MAR

:::Chapter Four:::

Consta was a rich, bustling trade planet that was set at the very fringe of Human Territories. It was the last planet we'd stop at, and we needed to gather resources. To land on the planet meant a lot of paperwork. The amount of people on it's surface was always at it's max limit of eight billion, so scheduling to go planet side was always difficult, it meant allot of forms and requests to fill out.

Usually we'd dock at the space station to gather needed supplies, but due to my "craziness", I actually had to go planet side to make the appointment. It was a major delay that OAC was not happy with. He had refused to acknowledge my goodbye when I left, pretending to be absorbed in the counting of the new troops that walked aboard, carrying supplies and cargo.

I walked away from the docked spacecraft, angrier at my bond mate than I have ever been my entire life. How dare he act like that! And in front of the troops no less! Grumbling to my self, I walked towards the large white tower of the Headquarters Building.


***
"...and I'm not leaving until you tell me what exactly is wrong with me," I said, towering over the shorter, light brown haired doctor. The doctor, like all of his predecessors, did not want to give name to my...crazyness. In the past, whenever I'd try to get an answer, I'd be brushed aside. But not this time. OAC and I had an argument over it, and it was starting to wear my bond mates patience down.

The man in front of me, Dr. ORD, listened to my explination of just why I needed to know. He grimced slightly, nodding his head. "I understand," he sighed, "but you must keep this as queit as possible. What you have, it's extremely rare, but not unheard of."

"Really?" I asked the doctor in disbelief. "I've never known of anyone else with my symptoms."

"Yes, well, in total it's only happened a few times since the Changeover days," Dr. ORD motioned towards his vid screen. "I'm sure you've learned about the ancient history in class, and how we used to be before tubes came around."

"Well, yes, of course. What does ancient history have to do with my condition?"

"It's called being affectionate, or in lust. It's what used to happen back when procreation through females was the only known way to create humans."

"Ew, you mean," I winced at the thought of it, nearly gaging, "sex?"

"Yes, well luckily you haven't evolved to that level of seriousness," the doctor shuddered, looking slightly ill. "Not yet at least."

"What do you mean I 'haven't evolved to that level of seriousness'?" I asked bewildered.

"The symptoms you have," Dr. ORD leaned back in his stool, looking at me with dark eyes, "the problems you've encountered since the age of fifty, are all serious symptoms of the MAR disease."

I stared at him in shock.

"You were the first Human to ever show signs of it, but you haven't progressed to the level of seriousness that have been seen in others. Every human has a period in their life when they're overly emotional. You've reached that period in life too early, and you're still in it. We didn't put a name to the 'disease' until the second human showed the same symptoms."

"Why wasn't I told of this before?" I asked, feeling shaken. "Why keep it from me and my bond mate? It's dangerous, isn't it? Haven't several Humans died from it already?"

The doctor looked away in what could only be described as shame. "What point would there be in telling you that you were going to inevitably die and therefore kill your own bond mate?" Dr. ORD looked at me sadly and with pity. "Do you know how the others died?" I shook my head negatively. "There were six in total that died, but only three of them had the actual disease. They...attacked their own bond mates."

I inhaled sharply. "No, that's impossible!"

"It's true. That's how they died. What would you do if you discovered that you'd just attacked your bond mate?"

"I...couldn't live."

"Exactly. You'd kill yourself, therefore killing your bond mate in the process."

"But, what's the cause of it? Where did MAR come from?" I ran my hands over my face sadly. "Where's the cure for it?"

"We've been studying the disease ever since it first showed up in you. But we still haven't been able to find a cure for it."

"Then..." I looked hopelessly at the doctor, "what do I do?"

"There have been some ideas floating around on what to do with you, since your symptoms don't seem to be increasing very quickly. Before the Changeover, feelings of lust were quiet normal."

"Is that what I'm feeling then? Lust?"

"When you look at you bond mate, what do you feel?"

I thought about it, crossing my arms and slowly swinging my legs back and forth over the side of the exam table I sat on. "I dunno...it's what everyone feels, isn't it? A strong connection to your bond mate?"

"Yes, well, it depends on your thoughts whenever you look at him. Do you ever want to touch him just because he's near you?"

"All the time," uncrossing my arms, I pressed my palms flat against the metal top, "is that...wrong? I thought everyone felt that?"

"Sometimes, not all the time," Dr. ORD tapped some information on to his vid. "What had happened to the others with MAR was that they had a sudden increase in physical touching. It eventually led up to them becoming uncontrollable, attacking their bond mates with their lust."

