Deathlands - Mitheral and Lenaara

[Lenaara]

Ellenia had put away the food that was given to her back into the cryo unit. There was no point carrying it around, and frankly she felt her stomach twist and turn just by looking at the food – side effect from being in cryo sleep she guessed.


It was apparent that the woman was eager to get out of the poor excuse of clothing that they had been wearing while in cryo sleep. White tank top was not as tight, dark gray cargo pants were easier to move in, and she tucked them into the ankle high black combat boots; when she pulled on the soft light brown leather jacket over her shoulders a tattoo was visible between her shoulders right under her neck – a symbol of an eagle with spread wings. The jacket also hid a hideous round scar on her shoulder. Once dressed Ellenia’s muscles relaxed, the atmosphere around her changed, becoming not as tense as it was just a few minutes ago.


She followed James into the arsenal, where her eyes lit up with excitement at the sight of the weapons and ammunition. However, unlike James she was not in a hurry to get armed. A SOG Seal Pup Elite knife, Ontario Ranger Kerambit EOD karambit were fixed on her sides in their respective sheaths only accessible to the wearer, and a Smith & Wesson HRT12B knife was put into her right boot. She stood before the sniper rifles, the M100 still in hand, her eyes going over each weapon slowly. It seemed like none of the weapons caught her interest, save for the rifle that James had chosen. However, at the end the M100 was put away, replaced by a AS-50 Sniper Rifle that she held in her hands with care. It was light, with an effective firing range of 1,800 meters, in her opinion this was the best choice to have while travelling in such a harsh environment.


Despite the large variety of guns Ellenia didn’t choose one, actually she didn’t even bother looking at them.


“Braxton,” she looked over her shoulder at James, “I have to take care of your injuries. Let’s go back to Sick Bay before you puncture a lung. You too, Natalya, your jumping around may have caused the wounds to open, I did a lousy job when I put them on.”


On her way to Sick Bay Ellenia was busy tying her hair back in a braid, untangling her hair with her fingers, and once done it lay over her shoulders. The leather jacket was pulled off and thrown over the back of the chair inside the Sick Bay. With hands disinfected, Ellenia moved over towards Natalya.


“If you attack me and open your stitches I will not redo them, so good luck,” she said. The girl nearly broke Elissa’s arm and the latter let it slide. Ellenia would not; instead she would return the favour.


She knelt down in front of the girl, her hands lifting the shirt just enough to see the stitches. “Braxton please take everything off your upper body, you have a bullet hole that I have to take care of.”

 

[Mitheral]

Mook asked politely if Ellenia would be willing to do a similar exam of his friends - especially Elissa.


Natalya behaved herself, silent through the procedure save to respond to questions. She seemed to have had most of the fight taken out of her by Mook. Of course, she had also just come out of coldsleep. It was impressive enough that she had even been able to move fast enough to call anything an attack. Surprisingly her stitches were not only intact, but the wounds already showed signs of healing.


The instruments - which actually worked after so long - told another story. Natalya had received low level shocks originating in her arms and one leg. It was the sort of shocks someone might have received from a large eel. She also showed numerous minor injuries - older ones that were probably the result of martial arts and weapons training even as a child. She had probably been training ever since she could stand.


Her trigger finger had been sliced - probably during the fight with Elissa. The healer’s rapier had been run through the trigger and the stolen revolver wrenched away. Natalya was lucky to still have her fingers. That. or Elissa was actually that good. It seemed unlikely that the action had been merely luck. And it was quite possible that Elissa had been hurt because she had been using restraint.


Her body was still flooded with stem cells and hormones designed to stimulate recovery. In the 21st century she would have been worth a fortune on the black market for bioweapons research. Ellenia had never heard of any programs going so far.


Braxton gave a subaudible growl at having to go through a medical exam. He clearly didn’t like hospitals. But he complied. The recent wounds had been treated with nothing more than disinfectants - probably very painfully, by pouring alcohol on the wounds. He’d use coagulants to slow down or stop any bleeding. Then he had stuffed gauze on the wound to stop the bleeding and slapped a patch over the whole mess.


