?
Barbara awoke with a start. Her chest heaving and her lungs gasping for air. Her vision was hazy and blurry. Allowing her to only see the whites of lights above her. Back dropped by a dull white. She jerked upwards, frantically trying to gain her bearings. But the sudden movement made her vision swim even more. Before she knew it, she was falling off the side of whatever she had been lying on.
She landed in a tangle of limbs and body parts. The floor immediately chilled her with how cold it felt on her legs and arms, an unwelcome shock to her system. She rolled slightly and settled on her arms and knees. Before she pressed her forehead against the floor below her. Its chill now serving to calm her racing heart and giving her something else to focus on.
She sucked in long and shaky breaths as her heart rate started to drop. Suddenly, the surrounding room exploded into a flurry of different and overlapping sounds. Above her, the whine of a heart monitor droned on incessantly as another device chirped in a strange pattern nearby. Then, just as suddenly, the room was silenced and a dull red glow appeared.
Barbara fought against the groan that threatened to spill from her lips as she slowly raised her head to face the strange glow. Her eyes fell upon a familiar glowing figure, who was staring down at her with a face contorted in concern.
"Please try not to move again Ms. Minerva. You're still feeling some of the after-effects of the oxycodone." The figure requested from her pedestal.
"Where…. Where am I?" Barbara gasped out. The words sounded horse and scratchy to her ears.
"You're currently in the medical suite of the UNSC Katoptris." The figure answered easily before following up with a question, "Are you able to return to the medical cradle on your own, or do you require assistance?"
Barbara ignored the question as her right hand reached up and started blindly searching for a handhold. Eventually, her fingers found purchase in a small gap above her and she began to pull. Instantly, her muscles screamed in protest. Feeling as if she had been dropped in a raging fire. She swallowed her yelp and focused instead on rising to her feet. Even if every movement was agony.
"Please stop. Help will be along momentarily." The figure ordered. Barbara figured she must look as bad as she felt if the red woman was already calling for assistance. She stopped her struggle and instead just focused on breathing. The only thing that didn't feel like pure agony.
Distantly, she heard the dull thud of boots running on metal, the sound growing as whoever it was approached. She turned her eyes toward the sound and could barely make out the shape of a door and glass window positioned against the far wall, facing the bed she was leaning against. There was then the sound of a quiet hiss as the door slid open, revealing a familiar massive shape.
The dark void entered the medical bay and B-lined straight to her side. It then lowered itself in front of her, filling her vision with a blurry gold. It reached out and gently pulled her arm free from the side of the bed. It then guided her back onto the floor, each movement gentle. Surprisingly, its hands were warm and comfortable to Barbara, who had expected it to feel cold like the metal surrounding her.
"I'm going to lift you up now." A deep voice said and then suddenly Barbara was wrapped in a gentle hold. She felt herself be pulled upwards for a second, only to be laid back down on the bed a second later. The void then released its hold on her and took a silent step back and Barbara found she was already missing the warmth of its hold.
Another pedestal powered to life next to her and the bed as the figure appeared once more. It seemed to scan her body slowly before throwing a silent wave to the void behind it. The void, having understood whatever the gesture meant, turned and began to make its way to a nearby blur. It then threw open what had to be a pair of doors before rummaging around for something. A green rectangle then appeared in its grip as it closed the two doors and turned to make its way back over to her.
It unfolded the rectangle before unceremoniously draping it across her body, covering her completely from the neck down. She snuggled into its warmth as she realized it was some sort of blanket.
"What did the scan show?" A deep voice asked, making Barbara flinch slightly.
"Complete genetic recombination. Resulting in enhancements to her skeletal and muscular structure. Simulations also show a possible decrease in reaction times. Also, if I extrapolate based off these readings and assume similar enhancements have occurred in line with her….. Change, then I wouldn't be surprised to find enhanced vision, hearing, and smell. But further tests will required to determine to what extent." A female voice rattled off.
"What happened to me?" Barbara whispered to herself quietly, but it seemed the figure had heard her.
"That, Ms. Minerva, is exactly what we're trying to figure out." She spoke.
xxxxxxxxx
Three Days Later
"Alright, this time, I want you to sprint as fast as you can. Don't worry about slipping or falling, that won't affect our test." Phoebe spoke.
The AI was currently comfortably occupying Grim's upturned palm as the two of them watched the woman across from them. Barbara was dressed in basic UNSC marine fatigues consisting of a gray long-sleeved shirt and black cargo pants. For the past few hours, the trio had been conducting a series of tests on Barbara's new form. Ranging from basic reflex and hearing tests, up to their current program, which was a simple sprint to and from the tree line. The point of which was to establish some sort of baseline for her new abilities.
