Seth woke up that morning and sighed. The Director had given him a few days off, to let his body recuperate. He didn't want to just lie around, but what else could he do? He got off his bed, and walked into his bathroom.
He felt better, but still not 100%. He turned the shower on, and stepped under it. The water was hot, and felt good. He took an hour long shower, and then went to get breakfast.
He entered the mess hall, and picked up a tray. He looked at the breakfast choices. There were eggs, pancakes, and French toast. He got the pancakes, and covered them in maple syrup. Then he went and sat by himself.
The others were on separate missions, so he was alone for the day. If he remembered correctly, North, South, Tex and Wyoming were trying to capture an insurrection leader, while Tex, Carolina, York, Wash, C.T., and Maine, were off getting another one of the Directors important "Objectives".
He felt a headache coming on. He had them a lot since the implantation, and they weren't getting any better. He clenched his jaw, as the throbbing in his head passed. After the pain had passed, he started talking to his AI.
"Hey Om, what should we do today?" He could tell the AI was thinking. It stayed quiet, and then finally came up with an answer.
"Maybe we should do equipment training." The confident voice said.
"Equipment? You mean like North's bubble shield, or Carolinas Chameleon ability?"
"Well, yes. What did you expect? To not have any equipment? Hell, even Wash has one." Seth laughed at his AI, which made some soldiers stare at him.
"What's so funny?" omicron asked, sounding slightly confused.
"It's- it's nothing!" Seth said, still laughing. He caught his breath, and kept talking to Omicron.
"Well, are you gonna keep me waiting?" Seth asked, expectantly.
"Waiting for wait?" omicron asked back still confused. Seth sighed, even computers weren't that bright sometimes.
"What. Is. My. Equipment." Seth said slowly. He could tell that Omicron was become annoyed.
"You can emit an electromagnetic shield around yourself, that can deflect bullets, and melee attacks."
"So, it's kinda like North's bubble shield?"
"Yes and no." Now it was Seth's turn to be confused. "It's more portable, and stays with you when you move. You can also still attack when it's activated."
Seth was dumfounded. That sounded like the coolest thing he had ever heard! He could basically become invincible! They had to try that out, now! He got up, and headed back to his room.
When he got back, his armor was in his closet. He started to put it on, when Omicron interrupted.
"Aren't you supposed to be resting?"
"Aw, c'mon Om, it's not really training, just practice. Besides, do you really wanna just sit around all day?" The AI couldn't argue with that.
Seth finished putting on his armor, and headed for the training floor. When he got there, he wasn't really sure what to do. How did he practice with his equipment? Omicron heard this thought, and answered.
"I would suggest starting a hand to hand combat session." He said.
"FILLS, activate hand to hand combat training." Seth said to the ships AI.
"Starting hand to hand combat scenario." FILLS said, still very chipper. After she said this, a single robot came up from the floor.
"Round start in, 3…2…1, begin!"
"Alright Om, Activate it."
"Activating."
Seth didn't feel anything. He looked at his armor, and couldn't see anything different with it. Seth looked back up, to see the robots fist about to make contact with his stomach. But, the metallic fist never connected, instead, it was reflected by an orange, yellowish, outline that came from the armor.
Seth stood, amazed that the punch hadn't landed. The robot tried, again, and again, but Seth just stood there. Each time a punch was about to hit, it was reflected. Seth couldn't feel it at all. It tried hitting his head, his back, and his kegs. Each one wielded the same results.
Then, Seth decided to finish it. He stepped left, as the robot threw a punch, and it fell forward. Seth continued by ramming his elbow into its neck, causing it to fall to the ground.
It slipped under the floor, as three more came up. Seth waited, grinning wildly under his helmet. No matter how hard they tried, they wouldn't win, they wouldn't even touch him.
Two came at him, and tried to land double punches, but both fists were rejected. Seth kicked ones legs out, and stomped its head, destroying it. The other two tried to flank him, but that failed to.
He jumped, and did a scissor kick, landed on both of the robots heads. They recovered quickly, and tried again. This time, Seth simply grabbed their heads, as they continually tried to punch through his shield. Then he bashed the heads together, ending the round.
Five robots replaced the last three. They circled him, and Seth laughed. A couple of familiar words came out of his mouth.