He may as well have used a damned poultice.


The rest of his body was a mass of scars - many from wars, but far more from what was clearly torture. She could even seen old burns from electrocution. But even more impressive was the fact that his body has bioware implanted. His ribs had been reinforced with some sort of bioplastic sheaths. They were acting like a brace to prevent his ribs from separating and poking a hole in his lungs. His finger had biochips implanted as did many other parts of his body. The real interesting were the wetware in his eyes. He just smiled. “I did try to tell you. Ask me when we are truly alone. Nothing really important right now anyways.”


(I’ll not go into Mook and the others unless you tell me Elle is going to.)

 

[Lenaara]

Ellenia’s mind was finally calm and preoccupied with work. Due to the lack of her real life experience with treating patients she was slow at first – she looked over the injuries and data and analysed it in her mind trying to remember the necessary treatment. Hours of studying when she was a teenager were paying off, her memory coming to life with images from books, texts from articles, graphs on the boards.


“Tch,” Ellenia barely managed to suppress a growl when Mook had asked her to look at the rest of the teenagers in the room. The lack of enthusiasm was not caused her by obvious dislike of the group but rather by the dislike of her role at the moment. The last thing she wanted to be was a medic.


“I will, but first let me take care of these two. I owe him,” she gave a nod in the direction of James, “that much.”


Natalya took a while to examine. Ellenia kept looking at the stitches, her lips pressed into a tight line. The healing was an advantage, as it meant that the stitches could be taken off sooner. That was what was worrying Ellenia. How soon can the stitches be taken off? A week? A day? A few hours? It was hard to tell. Coldsleep may have intervened with the healing, either accelerating or slowing it, or simply pausing it. Ellenia was no doctor, her medical training did not extend this far, but she was stubborn enough to decide to run tests on the girl’s blood and tissue samples alter to figure out the best way to treat the girl.


Perhaps to Natalya Ellenia’s intense staring at her injuries was rather awkward, but Ellenia guessed that Natalya was no shy girl. The scars on her body and physique showed clear signs of combat training; her personality would suit a person in their early 20s.


The minor bruises and cuts were disinfected and covered by a bandage where necessary to prevent bleeding. Then, Natalya was dismissed with an impatient wave by Ellenia, whose eyes were glued to the screen where the data of Natalya’s blood analysis was showing.


If only I had my notes with me. Damn the apocalypse.


James was another issue.


“People usually do other things when they are truly alone. But if you’d like a question and answer session I don’t care,” Ellenia pressed two of her fingers against Braxton’s ribs trying to find the spot where he had cracked them.


His body type was different, his physique enhanced by scientific experiments. The scarring over his body did not surprise her, he was a Marine after all, and obviously more experienced in combat situations than she was. She did not bother asking where the scars came from, as she believed that if James wanted to tell her the back story behind each scar he would do this on his own.


Ellenia had removed the gauze and frowned. “I’ve seen Freshmen do a better job than this,” she muttered.


Well, at least it was not infected, so no thorough cleaning was needed. She had still disinfected the entrance and exit of the bullet wound as gently as possible and wrapped it up in bandages.


“In a week or so I will apply stitches if needed, however you are fine the way you are. Just refrain from running around sniping people with your fancy rifle; otherwise I will have to deal with either an infection or you bleeding out to death.”


The broken ribs at least did not pose much of a threat; the implants in his body prevented them from moving and puncturing the man’s lungs. Therefore, no surgery was necessary, Ellenia explained.


“Your turn,” Ellenia turned towards the group of teenagers, “if you need my help that is.”

 

[Mitheral]

Mook nodded politely when he was told he would have to wait. He didn’t seem to be in a hurry nor even insistent. When his group’s turn came up, they all pushed Elissa to the front of the line. She insisted she was fine, but was really more curious about the equipment.


