>>5206388Susan's eyes widened in recognition and panic. "Lisa?"
"Your daughter woke up quite some time ago before you did. I had the opportunity to explain the events that happened after her incapacitation."
"No! You can't! She's too young! You can't have her make these kinds of decisions!"
"She was the one who requested a stay in your summary execution and made a personal appeal."
Sathriel took this as her cue to get up. "I'll leave the two of you alone as you requested, Lisa. Let me know when you are ready to deliver your verdict."
With a snap of her fingers and a flare of gold runes about her body, Sathriel vanished from view, leaving Lisa and her Mother alone.
"Lisa, please tell the Judge that-"
"No."
"Lisa, please, Listen to-"
"NO YOU LISTEN!"
"Lisa, you could've-"
"YOU NEVER LISTENED TO ME! YOU ALWAYS KEPT DOING THINGS THAT I DIDN'T WANT YOU TO DO. ALWAYS FORCING THINGS THAT I DIDN'T WANT TO DO. 'THIS IS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD, LISA', NEVER EVEN BOTHERING TO LISTEN TO WHAT I HAVE TO SAY EVEN BEFORE THIS CRUCIBLE!"
A discordant echo reverberated throughout the fleshscape in the midst of Lisa's rant, making Susan's blood run cold.
"Lisa...I-"
"ALL I WANTED WAS TO BE HAPPY WITH YOU AND DAD, BUT YOU AND HIM KEPT ARGUING NO MATTER HOW MUCH I TRIED TO HAVE THE TWO OF YOU MAKE UP FOR IT! I WAS SCARED AND ALONE WHEN I WOKE UP IN THE CRUCIBLE, GRIZZIE WAS THERE FOR ME. SHE HELPED KEEP ME SAFE. SHE HELPED MAKE ME FEEL HAPPY. BUT THEN YOU CAME AND TRIED TO KILLED HER WHEN ALL SHE WANTED WAS TO TALK! AND NOW EVERYTHING LED TO THIS!"
"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT MOM!"
The discordant echo turned into a high pitched screech as Susan could only look on helplessly as the Hunger began to claim her daughter in front of her eyes.
"No...not now! Not like this!" wailed Susan.
With impeccable timing, Sathriel swiftly reappeared and was by Lisa's side and moved to suppress the Hunger, the neuromancer's relic flaring a bright gold while runic skincrafting skittered across Lisa's body to enforce the spellcaster's will and ward away the ever-present doom of hunger.
Seconds seemed to pass into minutes as the Arbiter worked ceaselessly through a combination of runecrafted skintalking and modular Neuromancy to combat the hunger within Lisa, the runes across both Lisa's and Sathriel's body glowing in ripples until at last, the stress of hunger finally abated with Lisa falling unconscious.
(cont.)
