Chapter 8

I had dreams again, not the rebel and viper filled nightmares I was used to, just strange ones. I saw doctors and nurses, I think, or at least there were people in lab coats. They were all around me and saying things I couldn't quite make out. They poked and prodded at me with various tools and needles. There was a steady beeping sound that seemed to never stop and it pounded against my eardrums something fierce. I couldn't move much and I felt tinges of pain every now and again. It felt like I was in sleep paralysis. Everything I experienced made me feel nervous, helpless even. People moved around me, but I couldn't. As I drifted in and out of this dream I saw 11-7 was there. She wasn't always right next to me, in fact she was in the background most of the time, but she always looked so concerned. When the people left she would hover over me and observe my condition. Even going as far as to press her fingers into my neck, presumably to check my pulse. I would have been scared, but her presence calmed me. I felt safe, so I relaxed...

0-

I slowly opened my eyes and woke up. I felt sore all over, like I had slept in a metal box filled with rocks, but at least I didn't have a hangover. The first thing I noticed was that I did not wake up in my own bed. Something was touching my left arm, so I looked over at it. There was an IV in it, and I followed the soft plastic tube that went from my hand to a bag of saline solution hanging next to my bed. I felt panic start to build inside me and looked at my body, I lifted up the blanket I was under and saw I was in a hospital gown. I was laying in a hospital bed. I sat up off the plastic pillows I was laying on and looked around, I was in a small hospital room. Compete with a window covered with drab floral curtains, bathroom at the back, and a bunch of equipment hooked up to the bed and to me. There was a tv in the corner that was on. It was playing a news report. The news anchor was talking about a rise in terrorist attacks on the city, and about the measures Advent was taking to prevent them. I also saw a familiar orange serpent draped and curled around some chairs in the corner. She was in her armor and perked up immediately when I looked at her. I saw her hands shoot towards the remote.

11-7 pushed a button on the remote and I heard the tv shut off. She looked happy for a second, and then she got this look like she had been punched in the back of the head. "Lucas, you're awake."

I looked down at my body. "I am." Then I looked back up at her. "Did I over do it last night?"

She averted her gaze from me, instead choosing to look at the remote she was holding. "You did, but..."

I leaned back into my bed and heard the soft crinkle of plastic. "Fuck, I can't believe I drank so much I got alcohol poisoning. I'm such an idiot..."

I heard her mumbling, so I stopped talking. "I, uh didn't catch that."

She turned the remote over and toyed with it in her hands, seemingly analyzing every detail on it. "You weren't admitted here because of alcohol poisoning."

"That doesn't make any sense. Why else would I be here? " As I was thinking I noticed my right arm was especially sore, so I adjusted it to get more comfortable. As I did, I noticed there was a black spot the size of my thumb on the back of my hand, and the skin around it was dark and veiny. "Eugh! What the fuck is that?" I brought my hand closer to my face to get a better look at it.

I heard her mutter something, but I was too focused on my hand to hear it. "That's so weird, it looks bruised?"

She decided to look up from that interesting remote and at me. "It's my fault. I... I unintentionally bit you, Lucas." She blurted out quickly.

I focused on her instead of my hand. "What?" I looked at my hand again. There was a scar in the middle of the black spot that was approximately the same diameter as her fangs I had seen before. I shuddered at the thought of one of those gnarly things piercing my hand. "I'm inclined to believe you, but I barely remember anything from last night."

She cocked her head and I saw something flash across her face for a second, relief maybe. "What - do you remember?"

I leaned forward and put my non-bitten hand on my head. Being careful to not rip out the IV. "Uhh. I remember my ex pissing me off, and dancing. I remember leaving the club and getting home, but the details are fuzzy."

"Ron said this might happen. I thought you had been poisoned by terrorists last night, but he explained what - drunk was to me."

I laughed and looked up at her. "You really don't know much, do you?"

She offered an indignant look. "I know enough, and what I don't know, I learn."

Can't really argue with that. "Ok, but what happened after we left the club? I didn't say anything weird once we left, did I?"

She went back to looking at the remote, and picked at one of the buttons with her claws. "You did say many - weird - things."

"Do you remember any of them?"

My question breathed some life into her. She stopped toying with the remote and her posture became slightly more erect for a second. "No."

I decided not to press her, since I probably didn't say anything too uncharacteristic. "Uh, ok... So, how'd I get bit."

