Published at 28th of October 2025 4:43 am

Chapter astrum 6.5

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

Everybody up! Grab our gear, stow the food, be ready to move. Vicky, Atyle, stay here with Kagami and Amina. Get in the doorway and watch the ends of the corridor, dont get pinned down. If something happens, make your way to the ground floor, to the front, where we came in. Well regroup there. Illy, with me!

Elpida leapt to her feet, grabbed her submachine gun, and bolted out into the corridor. Ilyushas talons scrabbled against the floor, then followed with a rapid clicking of metal.

-rrrrt!

The distant sound of gunfire cut out. Elpida kept moving at a rapid combat walk, weapon tucked tight against her shoulder, muzzle panning over every doorway and shadow. Ilyusha took her lead without the need for orders, covering Elpidas brief blind spots with her rotary shotgun.

Pira was shooting; Pira needed backup. Elpida would respond but she was hyper-aware of potential ambushes, of tricks and traps to draw her out.

She would not fall for that again. Her senses felt sharp and clear, her belly full of meat, her body re-energised by the grisly meal of cold grey matter.

Brrrrrrt!

Another burst of gunfire. Ground floor. At the rear.

Elpida hit the stairs. Tall windows flooded the stairwell with gloom-thick light. She hurried down, leading with her gun at the corners, boots slapping on the plastic flooring, echoing down into the empty reaches. Ilyusha leapt the bannister, sticking her gun into doorways, sometimes a pace ahead, other times a pace behind, always turning and watching and twitching. Elpida was relieved that even after the terrible revelations and arguments about feeding, Ilyusha did not hesitate.

The ground floor of the structure was dimmer and darker than the upper two floors, sunk in the shadows of the neighbouring buildings, graced by only a few stray slivers of choking red. Elpida hurried past yawning nooks, plunging along umbral corridors, passing through shafts of bloody sunlight.

She hissed, over and over: Pira! Pira! Answer me! Pira!

The rearmost area of the ground floor was semi-ruined: corridors lay collapsed in jumbles of breeze block and clinging bio-film mats of black nano-gunk. These passages had once led into a large two-story one-room extension at the rear of the structure perhaps some kind of sports hall or religious gathering space or sparring ground. Elpida had ignored the ruined section when she had scouted the inside of the building; the jumble of fallen masonry, twisted metal girders, and shattered roof sections was impassible. But a small section of it was still accessible and intact, beyond a pair of double doors at the end of a long corridor.

Elpida signalled for Ilyusha to pause at the doors. She eased one side open, hinges creaking in the silence; she peered through, muzzle-first. Nothing moved. Red sunlight trickled down from the fallen roof above. She slipped through with Ilyusha at her heels.

The ruined hall was a huge space. Most of the roof was gone. Fully half of the walls had collapsed into a tangle of metal and shattered breeze block. Barely twenty feet of clear ground lay between the double doors and a near-impassible hill of rubble and razor-sharp scrap.

Brass casings littered the crescent clearing two whole magazines worth, if Elpida had to guess.

And standing in the middle of the space, facing away from the doors, calmly reloading a magazine from the pouches on her webbing, was

Pira, Elpida said. We heard gunfire. Whats happening?

Piras flame-red hair caught in the dark light, dyed umber and bronze. The black and grey of her flak jacket and bullet-proof vest blended her with the rubble and ruin. She grabbed another handful of bullets. Her fingers slid them into the magazine: click-click-click-click.

She did not turn around.

Nothing.

Ilyusha stalked forward, tail rigid, hands swinging her shotgun left to right. She grimaced. Reptile cunts lost it.

Elpida kept her hands on her own submachine gun. She scanned the rubble. There was nothing. Pira, what were you shooting at?

Click-click-click-click went the bullets into the magazine. Pira shrugged beneath her body armour. Driving off a curious scavenger. Nothing important.

Ilyusha gave Elpida a look, peeling back her lips and shaking her head, blonde hair waving in the faint wind through the ruins. Elpida chopped sideways with one hand no. If Pira was having some kind of emotional breakdown, Elpida did not want Ilyusha to be the one voicing concern or provoking a reaction.

