Condition Evolution 2: A LitRPG / Gamelit Adventure

by Kevin Sinclair

  “Shit no, to trial and error!” the axe said, offended. “I’ve got four thousand years training with no errors. We’re going to be unreal when I’m finished with you!”

  “I’m glad to hear it!”

  When I arrived at the medical bay, the doctor's surprise was written clearly on his face. Which was to be expected as I was now fully healed and armed with a big, ass axe. With a quick explanation from Ogun, the doctor did some tests on me. My kidneys and brain had suffered most from the dehydration, but when he came back with the results, as expected, I was at one hundred percent. Nothing wrong with me in any way, shape, or form. Apart from being underweight. Oh, the sweet fucking irony.

  After that, I went over to Ember again. She was still unconscious, which was to be expected. “I can heal her,” the axe spoke to me in a whisper.

  “I thought you couldn’t. And why are you whispering? You’re talking in my head.”

  “I was being conspiratorial, but you’ve spoilt it now! Never mind, back to the point I was making. You remember how I said I couldn’t heal anyone else? Well, I lied. You see, I’ve only got so much power. If I use it to heal everyone, and I can’t save you because I saved some random doofus, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself. Forgive me for being selfish, but I intend to protect you, and I can’t do that if I’m drained. And don’t ask me to, because I’ll protect you from yourself as well.”

  “Thanks, Axe. And, you’re probably right, but we’ll continue to keep it on the down low, so we don’t have any conflicts of interest with injured people. Ember is different though. What can you do?”

  “Damn right she’s different. She is like your soulmate or something. A bit like me. Let’s heal her right up.”

  “Maybe not all the way. Just enough to make sure she’s definitely going to be okay, like organ damage and stuff like that, and maybe bring her around. We don’t want anyone to catch on to what we’ve done,” I said in a whisper.

  “See, you’re being conspiratorial now. I knew you’d catch on. Now, put me next to her.”

  I did as I was told, and I could almost sense the energy transfer between them. Her eyes fluttered open. I sent a quick mental command, and the axe flew straight back to my hand.

  “Shaun,” Ember said, waking. “Where are we?”

  “It’s alright, Ember. We’re back on the ship now. Don’t worry, we’re safe. I woke up first, about an hour ago. I came to see you.

  “Then went and claimed my axe. It turns out to be a living weapon and able to heal me completely,” I leaned in close. “He healed you a little too. That’s how you're awake.” I gave her a hug while I was down there.

  “So, we’re saved and safe. What are we doing now?”

  “I’m not exactly sure what Ogun’s plan is. He said that once we’re all awake, we’ll be briefed. Well, other than Mick who won’t wake for a few days yet. He’s doing okay, but gonna take a lot longer than us to recover.”

  “Oh, that’s good to hear. Well done on your axe too. You’ll have to introduce us.”

  “He’ll like that I’m sure.”

  “I would like that. Tell her I like her too. She’s a good match for you, and I know we’ll be best of friends,” added the axe.

  “He said you’re gonna be friends and that he likes you,” I said, passing the message on.

  “Really! He’s that alive?”

  “Yeah! He’s basically a person…” I stopped talking as the doctor came in.

  “You have woken her up, Shaun.” He shook his head at me, but I could see a smile twitch the corners of his mouth. “If you don’t mind leaving us, I will assess Ember. I will let you know when she is ready to leave, but it won’t be for at least a few hours, so go and get some food.”

  “I’ll be along as soon as I can be.” She waved me off.

  I turned to her. “See you soon, Ember. Hopefully, it won’t take too long. If I’m not in the canteen I’ll be in the weight room behind the gym. I’m going to go get me some muscle.”

  C8

  High Steaks

  I left the medical bay happy. Only a couple of days ago we were starving and had all but given up on life. There seemed to be no way out of our situation on that goddamn supply station. Yet here I was at full health, Ember was safe, and I had an awesome new weapon, which was also a new friend. Now all I needed to do was to get the physique of my dreams and, apparently, I’d be able to do that in a couple of weeks. I don’t think Ogun knew I was aiming for He-Man when he said that.

