by Marcus Sloss
A gasping Nancy at the edge of the vat startled Sammie.
“Wow! That was amazing,” Nancy said from just inside the acrium tank. She sauntered down the steps in blue and white armor that somehow absorbed the light. The woman looked radiant. “They told me I am going to have two daughters and a son. I am so happy, right now, I’m going to go back into the RV and have a good cry.”
Nancy kissed my cheek and fled. Willow went to comfort her. I raced around Willow and caught Nancy up into a tight hug that lifted her off the ground. I kissed her forehead and said, “I am happy for us, my love.”
“Who’d have thought ... Prison, the military, then the end of the world as we know it, and only now, of all time, am I so stinking happy. Okay, let me down, I want to girl gab with Willow while you go do Viking King things,” Nancy said, smacking my bare bottom.
I trotted by a smirking Willow and exchanged a hi-five with her. The four Faeries were deep in conversation, sorting things out, so I ran by them and dove into the green goop to introduce my naked awesomeness to the acrium.
A serenity of calm washed over my body. A playful display of a human form swam with me.
“Hello Eric,” a million voices said at once. “Your arm may cause us some issues, it is not organic.”
“I have a covering for it that is meant to mimic orga—”
“Yes, we will need that.” The voices replied.
I breached the surface, swimming to the edge of the container. “Sammie,” I instructed, “please go into that RV,” I pointed at RV3, “and ask Queen Willow for my silicone sleeve. She will understand what you need.”
Sammie ran off to complete her task.
“What did you decide?” I asked, propping my armpits over the vats edged.
Elithen turned to me and said, “We are learning what it is like to become a working force, and not a hierarchic society. Longoria is giving us horror stories about serving intellectually inferior races. It seems there is a dark universe out there, while here, it is not bad. And -”
Longoria interrupted, placing a hand on Elithen’s back. “And if you upgrade this settlement into something specific, with an effort to meet our needs, then you will have been the best protector species I have ever worked for. And based on that,” Longoria said, pointing to the vat, “And then all these weapons of war,” her gesture expanded to encompass all the gear around the outpost, “then I think we will not be sold anytime soon.” She dropped her arm. “Let me ask something please, King Eric. What is the likelihood of you buying these trees we have requested?”
I scratched my chin. “Depends on the cost. What does one of these trees cost, say... compared to your contract price?” I asked. We both knew what she had cost the equivalent in zinc of three TP63s.
“You can get a hundred trees for -”
“Consider it done,” I stated, “with no second thoughts.”
Longoria beamed.
“Uh… Uno memento, por favor” I said. Sammie came running out with my arm sleeve flopping before her like a dildo. “Hold it with two hands lovingly, darling, it's the only one I’ve got,” I hollered to Sammie, “Set it on the top of the stairs.”
I called Perci, audio-only.
“Why no video?” she asked.
“I’m in the goo,” I explained.
My hand smashed the video button on my Gpad and a camera hovered to show me treading … well, goo. I saw Everly in her forest green armor casing. Her hourglass figure was on full display; even her tail had an armored coating. The coverings were thicker over her vitals and thinner around her limbs. It appeared she had added some extra height with discrete heels to her boots to tower over those approaching her. Crixxi were lined up, kissing her cheek as they swore fealty to their Crixxi queen.
I turned to my first wife and asked, “When is the auction over?”
“Just the last big batch of Crixxi left, why?” Perci replied. “Everly wants to buy more Faeries, if we can. We do not have enough for a long term gene pool unless they are able to reproduce with Humans; she also wants more builders.”
“I have a counteroffer,” I said and one of Everly’s top, exposed ears rotated in my direction. She held a palm out, halting the procession of Crixxi before her. She approached Perci, so I continued. I sometimes forgot how well Crixxi could hear. “Longoria here has a wish list. Sammie too.” Sammie pointed to her chest, her eyes wide, and I nodded.
“Uh… I don’t get it?” Perci replied.
