Chapter 3
The Companion
He woke up
in that room and for a moment he forgot where he was. Then he saw the suit he
was wearing and he remembered. He looked around not seeing anybody and Theta
called out saying, “Is a scientist going to come around and tell me what the
surprise is.”
Suddenly he
heard a grumbling noise. He slowly scanned the room. Not detecting anyone or
thing he lowered his guard. Until Theta heard the sound again and found its
source.
His stomach.
He called
out with a chuckle, “and could someone bring me some food.”
A whooshing
noise caught his attention. He looked towards the source and saw a young man in
a lab coat walk in with a tray which was covered with a silver tray cover.
The boy was
just over five feet tall. He had hair that was thick but not long. He wore
thick glasses on a face that looked like it was trying to come out of his
teenage years. He had peach fuzz along
his chin and pimples dotted his face. His lab coat went well below his knees.
And it had many pockets that contained small trinkets it seemed.
He set down
the tray on the bed and stepped to Theta and held out his hand.
Theta
reached to shake his hand but the boy moved it out of reach and slicked back
his hair at the last moment.
“Ha. Gotcha.
Sorry couldn’t resist. I’m Dr. Hoo.” His voice sounded familiar. Then Theta
recognized the voice as the one belonging to the one who had given Dr.Garb a
hard time.
“What do you
have there?” Theta asked hoping it was food. And praying it was his.
Dr.Hoo as if
remembering it existed said, “This is your breakfast, lunch, and dinner for
nine months.”
Theta looked
at it questioningly.
“Was that
the surprise? You’re going to starve me to death?” Theta inquired folding his
arms across his chest.
Resisting
the urge to strangle the kid.
“No, no.
These are supplements. They are in vials so we just hook them to your suit and
it gives you all the nourishment you need.” He explained with a smile.
So after a
brief moment of silence Dr.Hoo lifted the tray cover and revealed the vials. They
were glass containers with metal caps at the ends. And instructed him to place
the vials onto his back between his shoulder blades. With a clicking noise the
vials latched on and injected their contents into the suit where they were
somehow stored and would be injected as necessary into his body.
“Alright
where and what is this surprise you guys have for me?”
“It is
waiting for you at the next test. Not so much an it as it is a she.” Dr.Hoo
explained.
Theta had
more questions, but Dr.Hoo walked out the door before he could get them out.
Theta
prepared for the day with much excitement. Not that there was much to prepare.
Go to bathroom (which in that suit was very difficult.) His mask was detachable
so he washed his face. And his suit apparently cleaned him and itself because
there was no smell nor sign of yesterday’s exertion.
He couldn’t
believe it. A person that wasn’t some doctor wanting to test him.
Theta left
his room and was surprised with a different hallway then the day before. He
wondered if they had moved him to a different room. But with all the other
things that had happened maybe it wasn’t unrealistic that the room had moved to
another hallway.
This hallway
was painted black but lights came from the ceiling to mark his way.
Theta didn’t
have far to walk if it was only to the end of the lights. There were six lights
and an interval of about five feet between each light. Not wanting to run into
a trap he proceeded carefully.
He reached
the end of the light and continued walking. He was walking blind. Then the
whole room lit up with a harsh fluorescent light. Theta’s visor protected him
from the glare, but it still surprised him.
He was in a
large sphere like room. He was on a catwalk well above the bottom of the room
and at the center was a pillar. The catwalk let him out on top of the pillar.
Slowly spinning as he walked he got a look at the rest of the room.
There was a
ring of glass that went around the sphere.
Observation
area? Theta asked himself.
When he
refocused on the central pillar. Something had changed. A pedestal had risen up.
And on the pedestal.
Was a bird.
A red tailed a hawk. It had a mainly white chest, but it had specks of brown
near its neck and legs. Its wings were a lovely, chocolate color. And true to
its name its tail was red.
Though
something strange about it was its eyes. They were blood red. And they seemed
to pierce all the way to his soul.
This one
wasn’t normal, his instincts told him.
“This is
your surprise?” Theta asked, walking closer to it but looking around the room
in the process.
Arriving at
the bird which looked at him quizzically. “What, spent all the money on the
identical rooms, the chute, the suit, and these tests? I mean it’s a great
gift, very pretty. But I kinda expected a person.”
“Sorry to
disappoint you.” Said an offended voice that sounded strangely familiar.
Theta looked
around surprised. Then he looked at the hawk and bewildered asked, “Did you
just speak to me.”
“Yes. And
may I say I had expected you to be a bit kinder. How do you expect us to have a
healthy, working relationship if you can’t be nice?” She asked and looked away
tilting up her beak and closing her eyes.
Theta
couldn’t believe it, but not only had the hawk spoken. It was now showing signs
of being offended.
Theta
replied dumbly, “Uh s-sorry.” Then he realized something. “You were the girl
from my dream!”
