Alesia Nonahsdottir bit on her white knuckle as she watched on helplessly at what was happening to her friend. Alesia was secure in her section of the holosuite, able to watch but not move into the simulation Sorcha was experiencing. Alesia had tried to end it hours ago. Sorcha had been in there for more than a Titan day now and it was getting grim. Sorcha, using her knowledge of holosuite programming had locked her out. Only Sorcha could end this. And as usual was being rather stubborn about doing it.

No matter how much Alesia begged Sorcha just shook her head soberly and carried on.

“Again!” A huge voice boomed and a giant, well-manicured hand slapped the table top.

Sorcha, wearing what could only be described as a poorly tailored red leotard with dragonfly wings attached, hunched low and with all her might jumped. She flung her arms back over her head and arched her back backwards. Even with the gravity simulated as if she were Human she could not do it. She jumped a few feet in the air and tipped over landing hard on her shoulder.

Alesia winced. The landing looked sore but that was not why she had winced. She knew what was coming.

The freckle faced Titaness with a mop of red curls frowned. “You useless piece of tuppshaka! I have a demonstration to put on to the club in two days and you’re ruining everything!

She reached a hand towards Sorcha, bracing her index finger on her thumb and released it against Sorcha’s backside. The assault caused Sorcha to slide fifteen feet along the table top and she cried out in pain.

“All the rest of the troop can do the entire performance! Just you! Get up! Now!” The Titaness screamed so loud it was near deafening.

Sorcha shakily pushed herself up, her shoulder sore and her backside numb from the assault. Before she could right herself her arm was grabbed and she was viciously righted but her holographic owner.

She howled again in pain. There were virtually no parts of her limbs that weren’t bruised from being tugged one way or the other. Her lips were split in multiple places from blows to the face and she was very surprised her nose wasn’t broken. Sorcha wanted to quit. She hated this. She hated it more than almost any other she could think of but she couldn’t. More than she hated it she was angry. She was angry that this had happened to someone. A person. Someone like her. If she quit she would be dishonouring this person’s story. She had to play it through to the end.

“Jump!” The Titaness shouted. “And do it right.”

Sorcha crouched lower than she had the first time and sprung from the balls of her feet. She flung her arms back, one across the other and to her surprise, found herself twisting in the air, arms over legs and then landed shakily on the table. She steadied herself as she wobbled on her weakened side.

“Better. Again!” her owner commanded.

Sorcha jumped again and once more to her surprise found herself landing the right way up.

“Good. Now I want you to keep doing that. Over and over until you can do it in your sleep.” The red headed woman stood and looked down at her pet. “I’m going to make some dinner. I will be watching. Stop and I will know. If you stop you won’t eat tonight and you can spend the night in the cold tank with your bruises unhealed.”

The woman didn’t even wait for a response. She turned and left.

Sorcha walked to the end of the table and started to do back flips. She landed, steadied herself and then started again.

“Sorcha? What are you doing?” Alesia’s voice appeared as if from nowhere.

“What does it look like Lessy?” Sorcha replied and then did a back flip. “I’m jumping.”

“It’s been a day now. I get it. You want to know what it’s like to be a pet but you’re going to get yourself killed!” The strain in Alesia’s voice was obvious.

Sorcha sighed and flipped again. “I’ll be fine.”

“You’re not fine! You’re in pieces! You have to end this Sorcha! It’s madness!”

“It’s not madness…” Sorcha flipped again. “It was someone’s life. Someone’s story. I won’t just walk away from that. It’d be an insult to them!”

“You don’t know that! For all you know this person ended up dead! That’s a tragedy but I don’t think they’d want to see anyone else hurt from their story!” Alesia argued.

Sorcha admitted in her mind that Alesia’s argument made sense but she couldn’t give in. She back flipped again.

“Sorry Lessy. It’ll be over when it’s over.”

“It won’t be Sorcha! These programs don’t have an ending that I know of! They’re adaptable! They just keep going! It ends because the time runs out or the person can’t take any more!” Alesia’s voice trembled.

Sorcha didn’t reply. She just kept doing back flips.

“Please Sorcha. For me. I can’t watch this happen to you.” Alesia begged.

“No one’s making you watch…” Sorcha said between flips.

Alesia turned and slumped against the wall. She turned off the comms on her pad and buried her head in her hands.

“I need help…”

****

In a rather plain apartment on a non-descript moon orbiting a non-descript world in a non-descript province of the Empire, events of a much less non-descript nature were playing out.

A noise like none ever heard by humankind split the air of the small, dark room. Despite its alien origin it would have been totally clear what this noise was. It was a guttural scream of abject terror mixed with no small amount of agony. No matter how inhuman it sounded, it would have set even the hardiest of people on edge. The atmosphere in the room hung heavy with an acrid, bitter smell. The cause of which was almost visible in the air. It was certainly visible on the floor and the walls near the table at the centre of the room.

