《Hybrids》


 Supercity of Mons

    This is my first ever story, constructivecriticism is appreciated. I hope you enjoy.


    Mankind had outgrown its cradle and spread out to the other celestial bodies in the solar system, colonising and shaping the once desolate and quiet rocks into the next step of technology, each planet is a marvel of engineering and science. From the massive climate domes on the surface of Mercury, to the terra-forming spires of Venus and Mars. Everything was a breakthrough, and humans went through another golden age of technology. But as the years went by and population grew the excitement of colonising planets died, and it became a way of life. It was no longer something special to wake up and open your curtains to see the red deserts on the horizon or gargantuan space ships fly above the city, even less so to people born on those planets.


    The buzz might be gone, but it is undeniable that it was an achievement beyond compare, and as many agree, the Martian capital of Mons is the center of the solar system. A gleaming jewel, known for it''s sprawling metropolis of shining, sleek towers. Mons was the first ever colony on Mars, and the first city that wasn''t on Earth, its entire existence is a statement and trophy to mankind''s resourcefulness.


    But the year now is 3409, and Mons is thriving as the biggest hub for trade in the system, and millions of people from all over have travelled to see the outcome of an election that had been going on for months. Theodore Lamirrion and Calio Harp. Their campaigns going neck and neck to see who would become the next Head of System, as the previous leader died of old age. Theodore had been a high up member of the council that overlooked many aspects of the system, so he was quite a well known and influential person. And Calio, although not as wealthy or powerful had definitely caught on well with his charisma and leadership.


    In preparation for the reveal of the winner, the city had set up many decorations and parades all over the city, music and cheering rose up through the streets and up past the tall towers where many native Martians lived. And one person didn''t seem to take too kindly to being disturbed by the loud parade.


    It was early in the morning, and the sun was just rising over the horizon. Creating magnificent orange hues in the clouds as the orange gradually turned into the red daytime sky. The sunlight crept its way over the city and onto the tall towers of the city center, casting shadows down on the less built up areas. Inside one of the shining towers on the thirty first floor, a small crack in the blinds let the warm light gently creep in. Slowly stretching across the blue carpet and onto the side of a rather messy looking bed, with the covers all bundled up and a few pieces of clothing just scattered across it. A small figure was curled up amongst the bed sheets, and the light eventually reached its face. It wasn''t long before they grumbled and sat up, moving their legs off the side of the bed and resting their feet on the floor.


    "...Morning" they said to themselves, standing up and walking over to the blinds. Making sure not to step on any clothes, gadgets or toys.


    Reaching for the small handle that dangled down by a small string, the person twisted it a few times an lifted up the blinds, letting the sunlight flood into the room an illuminate everything. The small person covered their eyes for a few moments before lowering his hands and peering out of the now unobstructed window.


    Now that light had filled the room, it was much easier to see the person.


    He was a small, black haired boy. His hair was messy and unkempt, with strands of it coming off in nearly every place, but at the same time it still had a semblance of style to it. He was only in his boxer briefs, and didn''t seem to have a lot of muscle on him, and was quite skinny. Overall he was quite an average looking young boy, the only thing that would make him stand out was his abnormally blue eyes.


    Sighing, the boy turned and quickly threw on some clothes. A pair of baggy joggers, an an oversized shirt. He walked over to the door to his bedroom and grabbed its handle, gently turning it to not wake anyone who might still be asleep. The metal squeaked slightly as it turned, but the door swung on its hinge quietly. The boy stepped out into the dimly lit hallway, its floor was a wooden looking vinyl and the walls painted with a cream coloured paint. He didn''t get three steps forward before he was stopped.


    "Rez, what are you doing up so early?" It was the voice of his older sister Riza.


    Turning to face her, Rez looked at her figure that stood in the doorway of her room, which was directly across from the door to his own room.


    She was leaning against the white door frame, and behind her was almost pitch black as she hadn''t opened any windows yet. She sighed and stepped forward out into the hall, at least three heads taller than her younger sibling "Well?".


    Riza was a pale skinned woman with long, messy white hair that went down her back, with two locks of hair that went over each shoulder and down across her chest. Her skin seemed perfect, and her eyes were a deep shade of red that glimmered in what little light there was in the hall. Her frame was slender and curvy, with a flat stomach and wide hips. Her chest was above average for women her age, and she was wearing a grey pair of baggy joggers, and a black tank top.


    Rez seemed confused for a few moments before looking up to his older sister "What areyoudoing up so early?" he shot back at her teasingly. Mostly teasingly anyway.


    Sighing, Riza looked back over her shoulder and into her room "The noise from the parade woke me up. They''re all really excited about the election" she spoke quietly to not wake their parents "Just wish they wouldn''t start so early, people all over the city are still asleep I bet"


    "Go ask them to quiet it down then" Replied Rez, who had already began to walk down the hall towards the kitchen and living room. One he reached the end of the hall, the room opened up completely. A lavish living room on the left, and a fancy looking kitchen on the right. It was an open planned apartment, and it was divided by the kitchens counter. The living room had a fuzzy blue carpet with a wide and long couch that was pressed against the kitchen counter, and it faced a very large flatscreen that was attached to the wall on the opposite end of the room. The wall next to the couch and along to the TV was completely made of glass. Of course it was pretty strong glass, but the view it gave was almost perfect, as it overlooked the huge freshwater river that went through the city.


    Because Mons was such a big city, supplying everything with power and water became an issue, so big facilities were built inside Olympus Mons itself, which directed the water flow into the vast concrete rivers and brought the water right to where it needed to be. Water powered generators were also placed along the river to keep up with power demands.


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    As Rez walked into the living room he reached down and picked up the remote which seemed to have fallen off the couch at some point. He sat down and leaned back, taking aim with the remote and turning on the television, which was immediately on the news channel. There was a male reporter on screen, a microphone attached to the collar of his shirt, and a massive parade going on in the back, with banners for both Theodore and Calio.


    "As you can clearly see the streets are completely packed full of these very enthusiastic supporters. Theodore supporters and Calio supporters sharing the streets and all of them are excited. I can''t feel any tension or malice in the air and I honestly think that this is such a hopeful and inspiring moment, that despite these people having two different political views, they can still create this parade and celebrate. But that''s all the time we have right now, we''ll be back in a few hours when the two candidates come down from orbit. In the meantime, the weather, last nights sports result, and a professional athlete will be in the studio answering your Comet-Page messages and giving tips on how to stay fit. We''ll see you soon!" the man said, waving to the camera as the picture cut to a woman standing in front of a large screen for weather.


    Rez sighed and rolled his eyes, he had been getting tired of hearing nothing but politics for the last month, he gently tossed the remote onto the couch beside him "God I''m so fed up with hearing about this election. I just want the news to go back to showing us cool stuff and the occasional "Young kids are out of control" thing that I get annoyed at..".


    Riza seemed a bit confused at that last part as she walked over and sat beside him, before gently ruffling up his hair "Well it''s the last day of the election so, it should go back to that pretty soon".


    "I hope so... Hey... Remember when the headline ''Venus man wakes up on Earth'' came up?" he laughed slightly, making Riza smile and chuckle as she nodded.


    "How could I forget? Apparently it took him a week to get his way back, and when he did he ended up in the wrong city" she snickered "Not sure how someone could be that clueless"


    Rez nodded and smiled, he leaned his head against his older sister''s shoulder and sighed, before looking up to her "No school today, cause of the election, right?"


    "Mhmm" she hummed, placing her finger on her cheek "Pretty sure, yeah... It''d be a nightmare for anyone taking their kids in a car if it was open today"


    "I guess it would be"


    But before anything else could be said, a new voice entered the room.


    "Oh? What are you two doing up so early?" a rather young sounding, but at the same time mature and aged voice asked. The two siblings turned to see who was speaking, and a gray haired man was standing there leaning against the kitchen counter. His hair was quite messy as he just got out of bed, and his face had a few wrinkles and lines across it despite the rest of him looking so young. His eyes were gentle and warm, with a dark brown colour. His body was quite built, with just enough muscle to make his shirt look tight around his arms, but his legs were quite open as he was wearing a loose pair of shorts.


    Riza held her hand up to her heart and sighed "You scared me there... Well, I woke up a while ago, but I heard Rez come out of his room so, had to make sure he didn''t do anything" "I''m not that bad"


    The man smiled and shook his head gently "Well, your mother is still asleep. No clue how she can with the amount of noise coming from the streets" he said, as he sat on a stool that was out of view of the kids "But I was thinking since you two aren''t in school today, we would all go out and enjoy the day. Might be a bit busy, sure. But there''ll be lots of stuff to do" he proposed, drumming his broad fingers across the counter, however his middle finger on his right hand was missing its tip due to a work accident.


    Rez went into thought for a few moments, then he looked up to his father "Can we go to Titano-Chow''s" A popular fast food place that was well known for its chicken.


    "Hmm, perhaps, perhaps... Only if you behave, and if you clean your room before Flower wakes up" said their father, running his hand through his gray hair. Before he could say anything else, Rez was quietly and quickly making his way back to his room.


    Riza smiled slightly before looking over to her dad, leaning against the arm of the couch "So don''t you need to go to work?"


    He shook his head "Nah, the roads are blocked, buses and trains are packed. No way I''d get there in time... Plus I got a message yesterday saying that work was off for today" he said with a grin. To which Riza gave an understanding nod and went back to watching the news.


    Time flew past and before anyone had really woken up, it was twelve''o''clock. All four members of the family were up and sitting at the kitchen island, eating fried eggs, Martian sausages and bacon. Flower was their mother, and she was a beautiful blonde woman with long, slightly frizzy hair. Her face was slim and smooth, bar a few faint wrinkles under her ocean blue eyes and beside her nose. She had a slim figure, wide hips and a mature body, she was nothing short of stunning.


    She looked over to the gray haired man and sipped her tea that she had beside her steamy plate of food and pecked his cheek "So have you talked to the kids about what we could do today, Cloude?" she asked, her voice motherly and gentle.


    Cloude nodded as he put a full sausage in his mouth, only for him to flinch and clench his fists "Awrgh, mhgnm, hot, hot!" he spluttered out, coughing at the heat. He took a few minutes to chew and swallow, before taking a big drink of orange juice and exhaling "..Yeah, I talked to them about it. They''re both happy to go out"


    "Great! Eat up kids, then go get dressed. We''ll have to make the most of our time since the streets are completely full of people"


    Rez and Riza nodded and quickened their pace, eating their breakfast hastily. Rez even got the hiccups because he went too fast. But soon enough they finished and went to their rooms to get dressed.


    Outside the window, the vast metropolis of Mons continued on past the horizon as the sun kept rising in the Martian sky and cast its warm glow down on the planet. As festivities continued, balloons rose into the air and music flowed in the wind. Soon the family of four would be down in the streets amongst the celebrations, and they would run into a person that would affect them for the rest of their lives.

 Monorail

    Pushing open the double glass door that was in the rather fancy reception for their apartment building, the Stars felt the pleasantly warm sunshine hit their skin when they stepped out onto the streets of Mons. Their noses were hit by a mixture of smells, from the sweet scent of pastries being baked by stall owners, to the faint oily musk of the industrial district on the other end of the park that was just across the road. The roads and paths were bustling with people, all of them enjoying the music that was playing from the city loudspeakers, that were normally used just to announce things and warn people of accidents on the road. But today they were being used as a way to entertain.


    Cloude held both of his children''s shoulders and gave them a gentle but firm grip, he crouched down to Rez''s level and said "There''s a lot of people around here, so I want you to keep close to me, your mother or Riza. If you get separated from me and Flower, Riza''ll keep you safe. Okay?"


    Rez had heard this from him before, but there was far more people here than any other place prior. So he nodded and held Riza''s hand tightly, who looked down in response to feeling his grip. It took her a few seconds to realise what had been said, but after she did she squeezed his hand back "I''ll be here" she spoke, just enough for him to understand her over the crowd.


    Flower looked about the street before leading the other three along, brushing past other bystanders as the family began to make their way to a monorail station that was only a few blocks away.


    The election was to determine the next Head of System, the person who would be tasked with keeping all of the planets in check and functioning properly. It was a big pyramid. At the top was the Head of System, and under that was the nine governors that would be stationed on each planet. The governors would then run a normal government to keep the planet running smoothly and efficiently. Being the Head of System was a colossus undertaking, as it required unbreakable focus and attention, a cool level head, and it practically meant that the Head of System needed to be constantly on the move. So the governments of each planet put together the biggest project in human history. A moving fortress, designed to keep the Head of System safe, healthy and of course working. It was called Absolute Authority. A gigantic ship that would cast a shadow across an entire state, it could go five years without refuelling, and its position is always kept behind the highest classification. But today it was in a low orbit, and one of the candidates would be leaving on it.


    Riza felt a tapping on her arm as she walked behind Flower, she glanced down to see what it was, and of course she saw Rez there, who was a bit confused, she smiled gently at her younger sibling and patted his head "What''s up?" she asked, making sure to keep behind their parents whilst still giving him attention.


    Rez pointed up to the orange Martian sky, and Riza''s gaze followed his finger "Do you think I could be the Head of System one day? So I can be on the big ship and travel all across the solar system... I''ve always wanted to see Venus" he said, his point referring to the Absolute Authority that was above in orbit.


    Riza smiled and chuckled as she looked forward "Well, if you want to get involved in politics and all that nonsense, I''m sure you can. You''d just need to learn all the laws and the uh..." she searched for the words, but she struggled to find them.


    "Rules?" Rez chipped in. Riza knew full well that laws and rules were basically the same, but she went with it, wanting him to feel happy "Yeah, rules. Thanks buddy"


    The two were as close as a brother and sister could be. They had their occasional arguments of course, but the two were inseparable. They played their games together, walked to school together, and in the case of a nightmare, Riza would even let Rez sleep in her bed to calm him down. Although he would never admit it, Rez admired his sister and finds himself aspiring to be as kind as her.


    Whilst the two were chatting a long, a loud bang interrupted them. Their heads snapped in the direction of the noise that still echoed between the big buildings. They were worried that it was a car hitting something, but to their relief it was merely people setting off a special type of Martian firework that was used in times of change. It was a cylinder that would be placed on the ground, with a fuse that went off to the side. When lit and the fuse all burnt, the top of the cylinder would burst open, and a rocket would shoot up before falling apart. It would go up so quickly that it would look like a solid pillar with the smoke it left behind.


    Rez had been startled by the noise, but he continued to walk on. His eyes looked straight ahead and locked onto Flower and Cloude who had managed to get a little bit further ahead, but they were still only about a cars length away from them.


    They continued onwards towards the train station until they eventually arrived, as the majority of the walk was rather uneventful. The station itself was built right above a normally busy road, held up by strong metal ''arms'' that were attached to buildings next to it so nothing would be obstructing the road. A simple staircase was on both sides of the road, so passengers could get on the monorail going the right direction. The Stars were simply waiting for one to arrive at this point, so Rez being the curious child he was, walked over to a security drone.


    The security drone wasn''t anything special, it was a cube with sharp angles etched into its chassis, and two rotor blades on either side to keep it up in the air and working. This particular model only had a camera and voicebox on it, but there are many different kinds.


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    The drone noticed Rez looking up at it and tilted itself to face him, before speaking in a monotone and robotic voice "Greetings citizen of Mons. You appear to be adolescent. Please return to your parent or guardian if possible. If you are lost, I shall contact a member of staff to escort you somewhere safe".


    Rez''s eyes widened as he waved his hands gently in front of him. The last thing he wanted to do was waste a staff members time "Oh, no no" he spluttered out, pointing over to Flower and Cloude who were chatting on a bench on the other end of the platform "Those are my parents over there"


    The security drone''s camera pointed in the direction of them, then back down to Rez. Though it didn''t seem to have a voice line to acknowledge that it knew he was safe, and skipped ahead "Please enjoy our lavish monorail service. Providing the good people of Mons with safe and easy transport since 2801"


    "Huh, I knew that these have been here a long time. But I didn''t think it was that long ago" Riza''s voice came from behind Rez, making him turn to face her and nod.


    "Yeah, the entire city''s monorail is older than everyone in the city" He said with a lot of surprise in his voice "I wonder how much of the city is that old".


    Riza shrugged and patted his shoulder "Not a clue, I''m sure you can look it up when we get home" and as she finished speaking, the loud and echoing horn of the monorail came from behind them.


    Cloude and Flower were already standing in wait, beckoning the two over. The platform was empty so they ran over quickly just as it pulled into the station. As it stopped, it made a hissing noise as it lowered ever so slightly and extended a ramp to bridge the gap. Rez was eager to climb aboard and charged forward as soon as it opened, but he didn''t notice the man in front of him and ran right into him.


    Not expecting the sudden obstacle, Rez fell backwards onto the floor with a grunt. He looked up at the person he had accidentally barged into as Riza crouched down to help him up.


    The man was tall and slender, with brown hair that was short and slicked down, the only messy piece of hair was a few strands that poked up right in the center of his forehead. He had pale blue eyes, and one of them was even slightly milky. He had a very flamboyant jacket on that seemed too big for his arms, and was mostly black except for a few places that were dark gray. His boots were large and heavy duty, which was odd as he looked like someone who wouldn''t bother with anything laborious. He looked down at Rez and paused for a few moments, before chuckling. His voice was rather gruff and elderly sounding, but also had a charm to it that was hard to explain. In his English accent, he crouched down and extended his hand "Terribly sorry young man, I probably should have stood a little bit to the side when the doors opened. I myself would have been washed away if the station were busier".


    Rez looked to his hand and hesitantly took it. He was pulled up and he briskly brushed himself off before scratching the back of his own head and looking away "N_No it was my fault..I shouldn''t have ran forward..." he mumbled. Riza ruffled his hair and playfully punched his shoulder, making him pout.


    The man waved him off and smiled "Well, let''s both agree that we both made a mistake, shall we?" he said, before looking over the four "Hm, what a humble little family you have here" he glanced over Riza and Rez, before looking up at the parents "Oh my. Forgive my rudeness, you must be the parents".


    Cloude nodded and looked over the man, a bit curious at his odd demeanour, but he kept it to himself and extended his hand towards him for a handshake "Yeah, I''m Cloude. And this is Flower. We were just heading into the city center to see some of the festivities that are happening there".


    The man smiled and held his hands together "Oh yes, I was just coming from there. It was a bit busy for my tastes though so I began to make my way here to this quaint area. Maybe take a stroll in the park for a while"


    Flower''s eyes looked up to the man "Oh, the park? We live just across from it. If you do visit there you just need to try the sandwiches at the little cafe they have. They''re gorgeous".


    "I will keep that in mind. Thank you very much, Flower. But I think I''m going to stay on the monorail for now. I''ll save the park for after a big meeting I have later"


    Riza cleared her throat rather loudly and obnoxiously, which did earn a glance from Flower, but when she spoke it did make sense "We should probably get on the train. We''re just standing on the ramp right now".


    Cloude looked down and made a little gasp as he remembered "Oh right, sorry!" he said, walking past the man and finding a place to sit. Which wasn''t difficult as the rest of the train was completely empty. But it was nice and spacious. Each booth had four seats and a table, extra comfortable as sometimes the journey could be hours long due to the cities sheer size.


    Flower walked past the man, who turned and looked to the four. He walked over to the area they were in, when Flower made an audible gasp and looked over to the man "Oh, what might we call you sir, if we''re going to be talking whilst we travel?"


    The man smiled brightly and took a dignified bow, placing his left hand across his heart "Why of course! I should have told you ages ago" he glanced upwards "Theodore Lamirrion, at your service!"

 Theodore

    The family paused for a moment. The train car went completely silent apart from the gentle but never-ending hum of the air conditioning. The Theodore Lamirrion was in front of them. The man who could possibly become the most powerful person alive was standing and bowing in front of an average family in the middle of a train.


    Cloude seemed to cough and splutter at the realisation as he scrambled to his feet and approached him, extending his hand to which Theodore gladly took and shook "Oh Mr. Lamirrion, it is an honour to meet you" he spoke, a large smile growing across his face.


    Theodore smiled and bowed his head, adjusting the collar of his jacket "And it''s very lovely to meet you. So you''re heading to the city center for all the busy election things, eh?"


    Cloude nodded, stumbling slightly as the train began to move "Yeah. We''re just going for a little while, expected to see you there and not here to be honest. Weren''t you meant to be in orbit?"


    "Bah! Orbit..Shnorbit? Hm, anyway. I was supposed to be, but it was very boring. Bleak hallways, empty rooms. It was just agonising. But of course security wouldn''t let me go for ''security reasons'' so I tip toed my way into a small freighter and here I am. But uh, don''t tell anyone I said that, kay?" he leaned in close and whispered that last part.


    Rez seemed to find that funny, as he covered his mouth and tried to block a chuckle. But that didn''t escape Theodore''s radar, as he walked over and smiled "So what''s your name?" he asked nicely.


    Rez obviously was only happy to answer him "My name''s Rez" he spoke with a smile, which Theodore nodded and rubbed his own stubble.


    "Rez, hm? Well, you seem like you''d grow up to be a strong boy, think you''d join the army and help protect people?"


    He seemed surprised at the question, and then thought about it for a few moments before he shook his head and smiled "I don''t think so, I don''t really want to fight people"


    Theodore nodded and ruffled his head "I see. Well, the military life isn''t for everyone. What about you, Miss...Er"


    Riza looked to the odd man and smiled as she lifted her head up "Riza. And I don''t think so either. I want to be a voice actress"


    He nodded and folded his arms "A voice actress? Well that''s a unique one. I wish you the best of luck for that my dear".


    Theodore then walked over and sat at the table that Flower and Cloude had sat at, leaving Rez and Riza with a table to themselves. He sighed and leaned back in his chair, glancing out of the window and at the city passing by at high speeds. They were travelling along a cliff edge, and below the far drop was even more city that continued onward into the horizon. Being the biggest city in the system was a big title, and after satellites measured and calculated it, it was around the same size as Australia back on Earth. Of course Mons wasn''t the only city on Mars, there were hundreds all spread throughout the red hills and mountains. The planet still had its deserts near the equator, but above and below it most of the sand had become dirt and grew grass. Lush forests were all over Mars and water was in abundance. However Mons was on the equator, so it was still quite arid and barren outside the city.


    Sitting down beside her little brother, Riza looked out of the same window at the sprawling metropolis. Balloons were rising up from the streets, and she smiled "It''s beautiful isn''t it? The sun in the sky over the city. Hard to think that not even that long ago in the scheme of things, this all was cold, barren and dead" she spoke softly, looking down to Rez.


    He nodded and hummed in response, before leaning his head against her shoulder "I think we should visit Earth when we''re older. I''d like to see where it all began, y''know?" he asked.


    Riza didn''t seem to have to think about her answer, she simply rubbed his head and nodded "Of course. It''s something we can do. I hear that there are some pretty fancy cruises that go to Earth. We can try one of those?"


    "A cruise sounds fun. A lot better than being stuck on a cramped freighter for a few days" he shuddered at the thought of it. Most freighters were crammed to the brim with cargo. As fuel was expensive for ships, companies wanted to make the most out of what they could fit on a ship. Regardless of regulations and laws that were put in place to prevent accidents from happening.


    She nodded, her red eyes glanced over to the table that the three adults were sitting at to see them chatting away, before sitting back and enjoying the rest of the train ride.


    The trip only lasted about a half hour to get to the city center where all of the election results would be read out and broadcasted to the entire system. Everyone would be sat in front of their TV''s, eagerly awaiting to find out who the new Head of System would be.


    The intercom on the train made a dinging noises, catching the attention of the passengers before a female voice spoke "Now arriving at Korolev Station. Please make sure you do not forget any personal belongings aboard the train. Have a nice day".


    The train began to slow down and the wheels of the monorail squealed as the brakes were applied. Theodore had already stood up and was walking over to the door, he whistled a small tune before turning abruptly "Korolev Station. Named after a crater that''s around the north pole of the planet. It''s about fifty miles wide. And the crater was named after a Russian who was an important part of early space travel from what I''ve read" he sighed happily, before holding onto the hand post beside the door and leaning to the side "History is such a fascinating thing, don''t you agree? Thousands of years ago in the deserts of Egypt, the kings spent decades and ran their economy dry just to make an oversized stone caskets. And the computers that were used to send the first man to the moon ran on a fraction of what a simple calculator does nowadays".