Elpida spoke slowly and clearly: Pira, you said we need to maintain stealth, and I agree with you. Gunfire may have attracted attention. If you were warning off another revenant, then good work, good job. We may need to move now. How many

Pira turned around. Stone-faced, eyes the blue of a frozen sky. Her fingers flickered click-click-click-click. A scavenger came through the ruins. I shot at her. She left.

Ilyusha snorted: Lotta fuckin bullets.

Two full magazines? Ilyusha had a point. Elpida didnt say it out loud, but Pira wasnt stupid; she must have known her half-truth would not stand up to examination. Had she shot at nothing in a fit of pique or unloaded more than necessary on a single brief target? Venting frustration or baiting a challenge?

If one of Elpidas cadre had acted like this, she would have called out the challenge for what it was, and put the offender flat on her back, with Elpidas hands on her throat and groin.

Her heart leapt. Sweat broke out on her back. She coughed once.

Pira was not one of her sisters.

Alright, Elpida said. She had to take a deep breath. Good job. Thank you, Pira. We may need to relocate. We should head back

I reacted with instant violence the moment I saw her. She has no reason to believe theres anything here but another lone revenant, with nothing but a gun. She wont be back.

Still, Id rather take the precaution. We

Whats the point?

Pira clicked the final bullet home, slammed the magazine into her weapon, racked the charging handle then clicked the safety on and let the gun hang from the strap. Her eyes bored into Elpida.

Ilyusha hissed, rolled her eyes, and let the muzzle of her shotgun drop. Elpida held out a hand to stall any further reaction, and said: Pira, lets at least get out of the open. We can talk inside.

The rubble blocks all the sight-lines from the nearby buildings. The hole only reveals the sky. Ive yet to meet a revenant who can fly.

Pira was correct but her stare did not waver.

Pira, Elpida said. If you discharge your weapon, Im going to come running to help you. Thats what Ive done right now. If you have a problem, we can discuss it.

Whats to discuss?

Ilyusha said: Fucks sake. Fuckin bitch. Say what you mean!

Elpida gestured to Ilyusha. Illy, stop, please. Pira, whats wrong?

Pira just stared.

Ilyusha snorted, Knickers in a twist cos were not perfect, huh?

Illy, Elpida said. Please. Pira? I cant solve a problem if you wont voice it.

Pira spoke soft and slow: Youve eaten those brains, havent you? Youre visibly sated. Both of you.

Ilyusha stamped one clawed foot, red talons raking the floor with a rasp of metal. Better we all fuckin die, huh?! Starve so were not like them? Her red-tipped tail jabbed toward Pira. Stab your fucking guts out for a ration card instead? Is that better, fucking reptile shit!

Pira didnt flinch.

Elpida stepped forward and grabbed Ilyusha by the shoulder before the situation could deteriorate. Black and red bionic muscles twitched beneath her grip. Illy, stop. Please. For me. Illy, please.

Ilyusha spat on the floor, then twisted away, ripping free of Elpidas hand. She stepped back, glaring at Pira. Her tail lashed back and forth. Her fingetip claws clicked against her shotgun.

Pira said: Im not claiming to be better than you.

Her voice quivered. So very gently. Perhaps undetectable without genetically augmented hearing. She was addressing Ilyusha but Ilyusha just snorted.

Pira? Elpida pitched her voice soft; Pira was in a hole and she needed digging out, not burying. Pira, if you need

I thought you were different. Piras gaze flickered back to Elpida, blue eyes burning bright, backlit by the bronze furnace of the undead sun in the necrotic sky. The outline of her body was blurred by the black-and-grey camouflage. I thought maybe you would be different. After so many tries, so many failures, so many deaths. Maybe Id finally found somebody worth following again. Her voice dropped, hushed and raw. Ive never seen a fresh revenant take charge like you did. So quickly, no hesitation. The way you killed that zombie outside of the tomb, for a bunch of girls youd known only for a few hours. Piras throat bobbed. Nobody does that. People who were leaders in life, great leaders, chieftains, priestesses you think theyre anything, here? If you remove a human being from their social context, they are nothing. The greatest leader, the smartest thinker, the strongest warrior, the cleverest soldiers none of it matters, here. We have no context. We are nothing. Meat.

Elpida nodded. She focused on Piras eyes, to show she was listening.

