Meanwhile in the cell, that was completely empty except for a sleeping tarp, 'Ishtar' sat with her back to the white cell walls, gazing at a screen that was visible to her only.
===
[Transmigration Successful]
Transmigration Vessel: Princess Ishtar El-din Khoningrad
Mission Target: Imperial Princess Amaneses Harth-Keya Osiris
Mission{s}: Ensure Target successfully Ascends the Gateway Throne [Main].
Clear Vessel's name from the crime of killing the King [Side].
[Assimilate Memories]
[Yes/No]
===
Obviously, Ishtar was dead, and the person now occupying her body was F-3245.
Her gaze scanned the screen, and with no information on the target and vessel except their names, she had no choice but to assimilate the memories, so she stretched her slender fingers and tapped the [Yes] option.
A wave of information flooded her brain, and her eyes were in a daze as she relived the life of the one named Ishtar El-din Khoningrad, the Ice Princess.
F-3245 watched the first five years of Ishtar's life, as she lived peacefully with her mother, a retired palace maid.
She watched as Ishtar's emotions receeded into an ice mask after her mother's death.
All the struggles and suffering, her shock and resentment to the approach of the King who claimed to be her father, F-3245 saw it all.
Ishtar's transition from commoner to Princess was witnessed by F-3245, who experienced all the turbulent emotions.
After the memories finished replaying, F-3245's immersion was broken, and she missed that feeling of having emotions, as she was basically an unfeeling entity.
With the information she got from the memories. She concluded the mission borderline impossible, as she had no hopes of escaping X-542 alive, and even if she pulled it off, she would never be able to approach Osiris Imperial Family, who were basically the hegemons of Andromeda.
They lived in two different worlds, a gap which was even wider with her status as a Grade-5 criminal.
Though it wasn't explicitly said, she concluded they rated her Grade-5 from the telltale signs.
Isolation, a White-Room cell that was plated with a special kind of metal that slowly induced hallucinations and brought out the prisoner's greatest fears.
Then the barrier that was used to hold her in, she recognized the transparent blue film and the sparks of electricity running on it's surface. It was an Exo-forcefield.
When she willed for the screen to close. A new tab flashed open.
===
Rookie Hint: Get in character, and avoid the gaze of the [World Will]. You've been Marked.
She read what was there and didn't understand the cryptic words, but basically understood what it meant for her to get in character.
She closed her eyes and concentrated, burrowing and sinking into the crevices and recesses of Ishtar's memories.
As she fell deeper and immersed herself, these memories seemed to encircle her like a cocoon, and slowly, they embraced to her.
Despair, so deep, it would have drowned anyone else who was prone to emotional changes.
Resentment came next, carrying undertones of regret she didn't understand.
And resignation finally set in, washing over her in waves. Before relief bouyed her like a lifeguard, the kind of relief harbored someone who wanted nothing but to rest, and finally did.
F-3245 welcomed it all, absorbing these sensations she knew she would never truly possess.
All these emotions that came to her were surely the ones felt by Ishtar just the moment before her death. And since she took over her body, she planned to live with the responsibilities that came with it. This was one of her principles.
She didn't just get in character, she immersed herself and became that 'character'.
She became 'Ishtar' herself.
On the outside, 'Ishtar's' eyes that were in a daze slowly regained their clarity, and she shuffled to the tarp, and laid on her back.
It caused her back to ache and was a huge contrast to the soft beds back in the palace, but her complaints would change nothing, so she just beared with it.
Her silky black hair was splayed on the tarp as she shifted uncomfortably to the side and used both her palms as a makeshift pillow.
She looked down at her ceremonial dress that had inevitably become tattered from all the events that led to where she was now.
Just the night before, she had talked her father into giving her permission to join the Taegon Troops, as she had long realized she was extremely talented, and she couldn't waste afford to waste it.
Moreover, she would soon clock 20, the prime time for him to 'exhibit' her, something she had been avoiding since she turned 18.
They had this conversation countless times before, where it ended in refusals, but he surprisingly agreed this time.
That's why it came as a shock to her when she heard the news of the King's death first thing in the morning.
And without having a chance to digest the news, she was accosted by Royal Guards and brought to the Throne room where she was accused of poisoning the King, the most enthusiastic of the persecutors being her half-brother, Prince Gremory Kal-Tan Khoningrad.
She knew he was the one who most likely did it, as he had always had an inferior complex because she was more talented, and he had always been impatient, over-ambitious and power-hungry.
The worst part was that she had no evidence to claim innocence, as she was the last person to see the king the night before.
She was sure that had there not been the law forbidding royals from being given the death penalty, he would have suggested it on the spot.
Either way, the chances of survival on X-542 were slim, so he would surely be jubilating by now.
But as hopeless as the situation was, she didn't loose hope, and swore to clear her name.
As for the king, she didn't care about avenging him, as he bore no affection for her or her late mother, and only took her in so he could raise her and marry her off when she grew old enough.
To him, she was just a wrapped gift, a bargaining chip to be used on the diplomatic scene.
That's why she never knew what changed his mind and caused him to agree to her request, and she would never know, as he was already dead.
Over the next few days, Ishtar adapted to life on the battleship. All prisoners were fed tubes of tasteless, grimy nutrient solutions everyday. She had nearly thrown up the first time she tasted it.
She also had to get used to not taking baths, and got used to her skin feeling clammy.
She refused to be idle, and spent her time meditating and working out, to the amusement and mockery of the patrolling wardens.
From their experience, this was how every first-timer was, full of vitality and hope, until they realized their struggles were futile and finally succumbed to their fate.
The battleship traversed space, and finally, the day of her arrival on X-542 arrived.
"Aye! Princess! It's time."
Bzzt-! Bzzt-!
The forcefield fizzled out of existence, and she trudged out into the passageway.
She joined the other collared prisoners, who were moving in a single file. And as they were escorted off the ship and onto the planet's surface, the prisoners were met with a harsh, unforgiving landscape. The air was dry and hot, and the ground was rocky and scarred.
This was X-542. Where they'd mine till they died.
