Aspirant: A Sci-Fi Harem Adventure

by Whittaker, Maxx

  It’s incredible, magical, and it fucking sucks.

  Mika kneels at my side, smoothing my hair, helpless to do anything but watch. But she talks constantly, keeping me distracted. “That was incredible, Sam. You’re a hero. I can’t believe you charged that thing! I thought you were dead. You’ll be okay…” Her words penetrate the fugue of pain, and I have to admit that I feel pretty badass.

  Even if this isn’t very dignified.

  Finally, it’s done. I sit, momentarily weak, and fall into Mika’s arms as our wrists chime.

  CONVALESCENCE COMPLETE. INITIATING ROOM TIMER.

  00:10:00… 00:9:59…

  “Not much time to rest,” I mumble. If we have to go through something like that again… I’m not sure I can.

  “Just sit. We’ll go at the last second. Recharge.”

  “No, I’m okay.” I sit, pulling away from the pillow of her chest with a lot of regret. “We only have a few minutes, and we should explore. See if there’s anything here for us.”

  “I’ll do it. Just chill. You need a few minutes… You were…” She winces, turns her face away. “You looked bad. I thought maybe…”

  “I’m okay. I mean it.” Even though the convalescence was complete, the lights above us still radiate with the healing glow. And with each marmalade pulse, I feel better. And, strangely, I feel stronger than before? “Do you feel… different?”

  Her laugh is a little crazed. “Sam, I don’t know if I could remember my address right now.”

  “No, seriously.” I flex my bicep, shake my head. “I can’t tell…”

  “Showoff.”

  “Hah.” I drop it. Maybe it’s my imagination. Or maybe not. Oil field work isn’t easy, and it taxes the shit out of your body. You learn to read yourself, know your limits. And right now, I feel better and more capable than I’ve ever felt in my life.

  Maybe it’s just the healing. Maybe it took care of sore muscles and little aches as an added bonus.

  Mika’s eyes hold a question.

  “Never mind. Later.” I reach up, feel my nose. “Still a little crooked, but I blame my parents for that one, not the orc.”

  Mika ducks her head. “Looks fine to me.”

  “Why thank you, Mika Toriyama. It’s not my best feature, so I’ll take that one as a win. Anyway, I don’t think we can die, so long as we make it into here. So trust me when I say that I’m okay.”

  She eyes me skeptically. “I believe you.” I start to raise, but she presses me back down. “But I don’t need you for this. We’re a team. Let me help you now.”

  I slump and have to admit that I’m not unhappy to do it. The light helps, and my body feels charged. Full of energy. But I still feel like I’ve been on a three-day bender. My head is foggy, and the memory of the agony, my nose smashing into hard stone, is still so fresh. I shudder.

  Really don’t want to do that again.

  Mika walks around the room, trailing her hand along the wall like I did in the first field room. “So, what have we learned?” she asks.

  “Don’t use the floor to stop your face.”

  “If you didn’t know that before we were brought here, I’m a little worried about our survival. But I’m pretty sure after seeing you swing a fist… you had that down already.”

  “Okay, okay, fine. First, whatever this thing is,” I say, raising my wrist, “It’s connected to the Shepherd.”

  “Second,” she says, “let’s not be in a room when the timer runs out.”

  “Right. Third. This place partnered us because we need each other to solve… whatever this all is.”

  “Yeah.” She touches a few spots in the wall, then shrugs and moves on. “Fourth, between rooms this place can create anything it wants.”

  “Not happy about that one. Whatever we find in the next room–”

  “We’ll be fine.”

  Something’s changed in her. “You sure about that?”

  She puts her back to the wall, cocks her head. “Yeah, I am. Killing that orc, solving the puzzles, helping you in here… I think I’d be worried if I didn’t feel a little different. Or, if I didn’t believe we could get through this.”

  I feel the same. That was horrible, terrifying, and somehow thrilling. I grin at her.

  Mika returns it. “Okay, to recap… be ready for anything.”

  I suddenly realize I’m weaponless. “Shit.”

  “What?”

