Tabby tried to step closer but halted as I backed away again. “I thought I had more time.” She cried, tears rolling down her face as she looked me in the eyes. “I never wanted this for you.”
I wanted to rage at her and scream at the insanity of it all, but then I noticed the elves. They were afraid. All of them. I could almost taste the terror in the air, it was so thick with the stench of it. Sighing, again, I decided to shelve this conversation for now.
“Well, for now, let’s move on. It’s not good for the mortals to see us like this,” I spat out harshly, making Tabby flinch as if struck. “You,” I pointed at a nearby elf. The elf went white with fear, falling on his face, while generally being useless to me. I took a deep breath, “fuck,” I snapped as I exhaled, looking around. I saw the two dipshits I knocked out earlier looking at me intensely, hoping I would pick them. Not going to happen, guys, at least for now. My gaze fell on one of the families I had fought for, and noticed the young elf who had been in a pigman’s grubby hand. You there, come over here, I sent mentally to the girl.
What’s your name, I asked. The girl was visibly shaking, but bravely stepping forward. She was beautiful under all the dirt and grime, and looked to be in her twenties, but with elves you never know for sure. She had blue, almond shaped eyes, with long hair that might have been golden blonde under all the dirt, but you couldn’t be certain. Her figure was generously proportioned, with legs to kill for. She sort of reminded me of that girl from Clueless only with bigger, ahem, curves.
She stopped a few feet short of me, falling to her knees, refusing to look in my direction. I sighed, what a mess, I thought. Look at me, girl, I commanded. I had a decision to make as to how I wanted to play this whole “god” thing, but for the moment, I just wanted to get this show on the road.
She lifted her trembling face to look at me, and it just made me angrier to see the fear and uncertainty in her eyes. On her knees in front of beings immensely more powerful than herself, she had no idea what was going to happen to her. She held herself with honor, courage, and yet was full of fear. Tabby was still at my side, but I was ignoring her.
I took a deep breath, trying to center myself, losing some of the anger boiling inside me. Please, take a moment to calm down, I mean you no harm. I could see the shock in her eyes at mentally hearing my voice. I’m sorry that this form of communication startles you, but I know of no other way at the moment. Please tell me your name, and stand, you have no reason to kneel before me.
Still kneeling, she looked me in the face, probing me with her eyes, searching for what kind of person I was. Deciding to take a chance at what she saw there, she rose to her feet.
I was keeping a telepathic link open with her, but wasn’t trying to read her thoughts. Just get a sense of how her culture communicated. This was another plus from being a Gess. With a telepathic link open, I could understand any language, and while I replied in my language, the person hearing me understood me in theirs. Morning light. She grunted, pointing to herself.
I chortled. Smiling, I said, “Dawn.”
Dawn gasped as she realized that was her name. “Dawn,” it was close enough that I at least heard the syllables. Her voice was light, airy, and frankly a little unpleasant, but maybe it was just me. I looked back at Tabby, nope, not me.
“Okay, Dawn, would you do me a favor, and take… actually, hold on. Tabby, did you get a chance to pick out anyone before the attack?”
Tabby smiled at me with her red, puffy tear-streaked face, and the last of my anger melted away. I returned the smile, trying to express the depth of my feelings through it. “I picked out an elder over there, plus the second guy you beat up, before everything happened.” Her voice caught as she said the last three words.
“Alright, go grab them. I’m going to have Dawn take us to her yurt, great word by the way, yurt. Anyway, there we can go over what to do next. Sound good.” I said to Tabby, while turning back to Dawn. “Now, about that favor.”
Chapter Thirteen
The inside of Dawn’s family’s yurt was much like I had expected. It smelled like dirty elves and animal hides, which wasn’t the most appealing of odors. The dirt floor of the yurt was compacted, with sleeping mats made of hides lying around. There was no furniture to speak of, but a few logs had been set up to sit on. Tabby, Dawn, and I sat down on them taking a moment to let our bodies rest. Giving me the chance to look around a little. The yurt’s inner walls were covered in pictures of swirls and stick figure elves holding hands.
