Zoe…
"Let's begin your evaluation," Garvek said. He pushed me into the center of the room, then walked over to a corner. He clapped sharply. I whirled about, waiting for something to happen. The floor opened up, just like in the real training room. Something rose out of the new opening.
It was a lone Mekanic, exactly like the captured Grade E one we had faced as a team before.
Shit. They know everything about us, don't they? Everything. The squad. The training. Had it all been a sham?
No! This is what the Mekanics do. They're insidious. We have to keep fighting! I'm real. The girls are real.
Zoe was right. I had to focus on what mattered, on the things you couldn't fake. And the Mekanic looming before us.
Focus, Dustin, focus. We still can't take on a Grade E by ourselves.
I realized that Garvek looked like a cruder, nerdier version of the Grade E Mekanic. They were both the same height, while the Grade E Mekanic had a polished silver surface, a sleeker body, and three red dots for its face.
A blue sword materialized in the Mekanic's right hand. Then, it charged.
I leaped away, reaching the far wall. I climbed higher and ran in a zigzag pattern near the ceiling, dodging the optical blasts. A blast singed my paw, making me lose my footing. The Mekanic took advantage of my stumble, firing a rapid salvo of optical blasts.
I Phase Shifted, then caught the wall as my Phase Shift ended, climbing away again.
ENERGY: 588/700
Garvek has to know I can't beat the Mekanic, right? How long's this going to go on for?
You could ask him.
"Garvek!" I shouted while dodging more optical blasts. "How long are we doing this?"
"Not too long," he replied. "Just until you zero."
"What?" I screeched. I landed on the ground next to Garvek. "Aren't we valuable to you? You know that's not good for us?"
Garvek didn't reply or move.
"Garvek!" I screamed.
The Mekanic raised his sword and charged us. I Phase Shifted and slipped behind Garvek at the last moment. The sword struck Garvek, tearing a large gash through half of his body.
I winced in sympathy. Ouch. Doesn't look like Garvek is the fighting type.
My eyes widened as the Mekanic slashed again, cutting Garvek completely in half. I Phase Shifted and abandoned my hiding spot, climbing the walls again.
The doors opened and a ten-foot-tall metal man looking exactly like Garvek walked through the doors.
"I'd like to observe you zero once. The data will be quite valuable," the new metal man said.
"Garvek, is that you?" I dodged more optical blasts, Phase Shifting as necessary. I wouldn't be able to Phase Shift indefinitely.
ENERGY: 558/700
"Of course. Who else would I be?"
They can change bodies? I stared as the new Garvek resumed his position next to his old broken body.
It's not too surprising. It makes sense that they can transfer their minds, with the wide variety of bodies Mekanics can possess.
The distraction of seeing the new Garvek was deadly. The Mekanic leaped, impossibly fast, and slashed at me with the glowing blue sword. I tumbled. Then, everything went black.
***
I woke up to a pleasant vibrating sensation on my balls. It took a fraction of a second to realize someone was sitting on top of me. And that I was naked.
I screamed.
"Ooh! Are you having an orgasm?" It was Vikki. "I read that some people scream when they orgasm."
"No, fucking, no!" I yelled. I quickly but carefully extracted my balls from Vikki's cupped hand, then scrambled away from her.
Zoe? Zoe?
Oh Christ, not again. Zoe was sleeping at the side of the bed with the same metal collar around her neck. My combat uniform was next to her. I snatched it off the ground.
"Was it good?" Vikki asked eagerly.
I began putting on my uniform. "Vikki, I realize you aren't human, but please keep your hands off me. And stop doing that to Zoe!"
"But I—"
I pointed at Zoe. "Take it off. Now!"
Vikki pouted. The collar fell off Zoe, who instantly opened her eyes.
Not again.
That's what I said!
Zoe looked at Vikki, then me getting dressed.
Oh no. Don't tell me, you stuck yourself in that rusty bucket of bolts? It was an accusing tone.
No. Absolutely not. You know I can't lie to you.
There was a slight pause. Zoe sat up straight and hissed. She did what? That's my move! That little bitch—
Zoe! I had never heard Zoe get that upset. Calm down, Zoe. She's still here.
"Can you give us some private time?" I asked Vikki. "Zeroing is never fun."
Vikki shrugged and got out of bed. "Okay. But Father will be around in half-an-hour for your second day of testing."
"Second day?" I looked at the grandfather clock. It was nine-o-clock. "Is that nine in the morning or evening?"
"It's nine in the morning," Vikki said. "You've been out for a whole day."
"That's a long time…" Zeroing hadn't knocked me out for an entire day before.
"Oh, we sedated you to perform some extra testing."
"What?"
"Don't worry," Vikki said. "I monitored the whole process. I made sure you were in good hands." It might have been my imagination, but I could have sworn her hands vibrated for a second as she spoke.
I had felt like a lab rat or asset at times with Dr. Hill and the military, but this was a whole new level of bullshit.
"Please leave," I said, pointing to the door.
"Your heart rate's spiking, but you shouldn't be able to orgasm so quickly after the first one—"
"I didn't fucking orgasm!" I shouted. "Please! Go!"
Vikki's face quivered. Then, she turned and fled, sobbing. I felt bad about it, for a millisecond, before remembering that the Mekanics had destroyed the Academy and were now performing god-knows-what experiments on me while I was unconscious.
Zoe. We've learned enough, haven't we? We have to get out of here.
We still don't know how the Second Strain are involved, but I agree. What we've learned is more than I had ever imagined.
But what exactly had we learned? That the Mekanics were running the show already? That humanity was doomed? If we left now, what hope was there? The Second Strain seemed like a distant afterthought.
Dustin, I admit I don't know where to go from here, either. But we can't give up!
I'm not giving up. But we need a plan. Running from the Mekanics wouldn't solve our problems. If even a fraction of what Garvek had said was true, the game had changed. Completely. We couldn't just go back to pretending there was a simple war between Beastmasters and Mekanics. Our only option was to dive even deeper into the Mekanic rabbit hole, and hope we found something of use.
Zoe yowled and swiped at a bed post, leaving behind a set of scratch marks. Damn, Zoe was losing her cool?
I feel…helpless. Even with all my training, with all my knowledge…
Story of my life. But the one good thing about being a deadbeat orphan was that being helpless wasn't anything new. I'd march on, like I always had. We'll beat Garvek at his own game, Zoe. I promise.
Half an hour later, on the dot, Garvek showed up. We returned to the training room together, me in my Beastform.
"No more zeroing, I hope?" I asked.
Garvek nodded. "Today, we'd like to see you evolve. Our scans indicate you should be roughly three-quarters there."