After she had awakened the second time two days ago, Barbara all but fled from the medical suite. She had raced down the winding halls of the Katoptris, turning randomly each time she ran into a dead end until she somehow made it down to the hanger. From there, she bolted out of the ship and into the surrounding forest.
It was at that point, that Phoebe sent the Spartan after her. It had taken him less than three hours to find the woman, not that she was trying to hide or anything. He had found her on a high cliff overlooking the ocean, behind her a wide open plain with a gentle breeze rustling the tall grass.
He had approached her slowly but knew that she had already heard him drive up. The Razorback wasn't exactly quiet or subtle. But even if he had found her on foot, Phoebe's projections showed she would have heard or smelled him long before he'd see her. It was quite impressive to the Spartan, but also led to a whole new battery of questions. Such as, how much information could her brain process before becoming overloaded? Or, how sensitive was her hearing and should they be worried about possible hearing loss outside of the island?
Grim had filed away those questions for Phoebe to answer later and instead strode up to her side. He then waited to see what the woman would do. He wasn't exactly social and whatever she was going through was outside his particular class of skills, so he defaulted back to his factory settings. Quietly waiting for her to start the conversation.
She had done so after another ten minutes spent in silence.
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Two Days Ago
"Why are you here?" Barbara asked quietly.
"Phoebe asked me to find you… She's concerned." Grim answered stoically. Below him Barbara huffed.
"Can't imagine why" She spat bitterly.
The two then descended into an uneasy silence once more as a gust of wind raced by. Barbara broke the silence a few minutes later.
"I didn't even want to go on our last expedition. It was just supposed to be a favor for my old college professor… The man was incessant in his requests that I lead it… He kept saying he was getting too old and that his old bones didn't move like they used to…. I knew it was a lie.
I told him I wasn't interested, that Yale was already plenty interesting to me and I didn't want to upend my life. But then he offered to fund three of my upcoming expeditions if I helped him….. It wasn't supposed to even be that hard. He just wanted me to observe his students and their digs and then give my thoughts as to who I'd want leading one of my expeditions.
Who'd have thought they'd all end up dead, and I imprisoned as a slave to a goddess? But I guess that isn't even the craziest part anymore." She finished explaining with a half-hearted gesture to her no form. She then reached over and threw a small rock off the cliff.
Grim shifted his weight uncomfortably behind her. Not knowing what to say.
"How high do you think these cliffs are?" Barbara continued. Uncaring of his comfort.
"High enough." He reasoned before adding, "But that's not the only way."
Barbara scoffed.
"Then what do you suggest? The entire world probably thinks I'm dead anyway. Two months is more than enough time for someone to notice, go searching, and then write me off. Not that it matters, I can't go back looking like… this. No one will ever take me seriously and all my research will be taken away."
"Why?" Grim asked with a tilted head.
"Why?... Why?!" Barbara screeched as she turned and stood. She then took a step forward to glare up at Grim before screaming once more. "Because I look like a freak! Like some messed amalgamation of cheetah and man! And how did this happen to me? A fucking Greek goddess laid a curse on me! You know, that same goddess that lives on an island that no one has ever seen before! Using something as ridiculous as magic!... I'd be lucky if they listened to me for more than a few seconds before hauling me off to the nearest insane asylum, or worse lab to be dissected!"
Grim just stared down at the woman as her eyes went glassy and tears began to fall.
"Well?!" She demanded.
"Phoebe is the most advanced AI on the planet, with access to some of the most advanced and secretive medical facilities in the UNSC. If there's a way she can help you, it'll be found there." Grim reasoned.
"That's it? That's all you have?" Barbara asked with a mirthless laugh. "Either throw myself off the cliff or let myself become some sort of lab rat that you and your AI can poke at to your heart's content?"
"Or you can learn to live with your new body." Grim interrupted, surprising both himself and her.
"What?" She growled.
"Your…..form is still mostly human. Discounting the more noticeable aspects, you're still able to blend in with most people. So long as you conceal your tail." Grim pointed out. "A semi-normal life is not off the table, but it will require adjustments to be made."
"Adjustments!... Like what? Living in a cabin in the middle of the woods and hunting hikers for food!" Barbara screeched.
"No. Like learning to accept you have a tail now, and that your skin is no longer the pale white it once was…. If you accept that, there shouldn't be any obstacles between you and your return to your life before." Grim explained.
"You mean the life that's no longer there?" Barbara scowled.
Grim shrugged, "If you have been declared dead, I'm sure Phoebe can figure out a way to reverse it and make you as whole as possible."
Barbara just glared at him, so he decided to press just a bit more.
"Do you really want to throw yourself off the cliff without even trying to fix this?"
xxxxxxxxxx
Now
After that, the woman had returned with him and they had gotten her settled in one of the spare officers' quarters. Phoebe had ordered Grim to search the ship for any sort of extra clothing they could give her, which is why she was currently wearing UNSC gear.
