Justin, Day 1, Location: New Brazil, Aveleron

"I hate it when my hunches are correct." I said as I looked down to see the squad of Advent troopers burst into the atrium floor and taking up positions as if they were expecting heavy fire.

I knew my priority was to get out of there as soon as possible. But I had no idea how Rhea would get treated if I didn't take her with me. I watched their movements a second longer, they must have been dealing with some kind of relay interference, because it seemed as if some were micromanaging them. They moved one at a time, and at the rate they were I knew I had just about five minutes before they would reach the bedroom.

Entering the bedroom I knew I had to get Rhea awake. Unfortunately, the cinnamon was out of reach, being downstairs. I suspected that Rhea didn't know what had happened otherwise I think I would have been dead by now already. Undoing my robe I hastily put on the pants I had used during my workout routine and shirt. Moving to an air duct on the side of the room I opened it, and then returned to the bed, and with difficulty I pulled Rhea from the bed, dragging her towards the air duct.

I could hear the soldiers now, they were close, easily just entering the fourth floor, I had to be quicker, so I pulled her hard within me into the air duct, her tail just inches from the grate, I leaned over her, pulling the grate into place and partially elbowing her in her breasts. Something I didn't dare spend too long thinking about, it wasn't the time or place.

With the grate in place I continued to inch backward pulling her along with me. That's when I heard the doors burst open, and I stopped pulling her along. The sound of her scales dragged against the metal of the air duct would have been noticeable so I waited and listened.

I couldn't see them due how far I was behind the grate, but I could hear them. Their barely translatable babble loud enough to be certain that their language was close to a broken swearing and frustration, informing their superiors of our absence from the room.

I kept my breathing low, then I remembered the datapad was still in the room, I had forgotten the datapad. I knew then that if I wanted to get away one of two things had to occur, I needed to get that datapad, or I needed to get the chip out of my skull. One or the other had to go, and so I waited.

I moved slowly, with care over Rhea, and slipped up close to the grate, the effort far more difficult due to the little room of the duct, if this was gonna work, I had to watch and wait. Seconds rolled by and then I saw my chance that three of the four troops had left the room, and the remaining one had entered to search the bathroom. Opening the grate, I climbed out.

Keeping low to the ground in crouch I tried to make myself less noticeable, moving around to the bathroom hall doorway I peeked around the corner, sure enough the soldier had his back turned. I needed a weapon, but in order for it to work, I would need two things, first I would need to terminate the guards comm system on the left side of his helmet, and second, I would need his trigger hand, if not his glove. This had to be a fluid motion, grabbing the datapad from bedside desk where I left it, I took some of the old extension cable, and wrapped it around it sliding a heavy statue of the elders on one side of it, holding it close, I stood up behind the door of the bathroom, the guard calling in to report an all clear.

Then they strode out, and I seized my chance. I heard the crack of metal and as the datapad broke along with the left side of the advent troopers helmet, the statue still in my hand I swung it up under the troopers chin, hearing the distinctive sound of bones cracking my left hand reaching for a sharp part of the datapad, and swung downward on the right hand of the trooper, his hand and gun dropping to the floor as, I spun around and roundhouse kicked the troopers neck with my leg, except I had forgotten it wasn't my human leg, but my prosthetic, and the gorey snapping sound has the spine behind it shattered, the head slumping unnaturally as the advent troopers blood poured freely from his neck as his body slumped to the floor. I reached down, pulled the hand out of the glove of the trooper, and stuck my own hand in it as well. The trooper had smaller hands but I made it work, I had a gun now, and that made it feel all the more safer.

I was just about to return to the grate when I heard a voice, "Justin, what the hell did you just do?"

Rhea, Day 1, Location: New Brazil, Aveleron

Dreaming is an unusual experience. You are never certain if it was real or not until you're awake. For myself though, dreaming was unusual. Since the day I was chipped, I had not experienced a dream, this common, and purposeful. Having been a scientist before, I knew a little something about advent chips, and one such feature was dream inhibition, which prevented dreaming, this was to ensure a chipped unit could always wake from sleep, ready to fight, as dreams can sometimes inhibit the ability to immediately wake up.

For me the dream was almost a fantasy. I had found myself selected for the exclusive dream program every viper strived to have access to. This was only for the vipers who proved themselves in every mission they were assigned. It was rare that a viper could prove herself capable of getting access to this exclusive program, but those who did were given a rare chance to get three things that were what every viper wanted, regardless of subspecies, clone or otherwise.

