The Aviator Awakening

I opened my eyes and shot upright. The sudden motion left me dizzy. The world slowly refocused. To my relief, Doctor Lsar was not present. Her lackey, however, was. I’d lost the initial fascination I’d had with this jade man. Now he was just one of them—an extension of her.

General Larkkon scanned me with a careful look, appraising my condition. His eyes were speckled olive and gold under his dusty pebbled brow. “How are you?” he asked. It caught me off guard. So far, no one had asked me that. The doctor relied on her machines to determine if I was ‘ok’ enough to continue.

I cursed under my breath.

“What?” the General asked. I looked at him, his glinting gemmed scales, surprised to find my confusion reflected in his expression. Was it a simple miscommunication, or did he not know my language? My instincts told me not to give anything away. To bide my time and wait for a weakness to emerge. Between the doctor and the General, he was the softer target.

“Am I done here?” This time I spoke in the stony language they used. I looked myself over. The outfit chosen for me—a silky white jumpsuit, short-sleeved—blended with the lab. Marking me as part of the room, part of the doctor’s equipment. My legs were exposed by the suit’s skin-tight shorts. The swelling was gone. Had enough time passed for it to heal, or had they sped up the healing process? I wasn’t sure.

“Doctor Lsar has reached the limits of her lab work.” General Larkkon’s lips curled back into a razor-toothed grin. “The results are exciting.”

That didn’t sound like good news to me.

“You’ve been cleared for discharge.” His towering figure approached me, a small scanner in hand. He held it to the back of my neck. My implant pulsed with registration. Then he handed the device off to the doctor’s lackey, who tapped it against the door’s security frame. It flashed green in response, and the wall within its glowing edges dissipated to reveal an empty hallway. The buzzing threat from my implant vanished. I wondered if this wasn’t some dream, to suddenly have free access outside these miserable self-illuminated walls.

The gem-banded soldier stood tall and unmoving by the frame. The difference in his size and the General’s was more apparent now that they were in the same room. Both of them were dauntingly large men, but the General easily overshadowed us both.

The lackey’s stance betrayed his distrust of me. His slit-pupil eyes stayed trained on me, waiting for my move, ready to spring into action at the slightest provocation. Splotchy dark lines webbed the jade leather on his neck. Bruising from our skirmish. I grinned, which earned me a glare.

“This is Agent Nerzogk. I believe you’ve met.”

Agent Nerzogk responded to the introduction by coming forward and cuffing my wrist. He attached the other cuff to his thick leather arm, more than double the thickness of mine. An interesting move. Not as degrading as having both hands cuffed—but even if I managed to outmaneuver him, he could just sit on the floor and become an effective ball chain. If I knocked him out, same result.

“Agent Nerzogk is also an Imperial operative. Based here at Vor-Vardos,” General Larkkon continued.

I took note. I would keep an eye out for similar gemmed bands.

“I don’t feel like an Imperial operative,” I said. The cuff attaching me to Agent Nerzogk wasn’t exactly a sign of camaraderie. I’d also not overlooked the ring around General Larkkon’s thumb, the same design Doctor Lsar wore to ensure her safety and my cooperation. Agent Nerzogk had one as well.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat it, Aviator. The regeneration procedure had some stunning effects. You’ll be under a microscope longer than I anticipated.”

I’m not sure what I’d been hoping for, but this was not it.

General Larkkon motioned for Agent Nerzogk to get me moving. “You have my appreciation for putting up with the diagnostics. Things will get smoother from here on out,” he said as the lackey grabbed the back of my jumpsuit’s collar to make it clear who was in charge.

I stumbled through another dizzy spell while crossing the lab. The doctor’s assistant gripped my collar to steady my balance, then pulled me alongside his muscular form into the hallway. There were no guards outside. Instead, two rippling energy fields sectioned off our area in the corridor immediately outside of the lab, one on each side of an awaiting hovering transport. A circular vehicle with darkened windows, floating noisily—well, audibly silent but with a resounding electric buzz rattling through my veins. The rattling threatened to worsen my headache. I scanned the area again, searching for options. Beyond the shimmering shields sectioning the hallway, lines of soldiers stood guard—all soldiers, no drones. Unlike before, I had no energy to consider an escape. Besides, they were more heavily armed now.

