Conspiracy

by A. K. DuBoff

  “No, not interview,” Kira shook her head. “Interrogate. And if he doesn’t want to talk, I’ll pull the answers straight out his head myself.”

  “Oh, fok!” Leon jumped back from the glass.

  “What?”

  “Your eyes…”

  Kira turned away and retreated into the room, willing herself to calm. You’re still you. You’re in control.

  She placed a hand on her stomach and took slow, steady breaths with her eyes closed. Nothing in the outside universe mattered. She was alive, and she was happy.

  The tension released from her body.

  When she turned back around to face Leon, he smiled and nodded.

  “Back to normal,” he confirmed. “I believed you, of course, but seeing it for myself…”

  She smirked. “You mean, you don’t like the glow of Fury in my eyes?”

  “It’s, uh, a bit disconcerting.”

  “You’re tellin’ me.” Kira sighed. “Has the doctor called Kaen?”

  “I can go check,” Leon offered.

  “Please stay. You can talk me down again if I start to turn. I don’t think any of us want to find out what would happen if I do.”

  Leon’s face paled, but he stepped up to the window. “You’re not like those other people they experimented on. You’ve been trained, and conditioned—”

  “I might have my telepathic abilities, but that’s not the same thing. No amount of Guard training could have prepared me for this.”

  “Regardless, I’d wager that you’re at least twice as stubborn as any other soldier. You won’t lose yourself as easily as you seem to think.”

  “Yeah, I’ll show them how it’s done.” Kira forced a smile, but she had her doubts. I should have known some foking shite like this would happen. Everything was going too perfectly. She released a long breath and suppressed the negative thoughts. No, I’ll beat this.

  As she returned to a more rational state, Kira spotted Colonel Kaen and Doctor Elric approaching from the direction of the infirmary’s entry.

  Leon stepped back from the glass, giving a nod of deference to the colonel.

  “Kira, what seems to be the trouble?” Kaen asked.

  “I believe Monica gave me a dose of the Robus nanites,” she replied. “I don’t know why it didn’t show up in my medical exam.”

  The colonel seemed surprisingly calm. “You said your eyes have changed? They seem normal now.”

  “I saw it, sir,” Leon interjected. “They seem to change when she’s distressed.”

  Except I wasn’t upset when they changed the first time, Kira realized. “Aroused might be a better characterization” she said. “And no, I don’t mean ‘turned on’. I was happy the first time it happened. It could be tied to any strong emotion.”

  “That’s possible,” Doctor Elric mused.

  Kira frowned. “Unfortunately, suppressing my emotions isn’t exactly my strong suit.”

  “We’ll research the nanites and determine if there’s a way to reverse the effects. Even if there isn’t, you can certainly gain control of the new abilities,” Kaen jumped in.

  He sounded awfully confident, considering what Kira had just told him.

  Kira didn’t care for that perspective. “Sir, it’s one thing to be born a certain way—or to make a conscious choice to be modified—but I didn’t sign up for this.” Her skin tingled as anger about what MTech had done to her swelled inside her.

  “Huh. Well that is fascinating,” Kaen said while Doctor Elric’s jaw dropped.

  “My eyes have changed again, haven’t they?” Kira’s voice sounded wrong to her ears. In fact, all her senses were off. She suddenly had a more acute awareness of her surroundings—from the breathing of those on the other side of the glass, to the air scrubbers filtering the air within the chamber.

  Leon swallowed and took a step back. “It’s not just your eyes this time.”

  Fok me. Kira looked down at her hands, which were now coated in seemingly metallic scales above her normal skin, covering her entire body. Her fingers ended in long, silvery claws, and her exposed hands and arms were now augmented with what looked like bands of muscle beneath the scaly second-skin.

  Her shipsuit was nowhere to be seen. Startled, she realized that part of the decking where she’d been standing was also gone.

  “What the…?” She sensed a coating in her mouth that had reshaped her teeth to sharp points.