She resumed playing with the remote. "After we arrived at your house I helped you into your room, and set you on the bed. Ron told me to not leave you alone, and make sure you slept on your side, in case you started to vomit. So I stayed in your room to observe, but you refused to sleep. You kept making comments and talking to me. I - became agitated and..."

I chuckled. "You do realize how this sounds, don't you?."

Her head spun to my direction and her hood flared out. She spoke with urgency. "I did not bite you intentionally, let me finish." She broke off her eye contact and continued. "I became agitated and yelled at you. I said some cruel things I'd rather not repeat, but it didn't work. You just laughed and said I reminded you of some person called Miss Bitey. I don't know what your relationship was with this Miss Bitey, but you got up on your knees and reached out to my face. You said you wondered if I would do the same thing she did."

"I really said Miss Bitey?" I laughed. "Aww man, I haven't thought about that snake in years."

She squinted her eyes. "Miss Bitey is a snake?"

"Yeah, I had her when I was young. It was a rat snake that I caught in our cornfield and decided to keep as a pet."

She crossed her arms, remote still in hand, and furrowed her brow. "Do I really remind you of an animal you found in a dirt field?"

I looked away from her, in thought. "Hmmm, well she was a snake, and she was pretty aggressive, so I see how I made the connection."

"I am Aggressive?"

Ah, shit. I must still be groggy from whatever the fuck they've been pumping me full of. I looked back at her and she was more upset than before. "Well, I mean when I was drunk I could... What I'm trying to say is being aggressive isn't a bad trait for a bodyguard to have. I would prefer it, over you being complaisant."

She uncrossed her arms and leaned back into the chairs she was on. "I thought aggression was a trait humans found undesirable."

I gestured at her with my bitten hand. "Normally it would be, but like I said you're my bodyguard. You need to be aggressive for my sake. But it's not a good trait for a pet to have. Course she wasn't captive bred, so it was expected, but I did take good care of her even though she was bitey." I smiled. "Now that I think about it you both have bitten me, maybe you have more in common than I thought."

11-7 snorted, and ignored my comment. "You don't have it anymore, so what happened to this snake?"

"Oh, uh. During Advent's... liberation I had trouble feeding her, so I released her back to the wild. One of my brothers talked about eating her too, so I was kind of forced to... but we're getting off topic. What happened next?"

She didn't turn away this time and she looked somewhat calmer as she explained, but she didn't look me in the eyes. "You reached for my face; I believe you were trying to touch me. I protested and told you to lay back down, but you fell over while leaning forward - and you shoved your arm into my mouth."

"What?" I stared at her in disbelief and looked at my arm. "Like my whole arm?"

She nodded hesitantly. "Yes, your entire arm... Up to your shoulder." She pointed at my shoulder with a claw.

I kept staring at my arm and tried to not think about how much of me she could fit in her mouth. "My whole arm, wow. Wait a second, how does that work? Didn't you try to stop me?"

"I don't have teeth like you Lucas. There wasn't much I could do once you fell. It just slid in, and your body is so heavy you yanked my head down on the bed."

"I think I'm starting to get the picture."

She looked away. "You, freaked out and tried to forcefully remove your arm, and I was startled by - everything. You were squirming the whole time I was trying to carefully pull your arm out. My fangs unfolded, and once it was almost out I bit your hand."

"I see, well that's unfortunate. Heh, kinda glad I don't remember it."

She looked back at me with a glimmer of hope in her eyes. "You're not upset with me?"

I laughed. "I mean it sucks that you bit me, but I did shove my entire arm down your throat. Some things are unavoidable."

Relief washed over her like a wave, and she was calm for a few moments. It seemed like we were done talking, so I looked out the window at the city, but the sound of plastic hitting wood caught my attention. The calm was gone from her and in its place I saw a fire ignite in her eyes. "I've had to deal with much, while you were sleeping. I... I thought you would die, or never wake up, and if that happened I'd..." She paused and pointed at me with one of her four fingered hands, a scowl adorning her face. "Don't you drink like that again."

She was so worried about me reprimanding her, and now she's doing it to me. Ugh."Who are you, my mother? I'll drink as much as I want."

My statement only seemed to increase her fury. "Do you realize you almost lost your hand?"

I had to do a double take. "What?"

She calmed down slightly, having successfully gotten my attention. "If I didn't inject you with the viper antivenom I keep in my room, the physicians said your hand would've been amputated." She made a chopping motion with one of her hands.

"That's unnerving... Well, I'm sure Advent could have grown me a new one or something, but I'll take it easier from now on, I don't drink that much anyway."

