Radiance Chapter 127

Chapter 127: Truth Within the Lie.

As the walls of the illusions cracked, crumbled and fell Zixxy could see the bubbles of reality beginning to swirl together to form a much larger image before her eyes.

It was like watching a whole host of videos being played all together at the same time but all being stitched together to form a much bigger image out of the whole.

Until eventually with a large pop the whole thing just snapped together like a giant jigsaw puzzle with the very last piece causing the whole thing to snap into sharp focus.

Stood right there at the centre of the image now playing of a laboratory where several egg-shaped pods were mounted and the inhabitants were all shaven-headed and hooked up to a series of what looked like electrical muscle stimulators, as well as a series of IV drips Fifteen.

"W-W-What is this?" Fifteen asked in a shocked voice as Zixxy approached her but without turning to face her.

"The truth, raw and simple, these are the memories they did not want you to see or to know," Zixxy said looking up at the images playing.

In one of them, she could see three children playing together, a boy and two girls who appeared to be older than him but one of which was blatantly fifteen by the way she glowed.

In another, she saw the girl and the boy all older now both being taken away in the middle of the night never to be seen again as their beds were wheeled silently out of the ward in which they were housed.

"N-N-No this can't be true! I-I-I'm an orphan, m-m-my parents were killed, I have no family!" Fifteen exclaimed.

"Actually you have both a younger brother and sister, look here," Zixxy said pointing to the image of the trio playing together.

Interestingly she couldn't find a single image of their parents, not a a one.

Either the Enclave had done a seriously good job of erasing their memory from her mind which was fucking hard to do as core memories like that were near impossible to destroy completely due to how interwoven with a person's personality they were, but there was simply nothing, no residue or even fragments.

"But if that's true where are my parents? Where are our mom and dad?" Fifteen asked looking over the images.

"That I do not know, it might be the case that you are actually an orphan as they claimed or there might be something else at work here, but what we do know from this is that you did once have a family and we know that at least one of them is still alive," Zixxy said causing the figure to finally turn to face her.

Gone was the defiant glare, and gone was the hard and cold stare, now both had been replaced by a look of shock and wonder.

"Which one!? Who is still alive!? Please tell me!!" Fifteen begged and in that moment Zixxy saw it as clear as day, her eyes were identical to Seven's now.

"Your brother, the one they called number Seven, the one they sent you to kill if you could find him," Zixxy said causing the figure to freeze up as those memories of her mission reintegrated, this was going to be the hardest part for Zixxy.

Freeing a person's mind from brainwashing and control was actually the easy part compared to slotting it back together in a way that not only made sense to them but that didn't drive them off the deep end as the pain of their reality and possibly of their actions became obvious to them was truly far far harder.

Trying to buffer these memories and to integrate them with both a context and a sense of understanding that their actions truly were not their fault we paramount to keeping the victim stable.

"Number Seven, yes they wanted us to find and kill him if they couldn't have him, if we couldn't capture him we were to eliminate him," Fifteen said in an emotional voice for a moment before shaking her head and her brow furrowed in confusion.

Here came the context and understanding part.

"Here look," Zixxy said and she summoned some of her own memories to show to Fifteen, holding her hands out to her sides to cause little image bubbles to pop into existence all around her showing her own memories of the man they called Seven.

Everything from him rescuing her, to him leading rebelions and protecting people, it was all there.

"H-H-He's a good man?" Fifteen asked watching the images in wonderment.

"One of the very best I have ever known," Zixxy said nodding.

"B-B-But then why would they want me to capture or kill him, to kill my own brother!?" Fifteen demanded turning to look at Zixxy with a look of increasing desperation to understand these unknown motives that were once a part of her.

"Because they fear him, who he is, what he is and what he represents," Zixxy said clicking her long fingers and causing more images to appear alongside the others.

These images showed Seven's truly caring side, showing him not only helping people but viciously defending them.

"They wish to control the power he possesses, to turn him into a weapon and instrument of their will, as they turned you into, a good little soldier who will not ask questions and who can be used to crush their enemies or to scare them into submission, to bring everyone and thing under their control or to crush those that they cannot sway,' Zixxy said showing her images of Enclave atrocities now.