  “You’re still… you?” Leon questioned.

  Kira stepped out of the shallow hole in the deck. “I don’t understand.”

  “Perhaps the nanites needed material to replicate,” Doctor Elric mused. “How do you feel?”

  “Okay, I guess. Can’t say I have murdery impulses. Well, no more than I would after Ari has uploaded a new one of his videos,” Kira replied. Her voice still sounded strange.

  She turned from the window to see if there was a reflective surface somewhere in the chamber.

  At the back, she found a door into a compact washroom. Above the sink there was a mirror, but she didn’t recognize the face staring back at her.

  The metallic scales extended up her neck and covered most of her face. The appearance of enhanced muscle mass on her arms was present over the rest of her body, most notably her shoulders, chest, and thighs. The orange glow of her eyes was now overshadowed by a scaled plating wrapping from her brow, over the top of her head, and down her back. She still couldn’t tell if she had transformed or if the nanites had activated some sort of armor around her that was also somehow a part of her. She’d expected to be horrified by the transformation, but there was something striking about it—beautiful in its raw power.

  Okay, so I can understand why they’d take a step back. Kira tapped one of her fangs with her claws. Holy fok, I have fangs and claws!

  Despite her initial declaration that she had no interest in being modified, she did have to admit that it had some appeal. For the entire time she’d been with her team, they had been stronger and faster than her. They’d never admit it to her face, but she knew there were times when they wished they could race ahead and get the mission done in their own way. If she had all their skills, and more, well… that would make her indispensable.

  Could this be a good thing? Scared and confused, she willed herself to return to him—to return to herself. The metallic scales liquified and began flowing back into her.

  Kira’s nerves ignited as though she were being incinerated. A raspy cry escaped her lips as she collapsed to the ground in writhing agony.

  CHAPTER 2

  “Kira!” she heard someone shout in the distance.

  Shouts of protest followed, and then the hiss of a sealed door opening.

  Firm hands gripped her wrists, and another set cradled her face and stroked the top of her head.

  “Stay with me,” Leon murmured.

  The pain receded, and Kira’s senses dimmed. Slowly, she opened her eyes.

  Leon was bent over her, supporting her head in his lap. Doctor Elric and Colonel Kaen each held one of her wrists, which they released when they saw her open eyes.

  “What happened?” Kira murmured.

  “You transformed and everything seemed fine, then we heard you scream, and I came running in,” Leon explained.

  “Bomaxed fool,” Kaen muttered. “She could have sliced you to ribbons with those claws.”

  “I couldn’t just leave her writhing on the ground!” Leon shot back.

  “We need to run some tests,” Doctor Elric said as he rose to his feet. “It’s encouraging to see you remained lucid when you first transformed, but this situation is unprecedented.”

  Kira sat up with Leon’s help. “How do we get these things out of me?”

  “It’s too early to say,” the doctor replied. He grabbed a sheet off the bed and handed it to her.

  It was then Kira realized that she was completely naked. She wrapped the sheet around herself. “Thanks.”

  Leon helped her the rest of the way to her
feet.

  “We need to commence testing before you have another seizure, or whatever that was,” Doctor Elric interjected. “I know you won’t like this suggestion, but I feel it would be best if we restrain you on the bed. That way, we can work on you without risk of harm to us or yourself.”

  Kira nodded. “I’ll hate it when I’m my normal self, but you got lucky this last time. I saw those claws—those’ll do serious damage.”

  “The bed restraints are strong enough to hold someone even in powered armor, so they should be sufficient,” the doctor said. “We’ll move you to the next room where there isn’t a hole in the deck.” He glanced at the damaged tiles.

  “I’ll lend any assistance I can with testing,” Leon offered the doctor while they relocated to the adjacent isolation chamber. “I’m still not up to speed on the nanotech side of things, but I can advise on the biological interactions.”

  Doctor Elric inclined his head. “I welcome any help. Robus are new to me.”

