Two days later, the medical facility could no longer avoid answering the important calls that had been coming in. The medical technician in charge of the case sat down in resignation and hit the accept button.
“How long do you think he's going to take to recover?” Uzahne's aide asked without even saying hello. She had been waiting for the acceptance of the call for two days and didn't want to waste even more time by pretending to be nice to the aggravating man.
“I honestly can't say.” The medical technician said. “By all accounts, he should be dead.”
“Wh-what?” The aide gasped. “But... I thought...”
“Most people would have died just from the burns he suffered.” The man responded. “Over ninety percent of his body suffered third degree burns... that means it destroyed some of the muscle tissue and revealed the bone underneath, by the way... and he completely lost a hand as well. When you add in his burst eye, severe head trauma, seared lungs, and nearly every organ in his body was damaged by being in the center of the blast...” The man sighed. “To be honest, I don't know why he isn't dead.”
“Oh, goddess.” The aide whispered.
“He was extremely lucky that the rescue team found him when they did, because they stopped a lot of the bleeding and brought him to a med station. They stabilized him and brought him right here, where we worked on him for nearly six hours to repair as much as we could, then we put him inside a fully immersive tank of medical gel to let his body recover from the surgery.”
“But... the news...”
“Optimistic drivel.” The man said. “Have you seen what was left of the building?”
“Y-yes.” The aide said in a soft voice.
“He was right in the middle of whatever that explosion was and it vaporized the whole place.” The man said. “The small amount of rubble around was only from the bottom floor.”
“But... all the windows in the other buildings...”
“Caused by the pressure wave of the explosion.” The man said. “I was surprised that there wasn't more damage, actually.”
Uzahne's aide nodded. “Thank you for your frankness.” She said, her voice firm and under control. “I'll let the president know his status.”
“It's 'critical and unknown' and he could die at any moment.” The man said. “If you will excuse me, I need to check to see if he's still alive.” He said and cut the call. He stood and left the small security room and went back to the room with his patient. He wasn't exaggerating with that last statement. He really did need to check to see if his patient was still alive.
*
The aide sat there and stared at the blank communications console and took several deep breaths, then she popped the recording out and left her private room. She walked with a purpose down the hallway and took the corner and stopped at the security station. She was quickly checked and passed, so she walked faster down the next hallway and took another corner and walked down another hallway. She came to a stop in front a set of double doors and took another deep breath before she knocked.
“Come in.” Uzahne said and the aide entered the room. It was a very plush office and there were several people in there with her. Sheph, Ahaen, Admiral Shanifra, and Olugaell looked at her expectantly. The aide walked over to the desk and held out the recording, then told them what the medical technician said about Hunter's condition. Everyone was shocked at the news and couldn't think of anything to say in response.
*
“What do you mean we can't see him?!?” Luxea asked, her voice full of disbelief and incredulity. “It's been two days!”
“His condition is stable; but, he is in no condition for visitors.” The medical technician said. He had been dreading this call most of all.
“I don't care what condition he's in! We need to see him!”
The medical technician sighed. “Miss, there's nothing to see. He's inside a fully immersed medical gel tank. All you can see is the outside of the tank and nothing else.”
“How can you tend to him if you can't see him?”
“Medical scanners, obviously.” The man said and kept himself from insulting her for asking such a stupid question.
“We are coming there and...”
“There's really nothing for you to do here except waste your time standing around.” The man said and cut her off. “If you want to see him that badly, here's a picture of his tank.”
The communication station beeped and Luxea looked at the picture. It really was just a tank and you couldn't see anything inside of it.
“Now if you will excuse me, I need to... keep monitoring him.” The man said. He had almost told her the truth and said that he needed to check if Hunter was still alive.
Luxe hadn't missed the hesitation, however. “You better...”
“As soon as I know something, I'll try to keep you informed.” He said and cut the call.
“Why, that arrogant little prick!” Luxea grit her teeth angrily.
“Easy, girl.” Rhubin said from beside her in Udelis' cockpit. “Getting angry at them for doing their job isn't productive.”