  Before I did anything else though, I was going to go get some food from the canteen. I passed quite a few people on the way there. The ship was pretty big, but I wasn’t used to seeing so many people in the corridors. I didn’t recognize anyone, but they nodded to me respectfully, and I to them. I assumed most were from the other ship. Hopefully, they weren’t all assholes like the four I’d met already.

  In the canteen, I didn’t mess about. I got two steaks and some vegetables, as I was advised by Ogun. To my shame and embarrassment, I couldn’t eat it all. I had to leave a full steak. I think a year in an immersion tub, and three days starving, may have shrunk my stomach beyond repair. I’d spent years stretching that bastard to hold copious amounts of fast food and beer, and now I couldn’t even fit two fucking steaks and a handful of boiled vegetables in it. In a highly depressing way, it was a massive victory.

  There was no way I was going to embarrass myself by throwing a whole steak away, so I rolled the little shit up and put it in my pocket. I took my tray over to the waste disposal unit, free of my shame. The canteen wasn’t full, but there were people around, and they seemed to look at me often.

  I left the canteen and headed to the gym. There were already two men in there, both well-muscled, which was annoying, but there was nothing I could do about my pale, skinny form except find the heaviest weights I could lift for at least eight reps.

  I’d used gyms a lot in my younger days, so I had a rough idea of what I was doing. I trained mainly compound movements to hit as much muscle as I could, as quickly as possible. Before long, the other two people left. I think I’d weirded them out with my over the top training.

  I went until I’d completely exhausted myself. When I went to pick the axe up I nearly fell over from the dizziness and fatigue.

  “Eat the steak in your pocket, Shaun,” the axe said with concern.

  “Ugh, I’d forgotten about it.”

  Pulling it out, the steak roll had been well pounded and flattened during my little workout. I shrugged and ate it anyway. Part of me was hugely interested in how the self-cleaning suit would handle squashed steak juices that had been pounded for over an hour in a pocket. As soon as I took my last swallow of tender, tasteless beef, I felt a warm feeling inside. Within seconds, I felt good, but still a bit weak. “I don’t feel as good as before. Do you know why?”

  “Maybe you didn’t eat enough?”

  I thought about it, and realized he was right. Though, I had eaten everything to make my body heal and grow, I realized I hadn’t really eaten anything high energy. All the protein would go to my muscles and veggie had bugger all calories. I think I found my answer.

  There was a juice option on the drink synthesizer in the gym, so I drained a few glasses of sugary juice. I felt much better instantly. “Yup. That was it. Can you heal me if I go again, Axe?” I asked.

  “Yeah, sure. Just not until you’ve more protein available to repair your muscles.”

  “I thought you had limited energy. How many times could you heal me?”

  “It doesn’t take too much at all for minor muscle repairs. I could probably do it fifty, to a hundred times before we need to go back into battle to recharge me.”

  “That’s awesome. We’ll keep doing this until you have, say, thirty percent left. I don’t want to get caught short and not be able to heal in a fight.”

  “Very wise,” the axe replied.

  I dove straight into doing deadlifts. I could go heavier now. Not much, but noticeable. I wor
ked every muscle group until I was shaking with fatigue again. Smashed some more juice in then walked to the canteen. I could barely keep my legs from giving out, which drew some odd looks from my shipmates as I passed them. I felt like I’d run a marathon by the time I crashed into the FSU. I had two more steaks, some more veg, and a pile of boiled potatoes for energy this time. I was still trying to be good, so I held off the fries. Kudos there, huh?

  This time, I smashed the lot in easily. My stomach hurt like hell, but my body was screaming for it. Once again, I felt the warmth radiate inside me. I could almost perceive it coming from the axe perched on my back. What was most odd was that I suddenly didn’t feel full. “Hey Axe. Why am I not in a food coma anymore?”

  “Simple, Shaun. I’ve used the vast majority of the food to repair muscles and replace glycogen stores. I can supercharge your digestive system as well as your immune system, you know.”

