What of freedom? What of thirst?

Elie

Elie talks to @Reux, continuing an ongoing introduction to @Omei's congregation. @Ashmer interrupts, continuing his own conversation - to which Elie, a little more unhinged than she was several years ago when they first spoke, is now more receptive.

Elie tends to talk through mind hallucinations when speaking to more than one person (who doesn't speak Horkvali). I have bolded them and included who it's directed at if only directed at one person. Where not so indicated, she's echoing the hallucination for everyone she's speaking to. (@Reux and @Mariena in this case)

Elie:

She is a muscular Horkval. Her body is humanoid, with lean and brutal muscles
under dark red skin, the color of sunshine through closed eyelids. She moves as
if unaware that she is clad only in chains and bangles, and her nude body
displays a few significant missing attributes - no navel, no hair, and no nails
covering finger or toe. At the top of her long neck, skin seamlessly melts into
the soft, striated underbelly of an enormous scarab beetle. Six long, segmented
legs dangle around her neck and rest barbed little feet on her shoulders. Above,
her swollen headbody shines, iridescent bronze slopes of chitin that nearly
conceal fragile, vestigial wings. Her mandibles are prominent and cruel-looking,
gnashing and clicking almost continuously, and above them the carapace is
pitted in two places where eyes the size of clenched fists must once have
nestled. There is nothing in either pit now - only useless hollows, black at
their depths and gleaming with oil-slick emptiness. She walks with the blessing
of Omei. She walks with the boon of Haern.

(hanging loosely around her hips) : a chain bearing a brass compass
(around the neck) : a thick gorget of tarnished brass
(on each red wrist) : 2 thin gold bracelets
(around one ankle) : a thin gold bracelet
(jingling around the other ankle) : a bangle bracelet assortment

Reux:

He is a hardy Azudim: primal, majestic, and sharpened until lethal. Like a
predator, claws tip each of his digits, fangs lie within his broad feline muzzle,
and pointed ears flick to and fro, situated on the top of his crown. The feral
slits of his eyes are black and various hues of green, easily focused and quick
to stare. A fine layer of fur covers most of his tanned flesh, the orange stuff
velvety looking and probably just about as soft to the touch. Lighter, colorless
fur covers much of his neck, chest, and the insides of his thighs. Along his
spine and tail, none of this subtle hair seems willing to grow. That singular,
lengthy ridge is hardened and knotted. Though tall enough to clear six feet of
height at a guess, seven feet is too much; he stands somewhere between.

(worn on the legs) : a masculine, obsidian loincloth
(carved into the back) : prayer scars
(shoulder) : a gray, quarter-cuirass armoured bandolier
(around the waist) : a piranha tooth belt

Ashmer:

He is an athletic Azudim vampire and is a disturbing sight to behold. Wherever
his translucent skin is visible, dark shapes slither across it as his coloring
shifts from pale white to a drab, sickly grey. The workings of muscle and vein
are faintly visible beneath, sinew working against jutting bone at his emaciated
joints. Long limbs lend a sinuous grace to his otherwise gangly frame, despite
the violent sclerotic curve of his back. His right eye is a heated, molten gold
in hue, exotic in its almond shape, but his left is a scene of ruin. Cords of
desiccated muscle stand out in stark contrast to his ripped-away skin, leaving
the orb of his eye bare and lidless. It is a murky, ephemeral white in color,
and its hues shift periodically, as if filled with a cloudy fluid. The exposed
black bone of his eye socket frames it, standing in stark contrast to his milky
flesh. Directly between his eyes, a bony crest begins. It rises in a towering
fan of narrow spines of the same black bone as the rest of his skeleton, and is
webbed with a thin membrane. It shifts in hue with the rest of him in inky blots
that swim across the translucent flesh in fluid, darting motions. Glistening
ebon teeth are concealed behind his pale lips, a thick mixture of blood and
ichor oozing between their razor edges.
He is wearing:
a thin black band, pressed onto his thumb
a heavy, fur-lined black longcoat, draped from his hunched shoulders
a long-sleeved black woolen shirt, loose on his sinewy torso
a length of corrupted prayer beads, coiled around one thin wrist
an arcane black ring, tight around his forefinger
a pair of charcoal grey dress pants, stained with dried brown blood
an ebony and crimson weaponbelt, buckled to his narrow hips

Elie sits at the base of the tree, her knees drawn up to her chest and her arms
wrapped around them.

