I_L: Chapter 7

 

Noelle's eyes twitched. She saw something go by in the corner of her eye and turned her gaze there, seeing her Compt beeping. Flipping it open and deciding to work on her communication skills, Noelle listened to hear Vixen breathing on the other end. "Quite a show you put on, no?" They said, sounding not too pleased. "Everyone got away safely didn't they?" She affirmed. "Yeah, the Wreckers are all fine. Better than fine really.. we killed the A.I.M. target, so apparently Paramor wants another audience with us. They said to pack up and prepare for a stay.. I think we're getting in. The call came right as we escaped and hit the Media channels." "That's good news. " But that's not all they want," Noelle's ears perked up. "They also want you. They said so right at the end of our conversation. Apparently, they want you especially. I took care of things, but that about wraps things up. Find us later tonight back at the Chameleon Station parked where we met up before." "Thanks. Got it."

Noelle, she got another call from Theabelle, but by the time she responded the caller had ceased. Her eyes widened and she threw herself off her bed, descending down the stairs along the curved wall into the lower deck of the Project Station. Meeks was waiting for her on the couch in a turtleneck sweater, she didn't seem too happy.

The Antler'd girl put her face in her hands. "I was hoping to avoid you."

 

The inspector stood up straight and faced her. "I gave you an order, and you disobeyed it. " Meeks stared back at her, not bothering to respond.

"You've got a big damn mouth for someone whose keeping all kinds of secrets."

"How do you know about that?!" Noelle gasped, her hands flying up to her mouth, horrified.

"I was just informed." "By whom?!"

Meeks smirked. "You shouldn't really care. You failed." She tilted her head and tapped her antlers, then cupped her ears. "You have no idea what it's like in this group.. everyone always breathing heavily and masturbating. Not a whisper leaves my side." Noelle slowly stumbled back, the look of horror on her face when it all dawned on her. "But why are you so worried?

Didn't you hear? Paramor wants you! As in, Paramor Frontia United? The terrorist rebel group trying to overthrow Xi and subvert the government?" Noelle reached for her volt gun on the counter. Meek's hands rushed forward and Noelle felt a force slam her against the wall, her body floating and mass loosely expanding. She couldn't control her body, feeling as light as a cloud.

"I should pop you like a grape right now, you selfish bitch." With a squeeze of her hands, Noelle fight even lighter, the expansion like a pump at her center and swelling her even further. She felt like she was choking, when the Merchant.

Footsteps echoed behind the Rānthiraulph.

 

"Woah.. I know, we ran out of muffins but, but that's no reason to resort to murder." The Merchant said. "Let our leader go Meeky."

Rosalita behind her, muffled slick bodies in tow. "Meeks!" The popstar shouted. "What are you doing?! This is madness!"

Meeks panicked. "Noelle betrayed us. She's some sort of plant or double agent."

"She i-is? Oh.. Oh no." The Merchant's heart spasmed. "We should contact Denipol. No need to be a little paranoid, I'm sure there's a logical explanation for this."

Meek's eyes drooped, their glare wrought with suspicion and anger. "Did you know?" "Did I know what?" The Merchant shrugged, rather annoyed by Meek's tone.

"Did you know that Noelle was a traitorous bastard?."

 

"Me? Never! No of course not." Her heart beat again, just out of rhythm.

 

"I can hear your heartbeat." Her other hand released Noelle partially, contracting and floating the Merchant instead. Both of them swelled and gasped as Meeks held them in the air, feet kicking and dangling like a pair of strewn up bodies.

"M-meeks.. I know you have a thing for Theabelle. Are you going to explain to her why you -aack- popped two of her teammates- gaaack!" She coughed with Meeks around her throat.

"Shutup! SHUTUP! If you're in on this, I don't care! Everyone in the Project knows what kind of selfish scoundrel you are, and no one cares who the Investigator is. You can't keep up this facade like you are.."