“I’d really be more interested in an exam of this group once we are healthy - so you can see what passes for normal,” Elissa admitted. Then a bit wry she added, “although banged and bruised does seem to be normal for us.” She lowered her voice to a soft whisper for Ellenia. “They are just overprotective of me.”


Mook watched from the door - so long as he wasn’t shut out. Elissa didn’t seem to mind. He and his group were almost like young children when it came to advanced technology. Just the initial scan of Elissa indicated that Mook had been right to have her checked out. She was not “fine”. A military hospital would have placed her on 72 hour bed rest.


The wounds Natalya had once had - the ones Ellenia had repaired - were in the exact same positions. The damage was spread out a little bit more and the bleeding had stopped. But Elissa lacked the massive production of stem cells that Natalya had had. Mook had been right. If Natalya had been an ordinary girl it would have been the right call - a life saving move. But Elissa also showed signs of several other wounds.


She had a bite mark that surrounded her whole torso as if something tried to bite her in half starting from the feet. The action of the jaws had cracked half her rib cage. Her right side had been hit by what might have been a vehicle. The same side showed signs of having absorbed the blast of an explosion. She had managed to remove the shrapnel and glass herself. Her right arm that Natalya had twisted was cracked. It hadn’t completely broken. But it hadn’t all been Natalya’s doing. It had been damaged and healing from the impact to her side.


There were signs of a puncture wound to her left lung - the opposite side from the impact. However there was no exit or entry wound. It was just magically there - like the gunshot wounds from Natalya. That wound was older and healing. But all these wounds added up to the fact that Mook was right to be concerned. Elissa pushed herself to dangerous levels if not watched.


Finally Elissa showed signs of extreme fatigue and some modest neural trauma similar to Post Traumatic Stress. Ellenia would soon discover that Mook’s whole team had the same stress and fatigue readings.


“We really could use a real Healer. My mother was a True Healer and was teaching me, but she died when I was about 8. True Healers are also strict pacifists - something I simply could never become.”


When Mook came in the medical equipment reacted to his presence, the readings going wild. His eyes bugged out and he stopped and backed up asking how the equipment worked. He moved a hand back and forth and the readings fluctuated. Then he forced his body to relax so he could enter the room without damaging the equipment. He had trouble staying still through the whole exam and kept apologizing. His body lit up the screen unlike anything Ellenia had ever seen.


He was a bioelectric powercell. There was no question who had shocked Natalya. And he could probably have hit her with more juice that he had used. Oh he wasn’t producing much of a charge now. But the capacity was there. His eyes were also unusual. He had to remove his sunglasses of course. They had some phosphorescent glowing specks. It was immediately apparent that his vision was completely different from a normal human.


(Sly will have similarly strange readings - like nerves, capillaries and myomer strands running through her hair.)

 

[Lenaara]

Ellenia stood in front of the screens, her eyes moving from one scan to another, lips were pressed into a tight line.


Fuck.


“Elissa,” she said still looking at the screens, “you will have to undergo a surgery. It should take no more than ten hours at most, depends on the equipment that is still working in this bunker. You have internal bleeding from the bullet wounds, your rib cage is cracked and it would have had a chance of puncturing a lung if it wasn’t already the case,” her hands covered over the screens, pointing at different spots of the Elissa’s scans, “your right arm is cracked, there are still pieces of foreign nature in your side. Brain scans,” her hand darted upwards to where the circular scans were, “and pulse readings clearly show emotional distress, coupled up with fatigue and malnourishment. The latter cases slow down your healing and put even more pressure on your body.”


Finally, Ellenia turned away from the screens. Her lips were still pressed together into a tight line, and when she looked at Elissa she could not stop a sigh leaving her lips. It was obvious that Ellenia was frustrated.


“I, uh... I will try to take care of this as much as I can. Just lie down in the paramedic station for now, I will prepare you for surgery once I look at the rest. If you’d like a surgery that is. It’s your choice.” Her voice was different now, it was faster and had less confidence behind it.


