Kale opened his eyes and sat up in his bed, the dog was laying beside him as it often did. He stretched his back and wiped the sleep from his eyes before getting up out of the bed. He stretched and looked out his window to see that the day was typical of late May. The sun was shining, and he could hear a faint breeze blowing through the window that was propped up a bit to keep the room cool. He remembered the evening that he had and quickly headed into the hall. He could see the mans form laying with his back to doorway under the blankets on the bed.
"Okay, yup. Not a dream." Kale went back into his room and grabbed his phone off the headboard of his bed and looked at it again it was ten thirty. There were already text messages from Miranda asking if he was awake and had he seen the light in the sky last night. He already knew it wouldn't be a good idea to speak to anyone about what happened, he held his phone in hand trying to think of some reason to stay off the radar. Man, I was in bed at like 9 last night. I think I'm coming down with strep. Stay away. Kale ended the text message with a green sick face emoji and sent it off.
No problem good buddy. Feel better. The reply came back quickly, that would keep him relatively undisturbed for the next few days while he figured out his situation. He flicked open his Facebook app and scrolled through his timeline. Several people were posting pictures and video of the ship crashing, luckily even with high resolution camera's it was still all a shaking mess. A couple of pictures were shared of the actual site of the crash and there was nothing but the scuff marks for the most part. Kale flipped through the pictures and came to a shot of where he had found Kershala. There were black ashes on the rock and on the ground along with his dried violet blood. He began to wonder how much blood Kershala could loose and still be okay. Reading the comments told him that no one would be able to tell what it was anyway, and most people seemed to think it was oil or something. Kale breathed a sigh of relief knowing that no one was going to be looking for anything other than what they found at the site. He put his phone in his pocket, grabbed a change of cloths out of his suitcase and headed to the bathroom.
Almost trying to act like it was just any other day he started his shower and put on his morning music playlist. He stripped down and jumped into the shower the barely warm water jolting him out of his morning grogginess. He made it quick not wanting Kershala to wake up and just leave without telling him. He still wasn't sure of their intentions, but he wanted to be present when they woke up. He lathered up quickly and rinsed the soap from his body all in one motion. He sat for a moment to let the water run over him before getting out, toweling off and getting dressed. Kale went downstairs deciding that he'd cook something for breakfast and give Kershala time to sleep.
As he walked into the kitchen he turned on the radio by the fridge that was already tuned to a local easy listening station. He turned on the coffee maker and it bubbled to life. Then he headed to the fridge for some eggs, something he had almost every day for breakfast. He fired up the stove top and heated a pan than cracked four eggs into the pan deciding to do up enough for two in case Kershala was hungry. The song that was playing ended and a radio DJ began to speak.
"In local news today, it appeared as though a meteorite crashed into the forest last night. Many of you posted your videos to our page some good some bad. We had someone head back there today but no one could find any meteorite, if anyone got there before us and has it send us a snap of it. Cus we'd like to see it. Who knows maybe it just got up and walked away." The DJ prattled on about some other local stories that were generally disinteresting. The local community college was done it's semester and the return of some university grads. Kale couldn't help but laugh to himself at the "got up and walked away" comment. Another song started to play.
"If you only knew." The eggs were starting to sizzle from the heat and Kale gave them some attention making sure they cooked properly, and it wasn't long before they were done. Kale plated up the eggs and threw the hot pan into the sink he poured water over it releasing hot steam into the air. "Hm." Kale poured himself a cup of coffee and put some sugar in it. Then decided he would see if Kershala wanted to eat. He did his best to balance the two plates in one hand and with his coffee in the other hand he headed back upstairs into the spare room. He sat one of the plates on the table next to the AI core then put the other on the dresser by the door. "Hey Kershala," he said calmly, "just wanted to see if you were hungry." Kershala didn't move and the AI seemed to be at the very least not paying attention as neither of them responded. He sat and looked at Kershala for a moment, at some point he had taken the shirt off Kale had given him to wear and he was mostly uncovered by the blankets on the bed now as well. There was a beautiful vulnerability about him that was becoming increasingly more obvious to Kale. Something about the mysteriousness of him was alluring. Aside from the fact that he was physically beautiful, there was a softness there that Kale had never really came across in a man before. It had been a long time since he was attracted to a man maybe even several years since anything serious had come along. Kale shook his head. "Okay, bring it back." Kale sat next to Kershala on the bed and tapped the AI core. "Are you in there?"
"Yes," the AI said plainly. "I was running calculations on several scenarios that we face."
"When did Kershala eat last? I made him breakfast."
