“What are razorwolves like?” Stone asked, Goru still couldn’t tell what sex Stone was.
“You could ask us,” Fubar and Sport piped up.
Lyla opened her mouth again, presumably to ask a probing question of someone else. Goru grunted disapproval and walked away from the conversation group. It broke up behind him. Goru looked over the dormitory. On the wall opposite the commissary area there was a nutritional unit. There were several food processors of various sizes and specialties which opened out on to a counter top.
After a none too subtle encouragement from their faculty adviser, Goru decided to assess their resources. He opened cupboards beneath the counter and discovered various sealed packages of emergency rations. It seemed odd to him but perhaps the food processors went offline at times. The one at home often did. He checked out the commissary wall. There were cupboards with other emergency supplies on the lower left section of the wall. He raised an eyebrow at that, but emergencies did happen. Everyone else seemed to be interested in the commissary unit in terms of what was available for ordering on the display screens. Everyone else also seemed more interested in the media library than the odd survival gear. Still, Tawny had made certain they familiarized themselves with their resources.
Goru ordered a simple dinner off the cheaper end of the food processor menu and sat to eat. He chose to sit at a seat on the far end of the dining table from the processor and was relieved the other end filled up and some chose to eat in front of the media screen. Why would they need to know that there was an unusually large and varied amount of survival gear.
It preoccupied him. One boy, attempted to sit near Goru to eat. “Hi, Goru is it?”
Goru nodded.
“Lyla, is trying to set up a game of twenty-questions after dinner. You going to join in?” The boy, Beaker asked.
Goru growled under his breath. His focus on the puzzle momentarily shifted to the other issue bothering him, “I suppose she thinks she should be in charge? That would be so true to type. I bet she thinks she knows what is best for us all!”
“Whoa man! Did you know her before this?”
“I just know of her mother!” Goru snarled.
Beaker held up his hand, “Dude, we aren’t supposed to be judging each other on our parents reps. Just because her mother did something does not mean she will be like that. I mean would you want to be judged on your father’s reputation if he was Hitler or worse?”
That hit home, most of the Preserve felt Natto fell into the or worse category. He stared at Lyla laughing at something Lenny had said. He hated her face, but should he hate her, “I just don’t know if I care.” Goru picked up his tray and took it back to the delivery cupboard, ending the conversation.
Finished eating, Goru went back to the cupboards and began going through the bottomless bags to determine the full extent of their resources. He fought off intrusive thoughts about his seething hatred. He shoved those thoughts down into his guts with glares shot at Lyla and the others clustered around her. Then he dug deeper in the cupboards and closets. By the time he was done even found a bottomless bag holding an armory of nonlethal weapons. Why in heaven would they need those? Goru carefully put everything back in its place and headed down the hallway that must hold the bedrooms carrying only his bag of belongings. He was the first one in and chose a bottom bunk which had no one’s things on it. He fell asleep very much feeling it was him against the omniverse. The new omniverse was awfully young to hate him so much already.
- - - - - - -
Natto hid in plain sight, all it took was the change of hair color, eye color and facial structure that came with a secondary metamorphosis. He looked much different from how he used to, there was less of his grandmother’s features in his face and more of his father, a rare Asian briaunti. Natto was also careful to avoid his former style of dress. He no longer wore the precisely put together carefully curated wardrobe he had back in Refuge. At that moment he wore a pair of heavily wrinkled slacks, and a ridiculously cheap graphic tee. He had claimed a new name out of necessity. Natto Harvey or even Natto Oshido was wanted for war crimes.
He went by Nathan Johnson. He wasn’t a productive member of Sanctuary’s population. Why should he be, they would have left him to die with the rest of the old omniverse? They didn’t screen the refugees streaming in from the portal as well as they should have. He slipped in quite easily. He denied permission for a gene scan and they had let it go at that. Now alive, free, and safe from prosecution by virtue of being “Dead” Natto enjoyed the idea of promoting strife in Sanctuary’s sanitized into politeness. Any headaches he could give Mae, the only woman who had successfully opposed his will and lived, he was more than happy to send her way.