At least with Mook it was easier, despite the fact that the equipment around him kept giving wrong or constant fluctuating readings.


“What is the nature of Elissa’s mutation?” Ellenia asked Mook, her hand hovering above a screen with an intention to punch it so that the readings would finally stop changing.

 

[Mitheral]

Elissa looked at Mook and shook her head in silence. She could sense Ellenia’s frustration. Mook stared at Elissa hard, his gaze demanding honesty, then looked at the Elle calmly. He was always concerned about Elissa pushing herself.


“Elissa?”


“I’m not in as bad a shape as she thinks. Her equipment must be screwy. It IS a century old.” She grimaced. “My side IS a little tender. But there’s no internal bleeding. My arm is broken - not completely. Just needs a splint. Everything else is old news.”


Mook nodded, then looked at Ellenia again. “She’s a Healer. She can empathically link herself to another and sense they physiological condition. Then she can transfer wounds to her own body, healing part of the damage in the process. She can also use biofeedback techniques to control any injuries, bleeding, etc. If needed she can induce a healing coma - either in herself or another.”


Mook frowned. “I’m trying not to affect your equipment but … it tickles. Imagine having your whole body being tickled by feathers. Elissa, I could use your help to smooth out my responses.”


Elissa grinned. “I’d rather tickle you.” She walked over and took his arm. In a few moments his readings stabilized. She giggled. “You’re right. It does tickle.”


Mook grinned. “Take your time Ms Orlova.” It earned him a mock glare from Elissa. Then he grew more serious. “I think I know what you are seeing in our brain scans. And you are right about the possibility that it could be serious. But it is a matter for a later discussion with everyone present. You are going to find the same anomalies in each of us. And it is the main reason we want everyone at a better state of health - mental included - before we can move on. I think that is enough for now. You did answer a question that has bothered me - concerning the side effects of how we travel. We can hold off on the other exams until later. For now, why don’t we all eat. Talon looks ready to eat a horse.”


+++++++++++++++


Judging by the way Mook and his friends ate, they hadn’t eaten in awhile. And after a little time to watch them Braxton and Ellenia realized some of them were injured, mainly Elissa. And they all looked a little worn out. Likely the latter was more from the last jump through the MT (Mat Trans). That didn’t stop them from keeping at least a pair of them on watch while others slept.


The whole bunker setup was larger than Braxton had previously realized by far, though Mook said it was rather small compared to the redoubts they had visited. Redoubts were clearly military bases originally intended to preserve military forces and key personnel in a vain attempt to maintain a unitary government. But they had found every redoubt visited thus far vacated, often gutted of information and equipment. Only the MT’s remained. And those had their own generator independent of the rest of the redoubts.


One of the last things Doc had told Braxton in his last call when he asked him to get his daughter to safety was that he had left valuable information for him - that it was imperative to read before taking the third way out. Only one thing in his case could possibly be considered a source of information and that was a sealed laptop. He had managed to retrieve Dr Sarah Carver and hand her off to her bodyguard, then serve as a distraction. Of course, it was that distraction that had gotten he and his daughter nearly killed. He hadn’t had time to drop her off anywhere.


The laptop was a Toughbook model, the same sort used by Navy Seals. The casing was a titanium alloy that had been known to stop a bullet in a combat situation. The hard drive was warrantied for a 10 foot drop onto solid ground. And the whole unit would operate underwater. How deep he didn't know. Included with the laptop was a terabyte external hard drive. Doc had probably stored whatever data he could on that - and possibly some cultural files, like music. He had been the sentimental sort. Such things were practically useless now. The laptop also included a solar panel and an extra external power source. It even included a Sat link, though how useful that would be was dubious at best.


Mook and his friends made it a point to give the two freezies some more alone time alone time. Mook seemed to understand that trust was going to take time and was going to have to come from him first. And it was at this point Braxton and Ellenia could finally talk in privacy.


