Armor
Health
I lied when I said this would be the last chapter. One more after this, then maybe some extras, then onto the sequel. *Waves flag* Yey. The sequel will probably have much more smut, I promise.
___
Bruiser was completely laid out on the floor in a pool of her own blood, but a quick diagnostic showed that she was still very much alive. Axiom found that most of the blood was from a scalp wound from where the head shot had glanced off the top of her skull. The shot to the chest had hit, it could not have missed, but the bullet had rebounded off her sternum. At such a range it probably should have blown right through her, but Bruiser was a genetically enhanced super-solider, after all. “She is still alive, you know.” He informed Chaste.
The white-haired boy shuddered, “There is so much blood...” He trailed off, then pulled himself up and walked over to where Bruiser lay. Breathing to calm himself he touched two fingers to her shoulder. “Amazing. No normal human could have survived that.”
“Well, we are super-heros. That is the idea.” Axiom shifted Bruiser’s short, curly hair around, trying to get a better look at the injury, only to have Chaste brush his hand away gently.
“Let me.” Chaste closed his eyes and became very calm, and the same white glow as when he teleported surrounded him and his patient. In minutes Bruiser was whole again and blinking her eyes open.
Bruiser growled and was on her feet instantly. “What happened, where’s that bitch Plamet? I am going to break every bone in her body!”
Axiom replied evenly, “I do not know where she is. I am waiting for her to try and teleport so I can get a fix on her location. There is no way she can get off the satellite without us catching her, so relax. In the meanwhile I will try and put the central computer back in order so we can track her on the security system. ”
No sooner had Axiom finished a blue warning light started flashing. “What’s that?” Bruiser exclaimed, startled.
Axiom only needed to glance at it to realize how screwed they were. “That is the signal light for the ship’s matter translator. It appears Plasmet found another way off the satellite.”
They both ran as quickly as they could to the teleporter room, but Plasmet was long gone. Axiom checked the controlling consol.
“Well?” barked Bruiser, “Send us after her!”
“I can’t. She set it wrong, it used too much of our power.”
“Unless that was her plan.” Chaste piped up weakly. He was standing in the doorway, leaning against the wall. “Then she set it very, very right, it would seem.”
Bruiser took a step towards him. She was brimming with energy, and to say she was impatient would be to understate severely. “But you can just teleport us after her right?”
Axiom looked at Chaste with concern. “Are you alright?”
Chaste was as white as a ghost. Even his lips appeared the same color of his hair and cloak. “The teleportation and healing took more out of me than I had guessed.”
“Not to mention the vomiting.” Axiom flicked his eyes at Bruiser and she continued defensively. “Hey, I saw the wastebin! I know it wasn’t the robot!”
“Yes... well, I think I may need to lay down.” Chaste sank to his knees on the floor.
Axiom brushed past Bruiser and picked the diminutive man up. “I will take you to a guest bedroom. When you have rested we will start over again.”
<Don’t go towards that green-ish crystal with the three peaks. That is the direction I came here from and I can assure you there is nothing over there.>
“OK, opposite the three green spikes, sounds good.” She stretched, ignored her hunger pains, ran her fingers through her short hair, ignored her hunger pains, crawled out of the cave, ignored her hunger pains, packed her blanket up, and tried her best to ignore her hunger pains. To take her mind off eating, she tried wishing she could take a shower instead. She certainly felt grimy, even though there was barely even dust on the vast crystal flats. She was in the habit of showering constantly. If there was one thing she had figured out was always socially appropriate it was being clean. She usually washed when she got up, before she went to bed, and before going anywhere. The fact was, people were disgusted by her. Sometimes she almost felt like she could wash off whatever it was that was so abhorrent about her. Whatever it was that made people hesitant to touch her. Sometimes she pretended people gave her wide birth wherever she went because she smelled bad, and once she bathed everything would be alright.
Tokit, however, had no problem being close to her. That made it hard for Kiliah to feel sorry for herself. Even days away from death she felt pretty good. <Do you think you could tighten up on my stomach a bit, Tokit?> It responded, and the restriction lessened her problem. <Thank you.>
Kiliah trudged on for hours, practically non-stop. She had never walked so much in her life. Despite the bone-wearying physical exertion of it, she found it was easier than stopping and resting. Resting meant sitting on the freezing cold ground. Resting meant wishing she had something to eat. Resting was depressing. Resting felt too much like giving up. Even if she had no idea where she was going and what she would do if she got there, at least moving felt living. Resting felt like dying.
Hours later found Axiom still fiddling with the satellite computer, and Bruiser pacing back and forth behind him. Axiom was only devoting half his processing power to what he was doing with his hand. The rest of his mind was working on the problem with Plasmet. He had been alerted by his internal sensors that she had begun to open a portal some time ago. She was still opening it. He tried to calculate exactly how far she make could make a portal in such a long amount of time based on his past observations. Unfortunately there were holes in the data, inconsistencies he could not account for, and the fact she was missing half her fingernails now. He estimated that if she stepped through the portal now she would end up in empty space. He tried to calculate how much longer it would take before she could go to the nearest habitable planet. It was hard to say for certain, despite multiple alien visitations on Earth, there were still big holes in the common knowledge of the galaxy. Plus, he had no idea how Plasmet would be able to locate another planet and direct her portal there. If it would automatically end somewhere livable that would be one thing, and if it had to open a place she knew the location of that would be another. He also had no data on whether or not distance covered in space required as much time as distance covered within an atmosphere. All he could conclude was that if he were human, he would probably be pacing as well.
Chaste stumbled in the room, still looking pale but defiantly improved. Bruiser practically pounced on him, barraging him with inquiries on when they could go after Plasmet. He held up a hand, placatingly. “I need to eat something. Then we can go, I promise.”
Half an hour later they were minutes too late as Plamet bolted through a brightly glowing hole to who-knew-where. Up ahead Kiliah saw a bright green light reflecting off the crystalline landscape. She hesitated. <Well?> Tokit asked, <Go towards it.>
<Are you sure? It could be anything. It could be dangerous.>
Tokit’s response was hesitant. <Please? Kiliah.... I know I’m being selfish, but... if whatever it is kills us then at least Iwillbedeadaswell!> It spat the last part out so quickly Kiliah had to take a moment to understand it. As she contemplated Tokit continued begging. <I don’t want to be out here anymore! Dying slowly, all alone... I can’t do it any more, not now! Whatever is out there my help us or hinder us, but either way I do not think we could be worse off.>
<It may be nothing.> Kiliah mused, observing the whirling light. She signed, <Alright, Let’s go.> She ran full out towards the light, as fast as she had the energy for. She felt Tokit stretch itself down and wrap itself around her legs. She could suddenly move faster than she ever could before. She felt like she was flying across the smooth plains. The source of the light was in view in no time. Kiliah skidded to a halt in front of what looked like a glowing green hole in the middle of nothing.
<Go in?> She asked.
<Please.> Her armor responded.
<Alright, but if we die I’m going to kill you.>
<Please do.>
Kiliah inhaled a breath and held it, squeezed her eyes shut, and stepped through the vortex.
___Oooh, what's gonna happen next? Too easy? Oh well, it is not like this is a mystery novel. Or any kind of novel, actually.