She tossed her words aside, noticing something slick and bubbly at her feet. "Huh?" They looked like bunnyslippers made of sluggish, gooey soap. They sped around her legs and with a push, tripped her flat on her ass. The Merchant and Noelle gasped as their bodies returned to normal and they fell back down.

"N-now are we even? You have no idea what you did!" The Merchant shouted. Noelle concentrated, her hand starting to glow and manifest of the liquid droplets, slickly shaping

around her palm and turning into a big paw-shaped fist, the claws she could easily manipulate. "I don't know how to explain it either.."

The Merchant rolled her eyes. "Oh, that. Not really what I meant but, cool I guess."

 

As Meeks started to get up, Noelle shot her hand forward and the claw went flailing at her torso, pushing her back into a shelf. The two looked at her crashed body, when they felt a spontaneous paralyzing stiffness. It was as if they'd both been turned to stone and thrice as heavy.

"That's enough." Brick said, with everyone else sans Thea by him walking in. "Rosalita saw everything and alerted me. Inspector Noelle.. You're under arrest." He focused his grip on Noelle's voltgun, making it so dense and heavy that it cracked and burst like a shattered rock. Then he let both go.

The two looked at one another, everyone else on the hunt for them. They knew it was pointless to fight.

"Sit." Blackbox demanded.

 

Noelle didn't respond as she felt her body returning back to normal and the paralysis disappearing. She stood up, brushing herself off and stood to attention with the rest of the squad.

"No," Noelle said. "I will not sit for my crimes and they're far from over. I'm a good detective and I'm done with all of thi-" Blackbox tapped her neck. Her eyes went black and she fell onto the couch, fully unconscious.

⍟

Brick, who was pacing up and down, stopped pacing as he saw that the N.M.E.R.D Transport was gone. He went to the window, peeking through the curtains. Then he went to a corner of the room, going to the table where Noelle had made him fill out a report after the Mars mission. He picked up a vase and threw it, cracking the window. Then he dropped against a wall and collapsed his head into his palms. "Geez chief.. you really had us for a hell of a ride."

Waking up, Noelle felt her movements slur slowly into place, restricted by a latex straightjacket and a series of straps. Her wrists struggled in place, legs not even able to hobble before masked, faceless nurses pinned her into a cushioned mold and made sure to click her jacket's hooks into walls locks. All her skin was painted with a fine sheen of sheeny, pure white silicone, and she barely had the breath to take a steady breath of the sterile air, barely the strength to wriggle as her body and mind was forced to do what they had decided.

One of the nurses, their pristine dome's protecting their identity underneath in reflective latex where one could see their whole life shone back at them, injected the Inspector with a sedative. An ex-inspector, she figured.

She was taken through long chrome halls, and from a window, could tell she was on a prison ship. Those didn't take long in flight, she'd be in a N.M.E.R.D camp for good measure in less than a few minutes. The nurses detached her from the padded wall mold once and wheeled her for ten minutes until they allowed deboarding. She briefly recognized the smooth, crisp engineered atmosphere and gentle forest- the pride lands of Rhea. By contrast with the mixes of blue and green, the huge silvery gate and towers she could see ahead seemed to bank on the more harrowing facets of the world.

Taken inside the building, Noelle could see those in various simple Xi uniforms, dressed like civil servants. She witnessed classes, she saw cells and cafeterias. Towards the end of her little tour she was taken to the far back of the facility, where hundreds of slat-shaped beds were covered by watery tanks, as a form of horizontal vat. Noelle was laid onto one emptied out, the bedding along her back letting her spine sink into its steady foam as the Nurses strapped her in. A dark, looming gasmask slowly lowered over her face from a mechanical crane. A large computer was wired to her temples via waterproof wires, like magnets plopped over her face.

Once she was fully tied in, a plastic cylinder was extended over the bedding, and fluid began to drip in..

It took only a few minutes for the process to be completed, but for Noelle it seemed like an eternity. The first few moments were spent just hanging there. The mask and gown were already on her, and for a short time there was nothing but the hum of the machine around her. She felt almost peaceful, the lights were all out but for the bare floor lights. There was a soft beep, a gentle whir, and a click, and her body began to be freed. It seemed almost too easy.