The fire wasn't entirely extinguished. "I am happy to hear you say that, but you should not be so dismissive. You could have been permanently hurt."

Comforting people doesn't seem to be her strong suit. "Well maybe I'm just not scared of being killed by you."

And like that the anger was gone, snuffed out like a candle. She observed me for a few moments after I said that, and smiled slightly. I guess she believed me.

I took a deep breath and looked around the room. "So, when do I get out?"

She put a clawed finger up to her chin. "I believe the physician said the day you woke up you could be discharged."

"Nice, wait. The day I woke up? What day is it?"

Her eyes widened slightly, and I got the impression she wasn't supposed to reveal that. "It's... Monday."

"I've been out of it for 2 whole days?"

She wavered in her answer and I noticed the tip of her tail was flicking back and forth. "Yes, but you are alright, so there's no problems now."

"Sure, I'm fine now, but what if this happens again?"

"Don't worry this won't happen again."

No she's right, this actually is something I shouldn't worry about. I chuckled. "Yeah, you're probably right. I'd have to stick my arm in your mouth again for this to happen."

She shook her head. "Not, that. You were - immunized against viper venom."

"Really, I'm totally immune now?" She nodded her head. "That's awesome... wait, it didn't naturally happen, did it?" I didn't wait for her to answer. "Did they inject me with anything? Like anything weird?" 11-7 hesitated to speak, so I panicked a little. "Did they inject me with anything weird!"

She reared her head back and turned away from me. "I... don't know. They injected you with many things."

I assessed my condition, and besides the pain I didn't feel different. "Well, I don't feel any different, so maybe I'm fine." I looked out the window again, I watched some cars pull in and out of the parking lot. As I did, It finally hit me. "I've been asleep for two whole days, wow. Two days gone, just like that, heh. Feels like I've only been asleep for a few hours"

She piped in. "It could have been longer." I think she was trying to make me feel better, but it just reminded me I could have died.

Let's get off this topic. "It could have." I chuckled, and looked at her. "So, what'd you do this whole time? Anything fun?"

She shook her head. "I've been in this room with you since you were admitted." She held up the remote and pointed at the tv on the wall with a clawed finger. "The television has provided - entertainment."

"You've been here with me the whole time?"

She cocked her head, and looked at me like she thought I was stupid. "Yes, I wouldn't be a good bodyguard if I left you alone in such a vulnerable state." She gestured to my body with one of her hands.

She really stayed beside me while I was comatose in bed for two days. I don't know what to say; I don't think I know anyone who'd do that for me except... As I spoke I tried to sound as grateful as I could. "Thank you. I really mean it."

She looked surprised by my appreciation. "You're welcome Lucas, but I am just doing my job."

"You sure are... Now get one of those doctors in here. I want to go home and get out of this stupid gown."

0-

The doctor explained everything to me, said that I only got a little venom in my body when I got bit. Which was lucky because their bites usually inject enough venom to fill a small glass. He explained the effects of viper venom to me for all my trouble, apparently it's a neurotoxin that attacks nerve tissue, which makes it difficult for the person to breathe. Depending on the amount of venom injected, if left untreated, a bite will make a person unable to move after 10 minutes, and can kill a person in 50 minutes. Spose I'm lucky the job of the viper that bit me was to keep me alive. That's only if you get bit though, he went on and on about the different effects of venom being spit at you. After talking my ear off, he confirmed that I am indeed immune to Viper venom, and said something about injecting me with modified B-cells. I was pissed that they did that without my permission, but he assured me they didn't mess with my DNA at all. Whatever I guess, it's not like they can take out what they put in me. With that done, I signed some papers, and soon enough I was home.

0-

It had been a few hours since I was discharged from the hospital. I was under strict orders to not be physically active for the day. That wouldn't be a problem for me, I wasn't planning on taking up jogging the day I got out of the hospital or anything. So, I was sitting on the couch bored out of my mind. 11-7 was next to me; she had changed out of her armor when we got back and put on a loose white t-shirt. She was reacting to whatever was playing on the tv.

My eyes started to drift closed but then I heard 11-7 say something. "Is there anything to do here besides watch television?

I opened my eyes and leaned over to look at her. "You know you can just call it TV."

"T - V? I've heard you say that before."

"Yeah, it's short for television."

"But that's not what it is, it is a television set."

She sounds like a fucking grandma. "Whatever, I don't care how you want to say it."

