Chapter 5 Ch. 1- Unfamiliar Faces in Unfamiliar Places.

Chapter 5 Ch. 1- Unfamiliar Faces in Unfamiliar Places.

Currently, I am suffering.The debut release of this chapter happened at Ñøv€l-B1n.

I just had my legs blown off from a plasma core explosion and was shot in the stomach with a bolter round. Yet nothing could compare to the pain I was experiencing right now. Matter of fact, this might be the worst pain I have ever felt. No, this is definitely my first time experiencing any kind of severe pain in my entire life.

A life that should be over...

My back is aching like an old man, and I feel like somebody crushed me into a tight ball and forced me out of a small hole. I can’t see anything through my blurred vision, and my ears are ringing violently as noises bombard me like the cracking of railguns. I can’t make sense of anything. All my senses are under assault right now. I wasn’t a believer, but I sure was now. This was hell, and I was damned to suffer here.

Suddenly, a warmth spread through my chest and then to my outer extremities, going all the way to the tips of my fingers. It felt like somebody had injected morphine straight into my solar plexus, and it was a blissful experience. Almost instantly, my body stopped hurting.

More importantly, I could finally see again. My vision corrected, finally allowing me to see an ancient-looking older man with thick slabs for glasses staring intently at me. He took them off, and his bright emerald green eyes were almost shimmering. No... the irises of his eyes were actually swirling. He smiled at me, and without a word, he picked me up.

Wait, how is that possible?!

I am seven feet tall and weigh well over three hundred pounds without my suit. But this old geezer just lifted me with ease as if I weighed nothing. Confused and feeling... angry? I tried to push him away from me only to realize I couldn’t control my...tiny little brown arms.

I was suddenly flipped like a pancake and was face down staring at the wooden floorboards when I got a swift smack to my rear. I attempted to scream out profanities at the older man, but my voice came out as a high-pitched cry.

This is awful. Hell is far worse than people made it out to be.

My eyes began to water as the old man turned me back over. He smiled and said something in a language I’d never heard before. What the hell is going on? He is clearly Human, and I know nearly all of Earth’s primary languages. What kind of dialect is that? He walked over a few steps and bent down while handing me over to somebody else. I tried to scream at him but I was still just letting out a shrill cry.

The new person hugged me tightly to her soft chest and smiled down at me. Her white alabaster skin was gleaming with sweat. She had long blonde hair that went past her shoulders, her facial features were so sharp you might be able to cut yourself on them.

Her eyes should have been hazel but instead, they were almost like pools of gold. And just like the old man, her irises swirled around. My eyes drifted upwards. Poking out of her matted down hair were...long dagger-like ears, just like an Elunari.

I am so screwed.

She was an Albino; she had to be. I didn’t know they could have blond hair and gold eyes, but I guess anything is possible at this point. Even though I should be feeling an insurmountable amount of dread as the most dangerous Xeno known to Humanity held me to her chest, I felt unnaturally calm about all of this.

She was attempting to speak to me. Her voice was so soft and warm. But I couldn’t understand a word she was saying. She picked me up and gave me a warm smile as she handed me over to a man.

He had long black hair, dark brown skin, and softer facial features. His eyes swam just like the others, but his were like pure purple amethysts. And coming out from the side of his head were droopy pointed ears. He, too, was smiling at me.

Ah, man....

—

It’s been about two months since I first opened my eyes again. I have come to a startling conclusion about my current situation. I have somehow survived my battle with Elysium Squad and have been put into a Naval Intelligence artificial reality simulation.

It’s the only thing that possibly makes sense. I had heard the Navy was working on something, but to think they could go this far was astounding.

Although I have never felt this kind of pain before or even half the emotions that currently swell inside of my head, they have perfectly managed to replicate what I imagine they should be like. I was unsure what exactly their goal was by making me go through all of this, rather than just ending my life, but I suppose I should play along for the time being.

Perhaps this was a test? A test of my loyalty?

Besides, the Navy had even managed to fully recreate what being an infant was like. Currently, I am nothing more than a baby. I had gotten a good look at my tiny body when I was being cradled. And to be expected, I was as useless as an infant. No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t even control my arms and legs, let alone my bowels or speech.

Just then my father walked into the house. He often disappeared and didn’t come back for a few days at a time. I figured he worked some kind of shift-based job that kept him out for days.

“Welcome home, dear.”

“Mmm. Good to be back, how is Kal doing?”

“I caught him crawling around in the storage room, he pulled down the cover on your armor. He could have been hurt, you know!” my mother chided.

“Sorry... I thought I closed it all the way before I left,” he said dejectedly.

I stared into my father’s eyes and attempted to create a telepathic link with him. “You should keep doors open more often for me,” I repeated in my head.

“I see he still likes staring into your soul just like you used to do,” he said while smiling and walking over to me.

“Hey... I never did that,” my mother pouted.

“I do wonder what he is thinking about. Do you think he can understand us yet?” asked my father as he stared down at me and began to tickle me under the armpits.

Damn it. Why do I always giggle? I can’t control this sensation. THIS HURTS YOU KNOW?

“No way, he isn’t even a year old yet... but sometimes I do think he does somewhat understand us,” my mother mused.

Haha... only if you knew, witch. Simulation or not, I am still a dangerous weapon. I’m just in stasis, awaiting my time to strike. You two will rue the day when I can walk again!

“Well, I have to make dinner. Can you play with Kal for a little while?” asked my mother.

“Why don’t I help you and he can sit and watch. Babies like watching their parents do stuff, right?”

“Sure... maybe one day I can teach him to be a master chef, fit for a king!” exclaimed my mother.

My father turned around and gave my mother an empty stare with dead eyes. “I doubt that,” my father said with a sad look on his face.

Mother looked like she was about to cry. I had only tasted a little bit of her cooking on the rare occasion. It was some kind of rice porridge I believe. I thought it tasted good, it reminded me of nutrient paste. But it looks like my father disagreed.

My father consoled her and they began preparing dinner together. I didn’t really pay attention to what they were doing but I actively tried to listen to the names of items when they called out for them. It wasn’t until my mother went to start what I could only assume to be the stove, did my interest finally got piqued. She loaded the stove with wood, and without a match, lighter, or any flame source for that matter, set the wood ablaze.

I didn’t see how she started the stove, but I knew it couldn’t have been gas or electricity. So what the hell did this witch just do? I did the only thing I could do and attempted to alert this monster to my confusion by crying out.

She stopped and came over to me with a look of concern. “I think he wants to see how you set the stove up, hon,” my father said.

Yes, you are so bright for an alien scum. That is exactly what I wanted. You get me so well.

“Really? Do you think Kal responded to my magic? Maybe he is a fire mage!” she exclaimed, practically jumping around with joy.

Wait, what? Fire Magic? Freakin’ Mages? Is the Navy really going this route? Why on Earth would they be going this far?

The witch came over to me and summoned a small orange ball of fire out of thin air. The ball just sat in her hand as she tossed it around. She summoned two slightly different colored balls of fire and began to juggle them. I could feel the heat from the flaming balls as they warmed my cheeks. This witch just casually juggled them around like a circus clown. I was amazed, this looked so real, the Navy had gone so far as to include magic into their simulation.

Humanity really can do anything.