The hawk
turned to him and smiled (how did she do that?) “Yes they allowed me to visit
you briefly. That was a terrifying dream you were having. Are you alright?” The
amount of concern she showed was moving.
Theta
cleared his throat and said, “Thank you. But I am fine.” His voice had wavered
at the end. Why was that? Was there some kind of painful memory around that
dream he couldn’t remember?
“So what are
we doing today?” Theta asked trying to change the subject.
“Well from
what I have learned about humans. They usually exchange names before they go to
work.”
“Oh right.”
Theta said slightly embarrassed. He sent out his hand. It took him a moment to
notice she didn’t have hands to shake.
“My bad
sorry.” Theta mumbled
“Don’t be.”
And with that she flew onto his shoulder, and did that bird smile.
“I am
Subject Theta. But I prefer Theta.” He said. She was so nice, he thought to
himself.
“My name is Alysia.” She said.
A split
second after hearing it his head almost split open with the pain he felt. It
was even worse than when he had first woken up. He dropped to a knee and his
hands were instantly at his head. Trying to protect himself from the invisible
cause of his pain.
After what
seemed to be and eternity. He stood. He looked around looking for Alysia and
found her lying on the ground.
“Alysia?”
Theta said as he approached.
She made a
small whimper.
He scooped
her up and held her. Being as careful as he could.
“Are you ok?
Did I hurt you?” Theta asked. He suddenly felt horrible. Probably the kindest
person he had met since waking up and he probably had hurt her.
“No, I am
fine.” Alysia said and fluttered back to his shoulder.
“You were on
the floor in pain. You were most certainly not fine.” Theta said removing his
helmet, so she could see the disbelief.
“So were
you.” She said with a pout (how did she make these expressions?)
He rolled
his eyes and said, “Just explain to me how and why you were on the ground in
pain.”
She looked
at him and sighed.
“Well you
know how I said we were partners and that I visited you in your dream?” Alysia
asked.
“Yes.” Theta
said drawing the word out.
“Well,
that’s because we share and experimental device that has created a link between
a human and an advanced A.I. It is meant to help you cope with stress and pain. I am able to look through your brain like a book.”
She said watching him carefully.
“Wait an
A.I.?” Theta asked. Trying to understand what she was saying.
“Yes, I am
an A.I. that has been put into a mechanical body. That was meant to serve as a
companion both in and out of combat.”
“You were
created to be my, buddy?” Theta asked.
“Actually, I
am supposed to be your only friend. The
scientist will try to not interfere, they think too much contact could ruin their experiments. I’m sorry.” Alysia said this and looked
down.
Theta
received that pretty poorly. But he didn’t let it show, besides it wasn’t
Alysia’s fault. It wouldn’t be right to take it out on her.
“Not your
fault. Cheer up I don’t blame you for it.” Theta reassured her.
She perked
at his words and smiled.
“So let’s
ace these tests these jerks got planned for us.” Theta said.
“Lets.”
Alysia said.
She motioned
towards a catwalk that had appeared during their little moment. It led to a
steel door that in a similar fashion, had appeared out of nowhere. The duo
walked to it and sized it up.
“I got
this.” Theta said proudly.
He reared
back his fist and let it fly as hard as he could. The door did not even budge.
“Oh you sure
got it.” Alysia said with no small amount of laughter. “This door needs a
women’s touch.” She explained.
“Sure I’d
like to see you try to open it up.” Theta challenged.
With that
Alysia flew of his shoulder and did a little loopty loop.
“Show off.”
Theta yelled.
Alysia then
aimed at the door flying directly at it. She wasn’t slowing down either.
“Alysia,
what are you doing?!” He shouted as she neared the door.
But instead
of crashing she flew right through the door. Leaving no holes. Unable to see
her Theta got a little nervous. Wait why was he nervous he had just met her. Maybe her connecting to his brain had done something.
He was interrupted by a
sparking noise came from the other side.
“Try now.”
She said sounding like she was right beside him.
Looking
around and not seeing her he refocused on the door. He brought his hands down
on the door with his hands held together like a hammer. This time the door
crumbled beneath his hands.
He walked
through the threshold into a much smaller, compared to the previous room, cube
liked room. Probably only forty by forty feet. There was a strange rectangular
block that came from the ceiling. Everything was the same color, sterilized
white. At the other side of the room was a door that said exit.
Alysia gave
him a proud look. He smiled in return.
“I am not
gonna ask about what you just did, I probably wouldn’t understand.” He said.
“No you wouldn’t.”
She said.
“Well that’s
the way out. It seems too easy though.” Theta analyzed.
“Of course
not. They need to test our combat skills.” Alysia said as she perched on his
shoulder.
“So do I
just smack something around or what?” Theta asked.
She looked
at him trying to judge if he was serious, but before she could answer, plates
on the ground shifted revealing three holes about four feet in diameter. All of
them were close to the exit.