"On three. One, two, three!" Phoebe counted down before Barbara took off like a bullet. Grim's helmet cam and the various cameras scattered along the Katoptris' hull tracked her as she ran. Their feeds all poured into Phoebe, who was effortlessly quantifying and projecting the data before including it in Barbara's new file.
The AI was already thinking up possible cures and procedures that she could offer Barbara, or, failing that, a therapeutic outline that she could use to help ease the woman into her new form. Surprisingly, some of the files from the Spartan-II program may be able to help her tailor her plan.
"Well, I hate to tell you this Grim, but she's faster than you by a country mile," Phoebe observed.
Grim answered with a low hum as he watched Barbara pivot as her palm slammed into their chosen tree.
"Combine that with her enhanced musculature, nervous system, and improved senses and I think you have some major competition if ONI ever finds out about her." Phoebe continued.
"She's a civilian." Grim pointed out.
"Sure!" Phoebe agreed, before immediately pointing out the obvious, "But that wouldn't matter to them. Whatever she doesn't know they can train."
Grim answered with a grunt.
They waited was Barbara raced back towards them. Only to slide to a stop a few yards away. Her breaths came out a bit hurried, but Grim could tell from the small smile on her face that she was enjoying this little test.
"Seventy-five miles per hour this time. A new record." Phoebe announced happily.
Barbara straightened with a carefree laugh. "I guess the spots aren't just for show at least."
"No, they're definitely not. But how do you feel? Any more muscle strains or dizziness?" Phoebe probed.
"No. I mean, my muscles are still a bit sore. But this….. I don't know. I feel great." Barbara rattled off happily.
"That's good! It means that your body is adapting to everything. We'll still have to monitor you, but maybe we can start you on some sort of workout routine. Nothing too strenuous to start, but just something to keep you fit and focused." Phoebe hummed.
"I'd like that. I mean…. I haven't felt like this in months." Barbara rambled excitedly. Before a large grin spread on her face. "I want to go again. I think I can go even faster this time."
"Alright!" Phoebe chuckled.
xxxxxxxxxx
"Three, two, one, go!" Phoebe cried and like that Barbara was off.
Her bare feet raced along the grass below her as her arms pumped rhythmically in front of her. Her chest and thighs burned, but not in pain. Rather, it felt like they were finally being stretched out after having gone unused for a long while.
Probably the strangest development to her mind was how naturally her body reacted and used her tail. It was almost like she had, had it her entire life. With every step, it would shift to compensate, like a rudder on a ship. She was still working to try and wrap her mind around it.
But these thoughts could wait for later as she approached the tree once more. She slowed and began her pivot. Leaning backward onto her heels and allowing the grass below her to skate her forwards. Her hand connected with the tree in a loud crack as she turned to make her way back. But it seemed in her excitement she had accidentally extended her claws, which were now embedded in the tree's bark.
She jerked to a sudden stop as her right arm protested against the abrupt stop. She turned back to the tree and pulled slightly, earning herself a groan in protest from the tree. She then decided to try again, but this time she placed her right foot against it. She tugged once more and freed herself with the sound of splintering wood filling the air. She resettled herself and stared down at her hand, opening and closing it experimentally.
She then looked at the side of the tree, only to find a large chuck of wood torn out of its side. The fragments of which lay scattered on the ground all around her, and yet her hand and nails seemed completely untouched. As if nothing had happened.
She gave her a few more seconds to disgust the full range of her strength before she turned to race back towards Grim and Phoebe. But as she did so, she noticed Grim racing towards her. His black armor imposing the in surrounding light of day.
Before she could question why the man may be trying to get to her, she was thrown to the ground by some sort of heavy, metal object. She landed on her back with a soft thud and stared up towards the sky as it was filled by a dark figure, who was holding a large sword. Her vision then adjusted to reveal a dark-haired woman dressed in old Greek bronze armor. Her eyes glared down at her, filled with hate.
"Τέρας!" The woman barked as she drove her sword downwards and towards Barbara's chest. Barbara threw her hands up to defend herself, but she was too scared, too terrified to think clearly. So, at best, she was merely flailing about. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see her end.
But then, a large gust of air washed over them and the weight of the woman was gone. Instead, it seemed Barbara was shrouded in shadow. She tentatively opened her eyes to see Grim looming over her, his back to her. Beyond him, she could see the woman pulling herself out of the surrounding grass. All around her, other figures began to emerge, both from the treeline and the grass itself.
Grim's hand reached out towards her and grabbed a portion of her shirt before hoisting her upwards and back onto her feet. He then shoved her behind him as his right hand pulled his pistol free while his left remained positioned in front of her.
"Stay behind me and if they get close, run."