System of the Damned
Chapter 10 - Albert
Leave me be or I’ll make you grow pink fur.
I am Albert, son of Xavier, First Geneticist of the Order of Bun Bun, and I am young even for one of my race. In the week since my father had left with Major O’Connell, I’d been working in the labs and overworked ten keyboards, and had a nice mp keeping me from being disturbed. Apparently people worry when their hair suddenly turns neon pink after being jabbed with a retrovirus laced needle for bothering you, who knew? I did, which is why I keep a batch of my first creation hidden at my work station.
I had six screens, two keyboards, touchpads I used my ears on, special headphones, and a cup of coffee with a straw that I sipped from. My music was playing loud, drowning out the light noise of the lab and at twenty three times speed to keep up with how fast I was focusing, but I was careful not to get “too fast” as I worked. I’d exploded one set of keyboards already, but typing with fingers and toes helped me keep myself to a safer speed. Best not panic the humees too much or they’ll worry and get annoying. Don’t get me wrong, I like humans, mostly, but they have a great deal of inquisitive idiots. Thankfully I could take entire hours to myself to think and ponder on issues and so long as I was careful, no one noticed anything other than that I needed a coffee refill.
I, like my siblings, inherited our father’s genetic disposition for inherent mental and physical speeds, which only grew until our speed allowed us to go out of phase with our reality. It was mind boggling to try and work out the fine details of it, but what I had figured out was the most interesting of all, to me at least. Caltunium bonded itself to the breaks in dna where gene mods had been applied, and acted as a poison to those without gene mods. My father’s mind had been enhanced along with adjustments to his body, which in turn gave him his speed of thought and body. My mother had been modded with enhancements to her body, but had also been given mods for density and strength. No doubt these mods were simply tests to see if it could be done, and later used on humans, but with the addition of Caltunium now.
My fingers and toes flew across keys as my ears worked the touchpads, working in the alterations needed to save humans one by one. Base dna for a being had standard traits, but the devil was in the fine details. Some of those who’d been placed into hibernation were useful or intelligent, my job was to save them. Adam was tasked to aid me, which turned a great deal of automated systems to manual function. Due to the risk of death even in hibernation, we had to work as quickly as we possibly could, so the Captain had ordered all possible systems set to manual and given Adam permission to focus fully on our work.
Adam’s voice was kind sounding as he spoke. “The first one hundred and twenty three have taken to the genetic modifications you’ve created for them. I am still running the next one hundred simulations, and I’m very proud that my use of speed sensors has stopped you from vaporizing your work station again.” A dash of humor at the end and I smiled in the way we’d learned from humans, a quirk of the lips, but not showing pointy teeth. Humans went from smelling of joy to stinking of fear if we showed our teeth.
My family had also figured out most of a spoken language, but it was just sounds that could be translated to human letters and speech. We squeaked, chittered, and grunted, which apparently sounded like happy bunny noises to most of the humans...even if we were disgracing their lineages and cursing them. I just couldn’t wait for the new translators to get done. It was going to be highly entertaining. My mother could actually somewhat speak the Lo’Kar language, and was fluent in Rodurian, the “rhino” people as Uncle Fluffy called them. “I’ve gotten better at controlling myself, it’s more a matter of keeping control of my heart rate. Sadly if I let my mind run too wildly, then my heart speeds up and things start to explode.” I huffed at the end of my chittering, having a fast mind and body was wonderful, but the dangers of destroying things was immense.
If we moved other than gentle and casual movements, our bodies affected the world around us, and the energy transfer was destructive. Father had become a master of using it for various combat means and had saved the Yangtze colony using it, but we had to be very careful. Our first three months of life were spent in the bone riddled ruins created by the titan’s death. Adam had been given monitoring stations around the area and we’d grown closer to him than his creators had. That is what happens when a sophont can think as quickly as an AI though, they like those that can actually keep up with them. “Thankfully the Captain has allowed me to focus fully on this task, I wouldn’t be able to keep up this level of simultaneous simulations and be able to run the full amount of automated systems.” He sounded less and less like an AI every day, but I think that was in part to my sister Dorothy cleaning up issues for him.
