Chapter 56: Traitor
K stared at the faint and glowing swell beneath Thira’s silver plating. For several seconds, his mind refused to make sense of what his eyes were seeing.
His gaze moved from Thira’s stomach to the ring wrapped around his wrist, then to the Emperor’s arm holding him.
Back to his stomach.
No.
K’s breathing slowed.
The room seemed to shrink around him.
"What did you do to him?"
The Emperor’s fingers continued their lazy movement over Thira’s intertwined hands.
"I simply fulfilled his ultimate wish."
K’s eyes narrowed. "His wish?"
The words barely left his mouth. Something inside him was already screaming that this wasn’t right.
K looked at Thira again.
The Miwa was asleep.
Peaceful.
Completely unaware that K was standing only a few meters away, now staring at him as though he were looking at a stranger.
A memory surfaced yet again.
The doctor has been running compatibility tests with humans.
To ensure the extinction of his species doesn’t happen.
K’s stomach twisted.
Thira had always been strange. Secretive. Obsessive sometimes about his research. There were things the doctor refused to explain, things even Kagu wasn’t permitted to disclose.
But this...
K’s eyes dropped again.
The small swell beneath Thira’s body was unmistakable.
His fingers curled.
"Did you make him do it?"
The Emperor’s head tilted slightly.
"Now why would I be interested in my beloved mating with you uncouth creatures?"
K’s jaw tightened.
"..."
A faint silence followed.
"He’s carrying your child, isn’t he?"
The words came out colder than K intended.
The Emperor’s grip around Thira tightened.
K stepped forward.
"Is that what this was?"
His voice shook as he faced the sleeping Vashki.
"All those tests. All those samples. All those times you disappeared into your laboratory. You couldn’t find a suitable partner so you crawled back to him?"
The memories came rushing back.
His chest tightened at them.
"You weren’t trying to save your people, were you?"
K’s eyes burned.
"You were trying to replace us with your enhanced human-Vashki mix..."
The person he had crossed half the galaxy to find.
The person whose coordinates had dragged him through the barrier. The person he had been willing to fight an entire planet for.
The person who gave him a reason to live.
And now he had crawled right back to the planet he claimed to hate the most and was pregnant with a child.
A child.
A Vashki child.
"I see why Bak was always weary of you... you betrayed us a long time ago. I just didn’t see it early."
"You knew what humanity was fighting against. You knew what your people did to our people!"
His voice grew louder.
"You knew what they did to Earth! You knew what they did to you!"
"And you still came here."
His eyes dropped to Thira’s stomach. "You still chose them."
The Emperor’s fingers stopped moving. For the first time, something changed in his posture.
"You think you know what happened."
The Emperor’s voice was quiet.
"I know what I’m looking at."
"No."
The Emperor glanced down at Thira.
"You know what you believe you’re looking at. Do you know what your people did to my people? Do you even know the cause you’re fighting for?"
K’s fists clenched.
"Wake him up."
The Emperor’s head lifted.
"You want me to wake him up and ask him?"
The room went still once more.
His silver face was peaceful, his body curled instinctively against the Emperor’s chest. Both men were unaware of a tear that slipped down his spotless face.
"I know what your answer is but I’m afraid I can’t grant your request. You see, Vae’Thira is in the early stages of pregnancy. He needs rest too because he just took my ring not quite long ago. Waking him up nigh cause complications... we don’t want Vae’Thira to die now, do we?"
K’s eyes dropped to the where the new ring sat, then he noticed the faint tremor running through Thira’s fingers.
The ring around his ankle flickered very subtly.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
K stared but the Emperor shifted, subtly lifted Thira back onto his legs. The light dimmed immediately.
K’s heart skipped.
"What was that?"
The Emperor didn’t answer.
K took another step.
"Thira?"
The Miwa didn’t wake or stir.
"Thira."
Nothing.
K’s gaze hardened.
"Wake him."
The Emperor’s fingers tightened around Thira.
"You’re angry and exhausted from your journey my soldiers will take you to your quarters."
"No shit, I don’t need your hospitality!"
"You came all this way believing you were rescuing him so I put it to you that Vae’Thira is not in the face of any danger or harm."
