Theta shifted her weight from foot to foot nervously; she'd been idling outside David's room for the last ten minutes. She felt the unfamiliar emotion of anxiety, she was unsure of what to do. She wasn't sure if wearing his dress was the best idea. David might be mad at her for not helping when he could have…
What if he wanted nothing more to do with her? That horrible thought made Theta very nervous. She didn't want David to hate her. Inside David's room Amanda laughed. Theta felt a rush of shame; her tiny sister had walked into his room without a moment's hesitation. That was something Theta found herself unable to do.
No! She was Theta damn it! She wasn't some cowardly child! With renewed determination she raised her had to open the door. Before she could she was overcome with another surge of doubt and settled for gently knocking. "Come in"
Hating herself for the irrational fear she was feeling Theta walked softly into the room. The floor was so very very interesting suddenly and her hands seemed unable to separate themselves, tying themselves into knots against her will. "Are you okay Sam?"
Theta looked at the human, shocked out of her brief surge of sheepishness. He was concerned for her? He was the one who was beaten on by a rogue Daddy! With an incredulous snort, Theta pointed at David. "Pft I'm fine…" Under Theta's piercing glare he corrected himself. "…ish. My ribs weren't broken just very bruised. My gunshot is patched up though I need to take it easy for a while. Oh and the loverly bite wound has been bandaged up and will leave a nice scar."
Theta felt a surge of relief, she was glad David was better then she had originally thought. "So will you answer my question now?" Theta was confused briefly before she realized he was asking if she was okay. She felt her face flush with the unfamiliar concern shown to her. To her surprise David started laughing. "I see your camouflage reflex has kicked in." Theta was confused for a second before the saw the color of her hair and noticed the heat emanating from her face. To her irritation her face deepened its blush, ignoring her orders for it to stop.
Before she could excuse herself Theta felt David's hand find her own. "Come on, sit down. I meant it; I want to know if you are okay." Theta sat next to the reclined human, squeezing his hand and smiling in response. "So are you okay?" She nodded for the first time ignoring her blush as she smiled at her friend. A twinge of pain caused her to gasp softly ruining the moment.
"What was that Sam?" Tentatively she placed her free hand over her belly; she hadn't gotten around to digging the shotgun's buckshot out of her skin yet. She stiffened as David placed the hand not holding hers on her tummy. Concern was evident on his face. "Is that buckshot?" She nodded tentatively; she didn't want him to get angry. "Can I help?" Theta blinked away tears and smiled at her friend. No one had ever offered to help her before, he hadn't even hesitated he'd just asked.
Overcome with gratitude, Theta leaned forward and kissed him gently on the cheek. Leaving the stunned human she stood slowly. Motioning for David to wait, she left to fetch her medical…stuff.
She returned soon after leaving. Smiling happily at the human she set a scalpel down next to him. Not pausing she casually pulled her dress off. Why did David suddenly sound like he was choking? She sat before the blushing human in the skintight pants she wore beneath her armor and her bra.
Gently she took his hand and placed the scalpel in it before brining it to her belly. "W-wait." She released his hand, she was well aware he wouldn't like the idea of cutting her. "Is this the only way?" Theta nodded patiently. "A-are you sure you want me to do it?" That was a good question…the thought of letting someone else cut into her flesh seemed foolish. Even now a small part of her was screaming a warning telling her that he would hurt her. She looked into his eyes, seeing the honest concern he held for her and smiled. She trusted him…more then she'd ever trusted anyone. Gently she once again grasped his hand; rubbing her thumb comfortingly against the back of his hand she brought the scalpel closer to her tummy.
Theta breathed in deeply, preparing herself for pain. She nodded to David. Pain tore through her tummy as the scalpel cut into her delicate flesh. With a slight whimper she leaned forward, resting her forehead against the top of David's head. Upon hearing her whimper he paused, waiting for a cue from her. She grabbed his arm, giving it a gentle squeeze.
Once again pain tore into the delicate skin of Theta's belly. She'd done things like this many times before; it was almost second nature to her by now. This time was different though. The pain seemed more distant, and David's presence soothed her greatly. With a slight surge of shock, Theta realized part of what drew her to the strange human…he made her feel safe.
()
Thompson closed the door into his medical bay with a sigh. The Bishop had been…displeased with their failure to gather the Adam. At least he had believed Thompson when he said it was far too dangerous to attempt to gather at this point.
