Disclaimer: If i don't own it, it ain't mine. If in doubt, it ain't mine.
Words /In here.\ are thoughts.
Words :in here: are flashbacks/dreams
I already have chapters 3 and 4 on paper, but i don't like their tone so i might redo them.
Sunlight. My first though as i regained consciousness. I opened my eyes and realized that i was laying on scorched earth. Titanium debris was scattered about. My craft was down wind of me, smoldering slowly with several small fires. Then my memory returned. I remembered The Wars, the corruption, and my frustration. i remembered leaving my planet to escape it, to spend decades in space.I left with a friend, but he died soon into the journey. The mind is a terrible thing to waste but is even worse as your only companion. I noticed early on that i had stopped ageing, and through much practice with my friend i had completely mastered how to transfer thoughts, ideas, and memories. I eventually put myself in stasis. Evidently, my computer and my fail safes failed, and i had fallen off course and crashed on a planet. I had crashed in a wooded area for looking around i saw many trees, several were burning.
I heard voices. I lay still and listened to them. "There it is, whatever it is.""I told you she was right, Lola the Seer said that the sky would send a savior, and so far this looks good.""True, but i am going to get a closer look.""Please, be careful." I heard footsteps coming closer so i sat up, and noticed several things. First, there were two otters , staring at my craft. Second, the trees were small, the biggest being about 8 feet tall, and fully matured. The otters were both female, mother and daughter, i assumed. "Can you help me?" i asked softly. I must have startled them because they both jumped and turned sharply. They looked as if they couldn't decide wether to run away or chew me out for startling them. "Where am i?" i asked. "M-mossflower forest." the younger one stammered. "Who are you?" the older one demanded. "I am Tungsted," i replied,"and i am, obviously, new to the area. What are your names?" "I am Nicole and this is my step-mother, Corey." /She has a lovely voice.\ i thought. "Would you like to stay for supper?" i asked "I am sure i can find some edible rations for us to eat." Nicole looked intrigued and was about to answer when Corey cut her off and said, "We should be starting back if we want to get home before the patrols start." "I understand." i said, disappointed. "Do you have anywhere to spend the night?" Nicole asked. She seemed concerned, but Corey just seemed impatient. "Well my craft has burnt up so, for the moment, no i don't." i said. Nicole looked at Corey and Corey said, "No, he is to big to fit in the house." "I can fix that." i said. I sat cross-legged with my hands together and concentrated. Soon i felt myself shrinking, and when i opened my eyes and stood up i was a little taller than they were. I knew that i retained my full strength even when i was shrunk to a smaller size. They stood speechless. "Let me fetch a few things and we can be heading out." i said. I put on my manacle called an OMNI, a multi-function device, and armed myself, but i couldn't find my sword. I decided to look for it later.
On the way back to their house i told them some of my story. I told of the corruption in the government that slowly took our freedoms away. I told of the pacifists that would never do more than talk, that cost the world billions of lives. They told me of the local tyrant. "He calls himself Drok," Nicole explained,"he is a cold, calculating, militaristic creature from far across the sea." From the description she gave me i was able to name his species. "A wolverine, i think." i was fairly certain of my statement, but i was never a biologist, so i couldn't be certain. She explained that Drok killed off all the males a few seasons back to prevent rebellion. "He does other things too," Nicole added, "unspeakable things." I didn't push the subject.
It was twilight when we entered the village. "We will be lucky if we don't get caught," Corey spat, "patrols started at sunset." As i looked around the village, all the homes seemed to be in some state of disrepair. The inhabitants seemed alarmed at my presents. "Would it be best if i went in disguise?" i asked. "What kind of disguise?" Nicole asked. "I can imitate any creature, flawlessly." i stated. "How?" She inquired. i began summoning a hologram on my OMNI, "Watch this." i ordered. As they were watching i became a male otter wearing a blue hoodie before their eyes. "My OMNI creates a hologram around me that appears real, and a force shield just inside the hologram to make it feel real." She was about to go into a barrage of questions when we were interrupted. "Halt, otters! You know curfew was at sundown." It was a fox that spoke, obviously their leader, and he was backed by seven vermin. So i addressed him,"Sir, i must warn you, i am not someone to trifle with." "You are a male." the fox said. Then he turned and spoke to one of the vermin,"Kill him." A stoat rush forward to slay me, eager to kill something. I waited until the last second when, like lightning, i punched trough his ribcage and tore out his heart. He stopped and stared, dumbfounded, at the hole in his chest. When he collapsed i tossed him back his heart, and stepped forward. "Kill me yourself, fox." i challenged. The fox advanced slowly and cautiously. After dodging a few blows i clamped my hand on his face and said, "Burn." He fell to his knees and cried out in pure agony. I stepped back and he burst into flames. An intense, green fire burned, and, in a matter of seconds he was reduced to a smudge of ash. I looked at the terrified group of vermin and said, "Run." They hastily obeyed. I didn't mourn the deaths for i had become numb to them. I simply didn't care that i had ended life. If i had cared i would have gone mad with guilt. I choose to do what needed to be done, as efficently as possible. I turned to Nicole and Corey and asked, "Shall we continue?" We soon arrived at their home.
