Star Force: Divergent (SF74)

by Aer-ki Jyr

  “Define gummy?”

  “Answer my earlier question. Do you do anyone?”

  “On occasion, but none since I became an Arc Commando.”

  “Why not?”

  “Busy mostly. And the other times were special circumstances. I don’t make a habit of it.”

  “Why not?”

  “The Archons are right in that there is a disadvantage to it, training wise and fighting wise.”

  “We know that, but rather than bury it away in our subconscious to the point where it almost shuts off entirely, we take the opposite route, feeling it out and learning how to minimize the disadvantage. What we practice when we fuck is our recovery time afterward. So long as I don’t violate the 3 day rule, or in this case it would be ‘guideline’ since we don’t use rules, I can snap myself out of the daze within a few minutes, for the most part.”

  “You time it?”

  “Not like that, but only because we can’t measure it. We thought about using biomonitors but that would require letting the techs in on our inner workings, and we do not let anyone know what goes on inside the Nest. That is one rule we do keep.”

  “Embarrassed?”

  “Nope. I was in the beginning but it wore off pretty quick. Other people don’t understand, so it’s best to keep them in the dark. And it would be a huge mistake living under the constraints of what other people can understand.”

  “You’re making a little sense, but I’m not sold.”

  “We’re sexual as a default, and even the Archons haven’t tried to genetically strip that away.”

  “That’d be cowardice if they did.”

  “Exactly my point. A strong mind can override sexuality with ease, so why can it not also function while indulging in it?”

  “But why indulge in the first place if our mission is tactical, not reproductive?”

  “Several reasons. First is to negate the disadvantages. Would you keep a ship in your hangar that you know absolutely nothing about, or do you fly everything and figure out the intricacies of how they work? We have sexual systems. They may not be very important considering what we do as Arc Commandos, but that doesn’t mean we have to ignore them. And if we can find a beneficial use for them aside from baby making, why not go there?”

  “What beneficial use are you referring to?”

  “We hardly ever see one another, right? I’m asking because I’m still in training phase and my psionics aren’t up to snuff enough to go out into the field yet, at least not for the big assignments. You do, so you tell me. You said 3 was usually tops for the Nest.”

  “You see a lot of your unit, if you’re assigned to one. But no, we rarely cross paths with others.”

  “When you’ve gotten laid before, who was it with? I don’t need a name, but what did they do?”

  “A few other Commandos and one tech. All of which were situational, no relationships involved.”

  “None here either. We fuck everyone and love doesn’t factor in, but we do develop beneficial bonds. That’s something you’re probably not aware of if you’ve been banging for recreational purposes.”

  “Everyone?” Mace asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

  “Yes,” she answered automatically until she caught his gist. “Everyone biologically compatible. There are more guys here than girls, so our schedules are always full while the guys usually have holes in theirs…but as we’ve come to say, ‘no whining over missed fucks.’ We do make an exception for new arrivals, so you get priority. Our way of saying ‘hi’ or ‘welcome back.’”

  “You’re saying if I wanted to, you’d fuck me right now?”

  “No, sorry. I did yesterday, and we only do it on schedule, never impulse. I can bump you into my next slot though, or you can pick some other girl.”

  “Just like that?”

  “We’ve learned not to be shy, and it actually forms a bond between us that we’ve never had before. Not something sick, but something familiar. We’re separated from everyone else because we’re Arc Commandos, so when we’re in the Nest we take advantage of the time when we’re actually together. We’ve already decided that if we meet up in the field that doesn’t matter. We only indulge this part of our culture here…or in the other Nests, now that we know they exist.”

  “Any other guidelines you’ve come up with?” he asked as they passed another Arc Commando in the hallway, though this one was dressed in skintight shorts and running shoes.

  “Getting indocted?” Linty asked.

  “Working on him,” Veronica said as they stopped. “He’s old school.”

