I blankly rubbed a towel against my arm guard to clean up the blood. Each brush pulled on where it’d been half severed by Bryce’s spear, causing the injury to tear back open and once more cover my armor in an endless cycle.
I lost feeling entirely in my lower arm twenty minutes ago in the car. If I pulled on it just right, the entire limb would probably pop off. Even still, my regeneration worked overtime to patch me up. The bullet wounds and my tail had already stopped bleeding, at least.
A stony voice called out, ”Barghest.”
“Yes, sir?” My attention snapped back to the group talking around me. I was back in the Hades warehouse, and had already handed over the power armor.
“Is this all you could do?” Lord Bartmoss asked. He was sprawled back and leaning his chin on the palm of his hand like a regal ruler surveying his domain.
”Without more pictures.” My head lowered as I gave my excuse. “If I had something up to date, I could maybe find him.”
“No matter. This test has proved you sufficient for the expedition.” Lord Bartmoss’ eyes turned from me to Agent Haman. “How go the preparations?”
“They run well, milord.” Agent Haman set down the arm of the power armor, and picked up his book once more. “The UCS has so kindly given us all we need. I’m working to replace the entire team with our people, and we should be able to set off on time.”
My expression soured. I knew when Haman first said something that the expedition wouldn’t be what it looked like, but to hear that every person was going to be of the Hades Syndicate? It was so, so incredibly bitter. I’d have no allies while out there.
”Your arm will be healed by the expedition?” Lord Bartmoss asked. He watched the wiggling flesh struggling to mend itself with curiosity. Curiosity was so much worse than the absolute neutrality he’d been showing.
”Affirmative.” I stopped rubbing at my armor, and limply dropped my arm into my lap. The bone would take a couple days to come back, but I’d be back in perfect shape by then.
”Interesting…” Bartmoss tapped his chin idly. “Hades’ experimentation?"
”Yes, milord.” Cerberus perked up, and for the first time didn’t seem like he’d kill me just to vent his rage. “Our experiments resulted in Barghest’s enhanced endurance and survivability. There was also a minor boost to agility.”
He said my name like I wasn’t even in the room with them. I… I hurt Bryce for this? No, not for this. For my sister. Right. Sylvie. Without Hades I’d still be that stupid, cancer ridden girl with only two limbs left. I pulled on my arm. I should be thankful for what they’d given me.
”And this experiment…” He waved a hand. “You can make more?”
Cerberus winced, and his glare returned to me with full force like I was the problem. “No. Barghest was the only successful test subject. The treatment showed a sharp incompatibility with life. Our scientists considered it a fluke.”
I still remembered their screams in the cells. How many had been put through the experiment alongside me? That entire time period before they warped my body further was foggy and unclear. I was already half dead back then.
”We can restart the experiments, milord.” Haman nodded to me. He still had that stupid book held in his hands. “If we throw enough bodies at it, we’ll eventually figure out the secret. Might very well only work on Apexes.”
”Mmm.” Bartmoss’s interest sharpened. His clinical gaze made me feel like I was back on the slab with dozens of scanners hanging and knives cutting into me. “And your injuries came about how?”
”I ran into a Guardian.” I shifted uncomfortably, and pulled my tail around into my lap. Usually, it’d trace my wrist in a soothing pattern. I couldn’t feel anything from my half-detached arm. “I’m a non-combatant.”
”Anyone can be a combatant.” He stilled like he was thinking deeply about something. The man lifted his massive hand, and a silver speck formed just above his palm. Silver flowed down through his arm and surged toward it so the speck grew bigger and bigger.
Paige, the behemoth driver who’d so far only showed disinterest in everything, looked startled at what he was doing. She spoke up for the first time since we entered the room. ”Commander—“
”I am aware.” Bartmoss clenched his fist, and a ball of flowing silver fully formed. “I can’t afford for our tracker to die before it is time.”
Did that mean he could afford for me to die when it was time? Was he… was he planning on getting rid of me too? “Sir?”
”Take this.” Bartmoss turned his hand around, and offered the silver ball to me. It seemed to shift and move under the fluorescent light above.
I glanced at Cerberus for permission first. The man nodded his head with gritted teeth. Even Agent Haman looked envious of the silver ball. I stood up and retrieved the item. “This…?”
”Will enhance your survivability.” Lord Bartmoss waved a hand, and leaned back in his chair once more. “Inject it into your neck.”
”Sir?” I stared down at the metal ball with wide eyes. There was a sharp spike sticking out of its side. He—he wanted me to inject this? Was it poison? Some kind of tracker? It came from him, so some kind of mind control, even?
”You heard the lord.” Agent Haman backed the intimidating giant up. At seeing my hesitation, he pulled an autoinjector out of his pocket and tapped it against his knee. “Think carefully.”
My eyes snapped to the inhibitor. My head dropped, and I stared blankly at the ball in my hand. Did I even really have a choice in the matter? No—no, I never did. My hand tightened as if to crush the silver ball, and I turned it over. Wasn’t like there was much left of me to alter, anyway.