Natto knew several of his offspring had somehow secured sanctuary within The Preserve. Most lived with their mothers in Sanctuary proper. His favorites were Goru, Ibu, and Inu Oshido. They were the only ones to retain his chosen surname. Natto had thoroughly enjoyed mentally and emotionally breaking their mother. He took her from a stable, self-assured woman who knew herself to be a valuable person, and turned her into a submissive, mess of a woman. He had broken her so thoroughly that she hadn’t even taken back her surname when she was finally “Rescued” from his harem. The factor that stole her and his children had nearly died taking her by force.
Goru was not unaware of the abuse she heaped on the triplets he adored, but he couldn’t exactly claim them as their parent. Every time they achieved the slightest accomplishment Natto felt an unaccountable flush of pride. He especially enjoyed the altar Goru had dedicated to Natto. Goru spent precious allotment choices to have candles to light to meditate in front of the altar. Natto knew these things because he was an exceptional telepath and Goru had yet to live up to his potential.
The day that woman came and stole Goru and his sister’s, Natto watched them leave with her. He wondered just who she thought she was. Goru was his son. He followed them as far as the portal room. They left through a variable portal which could have taken them anywhere within the Preserve. At least they would no longer be abused by their mother. Natto gritted his teeth, they were probably going to be indoctrinating them to follow Mae blindly. If he did nothing else, Natto would win the hearts of his favorite children, but that was not his only goal. He had illicit meetings to get to. People could be so easily swayed. He had swayed many factors to his point of view. It wouldn’t take much to oust Mae, and take her place, his rightful place.
Chapter Four
Emergency Situation
Lyla awoke groggy and disoriented. It was dark and stuffy in her bunk. She had fallen asleep to a fresh cool jet of air blowing on her face. Stiffly, Lyla pushed open the curtain. Dim lights glowed in the corners of the room and a red light flashed over the door. Something was definitely not right. She stumbled out of bed.
“Maeve? Maeve what is going on?” Lyla asked the air. She got no answer.
Lyla headed to the bathroom. Fortunately, the door was open. She used the toilet it didn’t flush. She tried the sink and didn’t even get a trickle out of the faucet. Her next stop was the hall door. She stepped up to it with no reaction. Then she slapped the door pad next to the door. The door wouldn’t slide open. That sent her searching through the room for something something to pry it open with. Everything was built in and nailed down except for the chairs at the desk. She almost thought she would have to bust one of those up then she remembered shelf supports in the closet were movable and metal.
Thankfully, the closet doors opened by hand not mechanical intervention. The closet was dark. Lyla was sure she wasn’t going to be able to see to find a shelf, but when she stepped inside her eyes blurred and suddenly the darkness wasn’t complete. The closet seemed as brightly lit as if the light was on. Not questioning her luck further, Lyla emptied a shelf and began prying at one of the shelf supports. After several minutes she discovered a small latch on the grid it attached to. She flipped the latch and the support just lifted out. Lyla headed to the d
oor and began loudly prying away at the door waking several other girls.
- - - - - - -
Stone’s universe swam from a highly symbolic dream state to a strangely dark reality. She shoved back her blankets and rolled to open the curtains of the bunk. She wasn’t sure she was actually awake, and it took her a moment to realize she couldn’t even see her own circuitry. The only light she had to see by was the emergency lighting. She hopped from her bunk and attempted to set her nanites to change from pajamas to clothes. They just retreated to her reservoir of nanites, leaving her naked.
“Excuse me?” Stone asked seeing Lyla prying at the door.
Lyla turned back to her and blinked. “Uh, maybe you should get dressed…”
“I have no clothing. I always simulate it with my nanites. They seem to be malfunctioning…” Stone replied.
