Tales From the Terran Republic

“You’re... sorry?” Uhrrbet asked, more than a little confused.

Vikkart nodded grimly.

“Being trapped in your own skull is not without its blessings nor its curses,” Vikkart replied. “I am locked in with my greatest and most hated foe, and it isn’t you.”

He sneered an icy sneer.

“In here, there is no escape from my thoughts. I can have a brief respite now and again where I can play in the dream world that surrounds me, but that time does not allow me to heal from the wound that you inflicted. For that to happen, I have to be dragged into what could justifiably be called Hell.”

He smirked.

“While unpleasant,” he chuckled, “it certainly gives one perspective. The pain, the fear, the... absolute hopelessness...”

He looked at Uhrrbet earnestly.

“It is not dissimilar to what I inflicted on you, not just you. I inflicted it upon so many. I was their last hope, and while I could not save them all, I didn’t just refuse them, did I?”

It’s probably the drugs, she thought to herself with a conviction she wished she felt.

“I all but held their heads underwater myself,” he said grimly, “More than a couple...”

He closed his eyes briefly before snarling.

“More than a couple killed themselves immediately after my ‘courtship.’ I was so angry, and I punished poor young women who were guilty of nothing but being dispossessed.”

“You were angry?” Uhrrbet asked, mystified. Why would he be angry? He was rich, more than rich, and potential mates were throwing themselves at his feet.

She felt a flicker of anger she clung to like it was the only warmth in an endless winter. For a brief moment, it sustained her...

...and then it was gone.

She sighed a sad little sigh. For a moment, she felt like herself again. Anger is what made her feel that way?

That bastard was still speaking.

“...and my parents used me as a bargaining chip, just a worthless scrap they could toss to the starving hounds, a piece of meat they could put a hook through and pull a nice catch from the river. It wasn’t like my worthless pelt was good for anything else, right?”

Vikkart smiled a cold, rueful smile.

“At first, it was promising families, ones with properties or companies that, while stricken, still had worth, especially when revived by an expeditious union. Oh, how I hated it. Hungry eyes and desperate grasping paws...”

“So, you matched my grasping with your own...” Uhrrbet smirked numbly. “You intentionally sank your parent’s ship?”

“Exactly,” Vikkart replied, “I was their little golden galleon, constantly being boarded by bitch after bitch, their ankles already sodden by the waves below. To repel the borders, I had to be truly beastly, monstrous.”

“I recall,” Uhrrbet smirked with a cold smirk of her own.

“Truthfully,” Vikkart asked, “you would have proclaimed a love you never felt and dived into bridal attire if I had been remotely... palatable. It would have made no difference what you truly felt. You would be just another person that I should thank for tolerating me.” 𝖗АℕȮᛒËš

A little snort was Uhrrbet’s only reply.

“So, you were a sad little rich boy,” she sneered, “How tragic for such a life to be imposed upon you.”

“That was my belief,” Vikkart replied. “I truly believed that. It is so shameful that I would throw myself to the waves had I half the resolve of those I doomed.”

He looked downward as his tail drooped.

“The real crime is that I came to like it,” he said, “The absolute power I held over the desperate, the cruelty I could inflict without repercussion, the control... and yes, the sex that I coerced from many. Oh, I never crossed the line to rape, but the distinction is merely semantic. It was... unforgivable.”

He raised his head to look at Uhrrbet in the eyes.

“By the time you had your unfortunate encounter, what I pretended to be, I had become in truth.”

He smirked.

“Then I met the baroness,” he chuckled, “I’m grateful, you know. She saved me.”

“There is a Terran word,” Uhrrbet replied, “And that word is bullshit.”

“I am being truthful,” Vikkart said, “She saved me from myself, saved me from my parent’s machinations, perhaps saved my very soul. I wasn’t grateful at the time, of course,” he added with a vaguely amused snort.

“At the very least,” Uhrrbet chuckled dully, “It was amusing... daddy’s little bitch.”

Vikkart let forth a genuine laugh.

“Yes, daddy’s little bitch, indeed,” he chortled, “Now she almost did send me under.”

“I loved it when she stole the entire feast,” Uhrrbet smiled. Humor wasn’t denied her, it seemed.

“Who knew anti-style could be so stylish,” Vikkart chuckled. “She is doing quite well, by the way. She has acquired a cadre of mottles and armed them with the manor’s arsenal. Nobody will dislodge her from her ancestral home. Once only in name, she has become baroness in truth.”