“We can’t have you getting stutters or lag in your processes again, though I know Dorothy is trying her best to create you a proper processing core. It is just taking time for her to work it all out and get the design finished.” I squeaked in laughter as I thought about that. “She’s stolen half of the computers and is using them and a human interface to do it too. Isaac is helping her with energy details, and he’s also helping Marie with her present for mother.”
“Ah yes, she’s been trying to work on it in secret for a few weeks now. I think she’s been giving Mr Honey and his badger fits by trying to make some of the small parts she’s asked for. She’s already destroyed several of them in her testing.” There was a bit of mirth in his voice and I grinned fully, after all, giving humans fits was part of the fun. A yellow light blinked on one of my displays and I finished the last bit of work before closing the file and putting it into the folder to be run through simulations. “Take a nap Albert, I’ve started the simulations on your family and Major O’Connell that you added into the lot. I’ll wake you when I finish the long term calculations on them.
I slowed my heart rate down to the gentle steady beat that humans called fast, and the world around me slowly came back into focus as I calmed my mind. “Yes, I think a good nap is just what is called for.” I chittered out and since my pulse had slowed, my synthesizer turned itself back on and translated my words.
The MP tasked with guarding me sighed and looked over at me, finally turning and raising a brow. “Do you know that when you type, it sounds like a gatling gun firing in the distance.” The grizzled veteran sighed. “Not to mention when you’re going fast...your chatter sounds horrifying, and I’ve seen the Major rage out and turn.” He checked his watch. “And you’ve only been here for ten minutes real time, how long did you work?” He asked curiously. I tended to call this man Snake, since that is what special ops troops usually got called with age, plus he had an old, but lovely tattoo of one curling up his arm. Apparently one of his old friends had gotten him very drunk and talked him into it.
I thought for a few seconds. “Roughly six hours worth of time. I spent a little while just now speaking with Adam.” I beamed up at him and he held out his hand, which I hopped into and he took me over toward where I bunked. It was a very comfortable stein that I’d passed out inside when I’d overdone it one day. I’d even spruced it up with getting it put into a nice soundproof box, being a light sleeper was horrid. A little padding in the bottom and string ladder running up the outside. It was just comfy to slip into and snooze.
Snake just shook his head. “Yes I know you were talking to him, as I said, it’s rather unnerving. The lab staff tends to take breaks when you get wound up and into your work.” He turned and set me down by a small plate with some food on it and a small glass of water. The glass was oddly sized and perfect for me. “Eat up, you’ve burned hours worth of energy in ten minutes. I’d rather not have you get sick or hurt. I hate to say it, but your mother is scary when upset.”
I squeaked and kept my heart calm as I sat down at the plate and worked on eating the dragon salad. It was a good balanced meal for me, lots of local foliage with small strips of dragon jerky mixed in. As I ate, I heard a soft chuckle come from my guard. “What?” I chittered out and the synthesizer spoke.
“Oh just that I’m sitting here watching a bunny use a fork to eat a salad, and talking to said bunny.” He shook his head. “If someone had told me this would happen in my life thirty years ago, I’d have smacked them. But here I am, tasked with guarding a hyper intelligent bunny, who’s saving human lives.”
I squeaked out in giggles at the thought. “Because we’re too small to properly live here, and I’m twisting human genes to make as many of you survive here that I can.” I moved and pat him lightly on the arm and smiled up at him as the synthesizer translated my chittering to english. Then I gave him a wicked look, ears popping back and my fuzzy hands scrubbing together. “Yes yes, saving the humans and making you all into powerful minions for the Great Bunny Empire! We shall rule the stars!” I cheered the last chitter out and then winked at him. “Kidding, just kidding. I need sleep.”