You whisper psychically into Reux's mind, "Come sit, eat orange. Ask your
questions."

Reux tells you, "If I bring a visitor, will you mind?"

You whisper psychically into Reux's mind, "Hard to speak with more than one, but
can manage, if you wish."

Reux tells you, "Where would you be?"

You whisper psychically into Reux's mind, "Orange place. Can move. Where wish
you me?"

Reux tells you, "I'm not sure quite where there are oranges here."

Within the orange grove.
The bright sun shines down, blanketing you with its life-giving warmth. A tall,
leafy orange tree grows here.
Exits: east, south, north.

You whisper psychically into Reux's mind, "Not far. North-east, near."

Mariena enters from the south following Reux.

Reux sighs contently.

Reux nods his head affirmatively at you.

You have emoted: Elie raises her headbody, tasting the air with her foremost
headlegs.


Hello, dreamfriend.
You project the hallucination into the mind of Reux.

Hello, friend.
You project the hallucination into the mind of Mariena.

Reux nods his head affirmatively at Mariena.

Mariena inclines her head politely to you.

Reux brings himself to his knees first, then his butt, legs folding over one
another and his body leaning forward. Enough room is given so his tail can sway
freely, even if it's brushing at the soil.

You have emoted: Elie unfolds her hands, holding out an orange in each.

Reux says to you, "Hello. Greetings."

Reux reaches and takes the offered orange, after eating the one he'd already had.
This, he palms, picking at the rind.

Reux starts to wield a plump orange in his left hand.

Mariena shakes her head at Reux.

Reux says to you, "Is there anything you wish to know? It's been months since
we've sat apart from one another, close enough to listen to each others words."

This one is at peace, in sight of dreaming Queen. Wishes
and wishes but none starving or tearing.
You project the hallucination into the mind of Reux.

A soft voice echoes through the nearby minds, gently
sharing itself with you. "This one is at peace, in sight of dreaming Queen.
Wishes and wishes but none starving or tearing."
You project the hallucination into the mind of Mariena.

Reux furrows his brow, looking to one direction. He even closes his eyes,
tilting his head forward. When nothing comes to him, he speaks, trying to gain
his comfortable posture back.

Mariena remains behind Reux and out of the way.

Reux says to you, "Do you know of any undead She has... cured? Has put through
Her machines and allowed to live once more?"

Know some exist. Know not their names.

Reux takes hold of his knees, gripping them tightly enough that claws begin to
dig through the soft fur and not-so-soft flesh.

Reux says, "Have you seen one through the process? Have you witnessed the
change?"

No. This one never been so privileged.

You have emoted: Elie leans back against the tree, drawing the remaining orange
close to her chest.

Seem troubled, dreamfriend.
You project the hallucination into the mind of Reux.

Reux furrows his brow still, looking at the orange in his hand now. Hands, as
the seconds pass, and his claws begin tearing at the skin. Carefully, the fruit
within is left intact, but the rind is kept practically intact as one long strip,
gathering in his lap.

Reux says, "I think recklessness robbed me an opportunity I should have sought
first. I didn't know She was capable of the act."

Reux says, "And I'm thinking that I need to correct that error."

What happened? Speak clear - words are hard enough for
me.

Reux blinks, shaking his head.

Reux says, "I want Her to find me worthy of life. I found it on my own. That
isn't enough anymore."

You have emoted: Elie stretches out a red leg and prods Reux's calf with her toe.

Not live now? Not live in Her hive, with me?

You whisper psychically into Mariena's mind, "Only waiting, still? You belong to
this dreamfriend?"

Mariena's thoughts fill your head, "I do not belong to him. He wanted me to hear
this conversation, but it is not mine to have. I listen."

You whisper psychically into Mariena's mind, "Wonder what he want from either of
us."

