LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 16.2: The Merger of Souls
The rumble of the Salamanders' Thunderhawk faded into the distance, leaving Eve standing alone in the bustling settlement. The green-armored giants had delivered her to what they believed was safety, a hab-block teeming with refugees and survivors of the ongoing Ork invasion. As the young girl watched the aircraft disappear into the smog-choked sky, she felt a twinge of regret. The Space Marines' presence had been a comfort, a bastion of strength in a universe that had shown her little kindness.
Eve's eyes, wise beyond her years, scanned her surroundings. The settlement was a maze of prefabricated structures and hastily erected barricades. Imperial Guardsmen patrolled the perimeter, their faces grim and alert. Civilians moved about with purpose, carrying supplies or tending to the wounded. The air was thick with the acrid smell of promethium and the distant echo of artillery fire. This place was much better than the cell that she had lived before.
As she took in the scene, Eve's mind raced with possibilities. She had escaped the renegade tech-priests, survived an Eversor assault, and now found herself in the midst of a war-torn Imperial world. Her blank nature and accelerated healing made her unique, but they also made her a target. She knew she would have to tread carefully as her kind isn’t welcomed by everyone.
A nearby explosion shook the ground, causing Eve to stumble. The distant rumble of battle was growing louder. The Orks, it seemed, were not content to leave this settlement in peace. As panic began to spread through the crowd, Eve felt a strange sensation wash over her. It was as if reality itself was bending, twisting around her in ways she couldn't comprehend.
A sensation, as if the universe itself was warping, pulled at her mind. The solid ground beneath her feet trembled, and reality itself seemed to shimmer and twist. With a lurching jolt, Eve was no longer in the war-torn settlement but in a void, a place between realms where nothing tangible existed. It wasn't the Warp, with its maddening chaos, but a strange, liminal space where time and existence blurred.
In this strange realm, Eve saw another presence. It was a soul, but unlike any she had encountered before. And there, she saw it: a soul, shimmering with a light that seemed far too bright, far too... human. Eve felt herself drawn toward it, as though she was part of something larger than herself. The memories of a life not her own began to flood her mind—the life of Maverick Lopez. It pulsed with an otherworldly energy, carrying with it the weight of memories and experiences that seemed impossibly vast. As the soul drew closer, Eve realized what was happening. They are fusing into a single being.
The process was bewildering, overwhelming. Memories that were not her own flooded Eve's consciousness. She saw a world utterly alien to her experience, a place called Earth which is free from the constant warfare and oppression of the Imperium. She witnessed a life lived in relative peace, with concerns that seemed trivial compared to the daily struggle for survival she had always known. She witnessed moments of joy, warmth, and simplicity that felt alien to her. Family dinners, laughter, and love; things she had never truly known. The brutal experiments she had endured, the fight for survival that defined her life in the 41st millennium, seemed distant and grotesque by comparison. For a fleeting moment, she envied this man and his mundane existence.
These were the memories of someone named Maverick Lopez, a man from a time and place so far removed from the grim darkness of the 41st millennium that it might as well have been a fantasy. Eve watched in fascination as Maverick's life unfolded before her. She saw him grow from a child to an teenager, pursue education, form relationships, and navigate a society that valued individual freedom and personal growth. But beneath the surface of these memories lay a deep loneliness that echoed her own, Eve noticed how he tends to be alone to which made her wonder why. As the merging process continued, the soul that was Maverick became something more; a part of Eve, yet distinct, a complex puzzle of two lives intertwining.
For the first time in her life, Eve felt a longing for normalcy. The simple pleasures of Maverick's existence; family dinners, leisurely walks in nature, the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake were like glimpses into a paradise she had never known could exist. The brutal experiments and the desperate fight for survival that had defined her short life seemed all the more tragic in comparison.
But as the merger continued, Eve noticed something odd about this other soul. There was a quality to it that she couldn't quite define, a resonance that seemed out of place. It was as if she was staring at a mirror. Eve can see herself in his place and can’t help but wonder why?
As the process neared its completion, Eve found herself in a unique position. She was both participant and observer, her consciousness somehow separated from the newly formed whole. She watched as Maverick, now inhabiting her body, awoke in the midst of the chaos.
The Ork invasion was in full swing. The settlement's defenses were crumbling under the relentless green tide. Maverick, disoriented and terrified, stumbled through the panicked crowds. Eve observed his confusion, his struggle to comprehend the nightmarish reality he had awakened to.
Then came the rescue. Imperial forces, responding to the settlement's distress call, evacuated the survivors. The child was evacuated to an orphanage where she met Sister Mercy, a kind soul that even Eve was fond of too.
"What's your name, little one?" Sister Mercy asked, her voice firm but kind despite the chaos around them as she waits for the child to respond.