But you? Pira almost whispered. Commander? You kept going. You died, you came back. And then you pushed on. You wont even stop and hide. Its madness, and its working. She shook her head. But like all the others, you have to eat. In the end, like everyone else, you eat. I wanted to believe maybe Piras voice cracked. Maybe you were different.

Ilyusha barked: She is!

Pira said, Shes not. Youre not.

Elpida spoke quickly. Illy, I need you to do something for me. Head back to the others and let them know everything is okay, but stay armed and be ready, in case weve attracted any attention.

Ilyusha pulled a very unimpressed face. Her tail flicked at the air. Serious?

Im serious, yes. Illy, itll be okay. I would like to talk to Pira alone. But I need you to inform the others.

Ilyusha shot a suspicious look at Pira, and said: Dont try shit.

Elpida said, Itll be fine. Ill be fine. Please go tell the others.

Ilyusha bumped her head against Elpidas shoulder, then slipped back through the double doors. Her claws clicked against the floor for a few paces, then vanished into the depths of the structure.

Elpida was not certain about the expression on Piras face the bitter frustration, the unwillingness to express herself in clear terms, the old pain and open-wound traumas behind her eyes. But it reminded her of a specific look shed seen before, only a few days earlier a million years ago.

Piras look of resigned anger and wounded hope reminded Elpida of some of her sisters as they had waited for death together. But without the companionship, without the solace, without the warmth of each others bodies.

Elpida stepped closer, close enough to reach out and take Piras shoulder, if the gesture seemed right. The sky smouldered beyond the remains of the metal roof.

Pira, what you said earlier about cannibalism, I was listening. I wont force you to eat human flesh. I will stand in front of the others and make them respect your choice. You dont have to leave the group. Im touched by your desire to believe in me, thank you and I wont let you down.

Lies. Shed already let down everyone. Twenty four sisters, all dead. Elpida almost choked when Pira said:

You already have.

Why?

Pira blinked no tears, just a ghost. Ive done things Im not proud of. Been part of things Im not proud of. Im not pure, or clean. Ive eaten human beings, human flesh, and brains, and done worse far, far worse. All sorts of people think they have the answers, here. She gestured up, out, at the world. Ways to make sense of it. To make something out of it. To drag meaning from this. She shook her head. No. Not again. Not again. Im not participating anymore. Im not better than you because you eat and I dont, Im just not participating.

And Im telling you that you dont have to. I wont make you.

But you are participating, Pira said. The others are participating. I thought maybe you might be different in charge, really in charge. The others would have listened, they would have followed. But youre going to be like all the rest.

Elpida put real belief in her voice. I am in charge. Eating the brains is not a slippery slope. I wont kill to eat. And I wont let the others do so, either. Pira, I promise. You can hold me to that. If I go back on my word, kill me.

Pira shook her head. Youre not in charge.

Elpida spread her hands. Then challenge me.

The nanomachines are in charge. They have you by the belly. Youre part of it now, like everyone else. The system will force you to eat other people. And youll do it, because you have to live. And that erodes you. You eat yourself every time you eat another. Youre not exempt. Youre not special. I was wrong about you.

Piras face was unshuttered now, more so than ever before. She did not cry, but her eyes were hollow and empty.

Elpida spoke very gently. Pira, it doesnt have to be that way.

It is. You cant change it.

Elpida tried a different track: What you told us about the graveworm, was that the truth? Its really a giant nanomachine factory, with more than enough raw blue for everyone?

Pira blinked and sighed. As far as I know.

And thats your aim? Getting inside it? Co-opting part of all this?

Piras eyes searched Elpidas face. Youre going to tell me that the ends justify the means.

If the end result is freedom from mandatory predation on each other, then yes, that end does justify eating human flesh and brains. I will eat as many kills as I need to, in order to keep this group together, alive, and get us to the combat frame. Pira opened her mouth, but Elpida kept talking: Pira, I understand your goal. Its the right thing to do. And maybe it can be achieved by living on ambient nanomachines alone but equally maybe it cant. If we have to scavenge the dead and eat those who try to kill us, then I will do that but I promise you two things. One: I will follow your goal of getting us into the graveworm. Not just because I cant see any other goal, but because it makes sense to me. Youve convinced me. Im with you. And two: I wont resort to predation, I wont kill to eat. The others will follow my orders. She extended her hand. Will you?