"I came here because he was taken against his own will! I saw the damn footage!"
"And now, do you see him struggling to be free? I put it to you once again, Vae’Thira is in safe hands."
K looked at Thira again.
The Emperor leaned back against the throne, cuddling the Miwa tighter and gently rocking him.
"Good."
The Emperor’s gaze lowered to the sleeping Miwa,
"do tell me, do you now see him as a traitor?" His tone had faint amusement to them.
K’s jaw ticked at it. The U’Kan was enjoying his plight.
"You haven’t even asked why he is here... but you can save that for later. My beloved and I must rest now."
K looked down.
The words struck somewhere deeper than he wanted them to.
Because that was true.
He had seen Thira with the emperor and now their child and he had filled in the blanks himself.
But the quest remained burning in the corner of his vision.
[QUEST: FIND THE KEPT ONE]
[UPDATE: RESCUE THE KEPT ONE]
[THE KEPT ONE IS MUST BE KEPT ALIVE.]
K stared at the final line.
Why would the system assign such a line if he wasn’t in any danger?
Was it a premonition?
He looked at Thira.
"My men will escort you to your chambers, do take your rest and enjoy the ambience of Qashka."
As soon as he finished his sentence, the soldiers from before marched into the room and pulled K out.
Two Vashki immediately moved to either side of K.
"Follow us."
K glanced between them before falling into step.
The corridors stretched endlessly before him, each one more elaborate than the last. Pale ceramic walls curved upward into vaulted ceilings, their surfaces carved with unfamiliar symbols that shimmered faintly whenever the Vashki passed beneath them. Soft silver light poured from narrow openings along the walls, illuminating the polished floor beneath K’s boots.
His footsteps echoed.
The Vashki’s did not.
They moved with an unsettling synced silence, their porcelain feet barely making a sound against the smooth flooring.
K looked over his shoulder.
"Where exactly are my quarters?"
Neither answered.
He frowned.
"Does your emperor usually dump his guests somewhere without telling them where they’re staying?"
One of the Vashki turned his head slightly.
"You were instructed to follow. Do not question."
"That’s not an answer."
Silence.
K sighed through his nose and continued walking.
They descended.
That was the first thing that bothered him.
The further they walked, the lower the castle seemed to become. The ornate halls gradually disappeared, replaced by narrower passageways. The glowing carvings became less frequent. The air grew colder.
K glanced at the walls.
The material had changed too.
No longer smooth ivory.
Dark ceramic now covered the corridor, reinforced by thick metallic bands.
"Interesting quarters."
The Vashkis ignored him.
They passed a sealed door.
Then another.
Then another.
Each bore a different symbol.
K slowed.
The Vashki behind him placed a hand against his shoulder.
"Keep walking."
K looked at the hand before looking at the Vashki.
"Touch me again and you’ll lose it."
The Vashki’s fingers tightened.
"Walk."
K scoffed and kept moving.
A final set of doors appeared ahead.
They were enormous.
Unlike the elegant doors throughout the palace, these were thick and reinforced, covered in interlocking metallic patterns. A faint vibration traveled through the floor beneath K’s boots.
One of the Vashki approached a panel beside them.
It hummed.
The doors separated.
K stared into the room beyond.
It was spacious.
A bed sat against one wall. A small table occupied the opposite corner. There was even a wash station and a narrow opening in the ceiling that allowed pale light to filter through.
K stepped inside.
"This is my room?"
"Yes."
He looked around.
No windows.
No visible exit except the door behind him.
His brow furrowed.
"Where’s the rest of the furniture?"
The Vashki stepped backward.
"You will remain here until summoned."
K turned.
"What?"
The doors began closing.
"Hey!"
He moved toward them.
"Wait."
Neither Vashki answered.
The final sliver of light disappeared.
THOOM.
The door sealed.
K stood motionless.
He slowly turned toward the empty room with his eyes narrowed.
"...Quarters, my ass."
...
..
.
A hologram flashed through her corner of her eye.
He made it!
... that was... fast?
"Fine I’ll talk."
Bak threw her outlet onto the ground and away from the incinerator before him.
"Talk."