  Leon nodded. “To all of us.”

  “This case is a priority,” Colonel Kaen stated.

  The doctor bristled. “I give the best possible care to all my patients, sir.”

  In the new isolation chamber, Kira sat down on the bed, still holding the sheet around herself.

  Elric turned on the display for the analytical array at the head of the bed. “Huh,” he said. “It looks like you’ve gained weight.”

  The comment caught Kira off-guard. “Maybe my meal portions have been a little larger than normal over the past few days, but is this really the time to talk about dieting?”

  He shook his head. “No, as in, you’ve gained a lot of weight—more than twenty kilos since your med eval yesterday. I believe that supports the hypothesis that the nanites converted the available material to replicate. The efficiency of matter transmutation is astounding. Limited heat, no radiation. I’ve never seen tech like this.”

  “You mean, the deck and my shipsuit are… inside me now?”

  “We won’t know more until I can get a proper look at those nanites. I’ll grab the sampling kit.” Doctor Elric headed for the door.

  “I’ll get you a new uniform,” Kaen told Kira and followed the doctor out.

  “Oh, thank you, sir.” Kira bit her lower lip. Shite, if the colonel is running errands for me, I really must be in bad shape.

  Leon took Kira’s hands when they were alone. “Are you feeling okay now?”

  “Yeah, I think so. This is all so… sudden.”

  He stroked the side of her face. “Just to be clear, I don’t regret coming here to the Guard, even if my girlfriend is now some sort of super-mutant.” He grinned.

  Kira punched him lightly in the arm.

  He laughed. “Were it anyone else, I’d be concerned. I think you’ll be just fine. And I’ll be with you every step of the way.”

  “You sure about that? You didn’t sign up for this.”

  “Positive.”

  Kira squeezed his hand. “I’m glad you’re here.”

  The door hissed as Elric returned, testing kit in hand. “All right, Kira, let’s figure out what’s happening to you.” He held up a comically large syringe and a metal rod Kira really didn’t want to get to know on an intimate level.

  She gulped. “Yay.”

  — — —

  Colonel Terence Kaen entered the supply room and located a rack of shipsuits. He normally would have ordered support staff to retrieve such an item for him, but he was driven by an impulse to handle the matter himself—to find somewhere private.

  “You care for your subordinates, I can tell,” a voice said in Kaen’s mind.

  Kaen froze in the center of the enclosed room. “The fok…? Who—”

  “There, there, no reason to be frightened. You and I will be such good friends,” the voice soothed.

  Kaen wanted to run for help, but his limbs wouldn’t obey his commands. His heart pounded in his ears.

  “You’ve been a good host,” a voice replied in his mind, “but it’s time for me to be in charge. I must make sure Kira matures into who we wish her to be.”

  A memory roused deep within, striking Kaen with a sharp pain.

  His pulse quickened as memories flooded back to him. None of it made any sense. He saw himself doing things he’d never dream of doing.

  “What’s happening?” He gripped his head. “Who are you?”

  “I am one of many. We found Valta long ago, used it as a place to learn and grow. We have since moved, but now the time has come to expand.”

  This being was alien—a sentient form beyond the Taran sphere. The Bakzen had been one thing, but this… This wasn’t how Kaen pictured a first contact scenario for his people.

  “I went to Valta for one mission and you hop aboard like I’m some type of transport?” Kaen’s breath was ragged. “Get the fok out!”

  The voice chuckled. “Oh, no. I’ve been here for much longer than the recent mission to Valta.”

  The jumble of memories began to clear in Kaen’s mind.

  He had traveled to Mysar—a trip three years prior, he remembered—but these recollections were different. He had met with Chancellor Hale, and she was also not who she appeared to be. She was like him, a puppet being directed by some unseen force.

  Kaen saw himself meeting with each of the subjects he’d interviewed during his recent interrogations, to gather information from them and to subvert them through telepathic influence. For years, he’d been manipulating them behind the scenes.