Reux looks at that outstretched leg, focus coming back to his eyes. Then again,
the collected skin from the orange also takes his attention, collected and eaten
before the fruit. The rind before the fruit?

Reux says, "I do. I... do."

Reux turns his eyes skyward, hoping for divine inspiration.

Reux says, "I do, dreamsister. I do."

Like my applefriend. Wish to be more favored - do not
value new world She has given, new life you live. Do not think it enough.
Wish to be special. Do not know how special we are.

Reux says, "That I live at all again is something to marvel. That I have a home
once more, if not more than one place that draws me..."

Reux raises his hand high, palm up, and practically behind himself. It's a
difficult thing to do, but it's held regardless.

Reux says, "And I have those about me that want me here. You're right Elie."

Mariena Tanarian says to Reux, "You're becoming one with the Praadi. Praadi are
family. Duiran is family. We are all blooded as one."

You have emoted: Elie bows her headbody forward, regarding you with empty
eye sockets.

Mariena Tanarian says, "Excuse me."

She will use you. You will be harmed in her service.
Will happen. This one knows.

Do not beg Her to take more from you than already She has
chosen to eat. All of you will be consumed in time.

Mariena leaves to the north.

You whisper psychically into Mariena's mind, "Feel this conversation rude to you
- do not know what humans think rude, but to this one - feel odd. Forgive this
one for participation in it. Will repay you properly."

Reux's grin bares his teeth, regardless if they're truly seen. A chuckle is
barely contained, the laugh caught as it leaves his muzzle.

Reux says, "Would you like the rest of my orange?"

Mariena's thoughts fill your head, "It was not rude. He just doesn't understand
the Spirits yet. The giant woven network of our lives. He will, he is new. A
bright new thread in the tapestry."

You have emoted: Elie shakes her headbody side to side.

You whisper psychically into Reux's mind, "Have oranges aplenty. Wish to know
what troubles dreamfriend, and why so."

You whisper psychically into Mariena's mind, "This one's people born courteous,
or killed before first breath. Youth not forgiveness."

Reux's mood has lifted considerably. Even his given gift is practically inhaled,
taking the juicy orb in three bites. It doesn't matter that his fur glistens
with the mess.

Mariena's thoughts fill your head, "I did not find you rude."

Reux says, "Every other concern is mundane. Unimportant. The gears of others
turn, and I don't know how we are going to be caught up in their workings. Why
would anyone want to bring back the Lord of Falsehoods? Why do so many things,
ominous and dark, wish to happen? Why do my allies panic instead of
think?"

You whisper psychically into Mariena's mind, "Good. Then this one will be best
to maintain courtesy and repay you in kindness."

Reux quickly devours a plump orange.

You have emoted: Elie doesn't appear overly troubled by these questions - she
stretches out her feet, turning her ankles to ease them.

You whisper psychically into Reux's mind, "You humans are strange."

Reux reaches for one of those legs, unfolding his legs in the process. Like so
many months before, he would rather be closer than further apart. Granted, he
asks, "You cared for me before. What would you have done to care for
you?"

You have emoted: Elie remains still, letting your hand come to rest on her calf.
Her empty sockets regard this point of contact as blankly as ever, but her
headlegs move contentedly around her neck.

You whisper psychically into Reux's mind, "This one perhaps requires caring for..
. but there is no such that this one could be permitted to request, no."

Discontent with the answer, Reux turns about, and tries to find a place, lying
down, in your reach. On his back, he's able to look toward the sky.

Reux says, "Why are we so strange Elie? Though your gift is beautiful, your
sight was alien to me. It was the same to you, before you were gifted with it."

Reux says, "What else separates a dreamsister and brother?"

You have emoted: With your head within reach, Elie begins to run her fingers
through your hair. Little else about her moves, except the ever-shifting
headlegs.

You whisper psychically into Reux's mind, "If is still separation in your mind...
you not yet have surrendered. To drown, be lost, be entwined - all hive, all
dreamfriends. To be insane, applefriend would say. More insane - all of us then
make sense, yes, yes."

