by Marcus Sloss
“Everything I am learning is from reliable, verified sources. Yes. The moment you vomited your virum, we, as in everyone near you, were infected. While the majority went back into you to reproduce, there will have been millions of microscopic virum heading for new hosts. I tested positive. I was only near the vomit spot for a few minutes. Willow tested positive too. I will start scanning our community when I am home. I am afraid to say that the president and Dr. Gepstein infected everyone with their effort to save you. If that is the case, which I am certain it is, the best course of action is to embrace these virum. We will be healthier, withstand damage better, and will not age… We will actually return to our peak age. With that said, they do not give us harder skin or make us truly immortal. We are still flesh bags of bone, tissue, and blood.”
I rubbed my temples in frustration. I had no idea how to sell this one to the community.
“Eric, I need you to go to a mirror and look into it,” Willow said while putting her head into the video screen.
I turned to face the wall with the sink. The bathroom mirror revealed a younger-looking man. I looked like I was in my mid-twenties. The worry line wrinkles, the gray hair, and battle scars were gone. Well, shit. I liked not having the baby face. At least the scraggly brown beard gave an older look. Hmm…
“Age rejuvenation would help spin this—”
“We do not have enough to have noticeable effects. I am pushing thirty, Eric. My minor aging issues are still present. I would have to ingest this vial of virum. There is a cure, though, but you will not like it. There is a large organism that will eat these. They tend to cause damage to the body when they eventually hunt out all the virum. So…”
“What about the young kids, like Mary?”
Willow popped back into the image. My frustration was placed on hold when I left the bathroom for the kitchen.
“That little girl with the broken arm, she will be fine. Her arm will heal in minutes and she will be in peak optimal health for her age. They change our cells to fit those criteria. At least that is how it was explained. Each species has its own quirks. The chitin-covered humanoid mentioned how the males grew stronger, the queens larger brooding sacks. However interesting that is, we simply do not have human data. They did say that there will not be a rushed growth. Remember that Down syndrome boy? If he were here, he would be cured. I think. That, again, is secondhand information about how deformities were repaired to peak optimal conditions.”
I sighed while spinning around to absorb the information. Was there much downside? No. Was it freaky and very alien? Yeah. Oh, yeah. I looked like a fucking baby-faced party animal again.
“Just to verify… Everyone in the stronghold is likely infected. There are little downsides. You figured I would support the transition and bought more virum to speed the process?”
“Well, zinc is classified as a rare metal, but according to the Gnet, there are two hundred and fifty million metric tons of it. No idea how much that is, but it sounds like a lot. I needed to make a command decision, Eric,” Nancy said while keeping her eyes on the road. “I could have weakened the entire community by killing the virum and then tried to repair the wounded with insufficient resources. Or I could go all-in on the virum. The sun is setting soon and the golden portal stops in seven hours, blue portals in eight. As much as I feel I should apologize, I know I shouldn’t. This is not my fault or your fault. I can say I’m glad I am not you. People will not like this. Especially after you showed them humanity barely survived the first portals.”
I closed the connection, squeezing my eyes shut in agitation. I went for RV3. Perci and Jill were sitting side by side reviewing documents. I saw they were starting to assign the new people to work details. I went over to the radio for Aspen Stronghold.
“This is Mansion actual for Aspen actual, over,” I said into the mic.
“Aspen actual, go.”
“Stronghold Mansion has been infected with a super slime called virum. It helps reduce aging, fixes wounds, and eats zinc. The president’s doctor gave it to our community. Which, if you have not updated your Gpad, you should do so. I just overrode the classified information on the Gtower. Back to virum. We are infected. The symbiotic creature requires zinc. I expect at some point for it to spread to you and yours. I will send you the data we received from an alien booth. I am going to embrace this. The alternative will leave us too weak with a new portal spawning.”
There was silence on the radio for half a minute.
“Understood. There is a cure, but it weakens you.”
