------- Chapter 3 : Home Is Where The Heart Is -------
Matilda bent over, hand against the side of the building to maintain balance, breathing hard and fast. She wheezed with every breath following the sheer level of exertion she had just undergone. She straightened up and was rewarded by a wave of dizzyness from lack of oxygen. Slumping against the wall she looked out from the shadowy alleyway onto the street she had just come from, all the while fighting to bring her breathing under control.
The Doctor had made good on his promise and paid her a visit at around nine hundred and twenty-five Beats, after most of the staff had gone home. He tucked her into bed and stroked her face while reassuring her that it would all be over soon, that was when she punched him.
The blow struck him on the side of the face and she probably hurt her hand as much as him, but the force was enough to knock him off his feet and to the floor. She had sprung out of bed and before he could utter a word, delivered a swift kick to his face. The sound of his nose breaking strangely satisfying. With Doctor Sierra unconscious, Matilda removed his lab coat, put in on and ran. The route to the lifts unpopulated, the security guards at the desk covering the nightshift barely gave her a second glance, so engrossed in the Holocast they were watching. Disguise shed, she fled into the night.
The familiar cityscape of Pioneer Two greeted her, its orbit around Ragol designed to emulate the day cycle of Coral, their homeworld. The industrial sector was situated to the outskirts of the city, close to the dome wall and far from the sight of its main populace. She had run, the action itself seemed natural, almost as if it had been programmed in and very different from the slow jogging afforded by her old body. Her bare feet pounded the hard surface sending a near constant stream of pain up her legs, but she did her best to ignore it.
But with the speed there came a price, her new body lacked the endurance and though she pushed it to its limit, she had to stop or face potential shutdown. Now sheltered by the darkness of the alley she could finally rest for a short period of time. The view down the street showed that no one was following her yet, the place almost felt abandoned. She pushed off against the wall and stretched her aching muscles without even realising. She was preparing to move off again when the spasm hit her.
Calling it a spasm was an injustice. It was more like a crippling pain that ran up her spine into the base of her brain. Her legs began to fold beneath her even as she arched backwards, eyes shut tight in silent agony. Since awakening in this new body she had experienced this kind of pain three times. The staff at the facilty where she had been held had expressed concern for her symptons but no one would provide even a hint of an explaination as to the cause.
Gradually it passed and she was once more able to rise to her feet.
What did they do to me?
She would find no answer here, she had to seek her master and find out what happened.
--------
Malice mumbled incoherently as he was roused from his sleep by the ringing doorbell.
"Huh? Wha?" He said still half asleep. "Okay okay, I'm coming, I'm coming."
He looked at his dimly-lit surroundings and wondered why they did not match his recollection of his bedroom, before realising that he had crashed on the couch still dressed in his hunter's armour. He rolled off and landed on the floor. The doorbell rung once more.
"What time is it...?" He squinted at his watch, the display flashed up 152 on itself. "For the sake of the light..! It's one fifty in the morning! This better be important!"
He struggled to his feet and shuffled towards the front door to his apartment, only pausing to grunt when his shin caught the coffee table. He heard footsteps from the farside of the lounge.
"'S okay, I got this one." He called out. "Go back to sleep."
He swung the door open slightly and poked his head through still bleary-eyed.
"Whatta ya wan..." His mouth fell open as he saw who it was.
Before him in the hallway of his apartment complex stood a young woman, she must have been no older than eighteen or so. Tall and slender, she looked fragile as she swayed slightly, her eyes almost closed and nearly hidden beneath her long black hair. She was clothed in a dirty and ragged blue dress, it's fabric too thin to be practical and her feet were bare and blackened by dirt. She opened her eyes slowly and looked at him.
She had finally made it. After a couple hundred Beats of running she had reached the residential sector of the Hunter's Guild. She had hoped that he would be there, that nothing terrible had happened to him, pressing the doorbell button she had wondered why her heartrate refused to return to a normal state. Without her internal chronometer time seemed to pass unbearably slowly and fatigue was rapidly catching up with her, when the door eventually opened, she almost could not open her eyes.
The Master! She had found him and he was safe! But he was wearing shiny new blue armour that she had never seen before. How long had she been gone for?
"Ma..St.." Was all she could say before exhaustion overwhelmed her and she began to faint.
Malice yanked the door open and caught her before she hit the ground.
---------
Malice stood in the doorway and watched the sleeping figure laid out in the bed. Even in the dim light that came from the room behind him, her pale skin seemed to almost glow, her long black hair spread out across the pillows, framing her face and making her seem even more... Vulnerable. A female voice came from the other room.
"You should not have taken her in."
"She looks like she been through something terrible, I wanted to help her." He replied.
"You cannot trust her, she could be a criminal."
"Not looking like that. She looks so innocent, I don't think she'd be capable of hurting anyone."
"Would you be so trusting if she were male?"
"That's got nothing to do with it." He said slightly annoyed.
"Why is she sleeping in your bed? She is dirty." Intoned the female.
"It's just sheets. They can be washed, she was so tired she collapsed into my arms... Besides..." He turned and began to close the bedroom door as he left. "I can sleep on the couch Matilda."
