Exorcism

Cerra Manor - Medical Bay
10-30 YC 116 0400

Ryven was awake when Leela entered the medical bay that served as his current prison cell.  He was handcuffed and, aside from the large bandaged wound in his abdomen, he looked no worse for the wear.  Actually, he looked genuinely pleased to be there.  If this Ryven weren't such an asshole, Leela might have even felt some sympathy for what she assumed was a fairly painful gunshot wound.  She quickly shook off those thoughts and focused on what she came here to do.

Ryven spoke first. "I didn't expect you so soon." He smiled. "Apparently my captivity has done wonders for your research."

Leela shrugged. "It gave me a break from my routine.  I was able to come at the problem from a different angle.  An angle I should have seen ages ago because it was so obvious."

Ryven's expression made it clear he wanted her to get on with explaining it.

Leela shook her head. "What we talk about from here on, the other Ryven can't know.  Can you block him out?"

Ryven just nodded.  He had never seen the need to do so since he derived so much enjoyment from torturing the other Ryven with his depravity.  But, he knew how to block the other Ryven out when he needed to.  He closed his eyes momentarily, shuddered, and then opened them and leveled his gaze on Leela. "Okay.  Continue."

Leela started pacing as she explained what needed to be done. "I need you to return control to the other Ryven.  Not right this second.  We need him to be blocked out for at least a day so there's a period of blank memory.  I have to convince him that he did something truly terrible to someone he loves."

Ryven looked curious. "Who do you have in mind?"

Leela shook her head. "It doesn't matter.  The less you know, the better.  But, tomorrow night you relinquish control to the other Ryven and we'll start the procedure."

Ryven smiled. "And then the real fun begins." His eyes flashed with something sinister, but it passed just as quickly as it came. "Very well."

Leela moved closer until she was right next to Ryven's bed. "I'm going to knock you out now.  It reduces the probability of your block on the other Ryven from failing."  She injected him before he could protest, the clear liquid rapidly reaching Ryven's nervous system.  He slumped almost immediately, his protest dead on his lips.  Leela smiled, turned, and walked out of the medical bay.  She had a lot of preparation to see to.

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Cerra Manor - Medical Bay

10-31 YC 116 0300

Everything was set.  Leela had installed the necessary equipment in the medical bay earlier in the day.  Now all that remained was for Ryven to wake up, relinquish control to the other Ryven, and for Leela to convince Ryven that he had done the unthinkable.  With any luck the revelation would fracture Ryven's already fragile psyche enough to divide the personas into two distinct wholes.  Then she need only transfer the evil Ryven persona onto a data stick she had prepared.  There were a lot of "ifs" involved, but it was really the only option available.

Ryven roused slowly, still groggy from the drug Leela had given him.  He shook his head to try to clear the mental cobwebs, the dark fingers caressing the edges of his consciousness.  He sat up slowly and his eyes showed recognition when they met Leela's. "Is it time?"

Leela nodded. "It's time."  

Ryven lay back down, his eyes closed.  For a moment it seemed he had gone back to sleep.  Then he lurched up, his eyes wide, gasping for breath.  He looked around at his surroundings, recognizing that he was in the medical bay.  He looked disoriented, as though he didn't expect to be there.  Or perhaps he realized he was in control of his body again, a prospect he had not hoped to find realized.  Finally, he noticed Leela.  A single tear worked its way out of the corner of his right eye and began to crawl down his cheek.  "What's happened?"

Leela steeled herself for what she had to do now.  "You really don't know, do you?"

Ryven stiffened. "What happened?"

Leela conjured up every ounce of acting talent she had. "This is going to be hard, but I have to tell you."  She took a deep breath. "You, or rather, the evil you, escaped last night."

Ryven sat speechless, but his face did not indicate surprise.  So far so good.

Leela continued, her words coming deliberately, building the tension.  "You took Shalee on your way out."

Ryven blanched.  His throat suddenly seemed to swell and he had never felt it so dry.  I took Shalee? 

Leela nodded, her expression grave. "You somehow also got ahold of her clones."  Leela closed her eyes and hung her head, her next sentence barely a whisper.  "Shalee's gone.  Forever.  You killed her."

Ryven's face looked as though he had been physically struck.  His hand clutched his chest as though he was suffering a heart attack.  His breath came in ragged gasps. "How?  How did she die?  Was it quick?  Painless?"

Leela shook her head.  "By all indications, she was tortured for about nine hours, skinned, and the rest is unspeakable."  

That was when Ryven lost his shit.  Had he not been hand cuffed, Leela might have been in danger.  He frothed and raved like a madman.  His eyes were those of a feral beast.  As he thrashed about, Leela waited for the sign she was looking for.  It came much more quickly than she expected.

Ryven began convulsing and speaking in nonsensical ramblings, contradictory sentences.  It was like listening to two people having a conversation, except both of them were having a conversation with someone else rather than each other.  Leela didn't waste time.  She pressed a button on her neocom and her equipment whirred to life.  

She quickly strapped Ryven to the bed, an extremely difficult task giving the violence of his convulsions.  She managed it, but only after an exhausting amount of effort.  It would have been much simpler if she could have drugged him again, but alas, for this procedure he needed to be fully awake.  

The machine she devised for the purpose of transferring the Dark Ryven persona was not a large one.  It consisted of a simple metal circlet with electrodes and an interface that communicated with his implants.  This circlet was connected via a bundle of cables to a small computer and terminal.  The terminal would display the necessary cerebral data so that Leela could excise those portions of Ryven's mind that encompassed the Dark Ryven persona.  All of this "data" would then be moved to the data stick Leela had prepared to contain him.  

Leela placed the circlet on Ryven's head and sat down in front of the display terminal.  The screen populated quickly with the imaging data.  His mind resembled a chaotic lightning storm at the moment, but due to the very particular algorithm she had developed, patterns began to emerge.  Two distinct storms were raging.  She entered a command to isolate the two patterns from each other, colorizing the Dark Ryven portions so she could quickly quarantine them.  Once she was satisfied she had them identified, she pressed a command to release a stream of nanites.  These nanites would contain these portions of Ryven's mind to prevent any cross-contamination.  Once the nanites were in place, she began the transfer process.  She watched as the colorized portions began to shrink, their data disappearing and being copied onto the data stick.  The copying process took around twenty minutes, a gut-wrenching, hand-wringing twenty minutes during which Leela never took her eyes away from the display, her eyes searching for any sign that the procedure would fail, any glitch.  

Finally, the transfer completed, Leela powered down the machinery and removed the circlet from Ryven's head.  She was exhausted.  The stress of the operation had taken an enormous toll.  Now, she was going to finally, truly sleep, something she hadn't really done in months.  She looked over at her sweat drenched patient, ex-husband, and oldest friend.  "Not just yet." She said to herself.  She walked over to Ryven and administered an injection of the same drug she had given him the night before. "Best you get some more rest.  When you wake up, you'll awake to a new nightmare.  I've saved you from your darker self, but I can't save you from the memories that are going to haunt you.  I can't erase the pain that the guilt will bring you."  She unlocked his handcuffs and walked out of the medical bay to go find herself a place to rest.