Snake rolled his eyes at my little show. “Considering you’re twisting our genes to your whim, and what you think works best for each of us…” He scratched his arm and then paused as he looked curiously at his tattoo. “Is that a scale?”
“Nothing like Hound unless you constantly eat Caltunium and then bite a three phase power line. My brother thinks that it is the power that causes the full transformation.”Something about how the mineral reacts with genetic bonds.” I shrugged and climbed up into my stein, dropping down into it and taking the tiny pillow that Snake dropped in with me. “Thanks.”
He gave me a look. “You know I actually don’t like snakes…”
“Yep.” Came from the synthesizer as I snuggled in, upright and comfy as could be. “Not poisonous…” I said and trailed off as slowly but surely I passed out cold, belly full of good food. I didn’t see Snake move to flip a couple of switches, turning off a blinking red light outside the lab and turning on one that lit soft amber. He took up a guard position near my sleeping place and slid the privacy door closed as the lab techs came back inside.
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What I didn’t realize is that I’d been doing too many of my rapid shifts of work lately and actually slept a solid twelve hours, and apparently I snore. I know I snore, because one of the mice working the lab muttered something about a demonic chipmunk in a cabinet. They all went quiet when I dropped out of the door and was caught by the recently promoted, Sergeant Johnson, who smiled at me and scritched around my ear.
I looked her over, spotting the small claws that looked like talons had started to grow in, and her hair looked more akin down than hair now. Her eyes looked like an eagle or falcon, and then I chittered as I realized it...she was turning her head, not her eyes. I squeaked as thousands of years of bred in fear of beings with those eyes made me want to try and find cover...and then she held up a bit of jerky for me. Food! I was instantly distracted and snagged it, chittering out my thanks as I nibbled on breakfast...lunch maybe?
“Better reaction than your mom, she threw a bench at me.” I heard her huff as she moved to click on my synthesizer and went back to petting me. “Oh and you’re off today, Captain’s orders since the lab has a week of work and all the worst cases are covered.” I went to chitter a reply and she booped me on the nose. “No back talk, I’ve talked with Adam and he’s got your results stored until you come back in here where he can show you all the data.”
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I slumped and batted at her finger, looking up at those terrifying eyes, which seemed to barely be able to move in their sockets now. The human’s head seemed able to move rapidly though and nothing seemed to escape her gaze or hearing as she walked for the door. “Sadly I also need to get more keyboards, I’m running low and they take time for the Lo’Kar machines to make for us.” I chittered, the synthesizer speaking for me and making her pause. She lifted me for her shoulder and turned to get a bag and scrape the ruined devices into it.
She smiled and hefted the bag in her hand. “You really did a number on them Albert, though they’re more solid than Isaac’s pile. He tends to short them out and melt them.” My brother had a skill with the energies and was able to produce arcs of it, which usually turned his keyboards and unshielded gear into smoking lumps.
“Yes...he’s the energy specialist, even our parents can’t do that trick. Isaac and the angry chain smoking badger can do that.” I squeaked in giggles. “And the badger, Stanley, uses it to weld metal for his person or wiring for the techs.” I giggled and the synthesizer worked to try and replicate them.
“I really hope you can get the synthesizers working better...that laugh it translates is creepy as hell.” She shivered a little. “Like a drunken rodeo clown on helium.” Came out in a thoughtful tone as she moved us out into the corridor, and I could see a rather large window had been put in along an area that was being rebuilt. And what was a rodeo? I’d have to look it up.
“Thank you...I at least got the tone more fitting, but it cannot process the sounds of our laughter well enough...Oh! I figured out a good reference point for the main genetic reactions to the Caltunium.” I beamed at her from her shoulder and watched as she raised a brow. “The two major risks are the pure types, Speed and Strength.”