In the bed, the woman dreamed only of darkness.
Matilda bent over, hand against the side of the building to maintain balance, breathing hard and fast. She wheezed with every breath following the sheer level of exertion she had just undergone. She straightened up and was rewarded by a wave of dizzyness from lack of oxygen. Slumping against the wall she looked out from the shadowy alleyway onto the street she had just come from, all the while fighting to bring her breathing under control.
The Doctor had made good on his promise and paid her a visit at around nine hundred and twenty-five Beats, after most of the staff had gone home. He tucked her into bed and stroked her face while reassuring her that it would all be over soon, that was when she punched him.
The blow struck him on the side of the face and she probably hurt her hand as much as him, but the force was enough to knock him off his feet and to the floor. She had sprung out of bed and before he could utter a word, delivered a swift kick to his face. The sound of his nose breaking strangely satisfying. With Doctor Sierra unconscious, Matilda removed his lab coat, put in on and ran. The route to the lifts unpopulated, the security guards at the desk covering the nightshift barely gave her a second glance, so engrossed in the Holocast they were watching. Disguise shed, she fled into the night.
The familiar cityscape of Pioneer Two greeted her, its orbit around Ragol designed to emulate the day cycle of Coral, their homeworld. The industrial sector was situated to the outskirts of the city, close to the dome wall and far from the sight of its main populace. She had run, the action itself seemed natural, almost as if it had been programmed in and very different from the slow jogging afforded by her old body. Her bare feet pounded the hard surface sending a near constant stream of pain up her legs, but she did her best to ignore it.
But with the speed there came a price, her new body lacked the endurance and though she pushed it to its limit, she had to stop or face potential shutdown. Now sheltered by the darkness of the alley she could finally rest for a short period of time. The view down the street showed that no one was following her yet, the place almost felt abandoned. She pushed off against the wall and stretched her aching muscles without even realising. She was preparing to move off again when the spasm hit her.
Calling it a spasm was an injustice. It was more like a crippling pain that ran up her spine into the base of her brain. Her legs began to fold beneath her even as she arched backwards, eyes shut tight in silent agony. Since awakening in this new body she had experienced this kind of pain three times. The staff at the facilty where she had been held had expressed concern for her symptons but no one would provide even a hint of an explaination as to the cause.
Gradually it passed and she was once more able to rise to her feet.
What did they do to me?
She would find no answer here, she had to seek her master and find out what happened.
--------
Malice mumbled incoherently as he was roused from his sleep by the ringing doorbell.
"Huh? Wha?" He said still half asleep. "Okay okay, I'm coming, I'm coming."
He looked at his dimly-lit surroundings and wondered why they did not match his recollection of his bedroom, before realising that he had crashed on the couch still dressed in his hunter's armour. He rolled off and landed on the floor. The doorbell rung once more.
"What time is it...?" He squinted at his watch, the display flashed up 152 on itself. "For the sake of the light..! It's one fifty in the morning! This better be important!"
He struggled to his feet and shuffled towards the front door to his apartment, only pausing to grunt when his shin caught the coffee table. He heard footsteps from the farside of the lounge.
"'S okay, I got this one." He called out. "Go back to sleep."
He swung the door open slightly and poked his head through still bleary-eyed.
"Whatta ya wan..." His mouth fell open as he saw who it was.
Before him in the hallway of his apartment complex stood a young woman, she must have been no older than eighteen or so. Tall and slender, she looked fragile as she swayed slightly, her eyes almost closed and nearly hidden beneath her long black hair. She was clothed in a dirty and ragged blue dress, it's fabric too thin to be practical and her feet were bare and blackened by dirt. She opened her eyes slowly and looked at him.
She had finally made it. After a couple hundred Beats of running she had reached the residential sector of the Hunter's Guild. She had hoped that he would be there, that nothing terrible had happened to him, pressing the doorbell button she had wondered why her heartrate refused to return to a normal state. Without her internal chronometer time seemed to pass unbearably slowly and fatigue was rapidly catching up with her, when the door eventually opened, she almost could not open her eyes.
The Master! She had found him and he was safe! But he was wearing shiny new blue armour that she had never seen before. How long had she been gone for?
"Ma..St.." Was all she could say before exhaustion overwhelmed her and she began to faint.
Malice yanked the door open and caught her before she hit the ground.
---------
Malice stood in the doorway and watched the sleeping figure laid out in the bed. Even in the dim light that came from the room behind him, her pale skin seemed to almost glow, her long black hair spread out across the pillows, framing her face and making her seem even more... Vulnerable. A female voice came from the other room.
"You should not have taken her in."
"She looks like she been through something terrible, I wanted to help her." He replied.
"You cannot trust her, she could be a criminal."
"Not looking like that. She looks so innocent, I don't think she'd be capable of hurting anyone."
"Would you be so trusting if she were male?"
"That's got nothing to do with it." He said slightly annoyed.
"Why is she sleeping in your bed? She is dirty." Intoned the female.
"It's just sheets. They can be washed, she was so tired she collapsed into my arms... Besides..." He turned and began to close the bedroom door as he left. "I can sleep on the couch Matilda."
In the bed, the woman dreamed only of darkness.