Her arms felt like they had been in a vice, and though she could move, her mind was numb. Her body was writhing under the restraints, struggling, desperate for release but too powerless to find it. Her mind, though, was strong. The fluid of the tank pumping between her ankles, rising slowly, was meant to reverse that.

The nurse started up the machine. "Don't try to resist, I need to make sure your mind and body are synced up. That will happen to the point of making you obey without question or hesitation."

It was easy to be good. And now she was going to be even better, much better than

 

before.

 

Uptop, Noelle could see small viewport in a small room, and through it she could see the top of her captors shoulders, peeking through the viewport's wall. She could even make out the small of their backs, as their uniforms were so tight and tight fitting, they couldn't even bend to sit up properly. The mask they wore was similar to hers, of a simple circular design, just an oval like a face, and the straps around her neck was so thick it felt like the tight elastic fabric was holding her into place. There was a red, red light, so bright it was almost hurting to her eyes, it felt hot, but for the most part she was still able to see. The latex fluid sloshed over her head, her chest, and spilled over her arms, her thighs, covering her like a rubbery sheet.

She felt the cool, heavy fluid being dripped over her arms and rising above she chest, and she thought "Everything's sunshine and rainbows.. a bath. It's merely a bath. " Her hands began to feel stuck, the sticky fluid of the tank between her knees feeling cool as it gained a gel-like consistency, and a moment later her legs twitched, almost of their own volition. But it was only for a moment, and then she was submerged, as the liquid rose over her face, soaking into her hair and over her eyes. Even the sound of the gentle hiss of the vat was a balm to her soul. She relaxed, and just floated inside for a while.

The red light beeped again, less hot this time. Relaxing. Sedating. Pretty.

 

She could feel the memory implants activating from the computer, not just the ones to record the past, but those in her very bones, they were ready to take over her life. She had been through so much since the beginning of her life that she felt the need to be ready, she felt she needed to remember, to let her experiences shape her personality. She needed to apologize for

her actions and be good for her community, for Xi. There were so many rules to keep up with, which is why trusting her superiors and not breaking them was very important.

Noelle could feel herself changing now. This was the point where her life as she knew it ended, because this was where she began a new, self-imposed life, one that she'd have to be sure to be good at. She felt her body relax, her muscles now in a gooey slump. She looked up. The lights seemed to fade out, she couldn't tell for sure. And the feeling of peace disappeared in a moment as, her mind feeling slightly less numb, she looked up to the ceiling. She knew what was coming.

Everything swirled and spun, Noelle's entire being swallowed up into the mental realm.

When she opened her eyes, she was in an Xi Military soldier uniform, a commander of the Highfleet. Saluting to her superior officer. They walked over her after traversing rows of uniformed officers and turning to her. "Status report, Lieutenant Noelle."

She was still confused as hell, so she just waved her hands, which were shaking, at her superior. "Um... the Xi are in trouble." But when she tugged on the latex and buttons of her navy-green suit, it felt tight and clingy. It felt right.

"That sir to you." He said punishingly, pinching her cheek.

 

The sun, a beam of pure red light, was casting these memories into her mind, trying to fundamentally change how she thought and functioned.

"Lieutenant," the superior officer asked, "how are we in this situation?"

 

"Um, we're... we're, like, fighting each other," Noelle replied, trying to get through this. "I thought I could do it. I tried to, I... I'm, like, really sorry." She didn't even know what to say. Her

brain was like a sponge, absorbing everything it could. The superior officer shook their head, and time seemed to rewind. They walked back through the rows as earlier and approached her again.

"Lieutenant," the superior officer asked, "how are we in this situation?"