  “Do you realize how smug you sounded there?”

  “No, but I’m pretty impressed with myself, so maybe that’s why.”

  “Be as smug as you want pal. Come on. Let’s keep going till Ember is out.”

  I went back to the gym and did exactly the same thing again. Tearing myself to bits, hating and loving every goddamn minute of it. Yet another hour had passed, which found me staggering back to the canteen like I’d been kicked to shit off ten blokes on my way home from the pub.

  This time, I mixed things up a bit and devoured two full chickens. The looks I was getting were even stranger. I was definitely getting the impression that everyone thought I was a weirdo.

  Astrid walked past and smiled at me, but didn’t speak. I didn’t know why, but to be honest I didn’t really care, my world revolved around pain and chickens until Ember was up and about.

  I headed straight back to the gym, because, why not! I was in the middle of blasting out some more sets when Ember appeared. I chucked the barbell to the ground and gave her the biggest smile I could. “Finally. You’re out!”

  “Jesus. What the hell happened to you?” she said. “It’s been what, six hours since I saw you? Why do you look like a skinny superhero?”

  “I trained really hard.”

  “This better not be drug induced, Shaun, or I’ll kick your ass.” She was actually angry.

  “What? No! Of course it’s not. It’s the axe,” I stuttered, shocked by her anger.

  “I’ve trained each muscle to exhaustion and eaten a shit ton of meat and stuff. Then I get it to heal me!

  “I can train straight away again after. I’ve done it four times today already, and I’ve eaten four big ass steaks and two full chickens since I left you.”

  “That’s a pretty useful axe, isn’t it? Will it heal me if I train?”

  “I’m sure he will. Though, I’ve told him to keep some energy in reserve just in case we need it in a fight.”

  “Cool. I could use a little muscle myself. Not too much, mind. I think my fighting game lends itself more to speed and agility, rather than brute, idiotic strength like you. I’ll start training with you tomorrow. I’m still a bit weak right now.”

  “I can use the axe to heal you.”

  “No. Save its energy for training. I’ll probably be fully recovered by morning.”

  I quit my own training now that Ember was out. I’d have plenty of time for that over the coming weeks. Instead, we went to get something to eat. Again! I had done enough training to earn another meal, so we each sat happily munching our chosen dishes.

  Afterwards, we went to my room to relax and talk. When bedtime came, Ember didn’t go back to her room, but instead cuddled up to me in mine. I’d hoped, after our little stint on the supply station, we might be sleeping in the same room from now on.

  We started training early the next morning. Ember was chomping at the bit, and all but dragged me out of bed. I hadn’t given myself a good look over the day before, but with a good night’s sleep behind me, I now marveled at my new shape in the gym room mirror. I was nowhere near huge, but I was very happy with the direction things were taking. Then, Ember said, “Stop mooning over yourself and lift some weights, you jerk.”

  “Don’t worry. You won’t have to be as jealous by the end of the day.”

  “I’m not jealous, you jackass. Now, let’s see what you’ve been banging on about.”

  We started training in earnest. Ember did all of the same workouts I did, but with weights geared to her strength level. By the time an hour had passed, we’d done a number on ourselves and went for a huge breakfast. Then the axe did his thang!

  “Oh, my god! This is so cool. Come on, let’s do it again!” she said excitedly.

  Unfortunately, on our way back to the gym, Ogun caught us. “Good to see you are up and about, Ember. You’re both looking very well.”

  “Thank you, Ogun. I don’t know what’s coming next, but we’ll be as ready as we can be,” Ember said, unusually cheerfully. I suppose being rescued from certain death has that kind of effect on people.

  “I’m glad to hear it, and I know you won’t disappoint. Gus is awake and, if you don’t mind the interruption, would you mind joining us in the medical room?”

  “Of course not. Lead the way,” Ember replied.

  We both went over to Gus when we got into the room. Ogun had to wait as we made sure Gus was okay, and talked about how well Mick was recovering.