"So because they fear him they want to control him or kill him?" Fifteen said her voice sounding almost dream-like as she asked the question more of herself than Zixxy as she watched.

"That's right, you see he represents the thing they fear the most in this world, true freedom for everyone, he and the people around him strike to unite the world but to also free it, we do not force people to join us, we offer it to them freely, we show them what it can be by our example and then leave the choice in their hands or indeed claws," Zixxy said showing her images of the non-human members of their misfit band and the love they had for the humans around them and visa versa.

Fifteen looked absolutely amazed by all of this and then she turned back to Zixxy again.

"B-B-But why me? Why send me after my own brother?" she asked.

"That I can't say for sure, perhaps they were hoping that you might be able to get closer to him than anyone else because of your familial relationship despite neither of you remembering it, perhaps they hoped that sense of genetic bond would get him to let his guard down around you allowing you to get close enough to either capture him or kill him, but this is all just speculation all I do know is it is a cruelty that I struggle to put into words," Zixxy said causing Fifteen to nod in agreement.

That's when Fiften surprised Zixxy by saying something.

"Judy," she said.

"What?' Zixxy asked and the woman turned to look at her again.

"My name, it's Judy," she said and then pointed to one of the memory images and true enough Zixxy saw it clear as day, a small girl drawing her name on a concrete floor in chalk and it was obvious to her that this was Fifteen herself.

"Can you remember your brother's name or sister's name?" Zixxy pressed her and Judy turned and looked over the images carefully before pointing at one.

"Arthur and Chloe," she said and sure enough there were the three of them together drawing in chalk together and there clear for her to see were their names written very childlike next to them but clear as day to her.

"Excellent! What about your family name can you find that?" Zixxy pressed encouragingly.

Judy began to search through the images with renewed enthusiasm but unfortunately there didn't seem to be a single one that gave them any kind of hint but before the depression could set back in Zixxy took control again.

"Don't you worry Judy we will find out who you all really are, we'll find the truth for the three of you I swear it," Zixxy said offering her a little hand.

Judy looked at it questioningly before looking into her dark eyes.

"Trust me, Judy, it's time to put you back together, I can help you, all you have to do is trust me," she said and Judy looked at her small hand once again before slowly reaching out and taking it.

No sooner had she taken Zixxy's small hand than Zixxy sent a pulse of power through her, this energy caused the woman to go as stiff as a board.

"Don't fight it Judy simply let it happen, let me put you back together, let me make you whole again," Zixxy said softly and no sooner had she spoken than she felt the walls of her mind begining to relax.

Zixxy reached through her and began to pull all of the memories into her head like she was building a picture of her out of those images infact in mere seconds every single image including some of Zixxy's own was pulled into the manifestation of Judy and the woman began to glow.

"What was once fractured, broken and lost is now whole, clear and with purpose, be whole Judy, be you and who you want to be, you are free now," Zixxy said and with that, there was a final flash and the pair woke up.

The pair sat there blinking for a few moments before their eyes cleared and they looked at one another, Zixxy could instantly see the clarity in Judy's eyes now, it had worked like a charm, she had made her whole again, or as a whole as she could be with such a large gap in her early memory.

"So what's the word Zix, what did you find out?" a voice from her left said and she turned to see Raymond crouching down to look at her, obviously appraising her condition.

She smiled at him warmly and gave him a nod to show she was okay.

"Far more than I ever expected, ladies and gentlemen I'd like you to meet Judy, Seven's older sister," she said and every single mouth in the room dropped open in perfect unison.

"S-Sorry Zix but did you just say, sister? Seven's sister?" Raymond said regaining his senses faster than the others and she grinned and nodded.

"Yup, one of two I might add, apparently he has two older sisters and Judy here is the oldest of the trio, what's more, I know Seven's real name, it's Arthur," she said her grin now getting so wide it felt like her mouth was trying to escape the confines of her head.