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    Rez looked to him and then to the window as the platform came into view, but he had a question he wanted to ask after he demonstrated his wealth of knowledge "Um, Mr. Lamirrion. What was the ship called that started building this city?".


    Hearing the young boys question made his eyebrow raise, he stood upright and hummed slightly before clicking his fingers "I believe it was called the Endless Light. It''s supposed to sorta represent that humans spreading to Mars was a big step. Which it was. But to me it''s kinda silly".


    That was odd to Rez, hearing him think it was silly when it seemed fitting to him, but before he could ask what he meant by silly the door to the train had opened and he looked out onto the platform. Flower and Cloude also stood up and moved to the door, gesturing for their two kids to follow.


    Stepping out onto the station platform it was apparent that it was very similar to the one they left from. The only difference is that there was armed security guards by the stairwells that went down to the street below, and much taller buildings surrounded the station.


    The sight of guns made Rez a little nervous, so he stuck close to Riza and gripped her pale hand tightly. She seemed to notice what bothered him and leaned down "Don''t worry. They''re just here to keep us safe from bad people. You''re not a bad person so they won''t bother you"


    He looked up to her and nodded, taking one last glance at the guards before following their parents. Theodore however was also tagging along by the looks of it, he walked alongside them and smiled "You don''t mind if I join you four? Our destination is the same after all, and maybe I can see about getting you all some nice seats for the results. I know this nice place nearby, top floor, nice booths by the window, a TV for every table. Oh it''s fantastic, I''ll get you all in for free".


    Cloude looked absolutely dumbstruck, he held his hand up and gave him a confused smile "Oh no no no, we simply couldn''t..." he said, a bit lost for words.


    Theodore gave him a simple wave of his hand "I insist! Besides, if you''re worried about my wallet I wouldn''t be. I could order the most expensive thing there a thousand times and it wouldn''t leave a scratch on it" he said with a grin "Now come, come! I absolutely must introduce you to the chef there, he''s a master"


    The four Stars were confused and left without words, but not having anything to say in return they simply followed him down the stairs of the station and through the bustling streets of the city center.


    The building that the restaurant was in was a luxury hotel and leisure center for the very wealthy, and it was usually far out of the price range that they had. Theodore pushed open the shiny glass doors that went into the very fancy and expensive looking reception area. It was a circular room with three floors and a bronze chandelier that hung from the middle of the ceiling. A curved desk was on the other side of the room from the door where three receptionists were sitting at sleek, black computers. A big contrast to the mainly white and mint colour scheme.


    Theodore waltzed calmly up to the desk and dinged a bell that was on it, making the receptionist look up at him and pause for a moment, before blinking "O-Oh! Mr. Lamirrion! What a pleasure to see you again, are you going to be stayi-" but before she could finish her sentence, Theodore had already began to speak.


    "No no, I won''t be staying today. I''d like you to set this family here up with the nicest table in the restaurant on the top floor. And if it''s taken I''ll pay double the table''s worth if you clear it".


    Flower tried to speak up "We uh, really don''t need this Mr. Lam-" "Nonsense nonsense! My lovely Flower, please just accept the fact you''re going to be dining in the best restaurant in the city free of charge, courtesy of yours truly" he spoke loudly and enthusiastically, giving them another one of his small bows and a smile "Just enjoy your night and watch the results. It''ll be an unforgettable feast for an unforgettable night"


    The receptionist looked up to them and nodded "That''s it registered Mr. Lamirrion. The table is currently being cleaned and prepared. Would you like some scented candles to go with it too?"


    He gave a deep chuckle and waggled his pointing finger "Oh no no, I don''t want to spoil them too much now, do I?" he let out a hearty laugh "Of course. Please do".


    The parents were simply stunned by Theodore and his entire being, he was so charismatic and confident that it even made Cloude a little embarrassed. He cleared his throat and smiled at the older man "Oh if there''s anything we can do to repay you for all of this just say and I''ll do my best, sir"


    Theo however raised an eyebrow "Sir? What are we, school kids? Just Theodore will be fine. And think nothing of it, just an old man wanting to make a small family''s day" he said, walking towards the elevator that led to the towers top floor. Which was of course the restaurant.


    The four family members followed behind and entered the rather roomy elevator, and Rez looked to Riza with a pleased look on his face "Do you think they have Salmon?"


    Salmon was Rez''s favourite food.

 Dinner

    Despite how odd he appeared to be, Theodore was nice enough to give the Stars a full course dinner at one of the city''s most prestigious restaurants free of charge. The family had been sat at one of the booths by the window, with a small flatscreen that extended up from the edge of the table which was playing live feed from the city hall. Cloude and Flower were focused on it as they waited for their meals, as they felt like it was the least they could do to repay him.


    Rez however was looking out of the window and at the orange sky, the sun had already begun to lower in the sky, which surprised him as he didn''t think they were out for that long. But he shrugged and continued admiring the city shining in the sun''s light.


    His eyes wandered upwards towards the clouds at a fairly big shape in the sky, he narrowed his eyes slightly to help him see it, but it was still too faint to make out.


    Reaching over to Riza, he tugged her shirt and pointed at it "Riza, what''s that in the sky?" he asked curiously.


    Having been grabbed by her brother, she looked over and up, before pondering for a few moments. She rubbed his head and sat back "Oh that? That''s the Absolute Authority still in orbit" she told him, looking at a magazine that came with the table.


    Rez was instantly fascinated as he looked back and forth between the shape in the sky and his sister "It''s that big?!" he said a little too loudly, catching the attention of other customers around them, all wearing much more expensive clothing.


    Cloude looked to him and then raised his eyebrow "Hey hey, don''t need to shout inside a restaurant bud" he quietly spoke, before turning his attention back to the TV.


    Rez nodded and paused as he thought about it for a few moments, then he smiled and wiggled in his chair "That''s awesome. I wish I could visit it"


    Overhearing what he said, Flower smiled and turned to face him "I''m sure with how much he''s done, I wouldn''t put it past him to do that" she jested of course, but he was an odd man full of surprises.


    He nodded, then sat back and drifted into though. Soon enough he found himself nodding off into a nap while they waited for their food, and he nestled his head onto Riza''s lap, who could only smile and rub his head.


    The city had calmed down a fair amount compared to earlier, as many people were settling down to watch the proper results and announcement. The streets were clear and traffic was moving in some areas, but the building that the two candidates were at was completely swarmed with people. It was the System Embassy, the only building on the planet with a connection to the other Embassies on the rest of the planets. It was a huge tower with a sleek design and imposing figure on the skyline. However its powerful satellite dish wasn''t on the building itself, but halfway across the planet. Connected with highly guarded and vast tunnels, the location of the satellite dish was kept hidden from many, as if it were to go down, the planet would have no communications with the other Embassies. Another reason for it having to be so far away, is hat it had to be extremely large to send messages out with much greater speeds than ever before. A broadcast from the Embassy Satellites can travel through space and reach Earth instantaneously.


    But before Rez could get into an even deeper sleep, he was woken up by Riza. He opened his eyes and rubbed them as he groaned, then he noticed the enticing smell of the food that was now sitting on the table in front of him. On an oval shaped plate sat on the table, a steaming salmon laid across it with a few pieces of lettuce underneath it. A fair bit of boiled rice was just across from it, with some spices sprinkled over it.


    Cloude looked over and smiled "Mmhm, that looks delicious" he spoke a little enviously, as what he got on his plate wasn''t exactly what he expected, he poked his with his fork "It''s a little smaller to what was shown on the menu..." he sounded pretty disappointed, which earned him a disapproving glance from Flower "Well, you ordered it so you need to eat it".


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    "Well it is free, I could just order something el-!" he couldn''t even finish what he was saying as Flower had delivered a sharp, quick slap to his hand "You ordered that now eat it"


    "But dear, another meal is like an ant compared to his wallet" he whined, trying to find a way to convince her to no avail.


    "No buts. You wouldn''t like it if you bought someone a meal, and they went ''ugh its too small''. Would you?".


    He shook his head slightly and sighed, but looked to his food and slowly began to eat. On the TV on the edge of the table, camera footage begun to show Theodore and Calio walk onto a big, wide open stage between the Embassy and the huge crowds of people. Calio seemed far broader and larger than Theodore, having a wide neck and muscled body. His expression was very stoic, with defined features across his face. He had pitch black hair that was extremely short and styled in a ''posh'' fashion. Just from his looks, he was already a lot more serious and sensible than Theodore.


    The two candidates stood behind their respective podiums and waved to the crowds of people before them. People wearing suits came and went as they finished some last minute preparations and final checks of their equipment, and it was easy to tell that the atmosphere was tense. Not from the crowd, but from the staff. It was safe to assume that if a speaker didn''t work or a spotlight was broken someone would be losing their job.


    Rez didn''t know what was going on on the TV, but he continued to keep his eyes on it even as he ate his salmon "When are they starting?" he asked, looking up at Riza.


    She looked over her shoulder to see him and reply "They should be starting soon I think, they''re just uh... Making some last minute checks. Make sure that everything is working right"


    He nodded in response, looking back to the TV when suddenly the small spotlights on the lip of the stage turned on and illuminated the two men''s faces and podiums. It seemed that it was finally beginning.


    Theodore smiled and waved at the horde of people, leaning into his microphone "Hello everyone! It''s such an honour to stand here in front of all of you, I''m very grateful that I was voted for enough to be standing here. Before we start is there anything else you''d like to say Calio?" he asked, looking to the left of him.


    Calio blinked for a moment, slightly caught off guard before leaning in and speaking "Oh um, of course, of course. I too and very thankful for this opportunity. I hope that no matter the outcome of today, we''ll all strive for a better future all across the system" his voice was much gruffer than Theodore''s, and didn''t have the smooth talking capabilities. Would Calio''s powerful appearance be enough to overtake Theodore''s experience?


    Theodore smiled once more, showing some of his pearly white teeth "Alright then everyone. Today we find out will be the next Head of System. As per law, all above the age of 15 will have the voting application on their mobile devices. In five minutes the app will be unlocked so the people of the system can vote, and in another five minutes after that it shall be locked once more, and the votes shall be compared. Our way of doing things is simple, has been and always will be. Most votes win, nothing shady or hidden. If you do not have a mobile device, there will be booths all along the bottom of the stage here which will let you vote as well. Now, if everyone is ready, let us begin!"

 Results

    Glued to the TV screen attached to their booth, the family were excited to see if the nice man who treated them to dinner was about to win the election that had been anticipated for months now.


    Standing on the stage in front of millions of people all around the system, Calio Harp and Theodore Lamirrion both made their last speeches before a victor was decided. Theodore gripped the side of the podium in front of him as he spoke "Crime is a serious problem in some of the less fortunate cities and planets. Mercury suffers greatly from this as most of the money earned goes to maintaining the Bio-Domes that protect citizens from the heat and radiation. The majority of people living under them are in poverty and in cramped conditions. One of the first things I would do as the HoS would be a much greater police force and police equipment across the system, and an entire reform of Mercury''s economy" he paused, then glanced around "In a single day here in Mons, enough money travels through here to maintain fifteen of those Bio-Domes and still have money to spare. Not a single dime of that sees Mercurian hands" he went to speak more, but was interrupted by Calio.


    "If I may say something, Theodore. Most of the money is from big corporations and companies like Trissi Corp. and Proto Industrial. The two leading companies in vehicle manufacturing. You can''t just take the money from those companies and give it to others, as it isn''t yours to begin with. If I were to set up a system like that, I would base it upon the income of the company. If a company makes more than a certain amount every month, they would need to deposit a few percentages of that into a government treasury, where it can be sent to places that need it such as Mercury" he finished, stepping back and putting hands behind his back.


    Theodore didn''t seem to like getting interrupted however and raised an eyebrow "You didn''t even let me finish my sentence Calio. I was going to propose a similar system, but instead of a treasury, the money is held aboard the Absolute Authority where it can be safe, and then distributed where needed. Few people would have access to it"


    Calio nodded slightly, he didn''t seem to agree with that proposition but he bowed his head and apologised for butting in when he was still speaking. But he didn''t seem to get a turn to talk in response.


    Theodore sighed and looked back to the cameras "Anyway, that answers the question about Mercury. I sort of flung in the thing about crime just to kill two birds with one stone. Any other questions?" he asked the crowd, and within seconds of asking that, a tablet that was on the podium dinged with the next question, which was about the growing concern of Earth''s habitability.


    He cleared his throat and nodded "Okay, so. Earth''s atmosphere as we know it is growing rather...Hm, rather hard to breath. And the oceans are less than hygenic. People have wanted to know for decades now, when are we going to get rid of pollution making factories and power plants and replace them with the much cleaner and powerful fusion power plants. Well, for all of you on Earth, fret no more. As the first change Earth will see, is the demolition and ban of polluting energies and replacing them with fusion plants, and building specially designed atmospheric scrubbers all across the globe. These scrubbers will suck all the air up, clean it and make it fresh and pump it back out with a few extra gases that''ll make the planet even healthier than it was before" he took a breath and sighed, as that was quite a mouthful, before continuing "And for the ocean, we''ll do the same. Any junk and rubbish will be taken into the machines and ground down into their basic components, then a computer decides if it''s good for the ocean and releases it, or keeps it for a recycling ship to collect once a year"


    The crowds were rather respectful during the speeches, and remained quiet as the man spoke. He continued onwards about the health of the planets for a small while, before a bell rang and an announcer''s voice played over the speakers


    "Attention everyone, the votes are in. In just a minute the winner will be revealed, and a new Head of System will be elected!" as the voice echoed around the city, the people around the stage began to cheer.


    Sitting at the table, plates completely empty apart from Rez''s who was on his third plate of roast chicken, Cloude rubbed his hands together and smiled "Oooh here we go. Big finale" he said, sipping a bit of beer from a big glass with engravings in it. Riza was resting her head on her hand as they had been there for a few hours at this point and her patience was wearing thin, but she put up with it for Rez.


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author."I wonder if there''ll be fireworks" asked the small Rez, with sauce across his lips. Flower smiled and leaned across the table with a napkin, wiping the sauce off of his face "Dear, you need to be careful with your food"


    Rez whined at the napkin, but perked back up when he saw the TV cut to a well dressed man joining the two politicians on stage with a purple envelope with a ribbon across it. He approached a microphone and cleared his voice "...I just want to take a moment to thank everyone for watching and coming here. And hope that no matter who wins this, peace will still shine across the system" he said, earning an applause from the ocean of faces. The man reached down to the letter and opened it, pulling out a pure white card with a shiny gloss.


    "The winner of the 3409 Head of System election is..." he glanced down and paused, before shouting.


    "Theodore Lamirrion!"


    There was a pause in the crowd before they realised what he had said, and cheering erupted from the people below the stage. There was obvious disappointment from the Calio supporters, but they turned and congratulated people who wanted Theodore to win.


    Cloude seemed pretty happy as he gave a hearty fist pump before receiving odd looks from the well dressed upper class people around him. Rez especially seemed happy "He won! So, do we get more food?" he asked.


    Flower rolled her eyes and smiled at him "Dear, at the rate you''re going you''ll bankrupt him"


    Rez looked to her and then to the third plate of chicken he had in front of him "These aren''t that expensive though"


    Riza poked the back of his head "Dude one of those chicken meals is dad''s entire weeks wages"


    "Oh"


    Back on the stage Theodore was smiling and waving at the crowds and cameras "Thank you everyone, this is such an honour! I shall devote the rest of my days to the people, and bettering this system" he said, extending his arms outwards.


    He looked down at the people, and mainly to a reporter who was extending his microphone to him "Mr. Lamirrion, what is going to be your first major decision as the Head of System?" Theodore smiled and took the microphone off of him, lifting it to his lips "My first decision will be upping the police force across the system and increasing the funding to fight the growing crime" he spoke, putting the microphone back into his hand.


    The crowds cheering was almost deafening, with quite a few high tech planes hovering above, with cameras all aimed at the man in the hat. Calio however did not seem to be congratulating Theodore, and instead was standing behind his podium with an angry and disappointed look on his face. His hands tightly grabbing the edges of it. He sighed angrily before walking over to Theodore and begrudgingly extending his hand, to which Theodore noticed and took it happily and speaking "Ah well, we both did our hardest. You still have my respect Mr. Harp"


    Calio nodded and tightened his grip on Theodore''s hand "Indeed, Mr. Lamirrion" he poke, his eyes not wavering from Theodore''s, who seemed to realise his mood. Theodore leaned in and whispered something into his ear, which visibly changed his expression.


    Theodore looked to the crowd and waved once more as Calio walked off stage and climbed into a sleek black car that was just on the road, and drove off into the distance.


    He smiled and bowed "Thank you everyone. It will be my pleasure to serve you all" he said, taking off his hat and placing it to his chest.


    But before anything else could happen, the cameras turned off, and the TV cut to a reporter sitting at a table "Well, how about that. That was great, I really enjoyed that, what about you Sarah?" the reporter spoke, but Rez groaned.


    "Aw, I wanna see Theodore again" he whined, making Riza pat his head and leaned back "Shh, it''s getting late so let''s get back home and rest"


    "Oh...Okay..."


    Cloude smiled at him and stood up, stretching his arms upwards and cracking his back with an audible pop "Alright kids, let''s get back to the train station before we end up having to walk home".


    Flower nodded "Yeah, c''mon you two"


    Rez nodded and went to stand up, but climbed onto Riza''s back and promptly fell asleep.


    Riza looked up to him and sighed "Really?"


    Laughing at her gently, Cloude stroked her head and looked to the elevator "Alright then. Let''s head home"


    And so the family left the building and made their way to the train station to catch the train home, with the sun setting on the red planet on a historic day.

 Unveiling

    A month had passed since Theodore had became the new Head of System, and almost the next day he began to implement exactly what he said he would. The police forces around the solar system saw much more funding, but nobody expected what came from that. Theodore had engineers and scientists create a state of the art robot that would patrol the streets in place of ordinary human officers. They would be stronger, faster and more precise than any human could ever be.


    The bag was mixed, some people were thrilled with this idea, others not so much. But the yeses outweighed the nos, so the project was complete and the robots are being unveiled today inside a secure facility in the city. A few select people would be given permission to attend, but it was mainly just investors and reporters. The unveiling would be broadcasted live for the system to see, as many were intrigued by the results.


    "Rez, c''mon! The unveiling''s about to happen!" called out Riza who was sitting on the couch in their apartment. She herself wasn''t too fussed, but Rez was excited to see the police robot.


    "Coming, coming!" he yelled, his footsteps quickly approaching as he ran from his room. A thud came from him when he jumped over the arm of the couch and right into Riza''s side, making her yelp.


    Quickly ignoring the annoyed look that he was given, Rez turned his attention to the TV, which showed a wide open atrium that was cut in half with a barrier. With the reporters and investors on one side, and where the droids would be on the other. Theodore was on the side where the droids would be coming from, he seemed to be going over final checks before the big moment.


    Time passed and soon enough he called everyone''s attention, the eyes and cameras of everyone their all turning to face him as three metal containers were carried in on a crane that was built into the ceiling. Each were ten feet tall and eight feet wide, with the words "Proto Industrial" on the sides of them.


    Theodore walked over to the right hand side of them and faced the crowds, placing his hands together and smiling "Ever since the dawn of civilization crime has been a problem. Petty thieves and thugs to the mafia and cartel. Hell, even in our own governments and police forces. But today that will come to an end. No longer will people fear walking alone at night, or walking through unfamiliar places. No longer will these crime bosses smuggle weapons and drugs that harm us. For today, I welcome the new, fully autonomous police droid, the Officer!" he proclaimed loudly, standing back from the metal containers as the fronts of them shuddered and split down the middle with a loud ''ka-chunk'' noise.


    On each box, the two panels that opened up folded out like a normal door, letting mist roll out of the box and gently float towards the audience. Inside the boxes were large figures, but they were hard to make out in the mist and shade of the interior. But it wouldn''t stay like that for long.


    All three suddenly lit up with blue lights, and a deep robotic horn sounded off from them. They stood up simultaneously and stepped out of their cradle, each footstep was heavy and intimidating but at the same time it wasn''t so loud it would be a constant annoyance as they patrolled the streets. The three droids all stood up straight to show themselves off.


    The entire chassis was bulky and armored, making it look like a literal walking tank. Its head was rectangular and angled, with a big blue glowing stripe down its center which seemed to be it''s eyes. Under its head was its neck, which seemed to be a serious of wires, motors and joints that let it turn and look in a complete circle. Its body shared the same bulky and angled design, like a stealth bomber. The chest was unusually wide, like something was being held inside of it. However there was a line down the middle of the chest with clamps on both sides of it holding the chest piece together, it was likely just a way inside for maintenance.


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.The waist and legs were wide and armored, with barely any visible internals. Its feet were in an X shape, with what seemed like joints along each digit which would allow it to use its feet for hands if the situation needed it.


    On both shoulders were wide and thick plates, covering the joints and protecting it from any damage. On the wrist of the right hand was some sort of heavy duty taser, and on the left hand''s wrist was a metal box with two gun barrels coming out of the front and out of the back of it was an ammo belt that went inside the arm.


    Its hands and fingers were rectangular, as when it closed its fist it sloped down before ending in a sharp and sudden point, before going back in on itself to its fingers.


    The Officers all stood still for a moment as the atrium filled with the sound of snapping cameras and the sudden flashes, but they leaned down and placed their hand across their chest in a gentlemanly bow. Theodore walked over to the one on the far right and smiled at the crowd of reporters "The Officers are the first in a new line of robotics, which will be entirely dedicated to the protection of citizens and enforcement of the law" he spoke proudly and loudly "This mark one variant features a powerful stun gun on the right, which is capable of hitting and incapacitating a target from over fifteen meters away. And on the left is a twin barreled Salamander, a unique type of handgun that can fire both live ammo and rubber bullets. We have this so the Officer can take down someone from range if the stun gun is inoperable"


    He seemed very proud about his creations, walking between them and just showing how tall and bulky they are "The Officers are truly the next step in law enforcement, and starting today the factory lines are going to be pumping out over one hundred every day to be put on the streets and shipped out to Venus and Mercury. Earth, Pluto and the city stations around the gas giants are still a bit skeptical but that''s understandable, it''s a new idea and it''s easy to be scared by them" he smiled and patted the arm of the middle Officer "But once all the legal issues are sorted and ironed out, these guys and future generations of Officer will be patrolling every street in the system" he said rather triumphantly.


    The crowds of reporters were almost scrambling over the barrier to ask questions, but Theodore saw this as an ample opportunity to demonstrate their abilities. He clapped his hands "Okay calm down everyone!" he said, and stood behind the Officers. Their blue lights flickered to a red, their robotic horns sounding off as they held their gun arm in front of them and walked towards the barrier. Chunking sounds came from its forearm as it began to unfold and move pieces of itself to turn into a metal riot shield and block the crowd from climbing over the fences. The reporters seemed startled and backed up from the robots, but once they realized that nothing was going to happen, it went calm again. Theodore then walked over to the three "Stand down, Officers" he said with a small grin.


    "There are many other features of this droid that I will not reveal at this moment" he spoke, walking in front of the three droids "After all, if one reveals everything they can do, people will counter it with ease. That defeats the point of a law enforcer if it can be countered" his voice echoed through the atrium, and the crowd was completely silent apart from the occasional clicking of a camera.


    "Now there isn''t much else to show at the moment. So that concludes our unveiling today... Actually, perhaps you''d all enjoy watching the initial batch of Officers roll out onto the streets" he asked, before turning to one of the large hangar like doors in the atrium. A heavy clunk echoed through as it began to rise up slowly, and the further it went up the easier it was to see the feet of many rows of Officers. It took a minute but eventually it was completely opened and at least twelve rows of twenty Officers marched out and towards the opposite end of the atrium, where another hangar door opened up to the outside world.


    The streets all stopped in their tracks to watch the ocean of metal and wires march out of the building, all going off in different directions across the city. Thudding was all that could be heard with so many in one place. Mons had entered a new age of technology.

 Officers

    It was only the second week since the Officers had been put into service and already crime had decreased by a significant margin. There was always an Officer patrolling a block, and in the city center where the taller buildings and wealthier people live it wasn''t unusual to see groups of them patrol. It was indeed just as Theodore said, that it was a new age of police enforcement. Some people did have problems with a robot police force, but the results were undeniably positive.


