Populate? Wait, wasn't that what Dr. Hill had said? I looked at the golden cat lounging on my room's floor in horror. Was she going to lay eggs in me like some alien queen? Use me to incubate her spawn? Oh fuck. I scrambled to get away, putting the chair between us. What had I gotten into?
Calm down, Dustin. No one's laying eggs inside you. At least, not any Chimeric.
I took a deep breath. Okay. So how does it work, then?
It usually doesn't. Bonded Chimerics lose the ability to reproduce. For ordinary Chimerics, it doesn't make a difference. For higher Chimerics, though…
I got it. Zoe hadn't just given up her homeworld. She hadn't just gone through the social stigma of bonding as a higher Chimeric. She had given up her chance to reproduce.
All for her people's sake. It would be like if I had cut off my own balls to save the planet.
Or donated them to the War effort, like Dr. Hill wanted. Same thing.
Damn.
Zoe blinked, not saying anything.
And that was why Zoe was so excited about Dr. Hill's breeding program. A chance to regain what was lost. But it wasn't that simple.
We don't know what happened to Staccato. Look how he turned out. Twice a traitor, a bug living in his ass. What did they do to him?
I had hoped Staccato was dead, and we hadn't heard anything about him. But now, I had a slight hint of regret at what he must have gone through. Like what was ahead of me.
I know. I'm just explaining my situation.
Or what about Cody? Is every kid going to turn out like him in their hands? No way I let that happen.
You're right. We don't know enough about the situation.
I need to talk to Dr. Hill, then.
Agreed.
Everyone wanted a piece of me. That sounded nice at first, but I could see it quickly becoming overwhelming. And I hadn't even really started yet.
Wait, so does that mean other Beastmasters can't have kids?
Generally, no. This is uncharted territory, even for me.
It wasn't the type of thing you thought about at nineteen. But I had basically given up all chances of starting a family? Except as a military project? I didn't exactly have a good history with families, but I had hardly known what I was getting into. At all.
This is war. Even the ones who win still lose something.
My thoughts drifted back to my last family. My last foster family, that is. Frank. Georgia. And that bitch Rachel. I hadn't thought of them in weeks.
No, I didn't know what I was getting into, but what I had now, with Zoe and the others, was still miles better than what I had supposedly lost.
I picked up my chair and slid it into the desk. That's when I noticed that my computer monitor was turned on. I reached over to turn it off, but a series of blocky, digital letters scrolled across the screen.
HI DUSTIN! WANT TO END THIS WAR?
CHAPTER 7
"What the hell?" Zoe, are you seeing this?
Zoe didn't move from her position in front of the door. Yes. Strange…
How do I even reply? Should I?
I tapped on my keyboard, but nothing happened. My computer wasn't even supposed to be on.
"Uh, who are you?" I said out loud.
The words on the screen disappeared. New words replaced them.
A FRIEND. OR A FOE. YOUR CHOICE.
Zoe suddenly got up, her back arched, hackles raised. No, it can't be! Here?
What? I sat down in the chair, facing the screen.
SHE LOOKS FEISTY.
"Huh?" I spun around, searching the ceiling. The military definitely watched us everywhere, although I had never found any of their cameras. Was this some kind of prank by them? Or some kind of mind game by Dr. Hill? A training exercise?
Zoe, what is it?
A whiff of fear reached me through our mental bond. Only one thing truly scared Zoe.
Mekanics. Here? Were they somehow hacking the military network?
It's possible. Chimerics can't grasp their level of technology. Neither do humans.
If they can just hack us at their pleasure, why haven't they overrun us yet?
We don't know their full capabilities and limitations. But transporting an army across the galaxy takes time, to be fair.
I stood and moved towards the door. "I'm calling security." I glanced at the screen one last time before leaving.
A video was playing. I paused, squinting. There was a figure, someone familiar. I took a step back towards the monitor.
Dustin! It could be a trap.
My curiosity got the better of me. I took another step back towards my computer. It's a video. What harm could a video do?
You know what they say about cats and curiosity. Zoe moved in front of me to block my path.
Ha. That's rich, coming from you.
I stepped over Zoe and returned to my desk. In the video, someone was stretched out on an operating table. No, he was tied down, as if under torture. There was no sound, but he was struggling and flailing. Arcs of electricity ripped through his body.
They were torturing him. Electrocuting him, from the looks of it.
Wait a minute. I recognize that figure.
Dustin! Don't trust anyone!
The face whipped from one side to the other, but it froze for a moment while facing the camera.
It was Cody.
Dustin! Careful!
Was this a real video? When was it from? "What is this?" I asked out loud.
I turned my eyes away from the video in disgust. Even if Cody and I hated each other, there was something wrong, something unholy about what they were doing to him.
It could be a trick. You know how easy it is to fabricate video.
I hoped Zoe was right, but I had a sinking feeling that the video wasn't fake.
YOU HAVE QUESTIONS. I HAVE ANSWERS. DO YOU TRUST ME?
Zoe yowled loudly. No! This is a Mekanic trap. It has to be! She jumped towards my desk, leaping over me to tackle the computer monitor. It crashed into the wall. The screen had an ugly crack down the middle, but the last words still glowed there for another second.
DO YOU TRUST ME?
The letters faded away.
Dustin. Dustin!
Zoe, what was that for?
I'm trying to protect us. We need to report this to Dr. Hill right away. The network's compromised.
I didn't care about that at the moment. What were they doing to Cody? Was that us? Our side?
See! It's already working. The Mekanics are insidious. They'll do anything to win!
What about us? Besides, aren't we already compromised? Staccato proved that.
Zoe tackled me, throwing me to the ground. She stood over me and lowered her face to mine.
Dustin.
There was too much going on. I needed space. Room to breathe and think. I scrambled out from underneath Zoe.
The room's door slid open with a hiss. Loud shouts filled the room as soldiers entered my quarters, weapons drawn.
Rapid clacking, the sound of someone running in heels, came from outside my room. Dr. Hill rushed inside.
"Hold your fire!" she shouted.
I looked at Dr. Hill, then the soldiers who were now lining up around my small room, the barrels of their blasters all pointed at me.
"Uh, Dr. Hill?" I asked.
"We detected a security breach," she said. "A network attack centered on your room." She motioned for the soldiers to lower their weapons as she stepped forward to me. Her eyes went past me to the broken monitor lying on the ground. "What happened here?"