  “Dropped my magic axe.”

  Mika clucks. “Rookie.”

  “Sorry. This is my first magic dungeon.”

  Mika pulls her dagger, pretends to trim her fingernails with it. “It’s okay. I’ll protect you.”

  I smile. “You know what? I think you will.”

  She blushes and turns away to check out our surroundings.

  I watch her as she walks the length of the room. In fact, I can’t take my eyes off her. “Before. In the last convalescence room.”

  She pauses again, watches me from behind the veil of her hair. “Yeah?”

  “What I was going to say. When the timer dinged.”

  She turns further, watches me, cheeks pink. “Yes…?”

  “Just…” Why is this so hard? I’ve never been shy. I suck in a breath. “Look at you.”

  Her cheeks pink further, and she coughs. “You’re not too bad to look at, yourself.”

  “Crooked nose and all.”

  She laughs, low and throaty, eyes still on me. “This is nuts. We don’t know each other, so why…?”

  “I know that you’re brave. That you didn’t let fear stop you from saving my ass back there. More than once.”

  Mika ducks her head. “Yeah, well. We’ll see how I deal with the next crazy ass thing this place throws at us.”

  “Like you said… We can do this.”

  I stand, legs still a bit shaky, but I’m almost back to normal. “Any hatches?”

  “No. There are markings all over the walls, though. It’s bizarre.”

  I look around, confused. “I don’t see anything . Just white walls. Another mystery yet to be solved, I guess.”

  She shakes her head. “I don’t understand, either. But I see them.”

  “They say anything? Any words? Numbers?”

  “Nothing I recognize, though…” She trails off, running her finger along the wall, tracing a strange pattern I can’t see. “I almost feel like I understand them. What they are.” She growls, smacks the walls. “It’s like a song at the edge of my memory, one I heard years ago that I can almost remember.”

  “Maybe the next room will have some clues.”

  She purses her lips. “Maybe.”

  Our displays ding. FIVE MINUTE WARNING

  “Could have used one of those in the dungeon.”

  “Heh. Yeah. C’mere. I think there’s another hatch.”

  I move next to her, shoulder to shoulder. She doesn’t unconsciously shy away, like she did in the previous convalescence room. There’s new comfort and trust, between us that warms me.

  “Here.” She presses her finger, and like last time, the wall puddles away, leaving a hole with a small compartment behind it. “Not more weapons, I hope.”

  I lean in. “Nope. Just… Huh.”

  “What?”

  “Just this.” I hold up a figurine the size of a chess piece. It’s vaguely human but has too many arms. And heads.

  Mika takes it from me, brow furrowed. She turns it, rotates it. “So bizarre. How is this meant to help us?”

  “I don’t know, but–” I fumble it as she hands it back to me, and it falls, breaking in half when it hits the ground. “Shit!”

  Mika crouches, picks up the pieces. “Wait, you didn’t break it.” She holds up the bits, worrying her lip as she rotates them, fits them together. Now that they’re separate, they’re clearly male and female; tiny nude figures stretched, hands above heads thrown back in some kind of artistic ecstasy.

  “Would I be wrong in saying that this might be the strangest thing that’s hap
pened to us, yet?”

  “Shhh… I’ve almost got it…” She blows hair from her eyes as she turns the pieces and finds the right alignment. They slide together, joining so seamlessly it’s like they were never broken. “There. Got it.” She grins, triumphant, before deflating. “But how the hell are they supposed to help us?”

  I shake my head. “You got me. Well… wait. Male and female, joining in one. Maybe we’re supposed to…” I wink.

  “Oh no! Could it be?” She lowers her voice dramatically. “Whoever they are, aliens, demons… They’re perverts! They brought us here to study HUMAN REPRODUCTION!”

  “Hmm. Might be wise to give ‘em what they want.”

  She laughs. “Sam.”

  “For the human race! Not for me.”

  “Sam!”

  “Sorry,” I cough. “I know we’ll probably be fighting for our lives or something in a few minutes, but… Well, I’m kind of loving this.” I chuck her shoulder. “Can’t think of anyone else I’d rather wander a deadly temple… station… dungeon… whatever… with.”

