Sharing of Oneself
Millie turned her head to look up at me with a concerned expression on her face.
"You look funny, William."
After thinking for a moment, I realized she was probably talking about the user interface overlay that was part of her newly installed hardware.
"Yeah, you can turn that off by concentrating on the word 'dismiss."
She focused on me for a few seconds.
"Nope. It's not working."
She then reached her hand up to my face, softly stroking it.
"Did something bad happen while I was asleep?"
The realization that she had seen through me hit like a ton of bricks. I knew I cared about these women even though we had different values, but I forgot that they cared about me just as much. Especially Millie. This kind, warm woman chose to stay and fight, most likely even die, with me. Even though she wasn't a fighter at all. In all likelihood, she was going to suffer because of my decisions. The pressure of that had been bearing down on me, but she had gently reminded me that I wasn't alone after all. I felt a slightly painful heat welling up behind my eyes. She just gave me a gentle smile.
"Silly boy, I'm here with you. I'm even the same as you now... We both are."
Suddenly I was hit by a wave of guilt. This innocent person had accepted an invasive alteration of her very mind just so she could fight side-by-side with me. How could I give anything less than my whole heart back in return? As I finally surrendered myself to that decision, the weight fell from my shoulders, and I could give a genuine smile back to this precious person.
"No, not yet, you aren't. I want to share everything with you."
Millie's eyes opened wider as I turned to Gilda.
"Gilda, I want to share my memories with Millie and Cordelia, so they can know what I've learned as quickly as possible."
Gilda fixed me with a steely gaze for a few moments, as if she were testing my resolve. My eyes didn't waver from hers, and eventually, she lowered her gaze.
"If that is what you wish, Willie."
"It is. Any possible advantage we can find, we need to use."
Cordelia looked shaken, whereas Millie sat up and had a big grin on her face accompanied by a wink.
"Yay! Now I'll really know what William thought of our first kiss."
Cordelia walked over to stand in front of me, keeping her head slightly down, which gave her upturned eyes as she looked at my face.
"Hey! A-Are you really sure about that. I'll know all your secrets, you know? Do you really want to give that kind of information to somebody you don't trust?"
Much more naturally than I would have expected, I pulled her into a hug.
"I trust you with my life. Everyone knows we're facing death here, and you chose to stay with me. To probably die with me, and all for the sake of others. How could I not trust you at this point?"
"Hey! That's no fair. Why does Cordie get a hug and not me?!"
I released Cordelia from my embrace and stepped back slightly. Surprisingly I wasn't embarrassed or worried about anything. I was at peace with the situation. Cordelia, on the other hand, was triumphantly smirking at Millie.
"Shut up, you stupid harlot. This is my rightful place as the future ruler of the galaxy. You are nothing but a lowly concubine."
Ignoring her typical insults, I gestured for Cordelia to turn around.
"I'm gonna take that slave crest off you now."
Cordelia obediently turned around, lowering her clothing and moving her hair to the side, while looking at me over her shoulder. Her face showed a hard to describe emotion.
After I had removed the crest from her back, she turned to me with tears running down her face.
"Thank you... I've dreamt of being free for so long. I thought it would never happen..."
Millie came up beside her and gave her a gentle, sisterly hug. Gilda silently walked up to stand next to me.
"You will need to undergo a deep memory scan, and they will need to finish their integration phase. Those two are almost ready, but you should lie down for the scan."
Following Gilda's instructions, I laid down where Millie had been. They both looked down at me, with Millie gently playing with my hair. She leaned over and kissed my forehead as I lost consciousness.
Short part today because the next part will be from Gilda's perspective.