“We are going to stop purchasing contracts, at least for this go around, and improve the quality of the contracts we already have. Longoria, what is the name of the trees you would like me to purchase?” I asked. She sent the message to my translator. I converted it to my Gpad and sent it to Perci and Everly. I muted my connection with Perci and Everly, before shouting at the RV, “Willow! I love that you girls are bonding, but I need Gpads on these five! Stat!”
“What are you hollering about Eric?” Perci asked, watching the feed.
“Getting everyone here on the same page,” I replied, pointing to my Gpad. “I want these trees; the Goliaths can move them I would wager,” I said seeing Everly gasp in joy, only to pause and then frown.
“Eric, I love you and this would make me the happiest Crixxi alive, but there are two big downsides to such a purchase. You will get less mingling of species. Crixxi, Faeries, and Pandarin would stay in the trees while Humans and Mounamine would remain on the ground. It would split our intermingling which could lead to big problems in the future. The other problem I see this leading to is that these funds should go to other higher priority purchases. The trees are not expensive, per se, but we have neilspar that should go to the next market rotation’s dropships or Sluggeros. Both of those are quite expensive. Do you see my point?”
I nodded with a smile, “I am going to be driving over to you in a bit. I want to experience a TG99 myself. Buy the final big order of Crixxi and the trees; we’ll save the rest for next market. The trees will not only help with our current housing issues, but they will also make our residents happy, as well as apply a great new layer of defenses to our stronghold that an enemy will have to fight through.”
“While I love the idea, I had to ensure you understood the downsides,” Everly said, retreating to continue her work with the new Crixxi.
“Sounds just like Jevon, that one,” Perci said with a smirk. “See you soon my love. Enjoy the ride and don’t worry too much about those sassy Faeries. I will lay some whoop-ass down if they get out of line.”
I burst into a long peal of delighted laughter. “See you soon babe, Cap out.” When I closed the connection, I turned to find Willow holding my silicone.
“Nancy is getting the Gpads. Slide your arm in,” she instructed, “and … done. What armor set are you getting?” Willow asked, bouncing her brows and tempting me to reveal my secrets with her lovely blue eyes.
I dipped back into the acrium to swirl in tandem with a multitude of creatures.
The infinite voices moaned with relief. A gentle tone said, “Ah better, thank you for adjusting. We are symbiotes in a far different way than the virum. You will need to return us to our home within a day, for starters. Our levels are not buoyant enough to continue outside beyond that.”
“I am trying to comprehend something.” I paused and frowned. The translator may be having issues. “Are you not healthy?” I asked, “Or can you be healthier?”
“Your Mclain bought us what we need to … ‘fatten up’ is a term you might use. We are not skinny, merely not bloated with extra, or ready to split. Some of us may die, taking damage, or die as a whole. We understand that this is the nature of the universe and happily do our part to protect the hive at home. Eventually, Mclain said we would be housed somewhere safer than under a simple roof,” the voices said and I smiled.
“Why do I not need to breathe?”
The human nondescript shape blew several bubbles. “We cycle air down to your lungs. In water, we will rip oxygen out of the water and
bring it into your lungs. Forming a bond with the hive is amazing—for you more than us. We simply cannot survive on most planets, alone. Our needs require assistance that we are rarely provided, outside of situations like these.”
“Ah, I am starting to understand why it is important to keep you happy. I am glad Mclain purchased enough to cover your basic needs. Are you unhappy that we have separated the vats?” I asked with concern.
“That makes us happy. Are you ready to co-join?” the acrium voices asked. “We sense that you are, what coloration and configuration would you like? We cannot read minds, but we can sense desires.”
I wanted to match Nancy; I liked her blue and white armor. I was not trying to be a ninja. My body would always be behind some armor and shielding. Stealth was less important to me than it might be for troops on the front lines. I also needed to prove a point. Bastion was my realm; I was in command here. While the Humans respected that, to the new arrivals, I remained an unknown.
I felt a shell encasing my body, the area around my skin swirling as the creatures flowed around my body to form their unique armor. Within a few seconds, they were done. I saw my reflection in the acrylic.