“Dawn, did you draw the pictures?” I spoke to her, sending images as well to help reinforce my words. She turned beet red and pointed to herself. I could see a few of her memories showing her drawing them through the link, but I didn’t probe deeper. I smiled at her, “well, I like them, gives the place flair.” I said, turning my attention to Tabby. “Dawn, can you wait outside. One of us will come to get you in a few minutes.” It was now well into the night, most of the elves were meditating for rest, but for me, Tabby, and the elves we had chosen, the night had a long way to go before we could rest.
“Well, this is a fine fucking mess now, huh.” I began, as Dawn left the yurt. “First, I want to apologize for yelling, and well, I guess just being an ass.” I held my hand up to stop her from replying. “That said, I want you to know that I feel betrayed, and I don’t know if I can trust you right now. At least, not like I have been.” The pained expression on Tabby’s face told me she understood, but she didn’t respond.
“Okay, so we’re gods? I mean, it’s nothing new for you, right.” I meant it to be a lighthearted comment, but some of the bitterness I felt leaked onto my voice. “Sorry, it’s a lot to take in.” I honestly didn’t really know where to begin. I just knew I wanted to move past the personal crap that was leading to nothing, but aggravation. So, I just started with the obvious. “I can tell them I’m not a god, right?” Tabby didn’t answer for a second waiting to see if I continued.
“You can, but it won’t do you any good,” she stated. She was slowly calming down, but. I could tell that the events of today were going to bother her for some time, though she was trying to move forward as best she could. “Just think about it. Everything about you is utterly alien to them, except that you look like an elf.” She paused, settling into the conversation. “Even if you explained everything—and this is best case scenario. Even with all our future teachings, most of what you say will be centuries of scientific advancement away for them to understand any of it.” She stopped speaking to take a sip of water from her canteen.
“That doesn’t include all the teaching you will do. As you noted, this will only make them believe more. No matter what you say, you won’t convince those who benefit. Or the fanatics who will believe nothing negative about you, or those who believe in you because they choose to, irrespective, or the philosophers who will argue both sides, regardless of the facts.”
Sighing, Tabby took a moment to look into my eyes. “You joke about me, or the system rather, being a god. You don’t do it in a derogatory manner, but you know I don’t care for it. Well, it’s because I have been worshipped or reviled by entire galaxies.” Her whole posture slumped as she took another sip of water for comfort.
“Nothing the system did stopped some from believing it was a god. Nothing. It’s... impossible. For millennia we tried, it was even considered helpful to my race, but even we aren’t powerful enough to do all that is asked of a god.” She shook her head. “Eventually, the system decided to stop trying to be something it couldn’t be.”
I sat on my log, head down, thinking about what she had said. Looking up at her, I asked a question that had formed toward the end of what she had just told me. “Have you met a god?”
“I have met individuals whose power was immense, even without the nanites’ help, but I haven’t met any individual I would call a god.”
“At best, I have a shaky idea of just some of what that must include, and it freaks me out. How do you deal with it?” I asked.
“Me personally? Tabby snorted in mock laughter. “I try not to, and with this new body,” she shook her head. “I’m just as much at a loss to how to handle it as you are. For now, I suggest we accept it and do our best.”
“Our best, I don’t…” I started, frustration creeping into my voice, then stopped, sighing. “I guess that’s the best we can do for the moment.” We both quietly sat thinking, just enjoying the moment of peace. After a few minutes, I spoke, “okay, moving on. I looked at the village info screen, but there wasn’t much there so I doubt it will help us much. One thing I need your help with. though.” I looked over at her, “how do I work on morale?”
“I wouldn’t worry about it. Morale will raise as the elves advance. After the first batch is in the system, I expect a large boost, though it will be a onetime bump. After that, it’s of no concern.” she waved it off, shaking her head as she did.