She rephrased her previous question. "Is there anything else to do indoors besides watch the television?"

"Already bored with watching TV?"

"No. Everything that is available right now I have already seen. You must have some other form of - entertainment?"

I almost wanted to make an inappropriate joke here, but decided against it. I looked away in thought for a few moments. "Hmmmmm, I do have an old game console, but I haven't used it in a while."

With the amount of time I've spent around her I had started to learn some of the intricacies of viper body language. The moment I said game console she became interested in what I was saying. Which was marked by her becoming extremely focused and deliberate with her movements. Her tongue flicked out of her mouth slower and it would hang in the air for longer than usual. "What is a - gai-ma consle ?"

I was nonchalant about it, I mean a game console was no great mystery to me. "It's a machine you can play video games on."

She became more interested in what I had to say, and was about to speak, but I cut her off because I knew what she was going to ask. "A video game is like a movie that you can control."

Her eyes lit up, and I saw understanding in her slitted pupils. "It's like a simulation, then!"

I was caught off guard by her enthusiasm. "Yeah, I suppose. What do you mean by simulation?"

She was going to say something, but her words got caught in her mouth. She paused for a few moments, seemingly deciding whether to say it or not. "I'm not at liberty to discuss that." Her head drooped slightly, and I got the impression she was disappointed that she couldn't tell me.

I had to imagine her being hooked up to some kind of VR setup. Virtual Reality was still Sci-fi for the most part when I was a kid, but I wouldn't be surprised if Advent figured it out. I stifled a laugh after imagining 11-7 being hooked up to a bunch of equipment. "Hey, it's cool. I'll get my console set up. Shouldn't take me too long." The head droop stopped after that.

I walked up to the entertainment center my TV was sitting on and opened up one of the drawers at the bottom. Inside was sitting a bunch of cables I never bothered to organize, 4 black controllers, and underneath that mess was a black box. I pulled out the cables and controllers to set them aside. I reached in and lifted out the box. it was coated in a thick layer of dust, an indicator of how little I've used it since I moved into this house. I held it in front of me and blew the dust off of it like an ancient tome from an abandoned library. And there, in the middle of a green circle at the top of the box I saw a familiar word that I haven't read for a few years.

I saw something move out of the corner of my eye, and 11-7 leaned over me to read the word out loud. "Is it Zbox, or Ks-box?"

"Holy shit! Don't sneak up on me like that."

She backed off. "I apologise."

"It's ok. And it's - X - box by the way." I got to work setting it up. My TV was older, it needed the component ports so that I could hook my Xbox up to it. Kept it from my days at the apartment.

As I was hooking it up I heard her say something behind me. "This - Xbox looks old. Where did you acquire it?"

I spoke from behind the entertainment center as I plugged in the power cord. "It was my dad's, he got it when he was - a young man. Course he's a full time farmer, so as he got older he stopped having the time for things like that, so it became me and my brothers and sisters Xbox."

"You shared it with siblings? Why do you have it now?"

I started fucking with the component cables, trying to make sure I plugged them in right. I don't know who thought it was a good idea to make the cables a different color than the ports they plugged into. "Well, when - I moved to the city, I just took it with me. I liked it more than everyone else, and they had the newer version of it anyway, so I figured no one would miss it." I finally got the cables plugged in right, and turned on the Xbox.

11-7 appeared to be mesmerized by the startup screen for a few moments before she came to her senses. "You stole it?"

I raised up my hands. "Now, now. Let's not label me like I'm some kind of common criminal. They let me take it. My dad watched me put it in a box and didn't say anything."

She looked down at the Xbox on the floor as she spoke. "I understand."

I walked towards my room. "I'm gonna go get the games for it." I went into my closet and grabbed a small plastic tote from the back. I brought the tote into the livingroom to the clear delight of her.

I pulled off the lid and took a step back. "Take your pick."

She tensed up to pounce on the tote, but stopped short. "Are you sure you want me to dig through your possessions?"

I laughed. "Go right ahead, you're the one who gave me the idea anyway. Just be careful, don't poke any holes in the cases."

She nodded and started sifting through the tote. I sat on the couch and watched her look at each game case individually. She read some of them out loud and was constantly asking me questions about each one. I've played all those games like 20 times each, so I was able to answer every one. It was entertaining to watch her excitedly analyze them. She treated the cover like a work of art and read the back like some religious text. Each game she picked up was a treasure to be discovered and understood. It gave me a flashback to when my Dad pulled all of this out for the first time and I was the one asking all the questions about the games as he happily described them to me. I wonder if this was how he felt that day? Showing off something he loved to someone who had never heard of it.