  “That means making lewd jokes, too?”

  “It’s mandatory, actually. You make it kind of hard to resist.” I can’t believe the words cross my lips. I don’t know how much time has passed since I left that Colorado highway, but it seems like mere hours. What’s changed?

  Maybe I should slow down. “I’m sorry, Mika. That was… I crossed the line.”

  “I didn’t say I minded .”

  It feels like an eternity passes as we just stare at each other. The air feels charged, electric, and I can’t take my eyes from her full lips, her shadowed eyes.

  Of course, this is when our displays ding.

  “To be continued,” I say, holding up my wrist to show her mine. 00:00:58… 00:00:57…

  Mika’s eyes are hungry, but she steps away and stows the figurine in her pocket. She beams. “Now I know this place is trying to help us. Pockets on a woman’s pants!”

  “Revolutionary.”

  “You have no idea,” she says, strolling to the plate. She palms it, and I join her.

  The door dissolves away. I squeeze her free hand.

  She grips me back, hard, and we step through to whatever fresh hell awaits us.

  6

  Chamber 2

  Aspirant #2239

  Room Timer: 00:15:00

  ‘Fresh hell’ turns out to be… A room almost exactly like the one we just left.

  “Okay. This place keeps surprising me,” Mika says, turning a slow circle.

  I can’t disagree. The room is smaller than the convalescence chamber, but not by much. Maybe fifteen feet across, with long white walls, white floor, white ceiling. That’s about it.

  Well, there are a few changes. “No orange lights,” I say, pointing up.

  “And the walls. Can you see the lines?”

  “Nope. As usual, your special eyes put mine to shame.”

  She laughs at that, harder than I think she should.

  “What?”

  “They don’t have my brand!” Mika shakes her head when I don’t respond. “Nerd thing.”

  I roll my boring regular eyes. “Anyway.”

  She moves off to the right, tracing her fingers up and down at regular intervals. “Long lines, floor to ceiling. Every three feet or so.”

  “Any idea what they do?”

  Her fingers trace another. She pushes, like she did with the hatches, then raps at it. “Huh. Nothing that I can see.”

  “There must be something else.” I glance down. Already at fourteen minutes.

  Damn.

  We scan the room, moving in different directions. I don’t see anything but featureless walls, aside from the door.

  Mika sighs. “Dammit. We’re eating up a lot of ti–” She lets out a little yelp.

  I spin, ready to rush to her side, to fight goblins or werewolves or… Something.

  Instead, she’s standing, hopping on one foot, holding her big toe and staring murder at the floor.

  “Ah… You okay?”

  “Stubbed my toe on something. Or, it sank into a hole. Don’t know what, just feels like I freaking broke it.”

  I crouch next to her, run my hands along the floor. “Well, damn. Right here.”

  She ceases her hopping and cussing and kneels next to me. “Where?”

  “Run your hand along the floor right here.”

  She does, eyes widening. “Wow.”

  “Yeah.” Below us are three indentations, so perfectly placed and colorless that until my kneeling shadow passes over one, they’re virtually invisible. “This has to be something. There’s nothing else in here.”

  Mika’s fingers dance across the holes, feeling their shape and depth.

  “Nimble fingers. Good to know.”

  Her eyebrow raises. “Oh?”

  “You know. Like, if there’s a gambling challenge or something. Or we have to pickpocket an ogre.”

  “Mmhmm.”

  “Seriously.”

  The holes are long, irregularly shaped, but I have no clue what the hell they are.

  Twelve minutes. This is taking too long. “Thoughts?”

  “I’m not sure. They almost feel like…” Her eyes widen, and her hand slaps at her pants. She pulls the figurine free.

  “You think?”

  “Only one way to find out. One of the impressions is wider than the other two, the one in the middle.” She pushes the figurine into it. It doesn’t fit, at first, but she rotates it, flips it around, and suddenly it slides into the groove, a perfect fit.

