The Book of Immersion — Strata 21: Love and Loss
By Sarnia de la Mare
Love is not always gentle. Sometimes it breaks you to make you whole.
In this poignant chapter of The Book of Immersion, transformation cuts deep. Ties are severed, wounds opened, and something unfamiliar is born. As control systems collapse and allegiances shift, Renyke must confront a world that no longer speaks through him, but waits for him to speak for himself.
Meanwhile, shadows gather at Redact. Secrets stir in the zones. And a forgotten relic pulses in the hands of the innocent.
Love. Loss. Rebirth.
Nothing remains untouched.
Welcome to Immersion, You have reached Strata 21.Strata 21: Love and Loss.
Love is not always a warm hand or a soothing voice. Sometimes love is as sharp as a samurai sword and it severs deep ties once longed for. It can lacerate the flesh of existence so deep it bleeds and spews all that a human has ever known.
As a mother cuts the cord, as a friend ends a lie, these ties once meant to bind are decimated. What remains when they are gone is loss in search of gain.
Love, in its truest form, does not always choose comfort, it chooses survival.
To lose love is to learn its weight. To survive it's loss is to grow something in its place. Its replacement is built from evolution, so deeply magnificent and important to all humans. But love does not need a host, it exists without a vessel, and it is sought.
Shabra’s hands were stained with blood.
The echo of Renyke’s cry still clung to the air. He had yelped like an animal as Shabra had pinned him down. Flex had gone, his wounded body dragged into the shadows by Redact’s *runners.
Renyke lay still. He was breathing and regaining consciousness, opening his eyes to a bright sun and a sense of history repeating itself. Shabra leaned close, brushing hair from his temple.
"You're okay," she stated matter-of-factly, though she couldn't know for sure.
On the back of his neck was a wound, now stitched, cleaned and cauterised.
“I had to,” she told him. “She was overriding you. I couldn’t let her keep speaking through your mouth. You deserve to hear yourself, not her. *'Sides you need to let go of all that code shit, be a man."
He didn’t answer. His breathing was shallow but regular.
The removal had gone technically well. The damage POS had done to his emotional regulators, less so.
“You’ll stabilise,” she murmured. “But you may not understand why it hurts. Change hurts. We move on.”
POS lay on a rock, immobilised, now without a host and devoid of her power. No flicker remained and this was death, thought Shabra, who was used to death in the *zones. Humans and machines do not last forever after all.
“You had your chance,” she had said as she pulled it ceremonially from Renyke's neck. “Now he gets his.”
Shabra let Renyke sleep for three hours, watching his silent mind as it readjusted to its new state.
He blinked once. Twice. He was alive, a strong and handsome man born of code and now transformed.
He sat up too fast, then froze.
"It feels so quiet, no buzz, no electricity.” he exclaimed, slightly confused as he recalled the circumstances of how he had got there.
“Has POS gone?” Renyke touched his neck and winced.
Shabra nodded.
“Yes.”
“She was part of your architecture Mr Renyke, It’ll feel strange. But you’ll adapt, we all gotta grow up sometime.”
But it was no time to get sentimental.
“You’re safe for now, they can't trace you, not without POS, but we need to get moving soon. It's time to disappear. I have a feeling they'll want you dead or alive.”
At Redact Flex is undergoing a serious grilling for losing POS and not killing Renyke.
He stood before the Cadre in silence. He wasn't used to failure and it showed.
"I didn't see it coming," he expained, "she came out of nowhere and put a gun to my head. That woman is a threat to anyone, ballsy and cold. Then she knocked me out."
Eventually, Cadre Dominia spoke. “We understand it was a difficult situation but you were careless. They are no doubt long gone by now.”
"We need to examine the experiment "said Cadre Angelique."We believe the POS has been removed and Renyke may be value to us. The experiment may have more revelations without the interference of his POS."
Flex nodded in agreement. "I can find them, the zones are my grounds, no one can hide for long," he assured the panel who looked down from their elevated plinths.
Cadre Santina spoke. "This woman, Shabra, we have not been able to find her previous path, there seems to be an absence of information. Do we know anything about her?"
Flex answered, "she is a maverick, works with no particular tribe, possibly a mercenary of course, I could not be sure. But she is tricky and able, certainly an asset to Renyke at this time if he does not want to be found."
Cadre Dominia thought for a moment, "They have a connection, Renyke and Shabra, so perhaps the experiment was successful after all. A machine that can connect, desire, perhaps even love. One that can metamorphose into a human. This is what we wanted to prove. It was the interference of the POS that was the real threat.
"Cadre Santina, can we know for sure where the POS is now?," she asked
"There is a faint signal at the point of the failed transition, " explained Cadre Santina, We believe it was removed form the host and it now static, probably discarded following it's removal and left as a decoy."
"Send a rat scout to collect it." said Cadre Dominia, "we can have it destroyed, it remains a threat."
The three women exchanged no visible glances. Flex could feel the weight of his failure.
Cadre Dominia finally spoke, “You will locate the subjects. The humanoid must be analysed. The experiment has not concluded. I do not need to stress how important it is that Renyke is not to be intercepted by other powerful organisations, or, worse still, a *crim gang. His capture by an undesirable force could have dangerous consequences. Kill him if necessary, if he falls into enemy hands.”
Flex drew a slow breath and closed his eyes for a few seconds to compose and re-align. It had been a difficult and highly charged few days with an intensity that had been frightening even by his warrior standards. He had bonded with Renyke, The prospect of killing him was not welcome. He would do what he could to bring him to Redact unharmed.
“They’ll be moving fast,” he said. “Shabra knows how to hide. And Renyke, he’s altered. He won’t be who we expect.”
“Then find who he has become,” Cadre Santina demanded. "I do not want to send a whole army for one man. Do your job, return the experiment unharmed or destroy him if you have to and we will perform a thorough autopsy."
"And what of Shabra?" Asked Flex.
"Collateral damage, although she could be of use as a soldier," exclaimed Cadre Dominia. "Keep an open mind but do not jeopardise your mission for her survival.
On a rock within a sheltered enclave a stray ray of light reflected onto a small square of metal through swaying trees. The metal button glistened as the young *Dinfant boy, Daniel, ran into the enclave to retrieve his ball. Daniel approached carefully, watching the button glisten as he did so. The closer he moved towards the rock the more the button began to pulse. Daniel began to scream.
"Kairo, Kairo....come quickly!"
Several Dinfants ran into the enclave.
"What is it, Daniel?" Kairo was concerned, it was rare that a Dinfant would be separated from his kin.
"What on earth is the matter?"
" I found her!" screamed Daniel.
"Who, who have you found?" Asked Kairo.
More Dinfants came, drawn by the commotion. Aghast and speechless they looked at the rock as Daniel pointed towards the pulsating button."
"I found her, look, I found her, I found Mommy."
to be continued...
©2025 Sarnia de la Mare
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