The screaming got louder and more intense and another stream of turquoise liquid spilled to the floor.

“You’re pathetic.” A feminine voice spoke as she scratched her blade along the top of the metal table and looked down at the person, lying on their back, unable to move. “You’re not even tied up and you refuse to move. Your entire species in pathetic.”

The screaming had stopped and had been replaced by an intermittent light hissing as the Dunnermac breathed heavily through blood soaked flaps in the side of its neck. “Why are you doing this?”

The woman shrugged. “Because I want to. Because I can.” She walked to the end of the table and lifted a delicate cloth and started to wipe down the blood stained but still shining blade. “The real question is why you’re just lying there. You haven’t even tried to defend yourself or to escape. All you do is scream and cry. It’s a bit disappointing. The fight is half the fun!”

There was more panting from the Dunnermac as he watched his torturer wipe his turquoise blood from her knife. “I have sworn an oath of peace, to do no violence. We are a peaceful people” The male Dunnermac spluttered. “You have no reason to do this…”

The woman slowly slid a blade from a case and examined it in the sliver of light that shone across the table. The blade itself was shining silver, longer than her hand and thin with serrated teeth. It looked like it designed to kill and maim with utmost ease. The woman was almost looking at it lovingly, like it was a member of her own family.

“I do love this blade. It’s one tenth of a unit long, one sixtieth a unit wide with a perfectly serrated edge and exactly thirteen teeth to enable cutting through bone and cartilage.” She struck out in a practiced stabbing motion into the air beside her. “It will cut into the gut or a leg bone of a Titan with very little trouble. It is the perfect blade for killing a Titan.”

She tossed the blade on to the table top, the sound of metal hitting metal rung out and the Dunnermac cried out and recoiled as best he could.

The woman stepped back from her case of knives and stood between the table and the door. “I’m unarmed. Take the knife. Stab me. Cut me down, walk over me and out the door.”

She stood and stared at the mutilated Dunnermac lying on her table. He didn’t move. He just lay there, staring at roof, unblinking and to the untrained eye, dead. But she was not untrained. This was not her first Dunnermac. She could see the subtle signs of liquids moving beneath the almost translucent skin.

“Go on. If you don’t I will kill you. But not before I’ve gotten all the fun I can out of you.” She said in a voice that held no malice but only amusement.

After a minute or two of no responses and only a little more goading she could wait no longer. She stepped back towards the table and slowly and reverently slipped a long, curved blade from the case and held it in front of her. She noticed the Dunnermac’s eyes drift towards it.

“Now this blade… is nothing like the last. As you can see its long, one fifth of a unit and curves like Selena does as it wanes. It is so very light, so delicate and very, very sharp. This blade is designed to cut through the slippery sacs and skin of a Dunnermac. And this is the blade that will end your life. But not before…”

There was a ringing from a pad across the room. The woman screamed with rage and swung her blade straight down, cutting through the fingers of the Dunnermacs hand. As he screamed she stomped over to the pad and picked it up.

“What do you want!? I told you I was going to be busy for the next few days!” she screamed at the pad’s blank screen. The only sign it had a transmission open was the green light at its corner.

There were a series of unintelligible clicks and hisses.

“That’s not right. It will take weeks until they’re ready…” she replied.

The pad responded with more clicks and hisses and the woman’s eyes lit up.

“You mean it!?”

The woman listened intently to the further clicks and hisses, looking more and more excited.

“Remember the plan! The colony planet is mine! And all the toys that come with it!”

She listened as the clearly non-humanoid voice replied.

“Ok! Give me a few hours to finish up here and I’ll get moving.” The woman spoke excitedly and ended the transmission.

She squealed in a pitch that could shatter glass.

“It’s happening! Oh it’s happening! This is so exciting!” She bounced across the room and danced around the table as the terrified Dunnermac watched on helplessly.

The woman stopped and pouted, looking at the man the table top. “Awww, I’m sorry. I’m going to have to cut our time here short.”

“Please…” he gurgled. “Just let me live.”

“Oh no, that won’t happen. But I’m afraid we only have a few hours together rather than the few days I had hoped for.” She picked up the large knife from where it was imbedded in the table and looked at it, the light from the bulb above shining off it and into her pink eyes. “I will do my best to make sure you enjoy our time as much as I do…”

****

Sorcha pressed herself into the cold plastic wall of her small plastic tank. It was night time in the simulation now. It was probably night time in the real world as well but Sorcha had lost track of time. She sat alone in the pitch black. The opaque walls of the tank let no light in, not that there was any to let in.

