Echoes: The Ten Sigma Series Book 3
Page 41
I tug at a metallic ring over my throat.
He nods, trying to be reassuring, but fear taints his eyes. “This is only until we’re sure you’re operating correctly. This is for your own good.”
Unable to form any thoughts about how to fight, I can only let my anger stew as he returns to the man-sized panel.
From there, he fiddles with a hologram which has yellow pathways laid over a translucent version of what I assume is me.
“There’s an anomaly. Let me fix it,” he says.
The faint noises in my head quiet, and suddenly, I’m lonely. There’s someone or something I should be remembering…
As I tense, trying to force the memory, the doctor says, “Please relax, we need to make final adjustments to complete your acclimation. This will ensure you will be the best this program has to offer.”
A whirlwind rises, and body parts swirl around the room.
I cringe as the dead flesh whirls closer and closer. Finally, the limbs touch me, and I squeeze my eyes closed.
A mantra flows into my being, but the words are too faint to make out.
The machine chirps, and a series of panels next to the hologram turn green.
“What’s your name?” the doctor asks.
A moment passes before I answer.
“Vic.”
“Everything checks out.” He pulls his mask down and sends a huge, relieved smile. “You’re going to be a perfect ten sigma.”
By reflex, I smile back.
A female assistant hands me a maroon unitard. “Please, put this on.”
I discard my smock and push my legs into the garment.
It’s only after I finish and the woman straightens out the collar that I realize she’s just seen me completely naked.
I pause, unsure of how I should be reacting.
The doctor taps my shoulder. “There’s a welcoming party in your honor. Please follow me.”
A sparse group of people in military outfits and lab coats give cheers and a smattering of applause when I enter a large room. Pops come from champagne bottles as I search the unfamiliar faces.
The goddess with the red mane is nowhere to be found.
I’m not sure why I’m disappointed. Most likely, she doesn’t even know I exist or considers me unworthy.
The throng parts, and a majestic woman with an olive complexion and shiny blonde hair fills my vision. Unlike everyone enjoying the celebration, she’s speaking to a glass tablet, communicating with someone outside the room.
Fingers tap my arm. “Hi Vic,” Jill says, wrapped in a clean new body and wearing a maroon unitard like mine.
I give a genuine smile before doing a double-take. She is cuter with each glance and is truly beautiful. As the thought leads to an awkward notion, I blurt, “I almost didn’t recognize you without the soot.”
When she self-consciously rubs her cheeks, I add, “I’m really glad you made it.”
“Me too. Um…” Her lips purse as she struggles to find words, looking as uncomfortable and out of place as I feel. Her hand touches the metal collar around her neck. “It’s weird having these, right?”
“I guess they’ll come off when we’re deemed ready.”
She nods, her eyes darting as she wages an internal struggle. “Look, this is hard to say, so I’ll just spit it out. Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For bringing me to the top. With the way the program works, you didn’t have to do that.” She blinks moistness from her eyes. “Sorry, somehow being back here, my emotions are too real.”
The form-fitting unitard looks really sexy on her.
I do have the hots for her.
Puzzled by who originally told me that, I say, “I guess it’ll take some getting used to being in a real flesh-and-blood body.”
She giggles—an utterly strange sound for the Ten Sigma Program but normal for the current circumstances. “Yeah, like figuring out how to shower and use the toilet.”
“Maybe a few other things too.“
A flush crosses her cheeks as she picks up on my innuendo.
She does fill out that unitard just right.
“There you are,” says a regal voice.
As the charismatic blonde woman approaches, wind rises, swirling around her, shredding the party-goers and sending their body parts flying into the vortex.
I cringe as the stench of death from “Acid Island” pours over me.
After a harrowing moment, the violent storm stills and everything is as it was.
Blinking from the disturbing experience, I scan the crowd for anyone reacting to the violence.
People converse in good-natured tones and drink champagne. Nothing out of the ordinary.
The woman stops a few steps away, exuding honesty and love. Everything concerning death is gone. Even though her face radiates happiness as she speaks to the device, worry lines etch the corners of her beautiful eyes.