"You mean I'm going to eventually attack my bond mate because of my lust?!" I jumped off the table, pacing the length of the room in agitation.

"Your symptoms haven't come that far, we don't even know if it will since you've had this disease for several hundreds of years."

"How long had the others had it before they...attacked their bond mates?" I asked.

"A year at most."

"Only a year?" I was surprised.

"It's unclear as to why you haven't progressed as fast as the others. As I mentioned before, several doctors have drawn up some ideas to help you. Since a cure hasn't been found yet, and you are headed off on a mission, these ideas will help you control your cravings." He rose from his seat and walked over to a cabinet next to me. Opening it, he pulled out a red bottle filled with liquid. "This is also something we've been experimenting with for the past few years."

"What is it?" I asked, taking the bottle from his hands. Because the bottle was red, I couldn't tell what color the liquid was. I shook it gently, making the liquid fizz in its container.

"Please don't shake it too much," Dr. ORD said. He took the bottle from my hand and walked back to his vid, placing the bottle on his desk. "It's a medicine, still in its experimental stage, but it's effective enough as it is to help you some. I'm going to go ahead and give you a case full, it'll help ease your symptoms for a time. One syringe full once a week will help."

"Why wasn't I given this before?" I hovered over the doctor as he began to fill out some forms. "Why now?"

"Research and testing on it isn't complete," he handed me one of the forms to sign before starting another. "Due to your mission, and it's importance, it has been agreed that you should be given it anyways. So far, there have been no negative side effects, but you'll still need to fill out a waver stating that you agree to using this."

"But...what kind of side effects might there be, if research isn't complete?" I asked nervously. I signed the form given to me after reading it. I was going to be receiving ten years worth of the medicine, enough time for another shipment to be ordered and sent if I needed some more.

Dr. ORD waved my question away with a hand. "It's the only medicine we have for it right now. It's the first medicine since the Changeover to be created, so allot of the experiments are just a precaution. Nothing to worry about."

"Were you eventually going to tell me what was wrong with me, if I hadn't insisted on it?"

The doctor looked up from his forms. "No. You knowing about it isn't going to change anything except for the fact that now you'll worry. You'll also have to keep the fact that you have Mar from your bond mate, he should be satisfied knowing that you have the medicine."

"Keep it from OAC? Why?"

"No point in the both of you worrying over it. Let him live his life free of worry. Knowing that he'll eventually die from other than the Sleep will cause him stress, and may effect his work."

"I understand," I took the next form Dr. ORD gave me, signing it without reading through it. From the amount of paper work he was doing, I had allot more forms to fill out. I hated paperwork. Half way through the stack, I looked up at him again, a thought coming to my mind. "Didn't you say that there were some ideas floating around on how to help control my...lust?"

Dr. ORD looked up from his work. "Ah...yes. Once we get through this paper work I'll instruct you on some techniques they used in the ancient days to satisfy some cravings. If you get to a point were your body starts reacting on it's own, you'll have to notify us immediately. Until then some of the techniques will help."

"What are the techniques called?"

"...Masturbation."


A Few Hours Later...

I laid down on the bed with a flop. OAC was still going over supplies and troops, still ignoring my presence. I stared up at the ceiling going over what I had learned. It wasn't something I wanted to dwell on for any amount of time, but the images kept flashing through my head.

Females. Uh...they looked so...alien. Human females were an extinct species. I wasn't sure what had happened in those days before the Changeover, but I think it had something to do with their bodies being unable to handle the genetic changes done to them. They were just suddenly all gone from existance. It wasn't spoken of and all records of it are vauge and incomplete.

The images that Dr. ORD had shown me of females and males coupling were disturbing, but at the same time...intriuging. He had explained to me, in full detail, the ancient ways of sex between male and female, as well as different variations with female with female and male with male. Given the circumstances I was in, the doctor had thought it better to explain the male with male sex in more detail. "Not," the doctor had stressed, "that I expect you to give into your lust and have forced sex with your bond mate. It's more so that you can have a clear mental image to help with the self pleasuring techniques I've taught you."

Of course, this was all hypothetical. The medicine Dr. ORD perscribed me would help until I returend from the mission, or so he claimed. But still...

The sound of the door opening brought me out of my thoughts.

OAC walked inside the room, the door hissing closed behind him. Silently, he walked to the closet, unbuttoning his dark green uniform top. After carefully hanging it, he set his eight point hat in its usual place on the shelf. I watched him just as silently, waiting for him to say the first words. I suddenly realized just how closely I was watching him, his black undershirt clinging tightly across his broad shoulders, and I abruptly turned my gaze back to the ceiling.