“Correct, more like it damages your body and then you need different alien tech to heal you that is more expensive. Mansion, over,” I said, placing the radio in the RV bookshelf it called home.
“We have a big science team here. Surprise! The Aspen rich were mostly top-of-their-field doctors. I will have them sort through the data. Thanks for the warning; expect no trading for now. Aspen out.”
“Um…” Perci said with big doe eyes.
“Are you okay?” Jill asked, joining the concern.
“You are infected too. So—”
“Wait, what!?” Perci said, looking at her Gpad’s medical information. “I am not seeing anything different on my charts.”
“Too soon. You need more zinc to let the virum reproduce. Check out my hair,” I said, and heard loud gasps.
“The gray, it's gone. I thought you were just slightly better looking than earlier today because of lust,” Perci said with a smirk and a palms-up gesture.
“I knew I sensed something different earlier.” Jill ran her hands down her small chest, over her belly, and then slapped her hips. “Huh, I wonder if I will go back to my pre-baby body. Love Mary, but…”
“Wait, you want this?” I asked Jill.
“If the downside is slim, I see no reason to panic,” Jill said with a shrug. “If I am suddenly feeling like I am twenty again I will notice, as will others. Telling Aspen means you intend to tell our community, correct?”
I nodded with a clenched jaw. I dialed into every Gpad within Gtower range.
“Earlier today, I died. I was treated as a test subject. If you think either was fun, you are wrong. To restore my life, a vial of alien healing material was used. We learned the substance is called virum. Virum is contagious. We can cure it if we choose so, but we will not with the next blue portal spawn so near. Virum will make the best you that it can. Right now, we are aware of minimal side effects if you have enough zinc. Which we do. I am just learning of this, and I am sorry for another information dump of what some might term bad news. Everyone will be okay. The kids will not have negative side effects. We will get through this together. For the community. Cap out.” - Cap
I sat beside Perci, who leaned into me.
“I am going to get Mary. Come, Felix,” Jill said, and the bulldog followed her out of the RV.
“What are you going to do?”
“Torrez is coming home. Get everyone in kickass armor with new weapons. Then figure out these shields. Most of our shopping is done. Rotate into a sleep shift so everyone can be ready for the next blue activations.”
“Sounds like a plan; how about we go wait at the gate for Torrez? I think the troops will shun you the least.”
“I feel my scars fading already, and I have a lot of scars. I doubt many veterans will be sad to see their body improve,” I said with a light chuckle.
“What does this mean for babies, I wonder?” Perci said. I rolled my eyes. “What!? Okay, I may be a tad obsessed.”
“Come on my dashing little minx. Let’s go meet our crews as they come home,” I said.
We left the RV hand in hand. A few sad stares shifted our direction. I had little choice but to ignore their concern and focus on getting ready for our next challenge.
CHAPTER 5
There is a certain thrill a warrior experiences when trying on new armor. I liked to imagine that a knight back in medieval times would give a similar grin. The chitin armor clinked as the
covers were assembled. I only had the upper half assembled before I gave up on the armor. While the large-scaled armor was light, flexible, and durable, it was also clunky and time consuming to set up on the first fitting. My nitrogen power plant afforded a higher tier of armor.
Torrez and Felix were still setting out gear into the dining hall on sectioned tables. I went over to where he was placing the better gear. Nancy and Willow were talking in hushed tones until I arrived.
“Hello, ladies, you both look lovely,” I said, and meant it. Their hair was radiant, their skin blemish-free, and they blushed with adorable smiles. “Damn, you almost look—”
“Younger,” Nancy said. She pulled an empty vial from between her busty cleavage. I grinned watching the tube slide out of her yummy boobs. Nancy placed her face into Willow’s bust. The soft kissing of her lips produced a small bar of blueish-silver metal that was extracted from Willow’s blue bra. I knew the girls were teasing me. “Eric, hold out your human hand.”
Willow plucked the bar out of Nancy’s teeth and gingerly placed the bar onto my palm. A seam split open on my hand. I frowned from the lack of pain. If I were not watching my skin parting with my eyes, I would not believe it was happening. A trail of black goo swam forward.
