A loud thud shudders through the room as my right foot hits the silicone skin of the sparring bot. I double, then triple roundhouse it with my right foot again, following up with a turning side kick from my left, right at its head, then with a hook kick, kick on my right, right foot forward, straight punch with my left arm. The bot swings its right fist at me. I block with my left, deflecting the punch outward, roundhouse kick its left side, which it blocks, hitting my right leg back down, to a left handed stance, to which I follow with a tornado kick which hits the bot in its left side. The bot shields itself with its forearms, before quickly springing its right fist towards my abdomen. I shift to the left, wrapping my left arm around its right, hook my left foot around its left, and throw it down to the ground.

Something within compelled me to mount the bot and start belting its face with my hands for a few seconds before the ache of my right hand stops me. I whinge in pain, watching my right hand tremble.

"Lori, you dumbass," I mumble, clutching my right handy in pain.

After a deep breath, I help the bot back up with my left and place my left foot forward, right foot back.

~~

Adel and I occupy the entirety of the couch in a miraculously quiet lobby-living room on this Saturday afternoon.

She's deep into some VR game in a MIRCS headset.

"Ade?" I ask.

"Yeah?" She removes her headset and looks at me.

I look briefly up from my EVA Fashion magazine, before muttering "Ugh. Never mind."

"I'm still curious, but whatever," she puts the headset back on.

The daydream of wearing a dress and standing in a field with a man distracts my mind even from the magazine in my hands before me.

"A-" I gape, unable to produce words. No point to even ask Adel, she's even less likely to know than I.

Just spit it out. It's Adel, not a fucking contract interview. Deep breath in, Lori.

"I want a man."

"Yeah, yeah," she mutters, still playing.

"No, I'm not kidding." Her focus remains unbroken.

I put the magazine down to look at her. No, she's really sucked in.

Grabbing her headset and flipping it back up away from her eyes, I look her dead in her green irises.

"Hey, what the fuck?" she springs backwards, almost swatting away my hand.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"Do I need to repeat myself?"

She groans and takes the headset off.

"Now what do you think I'm going to tell you?"

"'Lori, you're out of your fucking mind'."

"And what do you normally say in response to that?"

"'Nobody sane is a Jackal Hunter'.".

"And what is different this time?"

"I hate this job and I want to give it up for a man."

"You didn't answer my question."

A few seconds to condensate the thought.

"I can't do this shit forever. If I don't eventually find a way to get that, I'd rather..."

"No, don't tell me-"

"Yes, something will fucking break up here," I tap my temple with my finger.

"You're going to have an... aneurysm due to sexual repression?"

I roll my eyes. "I'm-"

"A stroke?"

Perhaps that's more accurate. "Perhaps."

"Your Bulge getting to you again? We can fix that."

"No, Ade. This goes beyond body mods and hormones. Well, hormones might technically have a role, but you get what I'm on about."

She raises an eyebrow. "You're... horny."

I furrow my brows and probably blushed. "No. Well, wait..."

"Ye-a-a-ah, that's right."

I turn away in frustration. "I-" Stammers prevent me from finishing the damn sentence.

Adel tilts her head and mockingly smiles.

"I want to have a child."

Her brow rises.

"I'd love... to help you with that, but-"

"Not with you, sorry."

"Well, yeah, smartass. Then who? How is that gonna be possible?"

"How was my life even possible? I should have been dead many times over by now."

"Not necessarily. I say this not to flatter you, but you really got yourself out of a lot of those sticky situations."

"I state what I want. Whether that's possible... I don't know."

"Do you really hate your job that much?"

"At the end of my life I won't think about all the Jackal heads I got them to hang in the Hunter Hall."

"So... what will you think of instead?"

"What do you think?"

"Friends?"

I blankly stare at her.

"Have you ever considered, or do you really not wrap your head around the fact that people might have desired to have kids at some point in history?"

"Yeah, duh, the Chosens surely want to."

"So I guess I'll have to become a Chosen."

Adel sighs and flips her headset down, and returns her back to the couch. "Okay, whatever."

"In any case, I'd like your help."

"In what? Signing the paperwork? You can do that yourself."

"No. Grabbing a man from the Compound."

She pauses her game, flips her headset back up, and looks at me as if I said that just to piss her off.

"Oh please. If we even dare to try, the impossibility of the task itself would be the least of our issues."

"Are you implying that I'm on my–"

"I don't know. Maybe? You clearly use your Bulge more than I do, maybe that affects your cycle."

"Does the Bulge affect yours?"

"Again, no, I don't use mine like you do. My job is not even one-fifth as stressful as yours, on both body and brain."

"Oh, don't flatter me."

"I'm not. I'm your technician, not your doctor, let alone a gyno. But with all due respect, you're clearly a lot more stressed than I am at any given moment."

Looking down, I'm unable to construct a clever reply.

"Oh, speaking of doctors, didn't you want to see her about your body fat percentage?"

I gently shake my head.

She shrugs and flips her headset back on.

"You make way too much money for them to let you quit, become a Chosen, and get pregnant. You'd cause so much of a stir at the Compound, I don't see anyone who'd be on board with this."

I grumble and roll off the couch.

"Plus you're too talented. Had I been as pretty as you and more agile, I probably would be a Hunter too," her words follow me as I walk away.

~~

Later that evening, Adel catches me on my yoga mat, standing at the open door. "Sorry for being a twat."

I continue my side stretch with both hands at my left foot, chin to my knee, facing away from the doorframe. Right as she steps away, I interrupt, "Don't worry about it."

Adel remains there momentarily, then walks towards me and hugs me from behind. The sheer mass of her arm was as shocking as it was comforting. Tears start to roll down my face.