“Pissing us off isn't their job!” Luxea said.
“You obviously don't know a lot of medical professionals.” Simone said from behind her. “Look, we can at least go down and land, right? They can't say anything if we only want to be close by for when he wakes up.”
“We can't.” Rhubin said and both women looked at him. “I'm the only pilot.”
“So what?” Luxea asked. “Let's go!”
“Luxea, we have two ships.” Rhubin said. “If we go, which ship do we leave behind, completely unguarded and unmanned?” He asked. “The one with expensive cargo or the one with even more expensive cargo?”
Luxea opened her mouth to say that it didn't matter, and she sighed. They needed the capital after buying the new ship. At the moment, they were buying things with Hunter's inheritance and not with company account, which was almost empty.
“Remote pilot me down.” Luxea said. “He needs...”
“Not you.” Simone said.
Luxea whipped her head around to argue.
“You just had a big fight and he found out that you used a temporary hire to have fun.” Simone said. “I sincerely doubt that he wants to have that conversation thrown in his face as soon as he wakes up.”
Luxea snapped her mouth closed on her argument because she didn't like having that pointed out to her.
“I'm sorry the truth hurts.” Simone said, then shrugged. “If anyone should go, it's Rhubin.”
“What?” Rhubin turned and looked at her. “I thought you...”
“He knows me well and I know him; but, we haven't spent enough time together to count as good friends yet.” Simone said. “You've been by his side since he left The Order's home planet.”
“I can't. It would leave both ships without a pilot.” Rhubin said. “If any of the debris shifts, or...”
“Then we can all stay right here.” Simone said. “As soon as we hear he's awake, then we can decide what to do.”
Rhubin and Luxea had to nod in agreement. They didn't really have to do anything until they did hear if Hunter was okay. Waiting until then to decide what to do was the better choice.
*
The next day, the young and quite pretty medical technician sat at the console and hummed one of the songs that Hunter had danced to. She had watched everything that had been made about him and his exploits, and she even paid for the full and uncut footage of his last bar visit. Her heart had beat fast at the clarity of the recording as she watched it and she didn't regret paying the high price, because every single second was worth it.
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Stupid... stupid.
The young woman was startled as the thought passed through her, because it wasn't hers. “Wh-what? Who?”
I... am so... stupid!
She turned around to look behind her and no one was there, so she turned back to her console just as it started to beep at her. She caught her breath as the practically non-existent brain activity and body functions fluctuated for a moment, then every single one increased beyond the console's ability to record them and it let out a long solid beep. She hit the reset button to get new readings and then gasped as a pulse of something passed through her. She lifted her head to look through the observation window at the medical gel tank.
“H-hello?” She asked, as if someone was actually there.
Another pulse came and she saw the metal ripple slightly and the pulse went through her again.
I can't... let them...
The odd thought went through her brain and another pulse came and the tank shook instead of rippling, then the casing of the tank cracked.
“No more.” A man's deep voice said, even though no one was around her to say it.
The young medical technician jumped to her feet because she had heard the voice come from the tank, then the tank split along the crack and medical gel spewed out in a thick spray. Another pulse shattered the tank completely and she screamed as bits of metal were strewn all over the room. Her mind couldn't make sense of the mangled thing in front of her. She had seen third degree burns before; but, not so extensive and not on the same person. The patient, who she knew was supposed to be Hunter, stepped out of the shattered remains of the tank.
“S-s-stop!” The young woman said as she regained her senses. He was a patient and she needed to help him. She ran to the door and opened it. “You are severely injured!” She walked over to him and he didn't seem to hear her. She reached up and waved her hand in front of his face and he didn't respond. Without a second thought, she laid a hand on the middle of his chest. It felt like a bag full of water and she held in her revulsion to his still shattered rib cage.
*
“I look horrible.” I said without moving my mouth, because my tongue was too damaged to use at the moment. I had to use Presence on my body to move it like a puppet, because I couldn't move it on my own. “On the plus side, I can't feel it yet.”