At first Braxton didn't like these kids too much. If not for his Deathwalker state and past experience with insurgents he might very well have joined Ellenia in her apparent dislike for them. They seemed tense and edgy, all coiled up like a snake ready to strike. Even Mook, despite the exterior calm he tried to exhibit was on edge, Something had occurred to change Braxton’s mind, however. Their youth, their eagerness, something like innocence there. The harshness of the world that they had expressed to him and all they had gone through and yet such, innocence. It was surprising. He turned his attention to the laptop. He tinkered around with it a bit while the others received their nutrition.


The laptop had some impressive operating software. It booted up in under 20 seconds. Then Braxton found himself looking at a login password request ... and a thumbprint scan. It wasn't hard to guess the password. The name 'Natalya' did the trick.


It all looked like a normal laptop, but Doc had specifically said that there was something important to read - before going out the back way. He needed to know what was back there. It wasn't a hard stretch to suggest that it had something to do with travel. Doc Carver had engineered vehicles. And he had been involved in high energy research. Sooo ...


It wasn't a big stretch to take a look through some of the icons. One was marked with technology. That turned out to be a roadmap with instructions, formulae, and theories for developing many of the milestones of technology from the Stone Age to the Industrial era and beyond. Culture was a database of music and art. The laptop was a library of culture.


Then there was a database icon titled 'TC'. That brought up a username and password request. Again it was easy to guess. And it also brought up a pop up message from the Doc.


"Ilyana, Braxton, good man. If you are reading this, then I have passed away. Within this database are secrets of something called the Totality Concept. While I do not know all the details of the TC, I was a part of it until I learned the evil it represented. I want you to enter Matter Transmission into the Search. Do this now. But be warned, what you will read is only the tip of the iceberg. And reading this will place you in grave danger."


Braxton didn't hesitate. He reached over and poked away. Another pop up appeared. "I hope you are certain Braxton. The third way out is a Matter Transmission unit or Mat Trans. But the one in THIS redoubt is NOT on the grid. That is, its use cannot be detected by the other gateways. They are point to point transporters, just like Star Trek. Only they are strictly point to point. Matter Transmission was initially researched under a program called Project Cerberus under Overproject Whisper."


"Now about their operation. To use the system, simply step into the chamber and close the door. Closing the door activates the jump. However, if unprogrammed with the correct set of coordinates, the jump will be random. And by the time you read this, possibly dangerous. There is a safety system to prevent transporting to a dead unit or into one buried under rubble. Now on the control console OUTSIDE the chamber is a button marked LD, short for last destination. Press that and you will return to your last destination when the door is again closed."


"The last way to do a jump is to program the coordinates. The coordinates and instructions can be found by entering a search on CESD3. By entering the correct codes from any MT you will return to this site and the record of the trip expunged. But the codes are specific to each MT unit. So the code to get here from Redoubt Alpha will be different than from Redoubt Bravo. All codes are unique and site specific. I must also warn you that entering a code will override the safety protocol of a random jump. There is, however a code to determine if a destination is operational."


"Now I must warn you that you can expect to experience extreme disorientation and discomfort - both mental and physical. You WILL black out. You may experience nausea, nosebleeds and nightmares. A second jump undertaken too soon will be even worse. Much of the latter effects are a matter of calibration errors. By the time you read this they may be very severe. Multiple jumps are not advised and should only be performed in an emergency. I recommend no less than a day pass between jumps, more if you have made a second of heaven help you a third."


It was almost as if the Old Man was still there with them... at least in spirit. Now Braxton wasn't a religious man and he had never gone to church but he did believe that good deeds got their rewards, in the end. The thoughts he had of old Doc Carver were positive and occasionally amusing. His memory would remain that was for a certainty. Such a dizzying intellect, how had he managed to plan for every contingency? It took a perceptive mind to consider all the angles.


Now on to the survival... for that is what it came down to. To live or die on one's feet.


"Sounds as though we'll have to use that option as a last resort." Then it dawned on him, "That's how they got in..."