The first being a room to themselves. What did this look like? This meant that you actually had an apartment and didn't have to share a barracks with other vipers. You could live off base. Second, you had a salary instead of just service to advent you had access to being able to set yourself up for retirement, instead of being decommissioned like advent troopers, but third was the single most important asset.

Advent didn't make it publicly known but in the viper cloning process there was a rare chance that a male could be made, and when a male was made, they had to be either removed from the barracks and exiled to the city, where they would be looked down upon, or they would if in good shape, be given to the deserving female as a mate.

For any viper this was a chance to be a mother, and that meant having a family. I couldn't deny the fantasy but it did strike me odd about how I was dreaming about it. Even more so, was experiencing a headache, while in the dream. Which didn't add up. By the time I was able to wake up, my dream had sounds of a fight some distance away.

My eyes opened to a metal sheet and the realization I was no longer in bed. More still I heard the commotion just outside of the closed space. Due to my size I couldn't immediately slink out, and halt whatever commotion, but as I peer just outside I saw what was happening.

Justin was almost a blur of motion. I had to run back what I was seeing in slow motion, in his hands was the datapad, and tied to it was a fairly heavy metal statue. I saw the practical use, as he smashed it against the left side of the helmet of the trooper, pieces of the helmet and shattering and the data pad snapping into five pieces. Given that datapads were with a thin chassis one breaking creating dangerously sharp pieces the next fluid motion as one of Justin's hands seized one of the broken chunks and the other sent the statue hurling upward smashing into the troopers chin, the cracking sound his bones, causing me to wince involuntarily as a second motion from his other hand brought down the datapad shard on the troopers wrist just between the gap between the armor and the glove, The hand being sliced from the body and in a fluid sickly motion Justin spinning and sending his metal prosthesis foot in a roundhouse kick pinning the trooper to the wall above me. I could barely track what I had just seen, and as I watched him I started to wonder why I was feeling compelled to stop him, much less restrain him. As he put on the trooper's glove following removing the hand, the words blurted from my mouth.

"Justin, what the hell did you just do?" I exclaimed.

He turned and looked at me, removing his foot from the trooper's neck, its body slumping to the ground its blood pouring out. "We need to get out of here," he said.

"Why the hell am I in the duct?" I said trying to get out only for him to stop me and try to push my head back into the air duct.

"No get back I am coming in after you." He told me to climb as soon as I pulled back deeper into the air duct.

"What happened?" I said slithering deeper into the air duct.

"You started twitching in your sleep." he said. *Then I had a bad feeling, I left the bedroom, to see advent troops breaking down the door, guns hot."

"Why would they break down the door, if there was a problem they would have contacted me."

"Maybe they couldn't reach you, or maybe they didn't trust you." he said trying to push further but I stopped him, one because I wasn't sure how to respond, but secondly because the shaft went vertical from this point forward, and if entered the space I wouldn't have enough mass to slow my decent.

"Justin don't push it is all downhill from here." I said not wanting to fall down, even if I coiled like a spring I had no certainty of surviving the fall. There comes a point where even a coiled spring can't absorb enough of a fall to stay intact.

"Move aside then," He said, pushing past me. I saw him look down, remembering that his advanced eye he had was likely measuring the distance. "10 floor fall vertically, then it cuts to angle the first grate opens to the laundromat.

"I can't do this* I said, "I am not built for climbing down this."

"Yes you can, and here's how we can do this, wrap your tail around my middle, and then use your hands to push against the sides of the vent, I will be doing the same with my legs, and I will be pushing against you, we'll be able to hold ourselves in place as we descent.

"I am not sure about this."

"Trust me you can do this, it's not like you can go back into the room with the troopers corpse, that won't bode well."

He had a point, and the fact that I hadn't coiled around him or shouted for help, had sealed my fate, I couldn't return to Advent's service, and strangely for the first time since I was chipped, I didn't feel compelled to.

I wrapped my tail around him, and he was the first one into the shaft, I followed and for a second we fell, but I pushed out my arms and he pushed out his legs.

Admittingly it hurt, even if it worked. "Ow, that painful." I said.

"Best get used to it Rhea, a little pain just reminds you you're still alive."

He said, pushing against my back, the gun in his hand on my back, and it felt uncomfortable.

"Can't you drop that thing?" I asked.

"Nah it'd make a racket, don't need them to find out we are in the ventilation."

"Right," I said, clenching my jaw, and swallowing my tongue.