Raymond gave up crouching and sat down on the floor looking right at her like he was looking through her.

"Holy fucking shit Zix this is fucking huge!!" he exclaimed and she nodded in agreement before turning to Jack.

"Do me a favour big guy can you release her, she's been deprogrammed and isn't dangerous, at least not to us, pretty sure right at this point she has far more cause to hate her former masters than any of us do given they sent her to kill her own flesh and blood," she said and Jack lifted a bushy eyebrow.

"You sure about that?" he asked and Zixxy nodded causing Jack to look to Raymond as the team's leader for confirmation which she didn't hold against him.

Raymond nodded and gestured for him to do so so he leaned down and began to undo her bindings while Raymond turned back to Zixxy.

"You know I'm gonna want to know absolutely everything you learned right?' he said and she nodded.

"Figured as much but mind if we take a break before I just show you, kinda tired and could use a good meal and a rest?" she said causing Raymond to nod in agreement.

"Yeah I figured as much you looked like you were really having to fight some shit in there the look of stress on both of your faces was kinda worrying at times, hell I've never seen a man in full power armour look like he was about to start chewing his metal fingernails before," Raymond said with a chuckle as she shot a look at Lucas who now looked embarrassed.

"Hey, I wasn't that nervous! I had faith in Zix's ability to pull through!" the miffed-looking Knight protested causing Zixxy to chuckle softly.

'It's sweet that you would worry about me so Lucas, infact I tell you what as a reward I'll let you escort me to dinner as my date as you humans call it," she said shooting him a look that made him blush brighter as he scrambled to jam his helmet back on his head to hide it.

But as embarrassed as he was Lucas still had the good grace to accept her offer.

"It would be my pleasure, my fair lady, shall we?" he said kneeling down and offering her his shoulder pauldron to ride upon.

Zixxy smiled and nodded allowing him to help her up onto the metal where she took a seat before gripping onto both the hoisting ring and the side of his helmet to steady herself as he stood back up to his full 7 ft height and began to move off towards the dining area.

"Umm, what should we do with her?" Jack asked as they were leaving and Zixxy turned as Lucas stopped to allow her to answer.

"Get the poor girl a good meal and a warm bed to rest in, she's been through far more than pretty much any of you can even begin to comprehend, she's not a threat to us any longer, hell right now she's a major asset and a potential friend, treat her as such," Zixxy said and Jack glanced down at the still very nervous looking human woman before sighing and nodding to himself.

For her meal Zixxy chose to seat herself on Luca's lap as he sat in his power armour at their table, she had to admit she was rather looking forward to reclaiming this particular seat when he had taken this annoying metal suit of his off later on this evening, this human suitor of hers did have rather comfortable thighs.

"So you were worried about me were you Lucas?" Zixxy asked softly breaking the silence of their meal and instantly she saw him blush again, this human's reactions were both adorable and rather deliciously easy to provoke.

"Well I wouldn't say worried exactly....." he began but she cut him off with a raise of her eyebrow causing him to sigh and nod.

"Yeah before you say it, psychic I know, gods how do you date someone who can read your blood mind on a whim?' he muttered and she gave him a smirk.

"Is that what we are doing now Lucas? Dating?" she said playfully causing him to flinch and stammer.

"W-W-Well I err it was umm you who invited me to be your dinner date I'll remind you," he said and she covered her mouth with her hand as she laughed.

"Oh calm down Lucas I am only teasing you, dear boy, of course, I consider this a date and just for clarification I find both your concern and protectiveness endearing and sweet," she said obviously putting his mind and heart at ease.

"It was just you both looked so strained, it was like you were fighting a battle that I couldn't see or aid you in and it was making me feel both useless and pointless," he said softly his voice dripping with both embarrassment and what she thought might be a shame, well that was not going to stand she would not allow him to be ashamed of his wonderful concern.

Swivelling around on her little rear end she got to her feet and stood fully up on his metal lap which allowed her to stand above him slightly which caused him to look up at her in confusion.

