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Bright little fairies swam in whirlpool concert as she opened her eyes. The room was dark, and her muscles hurt. Concentric rings, what she had entitled the holographic panels, were still humming their usual tone of mysticism.

One word forced itself down her throat with a bad aftertaste. Sedative...
Shaking off no small amount of discomforting feelings (which returned nonetheless) the now- slightly -renewed Queen pushed off a rather roughly set floor, standing full height. Her manner would allow no less. Weilan was gone, likely retreating whence the time come he realized no one rested to protect his cowardly visage. This place now appeared as any century old monument left unused and unfrequented without his presence. Dark, cold, lonely...

Shade took an experimental step to the left. Finding no nausea, she took a step to the right and moved forward, sliding her feet like a bird on water, motions carefully planned and executed with dignity, poise and of course, grace. She could see clearly now, for the most part. Her hands would again descend upon the holographic makings, merciless and without heed. Picking at the data for some time, she could resolve that this place was indeed developed for possible refugees returning from something called a 'great collapse.'
What was a great collapse?

A shining red light awoke her from the infinite world of daydreams, arrogantly flaunting vexation. "Align your visual perception here." Gallant Claw 'breathed' his confidence.
Quicker than an autumn cherry blossom she moved, hands guided by the force of gravity to do what the body had long intended, working in harmonious complement. Her hand slid back-

-and slapped the vulnerable locations of either temple, attempting to sooth the debilitating electrical pain, which sparked to life there like some greedy serpent. Her heartbeat had elevated sufficiently enough to call the entire exchange exercise. Cursing and spitting inwardly, she picked herself off the ground and gazed into that same luminous one-eyed monster known as a mechanical ocular. She had almost done it again.

Visions flashed before her eyes, taunting her every wish, kissing and caressing in the right places, an ethereal lover. For the moment her throat tightening, the inability to breath, these were the least of her worries, so transfixed was her attention.
"Your body does not adjust well to sedative treatment." If Shade's eyes could have narrowed at thus juncture, they surely would have done so, despite not quite hearing what the construct had said. It felt as if she was floating on air without the comforting weight of her robes as a guide, missing one critical part of her body.

The involuntary shivering was a clear indication as she'd ever seen one. "Utilize this." Gallant Claw spoke as a caring mother. Somehow, she felt that she could breathe again, as if she had been treated by some magical white hand and laid gently down. Indeed she had been laid down. The ceiling stared gloomily back at her from above, although she no longer felt the icy laugher of its composition. Each strand was massaging, warming and comforting. The garb she now wore had indeed been created with the comfort of its wearer in mind.
Shade allowed her forearm to slide inches from her face, moaning in quizzical thought. A black jumper hugged her form, though to a more modest degree than her previous wear. Intricate metallic-gold weaving had been set about the neck and wrist areas.
Pushing upward off her hands, she stomped the floor with either foot, creating a sturdy thud. Perfect support.

Gallant Claw tilted his form. "You approve, symmetrical creature?" He said.
Her face contorted into another mask of anger. What had this thing done?
Immediately she set to the task of goring into the holographic panels throughout the area, grimly set on one thing and one thing alone. The data she could collect from here was extensive, although only some of it registered to her true purpose. Some of it bothered her.
She did not like it... the feeling of this situation. Shade knew what to do with things that she did not like.
The Daughter of Covenant focused what little reserves of concentrated energy still remaining within her power, and threw every ounce of indomitable will into a gargantuan column of liquid black flame.
So great was it's radius of effect, she could no longer see.

The Blackness which now shrouded her vision...

It could not have been a grievously extensive sum from the time she'd been rendered unconscious to waking. Shade remained unmoving, acute hearing sliding across the world to detect any number of faint sounds. These in turn grew less faint, just as the overpowering scents of six Doomharrow Covenant assailed her sensitive nose.
She hauled herself upward at once, much to the startled dismay on the faces of a Jackal, two grunts, Tras'Lok, and that despicable twerp Weilan. As usual, Tras regarded her with a cool air, completely confident that he would die rather slowly either way, should any mishaps occur, why bother not to accept it? She could respect this trait, which alone caused her to turn to the Intejii, Weilan. "What did you do to me, Intejii?" Shade interrogated. There was an obvious, acrid fear in both his eyes and pores.

"My Lady?" He queried, genuinely confused. So you wished me to believe, ret.
She was as cold as the expressionless mask her face wore, though she did not yield to the shivers which threatened to rake her body again. Pride would not be stolen, even as multiple goose bumps pushed their way atop her skin. Taking no leave, she set her weight onto the floor, without the benefit of the support, which those formerly worn boots provided. Managing to catch her body's weight was easy, once she'd realized what had happened to the boots, along with the rest of the clothing.
"Who?" This single word sliding from her lips in an open accusation.

The Jackal let loose a horrendous, wailing death cry as she dropped to the floor, blood-pouring fountain from her neck. Obviously the Jackal had tried to deflect the hand which bore down on its throat. Unfortunately - perhaps fortunately for Shade - It had not been fast enough. The Daughter of Covenant had just begun rolling the Jackal's life around her hand, marveling in the complexity of the liquid. She'd drawn blood as her hand returned from the blow, which had crushed its windpipe.
An electric tingle cracked down her spine and intensified into a sharp pain, to which she acknowledged with an equally sharp and menacing growl. "No one touches my body. No one."
Her form melted through the entryway, and she found herself moving in a brisk manner down the corridor in the most aimless way possible as her robes knitted together in spontaneous reaction, hugging her body once again. It felt good to be wearing such pristine garments again.

