Chrysalis moaned as she finally pulled herself from the restful sleep that she had been having, along with one of the most wonderful dreams she had had in a really long time, though her moans were because of how sore her body was from everything she had done aboard the Ishimura. Just thinking about that cursed ship made her remember all the horrors she had seen and what she had done to keep herself alive, while at the same time making sure that her friends Hammond and Isaac had gotten to safety as well, before it was only her and Isaac. Even now, as she pulled herself from her slumber, she recalled exactly what she had done to Kendra the moment that bitch was within her grasp, and yet she was perfectly fine with what had happened since it was what she deserved. Either she had hit the side of the Hive Mind's body and was crushed in the impact, or she had been eaten by the massive Necromorph before it rose up to fight her and Isaac, which they succeeded in beating before they departed from Aegis VII.
Thinking about the fact that they left the cursed planet behind, and left the damned Marker behind since it would keep everything in check, caused Chrysalis to force herself into a sitting position as she opened her eyes and took stock of what was in the shuttle... though as she opened her eyes, however, she discovered that she wasn't in the executive shuttle that she and Isaac had repaired. The room she had found herself in looked like a prison cell, or maybe a cell where crazy people were kept, though it was all made of metal and the door was the same way, only there was a small window that looked like it might be moveable from the outside. From what she could tell there was a bed, which she must have been sleeping on, and some bathroom accessories, the toilet and sink, that happened to be resting on the wall opposite of where she and the bed were currently resting.
Thanks to her nerves, from her ordeals aboard the Ishimura, she reached to her right and found that her Pulse Rifle was missing, though as she glanced around her she found that not only was her preferred weapon of choice missing, but so was her bone blades. In fact the armor she had purchased, to keep herself alive during the repairs that she and Isaac were making to the Ishimura, had been stripped from her body, as she was now wearing a white shirt and a white pair of pants, though she felt no undergarments anywhere. In fact the only thing that she could find that she still possessed was her RIG, still attached to her back, but that was of little comfort as she noticed that all of ammunition and credits had been taken as well, meaning that someone had robbed her blind while she was resting, without her noticing. That made her wonder where Isaac was, not because she thought that he was the one that did this, but because she was concerned for her friend... especially since she had no idea what was going on at the moment.
Before she could consider the possibilities, however, the door suddenly opened and a man walked into the room that she had awoken in, though Chrysalis quickly found that the man had cut his hair down to the point where he was almost bald and had his facial hair cleaned up in a similar manner. The mysterious man was wearing a white suit, similar to what a doctor would wear, that even had shoulder pads for some odd reason, though it didn't take her long to spot the name tag that was on the left side of the man's suit, which revealed that the man's name was Foster Edgars.
"Miss Chrysalis, I see that you are awake at last," the man said, though his tone didn't sit well with Chrysalis, as it reminded her of how Kendra acted, as she had been arrogant when she believed that she was going to walk away with the Marker, "Truthfully, I was hoping that I would walk into this room one day and find you dead, since you appeared to be in a coma for some time... though your death would have been an excellent tool to convince Isaac Clarke to cooperate with us, when we start questioning him about the events of Aegis VII anyway."
Foster's statement immediately set where he rested on Chrysalis' scale of trust, as she had quickly determined that the doctor, or whatever he was, had hoped that she would die before she had awoken, as it would provide him with the tools necessary to get whatever information he was after out of Isaac. That revealed that the good news about this whole situation was that she and Isaac were alive, and that they had managed to leave Aegis VII behind without the consequences of the tectonic load crashing into the planet affecting them. The bad news, however, was that they were both likely missing some days out of their lives, considering her situation, and that the people who had captured them were after the Marker. Chrysalis had no idea if the red Marker had survived the events of Aegis VII, but a part of her was hoping that it had been destroyed before someone could use it, as that was what Kendra and her unknown friends had been hoping to do with it... if she were to believe Kendra's story anyway.
"Yes, Isaac Clarke is alive and well," Foster said, causing Chrysalis to stare at the man once more, as she knew that she had been lost in her thoughts for a moment, though at the same time she wanted nothing more than to get up and punch the man in the face so she could prevent whatever scheme he was planing, "you were the first thing he asked for the moment he was awake, though he's only given us your name and refuses to share anything else he might know about you... not that we're terribly interested in studying what you are anyway."