    Riza had been downtown on her errands, delivering packages and then getting some items for food later on. It was only when she was standing in wait for her train to arrive at one of the elevated stations did she notice that two Officers were on the same platform, and one of them was looking at her.


    Although she didn''t feel in danger, as they had been proven to be quite capable of telling apart an innocent person from a criminal. She held her bags tightly in both hands and held it in front of her as she rocked back and forth on her feet.


    The Officer began to approach however, its heavy footsteps quickly knocked Riza out of her little daydream and she turned to face the lumbering metal giant. Stopping in front of her, the Officer crouched down to her level, with its shin clipping onto its feet for extra support.


    She looked up to the robots head as its blue light scanned over her, then it spoke "Good evening. Riza Star. Have you spotted any suspicious activity going on around the. Downtown area" it spoke with a deep robotic voice that had to pause as it looked up the names of people and areas, but each time it did speak it''s lights would get brighter before going back to its normal intensity.


    Riza could only shake her head and held her bags close "I''m uh... Afraid not, Officer. Everything''s been completely fine around here" she smiled up at the bot, but did not receive one back. To nobody''s surprise of course.


    The Officer simply stood back up and looked down "Good to hear. Stay safe citizen, and remember. There is always an Officer nearby to help"


    She nodded slightly and sighed as the train arrived at the station, and as soon as the doors opened she was sitting down and on her way home.


    When she got back home and into their apartment the first thing she noticed was everyone crowded around the TV. Rez noticed her enter the room and grabbed her hand


    "Riza look! The Officers are raiding a drug factory!" he shouted excitedly.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.Looking up at the screen it indeed showed at least a dozen Officers storming an old factory in the middle of the industrial district. Drone footage revealed armed men in the top floors, and a fire that was starting to grow out of control in a lower part of the building.


    Riza seemed concerned at this however "How could they get such a big operation under everyone''s noses in the middle of there?" she asked to no one in particular, but the footage was just even more proof that the Officers were a phenomenal success.


    Flashes of light began to come from the building and gunfire sounded out, but only moments after they stopped a man was flung from the top windows and caught by two other Officers on the ground floor, who immediately handcuffed the man and put him in the back of a huge truck that was made for the Officers to travel in.


    Riza only noticed now the voice of the reporter talking about the situation


    "It seems that half the Officers have now entered the building with the directive not to kill, but to incapacitate and arrest. We can see that just from the speed and efficiency carried out with that first drug dealer that was flung from the top floor window... Oh oh! Look! There''s an Officer carrying two more unconscious men from the building, and another behind it carrying what seems to be a machine used in the manufacturing of the substances"


    Cloude seemed impressed, but also a little concerned as he sat down on the couch and rubbed his stubble


    "These things are really good... It''s frighteningly good. I don''t doubt that they''re going to use these in the military as well, and even future variations of it..." he sighed and held the side of his head "Plus what happens if one starts to like, malfunction?" he asked himself, only to be pecked by Flower "Dear I don''t think you need to worry, they''ve been out a while now and nothing bad''s happened yet" she said.


    Rez was still completely hooked onto the TV. Watching with awe and excitement that he finally got to see robots fighting things like in the films.


    He made gun noises as the camera zoomed in on bullet holes in the Officers chassis as all twelve Officers that went in the building climbed into their truck and drove off to the police station, leaving the fire to the fire brigade.


    The sirens of the Officer''s truck echoed through the city as the smoke from the burning drug factory rose up into the setting Martian sky.

 Park

    It was time to go to the park.


    The family''s weekly afternoon to the park was just about to start.


    An excited looking Rez was helping Flower make a bag full of a few snacks, sandwiches and drinks that they could enjoy when tey got to their spot on the hill in the middle of the park. He was cutting the sandwiches in half and putting them into a tupperware container on the side, and humming happily as he did.


    Cloude was sitting on the couch, just in front of the counter watching the weather. The man on the screen spoke "Tonight we''ve got a rather warm looking evening over Central, Southern and Eastern Mons. No sign of any clouds or rain. Unfortunately for Western Mons it looks like we''ve got a pretty bad dust storm gathering up a few kilometers from the city borders. Make sure if you live in the Western regions of the city to tie down anything that could be blown away, keep windows and doors shut and avoid going outside for any reason. We''ve got some satellite images to keep everyone updated on the storm. They should be coming up now..."


    Cloude wasn''t interested in the storm, he was just making sure it was a good night to go out. He turned to the three others and nodded "Alright. Weather''s good. It''ll be warm so don''t need our coats" he said, looking over to his wife and child making the food "Uh, where''s Riza?" he asked, tilting his head.


    "Here, I''m here" called out her voice as she came out from behind the corner, fixing the zip on her hoodie "I was just getting changed"


    After the family was set up, they made their way down the wide elevator to the apartment''s reception, walked out the front door and crossed the road to go to the park.


    The roads were eerily quiet, thanks to Theodore''s increased security measures. There were only a handful of cars on the road, and even less people on the streets. It was definitely a creepy sight, to see the streets of Central Mons almost dead. But the Stars weren''t about to let that ruin their day to the park, Rez dashed across the street towards one of the parks many entrances. A wall made of stone slabs went around the whole perimeter of the park, with tall arching gates at different points to let people in. A metal sign in bold fancy letters was bolted on top of each gate that read "Colony Park" in a sort of tribute to the first astronauts that made Mars their new home.


    Many trees were growing around the edges of the wall, so the branches of would grow outwards and sometimes even reached the other side of the street, which made for some beautiful sights in the sunlight. As well as some annoyance when the leaves fell in the Autumn time.


    The eager young boy was waiting happily by the gate, looking back to his family as they walked across the road toward him.


    And soon enough they were walking down a curving path alongside a small lake. The sun setting the sky ablaze with vibrant oranges, reds and yellows. Two tiny white dots were drifting across the ocean of fire, one moving slowly and steadily whilst the other was far faster. They were Mars'' moons, Deimos and Phobos, watching over the small red planet despite their even tinier size.


    Space had always fascinated Rez, from the scale of planets compared to galaxies. The distance of a lightyear. And the ships as well. He loved the idea of a giant metal beast flying through space, going between planets. With today''s technology, he could get on a ship and be at Earth in a few days. The longest flight possible, Mercury to Pluto could take a few months but it was much more feasible than the many years that it used to take. That was Rez''s dream, to be the captain of a big starship like the Absolute Authority.


    Riza watched her younger sister closely as she walked along, her steps light and gentle as her ruby red eyes glanced over to the reflection of the highrises in the water. She was interested in the movie and show industry. Mons being the heart of the solar system, it was natural that many famed directors and producers came to create their products here. But there was a problem that she had with herself. She found that her body was what people looked to, her well developed features, her elegant face and her beautiful eyes. She didn''t want to be known for being born with luck. To her, her most important part of herself was her voice, and she wanted to voice act.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    The two parents held each other''s hands as they watched their two children walk in front of them. Pride, happiness, fear and love being some of the many thoughts and emotions they felt. They loved them both and would do anything to protect them. But it was clear that the System that Theodore spoke about was not what he intended to create when he was elected. They feared for what job they might be stuck with, what would happen to their education. And these were all reasonable fears to have. But they knew that whatever would happen they would work through it as a family. Cloude kissed Flower''s loving lips deeply and passionately, before giving her a silent nod and continuing their walk.


    Eventually the family reached the tall round hill that they would always sit on and watch the sunset. The blanket was laid out, the four sat down, and they sighed happily. Listening to the distant rumbles of the industrial district, the Martian wind blowing past their ears and the occasional whir of a car driving down the empty streets.


    Rez tucked into the bag of snacks and began to hastily chomp down a sandwich, whilst Riza nibbled on hers. And the family seemed to enjoy the time they were spending together.


    Cloude looked over to his two kids and smiled as he leaned over. He held their shoulders gently and gave them reassuring rubs


    "Do you kids want to know a surprise that me and your mother were keeping for a little while?" he asked.


    Rez of course nodded almost too fast for his little neck, and Riza just glanced to him and nodded in a typical teenage fashion. Cloude only smiled and looked over to Flower, who was smiling just as much as he was.


    He took a breath and exhaled "Your mother and I have decided that we''re going to move to Earth. All four of us" he said with a grin.


    Rez looked up to him, then tilted his head "But don''t you like Mars, dad?" he seemed upset, as Mons had been his entire life.


    He simply nodded "I do. I love Mars. It''s my home and I wish we could stay, but..It''s not.. Safe, anymore, son" he said, quietly.


    Riza seemed to understand what he meant, but it didn''t make her any less saddened "I was hoping to go to college and start acting here. But, if it''s what you two want" she sighed.


    Flower nodded and wrapped them both into a hug, gently squeezing them "I know honey, I know. But it''s for the better. On Earth, we''ll get to see all of the first space ships" that seemed to excite Rez, but she continued "And we''ll get to see Hollywood. That''s where all the big films used to be made, there''s a lot to do there"


    Flower''s gentle words coaxed a smile out of her daughter, and she just nodded in response, which was enough for her.


    Cloude smiled and hugged them all, pecking their heads gently "Now come on. We didn''t make all these sandwiches to just not eat them" he teased.


    And they would sit their for hours until the sun had already set and the sky was dark, with the bright lights and engines of passing cargo ships and cruisers lighting up the sky as they drifted in orbit.


    It was a quiet night. The lampposts lit up and emitted  a faint blue light on the stonework path. It was about time that they headed home.


    They packed it all up and began to go back the way they came, walking under the blue lights of the lampposts. There was laughing and joking from all four of the family members. But what came next would change each of their lives forever.


    A twig snapped in the bushes beside them when a heavy boot landed on it. All four heads turned to look.


    Blinding flashes with deafening gunshots rang out and echoed across the park. But the echoes would reach nobody''s ears.

 Laboratory

    Rez woke up in a small room with four corners. The walls were tiled with sickly yellowish green ceramics and each one seemed to have a damp mold growing between them. The floor was rough concrete, it was bumpy and d in certain places, making it sore to stand or sit on.


    The only furniture there was a metal bed with an old mattress and worn pillow, and in the adjacent corner a toilet out in the open.


    A single lightbulb hung from the ceiling in the center of the room, flickering dimly and giving off a subtle, low sounding hum. Flies or moths were buzzing around it, it was difficult to make out their shapes in the constantly changing light.


    Groaning, Rez sat up and held the side of his head, which he found had large stitches across the right hand side of his temple. Seems that''s where he was hit with something to knock him out to bring him here.


    His clothes were different to what he was wearing at the park. Instead of his comfy outdoor clothing, he was now stuck in a tight, itchy orange jumpsuit with numbers on his chest. He couldn''t quite make out the numbers, but if it were anything like a prison, which seemed to be what he was in, it would be some kind of identification.


    He looked around and winced at the slight pain in his head, having gained a migraine from being whacked unconscious.


    A dark shape was in the middle of one of the four walls, and walking forward to get a better look revealed it to be a comically large metal door. The door frame was riveted to the wall, so the actual door must have to slide to the side to actually let people in.


    In the center of the door itself was a smaller rectangle that was placed horizontally, framed in a slightly bigger rectangle with more rivets. It must be a view hole that people can use to look in if needed.


    The door and it''s frame was dark gray, and it was rusty in the small nooks and crannies where what little moisture could gather.


    He scratched the back of his head and glanced upwards, and just above the door was an air vent, perfectly positioned between the top of the door frame and the ceiling. A metal grate was placed over it, blocking any access to the fan or the air ducts themselves.


    He sighed and looked around, sitting down on the edge of the poor excuse for a bed and thought for a moment. He had been too busy looking around to really think about what had happened. The last he remembered was being in the park with his family, hearing loud noises and then a pain in the back of his head.


    He began to well up and hug his knees, scared for the safety of his sister and his parents. He could only hope and pray that they were alive. Tears ran down his cheeks and off of his face, landing on his lap and wetting the fabric the jumpsuit was made of.


    Scared, afraid and alone.


    Rez wasn''t sure what to do. So he laid on his side and rested his head on the pillow and closed his eyes tightly, hoping that it would all just be a nightmare, and that he would open them up back in his room. He wished so hard that he would wake up, but no matter how hard he tried, or how loud he cried.


    He wasn''t going home.


    Hours passed, and he soon exhausted his energy from crying, and he fell asleep. His dry tears staining his face.


    However, when he woke back up he was no longer in that room. In fact he didn''t seem to be in the same place at all. He was on an operating table, held in place with metal clamps around his arms and legs. He struggled immediately, trying desperately to get out before even looking around.


    The room was a bright white, everything was sleek in design and seemingly state of the art. A giant contrast to the almost horror film of a room he was in previously. And glancing down, it seemed like he was only wearing a pair of boxers now.


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.Men and women in white lab coats were walking around to various different pieces of equipment.


    One thing that attracted Rez''s gaze was a small trolley beside the table, with many different knives, scalpels and operating tools. This of course scared Rez beyond measure, he tried so hard to get out, but the harder he pulled and moved, the more he just bruised and cut himself on the metal.


    A heart-rate monitor was going crazy just beside him, and a man quickly rushed over with a needle, injecting an almost transparent blue liquid into his veins.


    Almost instantly all of his muscles went numb and loose, his head fell back and he went completely limp. But he remained conscious, much to his dismay. He watched as a metal cylinder was opened, four panels moving up and out like helicopter blades. Mist came out and rolled across the floor silently, as a woman reached in and grabbed a few vials of something that was in glass cylinders with some kind of device on the top of them.


    His heart was beating normally in the physical world, but in his head it was going like a machine gun. Despite nothing happening to it in reality, it felt like it was about to burst.


    He watched them as a lever was pulled down, and a section of the floor moved out of the way to let a gigantic machine rise up and power on with a loud whir and a mechanical "Ka-chunk"


    It resembled an MRI machine, but much longer and it seemed like it would close and lock him inside.


    A few of the people grabbed large tubing that went into the wall and plugged it into the back of the machine, an odd noise coming from the wall as thick fluids began to pump into the machine, and a big green light turned on on the outside.


    He was yanked out of his thoughts when the operating table he was sat on was shook by a mechanical arm as it grabbed the edge and pulled it off of its legs. It spun him round and lined the table up with the machine''s entrance.


    He could just about see that inside the machine was a cylinder with spinning rings around it, but that was all he could make out.


    The arm pushed the table into the hole headfirst, and before Rez could realize what had happened, the door slammed shut, and the whirring of bolts being locked into place reverberated around the tube.


    Everything fell silent on the outside, and the inside was completely pitch black. He could only hear his shaky breath as he once more tried to escape the metal constraints around him, to no success.


    He looked around the abyss he was sat on, and was scared when the inside of the machine suddenly began to sound like a jet engine. Dim green lights turned on and the rings began to spin faster. A few seconds after, three holes opened up in the ceiling, and three holes on either side of him. He panicked and began to breath heavily as the thick, jello like fluid from before began to pour in and flood the chamber he was in. And needles filled with the liquid that the glass jar''s had jolted out of the sides and into his body, making him cry out in pain, only to be silenced by the jello. He could not make any noise as he felt it go down his windpipe and into his body, but he also did not struggle. He could still breath, but he couldn''t move or see.


    His body began to feel a tremendous amount of pain, all of his muscles began to scream at once and tighten, becoming red hot. His skull began to burn in two places, and his tailbone felt like it was about to break skin. He tried to clench his fists, but the jello prevented that, and with one last breath, he passed out.


    At the mercy of the machine.

 Hybridized

    Rez had lost track of time on how long he had been in this place. With no clock, window or anything from the outside world, it seemed like time had frozen, just to repeat the same thing over and over and over again.


    Wake up in his cell, fall asleep, wake up in the machine. Repeat.


    Repeat.


    Repeat.


    He didn''t know what they were doing to them, but he did know that it was changing him both mentally and physically. His body ached constantly, he could feel his bones stretching and creaking. His skin became red and inflamed after being in the machine.


    He had lost count of how many times he had been shoved into the device, but it was well into the hundreds. As a result, he was no longer entirely human.


    Atop his head was a new pair of canine like ears, they had grown out of his skull and functioned like normal ears, only any loud sound caused him immense pain.


    His nails had become naturally sharp, as well as his teeth. Easily ripping through the slabs of raw meat that are tossed in with him every few days.


    Down his back, his spine had elongated past the tailbone and was now a fully formed tail which was growing hair. At first it was quite fluffy and soft, but as the days went on without any way to wash, it quickly became matted, tangled and dirty.


    That was the extent of his obvious changes, but mentally he had reverted to an almost feral state. Attacking any guard that gets close, scratching, clawing and biting at them. Though they always wore thick padded suits and masks.


    Any food was instantly devoured, messily. Clawing and tearing it apart, eating it without a second thought.


    But today was the first day that Rez didn''t wake up in the machine. He laid on his mattress, his eyes open and scanning across the same room he saw when he first arrived here. He didn''t dare to move, fearing that if he did he would just wake back up in that horrible machine that did this to him.


    But as his mind wandered, he thought about Riza for the first time in what must have been ages. He hadn''t seen her since the park, nothing. He wondered if she was still alive, and then he grit his teeth and growled like an animal, anger seeping into his thoughts as the faces of the scientists and guards who put him in this situations flashed across his vision.


    He wanted to see his sister, and to know that she was safe. But if they were both taken at the same time, the likely scenario was that what had happened to him, had also happened to her.


    The idea enraged him, he stood up suddenly, grabbed the mattress and slammed it against the wall with surprising ease.


    Even with no understanding of girls or attractiveness, Rez was always aware that Riza was a beautiful and gifted girl for her age. He sometimes overheard his parents talking about assaults and other crimes on the streets and that they were worried about Riza going out late. The thought of these awful people changing their bodies and minds violating her further put him into an uncontrollable rage.


    He ran over to the metal door and began wailing on it with his fists, scratching the metal and bruising his knuckles. He screamed in anger, wanting a guard to come in and knock him out to stop these thoughts. And his wishes would be granted, but only partly.


    The heavy footsteps of a guard were quickly approaching, but that didn''t stop his relentless attack on the door. He kept clawing and punching away at the door, before hearing a loud "Chachunk" noise, and the door was flung open, hitting him square in the side and knocking him down.


    He yelped and held his head to cushion it from hitting the rough ground, but before he could do anything else a guard in heavily padded armor walked in with a long metal pole with a snare on the end of it, like the ones that would be used to catch stray or dangerous dogs.


    Rez didn''t like the sight of that one bit, but he was too slow.


    The guard snared him around the neck and pulled him up out of the room, and into the dark hallway.


    The hallway had barely any lights, and any of them that were on were either dim or flickering. The walls, floors and ceiling were the same as his cell, covered in sickly tiles and looking like they hadn''t been cleaned in forever. Rez grabbed the snare around his neck and struggled as much as he could, trying to pull it apart so he could get free, but to no avail. The snare was too strong, and the harder he tried to pull, the further it dug into his palms.


    Realizing that cutting his hands in half would be pointless, Rez begrudgingly went along with the guard. As they went through the hallway they must have passed at least fifty more metal doors just like the one that Rez was kept inside. He wondered if they were just empty or if more unlucky children had been taken for whatever nightmare this is.


    They must have walked for ten minutes down different hallways, going up various elevators and stairways. A few other guards were watching as they went, but he didn''t see any other children. At least not until the end of their last elevator ride.


    The elevator was shaky and rickety, constantly creaking as the cable lowered them even further down. It sounded like any movement would make the poor, abused cable snap and drop them down into the depths of whatever this place was.


    Rez was looking around for anything to help, but all he saw was the busted buttons of the elevator''s control panel. He let out a sigh and grit his teeth, trying to calm himself down and not get into even more trouble.


    He looked up at the floor counter to see how far down they were, but even that was broken. But he could tell they were about to reach their stop as the elevator began to slow down.


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.It shook a little as it came to a stop, and the door began to slide open.


    Before it could even fully open, a big pair of clawed hands began to scramble to pry open the elevator door, there was screeching and crying coming from the owner of them.


    The elevator door did open, and it revealed two heavily padded guards trying to drag a small girl into a cage. The girl looked a fair bit older than Rez, but she seemed to have gone through the same procedure. But instead of having canine like features, she looked like she had rounder ears on her head, and her hands had grown large, sharp claws just on her knuckles. Her teeth seemed to be extremely sharp, as when one of the guards reached for her, she bit down on their hand, making the guard recoil and yell out in pain. It impressed Rez, as their gloves looked extremely thick.


    Though the girl''s victory was short lived, as the now angry guard landed a hard blow on her face with the heel of their boot. Knocking her out cold.


    Seeing the act infuriated Rez, and with a sudden boost of strength, he grabbed the snare off of the guard that was holding him and yanked it away. He had loosened his grip as Rez calmed down and walked with him.


    He took it off of his neck and held it like a weapon, using the metal rod part of it to attack the guard who kicked the young girl. He bared his teeth and let out a snarl, driving the metal rod through the visor of their protective helmet as he jumped out of the elevator and towards the unaware guard.


    The visor shattered, and the guard fell back silently. Rez wasn''t aware of what he had done, but the metal rod went through the visor, and found a a new home deep in the guard''s skull.


    Rez stared at his body as the blood pooled up in his helmet, before turning to face the other two guards and take them on. But he wasted too much time, and he was knocked out, the same as the girl.


    When he woke up, he was in a cage in a dark room, with the only light coming from a slightly open door. There was the sound of cheering, shouting and horns going off. Rez didn''t have time to think about it, as when he looked to the rest of the room, he saw that there was many other cages, all stacked atop one another. Every single one had someone in it, who had gone through the same procedure. He looked down, and sure enough there was someone in the cage below him, but they didn''t look like they were moving. He hoped they were just asleep.


    He looked to the cage next to him and couldn''t make out who was there, but he sat up and leaned close "Hey, hey" he asked, his voice raspy and scratchy as he hadn''t had anything to drink, and he also hadn''t spoken in ages. He cleared his throat, but that only hurt "What is this? Why''re we all in here?"


    The voice that spoke on the other side was a boys "..First time? It''s the proving grounds... Where they find out if you''re still good enough to be kept"


    Rez raised an eyebrow "Good enough? What does that mean?"


    "You''ll see.. Save your energy, you''re up after this one. You''re fighting the Snake... Bad luck for a first time. I''m sorry"


    Rez looked to him and frowned "The snake? Why are you sorry? What''s going on?" he asked, probing for answers, but he didn''t reply.


    All he could do was sit and wait, but it wasn''t long before the door opened and a guard walked in and over to Rez''s cage, punching it. It startled Rez and he woke from his nap, looking at the guard through his helmet.


    The guard couldn''t be seen, but he could tell he was angry "Alright, you fucker. I heard you killed a guard today" he said, picking up the cage "This should teach you a lesson" he spoke angrily as he carried the cage through the door.


    The room was covered in blinding lights, he could barely see. All he could hear was shouting and cheering. He didn''t have time to think as his cage was tossed onto the floor and opened, making him fall out.


    He rubbed the back of his head and groaned and tried his best to look around, but all he could see was the concrete floor, covered in blood. Both fresh and dry.


    Over a loudspeaker, a voice that seemed to be having far too much fun sounded out "Here he is, investors. The Wolf who ended a dearly loved guard''s life today. He had a family at home, and they''ll never see him again because of this angry little fellow" he sniffled in a teasing manner.


    "But worry not investors, for we have a crowd favourite, the Snake!"


    The people cheering roared into applause, a big contrast to the boos they were making a second ago.


    "Any long time investor will know the Snake. But for those of you who are new, let us introduce you to him!"


    As he finished speaking, a door on the other end opened. An older boy walked out, he looked like a teenager.  His hair dirty blonde and a mess, and his eyes dilated like a snake. His eyes were trained on Rez.


    "The Snake here, is one of our best fighters. Loyal, strong and above all, a sweetheart. This young man has given his heart and soul to the cause, and once this is all done, is promised a position aboard Theodore''s very own Absolute Authority. Isn''t that nice?"


    He chuckled, before getting serious "The Snake doesn''t like having the hard working guards hurt and treated badly, so all afternoon he has been itching for this fight"


    Rez looked up and around, scrambling to his feet"


    "Let the fight start in 3!"


    "2!"


    "1!"


    "Fight!"


    "Shit" was all Rez could muster

 Cage-Fight

    Rez stood for a few moments, rooted to the spot in fear at the lumbering figure that the Snake had. He was supposed to fight him? He couldn''t even imagine any ways that he could. All Rez could think of is that instead of winning the fight, he had to bide his time and survive until the time was up. If, there was any time. He wasn''t sure about it.