 

[Lenaara]

Ellenia let Elissa go, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly at the girl. Despite the fact that she had agreed with James to play nice and trust these children it was apparent that she began disliking them more and more.


The equipment was not `screwy`, in fact it was in perfect condition. And Ellenia’s training, or the lack thereof, was sufficient enough to see the damage to Elissa’s body. That damage was not good for a child of her age, especially coupled up with malnutrition and extreme fatigue. The child’s bravery – or maybe stupidity? – was completely uncalled for.


“You asked me to look at your physical condition, so I did. If you want to be in a better state of health then actually follow my advice,” Ellenia looked away from Mook and Elissa and erased the scans from the monitors.


The revelation about the Matter Transmission had taken Ellenia aback for a moment. Well, it was not that surprising actually – this technology was in development long before either of them were born, so surely it was perfected over the years. Natalya’s physical condition was also something that the public thought to be an impossible achievement, but Natalya was a living example at the moment.


“Are you that surprised they used that device?” Ellenia was hovering over James’ shoulder, “it has been years, others may have found these devices as well.”


She stepped back from James; her hands untangling her hair from the braid and letting it fall over her shoulders in waves.


“You should go get some sleep, the kids are all resting,” for a moment Ellenia felt like a mother and she had to press her lips together in a thin line, “and I need a drink.”

 

[Mitheral]

While Braxton and Ellenia had been speaking privately, Mook and his friends had been doing the same. The one rule Mook had laid down was to hold off all the questions they all had about Pre- Skydark. While he was busting with curiosity himself, he knew that dredging up the recent trauma so soon was probably not the best thing. And given the record of freezie insanity he didn’t want to push too soon. Instead he asked that everyone confine questions to current concerns – like knowledge about the MT, gear, and such. The real emphasis was to be answering questions.


++++++++++++++


James nodded. “Before I get some rest, I need to put the kids down. They are like coiled serpents. They need to get some real rest themselves. My guess, though, is they they will sleep in shifts. Mook talks polite, but I doubt he would completely trust us. That is going to take a long time to earn.” He frowned, “Uhm … there are only two bedrooms here. Mook and his friends will probably shack up in the common area. Natalya has a room. And Ilyana and I had a room.”


“I’d offer you my room. But that would leave me sleeping in sick bay - probably not a good idea as I was going to flip my switch back. And I really shouldn’t be left alone. This hasn’t been the roughest time I have ever spend. I have seen far worse for far longer. And I weathered the ride better than most in the past. But I wanted to warn you that I may not be the best company in a little bit.”

 

[Lenaara]

Ellenia moved her shoulders in a slight shrug.


“To say the truth I would rather spend the night with a man with suicidal tendencies than with your daughter, no offence, or those other children. If you’d like I can stay in the Sick Bay, but if you need me near you to...I don’t know what to do, haven’t really been around a lot of people with ‘humanity’ switch myself.” Ellenia chuckled.


“Any tips on how I should handle you when you flip the switch on? Or just a punch in the face should do the trick to calm you down?”

 

[Mitheral]

“Well, basically the switch is an emotional damper. It was less effective on me than most. You probably saw me as emotionally distant or aloof. Once I switch it back on, the past day is subjective experience will flood back. It will be almost like I am bipolar”


“ Now seeing as most of my concerns were about my daughter …” he paused. Even with the damper working his daughter still evoked emotions. “... I’m probably going to be a big baby. There wasn’t much left for me to lose in my old life - before the war - save my daughter. The one thing you need to try to keep my mind off of will be my wife. Probably not possible. Too much to remind me.”


He seemed to think about that for a moment. “Which means you need to know what happened. Ilyana was an early result of genetic enhancement. There was an old TV show, Dark Angel. If you ever saw it, you would understand the sort of enhancements I mean. Speed, strength, agility, senses. Well I was dropped in behind enemy lines on a mission. Ilyana had escaped her tormentors. My assignment was to investigate the very project she was a part of. I got pretty messed up. She harbored me and helped me heal. Then I smuggled her out and we both went AWOL. That’s the long story short.