  “Awesome!” I say, glancing around. “Ah, what did it do?” Nothing’s changed. The hand plate at the exit is blank, as is everything else. And time is running out.

  Mika growls, frustrated. “Okay, let me try something else.” She pulls the figure free, then yanks on it, pulling and chewing her lip. “Dammit, how did you– Oh!” She yelps as the figure splits, so suddenly that she drops one.

  I pick it up, grinning. “The male figure, of course. I see how you treat your men.”

  “Don’t have any men…” She says absently, already trying to fit the female into one of the side slots.

  “Yet.”

  She pauses, shakes her head. “Stop distracting me. Get your man into the… manhole.”

  Laughing with the clock against us seems almost nuts, but I can’t help it. It’s been a long, long time since I had fun with someone like this.

  Mortal terror seems almost worth it.

  Mika’s figure sinks into a slot, and instantly, lights on the floor erupt. An arrow, small but powerful, shining toward the central slot.

  “Mika, you absolute fucking genius,” I grin, turning mine until it slots.

  “I like puzzle games, RPGs.” She touches the floor as my arrow ignites. “Never thought I’d be living one.”

  “I’m glad it’s you and not some jock here with me.”

  “You may regret that, the next time an orc shows up.”

  “I don’t know,” I say, eyeing her dagger at her belt. “Like I said before… You’re dangerous.”

  “Sure. Hmm.” The arrows in the floor pulse, but still, nothing else happens. “We need to do something else.”

  “They’re pointing at the central slot. Maybe they were keys?”

  “Good idea.” She pulls the female free from the floor. Her arrow doesn’t go out. “Grab yours!”

  I do, hand it to her. She puts them together, far more deftly than she took them apart, and then drops the completed figure into the center.

  The room ignites.

  We jump up as the walls around us flash on and off like huge TV’s tuning to a station. They alternate colors and patterns for a few moments in roughly three-foot sections. “Just like the pattern you traced earlier.”

  “Yeah,” she says. “Hush a sec.” She counts, as the sections light and darken. “Seven per side of the room. Two to each side of each door, five along the walls.”

  “What does it mean?”r />
  She shrugs.

  After thirty seconds that feels like an hour, the walls stop blinking. All but two sections directly next to the door we came through to get in. The section to the left is pink, and the right is blue. They’re separated by the door just far enough that even I wouldn’t be able to reach them both by myself with arms stretched wide.

  “I think the pink one is meant for you.”

  “Patriarchy!” She yells. “Oppression!”

  “Time limit,” I counter. “Let’s go with that’s easiest, for now.”

  “Fine.” She marches to her section. “Symbols.”

  She’s right. “And ones I can understand, this time.” Arrayed across my section are maybe fifteen squares, each with a picture or symbol inside. They’re simple; a man, a horse, a house, a tree. “What about you?”

  Mika cranes her neck. “They’re not the same as yours.”

  “Damn. I was so good at matching games when I was a kid.”

  “Come on, Sherlock. Clock’s ticking. We can figure this out.”

  In the center of my panel is the man. It’s shape and form are almost the same as the male figure still resting in the floor. “Do you have a female over there?”

  “Yeah. You think?”

  “Let’s try it.” I touch the male symbol. It’s not a button, just a projection on the wall, but it lights up like a button on a touchscreen computer monitor. “Okay, now touch the lady.”

  “Phrasing.” She presses the symbol of the female.

  Instantly, our sections light green as the symbols disappear. They stay that way for a few heartbeats before going dark.

  The next sections light.

  “Starting to get this,” I say, moving to my next spot.

  “Pretty simple,” she agrees. “Nothing that complicated. Yet.”

  I scan my new section. More pictures, different than last time. “These are new.”

  “Yeah. Still simple, though.” She glances over to mine. “I think I see a few matches over there. I’m going to hit the symbol for fire.”

  “Sounds good.” What do I have? “Ah! Water!” I press the symbol.

  The walls turn red.

  “Oh, shit.”

  The entire room shakes, rumbles. The floor groans. “Uh, Sam?”