I had a crown of pointed teeth atop my covered head. My face was a bright white, with clear eye covers, revealing my brown eyes. The edging of my armor had a dark blue regal appearance to break up the white armor. My muscles were well defined and I would still need to wear a kilt, at the very least, if I wanted to maintain the bare minimum of modesty. I spun to see my back but the reflection twisted. I was very content.
“Can you talk to me outside of the vat?” I asked.
“Certainly, we will not do so, however, unless something is dire or the situation requires our input. We enjoy this transition to view the universe as others do. We will go quiet, now,” the voices said, fading away into nothing.
I exited the vat on a standing platform. Not a single spec of green goop joined me outside the tank. I stood above the vat on the stairs and glanced around. My vision was slightly constrained. Nothing too major, but I noticed there was a minor difference. Nothing optic enhancements couldn’t correct.
Nancy exited RV3 in a light blue summer dress with flowers on it. She looked stunning. Her face was exposed with only a slight bulge on her right thigh the only indication she was packing a side arm. This is what she wanted, to be a loved woman in a caring home.
I was not sure how she had already procured a dress in the right dimensions, that accounted for the acrium; somehow, she had. I smiled down at my deadly little housewife. Now she was truly a sight to behold, a fitting queen. Her impending motherhood only made her eyes sparkle brighter.
“She pulls it off perfectly,” Willow said, offering me a set of double extra-large jungle fatigues. These would work for now. Willow’s eyes flickered to Nancy as she said, “Hey, where are you going?”
Nancy jumped back into the goop before she answered. She returned with a matching crown, just slightly smaller than mine. Willow huffed and I flung her into the vat when she threw her arms up like a child pitching a fit. I giggled at her silliness.
“Sammie,” I asked, “is there another Mounamine you defer to?”
“That is not how we obey, Master,” Sammie replied, her eyes cast to the ground. “If you nominate one of us to be a leader, we fill that role. Perci said that I was the cutest, and so I was appointed the leader.”
“Well,” I smiled at my little mouse-girl servant, “she was right about that. When you talk to me, as long as you are not being scolded, it will be with your eyes on me. I prefer direct eye-contact with those I trust to lead. Follow me,” I said, walking over to the gearing stations.
Nancy raced ahead of me to the weapons rack and said, “These are your replacements. I understand a flood, and a Divine-ape are uncommonly hard to prepare for, so I bought custom straps; they are empowered connectors. No more having a strap break and losing your weapons! The cable attachments include a homing tracker, with a set of jets that fire to automatically return your weapon to its homing clip.” She pointed to a triangular shaped buckle that attached to my weapons’ harness. “Okay,” she admitted, “maybe a flood would still win, but this is as smart of a dummy cord as I could find! Simply slap the weapon harness on your body and it will stay there, syphoning power from either your generator pack ...” She pointed to a small fanny pack that attached at the small of my back. “Or to your arm’s nitrogen generator.”
Two Mounamine used stools to attach the fanny pack nitrogen generator to my armor. A cable snaked to my arm’s power source and there was a crackle when they connected, sharing and auto-leveling the power load. Shield pucks were strategically placed over my armor by delicate hands. When they mousy ladies finished, I fired up my shield for a test. Blue hexagons flared to life on all sides, confirming that I had complete coverage.
I caught sight of a balled bun on a Mounamine’s rear. I wondered why they hid their tails. For that matter, why the ugly, cumbersome leather outfits? The mouse-girls were meek, gentle, and incredibly sweet. I knew they would fit in well, here.
“The next two weapons are new,” Nancy said handing me a weapon. “This one is like a pebblenator on steroids. One of these will be equipped in every tank, once we get the custom racks installed.” From the weight of this mega-pebblenator, which was nearly three times heavier than the regular version, I could tell this beast packed a punch. My muscle mass handled the heftier version without a problem. Even before my cybernetic enhancement, I could ruck with this weapon; it felt about the same as my old M249 squad-automatic-weapon. “Before you get too excited and start firing plasma-blobs all over the battlefield, know that this weapon is specifically tailored for use against a select few foes, like the Lurrol. Your sniper rifle, firing nitrogen orbs, will shatter most shields before this will.”