The weight of the world must be on her shoulders.
I find myself wanting to do anything to please her.
She extends the glass tablet toward Jill and me. “Smile for my friend.”
In response to the beauty of her voice, I send her my widest, most natural smile.
After a click, the colorful display on the tablet disappears, and the majestic woman steps to us. “I’m Victoria, and we’ll be getting to know each other well.”
Both Jill and I nod, thrilled for her attention.
Victoria glances down my body, and her hand caresses my chest. “Very well indeed,” she mumbles.
My loins stir.
Although days full of learning and nights filled with passion fly past, a hollowness eats at my soul.
There should be something more to this existence.
Nestled into the warmth of an enormous bed, I stretch and crack my eyes open.
At the edge of the veranda, Victoria stands in the nude, contemplating the first light of dawn. A gentle breeze stirs the sheer curtains, shrouding her in enchanting ripples of white.
She is more deity than mortal.
Desire spills through me.
Admonishing the weakness, I shuck off the sheets. My purpose is to serve this woman and nothing more. I prop my head on a plush pillow and gaze at the flawless lines of her petite form, allowing my mind to drift into pleasant thoughts while I await instructions.
When the orange of sunrise gathers in the wispy curtains, she turns and strides to the bed.
I shift my elbows to rise.
“Please stay as you are,” she commands.
“Yes, Victoria.”
“When we’re alone, you are to call me, Mistress.”
“Yes, Mistress,” I reply, embracing my subservient position.
Muted creaks come from the bedsprings as she kneels on the mattress. Her breasts sway while she crawls to me, and her sweet scent, tinged with the musky leftovers from the night’s heavy and repeated lovemaking, fills the area. The erotic trip ends when she pushes on my shoulders and straddles me.
Intoxicated by her being, I throb with excitement.
However, instead of sliding me back inside her, she lays her hands on my chest, saying, “I think you’re bored with these duties.”
“I am happy to serve, Victoria… I mean Mistress.”
Her smile brightens my mood. “Always speak the truth to me.”
After a moment, I reply, “I thought that after graduating the program, I would be participating in saving the world. Two weeks have passed, and I would like to do more.”
Her head tilts thoughtfully. “Are you not happy pleasing me?”
Fearful of her ire and the return of the swirling limbs, I blurt, “That isn’t what I meant. I am content to serve you in any way possible.”
A chuckle leaves her lips, and she arches her back, running her hands through her luxurious blonde locks. “I was only joking. You are meant for much greater things.”
Unsure of how to react, I mumble, “Thank you, Mistress.”
&nb
sp; “There is one item…”
“Please, name it.”
Her sex rubs over me as she leans to the nightstand and grabs a glass tablet. A second later, a shallow hologram pops over the screen. “This person is our enemy.”
When she turns the device over and lowers it, my eyes widen.
The classical features of the goddess with the red mane fill my vision.
Beautiful like no other.
While I stare into the goddess’s deep blue eyes, Victoria says in a sweet voice, “I want you to kill her.”
I lift my gaze over the tablet.
The glow of the sunrise cuts across my mistress’s graceful form, leaving her face in the shadow of her billowy hair. As my friend Cheri from so long ago would say, “Perfect lighting.”
I roll my shoulder, unsure of why the gesture should feel more familiar.
“What will you do?” a ghostly echo asks.
This is where my path has brought me. The reasons for my joining the Ten Sigma Program, my ensuing struggles against all odds, my entire reason for being, now make sense.
Even losing Cat.
“Of course, Mistress. For you, anything. I am a ten sigma.”
“Do you know what that entails?”
The mantra that flowed into me when I first entered the world awakens, and words pour from my mouth.
“A ten sigma is all martial knowledge, but a ten sigma is more than just the threads. A ten sigma is honed by victories in a thousand battles in every type of combat. A ten sigma is a perfect form entering the real world. A ten sigma is a killer of killers. A ten sigma is performance and duty. A ten sigma completes any mission.
“A ten sigma wins where no one else can.”
Her wondrous gray eyes jitter. She examines me for a minute before saying, “I believe you.”