"It has been a few of your days." Kale was surprised to hear that it had been that long. "You may wake him. He has rested quite well according to his implants though his body will need time to heal."
"Is your coexistence common where you come from? Does everyone have those implants?" Kale couldn't imagine the technology involved in a true AI with full access to someone's body.
"No, our circumstances have forced us to adapt so that I may assist Kershala in keeping from …" the AI trailed off. "We will discuss this another time. Put your hand behind his ear as you did last night. The implant will wake him."
"That's not harmful is it? I don't wanna hurt him."
"Nor do I. It is not harmful." Kale shook his head and repositioned himself to be looking at Kershala so that when he opened his eyes he would see him. He put his hand on Kershala's face, his skin was warm to touch this time, his for-finger landed in the spot as it did the previous night and Kershala opened his eyes.
"Good morning," Kale whispered. Kershala reached up and touched his face briefly before sitting up in the bed a pained expression on his face. "Are you alright? How'd you sleep?"
"You've got severe bruising in several areas from both the crash and battle before it, do not move too quickly. The nanites you injected last night have depleted themselves fixing the blade wound and cannot repair you further. You will need time to heal." Kale could see that Kershala still wasn't really speaking his expression saying everything it needed to.
"I made you breakfast, if your hungry. It's not much but I can make you something else if you still feel like eating." Kale held up the eggs he made for him and sat them on his knee with a fork and knife. Kale took a bit of the egg on his fork and put it in his mouth. He realized as he chewed that he had forgotten any seasoning to speak of. Kershala examined the food briefly before taking almost a whole egg in his mouth and chewing. "At least it tastes good to you I guess." Kershala pretty much finished up the entire portion in only a few bites. Kale looked down at his plate. Really not feeling the eggs after the first bite and he offered them to Kershala who eagerly took the plate though he seemed to pace himself better with the second plate. Kale picked up his coffee and took a sip, slowly taking in the heat of the drink in his chest. "So, what does Kershala call you? Karu was it?" Kershala shifted his focus from his plate to Kale an aching in his eyes.
"Karu, is a term of affection mostly used in reference to one's birth Matriarch," the AI answered.
"Matriarch? Wouldn't you just call her your mother?" Kale was confused.
"A traditional family unit for the Daoran people may consist of many Matriarchs and Patriarchs." Kale thought it through but then realized his original question was left unanswered.
"So, what should I call you? You never answered my original question." Kale took another sip of his coffee.
"I do not have a name as you or Kershala do. I am an Augmented Neural Uplink and Biological Integration System."
"ANUBIS, exotic," Kale chuckled, "Is that okay?"
"It is suitable." Kershala sat the plate down on the end table next to the bed as he finished the rest of the food. Kale smiled at him as he sat on the bed and stayed quiet. Kale took another mouthful of his coffee and sat glancing between the two of them.
"And what do you guys plan on doing now? With your ship gone, unless someone comes to get you there's no going back, at least I assume there's not." Neither of them responded, Kale wasn't sure if they just didn't know or if they didn't want to tell him. "It's cool if you guys wanna stay here. I don't mind having a roomie. I live alone back in the city. I'm only staying here another few days until my grandmother comes back from her trip."
"Your hospitality is appreciated, we do not wish to impose. But as you correctly state we have no way currently to leave this planet," explained the AI.
"So, stay here. No worries for now. Not all humans are like me, so we may have to tidy him up a bit to fit in." Kershala cut his eyes slightly at the comment. "Hey man, I'm just saying you look a little unkept. I don't want people thinking I took in a homeless person." As the words left his mouth Kale regretted it.
"But we are homeless." Anubis spoke with no inflection in it's voice at all and Kale looked down at his coffee mug then back to the two of them.
"I'm sorry I… didn't mean that." He spoke solemnly, "I shouldn't have said that. Just by looking at you I can tell that you went through Hell to get here. I should have thought before I spoke." Kale sat peering at his mug for a long minute. "Are you still hungry? I can cook something else up." Kershala looked at Kale with little expression on his face. "Man, when is he gonna start talking."
"The Daora feel very deeply and he has been through something not many people live to experience. He will come around." Kershala looked at the AI core and Kale could see a sadness falling over his face again. He laid back in the bed and turned to the wall, his body jolting while he clearly cried to himself.
"Can you tell me what happened? I mean if I'm not being to forward."
"I cannot show you what put him in this state. But I can show you what his physical injuries were caused by," explained Anubis, "Take me to a large room and I will show you our … Hell."
"Um, okay." Kale stood up and picked up the AI core. "The basement is good and open." They left Kershala to rest in his grief and headed for the basement.