    But before he had any more time to think, the Snake began to walk towards him and began to crack his knuckles and joints. He flicked his thin, forked tongue around his lips and grinned


    "You''re just a piece of gravel that I have to step on to get to the top, pipsqueak" he quite literally hissed.


    Rez looked around for anything that could help him, but he couldn''t find anything in time before the Snake went to deliver a powerful punch to the side of Rez''s head. He narrowly ducked under it and leaned back, spinning his arms around to keep him from falling over.


    When he stood back up, Rez went to swing back at his bigger opponent, landing a punch right in his gut. Apart from lightly winding him, it didn''t do much.


    He jumped back and looked up at the Snake''s reaction, who grinned.


    "You''re even weaker than you look. Breaking you will be easy"


    He boasted, reaching out for him.


    Rez was looking for ways to even hurt him, so he did what his new instincts told him to do. He went for the Snake''s fingers and brought his new sharp teeth down on them as hard as he could. It only took a second before he heard a sickening crunch, and the Snake yelled out in pain.


    Using his free hand, he punched Rez square on the side of the head, sending him flying against the cage wall. His hand was covered in blood, and he looked at the finger that had been bitten. It was definitely broken, and the bone was sticking out where Rez had shattered it.


    The Snake looked absolutely furious. He grabbed his shirt and ripped a part of it off, using it to protect his finger from taking any further damage.


    Rez seemed quite pleased with himself, oddly enough. Although he wasn''t fond of the taste.


    He scrambled to his feet and clenched his fists "Are you always this cocky?" Rez mocked, not knowing where this confidence was coming from.


    The Snake hissed and bared his fangs, which seemed to be dripping with some sort of substance. he eyed Rez and looked over his body, and glared


    "You''re supposed to be a wolf. Wolves work in packs. A single wolf by itself is an outcast and deserves death"


    Rez just shrugged and looked up at the crowd of people watching them, then back down to the Snake, who was baring his fangs.


    Rez couldn''t help but watc the strange liquid dripping from the tips of htem, and he had to ask.


    "...Are you venomous?" he tilted his head, to which the Snake only grinned and chuckled.


    "You noticed? One bite from me, will kill you in a matter of hours, if the medical team don''t do anything about it" He grinned and continued "I''m not supposed to use them, they tell me. But if you keep pushing your luck I might just chomp down on that little neck of yours and let you know how it feels to have your insides slowly melted away"


    Rez shuddered at the thought, and he wasn''t about to let him get close anymore.


    He looked around for anything to use against him, until his eyes landed on a small metal pipe lodged into the chain link fence keeping them in. He grabbed it and pulled it out with a bit of struggle, and looked to the Snake with a grin.


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.He only laughed and waved his hands in front of him "Ah, a pipe. I''ve lost now. Bo hoo" he rolled his eyes and continued to walk towards him. To which Rez just charged at him.


    Rez held the pipe above his head in both of is arms, when he got close to the Snake, he brought it downwards on his skull. But that didn''t matter, as he had moved out of the way, grabbed the pipe and kicked Rez right in the side of his stomach.


    Rez''s eyes shot open and he fell to the floor, coughing and spluttering as all of the air in his lungs was forcefully pushed out of him. He held his throat and crawled away from the dark, shadowy Snake and watched as he twirled the pipe in his hands.


    "Y''know I used to run with a gang. I used to do really, really bad things to people with pipes like these"


    He sighed happily, as if remembering a fond, enjoyable memory


    "I''d shatter kneecaps, break jaws. I even put one in someones mouth and slammed a chair into the back of their heads when the back of the pipe was against the wall" he laughed and held the side of his face "Fuck, that was good... Now, what will I do with you?" he mumbled.


    Rez was looking for a way out, he looked to the fence, to the blood stained floor, and even the ceiling, but nothing was there. He looked to the Snake''s feet, which were just in front of his own and wondered if he could kick them from under him and get his pipe back.


    He moved his feet back, aimed it up, and launched his feet into the side of the Snake''s shin. e yelled out and fell to one side, doping the metal pipe to the floor with a loud clang.


    Immediately, Rez reached to grab the metal pipe from is hands, and he succeeded. Partly.


    The Snake still had a grip on it, and he looked up to Rez with an angry, now cruised and cut face.


    He went to push Rez away from the pipe, but the younger boy took advantage of his overconfidence and punched him right in the nose. He recoiled and let go of the pipe to hold his face, yelling out in pain as it bled.


    Rez looked to the metal pipe, and without any hesitation, raised it up and brought it down on the Snake''s knee. He heard a loud crack, and the Snake screeched and curled up, clutching his knee.


    The whole room went completely silent as they watched their star performer rock back and forth, clutching his likely shattered knee.


    Rez held the metal pipe up in the air triumphantly, his wolf tail flicking around in joy behind him. He took his moment in the spotlight and ran with it, before throwing the pipe to the ground and waiting for the inevitable appearance of the heavily padded guards to take him back to his cell. That, or they might even just outright kill him for winning the fight against the best.


    He waited for a few minutes, the room silent apart from a few murmurs and the quiet whines from the Snake.


    Nothing seemed to happen until the door that Rez came through opened up.


    The creaking metal noise of the door opening alerted Rez, his ears pointing upwards. He stared at the dark void through the metal door frame and sighed, before walking in. The door closed behind him, and the rest of the audience were left to wonder what would befall both the fighters. If the Snake would be punished for losing, or if Rez would be for winning. They''d likely never know truly, but they could certainly have their guesses.

 Raid

    Right after walking out of the arena and back into the room full of caged children, Rez was met with amazed stares.


    A raccoon looking kid sat up in his cage and tapped on the bars "Oi, did you really beat the Snake?" he asked, tilting his head to one side.


    Rez looked to him and nodded his head "Yeah. I did"


    Whilst he knew he didn''t win entirely fairly, if he was going to go back in there he wanted everyone to know that he was the one who beat the Snake.


    He glanced around the room at every single pair of eyes watching him, before he stretched, cracked his knuckles and sat down on an empty cage. He wasn''t sure where to go from here, but eventually he was returned to his room. Not in a cage however, but by a simple escort by the guards.


    He was in thought, has he replaced the Snake as the arena ''champion''


    Was he going to start getting treated more fairly?


    Many questions spun around in Rez''s confused and changing mind, but he sat on his bed and closed his eyes. He was tired from the fight and wanted to sleep, and he would for nearly a whole day.


    The next day he was awoken by the enticing smell of meat. His nose scrunched up and wiggled as he sat and took a look at the door. There on the sliding grate was a plate of juicy meat, still bloody.


    He wasted no time and jumped up off of his bed, the mattress squeaking beneath him. He ran over to the door and dug his nails into the big slab of flesh. It was cold and clearly raw, but it didn''t matter to Rez. His canine changes had given him a stomach of steel. And even if it hadn''t, he was too hungry to pass up a piece of meat like that.


    He dug his teeth into it and tore out chunk after chunk of red, bloody meat. Swallowing whole bites without even chewing. Blood got over his face and lips, and small scraps fell on the fl oor beneath him. All he could hear was the squishy sound of the cold meat getting mashed up by his teeth, and the sound of it sliding down his gullet and into his starved stomach.


    It only took him a minute to devour the food. But he set the plate down on the floor, and crawled onto the bed where he laid his head down and stared at the plate. He was still starving, and he would give anything for more of it. He imagined whole pallets full of meat he could engorge himself with. And the thought of it made his tail wag. He looked to it curiously, as e wasn''t telling it to do that. But he remembered a common fact about tails when an animal is happy. Dogs anyway.


    He let out an exhausted breath and sighed, looking up to the ceiling and the flickering light. It might not be a very good way to live, but if he could get fed like that and not forced around by guards for winning an arena fight, then he figured life would be a lot easier than it would have been for the last however long he was here. He still hadn''t quite figured that out yet.


    Hours seemed to pass by like a blur, and all he did was lay on the bed and look up at the grungy ceiling. But just as he closed his eyes, the entire room shook and rumbled, causing Rez to jump up in shock. Awoken from his daze, he ran over to the metal door and peered out of it and into the dim hallway. Not moments after the place shook, a loud, obnoxious alarm began to blare. It was deep and raspy, like it was struggling to breath, but trying its best to warn people. There was another quake, and this time it flung Rez to the ground with how violent it was.


    He didn''t know what was going on, but he began to hear gunfire ringing out somewhere in the facility. The sharp, heavy sounds of bullets firing echoed through the ventilation and sparse corridors.


    But Rez didn''t know what to do. He couldn''t leave the cell, he couldn''t escape. All he could do was sit and wait. Whoever is fighting above however, must be well prepared.


    Rez sat and listened to the alarms and gunfire. The alarms stayed still as they were attached to the walls, but the gunfire was moving around. He must have listened to it for ten minutes. It got closer and closer, until suddenly there was an explosion right outside of his door. It knocked the piece of metal right off of its hinges, it landed on the floor of the hallway with an ear shattering slam, and bullets were exchanged right in front of his now open doorway. He hid behind the wall, not daring to peek out and risk losing his life. He w aited for bullets to die down, and then he looked out, to see two soldiers in different uniforms wrestling for a gun, and another pair punching each other.


    One uniform was sleek, black and angular. It had red lights and accents all over, and its helmet had no obvious visor. Its chest piece had a large circle in the middle, where a big red light sat, and it led down to its waist where two sharp inclines where, leading to the legs. Placed on its knees were sharp spikes made of the same black material, and its boots were heavy, black and red combat boots with sharp edges.


    The other uniform was more blue and white, and was much bulkier than the sleek black ones. Their suits seemed to be motorized to a degree. Their helmets were rectangular, with simple triangular patterns on the sides. Its chest piece came out much further and ended in a flat stomach. On its hands were large gauntlets, protecting their hands, wrists and forearms. Their feet were much heavier, with each step causing the metal doors to reverberate.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Rez wasn''t about to stick around and see if either of them were friendly, so he took off past them and ran down the hall, narrowly avoiding chunks of concrete that had been blown off the wall by bullets. He heard shouting come from behind him, and a quick "zip" sound followed by a slight gust of air over his shoulder. It took a moment to register that he was being shot at, but he turned a corner and hid between two metal containers that were left by the side.


    He held his knees to tuck his feet in, and he waited to see if he was being followed. He didn''t hear anything, but he wanted to be sure.


    So he waited, listening to the distant, echoing gunfire and the low rumbles that shook the building, causing dust and loose pieces of stone to fall down. He must have waited five minutes before anything happened. The sound of multiple heavy footsteps were fast approaching, and it wasn''t till they walked by that Rez noticed they were wearing the much heavier looking white and blue armor. He wondered who they were, as he had never seen anyone dressed so brightly before.


    But he wasn''t taking any chances, he sat up and ran the way they came from after they turned the corner. His feet slapping against the tiled floor.


    Eventually he came across another kid. A small brown haired girl with large bunny ears on her head, and a bunny tail too. Although it was matted and covered in dirt. She was hiding behind a fallen vending machine that the guards used on breaks.


    Rez couldn''t just leave her there, but he didn''t know what to do. He leaned down and looked around to make sure they were safe. Before gently reaching out and tapping her.


    This made her jump and squeak, but Rez just held his hands out and hushed her.


    "It''s okay, I won''t hurt you. But we need to get out of here, okay? What''s your name?" he asked, trying to sound as calm as possible for her.


    The girl sniffled and rubbed her wet eyes, she struggled to get the words out, and choked up on herself "T-T...Tameen" she said, her voice rightfully scared.


    Rez just smiled at her "I''m Rez" he held out his hand, gesturing for her to come with him "Let''s find a way out of here, okay? Stay behind me"


    Tameen nervously looked to his hand, then to his face. She alternated between the two for a few seconds before taking his hands, albeit hesitantly "O-Okay"


    And with that, Rez began to lead her through the halls, but the further they walked, te air seemed to get thicker and harder to see through. It must have been smoke from whatever battle was going on above getting pulled down to the lower levels.


    He remembered things taught by fire safety, and he turned to the timid bunny girl.


    "Okay, I need you to take your shirt off, or rip a scrap of it off and cover your nose and mouth with it. Okay? There''s smoke, and we can''t breath it in. It''ll make us very sick" he tried to make it understandable for her, and he didn''t want to scare her more than she already was.


    Tameen simply nodded at the instruction and took off her shirt, revealing her badly starved stomach, and bruised body. Rez simply grimaced at the sight of someone so young being so mistreated. He took off his own shirt, and he wasn''t much better. Both of their bare bodies were starved, scarred and bruised. He made sure that she held her ragged shirt up to her mouth and nose tightly, before doing the same.


    He gripped her hand a little tighter than he needed, and began to lead her through the smoke filled corridors.


    Dead bodies were strewn all over, and blood pooled out of them and onto the tiled floor. Not having any shoes, they were forced to walk through the puddles of blood, which was still warm. Rez couldn''t imagine what Tameen was thinking. She was too young to see all this.


    Eventually they came to an elevator, and they were both quick to climb in and press the button for the highest floor it had. Their bloody footprints trailed with them, and stained the elevator floor. But they didn''t care, they were going to get out.


    He felt his heart warm up seeing Tameen''s little feet gently hop in one place. He held her hands as the door opened, but the sight would drive Rez into a frenzy.


    In the hallway in front of the elevator was a beautiful white haired woman with the same animal features as him. Her eyes were pure red, and glaring. Two of the guards in the sleek black armor were holding her down, as a third was kicking her in the face.


    All Rez could think of at the moment was the word Riza.


    Tameen looked up at her new friend, worried at the fact her hand was being squeezed like a vice. She whimpered at the pain, but Rez was blind to everything except his sister.


    Then he lunged.

 Reunion

    Rez let go of Tameen''s hand and pounced at the guards beating his sister. His normally calm blue eyes had become that of pure rage and savagery.


    The guards didn''t notice him running at them, as their backs were turned toward him. He took advantage of this and leaped onto the back of the closest guard, reaching around to the front of his throat and driving his sharp nails into their flesh.


    The guard choked on his own blood that began to pool in their mouth, and they could only wheeze as Rez''s nails severed his windpipe. It was only moments between the stab and them collapsing.


    Of course Rez had been noticed due to his actions. His blood soaked hands clenched and ready to deal out damage.


    He stood and stared, waiting for one of the two remaining guards to  make a move.


    One of the guards pulled out a metal baton that was strapped to their utility belts and lifted it up above their head, stepping forward to bring the rod down on Rez''s skull. But before he could land his blow, two loud cracks pierced Rez''s ears, and the two guards fell down. He watched for a moment and noticed red stains growing in size around their chests. But his attention was quickly drawn back to the situation as he looked to where the noise came from.


    Two soldiers in the different armour had shot the two guards and were approaching, but they lowered their weapons when they got close. One of them crouched down and extended their hand towards Rez, who looked apprehensive about them. Tameen walked over and hid behind Rez, her large ears folded downward over her eyes.


    Before Rez made any decision, he turned to Riza, who was bruised and bloody from their beating and knelt down, shaking her shoulder gently.


    "Riza? Riza, wake up, please. It''s me, Rez" his voice cracked with a mixture of sadness at seeing her like this, and excitement, as this would be the first time in forever that he had seen her.


    He kept shaking her, but eventually she mumbled, and her crimson red eyes fluttered open. Her dry lips parted as she looked up to him and uttered out "Rez? You''ve gotten... So big" she mumbled, before passing out.


    This of course panicked Rez, but the two soldiers looked over, with one speaking with a female voice "It''s okay, we can get you all out of here, and you''ll be safe. Come with us and we''ll get her to a doctor"


    Rez had to pause and think about it. They were outside, and free. Did he go with these new strangers and risk getting himself and the others in a similar situation, or run to the horizon with them. He thought about it, but Riza was far too big for him to carry, and Tameen didn''t look strong enough to help either.


    He swallowed, and looked to the two soldiers "You promise it''s safe?" he exhaled "I can''t go through this place again. None of us can" his eyes began to water, at the memories of things that happened down there.


    The soldiers nodded, and the female spoke "We promise. We''re the good guys. But we need to go before reinforcements show up"


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Rez nodded and watched as the silent soldier picked up Riza and put her over their shoulder. He winced at the blood on her face, but looked to Tameen and held her hand as they followed the two soldiers through the crumbling ruins of the facilities upper level. The orange sky visible through holes in the ceiling, and shattered windows revealing a lush forest outside.


    Gunfire continued to rage below and somewhere above, but as they slalomed between burning wreckage and chunks of concrete, a ship came into view as they stepped outside and onto the grass and dirt of the forest.


    Rez looked down at the long grass, his bare feet tickled slightly at it, and he realised just how long it had been since he had seen the outside world.


    But he didn''t stop moving.


    The ship in front of them was  a large machine. Easily two stories tall and two buses long.


    It was very industrial and angular, with four large thrusters on its side. Two on the front and two around the back. A large ramp was opened at the rear of the ship with other soldiers waiting.


    The two that the kids were following led them to a quiet area in the ship, behind a door with a few steps down into a little alcove with seats and a window looking down at the ground. One of the soldiers left, whilst the female sat outside the door and made sure they were okay, she looked to them and waved gently "She''ll be fine. There''s a doctor where we''re going, but she isn''t hurt badly"


    Rez looked to her, then to Riza as he reached out and stroked her new ears, which twitched in response. He reflected on what they had done to them, and had to ask himself why. But he wouldn''t get an answer for a long time.


    The ship remained on the ground for a few more minutes, as soldiers ran out of the building with more kids with animal features. The three of them watched as flashes came from the building''s windows, and moments after it all began to crumble and collapse in on itself, falling into the earth and being buried under itself.


    They watched it fall, and looked at one another, but were startled when a loud whirring sound reached their new, sensitive ears.


    The ship''s thrusters had been switched on and they were beginning to slowly lift off the ground. Rez and Tameen held hands and watched as the ground got further and further away, before they were speeding off into the sky. They watched with awe as the flat ground they were on began to curve and shrink, before they burst through the thick orange clouds of the planet and blasted off into the inky blackness of space. They were on Venus from the looks of it, which surprised Rez a fair bit, as he would have had to travel past Earth to get to Venus.


    He sat back against his chair and looked up at the ceiling light. This one didn''t flicker, or buzz. It was a stable source of light. And even though the room wasn''t built for comfort, it was leagues above his dirty cell underground. He instinctively began to stroke Tameen''s head, who seemed to enjoy the attention. She laid her head on his lap, and the two simply waited for them to arrive to wherever they were going.


    Their destination was Jupiter, and it was there where they would all find a new family.

 Food and Clothes

    Hours went past, with little conversation sparking between the wolf and the rabbit. Riza was still asleep in her seat, whilst Rez and Tameen just watched the darkness of space outside their window, looking at the stars glimmering off in the unreachable.


    The two only listened to the industrial hum of the ship''s engines and muffled talk between the soldiers walking past, as the soldier outside their door had fallen asleep in their chair.


    Rez was dozing off, nearly hitting his chin on the side of the window as his head slipped off his palm, until his eyes spotted something bright that he didn''t notice until now.


    He squinted and leaned close to the glass, watching its orange and red glow get closer and closer.


    He looked over to Tameen and saw that she was busy playing with her large, soft ears. He smiled at the sight, but sat up and gently tapped her knee "Hey, Tameen. I think we''re nearly there" he said with a calm and gentle tone.


    He gestured over to the window, and sat beside her "That''s Jupiter. I heard one of the people walking around mention it" he explained, gesturing to the door.


    The door had stayed open the whole time, likely to keep them calm and to not give them the feeling of being trapped like they were before.


    Soldiers did check up on them, offering them drinks and snacks on the ride to where they were going.


    Both of them were famished, so anything that they were given quickly vanished into their empty bellies.


    Tameen looked to him, then to the glowing marble that was approaching "It looks pretty" she said with such innocence, it almost made Rez''s heart ache.


    But the wolf just nodded and agreed "It is... I learned about it in school. It''s the biggest planet in our solar system. And it''s completely made of gas"


    The bunny looked to him, confused "So we can''t walk on it?" she sounded upset "I wanted to walk on all the pretty colours" she pouted, which made Rez let out a small internal laugh.


    He nodded "No, we can''t walk on it... Sorry" he attempted to make her feel better with a head rub, but she only pouted more.


    But before they could say anything else, there was a knock on the door frame.


    The two spun their heads around to see who was there, and of course it was another one of the soldiers in white armor, but behind them was a cart of food


    The soldier took off their helmet, and long blonde hair flowed down. A pretty lady with gorgeous green eyes looked at them "Hey there guys, do you want any hot meals and drinks before we get back to base?" she smiled a genuine smile, and brought the cart closer to the door as she knelt down.


    "We''ve got..." she shuffled through some plastic containers "We have some pork with gravy and carrots. Yummy" Tameen seemed interested in that. But the woman continued "...Hmmmm, we have some juicy chicken and mashed potatoes. Ooh, this looks nice. Salmon with roasted potatoes"


    Rez''s ears perked up at the salmon, his favourite thing to eat.


    They had never gotten a hot meal during their time at the facility. It was always cold. A cold, sloppy mess that was shoved in a metal bowl and handed to him. Sometimes it was rotten, sometimes it was raw. He supposed it was just whatever they had on hand. The best meal he ever got at all during his time was when an almost full bowl of fresh chicken was put there. It was completely raw, but his stomach seemed to have steeled up.


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    The two made their choices, and were soon feasting on a well sized portion of hot, steamy food. For the first time in a very long time.


    It was gone in moments, which the woman chuckled at the sight, then seemed to grimace at the thought of what they had to eat before now.


    She cleared her throat and stood up "Well, we''ll be home soon, and you can have some freshly cooked food" she said, turning and pushing the trolley of food along, its wheels clicking against the metal floor.


    Rez wiped his face of pieces of salmon as he looked over to Tameen, who was licking the bottom of her tub.


    He tilted his head and asked "What do you think they have to eat? Wherever it is we''re actually going"


    She looked up, and shrugged "I dunno, but if it''s like this, I''ll be happy" she said, putting the empty tub beside her.


    Rez thought for a moment and then nodded in agreement, so far the people who took them out of the underground facility definitely seemed much nicer.


    The two would be waiting for a little while longer, Tameen fell asleep and laid across her seat, and Rez watched as Jupiter got closer and closer. It wasn''t much longer after that that he heard people in the halls talking about getting ready to get off the ship.


    Looking over to the brown haired rabbit girl, he gently shook her shoulder to stir her from her nap. Her bright green eyes fluttered open and she gave him a tired look.


    "I think we''re about to land" he said, gesturing to the planet that was now taking up almost all of their window.


    Tameen sat up and stretched her legs, lookinig over to the door when a man in a white uniform came in and crouched down, looking over a small checklist, before looking to the three "OKay... I need you two to come with me" he said, pointing at the two conscious kids "We''re gonna get you ready to join your new home. And don''t worry there" he looked over to Rez specifically"She''ll be alright. Our people will make sure she''s top notch before she''ll join you both aboard our home" he said, patting them both on the head, and gesturing for the two to follow.


    Not wanting to annoy the nice man, the two followed him through metal halls and industrial looking corridors, until they came to a room which had a cubicle and a curtain. He opened a small cupboard and took out two folded sets of clothes.


    They were extremely soft and comfortable, both of them a deep navy blue colour with orange circles around its  sleeves


    The man smiled at the two "These are really nice, it''s better than what you''re wearing now" he spoke, looking at their rags "And they help us identify you, makes it easier"


    The two looked at one another and got behind the curtain, changing out of their rags and into their new comfy blue jumpsuits.


    The man looked like he was about to say something, but a loud mechanical beep sounded off three times. It made him flinch at its suddenness, but he just chuckled "Alright. We''re docking to the Forge right now"  he walked towards the door, then turned to face them


    "You''ll love it here"

 Ironclad

    Tameen held Rez''s hand tightly as they sat on a medical bed, looking at the bustling hangar they had landed in.


    Ships were coming and going every few minutes, and a large part of the hangar floor had been converted into a hospital. Doctors were rushing around, tending to the injured young, all with the same differences that they had.


    However, Rez had noticed a few of the doctors also had the same additions to their bodies. Some with cat parts, some dogs, he could have sworn he even saw a glimpse of a mane of hair around someone''s neck.


