Ryan spent the first couple of hours at the gym with his temporary body. a standard procedure as he put it through its paces. He had to learn how much this body could handle. It did not take long to get used to any body, but the problem came if he were to act instinctually. He might try to respond as he would in his own body instead of thinking with the current one. Preserving one’s self was not only a physical act, but a soul touching one, since the body housed the soul. What if the body he was in was more slower, or weaker? Ryan had to learn to compensate for this.

Ryan himself might not die if the body were damaged, but it was a possibility. As long as he could leave quick enough, he would be okay. But if a body he was inhabiting were to say, step on a landmine, he could die if the body died with him in it. It didn’t happen often with mercenaries, but it did happen. And he was being paid extra to preserve this body. This planet had no other Astro-Projectionists, and probably could not afford one. Having an empty body was better than nothing.

Leo was a constant presence. Unnecessary, but helpful. He spotted Ryan as he tested out the bodies capacity doing squats and chest presses, helped him put away weights, and held the punching bag steady as he hit and kicked it. The female body was surprisingly quick, and when Ryan commented on this, Leo chuckled.

“We all seem quick to you. It’s because we are used to more pressure.”

The next step was getting used to the outdoors. Ryan was wary at first, wondering if he would get hit by the Bug, but Leo assured him no. “They only release it when they sense a certain amount of us outside in order to do the most damage. Nobody goes out now unless absolutely necessary.”

The pressure suit Ryan donned was bulky and heavy. The heaviness was nothing compared to when the bay doors opened however. An immense pressure hit him from all sides, like being submerged into deep water. His ears let out a little pop.

“Takes a moment to get used too. But Lindela was able to stay out for hours so you should be able too.” Leo said from his own bulky orange suit.

Ryan nodded and focused on walking. No wonder this body seemed quick. Moving out here was a nightmare. He was slow and the pressure threw his balance off. Beside him, Leo walked much more confidently, but also slower. “The pressure won’t be like this in the Sudsers lab will it?”

“No. It’s a little heavier than our own. But they don’t like the pressure any more than we do. They are built to handle it better is all.”

Ryan let out a pent up breath. He had been worried for a second. His hand, which had been tapping at his thigh, stopped as he relaxed.

By the time they retreated back to the pressure-less tunnels, Ryan had figured out how to walk quickly in the atmosphere, how to jump, and move in all directions with much less effort.

They took a break to scarf down food. It was much needed after burning so many calories just walking around outdoors. Ryan was surprised to find more chicken and this time beef too. “You all have a lot of Earth animals here?” he asked.

Leo let out a laugh. “Not animals no. But this colony contained some of the brightest minds of the day back when the settlers came. They realized they needed protein quick out here. They burned so many calories moving about. So, they used the building protein blocks of the more basic animals, and grew their meat.”

Ryan nearly choked. “This isn’t real meat?”

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“Oh it’s real enough. Given oxygenated blood, grown from stem cells on a protein ladder, it even has hair on it before it’s prepared. We just skipped growing a whole animal is all. We grow chicken breasts and legs, and beef shoulder and rump. We have some lamb too, and on special occasions we get fish but those are a bit trickier so we don’t get it as often.”

Nose wrinkled, Ryan considered putting down the steak knife, but this body was hungry and since its previous owners had no qualms about the meat, he kept eating, albeit much less enthusiastically.

Afterwards, they went through the basics of the weapons Ryan would be using. Guns were useless against Sudsers, but they did have a few effective weapons that nearly all guards carried. One was a miniature water cannon. Ryan eyed the large gun as Leo strapped the bulky weapon to him and gave him the basics.

The cannon was effective, but shooting balls of water was tricky. The high pressure atmosphere made it harder to aim, and the gun did not have a very far range. Only about fifteen feet. Also, he had to carry a large three gallon jug of water on his back. This worried Ryan. “Ehh….. Won’t they be pretty much on me by the time I can hit one?” he asked concerned. “I won’t be able to run fast with three gallons of water on my back.”

“Do not worry. You don’t have to hit one. Soon as the water splashes they will give you a wide berth. If you do hit one, step back quickly. They go a little berserk once the water hits them.”

“Right…”

With the first full day done, Ryan made his way back to his room and collapsed onto his cot. Like most Astro-Projectionists, he didn’t dream. Instead, he slept soundly until Curtis hammered on his door.

“Wakey wakey! It’s midday, the suns are overhead, and we are ready to get to the fun part!” He yelled out.

If he wanted Ryan awake and alert, there really was no better way to do it. Nothing startles a mercenary more than loud noises. Ryan took a moment to take a few deep breathes and calm his heart while he seethed silently at the loud man. Finally dressed, with more food in him to hold him over, he went to meet the team of engineers and guards with Curtis leading the way.

“Aye. Listen up! This here is Ryan. He’s the one going into this pit of living rocks, so it’s our job to make sure he get’s there and get’s it done!” Ryan lifted a hand up to wave at the group of men and women in the conference room while his other beat against his thigh.

“I’ve read the report you all have sent, the main thing is to know if there are any deviations from it.” Ryan began, nervous. He hated public speaking. “And then I will need the engineers to lay out what sort of machines I might be facing, and how to work them.”

Curtis smiled. “No deviations so far. Let’s go over it though one last time. We use the net to hide ourselves till we’re outside the compound. I will be leading the team. You, you gonna stay in the middle of that net. The net hides us from them. They won’t know we’re there till we trip their perimeter. Once it’s tripped, all bets off. They gonna swarm us. There will be four of us who gonna act as ya bodyguards.” He said pointing at Ryan. “You stay in the middle of us, conserve ya water. Most of the Sudsers gonna be out trying to fight us off. But there will still be a few below ground and you will need it. Once you get in, Leo will be talking to ya.”

“I will take over once you are below ground.” Leo said from the table to his right. Blueprints of various machines littered the table. “You will have a camera that lets us see and talk to you. We will navigate you to the sub-basement, and once there, we can go over the machines and tell you what to do. Once we figure out which machine we are working with, you pull the plug, or flip the switch, or just throw a grenade for all we care, and the lab floods and all the Sudsers die. Super easy.”

“Easy, except for the Bug. How long do I have for before that takes this body out?” Ryan watched as a few people flinched at the term ‘the body’ but he ignored them. He wasn’t here to make friends. Nor did he want to die. He was just being realistic.

“We have a compound that you will take that will slow it down. You have about an hour before hemorrhaging really starts up, and once that happens, about thirty minutes before you bleed you.” Ryan personally didn’t think that sounded super easy, but he was not about to argue.

The rest of the day was spent reading over various Sudser machines and inventions. Ryan’s head pounded by the end of the day from absorbing all the information, but he did feel much more confident about facing the machines. Because of the Bug, time was of valuable essence, and he had to complete the mission before he got his money.