As that last fact sank in, I realized I’d gone up in value during my ‘diagnostics.’ The observation made me uneasy and slowed me down. Agent Nerzogk gripped the collar of my suit tighter with his cuffed hand. Our attachment forced my wrist uncomfortably back and against my shoulder blade. He pushed me ahead of him and into the buzzing transporter. As soon as we entered, the buzz silenced from some kind of dampener lining to block my access. He pulled me to one of the black cushions lining the vehicle’s circular edges and released my collar once we were both seated.

The transporter’s electric silence lessened my headache but increased my panic. The blacked-out windows shifted my focus onto its open door. General Larkkon lumbered in, his gemmed body haloed in reflected light as he filled the doorway, my window of opportunity quickly shrinking. I scowled as the exit closed, knowing I couldn’t attempt to make a break for it. The reptilian anchor next to me was too much of an obstacle. General Larkkon settled into a seat by my other side. As we shifted into motion, I sank back into the interior’s dark cushion, feeling minuscule between the two of them.

“Do I get to know what’s going on?” I asked.

“I’m escorting you to your new training quarters.”

“What did the tests show?”

There was no answer.

“I fell through the bed. That’s not normal.”

“No, it’s extraordinary.”

If he was being talkative, I might as well go for it.

“What did that procedure do to me?” I asked, this time more forcefully. I could accept I no longer had control. But I could not stand being kept from information. My void memory demanded to be filled, and the questions continually mounted. I didn’t care what the answers were, as long as they were given promptly and in as much detail as possible.

“You mean besides salvaging your life? Doctor Lsar’s conclusions are still in the realm of theory.” General Larkkon folded his arms and closed his eyes, letting Agent Nerzogk bear the burden of being my monitor. “I’m not good at explaining theory—I prefer results that I can see.”

I stared at the General—his relaxed posture, his closed eyes. I stared at him, and in particular, I stared at his leather throat. It was such a short distance between us, less than an arm’s length away, if not for the cuff attaching me to the rock of a man beside me. My handler stiffened in response to my fixation on the General’s vulnerability, which caused me to switch my attention onto him, wondering how difficult it would be to disable his rock-like form and whether or not the cuffs could be forced over his mammoth hand if the fingers were disjointed.

General Larkkon, his eyes still closed, stayed oblivious to our silent tension. “Anyways, theories are just theories until we test them out in the real world, which is why I’m introducing you to your training quarters. We’ll be able to find those answers together.”

“You’re assuming my cooperation.”

He opened his eyes—first his leather eyelids that opened top-to-bottom like mine, then the reptilian transparent side-to-side eyelids that still made my skin crawl—and smiled.

I raised my cuffed hand to show his contradiction. “How can you be so sure about that?”

The jade man attached to me took my question as a threat and returned to the arm-lock he’d used when getting me into the transporter. I put up with the discomfort—while also giving General Larkkon a look to say this proved my point.

General Larkkon waited for Agent Nerzogk to finish fixing his grip. “You’re an operative at heart; it’s not in your nature to say no to a challenge. And the alternative to cooperating is to remain under Doctor Lsar’s care.”

The remainder of the ride was silent.

When the transporter slowed, Agent Nerzogk once again tightened his grip on my jumpsuit collar. I didn’t want to move or be moved. My brooding used the last of my energy. And, on top of that, I anticipated a wave of unknowns preparing to rear up and hit me as soon as I stepped out of the transporter’s comforting blankness. We waited, for what I wasn’t sure. Similar preparations as before, maybe. Sectioning off the area. Precautions stacked on precautions.

At last the vehicle door’s flashed green and dissolved. General Larkkon signaled to Agent Nerzogk. My supposed co-worker pulled me up and pushed me along. His grip remained tight. I suspected he knew how exhausted I was, he’d been there with me through the doctor’s myriad of tests, but it didn’t make a difference in the amount of caution in his movement.