She shivered, slightly cold. She was still wearing her ridiculous tutu, minus the wings but had nothing else to help her keep warm. No mat to sleep on or cloth to wrap around her. She tried to pull her legs in to her body to conserve heat but they ached too much. She slouched and slid on to her side, cringing in pain as she did so. She huddled into the corner, doing her best to tuck her legs in as far as they would let her.

Everything ached. Her legs, both from strain and from the assaults. Her forearms were purple with bruises and she had taken a good few blows to the body.

She choked back a sob.

She hated this.

She wanted to be anywhere but here. Away from cold, dead walls. Away from being made to wear horrible, itchy clothing. Away from being forced to dance and jump in a silly routine over and over again. And mostly away from the humongous, nasty person who she loathed. The red headed woman controlled every aspect of her life in here. Sorcha had been tempted many times to say the word. One word and it would all be over. She could walk away. It would be so easy to just to walk away.

And that made her hate herself. She hated herself more than the red headed woman for even thinking that. So many millions of Humans didn’t get that choice; some still didn’t. They couldn’t just say a word and step out of their lives. They were trapped. Bound by fate to whichever Titan’s path they strayed into. To simply say a word and just quit was an insult to them and to the person who had endured this life.

But it would be just so easy to quit her mind told her.

The battered woman screwed her eyes closed shut tightly and suppressed another sob. She wondered about Lessy, if she was still watching her. She was probably asleep by now. She hadn’t contacted her in a few hours. She was probably pretty mad by this point. But that was the least of her immediate worries. Sorcha longed for sleep. She was exhausted. It would be a pleasant escape from the pain in her body and the pain in her conscience but it was proving elusive. The debate raging in her mind over whether to quit or not and the regular aches and shooting pains kept her awake.

She lay on her side, in the dark, unsure if her eyes were open or shut and just stared into the black trying to clear her mind of all thoughts.

She wished she could just walk away. It would be so easy. So, so easy…

“What are you doing girl?” a gruff, familiar voice spoke in the darkness.

Sorcha bolted upright, confused. She realised she had nodded off. Her mind took a second or two to catch up to what was happening.

“This is not something I ever wanted for my daughter…” Her father said as he knelt beside her and lifted her chin with his hand, examining the bruises and cuts on her face.

Sorcha could see the worry on his face even though he was doing his best to hide it. She momentarily considered this could be a trick by Alesia but she dismissed it quickly. Holographics wasn’t her thing. The only person she knew who could break into the program was her father. And here he was right in front of her.

“I had to know Dad…” Sorcha said softly.

He stroked his hand across her forehead pushing thick, dark locks off her face.

Niall sighed a long slow sigh. “I know darlin’. I remember you asking me growing up. As a little girl, as bigger girl and as a young woman. You never were satisfied with the answers you got.”

There was quiet. Niall slouched and settled down beside his daughter, putting his arm around her. He tried to pull her in but she kept rigid and didn’t move.

“Lessy call you?” Sorcha asked.

“She did. She was worried. I can see why.”

“Is she ok?”

“Aye she is. She’s just worried about you is all.” Niall replied. “Your Mum is too.”

“Shit, Mum’s here?” Sorcha said concerned.

“They’re both waiting for us in the shuttle. I thought we should talk alone for a bit first. It’s been a while since we sat and talked just father and daughter.”

“Shame we don’t have any whiskey.” She said wryly.

Niall shifted a little trying to squeeze a little closer to his daughter. It wasn’t often he got to sit with her eye to eye these days. Out there she was enormous. She was still his little girl but just a rather big little girl. It was nice to look down on her for a change. And told hold her properly.

“We could always head home? Pick up a bottle on the way?” He joked.

“Sorry Daddy…can’t.”

“Ack stop this. You’ve been in here over a day! It’s time to stop! This isn’t the first time, you’ve tried to live in a dream world before!” Niall said.

“It’s not a dream! It’s someone’s life! I’m trying to get some sort of understanding of what the people I’m going to be looking after went through!” She snapped back.

“That’s horseshit and you know it!” Niall said mirroring his daughter’s look and tone uncannily. “Maybe your mother and Alesia will believe you when you say that but I know a shitehawk when I see one!”

“It’s the truth Dad! I don’t care if you believe me!” Sorcha was getting angry.

“You can lie to your Mother, you can lie to Alesia, hell you can even lie to yourself but you can’t lie to me. I know exactly what this is about.” Niall spoke softly but firmly. Sorcha had his manner but she had the same buttons as her mother. And Niall had over a century’s worth of practice pushing them.

“This isn’t about pretending to be Human!” She shouted and pushed herself away from her father.

“I know it’s not.”

“It’s about understanding what these people went through!”

“Liar.” Niall said and Sorcha’s eyes widened and burned red.

The almost livid woman jumped to her feet not even feeling the pain and stormed around the small box.