Kale flicked on the lights and stood at the top of the steps to the dark, damp basement. When he was a kid he could remember fearing going down there alone. Of course, he was just a kid so there was never anything that was going to hurt him. He started down the old creaky steps, they were blanketed in a layer of dust from disuse. No one really had a reason to come down here anymore. They used to use it for storage but after several yard sales and even a little bit of water damage it was pretty much clear. There was a large clearing just at the bottom of the stairs that would be good.
"This good enough?" Kale stepped out into the clear space with the AI core in his hand and swirled around in the open space.
"Yes," The lenses on the AI core did a quick scan of the area and it began to lift from Kale's hand levitating to the center of the room. "Please be aware that what is about to happen is a simulation. It cannot hurt you, though to you it will appear very real." Kale swallowed hard and nodded his head in acknowledgement. Bright lights began to shimmer from all four of the lenses on the AI core and their surroundings were changed to that of a small damaged home of unfamiliar architecture. Kale gasped at the realism of the projection it was more than clear that Kershala's people were very technologically advanced. Everything in the home was still even though there appeared to be fire burning it was oddly still for fire. "It is not active yet." Suddenly a woman and four small children populated around him as well as four armored creatures in the doorway.
"What are those things?" The inquiry was left hanging as the simulation started. Kale took a frightened step back as the large armored creatures barreled through the entryway. The creatures were fully armored in what appeared to be a black and crimson colored plating that skirted down their entire body. If you could only see their bodies, you would think they were human, but they had large heads. Kale couldn't see their face as they too were skirted in their armor, but the shape of their heads looked very animal in appearance. Strange glyphs wrapped around the armor different on each one of them.
"You will not take us!" Kale didn't expect to understand the language, the largest of the small children jumped at them from in behind the women. He appeared to be no older than ten, Kale watched in awe as a blade formed out of his arm as he was mid-air. He landed on the lead soldiers chest and forced the blade through its neck. The soldier fell to the ground and the one behind him grabbed the boy from the body and began to ring him by the throat with his arm around him to keep his weapon at bay.
"Please let him go!" shrieked the women pushing her other children behind her. Kale could see the life slipping from the child's face as the creature relentlessly and silently choked the life from him. He had never seen such violence deployed against a child before. "Tenaris!" The women pulled a weapon from her robes and opened fire missing her target. A loud crash to the left of the soldier and he fell to the ground freeing the child. The two remaining soldiers spun into action but before they could they were down. Everything happened seemingly in a heavy haze, something had broken through the wall causing dust and debris to be free in the air. A figure stepped out of the haze with the child in his arms and it rushed to the women's side. The figure was draped in a form fitting armor from head to toe, violet markings on an argent base, the helmet had no mouth but blank white openings where you'd expect the eyes to be.
"Will he be okay, Karu?" The voice was familiar the figure placed a hand behind where its ear should be, and the helmet seemed to crawl back from around his head to reveal a much less tattered and much more confident Kershala. The old women rushed to him and put her hand on his face, she looked at the child in his arms who was starting to come to. There was a flicker of light as she held her hand over him, a beam quickly flushed over the child.
"He will be okay, no permanent damage," she sighed in relief and took the child from him.
"Head to the escape ship, I will divert their attention." Kershala stood up to leave when the boy grasped at his hand from his mother's cradling arms.
"Kershala, I want to help you." Kershala turned to him and took a knee beside him.
"Tenaris, you have done enough." Kershala cradled the boys face and kissed him on the forehead. Kale watched as Kershala gave his mother a reassuring glance and stood up. The other children rushed to him and hugged at his legs. They were all much younger and didn't speak, Kale could see fear in their faces. Kershala touched them each on the head affectionately when the ground shook and there was an explosion nearby. "Go, Karu. Out the back, I will catch up to you in the attack pod. Once I have dealt with these demons." Kershala touched his implant and the helmet reformed around his head as he left the building.
"The attack pod, that must be what crashed," Kale spoke to himself. He couldn't help but feel like he was watching a movie in virtual reality. The women rounded up her children, Tenaris took to his feet and held the smallest girls hand and left through the opposite door with the women and other children. Kale felt an anxious feeling that he had never had before forming in the pit of his stomach when the surroundings suddenly changed to that outside the building following Kershala. He peered around at the alien landscape, it was unlike anything he had ever seen before. It seemed desert like in nature, huge strange rock structures surrounded the small building. On the ground strange plants reacted beneath his feet they were strange off orange and yellow colors, the dirt a deep blue color. He looked up at the sky where he could see two massive moons. It seemed to be daytime, but the sky almost matched the sand in color, so vibrant it was almost hard to look at. "Was this your home?" he whispered.