Maverick, still reeling from the shock of his new existence, couldn't form a response. Sister Mercy nodded in understanding. "It's alright. You're safe now. How about we'll call you Lilith?”
And so, Maverick became Lilith. Eve observed as the newly named girl was taken to the Orphanage of Saint Celestine's Mercy. She watched as Lilith struggled to adapt to her new reality, to reconcile her memories of a peaceful past with the grim present of the Imperium.
What fascinated Eve most was Lilith's interactions with those around her. Despite the trauma of her transition and the harsh realities of life in the orphanage, Lilith showed a resilience and adaptability in the unforgiving world of the 41st millennium.
But as Eve continued to observe, she noticed something troubling. Lilith's body or rather Eve's original body seemed frailer than it should have been. Eve knew her physique had always been slightly above average for a human, thanks to the genetic modifications of the renegade tech-priests. Yet Lilith struggled with physical activities that should have been well within her capabilities.
At first, Eve assumed it was simply a matter of adjustment. Surely, given time, Lilith would acclimate to her new form. But as days turned to weeks, and weeks to months, the frailty persisted. Lilith's mind was sharp, her ability to absorb information remarkable, but her body lagged behind.
The mystery deepened when Lilith's apparent psychic abilities began to manifest while she was asleep. Eve manages to restrict her psychic powers from leaking out and potentially hide her presence connected to the warp due to Eve’s null field.
Then came the day when Lilith was suspected of being a psyker. As the Sisters debated her fate, Eve's mind raced. She had always known she was a blank, a null, soulless in the eyes of the Warp. But Lilith was undeniably psychic. The contradiction was mind-boggling.
In a moment of clarity, Eve formed a hypothesis. Lilith's soul or Maverick's soul was that of a psyker. But Eve's body, her original form, was that of a blank. The two were fundamentally incompatible, like matter and antimatter forced to coexist. The frailty of their shared body wasn't a weakness, but a symptom of this cosmic paradox. After all, Eve’s body is now like a container and she is acting as the lid to the contents of that container.
Eve's genetic quirk, her ability to heal rapidly, was likely the only thing keeping their merged form stable. It wasn't just healing physical wounds, but constantly mending the metaphysical damage caused by housing a psyker's soul in a blank's body. The process left little energy for physical prowess, explaining Lilith's persistent weakness. Although the psyker test by Sister Victorine came back unusually negative, Eve knew that it’s only a matter of time until they will be discovered.
As this realization dawned on Eve, she felt a mix of emotions she had never experienced before. There was fascination for what this meant for their shared existence. But there was also a strange sense of wonder. In all the vast, uncaring universe, what were the odds of such a merger occurring? A psyker and a blank, two polar opposites, fused into a single being. It was simultaneously horrifying and beautiful.
Eve watched as Lilith grew, as she faced the challenges of life in the Imperium with a determination that was admirable. She observed Lilith's struggles with faith, her questions about the nature of the Emperor and the Imperium itself. Eve saw how Lilith's knowledge from her past life as Maverick influenced her perceptions, giving her a unique perspective on the grim darkness of the far future.
Through it all, Eve remained a silent observer. She could have fought for control, could have tried to reassert her dominance over the body that was originally hers. But something held her back. Perhaps it was curiosity, a desire to see how this impossible merger would play out. Or perhaps, in some deep, unacknowledged part of her being, she recognized that Lilith's existence offered a chance at the normalcy she had always been denied. Eve made a decision for herself that no matter what happens, they will both survive to make both of their goals fulfilled.
At present, Lilith is currently faced the threat of execution for her psychic abilities, Eve made a decision. She would continue to watch, to observe, to learn. But she would also decided to intervene for both of their sakes, after all, they both have already gotten so far. Even if it’s going against the Imperium, Eve is determined to see through it.
"What will you do now?" Eve whispered into the void of their shared consciousness. She knew that Lilith would try to use her psychic abilities and is watching the scene unfold before her "It’s only a matter of time until the Inquisition hears of you, or you’ll be sentenced to death by the commissar"
Eve watches the events unfold, all according to her prediction but it is not yet the time to act as of yet. As Lilith faced down the barrel of Commissar Voss's bolt pistol, her psychic powers surging uncontrollably, Eve was calm as she faced something more terrifying than a mere bolt pistol. After another surge of psychic energy saved their life, Commissar would once again eliminate Lilith. However, this time Eve won’t be just standing by.
“Let me take over. Take a rest, Lilith” Eve whispers to Lilith as she forcefully takes control of their body. Eve looks at the Commissar’s eyes directly as even the Commissar noticed this sudden change and without giving it an another thought, the sound of the bolt gun echoed through the battlefield.
In the distance, the war raged on. Orks bellowed their war cries, Imperial guns thundered in response as the remaining Guardsman are fighting to death. A rumbling of a familiar Thunderhawk ship can be heard as it approaches the battlefield.