“As you might guess things got steamy and Natalya was conceived. The Russians considered Natalya intellectual property. Ilyana made me promise that our daughter would always come first. She was always sure that her old handlers would find a way to get her back. And they did. It was some sort of nanovirus that infiltrated her brain and rewired her. She came after our daughter. I was no match for her physically. I still remember seeing her fighting and then the lights going out in her eyes. I put a bullet between them. Again, long story short.”


“Do I feel guilty? Yes. Would I do it again? Yes. She had an atropine filled with the nanovirus for Natalya. If I hadn’t stopped her, I’d have lost Natalya too. But it is my constant nightmare. That is the man you are going to have to deal with.”


James nodded to Ellenia. “Well, I can behave myself - I hope. Honestly, I’m not sure I’ll want to be alone tonight. Just try to keep me calm.”

 

[Lenaara]

“Just be prepared for my failing attempts to calm you down,” Ellenia chuckled, “I’m was a surgeon, not a shrink. The extent of my abilities, and patience, will be a slap. Or a punch. In any case it will be effective enough to calm you down, I think.”


She turned around, her leather jacket slipping off her shoulders and landing softly in her hands.


“Make sure Natalya knows the reasons behind your actions. She’s still your daughter, I doubt she would harbour hate for you for a long time. You are still her father, after all.”


Then, Ellenia gave a quick nod towards the Sick Bay. “I can always fetch a sedative to calm you down, just in case. It can also be payback for what you did to me.”

 

[Mitheral]

Surprisingly Braxton’s period of “hyper emotion” only lasted about an hour. And it wasn’t especially severe. It didn’t take long to realize that the best thing to do was to distract him from the topics he dwelled on too much. And to pass the time he challenged Ellenia to a game of Concentration - which he naturally lost. It was mostly a memory game. The end of the game made him get a little morose as it brought back memories of his wife who always won. He started out joking about he had hoped that for once he’d have a chance to win. Then he got depressed.


But the depression wasn’t so severe that he tried to off himself. Instead he suggested a change of game - something with more random odds. He raised an eyebrow at Ellenia suggestively ogling her figure. Well, it WAS a way to pass the time. But he closed his eyes right after that and apologized. Then he got depressed again and apologized for getting her into this mess.


And that is how it went for the entire hour. He hadn’t been under the Deathwalker mode for long - maybe half a day. And the quarantine period was typically about 10% of the mission period. And the events during the mode weren’t extreme. So the recovery went a lot easier. On the other hand he was now in considerably more pain than before. Apparently Deathwalker Mode bypassed most of the pain signals to the brain. Fortunately that was something that didn’t hit him with interest accrued. Pain was simply restored to normal levels.


(About ready to move on to the next morning.)

 

[Lenaara]

Ellenia could not get much sleep. She was frustrated, worried about what will happen in the future, and her mind was still going over the data and the scans that she had gotten from everyone in the bunker. It felt alone being the most normal human being inside this underground area.


To pass the time when everyone were either asleep or keeping watch she went to the weaponry arsenal. At first she just looked over the weapons, checked their magazine capacity, their accuracy. Then, she picked a random pistol and began customising its build. This only managed to entertain her for no more than a half an hour, so she put the pistol back into its respective slot and left the arsenal room.


Since most people were in the common room, James was asleep – she checked before leaving – in his and his late wife’s bedroom, and Natalya was in her room, Ellenia went to the Sick Bay. It was not particularly big, so to make some more open space she pushed aside the auto paramedic and the operation bed to the sides. All of the equipment was put away, all of the scans erased, all of the data selected to be void. Nothing to distract Ellenia.


Then, she began physical exercises. Cardio, push ups, stretching, she even used a heavy old piece of equipment as dumbbells. With muscles still weak from cold sleep it was hard at first, her muscles ached, body felt weak. But this was the only way to keep her mind at ease.


