but at least they’ve had the decency to give me an hospital gown.
“Did they have to dress me up while I was unconscious? Creeeepy…”
Why are you still here?
“It takes more than a broken nose to silence your fears.”
That would be almost profound if it made any sense. I don’t have time to argue with you right now, can’t you see they’re examining us? Look at that screen, it’s showing all of my vital signs. That’s probably the reason for the clothes…this “dress” is probably a sensor array.
“Yeah, I know, I’m you, remember? God, split personalities suck.”
I’m going to ignore you right now. I can’t believe I was ever you.
“I can’t believe supersmart me is such a b###h!!!”
Shut up, you’re making me waste too much brain power! Without a connection to the worldmind…
“You shut up! You pushed me away because you were afraid a human mind would go insane with that much information and responsibility!”
Well maybe it’s better to be insane than to be you!
“Fine!”
Fine!
<You can stop pretending, I know you’re not unconscious> a deep male voice intervenes.
“See? You took us right to the villain! He’s gonna kill us now!!!”
Shut up, Noriko. I’m working on it.
“On getting us killed?”
…
“Shutting up now.”
I manage to turn my head just enough to see him. A man in his early forties, utterly inconspicuous if not for the elaborate black robes. And the green, shining gem embedded in his throat.
<Fascinating piece of work. You have a self-sustaining brain: it’s not drawing energy from the rest of your body. It seems to have its own independent power supply. >
<You’re speaking the same language of the guards, but I can understand you. Why?> I ask.
<No built-in universal translator, I see. Disappointing. I can’t think of a major god making such a mistake. Maybe Dionysus, if he were sufficiently drunk…>
<Stop ignoring me and release me at once!> I protest, testing the strength of my restrains.
As it always happens with any emotional reaction, my eyes glow. The screen signals a sudden increase in brain activity, then shuts down. I think I fried it.
<That…was unnecessary> he states calmly. The jewel in his throat glows.
All of a sudden, I’m free from my restrains. My first thought is to escape, but I’m not able to move a muscle: I float in the air, as he telekinetically draws me towards him.
<I am Drevel Viz, Oracle of Myridia and servant of Demeter. You will tell me your mission, how you managed to steal an highly classified biological weapon, and which god shall reclaim your corpse after I’m through with you.>
Without lifting a finger, he throws me to the other side of the room. I swallow the pain and order my legs to stand up, but before I can do anything the Oracle telekinetically pins me against the wall.
The pressure on my chest is making it difficult to breathe. I know he could kill me right now, just by thinking about it, but I have one advantage over him. He’s not Null. I AM.
<That all you got?> I manage to say.
The Oracle loses his cool. He doesn’t raise his voice, but the increase in the pressure over my body is a telling sign.
<Only your head shows signs of genetic manipulation. I can remove organs and limbs from the rest of your body as I please. All I need from you is to know is which god created you.>
<I’m not working for any god.>
<I find that hard to believe. You can’t have acted alone; no mortal could steal the Many on her own.>
<Were you born this stupid, or is that jewel in your throat restricting the blood flow to the brain?>
The Oracle raises an eyebrow, twisting my limbs so hard it feels like he’s about to rip them out.
I can’t give him the satisfaction to scream. I close my eyes and grin my teeth so hard it feels my skull will burst.
“Tell he what he wants! Tell him anything! Please!!!”
<Last chance to answer me without grievous harm, child. What manner of creature are you?>
He steps closer. There’s a permanent storm raging in my brain.
<I AM NULL> I shout, opening my eyes. They aren’t silver anymore: they are white hot.
I am channeling all of the information stored in my head in a single, massive burst of electrical activity: another second and I risk melting my own eyes.
I was prepared to be temporarily blinded; the Oracle wasn’t, and he releases me from his telekinetic control. The sudden shock leaves me an opening; I slip past him, jumping on his shoulders to grab his neck between my hands.
He could rip my head off with a thought. I reach for every drop of adrenaline in my body to strangle him as hard as humanly possible. He’s doing his best to push me away.
I figured that if they bothered to install the jewel in the throat, blood flow to the head is important. It’s not much of a deduction; more like a hunch. I’m betting my life on it.
I’m tired, hungry and dehydrated. But NULL. WILL. ENDURE.
The soldier standing guard just outside the lab opens the door. He’s not supposed to interrupt the Oracle, so he didn’t peek when he slammed me against the wall…but the fall of the Oracle made enough noise to arouse some suspicion.
He’s wearing some kind of light armor and carries a spear. When he sees his boss lying lifeless on the floor, his first instinct is to create five exact duplicates of himself.
All of them look me in the eye. The girl half their weight who just took out their telekinetic master.
<I am Null. Does anyone else want to challenge me?>
I’m bluffing. If I have to throw one punch I’ll collapse from exhaustion. But from their body language alone I spot thirteen signs that they’re terrified of me.
Five spears fall on the ground.
“Did…did we just win!?”
I did, while you were hiding in the dark. And that is why I am the dominant personality.
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