I reached for my waist and felt around and discovered that my invisible belt had somehow survived both the explosion and the removal of my remaining clothing. Unfortunately, two of my bags of holding had been torn and destroyed, which severed the connection to their extra-dimensional space. I sighed at the loss of all those engraved spells and other things I had stored in them, namely extra food and my bag of clothing. My Light sword was still invisible as well and the focusing crystal was still intact; but, the electronics inside had been mulched, rendering it useless until I replaced them.
I reached back and checked the third bag of holding, the one behind the Light sword on my hip, and relaxed because it was still there and undamaged. I was really glad that I hadn't brought everything with me or worn my armor, because that would have been lost as well.
“Wh-what are you doing?” The young woman asked.
“I still can't hear you.” I said without opening my mouth. I could feel her curiosity, though. “Please, step back.”
The young woman tried to stay, so I used Presence to pick her up and moved her back three feet, to her utter surprise, then I surrounded myself in a Presence barrier. I took out a small wooden placard and draped it over my neck.
All my hair is gone. I thought sadly and used Presence to fill the engraved spell.
The wooden placard glowed brightly and covered me with healing energy. My regeneration and self-healing had been taxed beyond their limits at the extensive damage I had suffered and I needed the boost. I directed the energy to the most important parts, namely my internal organs. It took almost ten minutes for them to be repaired and then fully healed. I shifted the energy to my bones then and the intense pain in my right hand made me look at it and I saw that it wasn't there.
“Goddammit.” I said, still without moving my mouth.
I winced as the pain intensified and my boosted healing and regeneration forced the hand to grow back and my energy reserve dropped significantly. The young woman stood there and stared at my hand as the bones, then the muscle, then the skin grew back. My other bones were repaired from several stress fractures and then I directed the energy to my practically destroyed muscles. It took another ten minutes for them to fully regenerate and heal. By that time, six other medical technicians had come into the room and stood beside the young woman and they all stared at me.
Thankfully, I was wearing underwear and didn't have to worry about exposing myself as my skin finished growing back. I had both my normal sight and my hearing back, then my energy wavered and I stumbled slightly as the Presence barrier disappeared. The young woman stepped forward and caught me by the chest and supported my weight.
“I don't know how you're still standing while doing... whatever it is that you're doing!” She said.
“If I was... still in the tank, there was a danger that... I wouldn't regrow everything properly... with the liquid pressing in on me.” I panted and took in a deep breath and let it out. I closed my eyes and activated my absorb Presence technique and started to suck in as much of the Presence around me as my freshly healed body could take. It was only a slight trickle at first, then as my hair sprouted on my head, the flow became a steady stream and started to fill up my nearly empty reserve.
I opened my eyes and took another deep breath. I stood up straight as some of my strength returned and I discovered that everything was sore and tender after a forced healing like that. The little wooden placard burned up and dissolved into nothing as the spell finally finished. I reached up and felt my head and there was only about an inch of hair there. I sighed again at the loss and looked at the young woman who still had her hands on my chest. She was no longer disgusted at the feeling.
“Hunter, can you tell us what you just did?” One of the men in the room asked.
“No.” I said. “I need clothes. A jumpsuit is fine. Then I need a ride to my ship.”
“You can't just leave and...”
“After what I just went through, do you really think you can keep me here?” I asked and the man stopped talking. “I appreciate you keeping me alive long enough for my regeneration to kick back in.”
“If you have regeneration, why isn't your hair growing back in?” The young woman asked and she reached up and touched the fuzz on my head. I felt her sadness at the loss and it matched mine.
“It was maintained by Presence.” I said. “The follicles are the only real living part of a strand of hair, so if it's cut or damaged, it has to regrow from there and doesn't regenerate.”
“I'm sorry.” The young woman said and let her hand slide back down to my chest.
“You don't understand it's significance.” I whispered and leaned down to put my mouth by her ear. “It was centuries of growth.”
The woman caught her breath and stared into my eyes when I leaned back. Another two people came into the room and I turned my head to look at them.
“Mr. Hunter, if you would come with us, we can...” The armored man started to say.
“No.” I said and cut him off.
“There are things that...”
