I stared silently at the unconscious woman in rags for a while, trying to decide what I felt about her. I was caught between curiosity and anger. Her clothes evidently remnant of a formal outfit, her shirt missing a sleeve and torn in several places but obviously a collared shirt – the tie was still hanging around her neck. Her skirt was in tatters and barely hid her important parts. The heavy bruises scattered around her body were far from flattering and her knee was bent in an obviously unnatural direction.
After a few seconds the woman began to stir and she made a pained grimace. Her eyes gradually fluttered open as she regained consciousness and she began to register her surroundings. Suddenly, her eyes shot open as she stared at me in raw shock and confusion as she forgot her pain. She maintained a silent glare, trying not to let her jaw drop as she quietly muttered “Subject 9…”
I didn’t miss those words and giggled before saying “I go by ‘Tiama’ now.”
“… That’s very creative,” she said, “In various ways.” She smiled wryly at her own pun.
I made a small smile and said “I have lots of questions.”
She froze for a moment before muttering “It speaks…” under her breath, as if she only realized it now.
A soldier approached me and said “We’ve secured the area, ma’am.”
“Noted.” I turned to face him and asked “And how goes the fight for the tower?”
“The ground teams seem to be suppressing the Blood Fang quite effectively. Command is worried about enemy-” BOOOM!!!
An explosion rang out from the direction of the outpost.
“… Reinforcements?” I finished for him.
“… Yes.” He responded wryly.
A few seconds later the other soldier ran up to us as said “We’ve lost contact with command! Unknown enemy forces present at the forward base!”
I quickly looked around and spotted an allied transport truck nearby.
“Form groups! One takes the cargo back to Dragon’s Nest HQ! The rest will follow me and retake the base!”
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(Tanya Smith’s PoV)
It hurts.
Everything hurts.
My leg is the worst.
This unending, searing pain, assaulting my leg is painful enough for me to forget the beatings my captors gave me when they abducted me.
I’m vaguely aware of what’s going on. I was thrown into the back of a truck along with the shipment I was collecting. The guards were wiped out and I was captured.
The pain in my leg flared up every time the truck made a turn or changed its speed. It was driving me mad and I was barely retaining my hazy consciousness.
Suddenly things got a lot more hectic and the pain in my leg flared up repeatedly as the truck performed wild turns. Suddenly, I felt almost like I was floating as the truck crashed, sending a bolt of pain straight up my spine and knocked me out.
When I regained consciousness, the doors were open and beyond the opening stood a figure I recognised. I forgot my pain as I stared slack jawed at the figure, a girl with snow white hair and perfect skin stood before me.
“Subject 9…” I murmured in disbelief. What kind of events could have possibly led to my reunion with the escaped test subject?
“I go by ‘Tiama’ now,” came a smooth and sultry – if a bit low-pitched – voice.
Tiama, huh? As in the Babylonian dragon, the mother of life?
“… That’s very creative,” I said, “In various ways.”
I couldn’t help but smile wryly at my own joke.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Subject 9 looked at me for a moment and said “I have lots of questions.”
I gasped, realising that Subject 9 was speaking, murmuring “It speaks” under my breath. Last time I saw her she had an inferior intellect to a primate, she could be thought of as an animal. If she’s intelligent enough for human conversation, then there are a lot of legal implications that the company will need to deal with. Then again, a lot of those issues will depend on exactly when she became ‘sentient’.
That brings up another issue, when does something become sentient? At what point does an individualistic lifeform gain protection from the galactic bill of sentient rights?
Typically, any spacefaring species is considered ‘sentient’ regardless of their progression, that much is common sense, but this is an individual lifeform and therefore has no others of its kind to judge the rest of the criteria.
A few decades ago a derelict ship of unknow origin was found, it was a colony ship built by an undiscovered race and only one cryo-stasis chamber was still functional when they managed to salvage everything. The last survivor was granted protection by galactic law since there was proof of his people’s existence, but what of Subject 9? She can clearly be considered ‘human’ at this point, but her ‘kind’ has no cultural heritage, social structure, scientific advancement, or anything else that is used to specify ‘sentience’.