"You, and whoever you work for, are only keeping me around to make sure Isaac complies with your demands," Chrysalis stated, as she knew exactly why she was in this room and wearing a different set of clothing than she had been when she went to sleep, as it appeared that she was going to be a prisoner until someone released her.
"Not quite." Foster said, to which he smiled for a moment as he stared at her, though Chrysalis knew that whatever he was going to tell her was going to anger her, in one way or another, "You see, one of the things we discovered, after your shuttle was picked up by a recovery patrol, was that both you and Isaac Clarke are suffering from dementia... even if the levels of your dementia are completely different. In addition to that Isaac is also suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, which you seem to be immune to or weren't phased by what is tormenting him. You see, I said that we weren't interested in studying what you are, rather we are interested in understanding what the Marker showed you and only you, as your case is different from Isaac's."
Chrysalis didn't need to think about why she and Isaac were different, as she had suffered through a thousand years without her soulmate and had only finally gotten some time to dull the pain that had resurfaced, while Isaac had been faced with the reality that Nicole had been dead before he and his team got the call to check out the Ishimura, which was likely what he was thinking about at the moment. From the way Foster was talking Chrysalis knew that he wasn't going to ask her and Isaac to willingly help them with his department's studies, rather it sounded they were going to be forced into whatever tests and experiments the man had in mind. Since that appeared to be the case she had to wonder where Isaac was, as she would have thought that he would be the first person, other than Foster and his men, that she had the honor of seeing after waking up in such a manner.
Her thoughts were interrupted as Foster raised a hand to his mouth and coughed, though it was the type to get someone's attention and not to prevent the spread of something, to which Chrysalis returned her attention to the man as he stared at her.
"We are nearing our destination," Foster said, to which he walked outside the room that Chrysalis had awoken inside, though when he was on the other side he turned towards her once more, "Come along now. My superior wanted me to show you and Isaac your new home, before committing the both of you to our research. And if you don't come quickly I'll have one of the guards shoot you in the leg... or maybe in the knee."
Chrysalis could already imagine the jokes that the guards would play if such a thing happened, to which she sighed as she pulled herself from the bed and followed after Foster, though at the same time she started to commit the area to memory, in the off chance that she and Isaac were rescued before they reached their destination. Foster lead her down a few hallways until stopping at an observation room, where she could stand in a decent sized room and look out at what was around them. She did not find Isaac inside the area she was brought to, meaning that Foster didn't trust the two of them to be together, even for a few moments, but when she looked at the glass window she found herself staring out at what appeared to be a planet, one that had rings surrounding it. That was before she noticed a large fragment, of something that could have been a moon at one point in time, that had a station built around the entirety of the fragment, a station that was far larger than anything she had seen so far. She guessed that the moon fragment, if that's what she was staring at, had been the location of a planet crack before the CEC started cracking actual planets, but it appeared that most of what the fragment had been was long gone... the resources used to stabilize humanity, at least according to what she discovered since she arrived on the Kellion.
Thinking about the Kellion reminded her of Hammond and the others that had died to the Necromorphs, though before she could actually get too deep into her thoughts she heard the sound of Foster walking towards her and focused her mind back on what was happening at the moment.
"That is the Titan Station," Foster commented, though this time Chrysalis didn't turn back towards him, instead she merely stared at the massive station and focused on it at the moment, "it was built into the last shard of Titan, one of Saturn's moons, and supports a large metropolis that includes schools, malls, skyscrapers and a Unitologist church... and it'd going to be your new home for the rest of your life. Now, I shall answer a few of your worthless questions, so we can get back to your cell. We found your shuttle a week ago, after it had spent three weeks adrift in space, and it appears that teams are being dispatched to Aegis VII to survey the damage that you and Isaac have caused to the planet."
"Right, blame the surviving engineer and his friend for what happened," Chrysalis said, to which she turned towards the man that was staring at her, as she figured that someone was going to be blamed for what happened on the Ishimura and Aegis VII, "It was only a matter of time until the power that was supporting the Aegis VII colony gave out and dropped the tectonic load back into the planet below it, we just happened to get off the planet before that happened."
