Vitality dical Station in Human-controlled space, 2502. One week after the raid on the Elunari Facility.
“Draining Bio-Sculptor. Warning. Draining Bio-Sculptor,” repeated a synthetic voice.
I sloshed out of the Bio-Sculptor tube onto the cold, white floor. I began coughing my lungs up as I attempted to clear my system of this awful gel-like substance. I imagine this is what bleach tastes like.
After coughing for a good few minutes, I looked up at the man dressed in all white with a datapad standing over . “Commander Kronos of Hades Squad?” he asked.
“Yes, that’s ,” I croaked.
Damn, this gel really dries your throat out. The nurse tossed a warm bottle of water, which I promptly destroyed in seconds. Ah, much better. Although I need to consu much less water than a Human, the water was still refreshing.
“What is the last thing you rember, Commander Kronos?”
“Being admitted to Vitality Station to regrow my left hand.” I fired back.
The nurse began tapping away at his datapad and continued. “And last question. How old are you, Kronos?"
“Fifteen standard years old,” I replied.
The nurse looked confused at my answer and knitted his brows at as if I was lying. I was currently naked and standing over him by nearly two feet. My appearance betrayed my age. However, I really was only fifteen.
After a few monts of swiping away at his datapad, he responded with a nod, “So you are…what on Earth did they feed you?”
“Nutrient paste,” I answered non-committedly.
With a look of slight disgust, the nurse furrowed his brow and said, “Nutrient paste, huh…” He shrugged and continued talking. “Anyways, you don’t seem to have any side-effects from the Bio-Sculptor. You will be aboard Vitality Station for another three weeks while your hand finishes the regrowing process. Head Doctor Suárez will be your primary care physician while you are on board… and your room is one one seven in the blue east sector. Clothes are on the table before you leave. Any questions?”
“None.”
The nurse gave another nod and walked out of the room. I tried to flex my leftt hand but realized I currently didn’t have fingers. My wrist and palm had regrown over my ti in the Bio-Sculptor, but it would take at least a week or so for my fingers to co back. I walked over to the jet-black sleepwear they left for and slipped it on.
I disliked this three-week waiting period. But, I was at the rcy of the dical staff while I was here. There wasn’t much for to do in this kind of situation. I didn’t need to eat or sleep as often as Humans. There was nowhere I could train at this station where I wouldn’t cause damage. And I didn’t do anything else but train or go on missions. So with nothing left to do, I just opted to sleep. Maybe it will help my hand grow back faster, and get out of here sooner.
—
I jolted out of bed, sweating and breathing heavily. Damn, another one. It’s only been seventy-two hours since I rolled out of the Bio-Sculptor and this is the second ti I’ve had the sa dream. Or I guess people might call this a nightmare.
The events on Odeus 5 replay over and over again until I wake up in a cold sweat. I hear the final words of that Xeno child and watch as I fail to grab him.
I’m not sure what’s more problematic. The fact I’ve never had a dream in my entire life until now or that this event is sohow affecting . Not wanting to think about it, I rolled out of bed and hopped into the sanitation unit, cleaning myself. The chemical dispenser hissed and sprayed my body, cleaning everything in just under a minute.
I strode through the halls; the recovering marines or dical personnel were moving out of my way. Thankfully, these hallways were much broader and higher than usual so I could walk comfortably down them. The ss hall was a large room with rows upon rows of benches and a serving counter where people dished out food to recovering soldiers.
I grabbed a tray and avoided the lunch line. Instead, I headed straight to the nutrient paste dispenser, which didn’t have a line. Does nobody ever grab this stuff? It’s really good for you.
I sat down in the corner of the room and began chowing down. I had co to enjoy the taste of nutrient paste. I often heard the regs complain about how bland the stuff was, but it wasn’t bad. It was also the most efficient thing a soldier could eat anyways.
I sat alone and looked out into the vast room. Everybody was sitting a healthy two whole tables away from like I was a disease. But it didn’t bother . It was par for the course actually. I was about to finish my food when a short Hispanic woman wearing a dark blue lab coat walked over to carrying a al tray.
“Seat taken, Commander?” I motioned to one of the many open seats around . And, of course, she sat down directly in front of . The Doctor in front of was probably in her early thirties. Brown hair and eyes, average height. Let’s see, and she’s th—
“Are you checking out, Commander Kronos?” she asked innocently with a smile on her face, wrapping her arms around to cover herself.
“That’s not the word I’d use, Head Doctor Suárez. I’m just simply investigating you, that’s all."
