Private Family Bonding: Vivian/Thel

[Arianna Belasko]

Current Persona: Vivian (See Bio)


Armed with: Herself

Piloting: The Guise


Vivian could swear she had the worst luck.

It had started with a relatively simple request. One of the old House Destroyers , now crewed by a defector crew had requested a run of special medicines to treat seizure symptoms experienced by the recently discovered Model 0 Nuetralizers, Arianna had decided to deliver the medication on a ship she worked on as medical staff coordinator in her Vivian guise. One she never knew had been seen shifting from that of Arianna by Thel during school on Khemost a long time ago.

Vivian had been given secret command of a House Io Corvette for the journey.

Vivian, for her part , was happily married, even if it was the single most bizarre marital situation imaginable, where she only partially existed, equal parts Arianna and Vera now. There was no telling where she ended and they began. Sometimes her thoughts were her voice, other times it was everyone else in her. She was a super collective. She honestly believed she could crush Syd in a fight...not that she was looking for one.

Syd still had thousands of years on her.

Vivian was not the commander of the vessel...that had been left to her grand daughter, the Android Alicia Io , who had defected also.

It was in transit that she had, going through the crew manifests in her quarters realized a terrible mistake had been made.

Thel Bloodscrawl was aboard.

Vivian felt Vera/Arianna's motherly affection towards the boy but had to force it back for the sake of staying in character. She could only display the friendliness of being a former school teacher to him. He wasn't ready to know yet, and she wasn't ready to tell him.

She put aside the files as she was called to the disembarking section. The ship had arrived at the Destroyer, hiding at the very edge of the Galactic North and she was due to transfer aboard Chloe Io being aboard was what had prompted Thel's journey here.

As she headed to the disembark section as the ship piloted towards the Destroyer , dressed smartly carrying a case of rare medicine, she spotted Thel among those preparing to transfer aboard .

Vivian, knowing it would be pointless to try and pretend she didn't know him, gave a faint smile as she approached.

"Thel Hahn? From Forrwiirmeni Academy? It's me! Miss Duual! Your old math teacher!" Vivian said in a quiet voice, not sure if she had to jog his memory.

"How have you been?" she asked, fighting back Vera's desire to emerge...

 

[Thel Bloodscrawl]

As it turned out, Chloe visting Kytrand had been deemed too dangerous at the current juncture. So Thel had to travel to meet her. He boarded a ship and headed for an old House Io Destroyer, now manned by a crew of defectors.

The boy was a little nervous, though he wasn't sure why. Maybe because being with the Bloodscrawls had effectively insulated him from the madness of his upbringing, and this would be the first time he "returned" to the fold of House Io. Everyone aboard this Destroyer would be Ioan, not just Chloe. He wasn't sure whether the experience would be healing, or if it would just reopen old wounds.

As the ship entered the hangar, he waited patiently for others to go ahead of him. Normally he would've been among the first passengers off, but he wasn't in as much of a hurry this time. Eventually it was his turn to disembark; he slung his bag over his shoulder and climbed down the ramp.

"Thel Hahn?"

He blinked and looked up, the sound of his name shaking him from his thoughts. But instead of Chloe, he was greeted by a face which was only nominally familiar.

"From Forrwiirmeni Academy? It's me! Miss Duual! Your old math teacher! How have you been?"

"Miss... Duual?" he echoed. Thel did remember her, though he wasn't exactly happy to see her. Most kids aren't thrilled to see their math teacher outside of school, let alone if said school was associated with the likes of House Io. But he forced a polite smile, at least. "I've been doing okay. How are you?"

Arianna Belasko​

 

[Arianna Belasko]

MISSeD yOu sO MUcH... all the voices in Vivian, Vera and Arianna's included, hissed in her skull in a broken syntax. She prevented the thoughts from escaping telepathically.

Vera had become extremely attached to Thel since he had joined, as Thel was effectively the first experience she had ever had at having anything like a son. She made sure to always reserve part of her schedule to call or spend time with him, sometimes sharing stories of her youth and some of her first court cases (The interesting ones) subtly communicating the intricacies of Legal Systems to him. She in turn, made note of all the stuff he liked to talk about, and studied those subjects in her off time so she would know more about what interested him in life. Vera wanted to emerge just to hug him but wisely held back, even though it hurt her to hide in Vivian. Arianna wanted to spoil him rotten, play with his hair, grant his whims. The reprogrammed Assembly Persona in her battled the temptation to mutate him for his own protection at times. Alice Bloodscrawl wanted to spend the day with him in Vivian's place. The Maternal Instincts Program installed in the cybernetics of this body wanted to kill anything and everything that would dare to threaten him. All the other personas, even the most dangerously unstable and homicidal, loved him to pieces and each maintained their own varying ideals of what a perfect day with 'their' son would constitute.

Force Spawn, if it wasn't obvious enough with Syd Celsius, become hopelessly entangled in their maternal urges with anyone they adopt. Part of it was psychological: Most Force Spawn typically can't build families... potential suitors, potential adopters, tend to run from such creatures...and often rightly so. So any being that can bring itself to consider the Spawn family becomes automatically highly valued. Force Spawn have been known to butcher small armies to punish their enemies for attacking adopted children of theirs.

So when Thel Hahn was Ward of not just one, but potentially four different super-collectives in one body, you better believe placing him in danger was a good way to get anyone of a dozen horrible curses placed on you...

Vivian forced back the whispers as he asked how she was.

"I've been doing well. I defected when the Model 0 was exposed..." she said.

(Cutaway of J. Jonah Jameson laughing uncontrollably)

It was SORTA the truth.