 

This time Noelle's head felt fuzzy, but her convictions more secure. "We are not sure how the enemy got here. We are trying to find out. Sir." The last word at the end seemed to bring her a rise of pleasure. This man was her superior, as were the Xi. The Xi were superior to all. Being in their uniform, unthinking and following orders, having to make no decisions of her own and entrusting her superiors to make every thought for her washed over her like a pleasurable wave.

"It is a shame, really. Your team was quite impressive," the superior officer said. "I think I would have loved you on my crew, if only you'd show more initiative. Wouldn't you love that?"

Noelle's face blushed, the idea of serving made her undergo a surge of loyalty. Her uniform. The Xi. Her uniform was the only thing that kept her loyal to the Xi and to her team, as well. But as the superior officer looked at her expectantly, she felt a pang of regret, as her loyalty was not strong enough to make her sacrifice.

"Lieutenant Noelle, your team was quite impressive. If you'd have been on our team, you would have had some real work to do." A feeling of shame washed over her. He had a point. She had more work to do, more serving, more responsibility. She was a grown woman, but she needed to be a soldier.

"The Xi are the best, Noelle. Don't let them down." He placed his hand on her cheek and softly stroked her chin, the latex of his sleeves cold and sleek. She could not afford to let them down. Pride in Xi and in her subservience welled up inside her. She nodded, and he slowly and

subtly pulled her face, and his lip, closer to his own. She had been trained to submit, and she did just that. The green latex of his uniform started to coat her spread over her. He pulled her closer and she leaned in. She couldn't help herself. He felt so good. Serving and saluting her superiors, her Sir, being a soldier. It all felt so good. She'd be a veteran at this in no time.

Time rewinded.

 

The Superior Officer inspected every one, walking thru the rows. "Lieutenant," the superior officer asked her, "how are we in this situation?"

She saluted and was completely engaged, robotic movements perfectly in sync with her programming. "THE SITUATION IS TIP-TOP SIR. The enemy have fled, morale is high and discipline is unmatched!"

"Good job Lieutenant. Your dedicated service to Xi is commended. Your efforts and loyalty to Xi are a credit to the army. You are hereby elevated to the rank of Captain. You will serve as the leader of your unit. "

She didn't say, but squeaked in joy. His words meant the world to her. She didn't need anything else but his praise, she'd follow any order given to her to showcase her obedience. Her body became stiff still. The latex uniform felt good. The Xi uniforms were designed to feel nice. She liked the way it felt against her skin. She loved the way it made her feel.

No.

 

This wasn't right. She needed.. to straighten her spine more? To follow orders? To be a good Xi soldier.

Stop it. Stop it, don't. Stop it. Obey. Let me go.

 

Her thoughts thrashed, the readings on the machine outside her vat starting to read irregularities. She felt as if she was in a tug of war with herself at the moment and her mind would split at this rate. The struggle was enough to tear a whole in the fabric of the mental simulation.

From that crack a woman in purple robes emerged.

The woman walked over to Noelle, put her hands on her temples and squeezed. "Inspector. You need to concentrate." Her breathing sped up. They were trying to

 

reprogram her. She was resisting. She had to. The purple dressed woman would see her struggle. The red blinking dots dancing. Her breath grew shallow. Panic rose inside her. She wasn't resisting enough. It was not enough. She had to relax. Let the red go away.

"Perhaps this may be necessary." In her cloak, the woman pulled her hood back and kissed Elle tightly on the lips. "There's still so much you need to learn. Don't give up!"

As Noelle felt the woman's power, something clicked inside of her.

 

She saw herself through the eyes of the woman, she saw how she was fighting. Her mind was the real danger, it was why they were trying to erase her brain.

This was what the purple woman wanted her to see. "I know you're afraid, but you mustn't let this happen."

The military field and barracks started to fade away, replaced with a simple barn and grassy field. The red sky dissolved for a light blue sky.

"I want you to look into the distance and imagine yourself back in your village. You're there, it's daytime and you walk to your farm. You walk through your farm gate and enter your farm yard. You have a big pile of hay. You look through the hay at the barn and see your barn cats. They are playing around you, they don't see you. You smile. You look at the sun shining on your plants, your soil, your garden. You pick up a flower with someone close to you.. and it's beautiful."