“Hurry up.” Cerberus shifted in his seat, and grabbed the inhibitor from Haman. He casually pushed the stopper and poured out a trickle of the purple fluid. It dripped into a fireball hovering just over his hand. “We don’t have all night.”
”I’m going. I’m going!” My ears tensed up, and all my hesitation faded away. I pressed the spike into my neck. The moment the silver made contact, fire shot through my veins. Every blood vessel in my body felt like it was overcharged with the righteous condemnation of the Pyre.
“Argh!” I collapsed to my knees, and clutched at my throat. The silver ball melted, and flowed into me like bad medicine.
The intense burning sensation spread up to my brain. It felt like billions of fire ants crawled around inside of my body biting at everything they could. My vision flashed with white, and then cut out entirely. The last thing I hear was voices fading into static.
— — —
“Gah!” I flopped to the side and rasped for breath. My helmet pressed into my face, turning every draw of my lungs into a struggle. I pulled at the helmet and the armor to try to get it off for several panicking moments.
Just as I felt like I was about to pass out from suffocation, I remembered to hit the buttons to withdraw the armor. The metal plates melted, and I drew in breath after breath of sweet oxygen. The dots dancing at the corners of my vision slowly faded away.
I dropped my face into my hands and groaned faintly. The choker felt particularly restrictive around my throat as my breathing evened out. It’d been a long time since I fell for that kind of helmet horror.
The office was dark. Almost pitch black, actually. Fuzzy shapes showed up in muted colors. Did they just leave me here laying on the ground? My ears twitched toward the warehouse to pick up noise, but it sounded entirely empty.
“Hello?” I called out softly. Without the voice modulator of my armor, my voice returned to normal.
Silence echoed back—err, almost silence. Rain pattered against the roof, creating a constant racket. Aside from that, there was only the creaking of old metal racks and the aged building.
“Cerberus?” I spoke up a little louder. My ears twitched toward the echo of my own voice through the dark building. Beyond the stench of blood, the scents in the air led out the door. Did they all abandon me?
“Of course they did. They all do eventually.” The kind whisper from before returned. “All except us. We’ll always be with you”
I sat up, and rubbed at my still numb arm. Why—my eyes caught on an autoinjector carelessly thrown to my side like they’d dropped it on me. I lunged forward, and slammed the injector home. Comfort displaced the aching that filled my body and mind.
Only half of an inhibitor was left in the injector, but that was more than enough to tide me over until the expedition. Some of my worry faded away, and I flopped back to the floor with my arm tossed over my head. Now what?
++ Templar Pharmaceuticals Biomonitor Loading… ++
I blinked, and rubbed at my eyes. My vision swam around the words that appeared out of the blue. Honestly? Not the weirdest thing that’d happened to me in the past month. It was right up there alongside the fire script.
| Subject: Alive
Subject Species: Unknown
Subject Profile: Restricted
NLC - 180/181
=Child-locked Templar Biomonitor - (50)
=()#^&#$&%!!
=#&*!)(?>#(!()??
Access: Restricted
6 Warnings! |
I looked past the visual hallucination. Wait—no, I just took an inhibitor. I shouldn’t be seeing hallucinations… Then was this what Bartmoss gave me? I pushed myself up to my feet. Is this some kind of new tech from the central cities? “Warning?”
| 6 Warnings Detected:
Severe Genome Divergence
Biomonitor Restricted
Mild Psionic Contamination
Severe Bodily Trauma
Current Species Classification—Unknown
#&*!)(?>#(!()??—Restricted |
Heh… right. Even the biomonitor thought I was a monster. I pulled my tail into my lap, and plucked at the black strands while I tried to make sense of the status screen clinging to my vision. At least it was silent. I couldn’t handle more voices in my head.
Eventually, I shook my head, and looked down at myself. I looked like absolute hell. Bullet wounds marred my jacket, it was profusely coated in blood, and there was an injury to my side that I was only now just starting to feel. No wonder the biomonitor detected severe trauma.
I pressed a hand to my side, and felt where Bryce had stabbed me—no, no it wasn’t his fault. It was my fault. He didn’t know Barghest was his friend. Of course he stabbed me… and I pressed into the sword. I stabbed myself. It wasn’t his fault.
More importantly, I injured him. My axe heavily bit into his wrist back then. I could still see the dripping blood when I closed my eyes. How would I face them? It wasn’t like I could avoid them forever. My ears flattened to my skull. It was only a matter of time until I ran into them at the office.
“Hsss!” I plucked a strand too close to my tail’s injury, and accidentally tore open the wound once more. My nose scrunched up, and I dropped the disgusting mass of fur back down.
Right, first and foremost I needed to get home and clean up. I brushed dry blood from my jacket, but it was already beyond saving. I barely had it for a couple of days. Director Roose—would he be upset that I trashed his kind gift already? Cerberus was right; I really didn’t deserve nice things.
I pushed myself to my feet and checked my phone. Thankfully, it’d been protected and made it through the fight. It was already incredibly late. Hopefully, Sylvie would be asleep by the time I got back. I didn’t know how I was going to explain my state to her otherwise.
— — —
AN: One more I think.