"I hear you landed on your feet. I'm glad for you, of course..." Vivian managed, internal organs bubbling as she instinctively resisted the physiological changes that would have caused Vera to emerge.

"Leaving House Io was the hardest thing some of us ever had to do..." she admitted as she went down the ramp to the destroyer Hangar, watching as the blue and black triangle banners were removed in favor of House Bloodscrawl's Fanged Chevron. Some of the Defector Veterans were overseeing it. Still maintaining their dark blue uniforms. The Vessel lacked the morale of the old days. Her husband was doing his best but many of the Mechanical Nuetralizers were still exhibiting depression. The Model 1's were among the most despondent.

Just then, a female variant Model 0 Nuetralizer came into range. Their very existence proved Laertia's dishonesty and hypocrisy hadn't begun upon joining the cult. It had begun well before it.

Like all Model 0's, the long hidden stage hands of Laertia's empire wore a cowboy hat as an affection.

"Howdy there, Pardner's..." The 0 said. "Y'all look like you been on one mean ol' cattle rustle... welcome aboard!"


Thel Bloodscrawl

 

[Thel Bloodscrawl]

"I've been doing well. I defected when the Model 0 was exposed..."

Ah. The Model 0. One more nail in the proverbial coffin for House Io.

"I hear you landed on your feet. I'm glad for you, of course..."

Thel frowned ever so slightly. Miss Duual looked a little queasy. He hoped she wasn't sick, and made a mental note to wash his hands as soon as possible. "Yeah," he answered. "I've being doing exceptionally well for a refugee from an omnicidal cult."

"Leaving House Io was the hardest thing some of us ever had to do..."

Thel kept his thoughts to himself. In some ways, he felt as if he had no choice but to leave House Io. Not just because his family had whisked him away from Khemost once it became apparent that a civil war was inevitable, but also because how could he possibly live like that anymore?

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of a Model 0. Quirky cowboy personality aside, she seemed a decent droid. He gave her a little nod of acknowledgment as he passed by. "You know, Miss Duual, I've been in need of a math tutor. The guy my, uh, benefactors hired wasn't any good. Maybe you could teach me pre-calculus instead."

Arianna Belasko​

 

[Arianna Belasko]

"I know all too well what you mean..." she said, and she meant it, because she was one of the greatest cosplayers in the Galaxy.

Well, her and Vera...

Vivian found it interesting having to help regulate Vera's murderous outlook, in addition to whatever programming safeguards she had installed that she was given permission to puppeteer. In addition, Of course, she was also Vera, so Vivian benefitted from being much more assertive, more in control of the hive.

The hive hissed internally in her skull as Thel unknowingly gave Vivian a means to stay in contact.

"I would be happy to do so. Simply name the times you want to study, and I will try to arrange my schedule." Vivian said as she walked with him and dropped off the medicine at the Med Bay Delivery Office. Discipline was still maintained...things were not falling apart. But it was clear there was a sense of the vultures circling overhead...unless all of them got a new purpose, and fast, it would eventually become...chaotic...

House Bloodscrawl would do the work.

"I really am glad life is treating you well, for what it's worth. I'm glad at least one of my students landed on his feet."

And as for Chloe... Vivian hoped she might at least consider coming to live with them. Vivian/Vera/Arianna/Alice/Assembly had half considered simply offering to integrate Chloe into the top hierarchy of their Collective and make it VVAAAC but had balked at it ultimately, thinking it better someone who cares about him that wasn't a part of her be around as a safety valve. In case she saw a dangerous situation the others didn't. Or in case she was incapacitated, then at least Chloe wouldn't go down with her.

"I'll be helping amongst the medical staff with the Model 0's if you need to speak to me for any reason. We're having to distribute them amongst ships." Vivian said, organs silently quivering as she fought off the physiological changes that would have resulted in a shift to The Assembly. Force Spawn consciously resisting transformation is extremely painful...

Vivian bid Thel farewell for the moment as she headed to her quarters.

She barely locked the door before the transformation occurred, body melting and warping into that of a reprogrammed version of The Assembly, the currently dark skinned Force Spawn breathing hard, getting her emotions under control. Vivian restrained the persona from casting a protection ritual over Thel. The Assembly decided to look into House Io Business. She was, after all, technically the leader of the Defectors.

The Sorceress idly reached out to her Husband through their bond, sending him the Hive Mind's love. She swooned a bit, feeling the wave of emotion in response and the Hive Mind caressed his before resuming her duties, examining Vivian's computer terminal, frowning at the reports of items missing from the Cargo Bay's secure storage area...she would have to look into that albeit certainly not as she currently was.

She frowned a moment, and then tore her face off, her magic warping it's countenance into the Sorceress of Ardasa, depositing the now green face, silently screaming face as it grew tendrils into the air vent to grow a body later to investigate the theft, it then began composing a letter in Vera's handwriting to send to Thel through a courier later, sending him documents that would conveniently reach him an hour after arrival on this ship, providing him legal cover identities for Chloe to move about in the open. And tickets to a theater or movie of his choice. That was the Arianna part trying to spoil him rotten...

Meanwhile, as Thel made his way to Chloe, he would hear others among the ships crew speculating when Arianna would make an announcement. She had been protecting The Doves from being found well before the rebellion. But no one had seen her since she helped Syd kill The Battalion. She hadn't made the move half of them had expected her to try making (they were expecting her to declare herself their new leader) but instead all authority was deferred to Nathan Bloodscrawl, and apparently she intended to function as a simple intermediary between him and them for now. Many openly wondered what Arianna had gotten from siding with Nathan, and where she was now...

Thel Bloodscrawl