  “A challenge then,” the topless and very sweaty Arc Commando said as he looked Mace over. “Sorry, don’t recognize you. I’m Linty.”

  “Mace,” he said, extending his hand in greeting and glad that the guy had pants on.

  “Back for some additional training or what?”

  “Actually I’m here to recruit a replacement for my unit.”

  “Replacement?” Veronica asked, her eyes narrowing. “Did we lose someone?”

  “No, just a reassignment. We’re adding more teams as our numbers grow and Darren is heading up his own now. We need a replacement for Alpha 9 and I was told to come here to find one…though now I’m wondering if it wasn’t a setup. Has Brandon been initiated into your divergent clan?”

  Veronica smiled widely. “Yep. Did him once myself. He didn’t stick around too long, and he didn’t mention anything about other Nests either.”

  Mace signed. “Son of a bitch. He didn’t say anything about this to us.”

  “Probably knew how you’d react,” Linty said, with his body language suggesting that he was eager to get moving again. “Are you looking for someone in particular?”

  “I was told Jyra was here…but now I have my doubts as to whether or not Brandon was serious or just wanted me to pick up his date.”

  “She’s on the halo,” Linty offered as he began walking on to wherever he was going next.

  “Thanks,” Mace said distractedly. He couldn’t believe Brandon had gone in for this…then again maybe there was some value here he was overlooking. In fact, he realized he was resisting the notion for a reason he couldn’t put his finger on. After a few seconds of silence he realized Veronica was patiently waiting on him, just staring at his face with a devious smile.

  “What?”

  “Just watching the walls break down.”

  Mace sighed. “Brandon has been an Arc Commando longer than I have. If he thinks there’s some value in this…I don’t know.”

  “Then let me fill you in further as we head to Jyra,” she said, grabbing him by the elbow and dragging him forward. “We’ve learned a few tricks, and I’m not referring to anything kinky. We’re not doing this to have some sort of orgy, that’s civie crap. We’re just making use of our biological hardward, stripping away all the nonsense and dealing with what’s really there. We’re warriors, not sex toys, and we learned that if we try to be sex toys our heads fog up even more.”

  “So you tried the kinky route?”

  “Before I got here, but others did. It’s not something to be afraid of, it’s just stupid. They learned from it and moved on. It seems the fictitious stuff that people try to use to raise their libidos is what really messes with your head. Recognizing that someone is attractive does not. It’s the mental simulations that go nutsy. Archons rightly avoid them, but we’ve found that if we indulge in the physical act of mating, giving our minds actual data to process rather than fiction, it also solves the problem.”

  “Eating so much candy that you make yourself sick of it?”

  “No…but you’re kind of getting the point. We have sexuality and we have mating mode. Sexuality is just the, let’s say ‘sensor package’ that allows us to see who’s hot and who’s not. Mating mode is when your head does go all foggy. Your combat drive is powered down in the process, then comes back online when you get out of mating mode. Thing is people tend to get stuck in it, at least part way, and that is a
very bad thing to have happen. We’ve been working on being able to switch in and out of that mode very fast and cleanly. No hybrid states. But to do that we need practice, hence the fucking schedules.”

  “And once you learn, does it stop there?”

  “No. It’s still a social thing, just between Arc Commandos, when we’re in the Nest. Call it a fun way to continually test your mental caliber. If you can’t shake yourself out of mating mode and get your head all messed up then you obviously don’t belong in the field and need to train yourself back into combat fitness.”

  “So you admit it’s partly for fun?”

  “Why do we play video games?” she countered.

  “Ok, you have a point there.”

  “We’re trained to go on very long solo missions and be comfortable with that. When we’re here we go the opposite way, just because we can. If we can’t handle that vast duality, then again, it shows a weakness that a person needs to work on eliminating rather than burying it away out of sight.”

  “You’re criticizing the Archons there, I assume?”