“Woah, you are loaded up,” Willow said with widened eyes.
The bar of zinc was consumed. Yes, consumed—it was the word that fit best. The outer layer of the zinc was peeled back. A trail of zinc led into my hand. The smaller bar sat there while the virum returned to their home. The cut closed when they visibly vanished. Hmm…
“Now, in a few hours, the young will escape for a new host. Just like your palm, you will never feel them leaving. I wish there was more to it but there isn’t. We had zinc already on our shelves in the storage room. I converted it all to smaller bars while buying more.” Nancy pointed to a wooden box the size of a fully stacked pallet. The container weighed down the back of the truck. “The community should not get sick if zinc is nearby. However, if they have the zinc on their bodies, it will facilitate the process quicker. Your call.”
I clapped my hands thinking about the perfect example to be made. “Bring an elderly patient down. Most, if not all, of our teams should be inside the stronghold. A live demonstration will hopefully alleviate many fears.”
“Okay, armor first, though,” Willow said while placing her power plant on her back.
Torrez was chatting with Felix and noticed us going for the gear. He waved while jogging over from the open trailer that was mostly unloaded.
“First things first, almost all this gear is self-explanatory. I did buy something special for the officers slash nobles. I was kind of rushed Cap. I promise next time I will get more awesome gadgets, gizmos, and advanced trinkets. For now I got sleeves. They are in this box right here,” Torrez pushed and scooted a large wooden box that scraped over the gravel floor. I went to help but he waved me off. “Doesn’t weigh much. Alright, in my brief research I found that there is encasing armor, single rider tanks, large machines you can pilot, shielding generators, and so much more. These caught my eye mainly because of our cybernetics and they were available at the first vendor I found.”
“Uh… Torrez, I feel woefully underprepared now that you’re telling me this,” I said eyeing the man with a grimace. “Are you saying there is a lot of advanced technology that can easily defeat us?”
“Cap, this is the wild west of planets hooked together. The trade bazaar is so large and with so many variables it… Short answer, yes Cap, we will not be able to defeat a lot of threats even with these upgrades,” Torrez said filling his cheeks with air and letting out a long huff. “I wish I could have gotten more. We actually have more buying power with resources on shelves but we got a good haul and this will be a nice starting point. The other thing I encountered was I was asked if I prayed to the Gate Gods. I would say no, then be told to move along or be allowed to stay.”
Perci nudged up beside me slinging an arm around my hips. She tapped her chin and said, “We have had mutterings inside here about the same thing. Is this divine interactions at work? Or is it sadistic aliens. Nothing to the point where people want a shrine, or they want training dummies constructed out of Xgate shapes,” Perci said with a concerned frown. “I guess if we start producing say, rabbits. Are we going to restrict to whom we sell them to? Do we avoid selling to everyone out of the fact one day we might face them? I can see why you met some resistance.”
“Yeah, humans also have a history Cap. Not a good one either. Our ancestors are right bastards from what I have been told,” Torrez said crossing his arms.
“I can only imagine. We have been at this for a week plus. We have not seen horrors untold. I think back to a time when humanity was altered by their desires of conquest, greed, and villainy. We consider it villainy now since we reached an enlightened stage of our evolution,” I said removing Perci’s arm to inspect inside the box. A quick glance revealed very little besides there were six items that were long and rectangular. “Aggressive human behavior was beyond common in the early days of man. I imagine, and obviously this is hypothetical, that our ancestors have evolved into something new. Perfect killing machines adapted to Xgates. I would like to talk to some. Hell, I want to get on the good side of Winston and learn about all the different types of species that can arrive from that gate. We have a lot to do though. Demonstration of that box please Torrez.”
“Come here Perci,” Torrez said and Perci left my side. “You too Willow, and Nancy.”
I stepped back and sat on the nearest bench. My elbows rested on my knees and my chin in my palms.