“I don’t
think we should go near those.” Alysia stated shifting uneasily.
“No we
shouldn’t but they are in the way of us getting through the test.”
He started
to walk around the other side of the holes, but was stopped by a blur of
movement. He then felt a strange sensation as he was knocked into the air and
at the wall to the left of the holes.
When he
looked up he saw the perpetrator.
It was
standing on two legs looking at him. Its entire body was nearly bursting with
the amount of muscles under its skin. It looked like a lizard person from an
old monster flick. It had blue, scaly skin. A long, triangular head with orange
eyes. Its pupils were slits that were narrowed at him. He saw its arms, and he
was not happy with what he saw. They had serrated edges along the forearm and
on its hand he saw razor sharp claws. And on its tail he saw rows of spikes
that probably followed up its spine.
“Do you see
that too?” Theta asked. Looking to Alysia who had left his shoulder during his
little flight.
Returning to
his shoulder she said, “If you are talking of the giant, deadly-looking-lizard
man. Yes I do.”
Theta got to
his feet and brought his fists up to his chests and approached the creature
which watched him intently. He neared it and they began to circle each other
watching for weaknesses.
Theta saw
that the lizard’s leg muscles began to tense, and it crouched low to the
ground.
He looked at
Alysia and nodded towards the air. Alysia nodded and took off. Theta watched
the creature intently and waited for it to jump. When it did he waited until it
got close, time beginning to slow down. Then he ducked under it, grabbed its
tail, and flung the creature as hard as he could against the wall. It arrived
at the wall and the room resounded with a thud. The creature fell to the ground
and shakily rose.
Its eyes
burned into him murderously. It sprinted towards him. Theta swung aiming at the
things face, but the creature dodged and slashed at his abdomen. The claws
raked across his suit but didn’t puncture. Theta withdrew, and grabbed the
creatures arm twisting it behind its back. It swung the other elbow and it
collided with Theta’s head. He was dazed only for a moment. Then he saw a blur
out of the corner of his eye and then the creature stopped fighting so
vigorously. Eventually, it just stopped. Surprised he let it go and the
creature fell to the ground in a pool of blue liquid. Theta realized with a start
that the creature was dead and the liquid was its blood. He looked as a weight
settled on his shoulder. It was Alysia and blue stained her talons.
“You killed
it.” Theta said surprised.
“If it is
between you and that thing. I’d choose you.” Alysia stated plainly.
Theta turned
to the door and saw that one hole had closed but the other two remained open.
“There are
more.” Theta said preparing himself.
“It might be
easier to fight them if you didn’t just use your fists.” Alysia noted.
“There
aren’t any weapons laying around. So what do I use?” Theta asked.
Alysia
motioned towards his arm, looking he saw a symbol on the gunmetal grey portion
of his arm. Examining it he saw it was a sword. He touched the symbol and a
three foot blade sprung from his arm. He looked at it fixedly. Looking to
Alysia he said, “You couldn’t have told me that a bit sooner.”
“You were
doing fine.” She said.
He turned
back to the holes and assumed a fighting position.
With a
shriek, two more creatures jumped out. Both were identical to the first.
They both
saw their dead companion and refocused on Theta. Then the pair did something
strange. They simultaneously grabbed at their spine and twisted one of the
spikes. Then the spikes on their arms grew into blades as well. Theta examined
his other arm and pressed a button and out of his other hand came another three
foot blade.
The two
creatures rushed him at the same time. They both swung there blades at him.
Theta parried there blows. He didn’t understand how he knew what to do, but he
wasn’t complaining. He continued to block and parry scoring only small cuts. He
saw that Alysia would rake her talons across their backs and face successfully
distracting them at certain times.
One got his
eye slashed and the others back was shredded with the numerous passes Alysia
had made. The one with the slashed eye let his anger get to himself and he
turned to swipe at Alysia, but before the blade could land Theta sliced it
cleanly off. The creature grabbed at the area where it had been. Theta using his
small window of opportunity to stab his blade through the distraught creature’s
spine. Killing it instantly.
After its
death, Theta concentrated on its companion. This creature was fighting all the
harder now. Neither could land a successful blow. Alysia using the creature’s
lack of focus on her landed on its shoulder, and began to rip at its face and
neck with her beak. It succeeded in knocking her away. But Theta thrust his
blades into its abdomen. Theta brought out his blades and with a fluid motion,
severed its head.
Suddenly,
Theta realized how barbaric he had become in the last few minutes. He had to
survive, it was either him or them, he reasoned. It still troubled him though.
Alysia returned and landed on his shoulder.
“Wow.” She
said. “That was intense.”
“Let’s not
talk about it.” Theta replied.
Seeing his
distress, she dropped it and began to take stock of herself. Trying to see if
there was any damage.
While she
did that Theta walked to the door and opened it.