"Finally, we have caught up to you and your forsaken brood!" A deep imposing voice boomed all around them. Kale felt his heart skip a beat startled from the unexpected volume of the voice. He could see Kershala bracing himself for whatever was to come, tears started to form in front of him and dark holes started to open several more of the soldiers stepping through. "When we found your Patriarch, we weren't sure if you were with him. We didn't really believe that he would be foolish enough to keep his kin so close to him. But I had an inkling." The voice banged all around them. "Bring me his blood so that I may add it to my trophy collection, the blood of a prince will make me the envy of the Shironian sects all across the quadrant!"
As the soldiers approached him Kershala took up a combat stance taking a lower stature with his legs braced and fists raised. Kale felt his heart racing, feeling fear for him even though he knew that somehow, he was going to make it out. Kershala didn't wait for them to get to him when he ran at the nearest one to him. He came within arms reach and immediately engaged in combat, hit it with his fist. The armor it was wearing did little to protect it as its head practically swung all the way around, Kale could see the dent in its armor where Kershala had struck. He immediately turned his attention to the next closest landing a kick to its chest knocking it back several feet to the ground. The next three came at him together he brought his arms up in a cross to block a fist from two of them and kicked the third one that came at him from behind. He gripped one of the other two and basically swung him like a doll into the other. Kale couldn't believe watching Kershala fight, how powerful he seemed, all he had done and he didn't even seem winded. Kershala put down 4 more with similar ease before the remaining soldiers began to hesitate.
"What is wrong demon! Expected this to go more in your favor?!" Kershala screamed in rage.
"What's wrong with you fools, one Daoran rodent shouldn't be able to best you so easily," the voice echoed overhead. Another tear opened and several more soldiers stepped out. Kershala turned his attention to the new arrivals, he ran toward them and bounded into the air at least fifteen feet. Kale watched as just before he struck one of them a glowing whip wrapped around his waist from behind, catching him mid air and slamming him back to the ground. Kershala grunted but got right back to his feet and grabbed the whip using it to throw its attached owner at the new arrivals. This managed to knock several to the ground, but they had now armed themselves with various weapons. Their weapons were strange, they seemed to be directly attached to their armor, various blades and whips and some weapons that Kale was sure there wasn't a human equivalent to. The soldiers came at Kershala, the first few he dispatched easily managing to decapitate one with its own whip another he thrust his fist through it's chest. Then he began to get overwhelmed seeming taking hits from all angles. His armor seemed to be taking most of the attacks, but he didn't seem able to move. Kershala seemed to still be fighting knocking three more away with his first. Kale could see a glow traveling the purple glyphs in Kershala's armor. In one quick motion he watched the glow travel to Kershala's fist, with that Kershala slammed his first on the ground. A blast of energy was released from him that knocked his attackers seemingly in every direction. Kale ducked down as one flew straight at him.
"Nanite integrity at sixty percent," Kale could hear Anubis speaking seemingly from inside the suit, "You should retreat now while you have the upper hand."
"Has the ship taken off yet?" asked Kershala.
"Not yet they are still en-route."
"How long do they need?" Before Anubis could answer, an energy weapon hit Kershala from his flank. One of the soldiers had recovered and was running at him with his wrist held up the energy blast coming right from a wrist mounted cannon. The weapon didn't look like much at first, but the next blast hit Kershala staggering him slightly. He fired again this time Kershala was able to dodge and threw something at him. Kale couldn't quite make out what it was, but it hit the creature and exploded sending body parts flying in multiple directions. It seemed to Kale as though Kershala was winning when a ship, the size of a fighter jet, abruptly appeared seemingly out of thin air.
"Fine then I will do this myself!" This was the voice they'd been hearing. A large weapon deployed from the bottom of the ship and fired a beam at Kershala, who picked up the nearest body and held it in front of him. The beam hit the body he was holding, and it vaporized.
"Holy shit!" Kale was shocked at the power these people had at their disposal.
"I knew that probably wouldn't work. But let's see how much those nanites your people are so proud of can handle!" The weapon seemed to change shape and turned red as it began firing not unlike a Gatling gun. Kershala shielded his face as he took heavy fire. Kale watched as he bounded behind a rock but not before taking countless energy blasts all over his body. The ship continued to fire a stream of the yellow energy projectiles at Kershala's hiding place. The rock between him and the ship was quickly turning into nothing as the weapon shredded the stone.