    Though the deafening bang of metal hitting metal reached their ears, causing both his and Tamene''s to fold down and cover themselves. They looked over to what made the sound, and it was a gigantic airlock for ships to come and go through.


    The giant metal doors were split horizontally, with the bottom half going into the floor, and the upper half into the ceiling. The airlock worked like how it did on a person sized one. Two doors and a chamber in between for altering the pressures, although this one was scaled up to a far bigger size to accommodate the large transports that they seemed to rely on.


    At the moment, the doors were opening to allow a transport that looked the same as they the one they were on to come in. However it seemed to have attacked, as one of its engines was missing, and the lower decks were visible through a large hole in the side of it.


    But the two didn''t have time to keep looking at the ship, as a beautiful brown haired woman approached the two. Her hair was done up in a messy ponytail with two long hairsticks. Her soft looking skin was pale white, and her soft lips reflected the light from above. She was wearing a white lab coat with a woolly green turtleneck underneath-that only made her curves more apparent, which went with her own stunning emerald eyes. She was holding some sort of tablet under her arm, and she spoke with a soft angelic voice befitting of a goddess.


    She knelt down to eye level with the two young ones and gave them a genuinely warm, caring smile. Her white teeth on the verge of being blinding when she opened her mouth to speak.


    "Hello. My name is Coco" she paused to let them process.


    "...I know that you''ve both been through a lot of awful things. But, I''m here to make sure you''re both comfortable and safe"


    She glanced between the two, not quite expecting any response from either of them. And she was correct in thinking so, which only made her chuckle a bit.


    "I can''t imagine how you both feel. You look so hungry and sore" she said, gesturing to the scars, bruises and cuts on both of them.


    "You''ll all be safe here. Every single one of you"


    She looked across the makeshift hospital at all of the other young ones, then back to Tameen and Rez.


    "But, you two are lucky. You''ll have me as your carer. I''ll have you two, the other girl, and a few others to look after. So you''ll have my attention a lot of the time. Isn''t that great?"


    She smiled and leaned down, gently extending her hand out with her palm facing upwards.


    "I know it must be difficult to trust people right now. But, I promise you, we''re going to make things better for you


    Rez was unsure. They had only just arrived in this place, and for all he knew these people could be even worse. But he figured that at least these people had the courtesy of introducing themselves before torturing him.


    But Tameen seemed to trust her. Placing her small hand on top of Coco''s. Tameen''s tanned skin contrasted against the pale whiteness of Coco''s.


    Letting out a little sigh, Rez followed her lead and place his hand beside Tameen''s, looking down at how rough both of their hands looked, and how soft Coco''s were.


    Coco smiled brightly at the two, and stood back up, fixing her white coat as it had creased when she knelt down.


    "I need to go see some others now. But next time we meet, you''ll be in a nice comfortable place, and not in this noisy, busy hangar. I promise" she said, waving gently as she walked off. Rez kept an eye on her until she vanished into the crowds.


    Tameen was quick to look at him and smile, stating "I like her"


    And he was glad he did, but he wasn''t quite ready to trust.


    The two sat there for what seemed like ages, watching people go by and listening to the doctors when they came round every so often to check up and perform a test or two. They were almost falling asleep, despite the racket going on around them, when a man walked over and looked to the two "Alright. I um, have to take you to your new rooms, if that''s okay" he said, gesturing to follow, and which they did.


    Rez however did not let go of Tameen''s hand as they did so.


    The walk was longer than expected, walking through metal corridors with no windows, pipes running along the walls, and bright fluorescent lights above them. It was an area for soldiers, engineers and workers, style wasn''t a concern for designers. After an elevator trip however, the halls were no longer metal and industrial. The floors were now a shiny, smooth tile like material, although there was no gaps to indicate that if it was laid piece by piece.


    The walls were painted a cool gray, and plants were placed every few feet. It seemed far nicer than below.


    As they were walking along, a white sign caught Rez''s eye.


    On the wall was the symbol of a blacksmith''s hammer in between the words Ironclad. It sounded familiar to him, and he turned to face the man, to question who they were.


    Ironclad was a branch of the United Planetary Alliance navy. A navy that served the entire solar system and protected innocents against pirates or threats to peace. Ironclad was the navy''s raw untamed power. The toughest ships and biggest guns.


    One of Ironclad''s biggest achievements was putting an end to a war that ravaged the system for over 50 years.


    The was fought between the UPA planets, and those who sought to become independent from Earth. The Pro-Independence planets consisted of Mercury, Saturn and Pluto.


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.The war was hard fought, and many lives were lost. But Ironclad led many successful operations against the P-I forces, and even conducted the final battle that ended it once and for all. Three Ironclad ships stormed in and decimated the already tired and beaten fleets over Titan, and laid siege to the moon, as the P-I leaders were hiding out on the surface.


    Only days after the bombardments started was the white flag raised, and Mercury, Saturn and Pluto were back into the UPA.


    But the punishments that Earth handed out were only fuel for a future conflict. One that has been bubbling for a long time, and was likely to erupt soon with the new leadership of Theodore as the Head of System.


    "Oh. Ironclad? That''s who we are. Those guys who saved you. Ironclad" the man said as he opened a door, which led into a spacious, well lit room.


    Three beds were lined along the wall, with a large TV, a few potted plants and a door that led to a bathroom in the corner.


    Tameen walked in and looked around, then noticed a large window on the far wall. She walked over and peered out, letting out an audible gasp as she saw below.


    The window overlooked the hangar they were just in, with a perfect view of  the ships that come and go.


    Rez walked over to one of the beds, then over to the man who was standing at the door. He was skeptical, and didn''t quite believe what was going on "So, this is just ours?" he asked with a hint of distrust.


    The man looked over and nodded, reaching behind his head and scratching his hair "Well, it''s a temporary accommodation, but yeah. It''s your room"


    Tameen seemed enamoured by the view, watching the ships fly in from space, then flying back out to do who knows what. Her bunny ears twitched and moved around quizzically as she watched, then she turned to face Rez with a big smile.


    This warmed Rez''s heart up to the idea, but when he turned to look at the man again, he was walking off as he talked on his radio to someone.


    Shrugging, Rez claimed the bed in the middle, sitting on it and then laying his head on the pillow as he stared at the wall. His ears twitched gently as he listened to Tameen shuffle around the window just out of his view. But he was more focused on what he could feel, not what he could hear.


    The softness and warmth of the pillow enveloped his head, and his body sank ever so slightly into the mattress. It had been so long since he had felt this safe, comfortable sensation. As he thought about it his eyes began to well up, and moments after he realised, tears began to stream down his cheeks.


    He grabbed the covers and hugged them, burying them into his face as he let out a sob.


    The sob however, didn''t go unnoticed by Tameen''s sensitive ears. She quickly ran over and knelt beside the bed, and put her hands on Rez''s head "W-What''s wrong? Are you hurt?" she asked, obviously worried about her friend.


    Rez shook his head and moved the covers away, looking into Tameen''s emerald green eyes. He cleared his throat "It''s been so long since I''ve had a soft bed, and a pillow"


    She gave him a sad look and nodded in agreement, before she climbed up onto the bed and laid beside him, hugging him. Her ears lowered behind her head, and she rested her head just behind Rez''s "I''m tired" she whispered.


    Rez nodded "So am I. But I don''t want to sleep right now" he said, sitting up and looking odwn at the brown haired bunny "I want to see my sister before anything else..."


    Tameen nodded as she sat as well, understanding his worry "Okay. I''ll stay up too"


    And they both did. They sat next to the window at a small table and watched ships come and go, taking note at how many more experimented children come off of them. They sat for what seemed like hours, until they heard the door open to their room.


    Both of their heads turned around almost instantly to see who was there. At first it seemed like it was just Coco who was walking in, and Rez''s heart sank a little, but as she walked in, he could see that behind Coco, was a bandaged and fixed up Riza.


    Rez immediately sprung to his feet and ran over, sobbing and crying out loud as he ran into his sister''s arms. She let out a grunt as he bumped her stomach from running, but she smiled and hugged him, kneeling down so they could be at eye level.


    Riza stroked the back of Rez''s head as he cried into her chest "It''s okay. I''m alright. We''re together now" she gently reassured him.


    He gripped her clothes and hugged her tightly, but his tail seemed to wag at an incredible speed.


    Riza picked him up and sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing his back and waiting for him to calm down. Tameen however was also trying to help, as she sat beside the much bigger and taller girl and held Rez''s hand.


    Coco smiled at the sight, and sat down on the chair that Rez was on a few minutes before. She cleared her throat before speaking "Allow me to properly introduce myself now. My name is Coco Gems, I''m a scientist and caretaker here at Ironclad. My job is to care for all of the Hybrids that come in, and I''m here to help heal your wounds and make you all comfortable"


    She adjusted her labcoat an glasses before continuing


    "You''re currently aboard our fleets biggest medical ship, the Golden Bellows..." she then placed her hand on her chin "A lot of our ships have a sort of, blacksmithy theme. I suppose bellows mean like, it stokes the fire to keep us going, and the fire is us, and getting us back into action. I think anyway"


    She thought about that for a few moments, then smiled and sat up "Well, I''m sure you''re all hungry, and after eating you should get washed and get that dirt and blood off of you" she spoke with a smile, and gestured to the door.


    Two trays of hot meals were rolled in, plastic tubs of chicken and rice, beef and gravy, steamed vegetables and fish. It was a gourmet meal just for them, and the three wasted no time in digging in.


    And whilst the three began to eat, Coco smiled and took a sneaky picture with her phone to remember their first day

 Breakfast

    It had been a few days since the three arrived aboard the Golden Bellows, it had been a relatively relaxing time, with the most intense thing that they had to do was undergo a bit of a medical overhaul.


    Their wounds were cleaned and fixed up, using a very small and narrow laser to seal up any open cuts.


    But now they had some time to themselves to get used to being on the ship, and to familiarise themselves with the layout of the area they were allowed to be in.


    A lot of the children and teens brought in were aggressive and unstable due to the horrific pit fights they were thrown in, they weren''t used to people trying to help them.


    Too many times to count in the days they had been there they had seen the scientists and guards in the hangar below resort to long poles with neck clamps just to keep themselves at a safe distance from the more violent victims.


    Tameen had even watched Coco from her spot by the window. Always feeling bad for the woman when she saw her protecting the younger kids from those lashing out at the medical equipment.


    Coco had been bitten, scratched and bruised every day, but she never had any hatred or anger on her face. No matter what, she would walk into the hangar with a smile, and cared for those kids like they were her own.


    Even when she visited them three, she would smile even when her arm was bandaged, or her face scratched.


    She just acted like she wasn''t hurt and put them first.


    Rez sat on the edge of his bed as he woke up in the early hours. Although there was no real way to tell the time in space, the ships were all designed with that in mind. Using timers, the ships had an artificial timezone. The fleet''s time was synced up to where the fleet''s Admiral, Dasyil Treyton, was born. A small town in England. So whenever it was daytime there, the lights would be brightest, and whenever it was night, the lights were dim.


    The temperature was also regulated by those timers as well. Not by much, but enough to trick the brain into relaxing and getting ready to sleep when it gets a little colder at night.


    However Rez wasn''t asleep, and was sitting there in a cold sweat. He was wearing a comfortable, loose fitting pyjama set that had Ironclad''s symbol on the back.


    He held his head as he took deep breaths, before standing up and walking over to the door, and pressing the button. Nothing happened.


    He sighed and walked over to the bathroom, flicking on the light and walking over to the sink and splashing cold water into his face. He looked to himself in the mirror above and took in the features.


    His face was all pale and gaunt, and dark rings were around his eyes. The food was helping him gain some weight back, but he still was extremely thin.


    He let out a heavy breath as he rubbed his eyes and turned to leave, flicking the light back off.


    But as he stepped back into the main room, a voice startled him.


    "Rez. What''s wrong?" a gentle, whispering Riza asked.


    When he looked over to her bed, he could barely see her silhouette. The only thing that told him where she was, was the faint light coming in from the window to the hangar below.


    Her red eyes glinted in the darkness, like a cat''s eyes would. It definitely gave him an uneasy feeling for a few moments, but he walked toward his older sister''s bed.


    He let out a sigh "...I dunno. I just can''t sleep very well" he spoke quietly, to not disturb the sleeping bunny just a bed over.


    Riza nodded and moved over, patting the mattress "Me neither. Every time I try to sleep, I feel like when I open my eyes, I''ll be back where we were, and that finding you was just a... Cruel thought of hope"


    He nodded and laid beside her, placing his head on her pillow, and taking notice of her much larger and bushier tail. He held his own and stroked it, looking up at her.


    "Why do you think they did this to us?"


    Riza was silent for a few minutes, just watching him with a caring look, before responding with a simple "I don''t know"


    she laid her head beside his, and smiled gently "Whatever it was they wanted to do. It just made us adorable and pettable" she smiled and let out a quiet chuckle as she ran her hand through his hair and over his new set of ears, which twitched in response.


    She wasn''t happy, but she didn''t want Rez to know that.


    Rez smiled and giggled, squirming slightly under her touch. Then he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly, burying his face into her neck.


    He let out a muffled "I love you"


    She was a bit confused for a moment, then smiled and hugged him too, rubbing circles along his back "I love you too Rez"


    The two siblings embraced one another until the lights began to brighten in the hangar below. It wasn''t long before they could clearly see one another, then turned to the window.


    But two green eyes caught their attention.


    Tameen was laying there with the side of her head on her pillow, facing them with a small smile on her face


    "You two are so cute" she giggled, then covered her face


    Rez''s face reddened at being caught giving affection, and he hid under the covers.


    Riza just smiled and waved "Good morning Tameen"


    She smiled and cooed, before hiding her face. Only her two big ears stuck out of the covers.


    Riza chuckled and sat back, looking up at the ceiling for a few minutes. She opened her mouth to say something, but there was a knock on the door that interrupted her.


    Rez and Tameen looked out from under their covers, and Riza looked over without having to move.


    The door slid open with a quiet hiss, and Coco was there with a trolley of food. There was a teapot with steam rising up out of its spout, and a selection of breads, cereals and fruits.


    She rolled it in with a smile on her face, with the wheels quietly clicking as it crossed over the lip between their room and the hallway.


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    "Good morning you three. You''re up early" she smiled, bringing the trolley to a stop in front of the table in the corner.


    "I noticed a lot of movement on the motion detectors, so I looked at the camera and saw you were up. I figured I would come by and visit since I don''t have anything else to do right now" she sat down and smiled warmly, her green eyes reflecting the light of the hangar below.


    Tameen and Rez were quick to join Coco at the table, sitting down and looking at the choice of food.


    Riza watched them for a few moments before getting up herself, stretching and pushing her chest out as she let out a deep yawn. Which Coco let out a small laugh at.


    "You still tired there Riza?" she asked with her head slightly tilted to the left, to which Riza nodded and walked over, sitting beside Coco.


    Riza enjoyed Coco''s presence, as she was another woman that she could talk to about things she couldn''t talk to about with Rez or Tameen.


    She was always eager to strike up a conversation with the brown haired caretaker, as she seemed to be very knowledgeable on many different topics.


    Just the night before, Coco took Riza back to her quarters to have some food, a tea and had a conversation that went on for a little longer than Coco originally anticipated. But she was very happy to see that Riza felt she could come to her without worrying. But that was the goal as their caretaker, to be a new mother.


    Coco smiled and turned to the three "You can choose anything you''d like from the tray here" she said, gesturing to the food that sat atop the trolley. It was in plastic containers with sealed lids, but a cylindrical container of milk was on the bottom level of the trolley. It was a large flask about the size of a two litre bottle.


    A blue light went down the flask vertically, it seemed to be a tiny refrigerated flask to keep the milk nice and cold.


    Soon the three chose their breakfasts, Rez and Riza taking the cereals, and Tameen enjoying some fruit.


    Coco sat back and poured herself a tea, before looking at them "I suppose this is a good time to talk about your future here with Ironclad"


    Those words caught the attention of the hungry three.


    "I''m afraid there isn''t any way we can safely return you to a normal life. Your...augmentations make you stand out too much, and the people we rescued you from are trying to keep it a secret"


    she sighed, feeling a little disheartened at having to tell them this.


    "They don''t want you to end up joining us, they would rather kill them all and bury the labs rather than let them become Ironclad in the future"


    Riza looked upset, she tilted her head and looked to Coco "...How many of us have you guys saved?" she asked, with a concerned expression.


    Coco placed her hand on Riza''s shoulder in a comforting way "We''ve rescued thousands of you all. They''re spread out across the system in our medical ships and stations"


    She exhaled and flicked her hair back "I''m, not sure if you''ll understand, Rez and Tameen. But recently the governments of the outer planets have condemned the actions of the new Head of System, Theodore. As soon as he got into power, he''s clamped down on everything. Taking away a lot of human rights and silencing anyone who talks against him"


    Coco had an irritated expression on her face. And she was right, Rez and Tameen sat there with confused faces, but they continued to eat their food.


    Riza did understand however, and she looked angry. Furious even.


    She gripped the edge of the table so hard that her sharper, augmented nails dug into soft, plastic like material. She grit her teeth.


    "On the day of the election. We went out for dinner. We took a train. And he was there. He spoke to us. He even paid for our dinner. Just to, do this to us?!"


    She was enraged, and rightfully so. But Coco looked to her with a heartbroken expression and embraced the angry wolf.


    Coco wrapped her arms around her and rubbed her back, making sure that Riza''s chin was gently resting on her shoulder


    "Shhh, shh.. I know, I know Riza. I know.." she hummed gently, rocking side to side in an almost hypnotic way.


    "I can''t undo, what he did to you all. But I want to help you all heal"


    Riza was taken aback by her words and her embrace, she slowly hugged back and pressed her face into her neck. She was silent.


    Coco smiled gently and continued to rub her back, but was confused when she felt something warm run down her neck. Riza was crying.


    There was a sob that escaped from Riza''s lips, and she couldn''t hold it back. The tears streamed down her cheeks and down Coco''s neck.


    "I just want to be normal again" she said, barely above a whisper.


    Coco looked hurt, her heart aching for these innocent souls. And how every single kid that came out of the laboratories must be feeling the same way. She rubbed her head and pecked her gently.


    "Riza, honey... You are normal. You''re better than normal" she rubbed her back, and Riza seemed confused for a moment.


    Coco let out a smile and flexed her arms "Your muscles are stronger than any normal human"


    She pointed to her ears "You can hear and smell things that I can''t even think of"


    She stood up suddenly and jogged on the spot "Your legs can work a hundred times better than any soldier!"


    She picked Riza up by the armpits and hugged her, rubbing her back


    "You take these things, and you use them against them. You show them that you aren''t a scared child anymore"


    Riza was in thought for a few minutes, looking down at her hands and legs, the white tail that was attached to the base of her spine, and the muscles that she was given. She looked up, nodded, and wiped away her tears


    "Okay, Coco. I will"

 Healing Time

    Ironclad would be their new families. With nowhere else to go, and nobody else to turn to. Rez, Riza, Tameen and the many other now orphaned young ones relied on the people of Ironclad.


    Coco tended to them all as best she could, through the thick and thin she became their new mother.


    Days became weeks, weeks became months, months became years. And eventually the years became a decade. Ten years had passed since the Ironclad forces stormed the laboratories that had since been discovered to be owned by Proto Industrial, the same people behind the design and manufacturing of the Officers which were now being used to enforce Theodore''s totalitarian rule on the solar system.


    Earth, Venus, Mars and Mercury were quickly subdued by the Officers and their weaponry. With different models constantly being shipped off to fight anyone who resisted the Head of System. Humans were simply outmatched by the unrelenting metal, loyal to Theodore and him alone. He had the perfect army, one that could not think or act for itself. He didn''t have to worry about his government either, as all he had to do was treat them like royalty with shiny gifts and lots of wealth for them to agree and follow his idea of a machine kingdom. The inner planets became giant factories and research facilities for new machines of war. And rumour was that Theodore even wanted the ability to spread his machines across the stars.


    An unfortunate truth was that the Hybrid children would have to be part of this war. There would come a day when they had to leave their new home and fight back. Some of them knew this, some of them tried to ignore it, but they still had time to be innocent. Mostly.


    The early morning alarm went off to signal the start of the working day, echoing through the halls of their flagship, an old Dreadnaught called the Forge that fought in the early days of the UPA-Independence War. At two and a half thousand meters long, it was by no means the largest warship in the System, but it was big enough to stage an effective guerrilla war from.


    On the upper decks of the ship were the crew quarters, all varying sizes and quality. But in one of the more well kept rooms was a certain tired wolf boy, groaning as the alarm reached his two sensitive canine ears. He held his head and grunted as he shoved himself up off of the mattress and swung his legs around onto the floor. His bare body glistened with sweat, as he struggled with night terrors.


    His body was bigger and more muscled, as he had spent the last ten years training and working to be able to fight back against Theodore. He was now eighteen.


    Standing up off of the bed, his feet slapped against the smooth tiles on the floor. His skin sticking to it ever so slightly with each step as he walked over to the window and looked on out at Ironclad and Jupiter.


    Jupiter sat in the distance, it was an immense distance away yet due to its sheer size it seemed rather close due to how much of the window it took up. But between him and the planet was a few dozen ships. A single battleship, a handful of cruisers, lots of frigates and many, many gunships and fighters.


    This was Ironclad. A far cry from its original glory in the war, but they had to take what they could get.


    Rez scratched his back with his sharper nails and yawned, his big, black bushy tail swung side to side gently before he turned and walked over to the bathroom. Stepping into the shower, he closed his eyes as he reached over to the dial and turned it to the right. It took a second for the water to pump in, but it sprayed down onto his head and chest with force. The water hit his skin and ran down his body, pooling at his feet before running down the drain to be recycled and cleaned.


    Washing himself off in five minutes, he grabbed a towel and began drying himself off as he walked back into the main room, his hair dripped down as he did so.


    Before he had a chance to do anything else however, the door slid open with a metal thunk, and a familiar tanned form walked in.


    Tameen didn''t grow much bigger than she was before, her head would only reach the chest of a grown person. Her bunny ears got larger, and bone began to form on her knuckles, between her fingers in a similar shape to the digging claws of a rabbit. Her legs, thighs and hips got muscled and larger, prompting her to start work as a fast response medical officer. But other than that she didn''t change much at all, much to her dismay.


    She walked in wearing an Ironclad cadets uniform, a tight fitting and smart looking jumpsuit. It was white with black trims, and the Ironclad logo across the right breast. It was nothing flashy, but it was much more comfortable than a normal fabric uniform.


    She held in her hand a datapad, scrolling through the things that she had to do for the day


    "I''ve got such a busy day today. First I''ve got to attend the medical class, which is fine. But then I''ve got to take part in a medical drill, which is like... If engineers were hurt in a sudden explosion during maintenance. Ten minutes after the medical class, on the other end of the ship? Even the tram system won''t get there that quickly. And what''s more is that.. You, still haven''t gotten dressed?" She asked, with a tilted head as Rez simply stared back at her and rolled his eyes.


    "You could knock you know. The morning alarm only went off a few minutes ago" he said, tossing the towel onto his bed and walking over to the dressers where his clothes were.


    As the child Hybrids grew and entered puberty, a vast majority of them began to develop increased body temperatures. New clothing had to be designed for them and almost all of them slept nude to avoid irritation and annoyance.


    But they also found themselves acting more animalistic due to the traits and instincts that had been picked up during the gene splicing. The Hybrids all lacked the embarrassment of being seen without clothing, and many Hybrids often spent extended periods of time together without wearing anything simply because of the way their altered minds worked.


    Tameen smirked slightly as she walked over and sat on the bedside as she stretched her legs out, her green eyes glancing at him "You can''t expect much to happen if you only get up at the bell and not before"


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    "I did that. And I got told a soldier needs as much sleep as they can get. So I stopped" he stated, as he began to put boxers and socks on.


    Pondering for a moment, Tameen sat back "Really? That''s strange. I get told to be prepared to operate at any time. Surely that would be the same for fighters" she asked.


    "Well. The chance of someone getting hurt while working on board is a lot higher than an attack. You would be needed at all times here. While I would only be needed a certain times" he answered as best he could.


    She thought about his logic, then shrugged "Yeah I guess that makes sense" she stood up and stretched, wiggling her small bunny tail around as she walked over to the door "I''ll see you around, tough guy" she teased and waved, walking out.