Lyla looked her over and went back into her closet. she came out with a long, loose, sundress, “This should fit.” She handed the dress to Stone. Stone stared at it. “You have never put on clothes have you?” Stone sheepishly shook her head no. Lyla took the time to help her into the dress and then went back to work on the door.
Stone followed Lyla and looked the door over. She guessed there was no power to the door. She held out her hand to Lyla. Lyla laid the shelf support on her palm. Using leverage, Stone popped open the panel next to the door. She rubbed her fingers together and sent enough charge through the proper wire to open the door. She handed the tool back to Lyla.
“Before we go, shouldn’t we wake the others?” Stone suggested.
Lyla nodded and began pulling back the curtains. Stone started with the bunk above her. She found Millie with her right arm pinned beneath a good sized rock which had been a part of the ceiling of her bunk. “Uh, Lyla what do we do?”
Lyla came to her aid. They couldn’t get her to wake up. Between them they moved the boulder, “We need a medic.”
- - - - - - -
Faith awoke to the sensation of a freshly broken arm. She cradled her right forearm and probed at it until she realized it wasn’t her own pain she was feeling. Her focus was drawn into the pain and the next thing she knows she is pushing Lyla and Stone out of the way to get to Millie. She didn’t remember getting out of bed, and didn’t know if she had teleported up behind them. The moment she saw Millie she realized the level of emergency.
Millie was unconscious and her arm was clearly broken. On an instinctive impulse Faith reached out to touch it. Soon Faith was feeling the break from outside and inside of Millie’s body. It seemed simple. If she moved it just so it would be able to heal in minutes. Faith didn’t know for certain how she did it, but using her mind and her hands she got the bone lined up and stabilized. Millie was Briaunti too, and Faith knew from her own makeup just exactly how to speed the healing. Her awareness of the workings of Millie’s cells allowed Faith to guide the healing efforts in the most efficient way. Faith’s awareness was pulled deeper into consciousness of Millie’s cells and she followed Millie’s body from within as it healed her arm and other injuries. One of those other injuries was a bad concussion where the boulder had bounced off of her head on the way to breaking her arm. Faith didn’t know how it hadn’t managed to crush her skull.
Lyla and Stone were busy waking the other girls when Faith came back into awareness of herself. Millie’s breathing had changed tempo and it seemed like she would be awake shortly. Faith left her to assist in waking the others. Lyla had it covered. Stone took what looked like a shelf bracket from Lyla and headed out the open door into the hall.
“Has anyone checked in with Maeve?” Faith asked.
“I tried when I first woke up. Did you wake up groggy?” Lyla asked.
Faith thought back, “No, all I felt when I woke up was her arm…” Faith looked back at Millie who was trying to push herself into an upright position.
Chapter Five
Now What!
Millie woke up to her dorm mates surrounding her. For all the damage and the emergency lights, Millie couldn’t recognize her room, though her thinking was cloudy and part of her expected to be in her bed at home. Before she could really wrap her head around what was going on, Milo and the other males rushed in from the hallway. Milo wrapped his arms around her briefly and then began running his hands over her looking for injuries. His eyes were more than a little wild. She knew from their link that he had been uncomfortably alone in their mind for half an hour. His examination brought to her attention several vivid bruises fading from her arms and face.
Milo stepped back and allowed Millie to jump down from her bunk. Milo and Millie joined the rest of the group at the other end of the bedroom. They walked hand in hand, but their footsteps were not in proper sync.
“So we have no power except for the emergency lights and some ventilation. The floor’s AI is offline, and Ardun is cut off from the Preserve networks,” Lenny stated.
“So, are we on our own?” Ibu asked
“Yeah, some more than others,” Goru snarled.
Millie got the idea that Goru didn’t like any of them much, “With no power, how are we going to get to the surface for help?”
“Can anybody teleport?” Lyla asked. Goru grunted and rolled his eyes.