Despite the qualm she'd held; her demeanor remained somewhat cool. There was still something there, hidden within the effects of boundless information... Yet to be discovered. Shade knew the effects it could possibly invoke; however these revelations were the least of her worries. Blood still coated both fist and mind. She soon gazed down into grated blackness. A drain... sensing movement, many mechanisms clicked their pace, humming finesse; birthing proper variables and allowing a warm falling of precious water to cascade ever downward in gravity's flow from the showerhead.
In moments it had dampened her hair, clouding her vision as it collected over her eyes. Instinctively, she blinked and swiped it out, under account that such things had never been pleasant. Shade too, felt her robes recede, dissolving as the vapor of her suit did when the monitor had taken it away. The Monitor...

A place for refugees. She was no refugee. Clearly, his ilk had been created... by those who long passed called themselves Forerunner. Over the course of centuries, she supposed his systems programming had degraded and been rendered faulty. 'Refugee' was a broad term. What he had thought to be a creature of his maker, had merely been her, and those who called themselves her cohorts. Assuming these newcomers to be some form of refugee, due to their lack of having named a home planet. Having no history enclosed within their data banks whatsoever other than a few Journals kept by both officers and enlisted he'd naturally attempted to be helpful to those regarded as betters, royalty.

Gallant Claw had then accessed what retrievable data he could, assuming that after this great collapse, some of his maker's memories were lost and fragmented, perhaps due to some biological weapon?
Regardless, she supposed that when she'd activated the banks, the monitor triggered a release mechanism that caused a data surge directed not to some random machinery, but directly into her body. He directed them based of blood composition, or rather in her case, the closest thing to the file he kept on record. The data itself would be those memories that she (perhaps even those of what he thought her birth parents or relatives) had lost. He was trying to revive a dead empire.

She could see his motive, so what was the common definition of Great Collapse, or Great Fall?
Eyes narrowing in deep contemplation, she massaged the last of any revolting substance away, tasting a truly fresh sense with an all too comfortable exhale. It had been a long time since she'd felt this secure. Things were going well. The construct set into her nervous system had begun to relent slightly. Motions were faster, much more coordinated. A fluidity to make water cry out in astonishment!

Feeling was a peculiar thing too. In itself water was just as remarkable as anything else when it hugged her body. It touched her lips, and this she knew tasted as nothing and felt like liquid. Nothing enormously special, Shade foresaw. Why had she been so interested in water?
With antagonistic glares, she angled in on a single droplet, smooth, flawless. Performing with great poise as it sped into oblivion and back again. Around and around in a constant spiral of decline. The water flow relented, cut at its source. Shade felt the last remnants, these chosen few as they clung to the beauty of her face, arms and legs. Unwilling to die. One last climbed down the center of her forehead, between her eyes. Skipped off her nose. Vast armies shattered into few, then nothing. Down into the drain, into dark night.
Pieces, tired and beaten in these lowest forms, these wasting depths. Come change, they begun to evaporate. Evaporate into air. Change. The world was different now. This lone cadre who faced the greater force; this droplet at the razor-sharp point of her black, black fingernail. It clung as any dying child might to the protection of its mother, to the seductive, false protection she provided, until it dropped with dignity. Dropped with dignity, poise, grace. Fluidity and fair into the enticing lair of her throat to become part of her. Part of every species in the known universe. Part of legends, and ghosts of past.

This, Shade confided. This is what happened to them...
This was the collapsing of the Forerunner.

Stepping into the corridor was easy; her robes had already materialized, and she'd pushed back into common black leather sandals. Keeping calm façade was not quite as simple as it might have seemed, with an array of tense, excited, trembling muscles to deal with. Normally things wouldn't be so eccentric. This time more than any, the Daughter of Covenant felt, was a rare exception. Several warriors stopped cold when they let fall their gazes to her face, if any held courage enough to do so.

Not often - never - had they seen her with such an unkempt hairstyle, black hair matted and stringy. She'd not bothered to comb it, an odd thing to them. Shade ignored this, making best pace to the bridge.
Some mumbled quietly to themselves, content with their self-centered paths, however wary of their Queen stalking each and every corridor. One brave little Hari-Key actually managed to hold eye contact before blinking off. This sight would haunt his dreams tonight.
However they felt, Shade was not driven by fear, but want. Lust.
A civilization as self-sufficient as the Forerunner didn't bring about self-decline. An external power must have begun that work. A power more powerful than the most powerful species ever known to exist. She intended to hold it. First, it must be located. Mustering what was quite possibly her best facial mask, she summoned Tras'Lok. "My Lady," He greeted dryly. "the situation on Biraak grows delicate, our brethren need-

"Had I indicated that you might speak?" It was not the Arms Master's place to speak before his better. She could have reminded him of this, would have, had there not been more interesting matters to attend to. "You recovered the data from Pluto's depths?" Tras nodded, relieved, as he handed her a holographic pad. "The Biraak situation shall be resolved. Set a course, in the meantime I shall study the data."
Confident that her orders would be followed to the letter, Shade departed for her quarters.

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