“Ah, well, you’re no fun,” Suárez said dejectedly. The Doctor straightened her lab coat and gave a professional smile. “Anyways, it’s nice to et you, Commander Kronos. I’m the lead Doctor on this station. And I apologize that I haven’t had ti to speak to you since you have arrived. I was a little preoccupied with a fresh batch of marines off of Odeus 5.”
“It’s fine. I’m just passing the ti at your station. I don’t need any extra care while I’m here.”
“Nonsense! I pride myself on being the most passionate and compassionate doctor in the Navy! It’s unforgivable that I’ve neglected you these last few days, especially soone as important as you, Commander!” Suárez stated, standing up from the bench and striking a pose with her spoon in her hand.
Not wanting to draw any more attention than I’m already getting, I attempted to defuse the ranting doctor. “Yes, yes, of course. It’s fine. My hand is growing back fine, and I’m in no pain to speak of. I’m sure there are plenty of people on this ship who need your help far more than I do.”
“I suppose you are right, however, I want you to co in for so checkups next week.” I was about to protest when she hit with “non-negotiable checkups, Commander.” Not wanting to risk the wrath of the doctor who decides when I get to leave this station, I simply nodded and agreed to her terms.
Death Commandos were in a weird gray area in the military. We weren’t technically part of any branch of the military. Instead, we were directly under the control of the big wigs on Mars and almost a sub-branch of the military in the Federation. Although we did obey the chain of command, I suppose we were more like a… private army of sorts. But I knew where my loyalties lay.
“However, there is sothing I want to discuss with you, Commander. I have to admit this is the first ti I’ve t a Gen 1 Commando. There aren’t many of you guys left out there after all,” she said with a tint of remorse.
“It’s fine, really. To be expected even. We were rely weapons to be used in the service of Humanity.”
“Huh… so it is true,” Suárez said incredulously. “I read so reports about the evangelists being pretty aggressive with you guys and how you often diffused the situation just by agreeing with them. But do you really believe you aren't a real Human, Commander Kronos? That you don’t have a soul?”
Here we go again.
I've already had this conversation an infinite amount of tis. When I was first deployed, many were so zealous in their efforts to demonize us Gen 1s, spouting how we weren’t real Humans and we lacked a soul.
Of course, I agreed with them. This would often surprise the vast majority of them. It was hard for these people to call out the thing they were complaining about when I just sat there nodding my head agreeing with them. I never considered myself to be an actual Human—just a weapon for Humanity to wield. I was grown in a tube on Mars after all, and I doubt I had a so-called “soul,” if those even existed.
“If you have read my file, Doctor, then I am sure you understand my opinion on these matters. I, along with all of my comrades, understand what we are and what our purpose is. There is no mistake. We are not real Humans, and we never will be. Doctor Octario created us in a lab. I spent my first few months of life in a tube, only to co out as an adolescent. Before I even reached my first decade of life, I was already a man being sent into battle. We are soulless, intelligent weapons, not Humans,” I stated with conviction.
Doctor Suárez stared at with a look of shock for a few monts while tapping her rice with her spoon. “Have you ever heard the saying, Commander, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it’s probably a duck? Well, you look like a Human, walk like a Human, talk like a Human, so you’re probably a Human, Commander.”
“Such a simple line of deduction doesn’t apply to us, Doctor. We are rely weapons masquerading as Humans.” The doctor’s wristwatch let out an alarm as she sighed. “Duty calls. This conversation isn’t over, Commander. You and I are going to have lunch together every day until you leave this station.”
I raised my finger to protest when. “NON-NEGOTIABLE! A prescription of a daily lunch with the cutest Head Doctor on the station for Mr. Commander Kronos!”
I sat back down as she bead at with her spoon in hand, pointing at . Flinging rice onto my face in the process. I simply nodded to confirm as she picked her tray up and left. I enjoyed the remainder of my cold nutrient paste in peace and silence.
—
It’s been two weeks since I’ve been on this station, and I'm beginning to grow restless. My daily prescription dose of Doctor Suárez was starting to wear down. I didn’t have a huge social battery but it seed the doctor's was infinite. So to alleviate myself, I decided I’d go on a nightly jog around the station. I had just made it back to the crew quarters when one of the crew doors slid open and out ca a familiar face.
“Heimdall. It’s good to see you,” I said.
The man’s eyes went wide with surprise, but he gave a big smile. “Howdy ho! It’s even better to see you, kid. I’d say you look good but it seems you’re missing so fingers there young man.”
My fingers had only regrown the first digit at this point, and I could start flexing them now. They looked very awkward.
“I’ve had it worse,” I responded.
“Oh, I know you have, boy. Co walk with a bit.”