    Rez sighed and rolled his eyes again, putting on his uniform and looking at his reflection in the window. The scars had faded, but he wouldn''t ever forget.


    Turning to leave his room, he took his datapad off of the bedside table and stuck it to his hip. The uniforms came with magnetic belts for equipment and gadgets.


    He had time to burn before he had to go and start training for the day, so he decided to go and see about breakfast at a bar he enjoyed.


    The ship had a large civilian district where food, recreation and shops were available. A large population of innocents who fled from Theodore''s planets ended up seeking refuge at Ironclad, so the Forge became half flagship, half city.


    The bar in question was a fancy location called the Cosmic Dragon. It was a small family run place, and Rez had become good friends with them.


    As he walked through the busy streets, weaving through people as he spotted the neon sign above the place. It was the outline of a dragon, with the name going through its body.


    The walls were painted a dark red, with subtle and calm mood lighting. Various tables and booths all had comfortable leather chairs, and the place was quite quiet for the amount of people outside in the streets.


    Rez walked over to the bar and sat on one of the stools, smiling as a person walked over.


    A cat Hybrid with white hair and orange eyes. Her face was cute and elegant, with a sharp and almost dangerous look to her. Yet she lacked the scars and rough skin of a normal Hybrid, as she wasn''t the same sort as Rez.


    When Ironclad learned of Theodore''s plans to create enhanced soldiers with Hybrids, they retaliated by doing the same thing. Except instead of brutalising children and torturing them with a slow and painful transformation, the gene splicing took place inside the womb. The outcome was the same, but the Hybrids weren''t damaged and unstable. But Theodore probably saw that as an advantage of his Hybrids, a blood thirsty killer full of hatred.


    Although one side affect of the Ironclad Hybrids was that the mothers were accidentally affected as well. It was never found out what was responsible for the splice to move to the mother, but it unfortunately caused a similarly slow and painful change, rather than one that happened passively while the fetus developed. Not many mothers survived the ordeal, but both sets of Hybrids were able to self sustain their kind, as their DNA was radically different from a normal human.


    The cat Hybrid in front of Rez was one of those Ironclad Hybrids, and her name was Yui Vai. She was a beautiful girl, with a slender frame and bountiful figure.


    She smiled at Rez as she used a cloth to clean a large mug "Hey there, Rez. What can I get you?" she asked politely.


    Rez looked to her and propped himself up on the counter, his tail flicked gently and brushed against the footrest that went around the stool "What''ve you got for breakfast today?" he asked, his stomach grumbling, but only enough for him to hear it.


    Yui pondered as she looked down and thought for a moment, then back up "We''ve got sausage, eggs and toast. Pancakes, syrup and scrambled egg. And then we''ve got omellete and ham with a side of bacon. Sorry it''s not much"


    He shook his head "Oh it''s fine. I don''t need anything fancy Yui. I shouldn''t fill myself up anyway, since I''ve got training after this. Don''t want to be doing pushups when I''m about to vomit, y''know?" he chuckled as he thought about the options


    "I''ll go with sausages, eggs and toast please" he said, sitting upright and glancing at the rest of the locale, which only had two other diners. He turned back to Yui who was putting the order through to the kitchen


    "Kinda quiet this morning" he said, concerned for the business.


    With a sigh, Yui turned back and rested her arms on the counter "Well, ever since that new place across the street opened it''s been a lot quieter here. Starry Vixen or something. Like, it''s blatantly copying us. Cosmic Dragon, Starry Vixen, duh?" she sighed and ran her hand down her face, groaning.


    Rez smiled slightly "Well, if it''s worth anything, I''ll always come here for my food"


    Yui smiled back at him, and went to say something back, but before she could Rez had been dragged from his stool.


    With a yelp, the wolf had been lifted up in a tremendous bear hug by a large broad man with dirty blonde hair. His eyes were snake like, and his skin had a very faint and subtle scale pattern on it.


    He spoke with a thick Irish accent "There he is, chatting up a bird"


    Rez grumbled as he struggled to break free of the vice like grip that he had "Krowe, piss off!"


    A bellowing laugh came from him as he dropped the smaller Hybrid and sat on a stool beside Rez, looking to Yui "Good morning Yui. Have you got any pancakes today?"


    Yui smiled and nodded "Sure do. I''ll go get them ready for you" she said as she walked into the kitchen, the smell of cooking coming through for a moment.


    Climbing up back to the counter, Rez mumbled and looked to Krowe and stuck his tongue out "Dick"


    Krowe smirked "What? I was saying hello"


    Rez rolled his eyes and looked forward "Sure..."


    The two would have their breakfasts uninterrupted, and would make their way to the training hall together. Where they would continue to prepare for their upcoming duties in the war against Theodore.

 Jacks

    Rez stood against a white wall with his hands behind his back as he waited for the training to commence, as well as a few other cadets training to be soldiers out in the field.


    Krowe wasn''t with him however, as he was twenty seven, he was with older trainees in a different hall.


    Among the cadets in Rez''s group were two female cat Hybrids who looked almost the same, as they were twins. Minx and Marion Occel. They were the daughters of Ironclads most respected scientists, Kamil Occel. Were it not for her expertise in biologics, Ironclad Hybrids would have never left the ground. Undergoing the procedure herself before subjecting anyone else to the Hybridization, she was technically the first Ironclad Hybrid, as her own unexpected shift had completed before giving birth to her two twins.


    Minx and Marion themselves were regarded as scientific breakthroughs, the first naturally born Hybrids. Some praised the event as the next step in human evolution, and others cursed Kamil for playing God. But no matter their opinion, a large scale program was put into place and many women from all over the fleet volunteered to undergo the procedure and have their children, as well as themselves, Hybridized.


    As twins, both Minx and Marion looked the same, so they did things to make it easy to tell them apart. They were natural black hairs, but Marion had dyed her hair a sleek silver colour. Minx usually let her hair flow long and free, whilst Marion did her hair up in a ponytail. Other than that they were mostly identical figures. Both with slender frames, long legs and a gifted chest size. They were spitting images of each other.  Both had a sharp and elegant look to them, although Marion seemed to have dark rings around her eyes and was a fair bit skinnier than her sister. Minx''s cat tail was prim and properly groomed, whilst Marion''s was matted and rather unkempt.


    Another person training alongside them was the short blonde Eponine Bows, a quiet, green eyed assassin in training. She was a seventeen year old cadet with a talent for marksmanship. Born and raised on an important trading station around Neptune, Epo was brought up a crane operator. Normally cameras were set up to help operators pick up cargo and freight, but her home station practically took the rules and regulations and shredded them twice over. But that fact was obvious when a young child was allowed to operate such machines.


    Without the aid of cameras and sensors, Epo grew up relying on her keen sense of sight as she operated the massive cargo cranes on her own vision alone. Although she was still getting used to using firearms, her ability to hit the mark was unmatched, even by the older trainees.


    She looked around the hall and flicked some hair out of her face, which was cut to shoulder length and kept slightly spiky in an almost rebellious manner.


    Her petite and slim frame contrasted heavily with the giant anti materiel rifles that she seemed very attracted to.


    And the last of the cadets currently with them was a dog Hybrid with short and messy black hair which had been cut to just below her shoulders. Her name was Onima. Onima was an odd person. Quiet and reserved some days but loud and bubbly the next. Her bright blue eyes seemed to almost change tone depending on her mood, and you could tell by the look in her eyes how she was feeling.


    Onima was born aboard the Forge as part of the Hybridization program, but the events before her mother signed up were far from pleasant.


    Her mother was a refugee fleeing from internal conflicts on Venus, and scared for her life she refused to tell anyone her name out of paranoia that it would lead people to her.


    She settled in as a citizen of Ironclad and tried to forget about what had happened on her homeworld, but it wasn''t long before she discovered she was pregnant. With no idea who or where the father was, she had to figure out a way to afford to keep her quarters in the city district within the Forge by herself.


    And as if by a miracle she heard of the Hybridization Program for mothers in early stages of pregnancy. She immediately signed up for it. A few injections, a small surgery and a few digestible medicines seemed like an easy opportunity to take for guaranteed housing, medical, and money to take care of the child.


    But of course things weren''t so simple. Complications made themselves apparent as her body rejected the treatment, and her health rapidly deteriorated. She was able to hold on to life long enough to give Onima a chance at one, but when she heard Onima''s cries as she was born, she knew she would be alright without her, and passed on.


    Onima was an orphan, and one that would never know her real name. Or even her mother''s.


    But she didn''t need to know. Because even as a child she vowed to end conflicts like the one that caused her mother to run away from home. And so she joined the military in order to bring order and peace to the solar system.


    She looked down at the floor with an almost puzzled expression on her soft, roundish face. She angle her feet back and forth, before blowing air up into her hair and cracking her knuckles. She was bored


    Each of the cadets wore the same uniform, similar to Tameen''s jumpsuit-esque suit. It was pure white with black trims and detailing on the sleeves and legs. The Ironclad emblem placed on both shoulders as well as over the right breast.


    Rez looked over at the two Occel sisters and took note at the tight fitting outfits on their bodies, he had known them a long time and saw them as close friends, but his maturing mind and body led him astray occasionally as his eyes wandered and indulged themselves.


    "I wonder what we''re going to be doing today"


    Rez''s eyes widened as he looked to the voice, afraid that he had been caught staring, even if accidentally. But he took a breath and saw Epo looking at the large circular clock on the middle of the wall.


    Nodding, Rez replied "Well. We usually just do exercise, run a few training courses and then if we''ve got the time have some firearm practice. Been like that for a few months anyway" he said, glancing back at Minx and Marion, just to make sure he wasn''t receiving death stares.


    Epo pondered as she leaned back against the wall and then looked to Rez "Yeah. It''s getting a bit repetitive at this point, but.. What can we do, eh?" she said as she shrugged and exhaled.


    But the sounds of the training hall doors opening drew the cadets out of their thoughts as they immediately stood up straight and looked forward. They saluted with their right fists over their heart, and their left hand against their head.


    Their trainer and commander was a retired but esteemed commander. Commander Jacks Revia. She was well known for her leadership during the war between the UPA and Pro-Independence planets. She led many successful operations over her twenty years of service, but was forced to retire after a brain injury she sustained when her camp was ambushed in the rainforests of Europa.  Unable to walk without the help of cybernetics and a walking stick to help her keep balanced, she was forced to resign as a Commander. But she didn''t want to toss in the towel just yet. She couldn''t work in the field, but she was more than capable of training the new cadets and getting them ready for combat.


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    Jacks'' herself was a tall and imposing woman with broad shoulders and a sharper and defined face. She had subtle wrinkles on her forehead and around her nose and mouth, but nothing too obvious.


    Her hair was a darker shade of grey with more and more silvery locks and strands as it went down to her hips. It was kept straight for the most part, except for two locks of hair that went over both of her shoulders and down over her large, full bust.


    Her eyes were a greenish yellow, with a long scar that went from her forehead, over her left eye and down her cheek.


    Shining slightly against the lights from above were her plump lips, a pinky red lipstick had been put on.


    She was wearing a much fancier uniform than the cadets however. She wore tight fitting, white and black service dress. Her upper clothing white with black trims and the Ironclad emblem on the left breast. She wore her medals on her right breast.


    Her lower clothing were a pair of tight fitting, black suit pants. There wasn''t much to say about them, except for they accentuated her wide hips.


    And a pair of black boots that made a heavy clap against the training room floor.


    The cadets all looked over to her and awaited her first orders.


    Every time that she walked into the training hall, Rez wasn''t sure if he should be attracted or terrified, and he was beginning to get the feeling that Epo felt the same.


    Jacks stood in front of them with a neutral expression as her eyes trained across them. She closed her fist and rubbed her thumb against her pointing finger, before she spoke with a thick Australian accent.


    "Alright everybody. Today we''ll be training against some dummies equipped with stun batons" she said as she began to pace.


    "The dummies in question are reprogrammed Officer droids. However they are pretty old models, and such you should not treat Officers you find in the field like the dummies here"


    She gestured behind her as a large section of the wall began to slide open.


    "But make no mistake. These dummies will not hold their punches. They will not hesitate to beat you down. They feel nothing. And Officers out in the field, well. They do not care who, what or where you are. If an Officer designates you as a threat then you can be damn sure that every single Officer in a mile around you will be coming for your ass and they will not stop until either you are dead, or they are destroyed" she spoke with vigor and passion, a fire burned in her eyes as her speech filled the air.


    Three dummies stepped out of their charging stations that were hidden in the wall, and stood upright. Their heavy footsteps echoed throughout the training hall.


    Rez looked at them with a surprised expression, then one of hatred moments after as he examined the Officers. They were the same model that he watched on TV. The Mk.I''s. The very first Officers.


    Although they had been repainted, they were now the signature Ironclad white and black. Their blue lights remained the same, and their handgun had been removed. Likely as a training dummy wouldn''t need a gun. But it was instead replaced with the aforementioned stun batons.


    Jacks looked at Rez and took notice of the stare he gave them, which she wasn''t having any of.


    "Quit the staring boy! Anger leads to shit decisions and shit decisions get you killed! Charge an Officer head-on and I''ll watch it snap you like a fortune cookie. Only the cookie is your frail pathetic body, and the fortune is your bloody organs!" she said as she stood in front of Rez and glared down at him.


    Rez would be lying if he said he didn''t feel the anger swelling up inside him, and that images of him retaliating were going through his mind. But he had promised Coco to behave during her anger classes.


    There had been a few incidents regarding Anti-Hybrid racists, and even though Rez was defending himself, his increased strength as a Hybrid led to some serious injuries for others.


    Jacks let out a sigh as she walked back and looked to the Officers, who were standing and awaiting orders.


    "I understand that some people associate these machines with bad memories and awful experiences. But they''re no more alive than a car or a microwave. Save your anger for the pompous asswipe who had them built"


    She said as she looked at each of the cadets


    "Now... Each of you will have a change to work individually today. In a mock up fight against these dummy Officers. Now we can''t actually damage them, because they''re expensive, and no factory builds these Mk.I''s anymore."


    She mumbled as she walked over to a control panel that was on the wall


    "It was a pain in the ass to get Dasyil to let me buy three of them from a shady trader. And all the newer models have such advanced software it''s impossible to reprogram them..."


    She had began mumbling to herself.


    "Can''t hack them cause if they detect any modification they just fry themselves, so you can''t even use the parts.. Can''t scrap them very well cause if the core hasn''t received a command from its brain in ten minutes it self destructs. Fucking prick robots"


    The cadets were just confused with what she was talking about, but were brought back to attention when she cleared her throat.


    "Alright, a mock battle. It''ll take place in a randomly generated arena" she said as she looked to the floor of the training room, specifically a large area within a white rectangle that spanned the length of the hall.


    Pieces of the floor began to rise, lower and twist around as all sorts of arms, blocks and set pieces were placed down. Multifloored buildings were constructed in moments by sets of robotic arms from the ceiling. Tunnels, streets and alleys were formed as well. It was a faithful recreation of a city block on Earth. And one which the cadets would be fighting the Officers in.


    Jacks looked to them and smiled a smug smile "There are various non lethal weapons that have been scattered around the arena. Metal pipes, tools and other things. A dent is easier to fix than a giant bullet hole in the them.."


    She paused to collect herself, then exhaled


    "The Officers will have three ribbons attached to them. One on their neck, where their cables are exposed. One on their back, as it''s their blind spot. And the last one is on their chest. This one is the hardest to get for obvious reasons, but it''s possible."


    Each cadet looked at the arena they would have to work with. Looking for spots that work with their strengths and abilities. Everyone seemed to have a pretty good grasp on what they planned to do against the Officers.


    Jacks looked to them and paced as she decided on who to pick first, and then her eyes landed on Rez "Alright then. You seemed like you were itching to fight them from the way you were staring them down earlier. You''ll go first" she said as she looked over to one of the Officers and pointed "You''ll go first against Rez. Get into position"


    The Officer processed the order and nodded as it let off its mechanical and threatening horn like alarm as it stepped into the arena and vanished from view. It''s heavy footsteps were the only tell that it was still there.


    Jacks looked to Rez "One Officer and one Proto Hybrid. I guess we''ll find out if Theodore was wasting his time creating you all if he was just going to put robots on the street"

 Resisting Arrest

    Rez crept quietly through an alleyway of the makeshift arena, listening carefully for the distinct metal footsteps of the Officer. Glancing back and forth to make sure he was safe, he crossed the street and climbed up a pipe to get a vantage point from the roof of the fake building.


    He was searching for a weapon to defend himself with, as everything he had come across prior had been too weak, unwieldy or too heavy.


    He cursed to himself as he hid behind the rooftop''s parapet and listened as the heavy steps of the Officer got closer and louder until they were right beneath him.


    He heard it stop and listened as its mechanical parts and electronics whirred and hummed quietly, before it began walking away in the opposite direction.


    Rez exhaled and stood up, peering over the edge and making sure it was gone before he jumped back down and ran the way that it had come from.


    He turned the corner and looked around for anything to use before he moved on and continued to sneak along the street. As he did so, he peered in through the windows of the fake buildings to see if there was anything inside, and to his surprise, it looked like there was a metal pipe sticking out of the ceiling.


    He wanted that pipe, so he opened the window carefully and crept inside the room. There was a table, a chair and a fake fireplace. But Rez''s focus was on the pipe that was sticking out of the ceiling.


    He reached up to it and grabbed it and gave it a big tug, but it wouldn''t budge. He grabbed it with both hands and pulled and pulled and pulled, to no avail. His hands ached at how tight he had his hands around it.


    Cracking his knuckles, he grabbed it and put his whole body weight into the pull. But his hands slipped off of the pipe.


    His eyes widened as everything seemed to slow down as all he saw was the pipe getting further and further away as he fell.


    Crash. Rez fell right back onto the table and shattered it, making an almighty noise as the wood splintered, broke and snapped. Rez was dazed for a few moments as he had winded himself and hit his head on the wall. He wasn''t quite sure what had happened for a minute before he remembered as he heard the muffled metal banging of the Officers footsteps approaching fazing in and out due to his head injury.


    The only thing that went through Rez''s mind in that moment was "Shit" as he scrambled up to his feet, ignoring the stinging pain that covered his whole back.


    He turned to the door and swung it open. And to his horror, the Officer was standing directly in front of him. Its lights were red and it stared down at him with emotionless and cold optics.


    Rez''s eyes widened as he looked down at the chest of the machine and saw the ribbon. In a split second decision, he swiped and grabbed the ribbon off of him and he immediately turned to dive out the window. The Officer stepped forward and broke through the wall as its arms were too big to fit through the door.


    In a deep, robotic voice it said


    "You are under arrest. Cease resistance and your punishment will be swift"


    Rez wasn''t about to be caught as he dived right out the window. Feeling the wind of an attempted swipe on his leg. He ran as fast as he could, but was he faster than a machine?


    He listened with terror as he heard the loud footsteps of a robot go faster than any heavy machine should ever be.


    Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang, a constant noise that made Rez dread what would happen if he were caught. He looked down at the ribbon in his hand and clutched it tightly. Two more he thought to himself.


    The horrific slams of the machine''s feet sounded like it was right behind him. He thought if he hesitated at all he would be killed.


    An alleyway caught his attention and he dove down it quickly, causing the Officer to overshoot and have to slow down to come back around to follow after him.


    Rez had to find a weapon quickly as he surveyed his surroundings, but nothing stuck out to him. He had to keep moving, so he ran up a ramp that went to a fake plaza.


    The plaza was surrounded by buildings and had a fountain in the center of it. Of course no water was coming out of it, but it was still a fountain nonetheless.


    Though the fountain contained exactly what Rez was looking for, a decent weapon.


    There, lodged in the side of the fountain was a metal sledgehammer. It would be hefty, but he could pull it off. He just had to buy the time he needed to get it out of there.


    He looked to the sides and noticed large metal dumpsters. They were on small wheels, and Rez had a plan. He grabbed the sides of it and angled it towards the ramp that he had just come up and waited. He could still hear the Officer coming closer, as it seemed to have finally gotten into the alley. It charged into view, and upon seeing Rez, its horn sounded off as it made its way up the ramp.


    Grinning to himself, Rez pushed the metal dumpster down the ramp and immediately turned to go to the fountain.


    The dumpster picked up speed quickly due to its weight, the wheels squeaking as they span faster than they were ever meant to.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.The Officer looked up and saw that it was about to be struck by the dumpster and braced itself. It raised its arms in front of itself and moved its legs so it wouldn''t be pushed down.


    The thin metal of the dumpster screeched and groaned as it twisted and snapped around the superior body of the Officer, pieces of metal were flung all over the alley, and the dumpster was obviously ruined.


    But the Officer didn''t get off without any injury, its arm was bent out of place, its chest dented and a shard of metal was lodged in its right hip.


    All Rez could focus on was the sledgehammer, the Officer and hearing Jacks curse out loud about the hole that the Officer would have in it now. But he kept going and jumped up to the sledgehammer and grabbed its handle with both hands, putting all his weight into it as he swung his legs down. The fountain creaked and crumbled, but the sledgehammer was dislodged, and Rez held it in his hands triumphantly as he turned to look at the alleyway where he was.


    The Officer was no longer running due to the shard that had severed wires and broken servos, but instead it walked ominously up the ramp and stared at Rez as it did. Its red eye never leaving his gaze as it watched him. The ribbons could go to hell for all Rez cared, he wanted to break this machine for everything it stood for and had done.


    "This unit is government property. Vandalising it can and will be treated as a crime"


    "Guess they never gave you new voice lines, huh?" Rez remarked as he held the hammer. He felt confident he could take it on when its arm and leg were busted.


    Stepping down off the fountain and onto the ground, both Rez and the Officer stared one another down. Rez could feel his heart racing and the adrenaline coursing through every inch of his body.


    With a loud clank from its servos, the Officer charged forward and swung down at Rez, who narrowly jumped out of the way. Slamming into the side of the fountain, the Officer''s fist caved in a large chunk of it.


    Seeing an opening as the droid pulled its arm up, Rez swung his sledge hammer directly into the head of the confused Officer and watched as it stumbled and fell back. Its head was now stuck at a sharp angle, and a massive hole was now present as sparks flew out of it.


    He went in for another swing, this time aiming for the waist. But before the hammerhead made contact with the Officer, it had spun its upper body round and hit Rez right in the side with its arm.


    He went flying onto the ground and he was certain he heard something snap. He was dazed, and he looked up in time to see the fist of the Officer fast approaching. His eyes widened and he rolled out of the way just in time as it slammed down into the pavement where his head would have been.


    "Woah woah woah that''s way more than training mode!" he called out as he watched the Officer glitch. Its head twitched and shot out sparks as it extended its baton, which lit up with electricity. It seemed that hitting it in the head had caused it to fight for real.


    Rez scrambled to his feet and grabbed the sledgehammer despite the pain in his ribs and side. He had to fight back, but he did hear Jacks yell out for technicians and a gun.


    The Officer watched him and began to approach as it lifted its baton high above its head and brought it down, there was enough time for Rez to move to the side and counterattack, but as he swung the sledgehammer at it, it raised its other arm and batted the hammer out of his arms. The hammer was sent into the wall across the plaza, and Rez was defenseless as he tried to get away.


    But he wouldn''t get far as a searing pain went through his entire body, the electricity of the stun baton overwhelmed him as he collapsed to the floor.


    The Officer stood over him and picked him up by the collar of his uniform, choking him and causing him to splutter and cough as he clawed for air.


    Rez closed his eyes in fear as he saw  Officer was about to slam the baton into his stomach, but before he could feel the pain, he heard the sudden deafening cracks of a gun going off.


    His eyes widened as he looked over and he saw Jacks rushing into the plaza, giant slug firing revolver in hand. She fired into the Officer, and it let go of Rez, who fell to the floor with a heavy thud.


    Seeing Jacks as the bigger threat, the Officer turned to her and got ready to use the baton on her, but before it had the chance, Jacks had ran up to it and pressed the long barrel of her gun against the underside of its head and fired. Metal, shrapnel and sparks shot into the air as the bullet pierced its cranium, and the Officer went limp. It continued to stand for a few moments, before falling onto its back and shorting out.


    Rez watched it all, and he looked to Jacks as he held his side. He only noticed now that he was bleeding.