I nodded my understanding. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Willow exiting the vat, with a small crown like Nancy’s. I slapped the buttstock of the weapon into my shoulder and aimed at a cliff in the distance, away from everyone. It felt great. “Next,” I ordered.
“This is the mini gun,” Nancy said, hoisting the weapon with a grunt, “we have enough to include one in every TG99. They are shield poppers. They also weigh fifty pounds, so they are not meant to be hauled around outside of close proximity to the tank. You use it until it depletes its integrated power generator, set it aside back in the vehicle until it recharges, and then use it again.”
Willow grabbed the six cannoned monstrosity. It was nearly eight feet long, the back two feet of which was a boxy generator. Teal lighting showed the weapon was active and ready to unleash hell.
Willow was getting a feel for how to level it as Nancy continued, “We tested the mini-gun against a large shield generator. The shield withstood about a dozen seconds of sustained fire before rounds arced through.”
I was handed the nitrogen machine gun. My empowered arm hefted the weight with ease. My human arm guided the weapon, as I aimed up high at the cliff wall. I saw no point in fragging people.
While I tested the weight and feel of the mini-gun, a Mounamine secured my shotgun, big sploosha, to my left side and Nancy attached the clips of the nitrogen sniper rifle to the weapons harness on my right side. Willow accepted the rapid firing nitrogen mini-gun back and Nancy snatched up the mega-peeblenator. We were ready to go to war.
Well … almost. I had to go shopping ... again. Ugh. I would at least have fun with the new tank before reentering the market. Please, I prayed, let this be my final foray into the market this golden period.
“Okay,” I pointed. “We’re taking that TG99, right there, to buy some Mounamine specific food for two weeks and a hundred trees,” I said to the group.
Longoria raised a hand and I nodded. “I would also like to request specific food for my kind. We can get enough to last a long time for quite cheap. I would rather have ninety-nine trees…” She tapped her chin, “Make it ninety trees, the food, some proper wing dryers, and glowing fish fo
r our pond.” The other Faeries behind her nodded enthusiastically, and Nilvia whispered something into her ear. “Oh, good idea!” she smiled at the other Fairy, “and specialty fabric that stretches with our wings.”
I tuned her out, my focus entirely on the gravity-defying tank. I’d simply bring Longoria with me; she would do the shopping, not me. Felix was messing with a tank three over from the one I had pointed to, so I adjusted our path.
“Felix,” I called out, “you putting nitrogen generators on these?”
“Yeah,” his voice came from under a piece of cowling, “the helium ones are meh at best. This will give you additional tree jumping capability.” He crawled back out from the side of the tank and straightened his back with a groan. “Take that one,” he said, and pointed to a tank two more to our right, “she is ready to go, maxed out with five nitro power plants instead of three.” He grinned, “We overbought on generators, if there is such a thing. Our tanks will pack far more punch than before. Oh and Cap,” Felix said and then paused until I rolled my wrist forward for him to continue. “The XO ordered no shooting inside either stronghold. Also, no more blasting at trees in the area, apparently some folks got a little trigger happy. If we clear out too many of our natural barriers, it only gives the enemy an easier route to reach us.”
“Thanks Felix, those are great ideas,” I said, searching for the opening command on the tank.
Willow passed by me to place her palm on the side of the tank. A doorway whooshed open, revealing a large bleak interior. A set of stairs folded out of the side and I gingerly walked up them. They looked so fragile and I felt so massive while fully geared up. My mind balked when I realized this meant no more sex for me until I visited a vat, again.
My entry into the tank was uneventful. There were only a few things in the tank. A control podium built for two stood towards the front of the vehicle, and two side gunner station alcoves jutted out from the tank’s waist. There was an additional mount for a rear gunner, but we had not purchased the final turrets; there was no need for a rear turret, I rationalized, the main gun swiveled three hundred and sixty degree; covering all directions.