Heimdall was one of the first Gen 2 Death Commandos I had in my squad. He eventually got promoted to Commander as well and even leads his own team now. He was on the shorter side for a Gen 2, and he had so kind of reaction to the implants that grayed his hair out. Even though he was only in his late twenties, he looked twenty years older.
“What brings you to this station, Heimdall? You seem fine to .”
“Oh, you know, just getting a routine checkup. Nothing special, just the usual. Besides, I'd choose beautiful Doc Suárez over old hag Octario any day, ahaha!”
“In your dreams, Heimdall. You don’t stand a chance against her,” I quipped at him.
“Did you just? Never mind… anyways, that was cold, kid. A man can dream, can’t he?”
“Not a fan of dreaming currently.”
He frowned at my harsh words but didn’t press , and I didn’t an to say that so aggressively either. Heimdall led us to the rehabilitation ward, and I was about to ask him what we were doing here when he opened the door to reveal a large white room with brown pads on the walls. It had a bunch of Parallel Bars for patients’ rehabilitation. He walked over to one and slid out the tal bar from its housing, and tossed it to .
“What am I supposed to do with this?” I asked as the bar rolled down my chest and into my hand.
“You are stressed out, kid. You haven’t unclenched your fists since we started talking. I can tell they got you cooped up in here with nothing to do but sit on your ass. So, we are gonna spar a bit.”
“Heimdall, I’m fine, really. Besides, it's against the rules, and you know that.”
“Get the stick out of your ass, kid. You know you want to. Besides, did sobody give you orders saying you couldn’t swing a tal bar around with an old squadmate?”
“No…. I guess not.”
Heimdall grinned and chuckled to himself, almost like so kind of evil villain. “Then let’s get to it! I promise I’ll go easy on my crippled Commander!”
I spun the improvised staff around. It was difficult when I was missing two-thirds of my fingers on a hand, but I would make do. It felt good to swing sothing heavy around instead of just doing bodyweight exercises all day. Heimdall didn’t give much ti to warm up as he ran straight for , smiling his wicked smile. Crazy man. I mainly just deflected his blows as I couldn’t challenge him with one hand.
“Say, kid, what are you gonna do after the war?” he asked in between blows.
“What do you an?”
“Oh, co on, the war isn’t gonna last forever. We have already crushed a majority of the Xeno council races. The Elunari might have a lot of worlds but they are going to run out of them eventually. There are even so whispers of peace talks,” Heimdall said all this while attacking relentlessly.
So much for going easy on .
“I don’t know. I’ll probably stay with the Commandos ‘til the day I die,” I responded honestly.
“Bullshit! A young man like you should have DREAMS! ASPIRATIONS! You don’t need to fight forever. There are plenty of things you can do! You can train the next generation! Hell, you could even go private! I’m sure people would pay top dollar for a Death Commando chief of security.” Heimdall didn’t really give ti to think as he backed into a corner.
“I haven't thought about it, Heimdall,” I said, grunting while kicking him away from . “Besides, I don’t think that far ahead about unimportant things. I’ll go wherever Humanity needs .” He swung at my legs as I leaped over him using the bar like a pole vaulter.
“BAH! There you go with that ‘Humanity needs ’ shit. You’ve done plenty for us, boy! Make your old man a promise, and think about the future a bit, will you? Go settle down sowhere, buy a farm, and live your days out in peace. I’m sure you and Nyx would be very happy together.”
What?
He stopped, sweating and staring at with an intensity I'm not sure I’ve ever seen from him. And when did he beco my old man? He’s only thirteen years older than . And what’s all this talk about Nyx being happy with ? I sighed.
“Sure thing, old man. I’ll give it so thought.”
He just gave a big stupid smile. “Good… good. I know that’s all I’m gonna get out of you today. I gotta go kid. I can see you are already feeling much better,” he said with a satisfied nod.
Huh. Maybe Heimdall did understand . I do feel a lot better. Matter of fact, I haven’t felt this good in weeks.
“Thanks, Heimdall,” I said honestly.
“Anyti, kid. Next ti we et, I’ll buy you a drink or sothing… ah, wait, shit, you got a few more years for that, huh? Eh, whatever. I doubt anyone is going to check your birthday, you bald-headed demon, haha!” He walked out, tossing his makeshift weapon that was now dented to hell and back.
What am I supposed to do with this?
—
It’s my final day at this station. My hand is brand new and feels perfect. Usually, a soldier would just have their hand replaced with a bionic one, but my normal hand was much more efficient than so simple bionic replacent. The month I had to take off would be worth it in the long run. I just have one final examination left, and I can return to Hades Squad. They are still on Odeus 5, mopping up the last of the Elunari forces.
“Sooo Kronos, I have a question for you. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about a few Parallel Bars being destroyed, would you?” asked Doctor Suárez, eyeing .