Reux loses a lot of the tension built up in his neck and shoulders. He can't
help it, tended and prone. A lemon is brought out in the quiet, and stripped
much the same way the orange was.

Reux pointedly says nothing at all.

You whisper psychically into Reux's mind, "Humans have many rules, ways to be,
to remember, to think. Judge all their life. This one - none of that. No keeping,
no judging. Remember, but not mind. Be here now."

Trying to stare backwards, and catch a glimpse of you's features, Reux says,
"But what do you want?"

Reux says, "If you had but one more day to live, what would you most want to
do?"

You have emoted: Elie bows her headbody, obligingly bringing her 'face' into
your line of sight, but it offers little in the way of enlightenment - though
her mandibles and headlegs may shape emotion, the language they speak is beyond
you.

You whisper psychically into Reux's mind, "To stand at verge of a new world, new
heart, new soul, new love - to stand on beach there, ready to dive in, whole
worlds of learning ahead. To feel so much hope, so brightness, so wondering, and
all discovery before me."

Reux watches the play of chitin and delicate hairs. It's like listening to music
one has never heard, but enjoying it regardless.

Reux says, "I trust you. I thank you. Have I ever said that before?"

The faintest fragments of her thoughts reach you, like
the spray off the ocean from some feet away - brightness, enormous distance and
light, the glimpse of a limitless vista.

You whisper psychically into Reux's mind, "No. What means 'trust'?"

Reux grins deeply, pricking his muzzle with the tips of his teeth eventually.
Now clean, stripped, the lemon rind is consumed before he trusts himself to
speak.

Reux says, "We have it already. You have mine. Though I don't think I can
explain it... just remember that you have it."

You have emoted: Elie continues idly running her fingers through your hair,
neatly circumnavigating your ears. The motion seems more exploratory than
affectionate, almost - as if examining you rather than enjoying you.

You whisper psychically into Reux's mind, "This one will remember."

Reux's frame and limbs are practically motionless. A lot of the muscles flex
when prodded, but it takes that specific prodding to get any reaction. Even his
ears only flick when you brush them in particular ways, and it's hard to get the
motion to happen more than once every few seconds. He's not even tickled, though
his grin has a lingering place on his features.

Reux says, "Take me to the Cradle bare, Elie. I didn't think it so possible before,
but now I feel wrong so covered. I still feel recklessly endangered out here,
wearing less than I should, but I may just be too concerned with the hunt."

You have emoted: A cascade of happy clicks spills from Elie's mouth as she
pushes herself to her feet, and then reaches out to help you up.

Reux flips about, the lemon getting consumed on the way to his feet.

Reux stands up and stretches his arms out wide.

Ashmer quickly changes back into Azudim form.

Within the orange grove.
Filling the firmament is a lattice of heavy grey clouds. A tall, leafy orange
tree grows here. Nihilus Ashmer Ras'valyra is here, shrouded. He wields a
crenelated, blackened steel buckler in his right hand. Reux is here.
Exits: east, south, north.

Reux peers at Ashmer suspiciously.

Startled, you say, in Horkvali, "Friend Ashmer!"

Ashmer's mismatched gaze settles lightly on you. The creature completely ignores
Reux.

Remember your mind. Hello, friend. Wish an
orange?
You project the hallucination into the mind of Ashmer.

Reux tells you, "Elie... tell me this is expected."

You have emoted: Elie reaches out a hand toward Ashmer, offering an orange - she
appears entirely untroubled by his appearance.

You whisper psychically into Reux's mind, "No trouble. This one is wise. Strange
but not hostile. Will not hurt, not here, not me."

The protective shield around Reux dissipates.

Ashmer's bony hand lifts, and he accepts the orange without a word.

Reux chuffs in distaste, but relaxes regardless.

Ashmer turns a plump orange over, his sound eye flitting down to study it. With
a black thumbnail, he pries away a section of skin and lifts it to his near-
lipless mouth. It is the slits where the creature's nose once might have been
that open as he takes in the fruit's scent.

You have emoted: Elie placidly regards Ashmer with empty sockets, her headlegs
dancing on the wind, tasting the air-currents that pass him and come to her.