  “Honestly I don’t know what they do, all I know is what we do and this is smart. It’s unusual, deviant as you said considering normal society, but we don’t exist in normal society anymore. We’re off the grid for a purpose, and this serves a purpose for us. Might not work for anyone else, but it works for us. At the end of the day you just have to try it and risk being stupid for a little while. If that does happen you just shake it off and move on, a few days lost to a cloudy head. Is there a risk greater than that?”

  “Theoretically no, it’s just out of habit…”

  Veronica raised her eyebrows victoriously.

  “…which is what we were trained to break,” Mace finished.

  “Keep thinking, don’t block anything out. If we’re all fools then logical analysis should prove it.”

  “Why are you starting to make sense?”

  “Because it does make sense.”

  “What else have you guys learned?”

  “Beds are for sleeping, not fucking. Don’t mix the two.”

  “Really?”

  Veronica nodded as they approached one of the entrances to the halo track. “Best place is in the shower tube.”

  “Standing up?”

  “Or floating, your choice. But it’s important not to linger or rest afterwards. You have to go straight into a workout to flush the residual fog out of your head. It also trains you to switch modes quickly by forcing the change. A bit awkward at first, because you just want to soak in the moment, but once you make a habit of it fucking just becomes a part of your routine that doesn’t affect anything else. And after a while walking around nude doesn’t turn you on. Maybe it would if you’ve spent 5 years in the field and then come back, but once you’re here for a while you adjust and it’s just normal. Breezy, but normal.”

  “And you never go topside?”

  “Well…we’re not supposed to, but a few of us have gone on a few nude ninja missions at night just to see how we function in the forest. It’s not really fun, but it does get you used to knowing what you can and can’t do without clothes on. I found I miss my shoes the most. But that’s not part of our new culture here, just something a few of us tried so we could learn from it. We did discuss the possibility of trying some similar missions within the city and avoiding anyone seeing us, but we nixed that idea pretty quick. We want to be able to let our hair down, metaphorically speaking, in the Nest whenever we’re here, which we think will help us rest and recover better from whatever crap happens to us in the field.”

  “More like letting your clothes down.”

  “Semantics. We’ve learned a few things already, but we’re experimenting and picking up some more as we go, though we’ve got a good structure in place now. Think about trying it and resist the urge to be shy. It doesn’t befit an Arc Commando.”

  Mace sighed. “I’m glad we’re not being monitored, because I get the feeling Brandon would be loving this if he was watching.”

  “He had a rough time adjusting too, if I remember correctly.”

  “And what about you?”

  Veronica shrugged. “I was a newb and figured I’d just go along with what everyone else was doing. You’re my peers and supposed to know what you’re doing, so I stuffed my doubts into the back of my mind and just tried it. They said it was voluntary, but with everyone else walking around nude I eventually shed my clothes after a few days and went from there. I’ll admit, it is a bit of a shock at first, but now I’m glad for the bonding it gives us.”

  “How does that work guy to guy?”

  “I don’t know about guy to guy, but girl to girl it’s a camaraderie thing. We’re in the same club and not hiding anything from each other. We talk about everything, as we’re supposed to do, and share knowledge, but you’re right in that the physical component is missing. I feel the bond more strongly with the guys, but that’s just biology. We’re all on the same page, separated from the rest of society and off the grid. I don’t get a buzz from seeing the other girls naked, but it doesn’t put me off like it did initially, especially when you’d accidently brush up against someone in the hallway. Now I don’t care. They’re not strangers and they’re not sex partners, just sisters.”

  “Same thing with the guys then?”

  “Well…apparently it’s not as easy for them. Apparently dicks are magnetic and repel each other,” she said with a giggle. “Completely foreign thinking to me, but whatever. Guys do have their erogenous zone on the outside so I guess that makes things a bit more sensitive, bumping wise, but they say they eventually tune each other out. You’re a little uncomfortable even having this conversation, aren’t you?”

  “I’ll admit, I am a bit. And you’re right, that’s a sign that I have a mental block that I shouldn’t have.”

  “I didn’t say anything.”