She reached out and gripped the plate of his neck join that would be concealed when he wore his helmet and pulled him forward with all of her strength though she knew if he fought back even slightly he would yank her right off her feet, hell without the armour his physical strength easily overshadowed her own, with it it would be like trying to stop a bulldozer with some wet tissue paper.

But thankfully he just rolled with her and leaned forward which allowed her to plant her lips right to his own causing his brain to short circut which thankfully covered up the fact that her own did exactly the same thing as the kiss felt truly wonderful.

The feeling of his larger human lips pressing to her own and that silky smooth warmth was truly exquisite, so much so that she actually begruded releasing him from it but when she did the misty look in his beautiful eyes was more than worth it.

"That is what your concern means to me Lucas and so much more I promise, if you had not shown concern for my well-being when engaging in what is in truth a dangerous exercise then I would have been giving serious thought as to our future together or indeed the very nature of our relationship but you did my instincts proudly by proving to me that you are indeed the male I believed you to be," she said.

"R-R-Realationship?" Y-Y-You want a relationship with me?" Lucas stammered in complete shock and she gave him a mock pouty face.

"Well yes, that is what you wished for us is it not Lucas? To have me all to yourself in an exclusive relationship?" she asked knowing his answer already.

"Yes! Yes! That is exactly what I want! Oh gods above you will not regret giving me this chance Zixxy I swear it to you!" he exclaimed happily with such joy in his voice and eyes that it sent a bolt of warmth washing through Zixxy, never before in her life had anyone displayed such pure joy in just being in her presence that it was truly both humbling and wonderful.

Though she did find herself taken very much off guard when he gripped hold of her head and this time planted a kiss right on her, infact this time it was he who short-circuited her brain with his infectious joy, she'd have to be on guard for these sneak attacks of his in the future as it appeared his human passion could quite easily disarm her, but for now, she'd simply enjoy his victory as it was one they could both share in.

After their meal Lucas took Zixxy back to the area where Raymond and Jack were still with Judy, it seemed they were not fully trusting of her yet despite Zixxy's analysis but she couldn't berate their caution, the pair of them were responsible for everyone here so them taking that responsibility seriously spoke highly of the pair of them, but at least they had gotten her a warm meal and given her the comfort of some blankets and a comfy chair in which to sit.

"Ahh you're back, then it's time to see what the hell is going on I guess?" Raymond said as Zixxy hopped down off Lucas's shoulder and she nodded.

"Indeed, now I could tell you all I saw but it would be far far quicker and easier if I were just to show you, so with your permission Raymond?" Zixxy said reaching out with her hands towards him to indicate what she had in mind.

The large supermutant glanced at Lia who simply nodded and he stepped forward and sat on the floor allowing her to step up onto his thighs so she could reach his head.

The connection was far easier than it had been with Judy as she didn't have to force it but that didn't mean that memory integration was any easier of a process as she always had to be careful not to disrupt any of his own memories as that could lead to serious complications.

But once she was done she released him and watched as Raymond's mind realigned itself allowing him to see the differences between her memories, Judy's and his own and to sort them correctly.

"Holy shit she really is Seven's sister and one of two sisters at that and Seven's real name is Arthur! This is fucking huge!" Raymond said looking between Zixxy and Judy.

"So she's legit?' Jack asked and Raymond nodded.

"Yeah I've seen what Zixxy saw in there and damn it's not pretty, this girl is not just Seven's sister she's ours too, family by both association and pain, she like us has suffered at the hands of those fucking animals, turned from an innocent girl into a weapon of a war she had no choice in which to fight and had no personal stake in, but now Zixxy has broken the chains that bound her mind in their snare and has shown her the truth," Raymond said and Jack nodded before signalling to his guys to stand down.

He stepped around Judy so she could see him properly and he knelt down so he was at eye level with her.

"Sorry for the threats lassie, I"m hoping you can understand what we thought we were facing in you, but I hold no grudge against ya, sounds like you're as much a victim of this whirlwind of shit as any of us are," he said and Judy who was clutching the mug of hot chocolate that one of the Brotherhood knights had given to her nodded.