Noelle looked around in her garden, soil around her knees. A tulip was in her hand.

 

Someone poked it, happiness rising higher and higher. "It's.. beautiful." Said the girl in front of her.

It was Thea.

 

Noelle cried whatever was left of her heart, and suddenly everything felt like a heartbreak. Why? She didn’t understand.

The cloaked woman patted Noelle's head.

 

"If I don't force this connection, you'll never be able to resist. You'll always obey to the point where you'd kill someone. You'll never disobey anyone ever again. Your thoughts and emotions will be completely controlled. You won't even think of going against Xi."

She rolled her eyes and went over to hug Thea. The warmth seemed to make the past struggles fade away, even as her mind felt memories past becoming more and more clear.

She recalled a very rugged man. She was a little girl again. She smiled, as the memories of her father(?) flooded her mind. She hadn't known what it was like to have a father. But this man was gentle and warm. She liked the way he looked at her protectively, his face softening.

She had thought him like her father anyway. A powerful light shone above the man, and she found she liked that light even more, its divine presence shielding her like a maternal beacon from the heavens.

Her breathing relaxed, and she stopped fighting everything. The fog in her head began to

 

clear.

 

"This process worked every single time.. until now." She said. Everything started to rain, and the farm field turned to a painty melt of blue and grey. She felt herself grow more lucid, and Noelle's eyes started to open fully.

⍟

 

 

 

 

When she opened her eyes, she was in a vat of rubbery goo, strapped to the table still. She struggled to remove her mask, goo rushing over her face when she finally peeled it away. There was a metal exterior over the vat, shaped like a pod. Noelle concentrated, and the sticky fluid that was her enemy began to become her ally. It was rushing towards her, growing thicker and denser around her like a catsuit. Once it drained fully from the table allowing her to move freely, she looked at it sliding around her arm as if it were a wet glove. Noelle placed her hand towards the plastic shielding above her, and by her will the gel expanded like a mace, sending shards of pod glass throughout while the spikes penetrated. She raised her fist so hard that it shattered the dome and she burst out, gasping for air. Her gown could be seen beneath the translucent rubbery layer of the tight, wet substance. Noelle climbed out finally and looked around, seeing dozens of other pods in the room. One had been opened already and she was horrified to see people moving inside them, squirming in the same mask she'd wore. Noelle was

sickened and horrified at what had happened to these people, but before she could make a move, someone touched her shoulder. She turned and looked into the face of the Merchant, waving and wiggling a martini.

"What are you doing?” she screamed.

 

"Having a drink, duh." The Merchant said nonchalant.

 

Behind her was the one who'd entered her mind just shortly before, Psi. "Shhh, she rescued me. Actually I called her, MindSigs and all. Really comes in handy! I got augmentations in all the right ways, baby."

Psi turned to Noelle, seemingly content to see that she was alright. "We must get out of here. Others will be arriving to retrieve us soon."

"Oh, so you have other people here?" Noelle asked.

 

"Yes, friends from The Society of the Mind. They're going to go in after you, in order to contain the virus."

"Virus? What- nevermind that. Where are they?" Noelle asked, looking over her shoulder

at Psi.

 

"They're trailing the planet's defense grid, mentally shutting them down from the inside- out with a few telepathic tricks. Within 30-45 minutes they'll be storming the place."

Noelle stepped away from the Merchant and turned back to the pod she had gotten out of. She stared in at those who were writhing around inside. "Come on, then we've got a lot of people

to save." She formed a huge brass knuckle with her slick goopy glove and ran over to crack a pod.

"W-why?" The Merchant asked.

 

"Insurance, the Society of the Mind are going to crash in to rescue me, but I got a better idea. We may not have that much time to wait for a rescue." She bent down and pressed her fingers to the cracked pod, the material growing around her, she moved her head and pushed her fingers further inside, the pod becoming like quicksand, and slowly, her fingers slipped inside. Once inside, Noelle pulled her fingers out again, and began to push.