She snorted. “Yeah, you speed types make things explode, and the pure strength ones like your mom...break everything.” She seemed mildly annoyed that she couldn’t quite look at me properly on her shoulder. “What about the others?”
I squeaked and shook my head, having to keep my pulse slow and time un-slowed. “Speed types are only a danger because of our brain speed, if not everything would just be a blur. We can stop time for ourselves and make our bodies move in time, though somehow out of phase with normal reality. Strength types are walking tanks, with a strength to weight ratio near a rhino beetle, but using the strength heavily or speed heavily, is taxing.” I paused to let the translator catch up.
“There are also those of us who mutate more outwardly as well...I can focus on something miles away, but not being able to turn my eyes much kinda sucks.” She sounded rather annoyed with that, but she also knew that there wasn’t much I could do now. Once the mutations started, they were hard to revert. “So...what about the other two, no dodging my question.”
I pet the side of her head and thought for a moment. “The second is the most common, and what I’m trying to get worked into the people I’m adjusting dna for. They’re enhanced, they can usually think faster, but aren’t able to drastically stop things or move dangerously fast. They’re stronger than a normal human, but not as much as a tank. So they’re much safer.”
“That’s most of us alright, a few have shown odd tricks as well, but I’m guessing most of that stuff will be what genes we have?”
“Oh yes.” I nodded beside her. “Yes, it has to do with the genes and where the alterations are. There are only a few places where it infuses dangerous things. Though that is largely due to the rapid mutation from extreme voltage digestion.” I looked up as I heard her sigh.
“Why do you have to put a fancy term to getting hit by lightning or something close to that? I mean the Major got hit by lightning, so did your dad.” She made the effort to turn her head to look mostly at me. “Blacked out a quarter of the ship when he zapped your mom. It takes a massive charge.” She stopped and blinked. “What is the last one, Albert?”
I pulled an ear down and rubbed it as I thought. “Berserkers. I’m still trying to figure out which part of the genes causes that one mutation to occur. The Major has it, so does Honey, it’s why he’s forbidden from using a welder.” I let go of my ear and squeaked in annoyance as the synthesizer spoke my words. “I think it might have something to do with the age regression modification, or the increased regeneration one. They both have both, when it turns to berserker...which is started with the extreme voltage intake.” I stated and pat her cheek with an ear.
“Something in the person breaks and they turn into a big slobbering beast?” She asked curiously as she’d moved to a ladder and started down it.
“Something like that, it rapidly mutates them and passes them to a true hybrid form, the pain of it must be intense.” The synthesizer did at the least inflect my giddiness at the idea. “They completely change form, grow in size, and become much like the tank mutation only…” My ears snapped up and I let the synthesizer catch up again. “Their fur or scales become like the species of animals and the dragons here. They become extremely dense, hard skinned, and strong.” I squeaked and narrowed my eyes. “And violent as mom when someone asks how much she weighs. The Major has gotten better at controlling his, but he uses tranquilizers, so does Honey, though he uses it in much smaller doses.”
Johnson came to a sliding halt on the ladder and flexed her knees as she hit the bottom, having taken the last four floors at a breakneck slide down its length. “We have had at least ten cases where people were hit with massive shocks and not turned.” She made a sort of clicking giggle, which made my fur want to stand on end. “One of the reactor techs got nicknamed Lightbulb, fucker glows like one now.” As she spoke, she moved across a large open area, which had been filled with sections for the colony until a few weeks ago.
Those sections were now set into place around the ship, or stacked and waiting to be put in. Other things were being brought in to store inside the safety of the ship, food, supplies, and various other things, like Caltunium ore. A few mimics had also taken up position inside the area and every so often a barrier wall or support beam would suddenly look at you. From what father told me, the humans were shrieking less now, but every so often I could hear one scream through the bulkheads.
