Sci Fi Flash Fiction: Amott’s Hearth (Dialogue)

The 11th installment of the Scifi flash fiction series Amott’s Hearth. I had something witty here earlier, but it is all gone now. Please enjoy.

The white light pulsed over Craig’s head as he groaned. He felt as if someone was striking his brain with an antique smith hammer he remembered when he watched his grandfather make iron rail ties. The buzzing in his ears made things worse as he felt the urge to vomit as the bile fought to move up his throat. He also felt someone next to him. No, it wasn’t next to him; it was with him. He felt as if something coiled itself around his heart and chest. He could feel squeezing as he heard a voice in his head. “You better not pass out on me, human. If you do, you will doom us.”

“Wh-who are you?” Craig asked.

“I didn’t expect you to be so thick. It must be this pacification crap they have in this throne room. If I were in charge of your body when you were waking from introduction, I would have made a note of this. This is what I get for dreaming of chaos.”

“You really are Tiamat.”

“It took you long enough. I would have sent flowers and some balloons, but I figured after your last birthday party with the piñata and the balloons that got away from your hand, you would have hated that.”

“Wait, you knew that? You were there for my eighth birthday?”

“You really don’t get this whole incarnate thing, do you? You know what? Don’t answer that, it was rhetorical. Look, here’s the deal. We’re in a tight spot. All I wanted was to sleep a few thousand years and get my power back. I used your family as a condo, if you want to think of it that way. Somehow these asshats found out I was with you and decided to extract you from Earth.”

“Wait, you mean you were going after my daughter next?”

“If it makes you happy, I won’t have that chance now. She will be a happy girl once the pain goes away. If we don’t do anything, she will have a bad time because your planet will be destroyed.”

“What do we need to do?”

“I thought that might wake you up. I have a hunch, but you are going to have to follow my lead this time around. You’ll see everything I do.”

“Everything?”

“Look, kid. You try staying asleep for two-thousand-years and see if you can control your libido. You have a member; you might as well use it, right? Besides, imagine the hybrids we could create with a little effort and some of that lubric-”

“You can make sure I’m off when you do stuff like that.”

“All right, it’s your loss. You might pick up a few pointers on the way. Eh, it isn’t the time or place to sell you on this, I know. You let me know when you change your mind. Shit, their god is here. You sure you’re all right with me taking over?”

“I have no choice, do I?”

“You do, but I think it might end in our demise.”

The buzzing stopped and the lights dimmed as Craig groaned with relief. He tried to push himself to his feet. He couldn’t move. He looked around and noticed something was pinning him to the floor. He tried to roll away from it. The object moved with him. As he struggled again, the object released a small shock. He yelped in pain as the electricity traveled through his body. He heard a voice. deep, rumbling voice. “Please stay where you are until I can decipher what is going on here.”

“Herald?”

“Indeed, Craig T. Amott. I was summoned here from my daily worship to find you charged with rape and assault against the Godling. The god is not impressed, though he wishes to speak with you. Are you fit to speak to our god?”

Craig spoke through gritted teeth as he continued to be pinned to the floor. “If I said no, are you going to apply more voltage or turn on the blue mist again?”

“That depends on you, does it not?”

Craig held out his hands and nodded his head to show he meant no harm. Herald removed the long staff from his back and helped him to his feet. Craig dusted himself off, though he noticed he did not need to do so since the floors were spotless. Herald grabbed him by the right arm and escorted him through the hall to a small room off to the side. The door slid open. A bright-red mist poured out from the room before it faded. The god sat on a small chair. He wheezed as the fluids that kept him alive coursed through his system from the machine attached to him. He lifted his head, opened his eyes and saw the two visitors. He motioned with his shaking hand for Herald to leave. Herald bowed and retreated in the same position until the doors slid shut. Craig stood his ground and lifted his chin in defiance as the god sat in his chair and wheezed. “You are brave to challenge an automaton with the pacification fields active. Without a doubt, you are Tiamat.”

Craig raised an eyebrow as his body relaxed, “You knew she was a robot?”

“Robot is a derogatory term to them. I would make sure to use it often. I am a god. I know everything that happens in my realm. I know she was not my daughter. I know Herald serves the same creator that made the automaton. I know the plan to eliminate both of us. I know all of this, my friend.”

Craig tilted his head and blinked as he brought his right hand and ran his fingers through his hair, “What’s your plan then?”

“We are going to do what they expect. You will participate in the arena. They have the event slanted in their favor, or so they think. I know better and so do you.”