More white walls greeted us once we exited, and, as I’d suspected, a similar shield was set up to isolate us within the hallway. Agent Nerzogk exited first, then lugged me along after him. Once outside, he maneuvered me to the side to let General Larkkon’s gem-embedded figure pass us and take the lead. The transporter’s buzz hit me. My headache pounded. The hall was thick with stale air, which I took to mean we were far underground. Soldiers surrounded us from behind the force shields, the same setup as earlier. I doubted the rippling membranes sectioning off our area in the corridor would do much good against my sixth sense if I could manage to reach them—but then again, they might serve a different purpose. They might cut the visual from the other side.

I checked the transporter again. It was close enough to be within reach if I could break free of my jade anchor’s grip on my collar. If I could disrupt it’s systems somehow, cause a scene, a distraction….Agent Nerzogk pulled me away from my musings and toward the only doorframe in the area. My damned hesitance. I held my curses back, not wanting to tip off my handler, although it became increasingly difficult to hold my tongue as the transporter’s buzz became more distant.

The door he pulled me toward was a physical door, not the portal types I’d gotten used to seeing. A bar crossed it in place of a lock, the heavy rod removed by a pair of limited-function hydraulic pumps as we approached. I watched the simple machines, taking notice of the potential advantage they represented if one or both could be manipulated into dropping the rod into our path. Not an ideal plan, but enough to buy me a split-second of compromised focus.

The metal door below the lifted rod opened, and my handler nudged me forward.

I shifted toward the machines.

Agent Nerzogk pulled me back by the collar. I stumbled, relying on his strength in place of my own to stay upright. If I’d been able to fully rest, if I had a slightly longer reach—all the ifs came to nothing as he pulled me through our destination’s threshold. The door swung shut behind us. Metal clanged against metal, the heavy bar outside dropping into place.

It was dark inside, made darker by the contrast from the white walls outside. Goosebumps shivered across my arms. Red veins of light bled into the dark as we waited in the holding area, turning Agent Nerzogk’s breath cloud into scorch-less fire. The second door, one of the portal types, was guarded with a DNA scanner similar to the one in lab. Its scan breezed through the three of us before flashing green to open, although my implant contradicted its clearance. A warning shock shot down my spine to caution against entry. I took a step back, which pushed me against Agent Nerzogk’s leathery bulk. He tensed. His golden-eyed glare pricked the hairs on the back of my neck.

“Oh.” General Larkkon’s gem-rimmed scales glinted as he quickly backtracked to rejoin us. He took out the scanner he’d used before, holding it to the back of my neck and then to the frame ahead of us. “My bad, Aviator. Sorry about that.”

The implant’s warning vanished.

The message was clear, and I couldn’t help but admire the subtle flair he’d delivered it with. He made a point of not bringing the scanner into the room, instead locking it into a panel on the red-lit side of the doorframe. The portal closed once we were inside, and the implant’s warning returned to prompt me further into the room.

General Larkkon waited for Agent Nerzogk to release me. The doctor’s lackey hesitated.

“He’s harmless, Agent Nerzogk. This room is fully contained.”

“With all due respect, sir, he’s been uncooperative and destructive. For your safety—”

“I accept the risk, Agent. Release him.”

Agent Nerzogk released our cuffs. I rubbed my bruised wrist, aware that even though the cuffs had been removed, the giant green man was ready to tackle me to the ground. General Larkkon stepped forward, taking the agent’s place by my side. His heavy hand rested on my shoulder, his warmth contrasting the domineering grip Agent Nerzogk had used. He urged me further inside. His jade shadow followed closely behind us.

“This is all custom-built for you.” The General’s rocky voice filled the elaborate prison.

It was a large, warehouse-like unit. White-walled, as usual, and divided into three stations. A control console’s platform marked the room’s center, while a mysterious box-like structure lined the furthest wall from the entrance, taking up nearly half the unit. A medical bay was tucked into the corner. The walls were empty, except for an unassuming door between the med bay and box structure.

“We won’t get started yet,” the General said. “I’ll let you rest up in the attached living quarters. As it happens, I’ll be gone for a while. I have some business to attend to off-planet. You'll be isolated in the living quarters until I can return and show you around.”

He led us toward the unassuming door. A physical door, not a portal frame. Designed, I was sure, to prevent me from manipulating it open.