"Nanite integrity thirty percent. They won't stand much more of this." Kershala powerfully used the rock between him and the ship to propel himself into the air. The weapon tracked him hitting him several more times before he landed on top of the ship. He held on by one hand and began punching at the one-way glass on the face of the ship with the other. Kale could hear the loud bang of Kershala's fist crashing against the glass repeatedly. He could see it starting to crack as the ship started to move itself around to jar him from his grip on the hull. Kershala let out one last rage filled cry before his fist went through the glass completely shattering it and leaving the pilot exposed. With ease, Kershala ripped him from the pilot's seat and leapt from the ship sending it crashing down in flames behind them. As Kershala came down he landed right on the creature before placing both hands on its skull and crushing the helmet with shear force. Kershala stood up and took a breath.
"Have they made it to the ship?" he questioned with desperation in his voice. Kale had to imagine that after such a feat Kershala must have known he couldn't last any longer.
"Yes. They have lifted off and are heading into orbit." Kershala exhaled in relief and just as he had another tear opened in front of him a slightly smaller warrior jumped through and stabbed him in the side, the blade weapon forcing itself right through Kershala's armor. Kershala cried out in pain from the wound, clearly taken by surprise. The new creature pulled back but before it could retreat through the tear that stayed open Kershala grabbed its arm with one hand pulled the dagger from his side with the other then drove the dagger into it's head. The body went limp when Kershala threw it into the tear before it quickly shut. Kershala fell to his knees gripping at his side and cradling the wound. He looked down at it after triggering his implant to remove his helmet. He looked down at the wound and the armor retreated to reveal the stab wound, his violet blood flowing like a river from the hole left in his side. The armor quickly closed over the wound and Kershala's helmet reactivated on its own, as he began taking more fire from several different directions. Kale figured they must have decided to deploy snipers as there was no one to be seen. Kershala's head made a motion as though he had been slapped, Kale gasped as Kershala cried out in pain and fell to all fours. Kershala reached into a slip on his leg armor and pulled out a small preloaded injector and shoved it into his thigh. He rose to his feet and quickly took off running, Kale could hear the shots whisking by him, the dirt and rock around him randomly shattering as the projectiles collided near him.
Kershala disappeared around the structure and their surroundings changed, the structure disappeared completely, and the attack pod seemed to be fifty feet or so away. Kale looked around, Kershala was no where to be found. He wasn't sure if the simulation was paused or not, the air was calm and silent for several long seconds. Then a noise came from behind him and Kershala landed in front of him rolling on the ground and getting to his feet. He left a trail of blood where he landed, and Kale could see a patch of blood for every step he took it was clearly running the length of his body. He approached the pod and the door opened Kershala stepped inside and Kale was transported just inside the door to the craft as it shut. Jarred by the experience he knelt to the ground and watched as Kershala took the pilot's seat and the ship came to life.
"You are damaged," the AI spoke. "You must seek medical attention." Shadow's flickered all around them and suddenly the ship was falling toward what Kale recognized as Earth. Kale could make out tears in Kershala's eyes as he reached frantically for his equipment, barely able to move because of his wound. Everything happened in a sudden motion as the ship collided with the planet breaking the glass Kershala was flung through the broken glass of the view port and slammed into a rock. Kershala barely moved but was able to prop himself up on his arms, his armor seemed to turn to sand and fall away from his skin and the helmet dissolved into the implant leaving him in the form Kale found him in, battered and broken. Kale watched as he struggled to roll onto his back, tears streaked his face and his wound seemed to be gushing, Kershala let out a cry then fell unconscious.
The landscape around him seemed to disintegrate and his surroundings changed to that of the basement again. The AI core still hovered in the center of the room and slowly levitated back to the ground. Kale stood silent trying to process everything he had just taken in, he wasn't sure how long it had been since the simulation had started and ended.
"Anubis how are you able to show me all of this?" he asked.
"Through the use of information gathered through the family's implants and sensor systems implemented in the housing and vessels I can reconstruct images of the past," Anubis elaborated.
"I can't believe that was Kershala. How did he learn to fight like that? How did that little kid get a blade out of nowhere? What were those things that were attacking you guys?" Kale had so many questions about what he had just seen he didn't even know where to really start.
"Forgive me, I understand you have questions, but it is not for me to decide if I may answer them for you at this time." Kale walked over and picked the AI core from it's spot on the floor.
"Why is that?" he asked.
"You must understand, Kale. We have been hunted for a very long time. I will let Kershala decide what to tell you about our people." Kale accepted the explanation, after what he had just seen it would have been wrong to argue. There would certainly be time for that later.
"I'd like to say I get it, but I don't think there is anyway I could ever understand what it's like to be hunted."