Corrine lingered a hairsbreadth from Elohim as her fingers softly fell from her cheek, the cold caress sparkled through the wash of heat that had consumed her body from the sacrificial act she had performed…<br/><br/>For a moment her question lingered in her mind, the soft mechanical strains of her voice seemed ‘laced’…<em> why did she kiss her…</em>It was an act of pure irrationality, she quietly admitted to herself, she had been prone to acts of irrationality before, Corrine knew this… the torment of her twisted soul and the violent eddies of the life stream had, before now, influenced her actions and thoughts, only….that couldn’t happen here, not in her chambers.  Within its heart she was free of its pull and persuasion… within these timeless walls there was only the peace of her own thoughts.<br/><br/>Her mouth opened wordlessly… Elohim’s question still resonating… Corrine’s mind reached for her and touched upon the silent void within her, it was like looking into the heart of a star… powerful… peaceable… comforting.  How she wished she could simply lace Elohim’s mind with her thoughts, but she couldn’t… there was nothing but the beautiful taste of oblivion.<br/><br/>How could she explain, Elohim would of course be ‘aware’ of emotions and how they acted and reacted and much she would surely have learned by silently observing ‘people’ as she often did… Corrine’s fingers reached up and rested against her cheek, feathering her touch across her unique texture, she brushed away a few stray hairs that had fallen across her glittering eyes… she moved to speak, her voice filled with the softness drawn from the quiet of the chamber…<br/><br/>“Because…”<br/><br/><em> every thought that went though her mind sounded confused, she knew her body was often gripped by powerful emotions… but here… she was at peace… here… and only here her own emotions held sway… and for a moment… one single moment she felt the truth buried within her</em><br/><br/>“Because you are important to me Elohim… I don’t just mean your skills on the field of battle, and not just because of the silent abyss that lays within you and the particular ‘comfort’ it gives me…It has been a long time since I ‘cared’ about anything… but I find myself… caring… about you…” the words ran across her mind, she had no idea how they would sound to the automaton, and a part of her silently wished she hadn’t spoken… but the peace she found within the ‘weapon’ that stood before her had lowered her own defences… and besides, she had no way to retract her words… nor could her abilities ‘wipe’ them from her mind…<br/>