"This. Is gonna be fun."
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Wash stepped out of the shower, and grabbed his clothes. He was in a good mood, mostly because the mission was a success. Carolina and Tex even managed to work together. The thought almost made Wash shiver.
The thought of facing the best two freelancers together, was fucking terrifying. Wash was snapped out of his thoughts, when North came out of the shower. He was upbeat, as usual, but South was another story.
Their team had let the Leader get away, and had failed their mission. North wasn't too mad about it, but South sure was. Wash was glad the genders had different showers. He really didn't like being around South when she was pissed.
"Hey Wash, you want to go and grab something to eat?" North asked
"Sure, hey Maine, you wanna come too?" Maine growled a "yes" in response.
"Hey, I'm in too, I'm frickin hungry!" York complained.
"Dude, yours always hungry." Wash said.
"That is not true!" Maine emitted a growl that sounded like snickering. York just gave him a look.
After they had all gotten dressed, they walked to the mess hall. When they entered, they all got trays, and filled them with food. Then they sat down with their teammates.
"Hello there, good chaps." Wyoming greeted them, as they sat down.
"Hey Wyoming." North replied. South just stared at her brother. They had just failed a mission, and he was happy? That just pissed her off even more. That was North, always the happy one, even if they failed. She really didn't understand her brother at all.
"So, anyone got any plans? Tomorrow is Saturday, after all." Wash asked the group.
"Well, I talked 749er into giving us a ride later." York told them.
"A ride to where?" Carolina asked, also in a good mood.
"A certain club we all like to go to." York responded, grinning.
"Sounds like fun. I'm in." Carolina said the rest of the table agreed, and it was decided. They would go clubbing later, since they had the next day off.
"Do you think we should invite Penn?" Wash asked.
"Sure, why the hell not?" York asked back.
"Speaking of which, where is he?" Carolina asked them, directing more toward North.
"I don't know. He wasn't in his room when we came back. I checked. North said, slightly worried, although not showing it. Wash looked like he had just had an epiphany.
"Wash, what is it?" Carolina asked him. It took a second for him to answer.
"I heard someone in the training room, but I thought it was nothing." Wash said.
"You don't think…" She dropped off, looking to North.
"That he's training?" North finished.
"I thought he had the next few days off?" York asked them.
"He does, for medical reasons." North added.
"I'm going to go see if its him, anyone want to come with?" Carolina asked.
The whole table got up, and followed her. They walked toward the observation deck, when Wash asked a question.
"Would it be bad if he is training?"
"It could be, his body might be weaker than he thinks, and he could hurt himself." North responded.
They entered the observation and looked to the floor. It was set up for lock down paint. There were pillars around the room, and four robots. Seth was on the other end, with no visible weapon.
"Is he doing lock down paint, without a gun?!" Wash asked, puzzled.
"Looks like it." Carolina responded.
"Wow, I should try that." Tex said, to nobody.
"How long until he's out?" York asked.
"I'll give him a minute." Carolina said.
Seth had the bots marked on his HUD. He came to first, which fired upon him. The paint pellets just bounced off the shield though, and Seth moved forward. The robot kept firing, as Seth got closer. He got right up on the robot, before making his move.
He round housed the bots weapon, knocking it into the air. He then punched the robot causing it to stumble back. He caught the falling weapon in the air, and painted the robot.
"How the hell did he do that?!" Wash asked, impressed.
"Scans show his armor is emitting an electromagnetic pulse that acts as a shield that blocks bullets, and other attacks." Delta said, as he appeared next to York.
"I didn't even know he had equipment." Wash said.
"Me neither." York responded.
While they weren't looking, Seth had finished the other robots rather quickly, ending the match. The pillars sank back into the floor, and Seth put the assault rifle he was holding onto a table. It sank below the floor too. Wash leaned on the control panel, and accidentally hit a button.
"Uh, Wash? What did you just press?" York asked him, concerned.
"I-I don't, I didn't….. I don't know!" Wash said franticly.
"Um, you might want to see this." South said, looking to the floor.
Multiple turrets had appeared on the walls, and floor.
"They just shoot paint, right?" Wash asked, as their barrels began to turn. Gunfire erupted on the floor.
"Om, Keep the shield up!" Seth yelled.