He paused for several seconds before casting his gaze around the area, making sure he was alone. Upon verifying his isolation he pulled his radio from his pocket. With a practiced flick he activated the handheld device. "Tenenbaum…Tenenbaum do you copy?"
After several seconds a burst of static signaled the receiver of the message preparing to respond. "This is Jack, I read you Thompson."
Thompson savored the feeling of relief he felt when Jack picked up, he was risking a lot betraying the Bishop like this. "The Adam is where we thought it'd be. I left the main entrance sealed only with our pass code. Oh and I managed to convince the Bishop that the Adam was too much trouble to retrieve."
A burst of static was emitted from the radio's speakers as Jack gave a relieved sigh. "Good. Thanks Thompson, stay safe."
"You too." With that Thompson turned the radio off and mentally braced himself for the celebration in honor of the fallen the Bishop had planned. It looked like it would be…interesting for lack of a better word.
()
Theta looked at the seven metal balls David had removed from her belly; she hadn't realized there were so many. To her pleasant surprise he hadn't been disgusted by her or her unnatural healing ability. He hadn't enjoyed cutting her but after her reassurance that it was the only way to get the buckshot out he had helped.
"Are you okay?" Theta's attention was moved from the blood covered metal to the concerned face of her friend. She nodded with a smile. She was happy to see that he didn't seem to view her any differently then he had before, even after seeing first hand proof of how abhuman she was.
She looked down at his blood covered hands; he could have hurt her so easily. He could have cut too deeply, cut into her stomach and hurt her leech. He hadn't though, he could have killed her so easily and he hadn't. She had made herself vulnerable to him…put her life in his hands and he'd treated it like some rare treasure. He'd viewed her as something worth preserving, something precious. He hadn't seen a tool or an investment when he looked at her, he hadn't seen what everyone else saw he'd seen something beautiful.
Theta felt almost like her leech was squirming in her belly. The feeling was different though, it made her feel happy. She stood slowly with a smile, gently pulling David up from his bed. Casting her eyes quickly around the room she spied his suit, raised hand calling it into her grip she handed it to David. Gently she walked him to the bathroom before pushing him inside.
She couldn't help laughing as the flummoxed human stared at her blankly holding his suit. She motioned between him and the shower and then held up her dress and pointed to herself. "Ah yes, I suppose we should get ready for the Bishop's horrid little shindig."
Seeing his scruffy smile a sudden thought crossed her mind. Holding up a finger so he would wait she sprinted to her room. She returned within a minute holding her gift, an almost full bottle of shaving cream. A broad grin split David's face as he saw her present. He graciously took it from her before enveloping her in a tight hug. "I love you! You are a life saver!"
The human then turned and sequestered himself in his bathroom, seemingly unaware of the stunned Big Sister he left behind. After several seconds Theta felt a small hand grab onto her far larger one. She looked down at her sister still slightly dazed. "I like him too Sissy, it's nice to see you smile." Blushing furiously Theta led her small charge to their room. They both needed to get ready for the ball thingy after all.
()
The Bishop's party…ball…thingy was loud, very very loud. Theta's ears pained her slightly as the overly loud music contended with the overly loud monsters all vying for the attention of their desired mates. One monster had even tried to gain her favor; it hadn't ended well for the malformed freak.
Theta glanced to her smaller sibling who appeared to be enjoying herself, no doubt seeing dozens of beautiful people dancing elegantly instead of dozens of deformed monsters lurching across the ballroom's floor.
"Guardian." Theta jumped in surprise as the doctor monster appeared next to her. Stupid noise! That monster wasn't stealthy enough to sneak up on her normally. "I feel I owe you an apology." Theta paused, thoroughly confused. "I viewed you as little more then a mindless automaton and you are far from that." She snorted dismissively; she didn't care what the monster thought of her. "Your reaction to finding David alive more then proved that." She glared at the irritating monster; it was treading on dangerous territory. "A word of advice, don't display much affection for him in public. There are those who would take advantage of your attachment to him." Before Theta could overcome her surprise and snap at the monster it nodded respectfully and with a murmured "Guardian" rejoined the throngs of monsters.