  And then there was the recent incident with the MTech lab. First, he’d sent Kira on the op, knowing she was the perfect subject for the final stage of their experimentation. He’d allowed Monica to escape after they’d taken her into custody, standing by while she took out everyone around him and then went back to infect Kira with the nanites. He and Monica were working together—until she was killed. She had been a willing participant, following directions issued by their masters. But the mission didn’t end with her death.

  Kaen and Hale were there to finish the job.

  “Do you understand now?” the voice asked.

  It was becoming clear, yes, but he was horrified by the implications. Maybe this wasn’t a first contact at all. “You’ve been with me since my trip to Mysar, but I don’t understand how this is possible.”

  If Kaen had had any control over his body, he’d try to carve the being out of him on the spot. Instead, he could only stand there motionless in the supply closet, desperately trying to process the harm that had been caused by his actions.

  “Don’t struggle now. You wouldn’t want to harm us,” the voice cautioned.

  He was still unable to move. “Are you in my head?”

  “Yes, in a sense,” the voice affirmed. “But I am one with you.”

  “Leave!” Kaen shouted in his mind. “I’ll slice you out myself.”

  “I rather like it here. You are already a man of influence, though I could help you gain even more. You’ve already been so useful with directing our other tools.”

  “What are you after?” Kaen asked the voice.

  “We have much to discuss,” the voice replied. “It’s time we get to know one another.”

  Kaen listened as the alien being filled the gaps in Kaen’s memory about everything he had done over the past three years. He wanted nothing more than to turn himself in, but he was now a passenger in his own body.

  Transforming Kira into a Robus was all according to plan. Whose plan that was, exactly, remained a mystery to him. All he knew for certain was that the entity inside him wasn’t working alone. Beyond the Mysaran Chancellor, Hale—who was also being controlled by a similar entity—there were a number of willing collaborators as well as others who had been subverted. He didn’t yet understand how the alien beings’ abilities worked, or the extent of their power, but he knew they meant harm.

  Yet, Kaen’s only option for the time being was to go along for the ride. He remembered now what it had been like when the
mysterious being first possessed him—that if he tried to resist too much, his possessor would push Kaen’s consciousness further to the back of his mind where he couldn’t even see what was happening. He’d learned that as long as he remained quiet and unobtrusive, he could at least remain apprised of the unfolding situation. He decided that was the strategy he needed to adopt now, waiting for opportunities to inject little bits of influence here and there; even the smallest act might make a difference at the right moment.

  The alien being had understood the importance of keeping up appearances. Acts like getting Kira a new shipsuit to accommodate her condition demonstrated a level of caring compassion that the being wouldn’t have voluntarily elected to do, but Kaen’s recommendation still held weight. The being listened, and that gave Kaen hope.

  While Kira struggled with her transformation, Kaen would be fighting his own internal battle. This creature of thought was fascinated by Kira, giving Kaen the chance to help her. Maybe, one day, she’d be able to help him, in turn.

  “What’s been set in motion cannot be stopped.” The alien taunted him. “At least you will be on the winning side.”

  Kaen allowed the alien its feeling of superiority. His chance would come. “How do I address you, now that you are no longer a silent companion?”

  “You may call me Nox,” the voice replied.

  Kaen had heard that name before. He thought back to the first interrogation he’d conducted for the recent investigation. “That was Captain Ellis’ supposed contact, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes, a role you played so well.”

  Kaen shuddered as he thought back to the interrogations over the past several days—the people he’d subverted without even knowing what he’d done, or how he’d done it. And now they’d suffer because of his actions.

  “You’re a tool, just like them,” Nox said with a mental jab.

  Kaen ignored the entity’s statement.

  “We shouldn’t keep Kira waiting.” Nox directed Kaen back to the infirmary.

  When he arrived, he saw Doctor Elric was completing his examination of Kira, and Leon had a blood sample in hand.