The two of them stayed there for some time, short moments of conversation interrupting the silence between them. Scarlet learned that what she had thought of as a coincidence hadn’t been one, Telram had approached Keera each evening, since they got back into town. Keera had been too frightened to resist and went along with him, swallowing the humiliation and whatever else he wanted to throw at her.

It was then, that Scarlet felt she needed to speak plainly, hoping that it would sent Keera onto a path to become useful.

“You know, I grew up in a society, not too dissimilar from the one here on Verdun. Sure, it wasn’t about surviving on a primal planet, threatened by monsters outside the walls. We had to survive on an overpopulated planet, scrabbling for scraps, like rats. Hope was in sparse supply and you either learned to look out for yourself, became someone’s follower or you died.” Scarlet started, her voice forlorn, remembering the feelings of her youth. The pain, the loneliness, the hopelessness, all trying to bring her down. Remembering the guy who had thought to make her a pet, only to have her clumsily strike with her powers, escaping and getting noticed by Psi-Com.

“Those like Telram, they like what little power they have, they like to show others how great they are and thrive of putting others down. You stand at a crossroad right now, with three paths to choose from.” Scarlet stopped herself for a moment, realising that while she was doing the right thing, it was likely not the smart thing. She had to smile a little, she had been caught up in memories of the past and repeating the lessons she had learned.

“One is to crawl back to him, to swallow what he dishes out.” she felt Keera tense next to her, and continued.

“Another one it to stand, on your own, to take the world by the throat and make it hear you roar.” she chuckled a little, at the mental image. It wasn’t accurate, she knew that. She hadn’t grabbed the world, or anything, by the throat. When the guy who had cornered her had suddenly started to bleed from eyes and nose, she had started freaking out, crawling away as fast as her pain-wrecked body had taken her before starting to run, never looking back, not even realising that she was bleeding as well. She had run until she reached the more affluent parts of the city and that was where the police had picked her up. Those injuries might have been what brought her to the Psi-com’s attention, even if they claimed otherwise.

“And the last, is to follow me. I won’t promise you that there won’t be pain, I won’t promise you meadows filled with flowers, or smooth paths to into a wonderful world. I don’t deal in salvation, like the preachers in church promised. I promise two things, one is that I will train you. It will be painful, it might even break you. But I will mold you into something that can survive. And I promise you that if anyone else else ever hurts you, I will avenge you. You will be mine.” her voice had been a solemn whisper during the last declaration, promising endless pain to those who wronged her.

She felt Keera tense up next to her, not answered, she wasn’t even sure if the other was breathing. Then, there was a sigh, air softly rushing from her before Keera took a deep breath.

“You know, part of me wants to joke, to make light of things. But there really is nothing to joke about. I know that I can’t stand on my own, the last couple of days have shown me that. So, there really is no choice, no matter what you claim.”

Again, silence filled the air between them before Keera spoke again.

“I will follow you.” Keera’s voice was almost a whisper, but it was filled with sincerity. Scarlet knew that it came from deep within her, a conscious choice had been made to trust her. Such choices were important, those one consciously made, they would strongly influence the subconscious mind. They didn’t dictate to it, but it was a step in the right direction, at least in Scarlet’s eyes.

She knew that she had taken a risk in pushing ahead as she had done, by putting things so plainly before Keera. Her emotions had gotten the better of her, something that hadn’t happened in a while. But it had worked out, in the end. Keera’s conscious submission had felt real. She thought about pushing further, ordering Keera to open her mind to Scarlet, maybe with some sort of pretense, like helping with possible nightmares, but decided against it. It would be too much, too soon. It would be too close to the actions she had endured at Telram’s hands, at least the mental aspect.

Standing, she held her hand to Keera, who took it, letting herself be pulled to her feet.

“Let’s get back into our dorms. Tomorrow, I’ll talk with the Doctor and afterwards, we will be out in the wilds.” Scarlet told her, deciding to cut her stay short. They would have to be careful, getting caught by Telram outside, without any prepared advantage, would be… problematic. She believed that she might manage to win, but there were two words in that thought, that she didn’t like. One was believe, the other was might. For a fight, she wanted to know that she would win, even if it meant to sneak up on them and attack from behind.

Keera nodded, falling into step with Scarlet, walking back to the dorms.

As they walked, Scarlet let Crysna out, to give her at least some sight, the night was cloudy and dark after all. Keera’s expression was a little strange when the snake wrapped himself around Scarlet’s arm, his head resting on her shoulder but she didn’t say anything.

Scarlet didn’t speak either, her mind was busy considering possible future events, mentally remaking her plans and contingencies for problems she had invited with her actions that evening.

The important part were the coming days, out in the wild with Keera. They would be crucial, showing her if her feeling regarding Keera’s submission had been real or not. She was quite sure that the fear Keera had towards Telram had been real, but there was always the possibility that Telram was using Keera as some sort of trojan horse, positioning her in such a way to get behind Scarlet’s defenses, stabbing her back, maybe even literally, at an inopportune time. It was an unlikely possibility, simply due to the need for previous planning and effort. Why would anyone prepare a trap for someone they didn’t know and had no previous dealings with?

The only dealings she had were with the Doctor, who was powerful enough not to need such games and Aida, who was a possible instigator for such actions. Her thoughts went back to the Doctor and she decided that he was back on her suspect-list, it might be that he wanted to deal with her outside town, so that there wouldn’t be any way to trace her demise to him. It was hollow and unlikely, she still doubted that he would need such subterfuge, but it wasn’t certain.

She made plans to exhaust Keera mentally, pushing her with psionic exercises under the guise of training, to the point that she could at least read her surface thoughts. It was possible to condition someone to behave loyally and even think loyally but, at least according to her knowledge, that required a lot more time. If Keera’s surface mind was loyal and submissive to Scarlet, it would be good enough.

“I will get you in the morning, wait for me in your room. I doubt that Telram will attack inside the dorm, but he might try something. Please, be careful.” Scarlet told Keera when they reached her room, Scarlet putting concern back into her voice. She had risked a lot with her previous emotional behaviour, now she would have to reign herself in and use her brain. It was her best asset after all, not just because of her psionic powers.

Keera nodded and wished her a good night, so Scarlet went back into her own room. It was dark and Crysna allowed her to see that everyone was already under their covers, warm shapes in a cold room. She moved to her own locker, letting Crysna check for foreign smells, just in case someone had messed with her things. She knew that Cyca’s crystal hadn’t moved, but caution never hurt. Satisfied with the fact that nobody had been in it, she opened it, got her sleeping bag out, and climbed back onto her bed, placing her clothes beside herself and crawling into the bag. Not that she would sleep deeply, not in a room with potential enemies who could kill her just as fast as any psion, if she wasn’t careful.