“I can teleport small objects. I might have teleported my once, but I haven’t ever really done it on purpose,” Faith said timidly. Goru made a show of throwing up his hands rudely. Faith pointedly ignored him, “When I arrived I tapped through the screen next to the elevator. Apparently, their is an emergency ladder in the shaft.”
“So we can climb it to the surface,” Lyla suggested, “We should be able to find help up there.”
“What if all we find is more injured people?” Lenny asked.
“We have Faith,” Stone stated, “She can help them, like she helped Millie.”
“What…” Milo began.
Millie was behind in their shared thoughts it took her a tick to continue with, “Was…”
“Wrong with…” Milo eyed her like something still might be wrong.
“Me, exactly?” Millie finished, adding the exactly on her own.
Everyone looked to Faith, who was rubbing her forearms. “Your…uh… arm was broken, and you had a pretty severe concussion. Frankly, I don’t know how you managed not to have your skull crushed.”
“Okay, that is productive,” Lenny shivered a little. It was clear everyone in the room knew that it could have as easily been them.
“Okay,” Lyla clapped her hands together, “We need out of this death trap.
Who wants to go first?”
Goru grunted disapproval. Millie was pretty sure she was the only one who heard him. Everyone else was heading to the elevator. By the time Millie and Milo made it to the great room, Someone had pried the panel next to the door open and Stone was sending sparks through the power cables to the door.
“Well, if you all don’t look like the dumbest idiots on just about any planet!” Goru growled.
- - - - - - -
“Do you have a better plan?” Lyla asked.
Everyone including Ibu and Inu were staring at Goru uncharitably. He had meant to get their attention, but not necessarily to make enemies. Mostly he was exasperated that no one was thinking things through. Even though they were all dumbly following Mae’s daughter he didn’t hate them all. Stone managed to distractedly send a sustained charge through the wires and the doors slid open a crack. Goru was about to completely lose any opportunity he had to get his real point across.
“What I mean is, most of us are still in our pajamas’, and we have no idea what we will be climbing up and out into. We might need supplies, food, water, shelter, first aid, protection? Shouldn’t we get ready before we head up?” Goru allowed the words to tumble out faster than he could put a sarcastic spin on any of them.
Beaker looked at Goru long and hard, “Where do you propose we get that stuff?”
Goru opened the supply closet and started pulling out bags. Some were labeled, but most
required investigation to know what was in them, like the weapons. “Didn’t anyone else think it was strange Tawny suggested pretty hard that we look over the resources available to us?”
Beaker joined Goru at his side, “I think we should listen to him.” Everyone else stared at Beaker with disbelief. Goru knew he had been openly hostile towards pretty much everyone and not even he believed Beaker was siding with him. “What the man makes sense! Really what are the chances that this would happen the very day they tell us a placement test will take place. Goru has probably thought this through more than I have, and…” Beaker headed over to the elevator shaft, “These aren’t the minerals I saw when I came through here yesterday.”
“And I would like to point out that three elevator doors above open into just one elevator door down here,” Goru stated authoritatively.
There were small noises of agreement.
“So what…” Milo began.
For a moment Goru was sure that was the end of the response, but Millie picked it up, “Should we…”
“Do?” Milo finished.
Goru smiled, “First? We should put on some real clothes. By the way, nice Viceroy PJ's.” Goru smiled at Milo’s footy PJ's and Millie’s Lady Monarch nightgown. He took in everyone’s nightwear. Superhero themes carried through on half of them, but he actually expected that. What really conflicted with his impression of people was the frilly, lacy sundress Stone wore. She looked exactly as comfortable in it as he would. Everyone but he and Stone returned to the bedrooms to change. “Hey Stone, can we talk?”
Stone nodded and stepped up to him. They were actually the same height. An idea passed through Goru’s head at a speed faster than he was used to, she wished she had anything else to wear. Goru blinked realizing he had just felt his first flash of telepathy. “Don’t you have anything else to wear?”
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