“Okay.” I filed the info away, moving on to the next issue before we talked to the elves who were waiting. “So, this is the plan I have come up with so far. First, we teach a few elves the system, put them in leadership roles. While this is happening, we start a classroom where we teach around twenty at a time, at least for the first few groups. Learning their strengths as we do so, putting them in positions they can thrive in. Second, and while we are doing that, we build this shithole into something that will last. Teaching them to integrate better into the system, level the crafters and builders among them. While that is happening, we can teach magic, warfare,” I let out an aggravated growl. “This is going to take a fuck ton of work, taking who knows how long.”
“I agree. Though, I will take the teaching of magic and the basics. I would like you to take, crafting, and warfare. What do you think of letting them build as they will with just our guidance?” Tabby asked, fully engaged in our conversation.
“I don’t mind. Two things though. First, the very first building project will be a defensive wall. Second, we’ll need to teach someone civil planning and engineering. What do you think about having an elf assistant?”
Tabby cut in, stopping my rambling. “I’ll take an elf and teach them all that.” She said, referring to the civil engineering point I had brought up. “I think it’s a good idea to have an elf assistant, and I’ll pick out an elf as well. I think you should have your assistant handle the admin side of things, training whoever you pick to be a the leader of the elven people.” She held up a hand, stopping my protests. “You are a natural leader, whether you believe it or not. Your old squad followed you... well, religiously, and it was one of the reasons the geneticists had you go after the queen.”
I shuddered involuntarily at the memories that filled my head at her mention of my squad and the queen. The images of the surviving members’ faces in that final cavern took over me. I was overcome with sadness knowing I would never see them again, knowing not even a trace that they had existed remained. After all the battles we had been through, we were tighter than most families. I could feel the tears threating to slide down my face.
On our journey, with just the two of us, I didn’t let it get to me much, but with today’s events it seemed like it was catching up to me.
Tabby was sitting next to me arm wrapped around my shoulder, rocking gently, singing a melody I couldn’t place. “I’m sorry, Rho, I wasn’t thinking.” She confessed, as she comforted me.
After a few moments, I pulled myself together, “it’s okay, Tabby, I didn’t know it would hit me that hard either. What do you say we get back to business, huh?” I stood up as I spoke, disengaging myself from her, still unable to fully forgive her yet. Dawn, you can come in now. Please bring the other two with you. “Oh, shit. What language are we going to teach them... never mind, we’ll just go with elven,” I blurted out.
“Of course, we’ll teach them elven, you jackass.” I heard Tabby mumble, bringing a smile to my face. “Oh, and I want you to take on an apprentice, or Padawan if you want to call them that.” Her eyes told me she was serious, but she had a wicked, shit-eating grin on her face. I was about to respond when the three elves entered the yurt, falling prostrate in front of us. You dirty sneak, I thought, giving Tabby the stink eye, as I read the notification in front of me.
Quest Received: Hero Training!
Quest details: Tabby has tasked you with the training of an apprentice, to become a hero to the elven people! Teach an elf to fight, think, and act like you.
Quest reward: Sex with Tabby!
Fail conditions: You die or fail to train an elf.
I looked at her smirking, sultry expression as I closed the pop-up, and she winked at me. I... blushed. What. The. Fuck!
“Please have a seat,” Tabby told the elves.
***
I called for a stop ten long hours later. We had made a lot of progress, but it was going to take a while for the elves to grasp their old language and be able to use the system. The elven elder had turned out to be an excellent choice for my assistant, as he was well-acquainted with most of the elves, with an excellent head for administration on his shoulders. He was of average height for an elf, around five and a half feet tall. He looked like any other elf, beautiful, but a little too sharp to be human. With long, brown hair and blue eyes, he had a scar on the left side of his scalp. His name was Shining, or Lucas, as I informed him. This shocked him, just as it had Dawn, making him truly take to learning the language as fast as he could.
Dawn turned out to be very sweet, yet somewhat shy, but still that voice, I shivered. Tabby also found out that she was one of the women who treated and prepared the hides for crafting, making her the leader in the crafting arena.