I shifted on her shoulder and looked around at the racks and heavy platforms that pallets of various things were lashed down to. A few of the rock mimics were helping a crew moving things around. Instead of calling a rack down out of the system, just have a mimic slide up the wall, get what you need, and slide back down. This cost snacks and sometimes petting, and if your clothes were tasty...sometimes you ended up nude. But they didn’t eat people. “Humans, the highest life form of one planet...bonding with scary polymorphs that are the highest form on another. By bribing them with snacks” I giggled in squeaks and chitters that made the synthesizer start speaking in tongues.
But the laughter died when we heard the shouting and panic filled movement. “Awe shit!” Came from Johnson as there was a scream from outside, one of pain, maybe some panic, but a twisted sound flowed through it. I had to lean down and grab her blouse as she took off at a sprint, onward loyal steed! I wonder if she’d punt me for saying that.
The speakers on the ship crackled. “All hands! All hands! Berserker outside the southeast entrance! Security to the southeast entrance! Lola to the southeast entrance!” Boomed in one of the human leader’s voices. I think it was the angry looking one...beta...no...XO, yes the XO was the one barking out orders.
I chittered and hung on, Mom had gotten called to this! “Mom’s coming, it means my siblings are coming!” I called to her before grunting as I focused, feathery and fuzzy wings grew out from my back, my tail growing out longer. “Help get people away from here!” I chittered at her and bounced up into the air, snapping my wings to get safely above her. I could see what had happened, a bank of capacitors for one of the large bulldozers had shorted while being worked on. The woman that had suffered the extreme voltage digestion, asian, chinese origin, I flew down as she writhed in change. A quick grab and I had the tag from her overalls. “Chunhua Li” It took me a moment of gliding before I realized that this was one of the people I’d asked to be brought back in for testing.
I flew down and squeaked loudly as I grabbed hold of Johnson’s blouse to stop myself. “She has illegal mods! She wasn’t supposed to have anything that could make her…” There was a resounding snarl and then howl as a multi-tailed humanoid fox hurled things out of its way. “Get the Major! Call him now!” I chittered and shook the collar of her blouse, panicking more than I like to admit. This one could be absolutely feral!
A claw tipped set of fingers calmly curled around me and held me. “Kitsune...not sure what the chinese name for it is, multi tailed fox, chinese one is more violent.” She snapped up her pistol and was about to fire, the fox woman was charging someone. Her finger froze as there was a flurry of rocks, like a tornado was firing a gravel pit. “Go help your siblings...and try not to kill anyone!” She said as she had to duck a ricochet.
She touched her com unit with her free hand, before drawing me back and hurling me into the air. I heard her start the radio call for the Major to be contacted and brought back for this. Good. We had to distract this newly turned woman, and keep her away from the other humans, Uncle Fluffy had said that was the thing to do. So I banked and flew over where my brother and sisters were using their speed to hurl pebbles like shotgun slugs. To anything other than someone with charged up Caltunium raging in them, or an armored beast, the stones would cause major injury. Sadly...all we were doing, was pissing her off more.
As I landed, my pulse had kicked up to the point that my siblings were casually moving about, and their aim had something lacking in it. “Where is mom!?”I asked in a worried squeak and pushed up a pile of rocks to start slinging. With our bodies sped up, lightly tossed pebbles were nearly lethal projectiles.
My sister Marie looked rather annoyed. “We had just finished the main work and were getting ready to show mom when you got there, but then this stupid human gets fried.” She made an angry wave at the charging berserker, who’s glowing fur covered arms were held up shielding her face from our barrage. It was so interesting watching a charging woman barely moving for us, but that was the life of my family. Everything and everyone moved in slow motion to one of The Order of Bun-Bun.
“Yeah, but we grabbed her and hurled her into it when the alarm went off.” Issac said and took a second to take aim, then hurled a pebble to get a yelp as he hit forehead. In slow motion, it sounded more like a saxophone.