“These will leave marks okay. You will heal the damage they imprint without magical alien healing. So, that means, to me at least, there will be pain depending on your tolerance,” Torrez said. He opened the box and pulled out a flat rectangular compress of some sort. The material and device were vary alien. “The advanced sleeves are exactly that. They enhance what you already have. This alien technology is different to say the least. Basically I open this material, you slide your arm through and presto, you now have a basic version of what Cap has. Metallic over-arms that are more powerful and sturdy than your natural arms. Eventually I would like to buy power suits and what not but this was easy, fairly cheap, and a good start. I tested it on my arm at the dealer. Worked great but I felt no pain so I am not sure if I got a demo version. Who’s first?”
Willow and Nancy stuck an arm out together. I stood off the bench walking over to Torrez who handed me a flat device wrapped in cloth. I unwrapped the flat device and saw an opening. With a slight pressure on the sides I created a diamond. My eyes focused on my task. I slid the sleeve over Willows arm up until it reached her shoulder.
“Do I just let go?” I asked Torrez.
“Yup, the tech does the rest,” Torrez replied. “These were the cheapest basic model. They have a bit opening with different lengths to adjust to the wide array of species limbs. See done, No pain right.”
I released the device, it shrank to Willow’s contours with a grinding noise, followed by a hiss of air. I watched her studying the covering sinking into her skin and muscles. The excess converted itself into armor of a sort. A black shoulder cap is where most of the extra went. The main color was black, clear crystalline sections, and a nice yellow trim. When the device settled and she appeared fine I readied the next sleeve. With both on, I helped Perci equip hers.
“Is there more?” I asked seeing the bottom of the box.
“Um… Cap… Sorry,” Torrez said digging around looking for another box. “Either I got swindled or bought fewer than I thought by a zero at the end, or I left a box in storage. This box had six at least, I was sure I bought sixty.”
“We make lemons out of lemonade. Everyone is learning at this point Torrez. Ladies how do the feel? Actually knock out some pushups,” I ordered.
The three girls went to the ground, backs straight, and preformed pushups with ease.
“I don’t feel lik
e superwoman, but these are nice. They make me feel powerful, not overly powerful. They also feel natural somehow,” Willow said with a corner smile. “Mine synced into my power plant and are glowing blue.”
“Yeah, I feel normal, maybe a little stronger. I think we need to power them with our power plants,” Nancy said. “Neat to see her crystal clear sections give off that teal shine. I guess we need to put on our generators. Thank you for these Torrez.”
“Yes, thank you,” Perci said.
“My work here is done, I need to go over everything on my items list. I think I made a mistake and want to double check things. If you can’t figure out the shields let me know, take care,” Torrez said returning to chat with Felix.
“Alright ladies, I got my power plant on. Let’s get these shields working,” Willow said confidently.
Nancy gave her a curious eyebrow raise, but followed her lead. Perci slung a power plant onto her back also. The woman struggled a bit due to her small size. I decided to help the ladies first. There were dual arms with circles on the end that were attached to the power supply. The metal frame was the same dull gray as my weapons, while the outer edging had a flat yellow. The jutting metal that curved like horns snaked power cables to the power packs. Blue energy flared into a bright light. With Perci’s upper-back shield set, I hooked up Willow’s and then Nancy’s.
My hands went to the box for longer arms or separate power packs to cover the rest of their awesome bodies. All I found were circle devices about the width of a hockey puck, but slightly larger. With a shrug, I slapped one to Nancy’s juicy booty. She gave an “Oh!” while letting me work. A tiny tendril shot for the power plant. The shield extender acted exactly like my weapons with a direct connection. The tendril now knew where the power was so it snaked along the contours of Nancy's body to avoid getting caught on any objects.
As much fun as I was having playing with the contours of Nancy’s delicious body, the other girls grew bored. Willow and Perci started setting the shield pucks to their armor gaps. I placed one on each of Nancy’s knees and then two more on her tummy.