The last elf, Tweedledum, or Forest Hunter, as he informed us, tried apologized to me immediately, gesturing in their weird pantomimed attempt at language, that he didn’t know who we really were. I stopped him, not wanting to get into it yet again, so we moved on awkwardly. He wasn’t as young as he looked, shocker I know, though not older than forty, he wasn’t sure exactly how old he was. Tabby had named him Canowicakte, saying it meant forest hunter, but I didn’t know where she pulled that name from. He had black hair, with more rounded features, for an elf at least. He was in charge of a band of hunters, so it was easy to put him in charge of all of them.
Teaching them was difficult. So difficult in fact that had I not helped to raise my own children, I would have had no success at all. Truthfully, had Tabby not stepped in, I might have murdered them all out of frustration. This made me immensely grateful that Tabby was taking care of that part of our mission. I just wasn’t much of a teacher, something I knew, but never really liked to acknowledge.
We had made our camp at the edge of the clearing, halfway between where we emerged from the jungle and the river, away from the elven village. They tried insisting we use one of the occupied yurts, but Tabby put her foot down, telling them we needed our own space. This confused them greatly, making me laugh like a hyena, which in turn made Tabby furious with me. All in all, a fun time. We did, however, let them build us a yurt where we set our camp up, which now consisted of little more than a cooking fire with a few logs to sit on.
We were in our mindscape for our rest cycle, giving me a chance to see how much exp I had earned in the fight.
EXP Earned: 18410
EXP Total: 149,410
EXP Until Next Level: 105,590
I couldn’t sleep. I was in my favorite chair inside my mindscape thinking about being considered a god, and what to do about it. It was really messing with my mind, easily affecting my emotional state, not to mention the damage it did to mine and Tabby’s relationship, like we had one to begin with. I really wanted to explain that I wasn’t a god, but after experiencing just how hard it was to teach them the elven alphabet, I knew it was going to be almost impossible, or at least take more time than we had.
On top of that, my feelings for Tabby had moved from an idyllic picture of love to a more complex human, or flawed, love. I wasn’t sure what to make of this, or the fact
that she hadn’t prepared me for being worshipped like a god, or the betrayal I felt.
Not to mention the fact she was throwing in the idea that she was receptive to sexual advances from me, or offering it as a reward, the cheat. She knows I’m technically a virgin in this body. The geneticists strictly forbade sex between Gess, saying it would hurt combat effectiveness. So, it was safe to say I hadn’t been lucky in, what, damn, I can’t even remember... close to thirty years would be my guess. Dear God, that woman is playing with fire. No wonder I almost killed those two elves fighting over her today! None of that even begins to address the fact that I’m the leader of this village.
I sighed as I tried to relax my mind and sleep. Reclined all the way back in my comfy chair, I stared at the massive cavern that my mindscape had become. It was still just bare walls and floor, as I could add anything I wanted at will, but hadn’t really seen the need. I noticed far more light shining from the ceiling compared to when I awoke in my tomb. I knew that soon, with more levels and skill points, I would be on a small moon once more.
As I looked down, I noticed a statue I hadn’t seen before. Confused, shocked really, because I didn’t put any statue in my mindscape, consciously anyway, I brought myself to the center of the cavern directly under the light in the ceiling. Tabby’s smiling face met me there. The statue was a perfectly accurate representation of her the moment our eyes met after the battle in the village. I didn’t know how it got there, but it gave off such a strong feeling of love that I was positive there wasn’t any nefarious reason for it to be there.
For some reason, the statue gave me a peaceful, easy feeling. Bringing with it a sense of calm. As I stared at the statue, I started to understand how hard it must have been for Tabby to talk about being worshipped, making most of the negative feelings I was holding onto fade. Turning away from the statue after a time, I found myself much more at ease, and soon was out like a light.
G.E.S.S.: Genetically Engineered Super Soldier Page 11