Pira stared at Elpidas hand, then looked away, at the rubble.

Elpida read the shift in Piras posture and felt a thrill deep in her chest and down in her belly. Perhaps Pira thought she was being subtle. Or perhaps she was, and Elpidas gene-altered senses and lifetime of close combat training was giving her an advantage. Or perhaps Pira wanted her to see.

Did Pira want to be forced?

Elpida decided to give Pira the opening. Perhaps she wanted to lose; Elpida would make it quick.

She dropped her hand, then sighed and smiled at the same time. Okay, so you dont believe in me. Thats fine too. Listen, we can still head back to the others.

Elpida turned her head to glance back at the double doors.

Pira drew a combat knife from within her body armour and lunged for Elpidas throat, in one unbroken fluid motion.

Quick, for a baseline human; Elpida had to give her that.

Elpida was ready she jinked out of the way, caught Piras arm, pinned it against her own side, then used Piras own momentum to drag her forward and slam her into the floor. The flame-haired girl landed with a crash, the air forced from her lungs, head bouncing off the ground with a nasty nap. Elpida twisted Piras arm as she went down; fingers loosened, knife clattered free. Elpida kicked it away.

Pira tried to break Elpidas grip with a boot-heel to the elbow but Elpida just let go. She stepped back, hands wide, heart pumping. She was enjoying this far too much.

Pira jumped to her feet, panting for breath, shaking her head to clear her senses. She raised her fists and dropped into a crouch.

Elpida almost laughed. Why not just shoot

Piras fist crashed into Elpidas jaw.

Elpida went reeling. She shook her head and coughed, heart leaping and lurching, blood surging. This feeling, this kind of combat she knew this, inside and out, she knew it like she had known every one of her sisters.

She knew what Pira wanted.

Elpida straightened up in time to block Piras follow-up punch, but not in time to stop Pira kneeing her in the gut. She grunted and heaved and slammed a fist into Piras throat. Piras eyes bulged in shock but zombies didnt need to breathe through bruised windpipes; she punched Elpida in the face again, then again, then again, pistoning her arm, smashing knuckles into mouth and nose, knocking blood from burst lips, forcing Elpida back.

Elpidas bloodstream flooded with painblockers an unfair advantage. She spat blood in Piras eyes and got a fist into her gut, driving the breath from Piras lungs and making her double up. Elpida scrambled to get a hold of Piras arms, get them behind her back, pin her somehow but Pira was too slippery, too quick. She slammed into Elpidas hips, arms around Elpidas waist, and sent both of them tumbling to the floor.

They rolled together, coat and armour grinding on concrete, guns forgotten in the melee, each trying to pin the other. Elpida was taller and stronger, with a longer reach and more experience. Pira had that single full bionic arm, which hit like a brick and whipped like a snake, and she struggled like a weasel in a sack.

Elpida hadnt fought like this in years. This wasnt anything like the carefully delineated matches on the sparring room mats, even the most emotionally charged and important ones, the ones to establish pecking order or prove herself to some Legion onlookers whod never seen the cadre before.

This felt like the old days. Like being thirteen years old again and discovering that she and Howl could beat each other black and blue for hours without stopping. Like the inevitable night afterward. Like fighting because it felt right and good, hot and wet and urgent.

Elpida found herself pinned. Pira slammed her shoulders to the ground, fist raised in threat.

And Elpida laughed, blood singing, loins burning.

She wanted to fuck Pira. Very badly.

Pira had been about to say something but then she frowned and paused. Perhaps she saw the need in Elpidas eyes.

Her mistake.

Elpida bucked her off. Pira tried to cling on, but Elpida slammed a fist into her gut and a knee into her groin. She swarmed over Pira, got her fingers into that beautiful flame-red hair, and straddled her belly, pinning Piras arms to her sides beneath Elpidas iron-muscled thighs. She held Piras head to the floor.

Yield, Elpida panted.

No, Pira spat.

Yield. Im stronger. Have you pinned. Better at this. I win

Pira jackknifed her entire body. She kicked her feet and reared up. Head-butted Elpida in the face. Nose bone went snap; blood exploded everywhere. But Elpida held on and slammed a fist into Piras sternum. Pira wheezed, whining with shock.