My shock grew exponentially when a man in uniform appeared and said “We’ve secured the area, ma’am.”
Not only has she integrated herself into society, but she’s even gained a position of power? It hasn’t been half a year and she is in control! Her adaptability is terrifying.
Taking another look, something else stood out.
It hasn’t been half a year, and yet she already looks like an adult! She looked like a mere child only a few months ago, even her physical growth is astounding – I’m jealous of her figure.
Perhaps I can get her to co-operate with the research into Kronos Cells? She may even have some instinctive understandings about the nature of Kronos Cells, and even if she doesn’t I can still ask her to test certain theories. This is potentially the biggest opportunity anyone has ever had to learn more about the Kronos Cells! Until now it’s all been conjecture mixed with trial-and-error, she could change the way we approach our research by simply talking with us.
Having decided to remain near the woman dripping with sex appeal, I tried to focus on her once more. She was giving orders and one of the men in uniform was approaching to release my restraints. The sudden shift in position sent a bolt of pain up my leg and reminded me of my condition.
No longer able to ignore the pain, I grit my teeth and tried to bear with it as they carried me to another vehicle.
During the ride, I was heavily dosed up on painkillers and finally could no longer feel the pain – or anything else. Despite being dizzy and tired I forced myself to stay awake and ask the men more about her.
My shock continued to grow as I learned more about her.
Rather than a part of the military, she’s a crime lord. A CRIME LORD!
Additionally, she’s a Psion. A PSION!
She’s recently taken over a syndicate and has been rapidly reforming it, the men that serve her syndicate rather than the military seem to both fear and respect her. They said that she hasn’t been in charge for long but she has already ingrained herself into their minds as cruel and ruthless but not unfair. What cemented the image in their minds happened earlier today; she interrogated her prisoners by executing them. When one didn’t want to answer she outright killed him, yet when one willingly said everything he knew she spared him even though it wasn’t much.
I believe that story outlined a fundamental difference between her and us. Her values have more in common with an animal than with a human. Maybe the difference lies in the ‘upbringing’? She was never taught to value human life so she’s completely indifferent to the act of taking a life, survival first. She apparently also has very little care for material possessions but seems to indulge in her carnal desires – particularly with the maids. This shows a mindset like an alpha male in a predatory pack, which is a little weird given that she’s female herself.
Back to the other point of note, she’s a Psion and is already practicing her powers. Normally it would take a human several years of study to understand what the node is and how to feel it with your mind, but apparently, she only met her mentor yesterday. She unlocked her powers in a day, no studying required. That simple fact denies almost everything that we understand about Psionic powers. Psionics are powered by our understanding of science, and yet science has given us very little understanding of psionics, but if she could unlock her psionic powers almost on instinct then perhaps it’s an innate power that we’ve had all along.
No matter what, I need to get close to this girl.
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The group transporting the woman and cargo has already left for Dragon’s Nest HQ. I made a recording of my orders and sent it with them for verification along with a couple of people they’ll recognise, any transmissions will be intercepted by the guys at the tower and Dragon’s Nest lacks any ciphers or encoding to protect the message. All that’s left now is me and sixty men with several hoverbikes and trucks.
We were just about ready to leave when a soldier came up to me and said “A word, if I may.”
“What is it?” I said coldly.
“Pardon my manners, but I was thinking that perhaps going to support the siege may be more beneficial than going to retake the base.” Reasoned the soldier.
“Hmmm… But what would then happen to the guys supporting us from the forward base?”
“… They would die,” he said solemnly.
“Then why would it be better to help retake the tower?” I asked incredulously.
“They are using the tower to suppress our communications. We don’t know the situation at either site, but if we gain control of the tower then we can suppress the enemy in a similar fashion and gain control of the field. This would give us more options, we could also use the chance to rendezvous with the others and pick-up additional forces. Conversely, going to secure the base will is more urgent and will save more resources but is also much more dangerous.” Said the soldier analytically, “The decision is up to you.”
“Noted.” I promptly replied and quickly considered my options. Recover the base or join the siege?