So, this is what lust is like, I thought to myself.

He sat down at the edge of the bed, his extra weight causing me to shift my position slightly.

"So, what did he say?" He finally asked, leaning over to take off his glossy black boots, placing them neatly under the bed.

"He gave me some medicine," I answered him vaugley, knowing he only cared for a soultion and not the problem. Lying to my bond mate wasn't something I could do...but keeping things from him was another story, especially with the way he'd been treating me.

"Did he give you enough for the mission?"

"Ten years worth," I shrugged the best I could in my position. I refused to look at him, instead I kept my eyes on the ceiling. "I can get more before it runs out."

The sudden push was unexpected, and I looked at OAC sharply when he moved me over so that he could lay down next to me, his head resting near mine. "What are you doing?" I asked him.

"Isn't this what you're always asking for?" he scowled as he pulled me to him.

"You don't need to anymore, I have medicine now."

"Well, this will help also, won't it?" he put his large hand on my head, pushing it down until I rested against his chest.

I frowned at him, even though he couldn't see it. "You're so weird sometimes," I said.

He was silent for a moment, his hands undoing my hair so he could run his fingers through it. "You're fixing that," I told him. He humed in response, and I could feel him relaxing under me.

After a few moments of silence, he sighed. "I wanted to apologize for the way I've been acting." He tugged gently at my hair. "You're so difficult at times, so unlike me that it's hard to believe you're my bond mate. I wouldn't trade you for anything," he said hastily when he felt me tense up, "even though we are so different, I think we still make a good bond together. But, because we're so different, sometimes I don't know what to do with you."

"OAC," I sighed as well, proping my elbows on his chest so I could see him, "we've been together for over five hundred years. There are some bond mates that are perfect mirrors of each other, and they don't last half that many years. Just because we don't understand each other and you're grouchy all the time, doesn't mean we're a bad match."

"I'm not saying that we're a bad match, I'm just saying I don't understand you most of the time." He scowled up at me. "I'm not grouchy all the time."

"Of course not," I patted his cheek condesendingly, "that's why everyones so happy and relaxed when you're around."

His scowl deepend and I giggled in response.

"Someones got to instill disipline and respect into those troops, and it's obviously not you," OAC growled. His came around my neck, holding me squirming against him as his other hand rufed up my hair. "See? You can't even..."

His breath rushed out in a woof as I kneed him in the groin. "I can't even what?" I asked as he curled into himself. I knelt on the bed, hands on my hips watching as he tried catching his breath.

His fist caught my face before I could see him even move, and I flew off the bed, my back hitting the floor hard. I sprang to my feet, jumping lightly on my toes and smirked. "You hit like a two-toed Glitchriod," I infromed him mockingly.

"Oh yeah?" OACs smirk was more sinister than mine, a look that made most people cower in fear. "I'll show you what this two-toed Glitchriod can do!"

He lept off the bed, hands outstreched. I danced lightly out of the way, but his hands grabed my trailing hair. He pulled me under his arm, ignoring the puches to his stomach and his ribs. "Now who's hitting like a two-toed Glitchriod?" he laughed.

"OAC! That was so not fair!" I protested, trying to get out from the neck lock he had on me. "You can't grab my hair like that!"

"Anything is fair in war," he smacked my rear, and I squealed louder in protest.

"'Anything' you say?" I dug my fingers into his ribs and he let go instantly.

"Except for that!" OAC backed away quickly, hands outstreched protectively.

"Aw, is the big, bad Colonel tickelish? I wonder what the troops would say if they knew?"

OAC growled menacingly, his light brown eyes turning golden under lowered brows. "MC," he warned, backing away as I stalked him slowly, "don't even think about it!"

"To late!"

I tackled him to the ground. Not an easy thing to do considering our size and weight difference, but I've had a few hundred years of practicing to help. It's was one of my favorite moments, seeing OAC like this. Laughing so hard he couldn't breathe. Unable to defend himself against my attack on his ribs.

I finally showed mercy on him, letting him catch his breath. Pushing me off of him, he rolled up into a sitting position. His face was split in a smile I don't think anybody else has seen but myself, and he breathlessly wiped the tears from his eyes. "We may not understand each other most of the time, OAC," I said suddenly, catching his attention. "We may be totally incompatable, but I still think we make a perfect match."

He shoved me to the floor roughly as he stood up, a smile still on his face. "I know we are."