Ashmer's crested head tilts to one side in an insectile twitch.

That mind is wise, knowing - quiet, thoughtful.
Rapacious but not ravenous. What does that mind require that this one can
give?
You project the hallucination into the mind of Ashmer.

At hissed, unintelligible command from the hunched Azudim, a soulmaster
straightens and faces you fully, as if in formal greeting.

A soulmaster entity lets loose a horrible scream as a dark stream of primal
chaos flows from it and into your very being.

You whisper psychically into Reux's mind, "Peace, friend. Peace, promise."

Reux tells you, "We have trust between us. I understand."

You have emoted: Elie's body shakes - she takes a step backward, reflexively,
but then stands steady, pressing a hand to her chest where the ethereal
substance penetrated her.

A hundred invisible insectile legs skitter down the length of your back.
"Curious."

This one is for sating curiosity. Among other things.
You project the hallucination into the mind of Ashmer.

You are suddenly parched. "And what of thirst?"

With another fruit still available Reux peels the rind from the meat. Small
patches are taken and immediately consumed, leaving the rest of the juice and
pulp alone. It's as if he's avoiding breaking the delicate skin that holds the
fluids together.

Reux pointedly says nothing at all.

You have emoted: Goosebumps rise along Elie's shoulders and back, and she
shivers - another reflex. In all other respects she is entirely still.

Ashmer gently folds each hand into either sleeve of a heavy, fur-lined black
longcoat, and then is deathly still.

Not often thirst. Not require much water.
You project the hallucination into the mind of Ashmer.

"Good." The single word is a cacophonous wail made up of too many hissed
whispers to count.

Reux starts to worry over his snack once the fruit runs out of skin to chew.
More concerned with what to do with the fruit, he tries the typical approach to
eating it; each slice is difficult to separate from the other, but his claws
work the details out eventually.

"Most water requirements met by fruits, dew..." Her
thoughts run a little rampant, uncontrolled, spilling over perhaps more
explanation than required, perhaps more than she intended.
You project the hallucination into the mind of Ashmer.

Reux says to Nihilus Ashmer Ras'valyra, "Reux. What am I going to call
you?"

Ashmer spares only a brief, wordless glance for Reux before returning to his
silent study of you.

"Ever blood?" Your ichor heats, then chills in a brief shiver.

So curious, Reux turns toward you as well. Even better, his eyes close and a
hand raises, toward you, wondering just what's happening.

You have emoted: Elie exhales softly through parted mandibles, the sound more
subtle than the rise and fall of her breast as it goes.

When Ashmer speaks, it is a series of rasping whispers that issues from his
sinewy throat. "Leave her."

Reux waves off Ashmer dismissively, blind eyes still turned toward you. "I know
not what you're allowing to happen. There's nothing to stop, and nothing to be
done but wait and see what she wants to have happen."

You whisper psychically into Reux's mind, "Forgive me. Go, touch cradle, lay
bare skin on grass and feel Her love. Please. Fear not for me. Queen touches me
every moment - cannot be harmed."

You have emoted: Elie reaches out a hand to lay on Reux's arm briefly, without
looking in his direction.

You whisper psychically into Reux's mind, "It is not to fear. Only to explore.
You see?"

Reux tells you, "I see. Though..."

A snarling hiss escapes Reux's lips as his body begins to shift, the audible
straining and shifting of his muscles causing him to double over as his flesh
thickens, the skin becoming a tough, scaly hide. His face elongates into a long
snout, rows of sharp teeth erupting from his lips while a thick, powerful tail
grows out of his lower spine. Wicked claws sprout out from the end of each of
his digits. As the transformation completes itself, his pupils dilate and narrow
into thin slits, leaving only the menacing frame of this massive reptile
standing before you.

Reux opens and snaps his muzzle together, the noise jarring but otherwise
harmless.

You whisper psychically into Reux's mind, "If trouble come, if afraid, if
trapped - I will call for you."

You whisper psychically into Reux's mind, "My word."

Reux tells you, "Anyone can be harmed. Why else accept scars? How else does one
learn?"