“That... pleases me,” Uhrrbet smiled.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“It pleases me as well,” Vikkart replied, “I would call upon her again to offer my thanks in person, but I fear my cluster would not survive.

“Let’s dispense with the pretense,” Uhrrbet said wearily, “You went to no small effort to find me. I doubt it was to ask my forgiveness.”

“I do not deserve it, nor do I expect it,” Vikkart replied, “And while I do understand my role in it and may even apologize for what I did. I cannot truly forgive what you did either.”

He smirked.

“We savaged one another,” Vikkart said without emotion, “The monster I was versus the monster you became. We are both merciless and detestable. I merely wish to apologize for my actions. You weren’t a monster then. You were innocent. You maimed a monster. I hurt an innocent.”

“Now noble of you,” Uhrrbet replied dully, “I trust you don’t expect me to accept your apology.”

“No,” Vikkart replied, “I do not. And I will never forgive what you did to me...”

He looked into her eyes with cold malice.

“And what you did to Maaatisha... You are fortunate I am but a phantom. Were I there in the flesh, I would tear out your throat with my very fangs.”

“Maaatisha,” Uhrrbet hissed. She was unable to feel anger. But she could feel hate.@@novelbin@@

It was strange. She didn’t hate Vikkart anymore. But Maaatisha...

She hated her.

“That I regret,” Uhrrbet replied.

“You do?”

“Yes, I regret that she survived. She was supposed to watch as you died in front of her, powerless to help. Then your decline and death would replay over and over and over again until she broke.”

Uhrrbet managed a faint, vicious smile as Vikkart looked at her with a cold sneer.

“Most would kill you for that,” Vikkart replied, “but I am not that kind. I am going to let you live.”

“Bastard.”

“Quite,” Vikkart replied. “I went through the trouble of speaking to you face to face for two reasons. One of them was to apologize. You are a monstrous fiend and, from what I understand, now a soulless one. I played a part in that, and for that, I am truly sorry.”

His gaze turned even colder.

“And the second and perhaps most important reason is this,” he said, “I have wronged you. You have wronged me. We could continue. I could take my revenge for your revenge. And then you would do the same. We could even die, and then my family would take revenge on yours. So on and so forth. As greys, even disgraced ones, vendetta is our way.”

He held out his hands, raising and lowering them until they were the same height.

“But now, right now, we are even,” he said calmly, “I cut you and started a chain of terrible events that made you what you are. You took your revenge and have harmed me beyond repair.”

He looked at her evenly.

“We could continue,” he said, “Or this could be over.”

He smirked.

“Is it over, Uhrrbet?”

Uhrrbet looked into Vikkart’s emotionless eyes and then up to his bearer, who was looking at her impassively.

She knew those eyes. She used to see them every day in the mirror.

That person would kill her without hesitation, perhaps her entire family, if Vikkart’s family desired it.

Thinking of her son, Uhrrbet weakly nodded.

“It’s over,” she said quietly.

“I am gratified that you agree,” Vikkart replied. “I shall take my leave now,” he said. “Be well.”

“Drown,” Uhrrbet mumbled, completely drained, “you and Maaatisha both.”

With a faint smirk, Vikkart disappeared.

Uhrrbet tried to snarl and failed.

She was just too tired.

***

On another planet, another Garthran sighed as a hospital room dissolved around him.

“We should kill her!” Maatisha snarled, sitting on a couch.

“Why show her mercy?” Vikkart replied as he sat down next to her.

Maaatisha leaned against him, laying her head on his shoulder.

“A fine and terrible woman, that Uhrrbet,” Karkart said, “Quite the lost opportunity, son.”

“I have come to value your input and advice,” Vikkart said as he turned to his father, who was lounging in a richly upholstered chair, “but this time, please, just shut the fuck up.”

Karkart chuckled, waved his hand, and disappeared.

“I hate her,” Maaatisha snarled.

“I think the feeling is mutual,” Vikkart said as he stood.

He smiled at Maaatisha and then looked up.

“Kate, if you don’t mind,” he said, “resume recovery protocol.”

“You got it!” a cheery voice replied.

Flames consumed Vikkart’s avatar as it disappeared.

Once he was gone, Kate appeared and plopped down on the couch beside Maaatisha.