Ellenia rested her back against a wall behind her, her skin sleek with sweat, chest rising up and down as she was heavily breathing. She stood up only from time to time, only to retrieve a combat knife from a cupboard that she used as a bull’s-eye target. The knife hit random places in the cupboard at first, making a soft thud as the metal dug itself in the wood of the cupboard. Then, the area where the knife hit began to narrow down more and more, until the tip of it was only landing in one particular spot in the cupboard.


She lifted her arm once more to throw the knife but instead of the knife landing softly in the surface of the cupboard it fell with a loud clank. The knife fell onto a metal tray first just beneath the cupboard, it made the tray fall off as well, the medical equipment in it showering the floor. The sound was loud enough to wake up the entire bunker. Reason for such an awkward throw was simple – there was a contraction of a muscle in her arm. Perhaps it was caused by cold sleep, Ellenia guessed, her muscles still not accustomed to so much movement in such a short while.


With a grunt she pushed herself up and began gathering the scalpels and such off the floor.

 

[Mitheral]

Talon and Mook had taken the first Sly had taken the first watch. Of the four friends they had been in the best shape. Ellenia had had to pass through the common area to get to the Sick Bay. The racket she made woke Elissa up, who had to stuff ear plugs which she kept stored in one of those velvet covered boxes a man might present an engagement ring in.


While they guessed that the racket was an accident. Talon and Sly decided to at least investigate. Sly was normally the scout, but for once Talon decided to go forth. When he got close to the Sick Bay he announced his presence calmly. “Ms Orlova?” Then he cautiously poked his head about the entry to see Ellenia picking up her mess.


A gentleman might have offered to help. Talon was a little less refined in his manners. He eyed the pattern of holes and offered no opinion of her aim. In fact he said nothing. He wasn’t exactly the best at striking up conversations.

 

[Lenaara]

Ellenia was crouched on the floor, her left hand holding the equipment firmly as her right was gathering the rest from the floor.


“Sorry,” she said and stood up. The metal tray was pressed between her forearm and side; her left hand held all of the equipment that fell on the floor, her right had a light grip on the combat knife.


Softly the metal tray was put down. It seemed like Ellenia tried to make as less noise as possible now, conscious of the others sleeping in the rooms just beyond the door to Sick Bay.


“Tch,” Ellenia frowned for a moment at her finger. It was cut slightly by one of the scalpels that she was lining up on the metal tray.


“My muscles feel weak, thus my aim is messed up,” she nodded in the direction of the cupboard, “I’m trying to improve it.”


She moved back to the spot where she had been sitting before the metal tray fell on the floor. Thud. The movement of her arm was swift but soft; the knife hit the same spot as before on the cupboard.


“I did not check your physical condition before. Would you like me to do so now, or it does not bother you?” Ellenia asked walking over to the cupboard to retrieve the knife.

 

[Mitheral]

“No, I’m good.” He frowned as he looked closer at the depth of the knives in the wood. This is why Mook decided we should stay a week. Mook is usually right. You would more likely anger a beast than really hurt it right now. Surprising that you can do this well. Means you were in good shape before. The girl -” he stopped and grinned “- doesn’t like me much. Tried kicking me and hitting me and couldn’t hurt me any.” She actually chuckled. “But in a few years she is going to be pretty dangerous, so I suppose I shouldn’t rub it in. She must be a mutant. Felt like she will be stronger than me someday.”


His smile faded a little. “The noise is going to keep Elissa awake. She was putting ear plugs in to try to block out the noise. She has senses sharper than the rest of us have. Maybe you should use the range?” Then he paused and added. “I’m not a mutant if that’s what you were looking for. I am human.”


“Most people despise mutants. But I have met some good ones. Mook and the others I consider friends mutant or not - my only friends really. They plan to introduce me to some other friends soon if we can ever manage a jump to the right location. Or if we are close enough now we may trek there. They know a friendly ranch - good people they say.” Then as an afterthought he added. “I am the newest one on Mook’s group.”