She remembered the information she and Isaac had found on the original black Marker, which Kendra also told them about, and recalled that some government had basically covered up the facts of their findings and the existence of the red Marker on Aegis VII. Based on that knowledge she knew that whichever government Foster belonged to was going to research everything they could about Aegis VII and the Necromorph outbreak, before they created a cover story and buried the truth about what happened. That, in turn, was going to make the Unitologists upset and likely cause them to retaliate in some manner, once they figured out that Kendra was dead and had failed in her mission to bring them the Marker that the crew of the Ishimura had discovered... and maybe cause them to blow something up, which would cause some conflict between the government and the Unitologists.
"You don't need to lie to me, because I'll find out what really happened anyway," Foster stated, sounding like he knew exactly what had happened on Aegis VII, though at the same time he beckoned for Chrysalis to follow, to which the annoyed changeling followed after him, "The USG O'Bannon is in charge of stabilizing the planet and recovering the Marker that you and Isaac left behind, which will greatly help us in our research, though even a fragment of the Marker would be beneficial for all of us."
"Okay, Isaac and I are definitely the more sane members of this ship," Chrysalis said, because it appeared that she and Isaac were the only ones that saw that the Markers, both the red one from Aegis VII and the mysterious black one Kendra had mentioned, as the evil creations that they were.
"Oh no, you two are certainly insane," Foster replied, though at the same time the smile on his face told Chrysalis that the man thought it was humorous for a 'insane' person to think that they were 'sane', which only made her want to punch him even more, but she kept herself at bay since she had no idea where her gear was, "Come along, now that I've shown you your new home it's time that we take you back to your room, before we transfer you to your permanent home in the Titan Station."
Chrysalis really wondered if she should just take her chances and attack Foster immediately, as she was fairly certain that she could stop the lesser bullets from touching her if she were to do such a thing, but at the same time she had no idea what sort of enemies she would have to deal with. She already knew that if she had been making this decision while she was in Canterlot, or some identical location, she would have attacked in an attempt to get away, but right now she wasn't thinking about herself anymore. She had no idea where Isaac was and wasn't about to leave this ship without him, so she kept her thoughts to herself as she followed Foster back towards her temporary cell, as she would have a new one soon enough, all while glaring at the men that were around her as she tried to think of a plan that would let her find Isaac and escape with him before they were caught. The guards ignored her completely, though she knew that they were keeping an eye on her without her being aware of it, meaning that once she did something they would know and would either shoot her full of holes or put her to sleep until they arrived at their destination.
Soon enough she was back in the room that she had awoken in and was ushered inside, though as Foster opened his mouth to say something else a soldier tapped his shoulder and whispered something into his ear, causing him to frown before he left the room and walked down the hallway... to which the soldiers closed the door until it was either time to give her food or to transfer her to her new home in the Titan Station. A few seconds later Chrysalis sighed and sat on her bed, wondering how much power she would need to cause the ship to shake before she could punch through the door, but before she tried anything a swirling vortex appeared on the wall to her right. She stared at it for a moment, as it was something she would have been searching for if she and Isaac hadn't been captured in this manner, but as she watched a familiar head with a goatee appeared... to which the creature smiled for a moment when he noticed her sitting there.
"There you are Chrysalis," Discord said, to which the Spirit of Chaos stepped through the portal and let his body fill the room, purposely coiling his body in a manner that would prevent anyone on the other side of the door from seeing what was going on, "I've been looking for you since you walked through the mirror, because you were sent to a part of our universe that could have gotten you killed if you weren't careful. Now that I've found you, however, it's time that you came with me and come back home, preferably before someone comes looking for you... I don't want to be the one to tell Twilight and the others what happened to you."
"Discord..." Chrysalis said, where she simply stared at the chaotic creature for a moment, wondering how he had found her so quickly, but even as she considered that she had the easy way out of this situation, however, she realized that the Chrysalis that had lost at Canterlot would have taken the easy road, to which she smiled for a moment, "thanks for the offer, but I'm afraid that I'll have to decline."
