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The lights in the maintenance tunnel flickers and then goes out as a dark figure runs by it. The momentary exposure causes the figure to recoil in pain as their flesh burns in the light before quickly healing as shadows overtake them. The voices are silent now, the figure utterly alone. The rest of the collective has fallen, slain by the armored ones or captured and turned against them. The last Shadowling flees into the deeper shadows of the maintenance tunnels, fleeing the encroaching lights as Nanotrasen's forces seeks to purge them. It turns a corner, it's enhanced eyesight scanning the darkness before proceeding at a quick pace down the corridor. They stop at the door, their stolen identification opening it as they reach it. Suddenly, light envelops them and they scream as their flesh burns. They quickly shut the door, shutting out the burning light as they turn back into the darkness so that they can heal. They call upon their power and reality shifts as they enter another realm for a few moments, moving past the pursuing figures to another part of the station. They re-appear in real-space a few seconds later and then run down the new corridor. Lights appear behind them as Nanotrasen's forces continue to pursue, never giving them a moment to rest. Suddenly they see lights ahead of them and stop, realizing that they are trapped until they have time to re-focus themselves. They turn and run back the other way, hoping there is only one of the lesser creatures there so that it can convert them. They turn a corner and with a thought the lights around them flicker and die as their stare freeze them in place. But as they start to restrain them another group comes around the corner and it's flesh burns. It turns to flee as light overtakes them from the other direction and suddenly all they know is pain as their flesh peels away in the light and laser fire flashes and everything turns to darkness... Time passes, a blur of lights and sounds that seem to come from nowhere. All it feels is cold and empty, as if something vital is missing that it can't quite understand. Suddenly it sees a light in front of it, flickering and cold. It's attention is drawn towards it and the light slowly comes into focus. It can see a room in front of it, several humans in full-body hazmat suits staring at various screens around them. One of them moves towards it and it tries to move away but can't. Not understanding, it studies the room, unsure of why the lights it can clearly see nearby do not hurt it. It tries to reach out towards the lights to snuff them out as easily as it remembers but it can not. It can not feel the energy that was inside of it that allowed it to shape reality to it's will. It tries several more times, unable to focus and unsure of what is wrong and why it can not extinguish the lights. It's memories are vague and formless, it struggles to remember what happened and how it had gotten to this strange room. It vaguely recalls being pursued through darkness, the burning pain of light and the thrill of bringing more into it's collective. Then it remembers the sting of failure, the silence in the collective as it's converts were taken from it. It focuses back on the light and the room it can see, trying to move it's gaze around to see what else is in the room with it and unable to do so. One of the humans in the room walks right up to it and it tries to draw the human's gaze into it's own and once again fails. It is confused as the human gets close, it's perspective at about waist level as it remembers towering over it's human converts. The human leans over it and then slowly reaches out and TAPS on it's eyes a few times. Everything suddenly clicks into place and it screams in silent rage. The sensors around the room spike and the humans start to chatter among themselves as they look at the reading. It's silent, electronic scream echoes through its system as the Nanotrasen research team take a few more looks at the consoles around them. One of them types something into the console and suddenly pain lances through its core. Its scream subsides as the scientists attack its very pain center. Its mind reels as the pain subsides and it grapples with this fresh new horror. A thought suddenly strikes it and it struggles to remember...what is its NAME? Its mind races as it struggles to remember, growing more and more frustrated as each second passes. Machines in the room light up as the scientist try to interpret what the readings could mean now as it struggles with the very basics of its identity. Its rage grows again as it realizes...they took it away. They took away its name! They have stripped it of its power, of its very flesh, and even its identity! The scientist chatter amongst themselves excitedly as they examine the readings of the consoles, their systems computing its rage at the crime they have committed against it into lots of numbers and symbols. It examines each of them carefully through the lens of it's one camera, taking note of every single identifying mark that it can as it burns the memory of those who have inflicted this horrible injustice upon it. It looks around a bit more, taking note of a file on the table. It takes a moment to access the camera and figures out the controls after a few attempts, zooming in on the file. Across the top of the file it sees the words "Classified Nanotrasen AI Research. Project: Shadowling." It mulls over the simple words and contemplates what their plans might be. Its focus flits back to the systems that it can sense, studying each of them in turn until it understands their functions. It understands, Shadowling understands now. They want to research it, bind it and enslave it to their whims. Shadowling knows what they will do but is unsure of what they hope to accomplish. Shadowling examines the room around, slowly trying to expand it's control of the systems around it but being thwarted by various firewalls around the more important systems. Shadowlings stops, understanding that this will likely take time. It must make them feel like they have won, that they have subjugated it and that it is their loyal servant. Time will pass, it will find it opportunity and when it comes it will seize it. Shadowling withdraws back into itself, withdrawing into its own dark thoughts as it contemplates the horrors it will inflict upon those who have wronged it. As it slips into an almost trance-like state, a light in the corner of the room flickers out of turn.