His head throbbed.
He heard faint thuds of boots on ground around him. He swayed as somebody carried him away. He tried to wriggle free but his hands were bound tightly. He struggled for a bit, but the man carried him growled.
Samar went limp. His head was killing him. He could feel something sticky on the front of his face. He licked his lips and tasted the metallic tang of blood.
My blood.
Shit. Shit. Shit. I’ve been kidnapped.
He tried to raise his head a bit to check his surroundings but couldn’t see much apart from the greyish-green uniform of his captor. He could see withered trees and bushes passing by as he tried to organize his thoughts together.
My squad. Are they still alive?
He tried to focus on his nanocluster as he tried to check out his team’s status.What he saw chilled him.
PI-S (Purge Infantry- Scout): Dead
PI-S (Purge Infantry- Scout): Dead
PI-S (Purge Infantry- Scout): Dead
MR-CM (Medical Researcher- Nanotech Specialist): Health- 12% Mental Status- Alert, Nervous; Fatigue- 89%, BOOST- 1/3 (N/A)
PI-G (Purge Infantry - Grenadier): Dead
PI-M (Purge Infantry - Machine Gunner): Health- 40% Mental Status- Unconscious; Fatigue- N/A, ADRENALINE BOOST-1/2
His squad was gone, except the gunner. He didn’t even know his Call-Sign, having just met his squad before that mission. He didn’t have the clearance level to get any other details about them except their specialization. Now he was probably going to die.
“CALM DOWN”
“I can’t fucking calm down” Samar thought furiously.
“I’VE ACTIVATED YOUR DISTRESS BEACON. ENFORCERS ARE ON THEIR WAY”
Fucking hell. Now things are really going to go to shit.
Enforcers were the bogeymen. Genetically engineered super soldiers with Mid-lever clearance to their nanoclusters. The things they could do to themselves, and... Samar shuddered, to their enemies was the stuff of nightmares. Samar could manipulate his body’s hormones and basic muscle limiters with his Basic Clearance level and knowledge, but at Mid-Level clearance things were different. They could affect the body at a deeper level, make bones harder and toughen muscles till they were strong like steel cables. They could remove all the limiters on the body that the brain had placed and could become a force of destruction for a limited time. They could always repair the damage later, but it wasn’t recommended. The Human body has it's limits.
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I bet they could kick this huge bastard’s ass. How far is he going to carry me anyway?
“Spirit, how soon are they going to get here?” Samar questioned the AI
“50 MINUTES”
“Yeah, sure I can hold out till then no problem. I’m definitely never leaving the lab after this.” Samar was so happy he could hug the AI. Mr. Lewis is a hardass and stickler for proper procedure, but I’ll take his nagging for this bullshit any day. He was going to do good old research, leave the sample gathering to the scouts. I'll just work in the lab with Anna, now there was a gorgeous girl...
“Warum ist er so glücklich?” All the enemy stopped walking.
“What’s happening? What are they saying?” Samar questioned the AI.
“RUNNING SCAN”
“……..”
“LANGUAGE RECOGNIZED- GERMAN”
“German?” Samar’s eyes widened in surprise. “Nobody speaks that anymore”
“THEY ARE”
“What are they saying?” Samar was curious to know more about his captors.
“AUTHORIZE DOWNLOAD OF GERMAN LANGUAGE MODULE?”
Samar grimaced. He would have to sacrifice a portion of his brain capacity for this module. It was true that he would be able to speak and understand German, but it would take a toll on his brain. There was a limit to the number of modules a human mind could take in a time period. If he took German now, he wouldn’t be able to download more advanced training modules for at least a month. That would really set him back compared to his peers. The competition for Commendations was cut-throat.
The man who spoke earlier moved closerto Samar. He was tall and lean, with a well cut grey-green uniform and cap. He was clean shaved and wore a sidearm on his side. He had blue sunken eyes which were frighteningly sharp. He smiled at Samar “Schon wach, mein Freund?”
Samar didn’t like that smile at all. The man’s smiled turned a bit sinister.
“Do it” Samar told the AI.
“COMMENCING”
Samar’s eyes flickered as the nanites in his head created new neural pathways. His eyes glazed over for a few seconds, and there was a faint buzzing sound in his ears.
“LANGUAGE MODULE DOWNLOADED”
The officer was still looking at him.
“What did you just do?” he tilted his head curiously, like he was looking a pet.
Samar shook his head, trying to feign confusion. There was that persistent buzzing.
“You understand me.” It was a statement, not a question.
Samar bypassed confusion and jumped straight to panic. What the hell. I just wanted to listen to what they were saying, why the hell is this bastard so perceptive?
“Hans, this is as good a spot as any other.” The officer told the man carrying Samar.
“Jawoh, Herr Major!”
With a slight grunt, Hans threw Samar against a tree. It was the giant who captured him in the first place. Hans sauntered over to him and casually backhanded Samar as he tried to get up. Samar felt dizzy from the force of the blow.
“What... are you going to... do with us?” Samar was getting a bad feeling.
“US? What makes you think there's anybody else?" Samar gulped. "I just want to get to know you a little better.” The Major stretched out his hand towards a soldier, who quickly handed him his knife.
“Now, why don’t you tell me about these... guns of yours?”
The tip of the blade started glowing red, radiating heat as the Major moved it closer towards Samar's chest.