"Why, in Celestia's name, would you want to... stay... here?" Discord asked, though even as he spoke he seemed to realize what was going on, which was followed by him calling forth some doctor items as he checked Chrysalis' chest and felt her head, as if he believed that she was sick or something, "Why Chrysalis, I see that you found the magic of friendship at last... though you picked an incredibly dangerous place to learn about friendship."
"Actually, it's more like I rediscovered something important," Chrysalis replied, as she was mostly referring to her connection to Wildfire, who had originally taught her the meaning of friendship until countless lessons and some terrible treatment from her mother forced her to forget all of that, "Isaac, my friend, is currently being held somewhere aboard this ship and I intend to rescue him, once I know more about my surroundings and can determine a good escape route without getting us both killed. Besides, these guys are planning something terrible and we're the only two that can stop them from fulfilling their mission, once we reach our destination anyway."
"You have a friend?" Discord inquired, though not a few seconds later he pulled himself away from Chrysalis and stared at her for a few moments, as he was still surprised by his discovery, before he sighed, "Very well, if you want to stay here, in an area that you might die I might add, then I'll head back home and wait till you're ready for me to bring you home. Until then, I'm going to see if I can't convince someone else to return home, because being rejected twice is annoying and I have the feeling that it'll happen again soon enough."
Chrysalis watched as Discord moved back into the portal he had created and headed back to Equus, leaving her behind as she requested, before the portal shimmered and disappeared, letting her remain in silence with her thoughts as she considered what she needed to do. Foster was going to be looking for information on the Marker, that much she knew already, but that meant that she needed to do something to prevent him from getting at whatever might have been given to her when the Marker brought Wildfire up from her memories. She may not be the queen of the changelings anymore, but she was still one of the strongest members of her species and her mind powers were stronger than what ponies often thought, meaning that Foster wouldn't be able to break her easily. Still, in the off chance that the technology of the area could bypass her defenses, she had several spells that would help her steel herself and she didn't hesitate to empower herself appropriately.
While she was doing that the air shimmered for a moment as Wildfire materialized in the corner, to which the two smiled at each other as she jumped onto the bed and leaned against Chrysalis while she worked on her spells, including one that would make sure she remembered the exact sequence of spells she was using.
"I haven't seen Nicole since the Marker was returned to Aegis VII," Wildfire commented, revealing what Chrysalis had known since she first saw Wildfire, that she and Nicole were constructs created by the Marker, though at the same time she knew that the pegasus was different than whatever Nicole was, "I thought she might be following Isaac around, but I've been having trouble finding him as well, despite the fact that he's supposed to be on the same ship that we're on."
"We'll find them in time," Chrysalis replied, as she knew that if they played their cards right she and Wildfire would find Isaac, and Nicole for that matter, and escape from Foster and his superior at the same time, though she hoped that involved destroying the doctor's research at the same time, "for now we have to study our new enemies, see if we can't find a weakness, and do our best to overcome everything that they throw at us. I'm not sure what the Marker did to us, after we brought it back to Aegis VII, but with our combined power we'll be able to resist Foster and his tests, until we find Isaac and escape from our new 'home'."
She had no idea what sort of challenges awaited her and Isaac once they arrived at the Titan Station, especially since she had no knowledge of the new area they were heading towards or the security that would be making sure she and Isaac didn't escape. Those guards would be used to normal people and insane people, but they had no idea what to do against someone that used magic and she was going to hold off on revealing her power, as she was going to wait till she found her friend before she did anything else. That made her wonder if Isaac was still in a coma, as she knew that if she had been in one then he must have been in one, which would have made since if she hadn't seen him since her awakening, including why Wildfire hadn't been able to find Nicole either. Foster likely had Isaac located somewhere else on this ship, meaning that she would have to start her search after they reached the Titan Station, though that only made Chrysalis focus her mind on what she was going to do in the near future.
As the ship shook, the sign that they were nearing the Titan Station and were docking in the flight area that the station had, Chrysalis stood up and faced the door that had opened earlier, while at the same time Wildfire, who was going to be invisible to everyone that wasn't touched by the Marker, jumped onto the floor and followed after her. Soon enough the guards would open the door and escort her to wherever they were going to keep her and Isaac, though she intended to remember the pattern of the path they took for the future, because sooner or later she was going to free Isaac and get them both out of here... hopefully without any Necromorphs being involved.