"What the heck are you doing?" he asked.

"I am swallowing my tongue." I said, pulling my tongue out of my throat.

"Why?"

"It keeps me from involuntarily hissing.*

"Oh, neat trick."

"Thanks." I replied, moving one hand down and walking it down the shaft.

I couldn't figure out how long we walked down, but every effort made my arms hurt, I realized that in all my effort to workout my body, I had forgotten my arms.

"Rhea." I heard his voice, but I couldn't think about it. The pain in my arms hurt and I felt the need to want to let go.

"Rhea!" He said, raising his voice, and I shook my head to try to wake myself, "Ease up on the squeezing." I quickly uncoiled and then realization hit me, I had uncoiled and was falling I panicked and felt some muffled pain as my back hit the air duct curvature, and then pain on my front as Justin landed on top of me, and we slid a bit down the air duct. His and my weight bursting the grate open and me collapsing on a pile of towels, he was quick to push himself up off me, but I don't know whether it was confusion or the terror of falling that made me break a teasing chide to him, but I knew instantly before the words left my mouth that I couldn't take them back. "So when you fall for someone, does that allow for hands on tits?"

Justin, Day 1: Location: New Brazil, Aveleron

I pushed myself off her as quickly as I could, I didn't feel the need at the time to respond to her snark so I stayed silent. I told myself I would contemplate what she asked for later. We were in the laundromat now, which meant two things. We had to be beneath the glitz of the hotel or rather we were within the infrastructure of the hotel, and that meant between employees and security we had to find a way out.

"How easy is it to tell one fire viper from another?" I asked.

"What? Seriously, you think we all look alike and there's no difference?" I heard the hurt in her voice, as I moved towards the doors of the laundry room to look out into the hall through the glass.

"I am asking on a strategic basis, not on personal observance, how many fire vipers frequent this hotel, or are used as employees? And how many are easily recognizable so that people could call out their name and they would respond?" I asked as I heard her scaly coils slither over the floor, towards the door and behind me. I turned slightly to see the weapon in her hands having begun its self destruct sequence, due to the gloves proximity having been separate in the fall.

"Strategically speaking." her voice still reminiscent of some hurt in its tone, I reminded myself when we were safe that I would have a lot to apologize for. "There is little difference due to Advent Fire Viper regulations on scale color selection, red flame colors are the only colors allowed."

I tried processing what she said, "So you're capable of changing color?"

"Only when we shed, we can think of how we want to look and the new scales underneath conform to what we want to look like."

I stopped and looked at her with a half smile, which I freely admit I used to try to raise her spirits enough to get her mind back in the game as we needed to get out of the place. "How far is it to the nearest exit?"

"About a quarter mile?"

I turned my head to look at her away from the door, "Quarter mile?" "Okay, can you swipe another fire viper's ID, to get out without questions?"

"Not easy, can you get a hotel security outfit?"

I shook my head, "I wouldn't know what to look for, I thought they are advent security."

"The Aveleron doesn't get advent security due to a deal with the Advent Higher Administration, it has its own private security."

"Any ideas on how to obtain a uniform and ID?"

"Try the employee locker room, it's just down the hall and to the left of here."

"What about you? Where do you get the proper ID?" I asked.

"I can get a replacement from the register easily," She said, opening the door.

"How? Why?" I said grabbing her arm which was hot and I was forced to let her go and slither out the door.

"Thats why." She said with a snicker as she slithered out.

I shook my head and looked out the door, Seeing her slithering down the left hall, I looked down the right to see no one down it, and made my move. Pushing the door open, walking down the right hall and then dashing in through the left door. As soon as I entered, I walked over past the bathroom section and further towards the locker room.

Keeping calm is difficult in situations like these, locker rooms and bathrooms were never places I liked being, especially when other people used them, and sure enough there were a few people within.

They for the most part didn't seem to pay me immediate attention, until one of them, a female, seemed to make an observation about me.

"By the Elders what the hell happened to your face?"

"Tried saving a hot rod, got a little crispy in the process. "

"Hope its chassis was well worth the burn."

"It was unique, are there any spare truck delivery suits? My other is currently being cleaned."

"They are in lockers under the T row. Just find an empty locker." Said one of the males.

I nodded, moved down that row, finding a locker as I listened to their conversation continue.

"So from what I heard the speaker ordered everyone out of his apartment during the party at 3:37 am this morning."

"Maybe he was tired and wanted to sleep."

"You haven't been with us long have you Avery?"

"Three months."