I sat there basking in that memory of happier and simpler times, before 11-7 brought me back to real life. "What is this one." She held out a game I was familiar with, but dreaded explaining to her.

The cover read "Halo, Combat Evolved". "Oh that, - it's another war game, but it takes place in the future."

"I want to try this one." She started to look at the back, but I snatched it out of her grasp before she could read it. She looked at me and frowned.

Shit, I'm pretty sure this game is contraband by Advent standards. I read the back and the first sentence was: Bent on humankind's extermination, a fellowship of alien races known as the Covenant... Yeah, I'm gonna have to convince her to play something else. I pretended to be disinterested. "Oh, this game, It's not real fun. There's still plenty more to look at, you've only gone through half the tote."

I think the fact I was discouraging her from playing it only made her more interested. She seemed resolute in her decision. "I want to play that Halo game. I am interested in what your species thought the evolution of combat would be."

I can't discourage her more, or she'll start asking questions. Maybe we'll play like 1 level and she'll get bored. I can always hope. "Ok, I guess we can." I begrudgingly walked up to the box and put the disk in. 11-7 was awestruck and tracked the disk tray as it moved out and back in. She was even more surprised when plugged in two controllers, and placed one in her hands.

She turned the controller over in her hands, looking at it while she spoke. "What is this?"

"It's a controller. Like the remote controls the TV, this controls the Xbox."

She pointed at the controller I was holding. "But you have one too."

I was walking over to the couch to sit down as she asked me, luckily the controller's chord was long enough for me to do that. "Yeah, we can both play it at the same time."

She looked at the Xbox and back at me. "It is a cooperative game?" I nodded my head in response and she looked back at the Xbox. "This machine is more advanced than I thought it would be."

She joined me on the couch, unfortunately the chord wasn't long enough for her to sit in her usual spot, so she had to sit much closer to me than usual. I found myself not minding it that much. She tried to figure out how to hold the controller and kept gripping it in weird ways, she even held it like a gun. I cleared my throat and that got her attention. "You hold it like this."

She looked at my hands and mimicked the way I had them positioned. I noticed her fingers were a lot longer than mine, even if she didn't have claws, so she might have trouble holding it. I was about to explain to her how to use it, but she was pushing the buttons with her fingers instead of her claws, and she was holding it properly, so I didn't bother. The design is intuitive enough, I suppose.

I heard gregorian chanting, which signaled that the game was on the main menu screen. "I'll start it on normal difficulty, this game isn't really hard."

As I went to click normal, she grabbed my arm. I turned to face her, and she looked upset. "Do you not think I am capable of winning this primitive combat simulation?"

Her gaze was intense, I saw years maybe even decades of combat experience in those red slanted orbs. I never expected to get the grizzled veteran treatment from her. I looked down at my controller and attempted to reason with her. "I'm not saying you can't. I'm just saying this is your first time holding a controller, and I haven't played in years."

She released my arm. "Do not fear. I will see us to victory." I looked back at her and she slithered up on the couch to make herself taller than me. She was looking down at me and had a smirk plastered on her smug snakelike face. Her body oozed confidence.

"You know what, sure." I set the difficulty to legendary. Maybe this'll teach her a little something about humility, or better yet - convince her to play something else.

The game started, and she was already running around the starting area. Seems like she got a handle on the controls easily enough.

We were running through the opening portion where we didn't have a gun, and she voiced her concerns with the articulation of a five year old. "Why do we not have weapons yet? When do we get to kill things? This simulation is boring."

I chuckled and wagged a finger at her. "So impatient, we'll get a gun when we get to the bridge."

She ignored my chastising. "How long will that take?"

"In a bit, it gets exciting."

A few moments later and she was face to face with the Covenant, specifically an elite and a few grunts. She faced her character towards them and watched as a sliding door closed in front of them. I was walking ahead, but she stayed there. I nervously glanced at her and she was clearly in thought. Squinted eyes, slow tongue flicks. I'm screwed, aren't I?

She slowly turned her head to look at me. "Lucas, what are they, the Covenant soldiers? They don't look human."

I felt my heart rate increase and I decided to lie. "Oh the Covenant, yeah. They're uh - mutants."

She crossed her arms and looked at me like a mother who knew her child was lying. " - Mutants. Mutants in space?"