"How did you burn that fox?" Nicole asked, cautiously. "I didn't really burn him," i explained, "all i did was break his neck and destroy the body. All the rest was holograms." Nicole looked thoughtful before she spoke, "I am glad you were here to protect us. Without you we probably would have beaten, raped, and killed. Just to set an example for the other creatures." "You shouldn't have killed them," Corey said, calmly, "they will come in great numbers now to destroy the village." "Yes, Drok will send a small army now." Nicole agreed. "Let them come, the tyrant must die." i said, calmly. Corey scoffed, "To many innocents will die. You have started a war we cannot win." "I will fight this war alone. It will be over quickly, and Drok will die." i said confidently. "First thing in the morning i will survey the land and choose the place of the massacre." Nicole seemed stressed, "You seem intent on killing vermin." "I have seen to much suffering in my life to let it continue. I cannot let these crimes go unpunished. I will end it using whatever i must." i promised. Corey seemed satisfied, "In the morning then?" she asked. "Yes, in the morning." i replied. Nicole showed me to my room, and i shut off my otter hologram. "Thank you, and good night." i said. "Yes, good night." she said and left. I cleaned my weapons, checked their ammo, and went into a light sleep.
:"The upgrades will make you the perfect spy. The ability to read minds and change size to avoid detection will give our government the upper hand in espionage. It does come at a price, however. Anesthesia or pain killers will be out of the question during the surgeries and recovery, which should take years. We will, of course, scrub your memories of everything before the surgeries to prevent "unforeseen difficulties" and re-educate you to be a better soldier. The chance you will survive is high, but the chance that you will do so without being lobotomized or crippled is quite low." After that was years of pain and frustration. I completed a few missions easily and was about to be declared a success when i went ballistic. There were too many lies and it pissed me off. I would not let them create more freaks like me and worse. I destroyed the labs and all the research and the scientists that worked anywhere near me. I declared war on all corrupted governments and was considered a traitor. I get them fair warning of what would happen, but everytime i spoke it was twisted to make me look evil. So i stopped talking and started doing. I used my mind powers to get access codes to nukes. By the time i realized that i would have to kill almost everybody to kill the corruption, one third of the world population was dead. So after fighting for years i thought, /Piss on them. Let them kill each other.\ and i left the planet. I couldn't save them, and i stopped wanting to.:
In the morning i woke as Nicole was leaving the house. Corey was still asleep and the sun was just rising. I remembered the dream about the war and i choose to ignore it, again. I got up and engaged my otter hologram. I adjusted it to be more muscular, then i left after her. After leaving the house i found that the village was about 20 huts, inhabited by many types of creatures. Judging by the uniformity of the huts i guessed that they had been constructed by Drok's vermin as a type of refugee camp. There was a river running by the village so i went there to test the water quality. As i approached the river i saw that somebeast was swimming in it. As i got closer i saw that it was, of course, Nicole, and she had left her cloak on the bank. Now i had an inner conflict, but before i could come to a conclusion she spotted me and cried out, "Spying on me, you bastard!" Now i knew that i was in trouble. "I do apologize for stumbling in on you ma'am, but if i my be so bold, ma'am, you look beautiful this morning." I knew that i was taking a chance, but i didn't know what to say in this situation. "That is the first time that another species complimented me that way." she said, and seemed genuinely taken aback. I replied, " I was taught from a young age to be tolerant of people from different religions, races, and sexual orientation. As a result being tolerant of different species seems the next logical step." I hadn't thought about it that way before now. She was skeptical, "So you are attracted to me?" she asked. After some self-reflection i replied, " I suppose so, ma'am, now that i think about it." We pause for a moment to think, then she asked, "So what do we do now?" I though a moment more and decided /What the hell.\ "Do you want to be my Mate?" That caught her flat-footed. "But i hardly know you!" she cried. "I can change that," i said, "Come here." She began to come out of the water, and i kept my eyes solidly on her eyes. When she got to the bank and put her cloak on, she asked, "How can you change that?" I placed my fingers at critical points on her face, and felt us go into a trance. Then our minds merged into one and we shared our entire lives with each other, with one exception. /I will not show you The Wars.\ i thought. /I can feel how you feel about them, and i understand.\ she thought, and i knew that she did. When we had finished sharing, we released each other and came out of the trance. We knew each other better then those who had been married most of their lives. We knew each other like no creature could ever know another. And she said, " We are a match for one another. I will be your Mate." We went hand in hand to the village, no longer having to speak to each other. Just knowing what the other was thinking, we could converse through thoughts. As we came near the village Corey came running up to us. "The army is coming, they will be here about noon. Go do what you said you would do." "The plan is already in motion." i replied. I knew what must be done and how to do it, and so did Nicole.
/Please be careful.\ Nicole thought.
/I always am.\ i thought back.
/Tungsted?\
/Yes?\
A pause.
/Don't enjoy it.\
/I know the danger that can bring. Thank you for your consern.\
Then i left her side to commit mass murder.