Reux peers about himself suspiciously.

You whisper psychically into Reux's mind, "Yes. Hope only to learn."

Reux says to Nihilus Ashmer Ras'valyra, in a feral tongue, "So. Continue."

Reux places his fingers to his mouth, pausing for a moment before blowing hard,
creating a sharp, carrying whistle.
A midnight black stallion trots in, beckoned by its master's call.
Reux swiftly swings up onto a midnight black stallion.

Reux creeps out to the north, scales gleaming in mottled hues.

You have emoted: Elie lets her hand fall back to her side - she seems more
relaxed in your presence without another person to worry about than with one,
oddly.

Blood. Yes. Sweet, sweet blood - taste of loved ones,
his face in this mouth. Supped, sipped - sweetness, deep and powerful and
beloved.
You project the hallucination into the mind of Ashmer.

This body cannot metabolize flesh... but this mouth can
relish it.
You project the hallucination into the mind of Ashmer.

Ashmer's lipless mouth twists into the vague approximation of a smirk, and the
sweet intermingled scent of honey and vanilla wafts over you.

Riding her chariot of light, the great life-giver rises from her long sleep and
shoots a timorous ray over the horizon.

Ashmer's skin begins to slowly char, exposed to the sunlight.

You have emoted: Elie twitches, sensing pain in you if not able to see it -
instinctively she starts forward and catches your arm.

Flames begin to slowly climb over Ashmer's flesh, the sun blazing across his
skin.

Ashmer's milky flesh is thin to the touch, and curls away in wisps of oily,
sweet-smelling smoke.

The scent is dizzying. "Breathe."

Trilling and musical, the songs of a number of small birds echo across the hills.

You have emoted: Elie takes in a breath, then another - she is almost
hyperventilating, the pain of your flesh communicated to her in a sense deeper
and more physical than empathy. She hangs onto your arm like grim death, and
breathes hard through her mouth.

Ashmer's arm breaks in your grasp, a muffled pop through the fabric of a heavy,
fur-lined black longcoat's sleeve. The thing remains deathly still otherwise,
allowing the sinuous wisps of his smoldering corpse to rise around you.

Please - please! Do not hurt it - hurt not yourself so,
please! Let me...
You project the hallucination into the mind of Ashmer.

Sharply, Nihilus Ashmer Ras'valyra says to you, "No."

You have emoted: Elie tries helplessly to pull you close, into the shade of the
tree - but when your arm fractures under her hand she shudders, her fingers
going slack on your skin.

Ashmer staggers slightly as the sunlight lances across his vision.

Ashmer's own hand snakes out, taking your wrist in a grasp too strong for a limb
so damaged.

You have emoted: Elie doesn't resist - on the contrary, her hand turns to take
your wrist, her touch gentle like a lover's, almost a caress. Her headlegs curl
and convulse in distress.

Her mind is panicked, rushing - but struggling to make
sense, all the same. "You are not afraid. As I was not afraid - when She ate
my eyes from out my head."
You project the hallucination into the mind of Ashmer.

The remembered pain of the event intermingles with the slithering invasion of
the Necromancer's own.

Softly, Nihilus Ashmer Ras'valyra says, "She is wise."


Yes. She is wise. You are wise. This one is foolish,
a thousand times foolish.
You project the hallucination into the mind of Ashmer.

Ashmer accepts your proximity, lifting your wrist to within an inch of his
slitted mouth. Slowly, the sinuous grey tongue slithers from it to touch lightly
at the bare skin there.

Perhaps.

A moment later, Ashmer dissipates entirely, the hunched corpse becoming nothing
more than a wisp of oily black smoke that floats away on a breeze.

You whisper psychically into Ashmer's mind, "No. No. Left alone too long, left
with nothing too long. No more quiet, no more silence, no more empty questions
with no answers, no. No, no. Speak and talk and tell, make this one so wise as
you - no. You cannot leave me alone."

Ashmer whispers into your consciousness, "You require time. Savor the gift we've
given you."