She touches the tablet again, and the collar around my neck unseals.
As I yank the restraining metal aside, the power of the threads once again flows through my mind.
The whirl of the dead rises around my mistress, but instead of fear, I only have understanding. The swirling pieces represent my deceased comrades, providing me with their best traits to be the ten sigma that I am.
All so I can serve my mistress.
I clench my fists and show her a reassuring smile.
She answers with a lustful smirk and lowers herself onto me.
The happiness of my newfound purpose covers the darkness staining my soul. Everything about this new life feels comfortable and right.
I am worthy of my new task.
To find the goddess with the red mane… and kill her.
The journey continues with Brin and Vic in
Ten Sigma
- Bonds -
(coming soon)
Echoes from Ten Sigma
Frederic Powers/Mr Leader, Valerie/Ms. Lawyer, Jonathon/Mr. Scientist
Chapter 5
The Seven Sigma
Chapter 24
Jet and Block
Chapter 53
Jinn
Chapter 42
Haiku/The Man with the Broad Brimmed Hat
Chapters
1, 2, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 25, 29, 30, 31, 33, 36, 37, 39, 42, 47, 49, 50, 60
The Witch
Chapters
12, 43, 50, 60
Before you go...
A heartfelt thanks to the reader. I'm humbled that you've chosen to continue to read the Ten Sigma series.
Also, if you loved or hated the book (or had a reaction somewhere between the two), please consider leaving a brief one or two-sentence review here, even if it's just to say that Echoes reminded you of another book. Short or long, reviews are incredibly helpful for independent authors like myself.
And if you like the series, please consider leaving a review with the first book here.
Again, thank you for taking the time to read and thank you in advance if you do leave a review. Please sign up for my email list here to get updates on the Ten Sigma Series and other upcoming works.
Sincerely and with warmest regards
A. W. Wang
Acknowledgments
The act of writing and publishing a book is a long and arduous process that would be impossible without the assistance of other people.
This is, in no particular order, a list of the awesome authors and people who have read through the various rough versions of this manuscript and provided insightful comments into characters and story and provided useful questions into any aspects of the world-building as well as pointing out places to improve the pace and flow of the story.
Cass Kim: who contributes to and puts together the Autumn Nights Anthologies and sends all profits to worthy charities. Also she’s author of the YA Half-Apocalypse series - Wilders, and the creator of the children’s PACBSpeech series.
E.H. Night: the marvelously twisted author of the horror thriller “The Four Before Me” and the historical fiction novel “Stray, Astray”.
Dan Neil: writer of the epic adult fantasy series “The Daybreak Saga.”
Holly Graf: co-author of the YA fantasy books in the Elesara series.
And my from the UK critique partner who has been with me since before Ten Sigma released, Dibz Stewart. In any story or book that Iíve written assume any English accent you happen upon is an homage to her.
And of course, no list would be complete without my sister Vivian, who beta reads everything I write and gives me no-nonsense feedback that makes everything clearer and better.
You might notice the same cast and crew as in book 2 in my acknowledgments, and you’d be correct. All the people who helped with Ten Sigma: Renegade came back to give feedback for book 3. Although, since I wrote book 3 first, itís actually book 2 that they came back to beta read and give feedback for. :)
By A.W. Wang
The Ten Sigma Series
Ten Sigma
Renegade
- Echoes -
Short Stories
Autumn Nights: 12 Chilling Tales for Midnight
The Summoning
Neo Cyberpunk: The Anthology
The Volunteer
About the Author
A. W. Wang is an enthusiast for studying military history and enjoys reading all genres, especially science fiction and fantasy. In his adolescent years, he exercised his mind by playing strategy games and his body by running around a soccer field.
He really should have shown Course 21 more love.
After letting his small amount of talent in computer programming hijack his post-college years, his life’s journey has taken him back to his first true dream—writing science fiction and fantasy stories.
Besides the usual forms of mundane entertainment, his scant time outside of writing is spent going on ocean cruises and entertaining the cat, whom he is (of course) allergic to.
www.awwangauthor.com