"I'm trying; we haven't trained against bullets yet!" Seth could the strain in his AIs voice.
The turrets kept firing at him, but his shield held. Seth tried to help Omicron with the shield.
"Wash! Turn those damn things off!" Carolina screamed.
"I'm trying!" Wash yelled back. The freelancers could see the orange outline around Penn start to flicker.
"Wash! Move!" North said, as he took control over the panel.
On the floor, Seth and Omicron weren't doing well. The shield was about to give, and Om was drained.
"Om, can you calculate the vital points on the shield and just keep them up?" Seth suggested. The AI tried, and parts of the shield disappeared, as the remaining areas became brighter.
"We aren't going to last long!" Omicron said. The last of the shield began to disappear, as the turrets stopped. Omicron logged off, tired beyond belief, and Seth sat on the floor, also exhausted. Then, the other freelancers burst onto the floor.
"Are you okay?" Carolina was the first to reach him.
"Yeah, I wasn't hit." Seth responded.
"You shouldn't have been training." She told him.
"It was pretty easy training, until some asshole started shooting at me!" Seth shot back. "Who was it anyway?" They all pointed to Wash, who slinked back.
"Hey, were going clubbing, you wanna come?" York asked.
"I don't know…"
"You're coming." Tex said.
"Ok fine." Seth said, as he stood up. He walked over to Wash, and stood in front of him.
Seth was a few inches taller, and intimidated Wash pretty easily. He brought his armored knee, up into Wash's unarmored gut, causing the other man to fall to the ground, gasping.
"That's for shooting at me." Seth said, before walking toward the door. "Just let me change and I'll be right there." He called back to them.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Seth sat in 749ers pelican. He was wearing black jeans, and black polo shirt with white stripes. The others were dressed just about the same. The females wore dresses, with their corresponding color schemes. The males wore just about the same as Seth. Jeans, polo shirt, assorted colors.
"Alright, were ready to go." 749er called back to them Seth heard the engines start up, and then take off. The club was on earth, and it was a fifteen minute flight. Nobody really talked, they just sat in silence.
When they arrived at the club, it was just like Seth had expected it to be. Loud, crowded, and uninviting. They entered, and split apart. The club had a large dance floor, and a bar. Music was pumping extremely loud, and people were dancing.
York went to dance with Carolina, and Wash with C.T. Seth sat at the bar, and ordered a beer. He didn't dance. Instead he just dank, and watched the others. Eventually, Tex came, and sat by him.
"This is your idea of fun?" She asked.
"Hey, I don't dance." He told her.
"I can feel you there. To many people." She said to him.
"Exactly." Was his only response. Seth took another drink, and let the liquid burn his throat. After what happened to him the past few days, it felt good. The loud music was starting to bring his headache back. He took another drink.
The liquid fire felt good in his stomach. The headache got stronger. His head was throbbing. Seth finished his beer, and sat alone. Tex had gotten up, and left. That was his night. Drinking, and keeping a headache at bay.
Finally, at three A.M., they decided to leave. Everybody was drunk, except for Seth and Tex. Tex, because she can hold her beer, and Seth because he can too. They both helped the drunken freelancers onto the pelican.
"Looks like you guys had fun." She said. Seth gave her a look that could kill. His headache was killing him, and he just wanted to get home. Tex saw the look, and was about to ask him about it, but didn't.
The short trip felt longer for Seth, because the drunken freelancers wouldn't stop mumbling random crap. This didn't help his headache, and only pissed him off. He snapped when Wash started trying to apologize.
"Hey- i…im sorry, a-about earli-" Wash's drunk words were cut off by a fist smacking him in the face, and knocking him out.
"What the hell was that?" Tex asked him.
"He was annoying me." Seth growled.
They got back to the Mother of Invention without any more incidents. Seth didn't even help Tex with their drunk friends. Instead, he went to his room, and flopped onto his bed. His headache was horrible. He wanted to scream, and he was about to, when somebody opened his door.
A drunk South walked in. She was wearing a purple spaghetti strap dress, that only came to her knees. She walked up to Seth, and brushed her lips against. Shivers went up Seth's spine, as their lips touched. She released, then giggled before stumbling out of the room.
Seth laid down, and went to sleep. His headache had disappeared.