I did not look directly at her. "Yeah, I mean it was a pretty original concept for the time, heh." I'm not sure if she believed me, but she stopped asking me questions

We eventually got out guns and then real fun began. 11-7 was doing better than I expected, but not by much. She was constantly getting hit and looking at the controller angrily. I was in my element, all that time I spent playing this game came flooding back to me. I was clearly carrying her, but I couldn't tell if she was enjoying the game. She was completely focused and didn't say much, I noticed her tail would shift around while we played, and that she would flick the tip of her tail when she got hit sometimes.

Eventually she died, specifically from a plasma grenade that was stuck to her character, which elicited an annoyed hiss from her. She slumped back on the couch and crossed her arms. I tried to cheer her up. "Don't worry, I can just go back to an area where there are no enemies and you'll respawn."

She looked at me and I saw hope in her eyes. "I get to keep playing?"

"Well yeah, it would kind of suck if you couldn't respawn. This game is supposed to be fun."

"I - understand."

I walked out of the battle and after a minute or so, she respawned and we were back in the action. She spoke as we finished off everyone in the room. "You said earlier that children played this? This is a game for children?"

I shook my hand in front of her. "Sort of, it was made for adults, but children played it too."

"I am impressed. This primitive combat simulation is difficult, the fact that a child could win is surprising. And you won this, as a child?"

It was nice to get a compliment, but I didn't see it as much of a feat. "I did, but keep in mind you can keep trying. The only way to lose this game is to quit playing."

"Do not sell yourself short Lucas. I would be impressed if a fledgling viper could accomplish one of these - levels."

Initially I thought she was fucking with me or something, but she genuinly seemed impressed. "Thanks. You know, if you watch me while we're playing, you may learn a thing or two."

She snorted at my comment and went back to focusing on the game. We got through the rest of the first level just fine, and she was getting better at the game. The second level started and we walked out of an escape pod, and encountered more Covenant.

We were killing them left and right, and made our way through the level. 11-7 looked like she was finally having some fun. I saw a hint of glee in her otherwise focused eyes. We made our way to a marker, where some other marines had survived. We killed more Covenant, and as the last elite was shot, something that I dreaded, but expected at this point, happened. One of the marines said "One Alien Down!"

I wanted to hope that she didn't hear it, but when I glanced in her direction she was looking at me and frowning, more than usual. Her hands were on her humanlike snake hips, and the controller had been set down on my coffee table. "Lucas."

I am about to be arrested by my own bodyguard. I paused the game and slowly turned my head to face her. "Yyyes?"

She pointed at the TV. "What did that digital human - just say?"

I faked a smile and shrugged. "Something about killing a creature unfamiliar to him."

She put her hand under her chin and leaned on the back of the couch. "I am not a fool. I had my suspicions, but now I cannot pretend otherwise."

I gave in. "Ok, so there's aliens in the game. It's not that big of a deal."

She scoffed and looked at the tv for a moment before looking back at me. "Not that big of a deal. Lucas, you play as humans, and are fighting against a multispecies alliance of aliens. This game is Anti-Advent propaganda."

I am so fucked. All the shit I've done for them, and now I'm gonna get canned for some stupid game I forgot about owning. I've got to say something. "I'm loyal to Advent, I have never once faltered with that. It's just a game that only I have access to. I wasn't going to distribute it to anyone."

She crossed her arms and paused for a moment. She gestured to me and the game with one of her hands as she spoke. "I've seen your record, your loyalty is reliable, but I cannot allow you to keep this. It's illegal."

Well, at least I'm not getting arrested, but still I can't just let her throw it away. Playing it reminded me, this is one of my favorite video games, and I've had a lot of good memories with it. "Come on, we're friends, right? I won't let anyone else play it."

She snorted and rolled her eyes. "Are we friends?"

What is she getting at? "Sure we are, we've hung out enough haven't we?"

She pointed at me. "Do not lie to me. I thought we were friends, until you did that interview with that female. I saw what you said."

That explains why she was acting weird after the interview. She must be so confused right now. "I'm sorry about that. Let me explain something." How the fuck do I even explain this to a being that doesn't interact with society much? I began. "There are - two of me. There is me, the Lucas that lives in this house, the Lucas that you know. And then there is Lucas the actor, he walks around in public. I have an image to maintain and I can't let people - fill in the - blanks." Damn I'm starting to sound like my manager.