“Such a let down, we yelled “Surprise” at least.” Dorothy chittered and aimed low, nailing the closing berserker in the feet. Apparently the fresh nerves in the female’s toes were very sensitive, and she tumbled to the side, slamming her muzzle into a tractor. Though that took a moment for us to see it to happen, using our speed was fun when it made everything move slowly around us.
I huffed and moved past my siblings, speeding up even more and casually strolling across the ground. One of the humans had left a tactical vest leaning on the tire of a truck, my eyes had locked onto a flash bang grenade latched to it. It took a little careful work to get it loose and onto my shoulder, then a casual stroll through nearly stopped scenery back to my siblings. All of them were moving back and forth on the rock pile, hurling near supersonic rocks at the charging female. I slipped behind Issac and slowed my pulse until I was at their speed. “I brought our new friend a present.” I chittered and dug out a place in the rocks, firing showers of gravel at the encroaching beast woman.
My brother squeaked in giggles and helped me wiggle the grenade into place in the mound of rock. Most of the humans would be absolutely fine aside from Miss Li, she was about to get a wonderful surprise. Major O’Connell had learned not to leave grenades around curious young children, because we made traps. “She seems pretty tough, doubt this will knock her out.” He chittered and gave me a grin. “But this is just like when we blew up Uncle Fluffy...when I say run...speed up and scoot.” I saw him pull a small glowing stone from his harness and stuff it beside the grenade.
I moved away and hurled a few more rocks until the female berserker got close enough. “Pull and waddle!” I squeaked out and felt my pulse hit high speed, my siblings doing the same. The world just seemed to stop around me and I looked over as my siblings all moved in an orderly and casual line down the gravel pile for the ground. As we got onto the hard packed soil, I pointed over to a charging mechanical form. “Oh look! Mom got it working.”
Mom’s suit was frozen in a leap over a parked cargo truck, metal form glowing as strips of charged caltunium kept her from ripping it apart. “It works! I told you that the mix would withstand her strength when charged!” Isaac cheered as we worked around and out of the blast area.
“Well this will be the best test yet, if she used her own paws, she’d kill this woman.” Dorothy stated simply and gingery climbed up behind Marie, who was getting onto a crate where mom could see us.
“If she doesn’t break it, you can call it a success. Though how will that suit react to her strength, will she grab things with it with the same strength, or a lowered ratio?” I asked curiously as I helped Isaac up onto the crate, then sat myself down.
Marie scratched her ear. “With the work, it should be a near one to one ratio. That suit also weighs a good deal. This was just the testing phase, I was hoping to have her move around and try it out...not throw her into combat.” She chittered and rubbed her ear in thought. “Ok, time to slow down and see how well this works.” She sounded rather excited.
As we took our calming breaths, slowing our pulses down to let the world move, my brother was the first to speak. “I even added shielded cables down to the hands, so she can draw on whatever she’s grabbing. A quick way to charge her and the suit, you..” There was a rather blinding flash, rocks erupting from the pile, a loud canine yelp, and then a loud bong.
We all went quiet as mom waited for the other female to stand back up from where she’d landed...after being blown five yards into the side of a cargo container. The poor woman shook herself and snarled as she was faced with a new threat, and then I had to speed up my pulse a little to follow the movements properly. Tanks are insanely strong, but that strength gives them an odd speed. Berserkers had that same sort of odd speed and strength, but with far less sanity running it. Their movements were violent flashes of flesh and metal, both pounding the other like human prizefighters in a championship match. Only none of the berserker’s hits actually struck mom, just her suit.
A few times I chittered as mom’s suit was hurled back away from the angry fluffy woman with too many tails. But it was obvious that the female needed air to keep going, especially when Mom wrapped mechanical arms around her head, and legs around the female’s arms and torso. There were some final grunts and then a limp fluffy female. A sigh flowed from me as I watched Johnson ran over to give the nice sleeping woman a very large shot of tranquilizers. Sadly for the woman, that shot had to be given in the inside of her mouth. It also appeared that Uncle Fluffy was far too busy to come and help.