  Once we had finished, Ogun began, “You’re probably wondering where we are going and what we’re doing. I thought I would get you all together because this is not a conversation I want to have multiple times.”

  He moved to stand at the edge of Gus’s bed while we sat on either side and continued, “The truth is, we are on the run now more than ever. It was bad enough when they came for us on Earth. At that stage, I had just allowed you to evolve, for which we were in trouble no doubt. Now, we’ve killed a number of Fystr. To them, that’s the ultimate crime. They will throw immense resources at hunting us until we are all dead.”

  “That sounds like something the arrogant pricks would do,” Ember said.

  “Yes. Well, this is where we find ourselves. Hunted. As for future plans, I won’t lie. We have none. Only that we need to escape the Fystr Empire, which covers about thirty percent of this galaxy. The other parts of the galaxy are not dominated by humans. There are many other races out there, but it will be a dangerous place.”

  “More dangerous than hanging around where the Fystr control?”

  “No, definitely not that dangerous. We have three ships, including the Hunter Ship that we took from the Fystr on the supply station. We have our people spread evenly on the Thoth and the Seshat and four on the hunter ship. That should be enough to navigate non Fystr empire space in relative safety. That is, until we can come up with a workable plan. I hope you realize that this was never my original plan. I still haven’t gotten to the bottom of how they discovered my work. But here we are, and we will make the best of it.”

  “Have they destroyed Earth?” Gus asked.

  Ogun answered, “I imagine the Fystr will be there in force now. They will have sent a full occupation party. Probably around ten million of our soldiers. Their usual M.O. is to dismantle all technology and modern structures. If there is any resistance, it will be annihilated. This normally includes massive collateral damage. Unfortunately, we can’t do anything about that. If we did try to fight them, we would last less than a second against the Fystr war machine. They are simply too strong and there are too many.

  “In the meantime, they will continue to hunt us. If, and when we can return, we will try and help the people, so they don’t end up regressing back to the Stone Age in a couple of generations.”

  We all sat there in silence, processing everything we were being told. Finally, Ember spoke, “So… I mean… can we ever really escape the Fystr?” She half stuttered but forged on. “We’ve managed to lose them once or twice, but they’re still following us.”

  “I really don’t know, Ember. I wish I could give you de
finite answers. I imagine their Hunter Ships will continue to track us, but I believe with our firepower we should be able to manage them when they show up, providing there are not too many of them. They are the fastest ships the Fystr have. If they send a fleet after us, it will be travelling much slower.”

  “So, there’s like real aliens out there, and we're gonna try and hide amongst them. How do they feel about the Fystr?” Gus enquired in disbelief.

  “My god. You people are really fucking naive,” the axe said. “There are thousands of species out there. I should know, I’ve killed quite a few different types.”

  I was only half listening to the conversation anyway, so I started to talk to the axe instead, “You’ve met and killed aliens?”

  “Shit, yeah! Mostly when I wasn’t sentient because the purge was ages ago. Occasionally, the exiles would roam into our territory, normally to steal from dopey humans. Jotun and the rest of his now dead crew would go in and decimate them.”

  “HA! I can’t believe those pricks are all gone.”

  I phased back out from the conversation with the axe to listen to Ogun once more.

  “You should be worried,” he was saying. “It’s a completely alien planet, but we have no other choice. We are getting stronger as a team all of the time and can survive this. Just look at Shaun.” He pointed to me as he spoke. “He has somehow managed to do a month’s worth of human bodybuilding in a day.”

  “Oh, thanks,” I said, and felt my cheeks begin to burn. No, not those cheeks, and not vindaloo related either. Though I’d have loved a curry right now.

  “Hopefully, the next few weeks should be very uneventful, but you all need to be prepared for what will come next.” With that, he abruptly left the room.

  We left the meeting with a much clearer picture. Which was that we really were just flying by the seat of our pants.

  Shaun Sutherland, ex-obese roofer, hunted through space by god-like beings who have destroyed his home planet, wielding a living axe that speaks in his mind, I thought, in a movie narrator voice.