“Sorry.”
“Sorry as in you did it or sorry you don’t know?”
“Sorry,” I replied again.
She just smiled at and began tapping away at her datapad. “Serious head trauma… requires two weeks of observation…” she mumbled out.
“Commander Heimdall of Asgard squad did it.”
Sorry old man, I apologized internally.
“That man…. In the future, please refrain from smashing my dical equipnt. They might just have been so tal bars to you, but that stuff is expensive!”
Rather than repeating myself again, I just gave a nod of understanding. I really didn’t an to break the stuff. It just kind of happened. Besides, Heimdall was the one who went hard, not .
Doctor Suárez sighed at and continued. “Well, your hand looks good. All your scans are coming back just fine, and your one week of rehab was a success. So I’d say you are in tip-top shape. Unless there is sothing else? Perhaps you wanna stick around just to see so more?”
Oh no, I definitely didn’t want that. But there was sothing…
“Do you dream, Doctor?” I asked.
“Huh? I an, yeah, of course. Don’t we all?”
"What do you normally dream about? If you don’t mind asking.”
“Well… nothing really. They are just dreams. My dreams are just a weird ss of random things that I end up mostly forgetting as soon as I wake up. I an like, for example, I had a dream last week where I just walked out the airlock and started swimming in space.”
“Swimming in space? I see…” I answered.
“What, do you normally not have weird dreams, Commander?” Suárez asked .
“No, I’ve only started dreaming recently.”
I omitted so details, not wanting to ntion that they might actually be nightmares rather than dreams.
Suárez tapped a pen against her chin thoughtfully. “Huh. I’m not an expert on dreams… let alone the ntal workings of a genetically created super-soldier. But I an you sleep, so you should dream, right? I don’t know what to say… I guess I’ll just send a referral and Doctor Octario can probably help you out. It might take so ti for her to get back to you.”
“I understand, she is a busy woman and that would probably be for the best. Thank you, Doctor,” I said with a nod.
I didn’t think she would be able to help . If anybody knew what was wrong with , it would be Octario.
She turned her datapad towards . “Place your hand on the scanner, and you are set to go, Commander.” I did as I was told and was rewarded with a little beep of confirmation.
“Well, this is it, Commander. You are free to go. Just one more thing. Try to live for yourself, just a little bit, okay? And don’t be so hard on yourself either. You are a good man. You don’t need to go through life like this,” she said to with a wry smile.
“I’ll do my best, Doctor,” I answered.
She gave a salute as I began to walk out. Of course, she didn’t need to salute , and I didn’t need to salute. But I turned and returned the salute anyway.
I went back to my room and slipped on my undersuit. It felt good to be back in it. With a satisfied nod, I made my way towards my ride. The hangar of a dical station always slled unhealthy.
It was an awful concoction of oil and cleaning chemicals that singed my nose hairs. I walked towards the shuttle that had a young woman with black hair waiting for on the ramp, giving a warm smile. She needs to stop making this a habit.
Or maybe I should just stop losing limbs.
“Welco back, Commander,” chid Nyx.
“It’s good to be back.”
—
Mars. Mount Olympus facility 2502.
A very tired and very annoyed Secretary’s POV.
I walked into the cold lab and found Doctor Octario as she usually is. She was completely engrossed in work and tuning out the outside world.
“I have a dical report that you should read, ma’am.”
The older woman had salt and pepper hair and wore a filthy jet-black lab coat. She shuffled so paper off her desk and gave a side-eye glare. “Just send it to , and I’ll get around to it.”
I sighed internally. It was at tis like this that I hated my job. But she was the leading scientist for Humanity. A one in a billion type genius. It makes wonder if they are all like this.
“I believe it to be important, ma’am. It’s in regards to A002,” I said as calmly and professionally as possible.
She made a weird noise that was a mixture between a grunt and a snarl. “What’s wrong with it? I get dical reports about the first generations all the damn ti. What makes this one so special?'' questioned the older woman.
I brought the datapad to my face and began reading the report aloud. “A Doctor Kassandra Suárez of Vitality dical Station recently reported that A002 had successfully regrow his han—”
She slid her office chair back and turned to face . “Will you just tell what is so interesting! My weapons lose limbs all the damn ti. I don't care about that stuff!” the Doctor yelled in frustration.
I want a raise.
“Doctor Suárez reported that A002 admitted to having dreams for the first ti and sought consultation,” I said, jumping to the point.
The older woman blinked a few tis as her brain processed what I had just said. It was almost like she was surprised I was doing my job…
“Wait, what?! It had a dream? That’s not supposed to happen.”
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