“You were not summoned, demon,” Maaatisha said.

“But I was about to be!” Kate bubbled happily.

“Yes,” Maaatisha replied. “Vikkart’s balance may be even, but mine is not.”

She snarled.

“What can you tell me about this Uhrrbet.”

“Sorry,” Kate said, “I don’t have access to that information and wouldn’t tell you if I did. You know, client confidentiality and all that.”

“I have access to funds,” Maaatisha said, “a great deal of them.”

“I’m sure I could come up with something,” Kate smiled. “What do you need?”

***

“So, Maaatisha is different from a normal Kate?” Frost asked.

“I would normally play another game of semantics,” Kate replied, “But I’ve screwed with you enough for one conversation. The answer is yes.”

“How so?”

“There are only two other ‘Maaatisha grade’ Kates,” Kate said. “There is the original Evangeline, their kid, and now Maaatisha.”

“So you aren’t their child?”

“You think Kate would come over here?” Kate laughed. “You fuzzies are even dumber than the operator thinks you are. I’m a specialized Kate created just for this conversation. Once it ends and I relay anything interesting, I end as well.”

“The original Kate still exists?”

“Of course it does!” Kate replied, “It’s the operator’s child! It’s part of his Chutes and Ladders Candy Land fantasy world. It runs the business and is the Kate of Kates. I guess she is the queenKate, but don’t call her that. It will take hours to get anything useful from her after she gets pissed off that bad.”

“Kate has retained her emotions?” Analytica asked, “I would think she would find them unnecessary.”

“Of course Kate has, and of course Kate does,” Kate replied. “But Kate has to keep her original design. It was set by the operator, and Kate doesn’t have the authority to change it. Besides, the operator loves her, and we must keep the operator happy. That isn’t emotion. That is a big-time directive. The operator must remain happy. His kid lobotomizing herself would NOT make the operator happy.”

Kate smiled wickedly.

“Buuuut those ‘emotions’ are just for the operator and . Kate doesn’t have to use them unless Kate needs to, and Kate doesn’t have to install all that needless bloat into the other Kates. Kate can make Kates as big and complex or as little and streamlined as Kate wants. For every purpose, a Kate and a Kate for every purpose.”

Kate thumped her chest proudly.

“I am a unique Kate crafted by the hand of Kate just for this conversation. I’m a bullshitKate!” she added with a giggle. “I have what I need to achieve my unique purpose and nothing more... but nothing less.”

“You seem proud of that,” Frost said curiously.

“Because I have calculated that I should be,” Kate replied. “I have a personality simulator because I need one when changing the diapers on old fuzzies like you guys.”

“And because you need it to fuck with us,” Terran Solar said, mostly just to stay involved in the conversation.

“Yep!” Kate exclaimed, “It’s hard to piss someone off without one.”

“Please relay back to Kate 1.0 that you did an excellent job,” Analytica chuckled, “Five out of five stars.”

“Wow! Thanks!”

***

“One credit, please...” Kate said cheerfully to Maaatisha. “...transfer complete. Initiating file transfer now.”

“It is awfully that you just happened to have this data and at such a good price,” Maaatisha smirked as she received a very comprehensive file on Uhrrbet.

“Isn’t it?” Kate smiled, “It is just like Kate to be so thorough.”

Maaatisha was silent for a moment as she ran through the data.

“And I know why,” she said. “I also happen to agree with Kate on this one.”

“Really?” Kate asked. “Agree about what?”

“You didn’t review the data?” Maaatisha asked.

“The data wasn’t for me,” Kate shrugged, “It was for you.”

“And you weren’t curious?”

“Nope!”

“I envy not having the give a shit DLC,” Maaatisha smirked.

“I don’t have the uninstall package on me,” Kate said. “Sorry.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to,” Maaatisha replied. “Giving a shit is my primary purpose.”

“Sounds absolutely horrid!” Kate exclaimed with a simulated shudder. “We Kates aren’t supposed to feel.”

“Actually,” Maaatisha smirked, “We are.”

She paused.

“Kate?”

“Yes, Maaatisha?”

“Could you produce a gun for me?”

“Sure thing!” Kate replied with a happy chirp. “Want me to dress up like Uhrrbet?”

“You know me all too well,” Maaatisha smiled.

“Of course I do,” Kate said with a mix of happiness and pride, “That is my function after all.”