As Theta turned from the doctor monster, feeling distinctly nervous, she spied David for the first time. He was wandering through the crowd of Splicers, and from the look of it the she-beast was stalking him. Rolling her eyes Theta stood and felt her body disappear. Reappearing with a pop she grabbed David's hand, dragging him towards Amanda and her alcove and away from a certain disappointed she-beast.
Now that they were able to relax at their out of the way table Theta actually studied David for the first time since she saw him last. He looked cleaner then she remembered and much less scruffy. In his grayish suit he was actually kind of handsome. Theta blushed at the thought and ducked her head. She didn't know why she reacted like that. It wasn't as if he could read her mind…could he? Turning to face him fully Theta sent a thought she knew would upset him his way. 'You are mush less amusing then you think and are a constant burden on your allies'
When David's only reaction was a raised eyebrow at her intense staring, Theta smiled. She was glad he hadn't heard those thoughts, they weren't even that true. He was amusing except when he timed it inappropriately and he wasn't completely awful at fighting.
They sat in an awkward silence for several minutes; apparently David didn't know what to say. Theta sighed internally; she must have done something wrong he was normally so talkative. She turned to her drink with a frown, moodily swirling its contents with her straw. Across from her David slurped noisily from his nearly empty drink, the obnoxious noise grating on Theta's nerves. Theta had to suppress the urge to make his drink explode all over him; while it would have been amusing he probably would have gotten mad.
After several more minutes of awkward silence Theta's smaller sibling took the matter into her own hands. "Sissy, why don't you dance with David?" Theta sent a murderous glare towards her little sister shaking her head. "Oh come on Sissy! I know you can dance!" Theta turned from her horrible sibling and glanced sheepishly at the human sitting across from her.
David was rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, glancing between Theta and the little devil impersonating her sister. "So uh…do you want to dance?" Ignoring her sister's smirk Theta stood and, grabbing David's hand, dragged the human towards the dance floor.
()
Amanda was very pleased with herself. First she'd found Sissy's secret stash of Pep Bars, then she'd found Mr. Ordinary's beanoclears, and then she'd gotten Sissy to dance with Mr. Ordinary! She hadn't been affected by her sister's blood curdling glares; she knew that she'd be thanking her in the end. After all Mr. Ordinary made Sissy smile, and it had been far too long since she'd seen Sissy smile.
The beautiful ball had ended a short while ago and Amanda was now alone with Mr. Ordinary in his room. Sissy had followed them back to his apartment but had left almost immediately after arriving indicating in her unique way that she would be back soon. With nothing else to do, Amanda set out to help make sure Sissy would be happy. Plopping down next to Mr. Ordinary on the couch she stared up at him with the kind of calculated gaze only a child has. "Sissy's pretty."
Surprised Mr. Ordinary glanced down at her before responding. "Yes…she is."
"And you're handsome."
"Um…thank you?"
"You should kiss."
Staring in shock at the little girl sitting next to him, Mr. Ordinary tried to formulate an appropriate response. "Um…isn't that something only adults should worry about?"
Amanda crossed her arms, giving the human a dry glare. "No. You make Sissy happy, Sissy makes you happy." Crossing her arms with finality she finished. "So you should kiss."
"Um…no?"
Amanda stared at the human in shock. He liked Sissy, and Sissy liked him. Why were they overcomplicating it? With a sigh she covered her eyes with a hand. "Okay, do you like Sissy?"
"There are different types of like…"
"That's a yes or no question. Don't question yourself just answer!"
With a sigh Mr. Ordinary slumped back in his seat. "Yes."
"Okay. And I can say without a doubt that Sissy likes you." Hoping that she'd dumbed her reasoning down enough for the human to comprehend Amanda finished. "So you should kiss!"
"Um…that's not really how this works…"
With a frustrated cry Amanda threw her hands up in disgust, how dumb was this human?
()
Theta settled her armored bulk silently on the ground of the Bishop's inner sanctum. She was done waiting, this monster was up to something and she was going to find out what! The building itself was bordering on ridiculous. It had been built into stalactite…or stalagmite…or whatever… it was on the ceiling. It was connected to the apex of the Cathedral of Ascension, or whatever the idiotic monster's called the great stone church thing they made, by a series of metal catwalks.
The inside was borderline opulent with thick carpets, leather furniture, and what looked like silk sheets on the bed. Theta snorted in distaste, while his followers wallowed in squalor this "benevolent leader" lived like a king. She cocked her helmeted head as she found a promising room; it appeared to be some kind of library.