"In the past these parties would go till noon the next day, lots of special meetings and what like, but to cancel so early, I think something might have happened."

"Bet 20 data credits that it's something to do with there command structure."

"Nah, they replace people as they see fit, I bet he wanted some alone time with those fire vipers."

"Your all nuts, I think something might be seriously wrong, cause while you guys were serving at the party I was at the loading dock, at around that time every advent trooper and officer, even the mutons I saw violently twitch and spasm. As if they were demonically possessed for a second. It was freaky as hell."

I heard his words as I put on the uniform, I found in the lockers, it was true, something serious had to have happened, because even Rhea had twitched in the night, right around that time. Luck was with me for once since inside the locker I had found someone's ID, taking it, I walked out of the locker room, and moved up along the hallway until I heard a familiar scale scraping noise.

Continuing to walk along I grabbed a magazine to hide face from potential cameras, the magazine just happened to be a car magazine so when I flipped to a certain page as I walked along I stared intently only to hear the fire viper hiss behind me.

I knew immediately that it wasn't Rhea, so I had to keep walking. Trouble was I had unintentionally started walking towards the lobby so by the time Rhea found me, it was in a head on collision.

Rhea, Day 1, Location: New Brazil, Aveleron

Slithering down the hall, I tried to push his comment about all us fire vipers looking alike out of my mind. It was difficult. It was uncomfortable, you'd think a human living next to a fire viper long enough would be able to tell the difference from one to other? My hearts burned in my chest and coils at the thought of that, he hadn't been able to tell the difference, but surely he was telling the truth, that it was only strategic thinking, not actual personal thinking, surely.

I slithered up to the lobby and looked through the glass portholes in the doors. The lobby was aesthetically peaceful if not overly glamorous, but I could tell that there was issues at hand,

I slithered through the door, and behind the desk, one of the employees hardly glancing at me as I did so. I swear this happened so frequently with us Fire vipers that few seemed to bat an eyelid, when we had to print a new ID.

Signing in, I was relieved that my credentials didn't trip a system, primarily due to the number of guards that had entered our suite, I had previously thought they had been there to arrest us both, but no, apparently it had just been Justin. Tapping the keys with some speed, I looked through the name list of employees who hadn't shown up for work today, and if they had reported any IDs stolen, a stolen ID reported meant it was significantly easier to just print a new one off.

Finding a suitable truck driver, I made small adjustments to the facial ID from memory and was able to soon print the two IDs.

Taking my own, I reached down beneath the desk to retrieve an Aveleron hoodie sweater, normally these were stocked in the gift shop, but some we had beneath the desk for fire vipers and humans who would forget that nudity was frowned upon in a public setting.

Pulling the hoodie over my head finding it a good fit, even if it was stretched a bit in the chest, which I had hoped it wouldn't have been, because now I was prolly going to get cat calls as soon as we reached the street, I pinned my ID to my shirt, and then took his ID, and slid it into one of the hand pockets of the hoodie. Slithering back in through the doors and not a moment to soon as a familiar voice, that of the Matriarch.

"Rhea?" I heard her call out, but I slithered with no increase or decrease of speed beyond the doorway, Slithering down the hall and sliding into the a security room where the security guard was per usual at this hour out, I tried to focus in on the matron with camera and microphone,

"Must not have been Rhea, your excellency." I heard one of the viper escorts with her comment.

"I keep forgetting that so many fire vipers work in here, it's almost impossible to tell them apart."

I felt my fangs slide into my mouth from the roof of my jaw at that, and a very loud hsss escaping my throat. "We don't look alike!" I said angrily,

I turned from the monitor cursing under my breath not evening looking ahead, I prolly should have because I collided with Justin and another fire viper.

"OOF!" I groaned as I fell flat on my face and feeling a sudden weight fall on top of me.

"Eeef!" I heard the other fire viper groan her midriff hugging my waist from where her body landed.

"Would you two kindly, get OFF!" I heard Justin holler from under me.

I scrambled to push myself off of him, I heard him gasp for breath as soon as he was off and the fire viper behind me sliding off.

I leaned in close to Justin's head and whispered. "Play along, I have no idea how she will react."

"Carlos, watch where you're going!" I said, grabbing Justin by the shirt and hoisting him up to the wall slamming him against it.

I had hoped that Justin would play the part of the scared human, but apparently that wasn't within Justin's style because he immediately responded with.

"Where I am going, you should watch where your going! Last time you ran into me was the day I got this as a reminder." He said pointing to his scarred half of his face.