After I finished speaking I saw her tail flick. "You have spoken about image before. How the public sees you, I understand..." She paused for a few moments, taking time to scan my face while she decided what to say. "I can't believe you. You told me yourself that you are a professional pretender. How do I truly know you're not just saying all this so I don't dispose of your game?" She regarded me with a serious expression, and it felt like she was interrogating me.

Huh, I hadn't realized she valued our friendship at all. I mean whether she wanted to be my friend never crossed my mind. Are we friends? What even is a friend? I could just say yes and move on, but I didn't want to lie to her, she deserved an actual answer. It took me a few moments, but I reached a conclusion. I looked at her eyes. I hadn't really considered how autonomous she was until now. Sure I have been enjoying hanging out with her, but I couldn't say I thought she was capable of doing things Advent didn't directly approve. Caring about a relationship is a distinctly human trait. Maybe now I saw a soul behind those eyes, real emotion. Perhaps even a reflection of myself, both literally and metaphorically. "In the beginning I was scared of you." She rolled her eyes again and stopped looking at me. "I know you knew that, I was just - admitting it. Over time I adjusted, and I'm no longer scared of you. Huh, I mean you bit me, and here I am playing video games with you. That's gotta count for something, right."

She turned around to face me after that, interested in what I had to say now. "That's true, you did humor me after we returned from the hospital." She played with her hands as she spoke and looked down at them. "And it was my fault you were there in the first place."

"Hey it's fine, don't worry about it. I mean I enjoy hanging out with you. Hell, you fuckin watched over me for two whole days. I don't think I know anyone that would do that for me, even if you were just doing your job." I paused for a moment to decide if I should say this or not, but fuck it. "If I'm being honest I feel indebted to you because you didn't leave me to die on my bed like an idiot."

I noticed her body stiffened a little. "That is my assignment Lucas, to keep you alive."

"Does that not make us friends?"

She looked down. "I am not sure. I haven't had many friends."

I tried to ease some of the tension, and now - sadness, in the room, by giving her an endearing smack on the back. "Well, you have one now." I smiled as I hit her back.

She moved away from me quickly and lowered herself onto the couch in some kind of a defensive posture. Her hood was wide and her tongue was flicking out slowly. I put my hands up. "Sorry, I uh, wasn't - attacking you. It was a friendly slap."

She squinted her eyes and observed me for a few moments before relaxing. "Friendly - slap. You humans have odd gestures of friendship."

I shrugged in a comedic manner. "Some of us do anyway." I grabbed her controller and tried to hand it to her. " You know, if you confiscate the game we won't be able to play it together anymore."

Her eyes darted between the controller and me. She crept forward and snatched it out of my hands before sitting down and getting comfortable on the couch. She tossed a sly look my way as she spoke. "I will make an exception this time, since we are friends, but if anyone else finds out we are both in trouble."

I grabbed my controller and unpaused the game. "I guess we'd better make it worth the risk then."

The levels seem to pass bye, as we played the game. 11-7 started talking after a few hours, she stopped taking the game as seriously and started to comment on things that happened. Making fun of me when I died, complaining when she died, she even was trying to make small talk with me. It was nice. Before I had her as my bodyguard I felt like a prisoner in my own house at times. Even though I've never done anything that would piss off Advent, living with three troopers made me feel like if I ever did, I would be arrested immediately. She made an exception for me in this instance. I wasn't even sure Advent soldiers, especially the alien ones, were capable of doing that. Whatever the case, I'm certainly not complaining. I'd much rather have a friend in my house than a prison guard. For the first time since she arrived, I think I was actually happy she got assigned to me.

All this self reflection had an affect on my game performance, and I got killed. 11-7 laughed at me, and told me I should use cover more. She walked backwards and I respawned. We both charged back at the aliens that had killed me before.

As we were killing them, she made a comment that caught me off guard. "I've studied your history somewhat, you know." She paused for a few moments. "Your species' history, I mean."

I wasn't really listening to her and was focused on the game. "Yeah, that's cool."

She kept going. "I don't understand, your history and media are filled with war and battle and conflict, but before Advent liberated you there were no recent conflicts between major powers."

I still wasn't paying much attention. "Huh, oh that's probably because of the nukes. Mutually assured destruction and all that."

"Yes, the - nuclear weapons your civilization managed to develop. Crude but effective. The more I understand about your society, the more I understand why the Elders are so interested in your species."

That caught my attention. "Are you suggesting we have some kind of warrior culture or something?"