  “You were about to,” he said as they were standing on the entrance to the halo track as Veronica pointed through the wall. “Jyra is coming, if you want to catch her.”

  Mace had sensed a mind moving at speed towards them, but hadn’t known who it was. “Thanks, I will.”

  “Shall I put you on my schedule?” she said with a gleaming smile.

  “I’ll get back to you,” he said, waving a friendly goodbye as he jogged up the curved wall and onto the track, turning left and accelerated so he could match the Arc Commando catching up to him rapidly. She wore shorts and a jog bra, standard training gear, while Mace wore a casual uniform with basic shoes, but he was still able to match her stride for stride.

  “Hi there,” Jyra said between mild breaths.

  “You’re Jyra?”

  “Yep. You new?”

  “I’m not a newb,” he said as they ran in a straight line that would never bend left or right, but that ever so gradually rose up to loop back around on their position, but to him it felt like they were running on a never-ending road. “I’m here to find you, actually.”

  “Why me?”

  “I was told to come offer you a slot on Alpha 9, though now I’m not so sure, considering you’re responsible for this nude fest.”

  Jyra laughed. “Everyone reacts that way when they first get here. And I only started the ball rolling. Others have been adding to it and made it what it is.”

  “It sounds like a nightmare.”

  “Feel free to check our training logs. You’re see we’re not progressing more slowly because of it.”

  “I also think Brandon sent me here on purpose to get ‘indoctrinated.’”

  “Did he tell you beforehand?”

  “No he didn’t.”

  “Ha. I think he just wants you to go through the same uncomfortable transition as he did. He put up one hell of a fight before he realized we hadn’t gone insane.”

  “I’m not there yet.”

  “You will be. What’s Alpha 9, exactly?”

  “Special ops field unit. We’re expanding the teams and took one of our regulars o
ut to start another, leaving us with the need for a fourth.”

  “And you want me?”

  “I was told you were spending an inordinate amount of time here polishing your psionics, though now I think I know the real reason.”

  “That is the real reason, though ‘polish’ isn’t the term I’d use. Now that I have them, I feel like a freaking newb rather than a combat vet. I want to get skilled enough that I don’t screw something up on a mission before I go back out.”

  “Well, you’ll be a newb on a team of veterans, but apparently Brandon thinks you’re ready.”

  “How soon do you have to be back?”

  “He didn’t say, but I assumed I’d spend a couple of days training here then take you back with me.”

  “No good, you’ll need at least 3 weeks.”

  “3 weeks?”

  “There are seven girls here, times 3 days…”

  “I never said I was buying into this.”

  “I’ll just wait until you do then.”

  Mace couldn’t believe her ego. “Oh really? You’re not the only Arc Commando available.”

  “No, and I really do want that slot if Brandon thinks I’m ready. But you need to experience what we’ve got here, so for your sake I’m going to drag my feet,” she said with an innocent smile.

  Mace was silent for a moment, not sure what to say to that and looking for something stinging in reply but nothing was coming to mind. “Did Brandon set this up with you?”

  “Nope.”

  “Feels like it.”

  “Don’t confuse fun with stupid. Like the sign up front says, we’re not weak minded. And if there’s even a shred of value in this, why should we not pursue it?”

  “I’m trying really hard to find a fault in your logic right now.”

  “And?”

  “Failing miserably, but it still feels…”

  “Wrong?”

  “Off mission. If the Archons don’t embrace their sexuality there’s probably a good reason for it.”

  “Well, they’re not telling us anything, making us figure out things on our own, and this is what we’ve figured out. Besides, we don’t have armies to lead and cities to build and races to annex. Our mandate is much smaller and more focused. Maybe that has something to do with the difference or maybe they’re just bigger badasses than us. I don’t know. I just know that there is wisdom in using our sexuality rather than shoving it in the proverbial closet and not making use of a biological function we have. That’s as bad as having a rifle in the armory that you’re told never to use.”