"Do it again and I'll do more than burn your face." I said in reply trying to win the stare down competition.

I heard the other fire viper behind me tapping me on the shoulder. A bad sign because that usually meant…..

"Hey, it was an accident, I am sure he didn't mean it, are you two a thing?"

….She was one of those fire vipers, or rather had been before she worked here, I rolled my eyes, and face planted a kiss on Justins lips. I hoped she'd get the hint, and sure enough….

"Oh this adorable" She seemed giddy by the whole thing, so I pulled a little closer to Justin, and that did the trick, because the other fire viper said.

"I'll leave you two be."

As soon as she slithered out of sight, I pulled away letting Justin fall to the floor.

"What part of the play along didn't you understand?"

He was silent for a second, seeming either dazed by my kiss, or by falling from the wall. But then he answered.

"I did play along, but then you decided to take it where it didn't need to go."

"Didn't need to go!?" I demanded my voice raising, "Hah, do you have any idea how rarely a fire viper bestows her affection for someone? Most of my sisters need a strong hint to leave those involved alone."

Justin, I could see shake his head, at this rate I believed he wasn't going to tell me if he liked it or not, and it was mildly irritating. But I couldn't help but show a little respect for that, both other fire vipers I knew, and myself included it was difficult to control our emotions, especially when we grew attached to people, but I admired his stoic behavior, even if drove me crazy at times, because I really wanted to know sometimes.

"Did you get the ID?" he asked. Rising from the floor and leaning against the hall facing the exit in opposition of the lobby.

"I got both," I replied. "One for me, and one for you, yours is the only one I lied about, apparently, from what I learned in the lobby when I was making my ID, they were only looking for you."

"Guess that means you can get back to your life," he said, starting to walk down the hall towards the exit, ID in hand.

I thought for a second, I mean if I left for the day, of course I would prolly get demoted for not watching the prisoner every second, but at the same time, I did witness him kill the guard, and….well I have lived with for so many months now, it hardly seems right to separate.

"Your right, I could, but I think better see you out of this hotel first." I said in reply, slithering after him.

He walked in silence at that, I slithered alongside of him. Waiting for a reply, but I didn't seem to get one, as he opened the exit door and we slithered out into gardens of the hotel.

"This way." I motioned slithering and led him on a path to the security checkpoint.

As we approached the exit gate, I slithered through it with Justin alongside me, the alarm blared briefly as the guard yelled at Justin. I found myself rolling my eyes, tapping the guard on shoulder, and reaching for Justin's ID. "Prosthetic eye, and prosthetic leg, clearly visible, so don't yell at a loyal advent truck driver, unless you want to be short a couple of MREs.

I knew the guard would react at that, most troopers did, MRE's were the staple of second generation Advent troopers, and specifically I knew that the deluxe MRE was more prized than the standard, if only because the deluxe had a honey wafer cookie, whereas the standard did not. As far as I knew, advent troopers wouldn't want to mess with the person who delivered them.

The guard backed up and handed the ID back to Justin, and motioned him on through.

Once we were some distance away he said, "I was amazed they didn't ask about the burn."

I snickered, "Advent troopers know better than to ask questions about the guy who delivers them MRE's by truck. This guy only needed a reminder to stop asking questions and read the ID."

I heard him laugh a bit, it was short, but I appreciated it.

"So I guess this is goodbye?" He said. "Seems we are out of the hotel, and where I am going well, it's a place that would have to have you unchipped."

I heard his words but, no I was too invested to leave him now. "No, I am staying with you,"

"Where I am going, there are no fancy apartments, no guaranteed Viper safe foods, and you will no longer be on the side of advent, you will be hunted, is that what you want, to lose everything you have?" He asked.

I crossed my arms across my chest. Leaning my head down over him. "Yes, because let's face it, the chances of running into each other thrice, is unheard of. If we keep running into each other, we might as well stick together."

He was silent, but then he looked up at me, and nodded. "Very well, but if you're coming with me, let's get one thing straight."

"Okay", I said. "What is it?"

"You're getting your chip removed, because that's a liability."

"That's it?"

"For now." He replied.

"Okay, now what?"

"We get your chip removed, and then we get out of town."

I saw him starting walking around me and then around the corner, I followed him because he obviously knew where he was going, even if I didn't. Hopefully however it wouldn't be a long slither, I really didn't want to slither far.

(Join us on the Discord: discord .gg /5yPnadhkat )