Ahhhhhh, Elpida groaned, shaking her head. Her nose felt loose. Blood splattered down onto Piras face. I win. Yield. Give. Give!

Pira went limp. Win. You win. A-alright. But no no flesh no

Dont have to. Told you. Wont make you. Shoot me. If I do. Shoot me.

They both panted for breath, bruised and sore and bleeding. Elpida began to reach back behind her, one hand going between Piras legs to grab and squeeze and kneed

Elpida stopped herself before making contact. This fight did not mean the same thing to Pira as it did to her. With any member of her cadre yes! But Pira was not of the cadre.

Quivering with repressed desire, Elpida let go. Pira just lay there panting beneath her. Elpidas blood dripped onto Piras face.

Piras tongue emerged, pink and soft. She licked at the blood on her lips.

Blood, Elpida croaked.

Pira blinked slowly, clearing her eyes. Ah?

Blood. Nanos. Are there nanomachines in our blood?

Pira blinked again. Her tongue retracted back into her mouth. She swallowed. Of course.

Drink up.

Pira huffed. She rolled her eyes. And she licked her lip again.

Elpida rolled off Pira. She lay on the floor, exhausted, humming, ready for more for more than Pira could give. Pira licked the blood off her lips, then used her fingers to wipe her face, licking them clean. Slowly, numb, conquered.

After a moment, Elpida said: Im serious. Drink my blood. You dont wanna eat, drink me.

Thats still participation. Being part of the cycle. The system.

Wont let you starve.

Mm.

Elpida sat up first. Pira followed. They were both bloody and bruised. Elpida could feel her wounds throbbing, black eyes and an aching jaw and a broken nose but less and less with every minute. The meal of brains had done her good; her flesh was healing, faster than before. Pira had Elpidas blood all over her face. She stared at Elpida, open-faced at last and more bitter and sullen than ever.

Elpida told her: Kagami thinks youre a traitor. I dont. I think youre with me.

Pira isnt my original name.

Elpida shrugged. Its the name you use. That makes it your name.

Pira shook her head. Its a zombie name. A here-name. I use it in front of you people all of you. All descendants of the culture which murdered mine. All of you did this, created this. All your cities, all your teeming millions. You all did this.

Elpida said, If you want to share another name with me, you can. I wont tell the others. Or the name of where you came from, or

It would mean nothing to you. They erased us. She shook her head. Being here, over and over, has erased who I was. I told you before, its like asking me to share who I was in the womb. It means nothing.

Elpida said, Telokopolis is eternal. And Telokopolis has a place for all, whoever you are, and wherever you came from. I promise you, Pira. Youre human. Youre one of us. I wont know about your people, because Telokopolis made us all one.

Pira smiled, sour and beaten. You really are one of them.

And youre one of us.

Pira swallowed. She shuddered once, then raised her head. Her eyes were shining and vulnerable. Ive been dead a hundred times longer than I lived, but I still believe in one thing, I remember that I remember: I shit on the memory of Caesar. I shit on all Caesars, all they build with ash and blood, and all the flesh they gorge upon.

Elpida waited, but that was all; what a strange name Pira had uttered.

She reached out, gripped Piras arm, and said: Pira. I dont even know who Caesar was.

Pira stared then laughed. Just a little huff through her nose. Bloody-mouthed and bloody-toothed. But real. Okay.

Pira, Im with you. Are you with me?

I can smell brains on your breath.

But are you with me?

Pira sighed. You win.

Good enough. Ill get us to the combat frame. And then, the graveworm.

Pira looked down at herself. Were a mess. You and I.

Mm. Elpida rubbed at her own face. Her nose crunched. She tried to set it straight.

What are we going to tell the others?

Elpida stood up, slow and aching. Tell them we fucked.

Pira blinked. What?

It would make sense if you were one of mine. She offered her hand to Pira, to help her up. Pira stared, then accepted, but witha frown.

One of your what?

Elpida shook her head. One of my sisters. Never mind. Come on, Pira. Lets go rejoin the others.

Pira stayed where she was as Elpida turned to leave. She said: I still dont think youre any different.

Elpida said, Maybe. Maybe not. Shoot me if I fail. Are you willing to let me try?

Pira picked up her fallen combat knife. She held it for a moment, staring at Elpida. She raised it then slid it away, inside her body armour.

For now.

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