    Jacks looked down at the broken body of the Officer, then turned to Rez. She stared at him for more than Rez would have liked, then walked off.


    He had a feeling that he would be organising his own medical treatment from that stare alone.

 Medbay

    Rez could hear the beeping of medical equipment and footsteps in adjacent rooms, doctors and nurses chatted away as he laid there on the medical bed with two broken ribs and a fractured forearm.


    He was the only other patient in the room, which he was thankful for. He was sat in his boxers with bandages around his upper body and his left arm in a sling, it wasn''t the most dignified appearance.


    With no windows in the room, all he had was his imagination to keep him company as he rested his head back on the pillow and closed his eyes, and soon enough he drifted off to sleep.


    When he opened his eyes again, he was back on Mars. He was sitting on the hill in the park, looking up at the orange sunset sky. The light reflecting off of the tall glass towers all around caused a beautiful pattern to be cast down onto the park.


    He took a deep breath and took in the powerful scent of the trees around him and freshly cut grass that his hand could easily and gently glide across. He watched as the birds flew above and wondered what it was like to be free to go wherever you want whenever you want.


    His mind wandered, and he stood up. Glancing around he found himself following the path him and his family normally took. It led him over a wooden bridge that went over a stream, and Earthen swans were nesting just below.


    He watched the water ripple and splash when the swans moved and drank, and how it reacted to every singe touch.


    He was enamoured for a few moments, before he continued on with his walk that he didn''t really know what the goal of was, but he was doing it anyway.


    As he walked he became aware of how he felt. He felt a warmness over his whole body, a pleasant and enjoyable warmth that started at the top of his head and ran down to his toes. As he felt the warmth fill him, he started to lose focus on walking and instead focused on the warm and tingling sensations that coursed through him.


    He stumbled on his own feet, before coming to a stop at a small pavilion that was in the middle of a cross roads in the park.


    He sat on the steps up to it and laid back, resting his head against his shoulder and the wooden pavilion fence.


    There was absolutely no one else around, he noticed. Not a single other human. There were usually at least couples or dog walkers having a nice stroll at this time. But the park was devoid of human life. But it didn''t bother him, he just enjoyed the quiet.


    As he walked along he looked across the park at a tall apartment block just outside of the park, the one where he used to live. It was a shiny and luxurious looking building, and the apartments were pretty roomy. They had a great view of everything nearby and Rez would spent hours and hours just watching ships go by. He would watch the skies and note down every ship he saw on a given day. But there wasn''t anything in the sky either.


    He found that very odd, Mons was essentially the center of United Planetary Alliance, there was always ships in the sky.


    The more time that passed, the more uneasy Rez began to feel as he explored the park. There were no longer any birds, or wildlife at all. It had become deathly still, there wasn''t even a breeze.


    Rez stood in the center of the park, looking around at the trees and empty buildings. It felt like he was the only one on the whole planet.


    But as he looked down at the ground, the whole park became dark, and the sun was completely eclipsed. Rez looked up at what was casting the shadow and his eyes widened as he saw it.


    The Absolute Authority, the flagship of the United Planetary Alliance''s fleet. The biggest ship ever constructed and a floating fortress.


    Bright flashes blinded him and he recoiled in pain, he began to hear gunfire and explosions going off all around him. When he opened his eyes, everything had changed.


    The trees were gone and the park was nothing but dead, hard dirt. Rubble and ash was spread across the park, and all the buildings he could see in the distance were on fire.


    Stolen novel; please report.His heart was racing and panic began to set in, all he could do was run. But it didn''t matter, no matter which way he went he was always heading towards flames.


    As Rez ran, he tripped and fell on a metal rod that was sticking out of a pile of broken concrete.


    He fell to the ground with a thud, grazing his palms and arms.


    Stunned for a moment, the only thing that got his attention was the sound of a loud and deafening robotic horn.


    His blood ran cold and he felt the ground shake beneath him. Slowly he looked up, and his gaze was met with the cold, uncaring stare of an Officer. He could only see its outline against the flames of the city, and the red lights on its body.


    He heard the mechanical parts inside it chunk and click as it brought its arm up and pointed the barrel of its pistol to his forehead.


    Rez stared at it in disbelief and tears ran down his cheeks. All he heard was a loud bang.


    He jolted up in bed in a cold sweat, panting and looking around the medbay nervously. He placed his hand against his bandaged chest and felt his heart nearly beating out of it.


    He swallowed and grunted as he laid back down and tried to calm down, watching the ceiling for a few moments before the sound of the medbay door sliding open brought him back to reality.


    He looked over to see who was coming in, and was happy to see his sister.


    Riza had grown up into a stunningly beautiful woman. Her pure white hair went down to her hips, messy but tidy at the same time. Her face was sleek, elegant and full of determination. Her red eyes were like rubies.


    She had the body of a goddess in many peoples eyes, with a large, full bust, slender figure and wide hips, she had caught the eyes of many who have tried, and failed, to catch her love.


    Her white tail flicked gently behind her, and one of her two wolven ears twitched.


    She glanced over to Rez, then walked over and sat beside him on a stool.


    The two looked at one another for a few moments, before Riza exhaled and held her face "You''re a dumbass, you know that?"


    Rez watched her after she said that, and after they both stared at one another, they both began to laugh.


    After a moment, they both exhaled and smiled at one another, and Rez sat back and rested his head on the pillow.


    "I''m not sure what happened. I was just trying to beat the challenge that Jacks gave everyone. And the Officer went batshit and tried to kill me. Maybe I hit it too hard or something but, I didn''t do anything on purpose. Jacks looked like she wanted to kill me after it happened though"


    Riza was annoyed, but she was worried as well


    "Well, you''re okay now and that''s what matters. Just rest and heal up. Doctor said you were pretty banged up after it. I''m not surprised, those things are like walking tanks" she said, shuddering at the thought of having to fight an Officer herself.


    Rez nodded and smiled at her "I''m not doing much else. Kinda have to rest. Does Coco know what happened?"


    "Yeah, she does. And she said she''ll be visiting soon"


    He nodded and pondered, before looking to her "How did your training go anyway?" he asked


    Riza seemed caught off guard by the question but she sat forward


    "Well, today we were being taught what to do when we were cut off from communications to other Ironclad field agents. It was pretty interesting, lots of really subtle things that we should do to get the attention of anyone else Ironclad. I''ll show you them when you''re not bedridden"


    Rez nodded, then looked over to the wall


    "Yeah, that''d be nice"


    Riza exhaled and then stood up


    "Well, I want to stay and make sure you''re fine but I only got half an hour out of my training to make sure you were alright. I need to go back and finish up. Coco''ll be here soon enough so, I hope you won''t be lonely for long"


    Rez nodded and smiled


    "Hopefully. Take care Riza. I love you"


    "I love you too"

 Visiting Hours

    Rez would unfortunately be bedridden for a while, a fact which greatly displeased him. He wasn''t sure what to do with himself whilst he was stuck in a medical bed in a quiet room. Of course he had the television, although it would often be interrupted by Theodore''s propaganda.


    It would spout some patriotic speech about protecting your homes from the ''terrorist'' threat that Ironclad posed while showing footage of Officers marching in ways that paint them as heroic and strong.


    Of course what the footage doesn''t show is Officers brutally executing people speaking out against Theodore.


    Rez recalled a time where he overheard an Ironclad soldier talking about his experience in one of Theodore''s so called integration facilities.


    He was unlucky on a mission, half of his team was killed in an explosion and the rest, including him, were taken hostage.


    They were there for months, forced to take part in an Officer assembly line under heavy surveillance.


    Abysmal conditions and horrid treatment were one thing, but if an Officer malfunctioned during its test, it would mean a very unpleasant death.


    It convinced them all not to even try and sabotage them.


    Rez had stopped listening at that point as it reminded him of his own time at the strange laboratories underneath the surface of Venus, but he was pretty sure he heard that the soldier''s friend was practically quartered by four Officers as an example of failure.


    Rez shuddered at the though and exhaled as he looked down at his arm, still in a cast and kept close to his chest. It was healing much faster than anticipated, but not fast enough for Rez. He was eager to get back out there and continue his training. Although he wasn''t even sure if Jacks would accept that. She hadn''t visited since the incident.


    Now that was something that made him worry, if Jacks was so angry that she couldn''t even visit him weeks after, then his life expectancy just halved about ten times.


    But the sliding sound of the medbay door brought him out of his thoughts, and he looked over to see who was there. He was pleasantly surprised to see Yui standing there, she waved and smiled as she walked over.


    "Hey" she said gently "How''re you doing?"


    Rez smiled, it was always nice to see Yui. She had visited a few times before, but it never hurt to see her again "I''m doing alright, apart from the arm. What about you?" Rez replied as he sat up in his bed, flinching slightly at the stinging in his side.


    Yui pulled up a seat and sat next to the bed, she had a small box with her that was red and tied up in a blue ribbon.


    "I''m alright. A bit stressed out with everything at the bar. Business is slow..." she stated, sighing with a defeated tone, before continuing.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it."I''ve gotta think of something to get people coming back in, y''know?"


    Rez nodded in agreement, glancing down at the present, then back up to Yui "Well, you could maybe redo the menu, or have an event night. Like a big quiz for people to come to and take their minds off of things." he suggested, adjusting the sling around his arm.


    Yui seemed to think for a moment, before nodding and smiling "Yeah that actually sounds like a great idea. Thanks Rez." she smiled at him, then seemed to remember that she had brought something.


    "Oh, sorry. I got you this." she handed him the box, then put her hands on her lap as she waited eagerly to see his reaction.


    Rez looked at her and smiled, and thanked her before he undid the ribbon and opened the box up to see what she had gotten him.


    He was pleasantly surprised to see a scale model of Mars that slowly rotated on its base. It even had a small light that shone up onto it.


    Yui scratched the back of her head, her cat like ears twitching "Sorry if you were expecting something you could actually, like. Use. But I saw it in the store and thought of you"


    Rez had to take a moment as he got lost in thought, seeing his red home again. He shook himself awake and looked to Yui with a smile "Hey, don''t worry. I love it. I''ll put it right by my bed" he said as he gently ran his finger over the smooth surface of the model.


    Yui seemed happy at that, and she placed her hands together "I''m glad!" she said, her silky tail flicking back and forth behind her.


    Setting the model down by his bedside table and watching it slowly spin for a moment, Rez exhaled as he sat back, then looked over to her "I can''t wait to get out of here. But it did give me time to catch up on ''Biz''s Construction Conundrum''. It''s pretty cool how they build those giant apartment buildings."


    Yui smiled at him, then she looked down at her watch "I''d love to stay and chat, but I''ve gotta get back to the bar and help out, okay?"


    Rez smiled, but puffed his cheeks up "I bring up my enjoyment of documentaries and you''re ditching me?"


    Yui gave him a small laugh, then smiled "I didn''t take you for the kind to enjoy them, to be honest." she said, then waved as she left.


    Rez gave her a wave back, then laid his head back and sighed. He looked back over to the model of Mars and remembered the time he spent there, living in a city of gigantic glass towers and advanced technology. Maybe one day if everything goes back to normal he could show Yui what it was like before Theodore and his Officers crushed the solar system under their boot. That''s what he hoped for anyway. But he knew it would be a long time until that was even a possibility.


    He sat back and flicked the TV on, looking for something to watch.

 Discharged

    Rez''s time in the hospital was up and he was free to go. His arm had healed up nicely and as was his side. Although he had been told to go easy for a little while at the very least.


    As his foot stepped over the threshold of the medbay door, thoughts began to fill his mind. How much training did he miss out on? Is he even still part of Jacks'' team of recruits?


    He sighed and held the side of his head as he thought about his current options, his fluffy black tail swayed side to side subtly before he figured that he should go and see if he''s still training to be a soldier.


    But that would mean coming face to face with Jacks, the Dragon of the Asteroid Belt. During the Solar Civil War, the Pro-Independence forces from Saturn and Pluto would need to go through the Asteroid Belt to reach Earth, Venus or Mars. This gave the UPA an advantage.  Giant mine fields were set up, long range artillery batteries were built into inconspicuous asteroids and asteroids were fitted with engines to ram them into Pro-Independence ships.


    Jacks was in charge of the Asteroid Built for most of the war, and she gained two titles. Jacks the Treacherous, for her brutal and almost cruel tactics in the Asteroid Belt. And The Dragon of the Asteroid Belt, which stems from her flagship, the Dragoon.


    All of the cadets were tasked with studying the Civil War before even beginning physical training, and Jacks was one of the topics that was studied. After learning about her, it was safe to say that they were a bit intimidated by her being their teacher.


    She was strange and a bit terrifying, but she was an effective teacher. Any class she taught always had the highest scores out of the classes throughout Ironclad.


    Although Rez was concerned for the state of Ironclad if a class with him in it had highest marks, but Yui convinced him that it was something to be proud of and not to worry.


    With a bag of get well soon gifts in his right hand and a can of coke in the other, Rez had to make sure that he was still part of Jacks'' class.


    After a quick detour to his room to drop the gifts off, he quickly got to the military district aboard the Forge.


    The military district runs along the whole length of the ship on the upper decks, with quick access to all vital areas and hangar bays. The ''Academy'' as some students jokingly call it is an area near the stern of the ship, where all the training halls and teachers can be found.


    Taking one of the many tram lines across the ship, Rez was there in no time.


    As he stepped off onto the station, he exhaled as made his way up the stairs out of the station and onto the main deck. The military district was always busy, with people in uniform constantly moving around, moving papers between rooms, attending meetings. It had a very strict atmosphere.


    But Rez pressed on, weaving through the hallways of people to get to Jacks'' office. Although the amount of stuff going on overwhelmed Rez just a bit.


    The constant clacking of fancy suit shoes on the smooth floor, lots of talking voices but none of them coherent or the mere aura of the district sending chills up Rez''s spine. It was a lot for Rez''s heightened senses. He covered his ears as he continued moving on, ducking and weaving through people. Jacks'' office was just at the end of the hall he was now on, he thought as he turned a corner.


    Although his train of thought was brought to a quick end as he accidentally bumped into someone, his shoulder hitting into the other persons''.


    "Oh, I''m sorry" he said, turning to face the person he bumped into. Only to be met with a punch in the face and to be pinned against the wall hard enough to knock the wind out of him. It was all so quick Rez didn''t even get to react, but he felt the stinging pain on his face, and he got a good look at his assailant.


    The person holding him was an older looking Asian man in a officers uniform with a synthetic eye, which somehow portrayed the rage that his real eye was showing. Despite his age, the man was quite broad and muscular, and had little trouble holding the smaller Rez to the wall.


    "You clumsy, disgusting freak. Don''t you dare disrespect me like that again!" he yelled out angrily. The whole hallway went silent and watched, much to Rez''s anger. A hallway of soldiers and officers and nobody was stepping in to help him from this deranged old psychopath.


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    The angry officer wasn''t done however, delivering another smack across the face and kicking Rez to the floor "You animals shouldn''t even be allowed to breathe let alone be up here where all of us real people fight"


    Bleeding from his mouth, Rez looked up at the man with a glare "You ever actually go into battle? I don''t see any medals on that saggy tit of yours"


    Rez could swear he saw a blood vessel burst in his eye, and he was ready to stamp right on Rez''s head until he heard his saviour. Or possibly someone worse.


    "Enough, Karuno!!" bellowed out the voice of either God, or Satan.


    The crowd dispersed, showing a path to the speaker and confirming Rez''s thought. Jacks stood there with a scowl powerful enough to cut through glaciers, and a stare more focused than a pixel perfect laser.


    She began to step forward, her boots clacking against the tile.


    "You dare assault one of my students?" she asked, almost too calmly as she approached.


    Karuna scoffed and gestured down at Rez "He pushed me, could have ruined my uniform. You know how these halfbreeds are with their claws and disgusting growths."


    Jacks'' lower eyelid twitched, she was face to face with Karuno. She stared at him down and all the while Karuno was trying to back away from the situation.


    Noticing his pitiful retreat, Jacks stepped forward and clenched her fist tightly, her knuckles cracking as a result. She swung her arm back and charged up her punch, and sent it flying right into Karuno''s bottom jaw, sending him flying into the ceiling. He hit the ceiling with enough force to knock out one of the lighting fixtures, then fell back down and laid still as blood pooled out of his mouth and nose.


    Jacks merely grinned "Oh, did you bite your tongue? Aw, maybe you''ll learn not to run your mouth then" she scoffed, before kicking him in the gut, then looking to Rez.


    Rez''s internal cheering for Jacks vanished instantly as Jacks watched him for a few short moments, then extended her hand down to him to help him up.


    Swallowing his fear, Rez reached up and took her hand. Hoisting him up off of the ground, Jacks began to walk towards her office, gesturing for him to follow. He of course was quick to listen and followed, taking one last glance at Karuno''s still form. His breath was shaky as he groaned, but Rez wasn''t about to share any sympathy.


    Once the two were out of earshot in Jacks'' office, Rez took a look at the room. It was a big room with a lot of stuff scattered throughout. Her shelves of medals and awards, to photos of friends she had in the war. It wasn''t what he expected, but at the same time he wasn''t quite sure what he should have expected.


    Jacks sat down at her desk and sighed, her chair creaking as she leaned against the backrest "I''m sorry about that. Karuno is..." she struggled to find the words, then simply gave up trying to sugar coat it.


    "He''s a human purist. He despises Hybrids and has quite openly rallied for the purge of you all" she stated bluntly.


    Rez knew there were people against Hybrids across the Solar System, but he didn''t think they would be within the Ironclad military. He seemed a bit shocked.


    "Good to know that I might be put in the command of someone who would send me to my death"


    She shook her head "No, don''t worry. I may be retired from active duty but I have more influence than you might think. I''m working with Coco to make sure Karuno never gets any Hybrids under his command, and if I can scratch a few backs, get him discharged from the military"


    Rez nodded slightly, before sitting back "Well, thank you." he exhaled, then looked around the room for a moment. But he soon remembered why he had came in the first place


    "Oh, right. Sorry, I came to apologise for what happened... And if I''m still part of your class." he asked with a bit of uncertainty.


    She nodded and sighed "Yeah, you are. I thought about that day for a while and I realised it might have been unfair of me to..." she closed her mouth and began racking her brain for the words.


    Rez lifted his hand up to her and smiled "It''s alright." he interjected, knowing her talent is with her actions and not her words.


    But then he gave her a laugh and said "You could treat me to dinner, if you want to make it up to me"


    Jacks chuckled and nodded "Alright, fine"

 Shockwave

    A few days passed since the conversation with Jacks and Rez was eager to get back to training. In his room he worked out through the morning doing push-ups, sit-ups and squats. Sweat dripped from his toned body as he exhaled shakily, pushing himself forward as he felt the burn and pain of his muscles screaming at him to stop.


    Eventually he had to stop, as he fell forward onto his stomach and panted due to his overexertion. He was wearing only a pair of loose shorts to work out in, so the cool floor was a blessing on his sweating body. His tail laid limp on the ground and his ears could barely move, but he forced himself up off of the floor and sat cross legged. He was about to do some meditation as  Coco suggested when his ears perked up at the sound of the door sliding open. He looked over and was surprised to see Krowe.


    Krowe waved at him as he carried a bag over his shoulder, it looked like it was full of a few cheeky treats that they could indulge themselves in.


    "Hey there wolfy" he said in his trademark Irish accent.


    Rez waved back


    "Snakeskin" he retorted


    Krowe faked a wince and pouted, but chuckled


    "That''s just rude" he said as he placed the bag down and rubbed his face, which of course had his subtle snake skin texture and pattern. But he sat down in front of Rez with a grin.


    Taking a look at the contents of the bag, he was correct in assuming that it was a less than healthy goody bag. Big sandwiches, some sugary candies and some chocolate.


    Rez smiled slightly "This is a surprise. But, I can''t eat chocolate." Ever since the transformations he underwent in laboratory, his diet had to go a drastic change. Like his instincts, his diet became more canine like. He could still eat plenty of things that dogs and wolves couldn''t eat, but chocolate was one that would make him very sick. And he wouldn''t even chance it with raisins. Not that he was overly fussed about losing the ability to eat them.


    Krowe nodded "I know, it''s for me" he said, as he pointed to the packets of gummy sweets.


    Looking to them, Rez took them out of the bag and put them on his bed before looking back at Krowe, who was already eating a chocolate bar.


    He raised an eyebrow "That''s a lot of chocolate to eat in one night" Rez stated.


    Shrugging, Krowe nodded "Yeah but, I''ve been dieting for ages. One night of chocolate can''t hurt... Well, it could hurt you" he chuckled.


    Rolling his eyes, Rez looked over to the window and watched Jupiter in the distance. It''s orange and yellow glow contrasted against the pitch black void that surrounded them.


    "You ever wonder what''s beneath those clouds?" Krowe asked as he stood up and walked over to the window, still chowing down on his chocolate.


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    "Even with all the technology we have today we can only go around, what. One hundred and fifty miles give or take." he added.


    Rez nodded as he stood up and walked over "Yeah, it''s kinda scary. It seems so quiet and tranquil from here. But when you go down there it''s constant storms that would rip buildings from their foundations on Earth."


    Krowe nodded in agreement, then chuckled "I''m pretty sure Jacks could walk through that on her way to the shops"


    Rez couldn''t help but laugh and nod "Yeah, she walked through that on her way to school"


    Krowe chuckled and smiled as he ate his chocolate, and his eyes were drawn back to the window.


    For a few quiet moments the two shared a moment and looked out at the void, and the smaller Ironclad ships that were floating out there.


    But the peace wouldn''t last long as the lights began to flicker in the room, but with a quick glance it was across the whole fleet. The lights on the outside of the smaller ships were flickering as well.


    Unsure of what was going on, the two looked at one another and rushed to the door to find out. But the door wouldn''t open, it seemed like everything was malfunctioning as the lights shut off and a dim red light replaced it. They were on emergency power as everything flickered and malfunctioned.


    Feeling a strange electricity flow through their bodies that felt similar to static, their eyes were drawn back to the window as the whole room was lit up by a blue light that came from outside.


    Far in the distance, a blue explosion went off, and what looked like streaks of lightning were shooting off of it constantly.


    It looked like in the center of it all was a giant ship, but it was hard to make out details. It looked like it was painted in the black and red colours of Theodore''s military.


    The strange thing was however was that the ship wasn''t being damaged or destroyed by the strange energy radiating off of the explosion, in fact it seemed to be absorbing it. The explosion was being pulled back into the ship and the electricity shooting off of it was speeding up.


    Rez and Krowe watched in confusion and fear as it reached a singularity and caused a gigantic shockwave. The explosion was blinding as it sent out a visible shockwave that shot through the vacuum at an extreme speed.


    It was quick to hit the Ironclad fleet and it looked like it completely disabled all of the ships in the fleet.


    The ships all began to drift out of formation, and the artificial gravity was even turned off. Everything in Rez''s room began to float.


    Krowe and Rez looked back out the window, and they saw that the ship was gone, but it left a blue streak of the electrical energy in the direction it seemingly went. But it dissipated after a few minutes.


    Floating in the air, still in his boxers, Rez pushed himself off of the ceiling towards his wardrobe "Okay, what the fuck was that?!"

 Adrift

    With the lights not working and all power throughout the fleet disabled, Rez and Krowe were left in the dark. The only light they had was the orange glow that came off of Jupiter. It was difficult to see where things exactly were.


    Rez had managed to put clothes on in the dark and was now searching for his torch that he kept in the locker underneath his bed.. The Forge was an old ship, and was unfortunately prone to malfunctions and failures. Torches and other useful tools were handed out to almost every crew member in case of said failure.


    Many of the ships that made up Ironclad''s resistance fleet were older models, with some even being brought out of retirement and put back into service to bolster Ironclad''s ranks against Theodore''s lifeless legions.


    Not being able to do anything until they could see again, Krowe was floating in the air in the middle of the room. He was watching Rez, just barely able to make out his silhouette in the dark.


    Narrowly dodging a shoe that was flying towards his face as Rez rummaged through the locker, he sighed and folded his arms.


    "With no power, the oxygen generators will be offline. There''s a lot of people on this ship, and it might not take very long for everyone to use it up" he said, concerned for their situation.


    Pulling out a very old battery powered torch, Rez flicked it on and held his breath as the lightbulb struggled to turn on, but once it did it was a strong and powerful light source.