You whisper psychically into Ashmer's mind, "Given many gifts, many, and too
many amount only to silence. Tired of gifts. Want now TAKINGS. Will take them,
will sip and sup from flesh to find them, friend."

You whisper psychically into Ashmer's mind, "This one will die on your guards'
swords if you force her, howsoevermany times."

You whisper psychically into Ashmer's mind, "Know that this one does not play
human games."


Elie, who is having a very bad year, throws herself at Spinesreach guards and dies.

Sitting up from your supine position, you glance at your body and realize it is
healed and whole once again. Still reeling in wonder from your experience, you
quietly give thanks to Varian, the Celestine for the gift of life.

Precarious peak in the hills.
A smattering of clouds fills the sky, lacing it with spiderwebs of grey. There
are 2 obsidian wolven cups here.
Exits: east.

You whisper psychically into Ashmer's mind, "How many times? Know blood is not
funny to you, not uselessly spilled, not pointless - know you cannot laugh at
this flesh shredded splattered for no reason. Better there should be a reason.
So talk to me. Tell me, answer me. Show me."

You whisper psychically into Ashmer's mind, "Death means nothing to this body.
And there is no one - no one any longer, to know what this one has paid for her
understanding, to understand what this one has done to be righteous. You are so -
feel it, yes. So tell now, how many deaths will it be? Till you will give time,
speak to this one as equal, talk, share, know."

Ashmer whispers into your consciousness, "What do you know of freedom,
Nine?"

You whisper psychically into Ashmer's mind, "Nothing. Everything. Have never
been without directive, without object - have never known freedom like having
directive and a whole world to achieve it in, however I can. I do not know human
freedom."

Ashmer whispers into your consciousness, "What of your freedom?"

You whisper psychically into Ashmer's mind, "Freedom happens when orders are
given and not explicated. Freedom is what poet does inside structure of a
sonnet."

You whisper psychically into Ashmer's mind, "What is freedom to you?"

Ashmer whispers into your consciousness, "We will, child."

You whisper psychically into Ashmer's mind, "Will?"

Ashmer whispers into your consciousness, "Teach you."

You whisper psychically into Ashmer's mind, "When?"

Ashmer whispers into your consciousness, "In time."

You whisper psychically into Ashmer's mind, "And until then? Task this one -
give a thing to work with, work on. This mind cannot be idle."

Ashmer whispers into your consciousness, "Tell us of your Reux."

You whisper psychically into Ashmer's mind, "Oh - this one cannot be of use
there. New creature to our hive, promising but clumsy... want more than can ask,
not more than can say. Simple larva, good and good and useful but not meaningful.
Not... not bright, not in flames, not in spired."

Ashmer whispers into your consciousness, "A shame."

You whisper psychically into Ashmer's mind, "No, not so. That one is not
interesting."

Ashmer whispers into your consciousness, "Indeed. A convenient meal he would
have proven."

You whisper psychically into Ashmer's mind, "I would not have stopped you. He
would have wept, cried - protested. And our Queen, think so, would have sided
with me."

You whisper psychically into Ashmer's mind, "But better meals there are - more
sweet when you cannot metabolize the soul, yes? Think so. More sweet when it is
years between your wanting and your taking, more sweet when it is hard, painful,
difficult. More sweet when it is earned."

Ashmer whispers into your consciousness, "The true gift is never given freely."

You whisper psychically into Ashmer's mind, "No. Prey must run. Is the proper
work of prey."

Ashmer whispers into your consciousness, "To be consumed."

Ashmer whispers into your consciousness, "There is a certain power in being
consumed."

You whisper psychically into Ashmer's mind, "Yes. To touch eacheveryentire part
of the predator - to serve and succor him and thereby to fuel him and thereby to
taint and touch him. Nothing can destroy predator like poisoned food. Nothing
can rule a man like his perfect slave."

Ashmer whispers into your consciousness, "You are the prey that consumes."

You whisper psychically into Ashmer's mind, "Perhaps. If the predator teach the
prey. Think you also that is the role of predators? To instruct with each tooth-
mark - to lesson with each lesion?"

You whisper psychically into Ashmer's mind, "A lesser predator could only
disappoint, think so."