“You’re avoiding calling it a cell.”

General Larkkon’s grip tightened, and he frowned. “I’ve ensured that you’ll be comfortable.”

My cybernetic sense traced the room’s currents as we moved, searching for weak points. An electric web supplied the room’s various stations and fueled a network of hidden cameras. I checked the entrance. No luck. It had separate wiring. The room was carefully isolated, its contents strictly contained within these walls. The only exception was alongside the entrance, where electricity accumulated shortly beyond the wall, next to the holding area. Most likely a hub dedicated to collecting the room’s isolated data.

It was a thorough design. Clearly intended, as the General had said, for me. The knot in my stomach twisted, and my chest tightened.

“Isn’t this excessive?” I asked, not sure if I wanted to know the answer.

“You represent a new hope for the Empire.” General Larkkon smiled, his teeth gleaming in the room’s white light. “You might see these safety measures as restrictive, but that’s not their sole purpose. They serve to protect you, to protect the Vor Empire, and to hide you from the Legion’s prying eyes.”

I took a deep breath to calm my rage and disappointment. I’d have to keep playing along. Sooner or later, they were bound to slip up.

“The Legion and the Empire,” I repeated, with a certain amount of disinterest, “what’s the story there?”

“War. A never-ending proxy war,” General Larkkon sighed, “but, maybe you’ll be the solution for that. We can only hope.”

When we passed the control console at the room’s center, the temperature dropped. I rubbed my arms for warmth and navigated away from the platform.

“Does it need to be this cold?”

“The sub-zero lining does have that effect. The room is insulated, but the cold seeps in.”

“And there’s a sub-zero lining because….”

“An extra precaution. We aren’t taking any chances until we better understand your transformation.”

“Can I get a jacket?”

“Doctor Lsar assured me your body can cope. You’ll get used to it.”

I clenched my teeth and held my arms tighter, even though it’d gotten less cold after we moved away from the platform. The General’s giant palm on my back became infuriatingly comfortable, his warmth offering a refuge I wished I didn’t need.

“The temperature is another control? The implant isn’t enough?” I asked grudgingly while at the same time pressing closer into the warmth of his palm.

“Both are precautions with different objectives. You don’t have control over your new skillset. The cold prevents your body from becoming overactive.”

“And the implant?”

“I think you know what the implant is for.”

I stopped asking questions.

The door to the living quarters opened to a comfortable apartment. I hesitated before General Larkkon urged me in. His palm’s warmth left me as he stayed by the door frame. I wasn’t sure what to do, too tired to register much of what was happening. The room offered a confusing comfort, like the warmth from the General’s palm. A comfort underscored by persistent cameras and a literal chill. I exhaled away the temptation to disrupt the camera’s prying eyes. They followed me here just as they did everywhere else, stealing away any illusion of normality the General might attempt to create. I was tired enough that my instincts nearly overrode my caution. It would be easy to do. Then again, what would be the point?

“Make yourself at home.” The reptilian General’s pebbled leather brow furrowed as he watched me. “If you’d like to get in touch with me, Agent Nerzogk will see to it.”

“You have time to be on call?” I scoffed as I adjusted to my surroundings.

“Within reason. This project is a priority.”

“For how long will it be a priority?”

“That depends on if you cooperate or not.”

I nodded, understanding the warning. The bed did look inviting. And I was running on my last fumes of energy.

My fatigue caught up with me, and I nearly fell asleep then and there. The General’s glimmering form took up the entire door frame, looking more colossal through the filter of my fatigue. He half-smiled in concern as I sank onto the bed. “Get some rest. You look exhausted.”

He stepped out of sight, replaced by Agent Nerzogk’s slightly less giant bulk. The doctor’s lackey scanned me with an intensity that made me feel like some kind of exotic animal. Pure curiosity glinted in his golden eyes. Or I was imagining things. When he shut the door, cutting the white training room from view, the sound of a lock bolt followed. The lights dimmed as if on cue as my head hit the pillow. I could still feel the presence of a camera, but it hardly mattered anymore. I drifted off into the first restful sleep I could remember experiencing.