    He turned to Krowe and shrugged, shining the light on him to which Krowe winced and looked away.


    "It''s a bit early to think about that. For all we know the power could turn back on in a few minutes. But we need to go and see if everyone else is okay" he said, turning and pushing himself off of the bed and towards the door.


    Silently floating through the air towards the door that was now illuminated by the torch, Rez looked to Krowe and beckoned him over.


    "Come help me with this" he said, putting the flashlight up in the air and making sure it was still, before letting go. It floated there and shone its light onto the door, letting the two see what they could do without being hindered by having to hold the light.


    Krowe came over and looked over the seams of the door.


    "It should just be able to slide open like its on wheels. These older doors become pretty much useless when they aren''t powered" Krowe mentioned.


    Rez nodded and put his hands against the metal body of the door and pushed it to the left, hoping it would be an easy escape. But to both of their annoyance it would only move a few centimetres before it got stuck.


    "Damnit. It''s stuck..." Rez muttered as he tried to get his fingers into the tiny gap he made, only for Krowe to pull him back.


    "Don''t do that. If the power turns back on the door might just shut on your fingers" he said, concerned for his friend''s fingers and safety.


    Frowning at the lack of options they had, Rez looked back around the room and grabbed the torch. He shined it around to see what they had at their disposal, before looking at the metal frame of his bed.


    "Think we could take off one of the metal bars that holds up the mattress and use that to pry open the door?" Rez asked, his ears flicking quizzically.


    Krowe wasn''t sure as he shrugged and pressed his feet against the wall, he bent his knees and then straightened them out to push himself across the room towards the mattress


    "Only one way to find out" he said as he grabbed the mattress and pulled it up off of the bedframe, giving him access to the metal bars that went across the underside of the bed.


    He grabbed one of them firmly and pulled on it. With a hollow metal clank, the pole slipped out of its socket and was set free from the rest of the bed.


    Rez looked over and held his hands up as Krowe gently pushed it towards him. Rez''s blue eyes tracked the pole as the light from the torch reflected off of it and casted a unique and strange pattern of light against the walls and ceiling, like when sunlight goes through a glass and gets reflected all over the place.


    Catching it, he was quick to try and jam it into the gap between the door and the doorframe. He wiggled it, pushed it and dented the head of the rod until it was able to slip between the gap.


    Rez cheered to himself internally and made sure to push it deeper into the gap before he tried to pry it open, just so he would have room to work with.


    As Krowe came over to help him, the door groaned and screeched as it was forced open. Rez''s enhanced strength made the task far easier as the door was now pushed open enough for them to slip out into the hall.


    Rez went first and drifted out into the hallway. With no windows in any of the halls and corridors, the halls were completely blanketed in an almost unbreakable darkness. He shone the torch down one direction but it seemed like the light would only go so far.


    The dark metal halls that had clearly been through the passage of time, with rusty panels, creaking metal and missing light fixtures. It filled Rez with a sense of dread. He had watched plenty of horror films, but the feeling of possibly being in one himself made his blood run cold.


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    Krowe soon got out of the room and into the hall, scratching his head as he looked over to Rez "Alright. Now we should go find out what''s going on with the power. Coco might know. Or Jacks."


    Rez nodded "I mean, you''re probably right. But I imagine they''re already drowning in problems from this. They''ll have a plan or something to get the power back on. We should make sure that our people are alright first"


    Krowe nodded slightly "Yeah, I suppose your right...Our people" he said, a little solemnly.


    Rez nodded and turned to face forward. He took a deep breath before he began to make his way forward and through the dark halls.


    The two slowly pushed themselves along the walls of the corridor, using the torch to light their way through the dark.


    As they floated past doors to more rooms, Krowe looked a bit concerned.


    "Do you think that people are still stuck in their rooms?" he asked, his head turning to look at a few of the closed metal doors.


    "No. I''m usually the only one in this dorm block in the mornings. Everyone else here is maintenance crew. And their work never ends around here" he said as he drifted towards an elevator door.


    Krowe nodded "Yeah, I hear you there.."


    The two chuckled slightly, but then Rez looked to the elevator door "Riza is only four decks above me, she should still be in her room. I hope anyway" he said as he began to pry the elevator doors open.


    Krowe watched him and held the torch to give him some light, and with a lot of metal creaking and groaning, the doors were pushed open.


    The elevator wasn''t there, but they couldn''t have used it anyway.


    Rez took the torch back from Krowe and moved into the elevator shaft, which was somehow even darker than the rest of the halls.


    Krowe followed after him and the two began to climb their way up using the maintenance ladder.


    The torch illuminated the shaft, although it still faded into blackness when it was shone both up and down. It gave the tunnel the eerie look of being endless.


    Thick cables and wires were running all along the walls, held in place by metal separators to keep them from falling out in front of the elevator whenever it passed by.


    "Do you think anyone ever got hit by the elevators while working on them?" Rez asked as he climbed, looking down at Krowe who was close behind.


    He shook his head in response and chuffed "No. They turn the elevator off when working on them. If they don''t then they deserve to be hit at that point"


    "Bit cruel but alright, sure" Rez said a bit worried at Krowe''s calm expression after that response.


    The two continued their ascent, chattering away until suddenly all of the lights in the elevator shaft switched on with a loud ''chunk'' noise. The two were surprised and startled with the sudden brightness, which also hurt their eyes as they had gotten used to the dark.


    "Ow, ow, that''s bright!" Krowe muttered as he winced and continued to climb through half shut eyes.


    "Yeah, it is. Do they really need all these lights in here?" he asked, mumbling "Doesn''t look like the gravity is back on either"


    Though as they were passing the third elevator door and nearly reaching the last door, a familiar noise drew their attention.


    Whirring as its magnets were powered back on, the elevator had resumed the trip that it was doing before the power gave out. Which was sending it directly towards Krowe and Rez.


    Rez looked to Krowe and Krowe looked to Rez, both frozen for just a few moments before they scrambled to climb faster.


    "Climb faster, climb faster!" Krowe demanded, pushing Rez upwards as he was first in line to be hit by the elevator.


    "I''m climbing as fast as I can, stop pushing me!" he yelled back, his hands clasping onto the ladder and pulling himself up with as much speed as he could gather.


    He grunted and hissed as he slammed his knuckle into the bottom of one of the poles, but grit his teeth and powered on.


    "Goddamn it, c''mon!" Krowe begged at this point.


    The elevator was speeding up, with no gravity to counteract its acceleration, it was free to pick up as much speed as the elevator shaft would allow.


    They reached the final door and Krowe was first to start prying the door open, pushing his hands against the door and growling to himself as his fingers dug into the metal and bent it out of shape. The doors groaned and creaked under the stress before they gave way and slid open, slamming into their frames as both Rez and Krowe jumped out just as the elevator flew past.


    The air that it was dragging along with it nearly pulled them back in, but they avoided being slammed into by a gigantic slab of metal.


    The two looked back at the empty shaft and waited for a few moments, before the almighty thundering crash that echoed down to them. It was like someone gave a thunderstorm a shotgun.


    The two Hybrids looked at one another, panting and sweating from their near death experience. Before they began to laugh at one another, but their laughter was swiftly cut short as the lights flickered and died once more, casting them back into the darkness.


    There was silence for a few moments, before Rez''s disembodied sigh filled the hall.

 Powerless

    Rez''s torch dimly lit up the hallway in front of them as they slowly and carefully drifted through the darkness.


    A lot of clutter was left floating around freely as a result of the power outage. Power tools, crates, screws, bolts and everything in between.


    Krowe gently pushed a metal container to the side as he followed Rez, glancing back behind them occasionally out of a bit of paranoia.


    "Are we far from your sister''s room?" he asked Rez, still looking back behind them.


    "No, it''s just up ahead" he replied, gesturing to the doors that they were passing by. Krowe would nod slightly and grab onto a large, worn out wrench.


    Soon enough Rez grabbed onto a pipe on the ceiling as they came to Riza''s door, but to his dismay the door was already wide open.


    Krowe looked at him, then to the door, where he noticed that it hadn''t been opened with any metal bar or tool. Instead, the doors had big Riza sized claw marks and dents in the door.


    He whistled and looked to Riza "You know, we probably should have expected that she would have gotten out herself. She is a walking tank."


    Rez sighed, placed his free hand on his hip, then nodded "Yeah, you''re probably right. But she couldn''t have gotten very far, right?"


    "I''m not sure, look at those claw marks. Who''s to say she didn''t dig her way to the engine and is fixing it herself"


    Rez puffed out air, then looked back to the hallway.


    Krowe looked at him "Well, we''ve trained for things like this. In case of an emergency, seek out a higher ranking officer for instructions"


    Rez looked to him "Depending on what higher ranking officer we find, that instruction could be anything from "Assist those stuck in their quarters" to "Kill yourself you Hybrid freak"" he said, unsure if they should do that.


    "Yeah, so. We find one that isn''t a dick"


    Rez mumbled, before a loud noise brought them up to high alert. It startled them, but Rez looked down the corridor and saw a few lights flashing around.


    Krowe nodded "Engineers, come on, we should go and ask where it''s safe to wait" he said as he pushed himself along and called out.


    Rez nodded and followed suite.


    The lights all pointed towards the two, and voices called out to them.


    "Are you alright?" "Is there anybody else trapped in this dorm block?" "Are you hurt?"


    It felt reassuring to hear their concern as they got closer to them, and they were fully equipped to deal with the situation.


    The engineers were wearing white pressurised suits with the Ironclad logo on it, with various spotlights that illuminated the area. Their helmets hid their faces behind a reflective welding mask visor.


    Although pressurised, the suits were adequately padded and armoured to prevent punctures from sparks or drifting materials.


    They each had small electric thrusters attached to their chest and back to let them move freely in zero gravity, and they carried a small canister on their back that was filled with the various gases they would need to weld with.


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    Rez shielded his eyes from their powerful spotlights, to which they dimmed them down.


    There were five engineers in total, and while two checked on him and Krowe, the other three were investigating some wiring and cables underneath a whole section of floor.


    With a power tool, they unbolted the panel from the floor and carefully lifted it up to let it float above them.


    Under the panel itself was a lot of thick wires and three giant cables that were as thick as someone''s leg.


    The cables and wires were all connected to a single metal box that had various switches, dials and other devices on it. It looked to be some sort of power breaker.


    Krowe looked past the two engineers inspecting them and down at the hole that was filled with wires. It was all fairly neat and managed well, with the wires being colour coded and separated with dividers to prevent tangling.


    One of the engineers began to flick the switches on the box, with each one making a loud click as it was moved.


    There was mumbling, before one engineer spoke up. She sighed before speaking.


    "Well, this one should be working now. Where''s the next one? Deck below?"


    Rez looked over to one of the engineers giving him and Krowe a quick check up and scratched his head


    "Do you know where we might be able to find Coco Gems, or even Jacks Revia?" Rez asked, hoping that they might know.


    The engineer looked up to him and seemed to ponder for a moment


    "No, sorry. I''m not sure where they are. I know where Luna Rocks is though, she''s an engineering supervisor and often spends time with Coco. Let me radio back and find out for you two, okay? It might be a moment or two, a lot of people are trying to use the radio at the moment"


    The engineer moved off to the side as he pushed a button on his wrist, which extended a tall antenna from the side of his helmet, and a small device on his chest projected a holographic display of the radio frequency and different channels in front of his visor. He began to press different buttons to tune the radio.


    Krowe looked back to Rez and smiled "Well, we''re getting somewhere at least. I just hope that whatever went wrong gets fixed fast"


    Rez nodded in agreement and flicked his tail, he seemed to in thought however.


    Krowe watched him and then waved his hand in front of his face.


    "You alright there man?" he asked, tilting his head quizzically


    Shaking himself out of his daydream, Rez looked to him and nodded.


    "Yeah yeah, I''m good. I''m good. I''m just, worried about Yui. And... Well, everyone else"


    Pausing for a moment, a small grin grew on Krowe''s face at the mention of Yui, before he playfully punched Rez in the shoulder.


    Unfortunately for Rez, the lack of gravity ended up pushing him away down the hall. He made no attempt to slow himself down, he merely folded his arms and stared grumpily at Krowe for his teasing.


    Their eyes locked, and they both watched one another as Rez drifted away. The last thing Krowe saw before Rez vanished into darkness was a middle finger.


    No words were exchanged. But Krowe was pleased with himself.

 Command Center

    Whilst Rez and Krowe were trying to find anyone that could tell them what was going on, in the command center just beneath the bridge, emergency power was being used to run all the systems to effectively coordinate the repair effort.


    Around the walls were various terminals and computers that were vital to the operation of the fleet, but many of them had been broken or damaged in the power surge.


    The command center was a very large circular room with a lowered center that had a wide holographic table that displayed a three dimensional image of anything they needed. It could take satellite images from the ship and display a live image of whatever is going on down on a planet. It could even show a detailed image of enemy ships in space.


    It was unfortunately one of the last new pieces of technology the Forge received before Ironclad separated from Theodore''s twisted version of the United Planetary Alliance.


    The table currently however was displaying a full model of the Forge and all areas that were lacking power. Which currently was the entire ship besides the very room it was in. Red sections indicated powerless and green indicated powered. Whole sections were flashing up in green for a few moments at a time before powering back down.


    A tall, aging man was watching the image with one hundred percent of his focus. His gentle eyes scanned across every single section of the ship, looking for anything that they missed on the initial damage report.


    He exhaled a heavy breath and folded his arms across his broad chest. As he stood and watched the holographic table, the technicians working in and around the command center were working diligently and expertly to keep things running smoothly for him and the rest of the repair teams.


    He furrowed his brow at the lack of information coming through, causing his wrinkles and scars to scrunch with his stretching skin.


    Despite his aging body, he was a sturdy wall for his crew to lean on. Respectful and respected, Dasyil was a gentle soul at heart, but one with the power to overcome almost any obstacle.


    He scratched his stubble and slicked his blue hair back.


    Having fought in a war and having lost things dear to him, his mind was plagued with worry at the fact their fleet was without power and adrift.


    But he dare not waver, he had to stay strong for his crew.


    He stepped back from the holographic table and adjusted the admiral badge on his white uniform, and then walked towards the other half of the command center.


    His steps were short yet graceful, and his posture unbreakable. He gave a warm smile and a gentle nod to the technicians scraping about under the metal floor panels, trying to fix wires and cables that had short circuited. He knew that they were giving it their all, and he only wished he could do more in the moment.


    He approached a woman wearing a long, smooth labcoat and a fuzzy green sweater. It was Coco, the head engineer on the Forge, and the adoptive mother of many of the Hybrids that Ironclad took in.


    There was a glint in her glasses, and she would see Dasyil approaching in the reflection of them. She would smile, and fix her hair behind her head in a messy ponytail, before standing up and away from the machinery she was working on.


    Tall, fair skinned and curved, she was a mother figure in more than just description.


    She was always warm and bubbly to everyone. Her presence was enough to lift an entire room out of a slump, as there wasn''t a soul alive who wasn''t eager to receive some personal attention from Coco.


    She turned to face Dasyil with a floaty bounce in her step and gave him a kind and reassuring smile. She knew he was worried, she had spent enough time aboard as the head engineer to know when the admiral was stressed.


    She was beautiful, and even her smile made Dasyil feel a bit better despite the situation.


    She cleared her throat and fixed her sweater, having to stretch it past her chest a bit to get it to tuck into her loose jeans. Once she was done, she looked up and gave him another smile and nodded her head.


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    "Admiral." she stated, then waited for his response.


    Dasyil nodded as his eyes scanned over her for a few split seconds, before he nodded in return "Coco. Any updates on when we can get power back on? The longer we''re adrift, the more likely we''re to be found"


    Coco exhaled as she turned and picked up an advanced tablet that she had access to as the head engineer. It gave her real time information about ship diagnostics and basically anything that Coco would ever need to know about.


    "Well. For starters, we''ve found that the main power conduit that connects the reactor to the rest of the ship is damaged. Power cannot effectively travel through it. That''s why we''re constantly flickering."


    "And I assume that''s being worked on as we speak?" he asked.


    "Of course, Admiral. It''s... Unfortunately going to be a patch job until we can get the necessary parts to fully repair it. But it will work"


    Dasyil nodded as he paced back and forth slightly, before he looked back at her as a thought entered his mind.


    "And are the Hybrids alright? You are very important to them. I imagine they might be looking for you."


    Coco nodded, then she frowned and glanced to the side as her paternal side peeked its head out from behind the heavy metal curtain that was her passion for engineering.


    "I know they''re probably worried. But the reactor is more important right now. But as soon as I can I''ll check on all of the ones under my care."


    "Alright then. As you were Coco." he said as he looked back to the rest of the command center. He took a deep breath, before projecting his voice to everyone "As soon as the fleet has its power returned, I want all ships to prepare to enter Jupiter''s upper atmosphere to conceal ourselves in its clouds until I say otherwise." he looked around and nodded at everyone.


    "We do not know what caused this outage. But if it was a weapons test, then we must be cautious. We know we were not the target of whatever it was that was fired. Yet it knocked us out cold all the way over here. I dread to think about what it would have done were it had known we were here"


    The crew all nodded and responded with a hearty "Sir, yes sir" as they got to work on completing preparations for the order.


    Dasyil however would soon leave the room. He would leave quietly through the sliding door and travel a fair distance to his own private medical bay that he had set up close to his quarters. As he stepped in, he would look to a tall, cylindrical capsule that was hooked into the wall. It had various pipes and plumping coming from and out of it. And the whole thing seemed frozen. Except it was beginning to melt. Water leaked out from underneath the machine. As without the power, there was nothing keeping it cold.


    Dasyil walked up to the side of the machine and placed his palm against the cold glass casing that separated him from the ice.


    Taking a deep breath, he walked over to a table that he had set up right beside the machine where he kept a holo-diary of the days. It had been some years since the machine was first turned on, preserving something on the inside.


    He once again looked deep into the ice on the inside of the machine and reminisced of times before.


    He would lose himself in the memories he had in the past. When the civil war was won, he was hopeful that the solar system had seen its last conflict. And in less time than the last war took, another one had begun.


    But the time for reminiscing had ended, and so Dasyil steeled himself as he clenched his fist and opened up his communicator on his wrist.


    "Shi, it''s Dasyil. I need to you get Coco, Luna and Kamil and bring them to my medbay"


    "Is it time?" a female voice asked.


    "Yes, it''s time"

 Operation

    Having requested the aid of his two best engineers and the leading mind in biologics, Dasyil had prepared an operating table with everything that they might need for what was inside the cryo capsule.


    He paced impatiently and worriedly, watching as water dripped out from underneath the machine. Time was ticking and he needed help fast.


    His eyes darted up as he heard the door slide open, as Coco and two other women walked in with lots of equipment.


    Behind Coco was a silver haired woman with stunning emerald eyes. Her long hair done up in a ponytail to keep it out of her eyes while working


    She was beautiful, with a well defined and toned body. Her pale skin was covered oil and grime, as was her tight fitting grey tank top.


    She was pushing along a cart overflowing with pieces of machines and spare parts. As she walked past and set the cart in place, Dasyil got a better look at her.


    A green jumper was wrapped around her wide hips, and she wore loose mechanics overalls with many pockets and pouches for her tools.


    One suspender was hanging limply off of her shoulder, while the other struggled to hold the weight of all of the things she had in her pockets.


    As she walked over to the table, she looked to Dasyil and nodded with a confident and reassuring look.


    "Don''t worry Admiral. We''ll get it done" she said, her voice had a slight Scandinavian accent.


    Dasyil nodded in response


    "I know you will Luna."


    And of course behind Luna was Kamil. The main mind behind Ironclad Hybrids.


    She had similar vibrant eyes to Coco and Luna, but her skin was tanned and almost tropical in appearance.


    As a genetically enhanced human, she was perfect in almost every way. She had the beauty, the muscle and the Hybrid additions. Her long brown cat tail was well groomed, and her long hair went down to her waist, although she left it able to move around freely, wild and untamed much like her.


    Atop her head and wild hair was her two large cat ears, although the left ear was slightly floppy.


    She was also wearing a black tube top underneath her white lab coat, showing off her musculature and abs.


    And below the waist she wore simple loose fitting cargo pants and white sneakers.


    She pulled along another trolley, stacked with crates and other green boxes. The crates were white with red pluses on all four of their sides. Medical equipment for what was in the cryo capsule.


    They all set up pieces of their own equipment. Preparing for a job that would require ultimate focus, precision and delicacy. Kamil set up an infusion stand and attached a blood bag to it, with many others ready to go.


    Luna and Coco prepared power tools, parts and a small gas cylinder for small welding tools.


    Once everything was set up, Dasyil stepped over to the side of the cryo capsule and took a deep breath. The other three walked over to help lift what was inside.


    Glancing back and forth at the operating table and the capsule, he was visibly scared.


    "Once I open this capsule. It''ll be a race to stabilise him" he said, worry laced his words.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Luna looked to him and nodded


    "We won''t let you down, sir."


    With those words, Dasyil closed his eyes for a brief moment and thought about the past, before he counted down from three and pulled a weighty lever on the side of the capsule.


    With a loud, crackling hiss, the inside of the capsule equalised the pressure to the outside, and defrosted the interior.


    The heavy capsule door lifted up and out of the way, letting cold mist roll out onto the floor.


    On the inside of the capsule was a person, a young man with grievous wounds. Most of his body was burnt, scarred and damaged. His left arm was missing, with huge chunks of his torso missing as well.


    A hole went through his stomach, through his spine and out near his neck, with burn scars still remaining near the entrance wound.


    His legs were torn up, with large wounds dug deep into his flesh. But otherwise they were intact.


    The only part of his body that seemed to be unharmed was his head. The man had dark purple hair that still had debris and dirt from whatever incident caused his injuries.


    Without any burn marks or scars to obscure his skin, his face showed that his skin colour was quite tanned, not that far from Kamil''s own tone.


    Despite the amount of damage he had received, it was evident he had received treatment in the past. Remnants of heavy stitching were scattered over his body, and bandages were still wrapped around many wounds.


    These were likely done to prolong his life until he could be put in this capsule, where he would remain until the time is right.


    Once the capsule door was open, the four gently picked him up and moved him to the operating table, where Kamil, immediately began to work on making sure he would continue to receive blood and would remain stable. While Coco and Luna began to attach machines and other parts to his body.


    Dasyil exhaled and dragged his hands down the side of his face, looking at the three women work.


    "I... I can''t watch this. I will be in the command center. I know you will all do your best. Whatever happens, you have my utmost gratitude"


    The three simply gave him reassuring nods as they continued to work, before Dasyil left the room.


    Scratching the stubble on his chin as he walked, Dasyil''s mind was clouded with thoughts of the purple haired man. He walked along the dimly lit corridors with nothing but his inner voice and the sound of his boots clanking against the metal flooring.


    As he approached the main hallways that led to the command center, he put any worries and concerns he had in the operating room and steeled himself to be the admiral that everyone needed him to be right now.


    As he walked up to the command center door, he stood upright and proud, and held his hands together behind his back. He lifted his chin high and stepped in. The metal doors sliding open automatically for him.


    "Admiral on deck!" he heard someone call out, and as he looked around, barely anyone''s speed or posture changed, as even without him being there, they were always at their peak.

 Hiatus

    Hey there everyone. I hope that this little update finds you well.


    Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but for the foreseeable future I don''t think I''ll be working on the current stories.


    I no longer find the satisfaction or happiness I once did when writing this universe, and writing it actively makes me feel like I''ve written myself into a bad position.


    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.That''s not to say that this universe won''t ever return in the future, hopefully better written and more thought out.


    These were my first venture into writing stories online after all.


    Again I apologise to anyone who did enjoy this universe.  But this won''t be the end of me writing.


    These characters will return in one form or another soon enough.


    Thank you for reading, I hope you have a good day.

 Hiatus

    Hey there everyone. I hope that this little update finds you well.


    Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but for the foreseeable future I don''t think I''ll be working on the current stories.


    I no longer find the satisfaction or happiness I once did when writing this universe, and writing it actively makes me feel like I''ve written myself into a bad position.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.That''s not to say that this universe won''t ever return in the future, hopefully better written and more thought out.


    These were my first venture into writing stories online after all.


    Again I apologise to anyone who did enjoy this universe.  But this won''t be the end of me writing.


    These characters will return in one form or another soon enough.


    Thank you for reading, I hope you have a good day.