“I know it's your fault.” I said and both men stiffened. “Or more importantly, that of your superiors and the government.” I said as I easily read the information from their surface thoughts. Everyone in the room turned and looked at the two men.
“That's not true.” The second man said and the Presence wavered a lot.
I made a blue Presence Hand around his neck, let him feel it for a second, then snapped his neck. He let out a gurgle, which meant he didn't die right away, so I formed Presence blades on the index finger and thumb and closed the hand. His head popped off in a large spurt of blood and then the body and severed head dropped to the floor. Everyone was shocked at the sight and the young woman stared at the mass of blood and couldn't believe what she had just seen.
“I really hate it when people lie right to my face.” I said.
“You... do you do that to...” The young woman couldn't complete that sentence.
“No, not all of them.” I said and touched her cheek. “He was an agent of chaos and revelled in the mess they contributed to, so I gave him the ultimate result from that chaos.”
“You killed that man.” One of the medical technicians said.
“Yes, and I'm going to kill a few more.” I said and looked back at the armored man. “Like the rest of your team, your commanding officer, the general of the special forces, and... no, I guess Uzahne wasn't directly involved. She ordered it; but, she wasn't in control of what you did.”
The armored man stared at me.
“There's no need for more secrecy, unless you planned on killing the witnesses.” I said.
The man's eyes flicked to the group of medical technicians and I read his intentions, so I used Presence to turn his head all the way around to face the other direction with a loud crack.
“It's not nice to look at a woman with murder in your eyes.” I said and the man's lifeless body fell to the floor. “I'm terribly sorry for the mess.” I said to the young woman that was still shocked at the sudden turn of events. I used Presence to pick up all of the blood splatters and shoved it back into the bodies, covered them in Presence, then levitated them into the air.
“You... you just...”
“I couldn't in good conscience let him kill you for seeing his partner get killed.” I said and touched her face. “Thank you for the concern you felt for me.”
“H-Hunter, I...”
“Don't worry.” I said and used Presence to ease her mind's shock away. “This was just another day at work. Nothing spectacular happened, right?”
The young woman looked at the two bodies floating a few feet away and looked back at my face. “I'm so glad that you have both eyes back; but, I'm really sad about your hair.”
“So am I.” I said. “Are there any spare clothes around or a dispenser of some kind?”
“At the security desk at the end of the hallway.” She said. “It's just a work jumpsuit for staff, though.”
“Thank you.” I said and her mind couldn't decide if she wanted me to kiss her or not. I compromised and leaned down to kiss her cheek. I looked at the group of men. “Good day.”
They didn't respond as I opened the room door and made the bodies invisible, then as I walked out the door, I made myself invisible, too. I ignored their shocked reactions and walked down the hallway to the security station and hit the button on the dispenser. I took the uniform and the man that sat at the desk didn't even flinch at the sound and watched the vidscreen. I glanced at it and it showed the destroyed building and the announcer said that all fourteen residents had been miraculously saved by me and that I was currently in the hospital.
Not for much longer. I thought and put on the jumpsuit, then carried the bodies into the stairwell and ran down to the ground floor. I found their vehicle, a government issue hover car, and I opened the trunk and shoved the bodies inside. No one else was in the vehicle and I checked the database, using the armored man's codes, and saw how many people were on his team. They had the entire block covered with surveillance personnel, a twelve person operation, and they were all ordered to observe and not interfere.
When I went over the mission logs and the recorded conversations, I accessed the map and looked at their deployment. Once I knew where the people currently were, I copied all of the data in their system and dropped it onto a datapad, then I used their own government hover car to start making visits. Using that vehicle, I was allowed access to areas not normally accessible to other people, and made quick work of eliminating the rest of the team. I also managed to acquire an armored personnel vehicle and I hid it in a spot that only I could get to.
The last pair of agents I dealt with were in the room next to my old room at the hotel, and thanks to my interrogating them, I discovered that the hotel was wired for an explosion as well. I quickly went through the hotel and found all of them. I used Presence to disable them and harvested them. They would prove quite useful for what I was going to do with them.