The Lonely Beholder. Chapter 2
The Mother finishes scanning the base when another child enters the bay. The defence lets him through — the Handyman is loved by Mother, and she trusts him.
— The data is confirmed, — he says, without taking his eyes off the woman in the chair. The Mother can feel the pain in her chest blocking even the whining hurt in her spine.
The Son has really betrayed them.
The most lost one turned out to be cunning enough to hide the connection with the Engineers. The Mother caught an unknown impulse in the System a few days ago and sent the Handyman to check it out. The faithful child gave up his own business — the development of military optics — and took up the investigation. The disappointing findings were more unpleasant than System failures, sparkling the Mother's spinal cord.
— What do you want me to do? — the Handyman reminded her of his presence.
— Wrap up the investigation and take on more important matters, — Mother did not recognize her own voice. — We'll continue our move to the Valley. It's time to remind the Mentor what he owes us.
— There was something else in the Son's message, — said the Handyman thoughtfully. — He gave someone the encrypted coordinates.
— I'll take care of it, — said the Mother with effort, showing that the conversation was over. The Handyman reads the message correctly, nods and hides behind the door.
The System obediently accepts passwords, and powerful magnetic locks silently lock the Mother in the dark. She turns the cameras back on. The central one shows the main hangar. There are a lot of workers here, and they are like a swarm, patiently and smoothly processing the cells with combat vehicles. The armoured metal and barrels shine like the chitin of the May bugs Mother was so afraid of as a child.
The Daughter again and warehouse again. No one but Mother has any idea that she's marking the lab site so that her Son can have a place to work with. Touching care for her brother... The Daughter would kill anyone who found out. She never knew how to care and accept care. Even knowing that, the Handyman wants to protect her — and for some reason, without hiding information from the Mother about the betrayal of the Son.
Affection blinds.
The Mother does not immediately dare to look at the half-dark laboratory, but does so — and regrets the next moment.
The traitor she should execute is once again looking into his blueprints. A flexible support, ideal for supporting a weakened spine. Her spine.
The Mother turns the camera off.
There's a fight tomorrow.
She'll deal with the coordinates later.