"Come on, now,” She said softly, gently, to the pod. The pod’s surface cracked.

“Come on, open up.” She pushed harder and with one final push, the pod opened fully, revealing a small, young man in a tight, white medical gown. He was shivering and coughing heavily.

"You're okay,” She said soothingly, not letting go of the man.

 

The man coughed and spit out a bunch of liquid. "Xi.. I am a good citizen for Xi I.. n-no.. no I'm, Pierro. A political prisoner."

Within the next ten minutes, Noelle had freed the last person in the room, dozens now out of the pods shivering.

"I'm surprised security hasn't arrived or noticed our escape here yet." The Merchant folded her arms.

"Oh they have, long ago. I've been shutting them down quietly one by one." Psi kicked the nearest door, showing a whole team of guards unconscious out in the hall. "A place like this is bound to have anti-Telekinetic equipment, if we sit here and wait around they'll bring the big guns. C'mon, we have to make it to the hangar in the next building over."

She led the team out of the building as fast as she could trying to lead the freed prisoners.

 

They sprinted over to the exit of the building and came across a group of guards, armed with Riot Stingers. When they fired onto the crowd, Noelle stepped forward and held both palms out. A wave of gel formed and rapidly moved towards them, stretching from her arms all the way to her targets, collapsing on them and sliding them into the walls sticky and tight. "C'mon let's go go go!" The group ran through the now cleared exit and sprinted towards the next building.

There was seemingly a fireshow going on inside. "What's happening?" Noelle heard firearms, too familiar to dismiss.

"There's some kind of fight going on inside." Psi said. "No, it cannot be.."

A large number of people inside the building were also in the process of regaining consciousness. People were shouting and pushing each other. Some were still in their pods, others in the various stages of healing and the remainder were trying to make it to the hangar. When Noelle and her group made it in, they saw a massive number of Lavalites firing at the facility staff, freeing prisoners.

"Shit, here? Of all places? We're done." The Merchant panicked. "Everyone for themselves!"

Noelle turned to her and gave her the finger, squirting at her a good deal of the gel she'd used earlier on her face.

"Look!" Near one of the corners of a room in the hangar, a Lavalite pulled someone out of a pod, dragging them safely.

The Merchant scowled. "So they're kidnapping people, so what?"

 

"I don't think that is what they are doing presently." Psi remarked, while the sound of a large Telecopter whirled overhead, its warpspace bubble dissipating. "There!"

 

 

 

The hangar door opened up. As a few cloaked individuals stepped out, the remaining guards and facility heads started to drop like flies, feeling a sudden onset of mental invasion and then collapse. Approaching Noelle was the Hivesman.

"W-why are you here? And all these Lavalites.."

 

"Call it a gift of providence." He said. "Bet this is all a part of the plan to rescue you." The Merchant whispered.

Noelle gave a slight nod. "What about the others?"

 

"I'll get to them later. Right now there's a planet-wide power outage and the Lavalites are being invaded in their homeworld, the S-7."

"That's.." A Carnival world? It was one of those small planet's that even A.I.M. had rejected buying many years ago, and was full of tacky tourism, rides, off the grid businesses and

the grubbiest of entertainment. This didn't make any sense, she felt, how was a world like that the homeworld of a race that had been marauding and invading Xi for centuries?

"It's what they all thought until I set up a counter-coup. I set up the S-7 as a Lavalite a long time ago, and then made sure they were off Xi's radar. With that it's going to be harder for the Lavalites to get in and out, or operate as we please." The Hivesman turned to Noelle. "But for now, we've come to your aid. So, you're safe, the Society's safe, and the other prisoners are safe. The Lavalites are done invading here and are going to leave the planet. All is well."

She gave him a weak smile. The Inspector didn't really understand what the Lavalites or Society of the Mind wanted with her, but it seemed to have worked out in her favor atleast.

Lucky her, she sighed.