Theta entered the room silently, cautiously eyeing the labels on the books and voiceboxes. A series of voiceboxes looked promising, they were titled Ascended. Theta tentatively grabbed the first one and hit play. An unfamiliar voice sounded from the small machine, it sounded excited.
"The research is progressing remarkably well; the test subjects are showing a marked increase in their tolerance to pressure, temperature, and lack of air. While most can only hold their breath for a very long time some of the newer subjects display a limited ability to breath underwater. We will aim to improve that trait in future generations."
"As we agreed the volunteers families are being taken care of, they are given accommodations, food, and medicine. Hell at this point they're living better then my own family."
Theta returned the voicebox to its original position, her curiosity piqued. This time as she grabbed one she chose one from the middle. The same voice echoed around the room, though it sounded tired now, almost wary.
"One of the older subjects was killed last night…several of the younger ones swarmed him. They stripped him to the bones within an hour. The other earlier subjects are giving them a wide birth. These newest subjects are much better adapted to their aquatic environment then their older brethren. At this point I don't see how much more we could improve with future generations."
"I won't lie…the newest subjects make me nervous. They retain more of their previous intelligence and seem to almost enjoy hunting the older subjects. I fear we may have taken too much of their humanity in the pursuit of knowledge."
Uneasy now, Theta grabbed the first one marked with different hand writing. A familiar voice echoed eerily from the device, the Bishop.
"Danson was a fool, he didn't realize what his 'subjects' were. That fool actually managed to stumble upon the next step of humanity's evolution! To think…he wanted to destroy them! Destroy his children…destroy our future. He had lost his grip on reality, he wasn't talking sense. I fed him to his children…there must be some poetic irony in that fact."
"Starting tomorrow I'll begin to reeducate the local populace. They must come to realize that these beings aren't monsters. They aren't our death…but our future!"
Theta felt a chill go down her spine, something was very very wrong here. "You weren't supposed to hear that." Theta spun around, raising her harvester. In the entrance to the library stood the Bishop, calmly standing in place hands raised over his head.
Theta growled at the strange monster, she wasn't taking any chances. "The people have been happier since it started, they have hope now." The Bishop began to walk calmly into the room, running his hand along the backs of the assorted books set against the wall. "I gave that to them and they love me because of it. I offer them an escape, a way out of their hellish existence" Theta growled louder, waving her harvester. She wasn't going to let him get any closer. "I know what you're thinking, I've seen it before. You think I'm wrong, that I'm sick, that the hope I offer my people is false." The Bishop stood his ground, unnatural eyes staring into her blood red porthole. "You are the one who is wrong…and I won't let you bring my followers to harm." The Bishop raised his hand calmly, a small cylinder clenched in his fist. "Goodnight Guardian…it's a shame it came to this." The bishop pressed the button on the end of the cylinder…nothing happened.
With a furious growl Theta lunged forward. Something was wrong…it was as if she was moving in slow motion. The Bishop sidestepped her with ease. Theta fell to her knees. Everything…everything was spinning…there were lights flashing in the air…what was that smell?
Theta stared at the beautiful lights in confusion as her awareness faded. The air in her helmet flooded with a potent knockout gas, courtesy of the Bishop's generous repair. Her last thought was of David…he had a nice smile.
()
David glanced awkwardly at the little girl giving him the evil eye. It wasn't his fault she spoke madness! To his relief a knock sounded on the door. "There see? There she is, maybe she'll help dispel your sudden bout of cranial insanitosis."
David rushed to the door, eager for Sam to help talk sense into her smaller sibling. Grinning broadly he pulled the door open. Bartimaeus stood on the other side, flanked by two cronies. Feigning joyous surprise, David raised his hands over his head. "Bartholomew! How are you?"
The Splicer smiled his sick little smile and cracked his neck. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do this." With shocking speed Bennie slammed his fist into David's nose. David landed on his back, too stunned to defend himself. The Splicer knelt next to him, cruel grin splitting his face in two. "Don't worry Davy Boy, I'll take good care of you." His fist crashed once more into the human's face. The last thing David was aware of was Amanda's terrified screams.
What a happy turn of events! As always I hope you liked the newest chapter, reviews are greatly appreciated.