“I am not a liar! You raised me better than that! I am trying to understand what these people went through. I can’t just walk out of what someone went through! I have to see it through to the end!” She shouted.

Niall got to his feet and watched Sorcha stomp back and forth. “Still not the truth girl.”

“Fine! Since you’re so smart, you tell me what this is about! Apparently I’m too stupid to understand!” She spoke angrily shoving her face in her father’s.

“It’s about revenge.” Niall said softly and calmly with a small smile.

He saw a momentary flicker of realisation and it disappeared into a sarcastic laugh.

“Revenge?! Revenge on who Dad?” she said and spun away.

“On yourself. On your Titan half.”

“That’s just absurd!” She shouted.

“You’re torturing yourself because you’ve never forgiven yourself for being born half Titan. You were never accepted by them but we accepted you. All the Humans around you accepted you because they’re good people who accept other good people.” Niall said.

Sorcha half laughed and started to pace again. “That’s ridiculous!”

Niall stepped forward and grabbed his daughter by the shoulders and held her tightly. She tried to force herself free but at this scale her father was much stronger than she was.

“Stop this Sorcha!”

“There’s nothing to stop!” She shouted back. Her words didn’t even sound convincing to herself.

“You’ve painted all Titans as evil, yourself included and painted all Humans as victims. That’s bollox Sorcha. I know you don’t know better so you hear me and you hear me good. Where I grew up if you found yourself in the wrong part of the city with the wrong people around you they asked you one question! ‘Are you a catholic or are you a protestant?’ Answer that question wrong and they’d kick the fuck out of you! And that’s just some light, everyday bigotry. Never mind the serious stuff! Humans aren’t the simple victims you’re making us out to be and you do us all a disservice by acting that way! We’re just as good at being bigoted, selfish, violent fuckers as the Titans are! Now wise the fuck up and shut this program off!” Niall said angrily getting louder and louder and staring his daughter down.

It took a second. A second for the blood to drain from her face and for that sick feeling to rise as the dose of reality hit her like a bucket of cold water. Her arms shook, her knees buckled and came out from under her. Niall caught her as she fell and gently dropped to his knees and held his daughter to his chest as she started to sob.

“I hate it Daddy…I hate being one of them…” she said as tears streamed down her face.

“Shhhhh darlin’ it’s ok.” Niall held her tightly and rocked her. “You’re not one of them.”

“I am Daddy…I am…” She said between sobs.

“It’s ok, it’s ok.” Niall hugged her to his chest and kissed her on top of her hair as she cried.

He held her as tightly as he could. It broke his heart to see her this way. He wanted to fix her disparate parts and make everything better but he couldn’t. That was something she had to do for herself. He could give her a push though.

“Sorcha, look at me.” Niall said a few minutes later when she quietened down.

Sorcha looked up at her father. She was a mess. Her eyes were red and puffed, her cheeks sodden, her skin cracked and bruised and her hair was matted and stuck to her face.

“You’re not one of them…”

“I am…” she interrupted.

“You are the daughter of me and your mother. Two people who love each other immensely and love you even more. One of them is a Titan and one of them is a Human. It doesn’t matter which one is which, neither one is better than the other.” He said. “Would you say your mother is one of them?”

“No…” she squeaked and shook her head.

“She isn’t. And you aren’t either.” Niall spoke gently but firmly.

“I am Dad…”

“No you’re not. You have to stop this. If not for yourself then for your Mum. To call yourself a monster because she is your mother? How do you think that makes her feel? It hurts her when she sees you like this. She blames herself.”

“It’s not her fault. I never want to hurt Mum.” Sorcha said.

Niall gave her a squeeze and a smile. “I know, I know. Just you have to realise that you are both of ours. We’ve given you the best of us, the best of me and the best of your mum. One bit Human, one bit Titan. And you’ve been trying to either ignore or punish one half for your entire life. You can’t do that anymore.”

Sorcha sniffed and nodded, her face clinging to her father’s sodden t-shirt.

“Do you want to make your Dad a happy man?” He asked.

Sorcha nodded again.

“I love your mother more than anything in this universe, save for you maybe. She has made me happier than no woman on Earth ever could. She is the most amazing person I have ever met. And she is a Titan.” He paused and looked into his daughter’s shimmering blue eyes. “I want you to stop wishing she was Human. I want you to be thankful, like I am, for who your mother is and embrace who you are. Both parts. You understand what I’m saying?”

“I do…” she replied a bit louder.

Niall smiled down at his daughter and held her tightly. “My baby girl…”

Sorcha smiled back up at him. “I love you Daddy…”

“I love you too. No matter what.” He said back.

Sorcha waited a moment, enjoying feeling like she was a kid again for just a moment as her father rocked her gently. She looked up at him and he nodded.

“Gyfjon…” she said.

And the program ended.