She chuckled in a snake sort of a way. "It's not a suggestion Lucas, it is an observation. You are so clearly obsessed with it, even from an early age."

She seemed so sure of her assessment, which upset me. "Oh, come on. There is plenty of human media that is not related to war or conflict."

She smiled, like really smiled. I'm talking grinning from ear to ear. Well, if she had ears. "Yes, but which do you like more?"

I thought back on my childhood, and honestly pretty much everything I watched and played had some amount of violence in it. I couldn't really argue with her. "Ok, so there may be some truth to that. But what about your culture? I have yet to see a Viper baker."

She stopped playing and looked down at her controller. She fiddled with the thumbsticks with one of her claws, and it was a long time before she responded. "I - We don't have culture."

I didn't believe her, but I paused the game. "What do you mean you don't have a culture?"

She set down the controller and looked at me. I heard a sigh escape her lips before she responded. "We are born and bred to be soldiers. We are not like you, we do not live separately from Advent, we are Advent."

That's some heavy shit, I didn't expect her to open up like that. "So, you don't have - like - any music, art, architecture, food, stories even?"

She shook her head. "No, we are just soldiers. The only thing we have is our own language, but we are only permitted to speak Advent while on duty. "

"That's cool, that you have your own language, I mean. What does it sound like?"

She smiled at me and spoke a sentence of what I assume was her language. I was prepared to hear something stereotypical of a snake, namely just a lot of S's, but it was different. There were a lot of consonants and some of the sounds she made I had never heard in human language before. I'd assume some of those sounds were only capable of being produced by a creature with a long prehensile tongue. Some of what she said I couldn't really sound out in my head.

"I didn't expect it to sound like that. What did you say?"

She gestured to me and to the tv "I said I am enjoying this activity with you."

"Happy to hear. It sounds, uh, unique. But I doubt I could ever speak it though. Don't have the proper equipment." I chuckled after saying that.

Her eyes widened a little and she shook her hands at me. "Oh no no no. Don't worry, you don't have to learn. I speak the human tongue, it is easier this way."

"That's true." I paused for a few moments thinking of what to say next. "You're not from Earth. I mean I never heard stories about Vipers before Advent arrived. Don't you have a home planet to return to, or to visit?"

She shrugged her shoulders, and I saw a deep sadness in her eyes. Not the kind that would produce tears, but disappointment. "I wouldn't know. I've only known the inside of a spaceship and earth."

"Damn, I'm sorry. I can't - imagine living like that. Not having a home, a culture, a past history to be proud of. That would suck." I wish I could say more, but I've never been good at comforting people before.

It was then I noticed how close 11-7 and I were sitting. I think she noticed too because she scooched away slightly. "It is ok. My sisters don't understand why this is bad, but I am happy to see you understand." She blinked her eyes a few times and smiled at me. "Let us continue the game."

So we kept playing Halo, well into the night. About halfway through it I turned down the difficulty because we started dying too much and we were both getting angry about it. Playing this game with her was the most fun I'd had in a long time. Granted, it wasn't contending with much. Really helped me forget about the failures of last night, or 3 nights ago I should say. Eventually we beat it, and I felt a wave of nostalgia while we were watching the final cutscene. She was sad that the game was over, but I reassured her that there was a sequel. She wanted to play it right now, but I was dozing off a little there on the last level, so I told her I was going to bed. But, I gave her permission to use the Xbox whenever she wanted to, much to her delight. I think I'd enjoy having her ability to not need sleep as much, especially these days. We exchanged goodnights, and I went to my room.

I climbed into my bed, and plugged in my phone. By all accounts I should be terrified of her, I mean she almost killed me. But, I'm just not, seeing how she lives firsthand has all but eliminated that fear. I mean if she was staring daggers at me all hours of the day and being silent, like how every Viper I've come across has acted in public, I would still be scared of her, but she isn't. It makes me wonder if the aliens have more autonomy than the troopers. All those years that I lived with the troopers they never once spoke to me about anything other than business, they were like robots. Since she doesn't have a culture, or even a home planet it really makes me think. What if the Elders just grabbed a few of them to clone, and never bothered making an alliance with them. But if they did, why not do that with us? Whatever the reason I can see why they keep us separate. It was a small gesture, not destroying my game, but it said a lot. Maybe other Vipers harbor some sort of empathy for humanity. If 11-7 does, then there must be others. I really should be getting to sleep, as much as I'm dreading it. Something tells me I won't be lucky with not having dreams like I was when I was comatose in bed for the last 3 days.