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Chapter Five: An Unexpected Liaison

The door swung open to reveal an enormous chamber. A bed to the front of me, a cabinet, sauna chamber, computer desk complete with computer of course, and another door that led somewhere else on the left. To the right, a door leading to the bathroom. Above my head there was an enormous holographic projector opposite and above the bed, with a huge, chrome chandelier above the bed. To the right, a door that led to a private bathroom complete with a shower, and, leading beyond the bathroom, a pool, roughly fifteen by twenty five meters. Adorning the ceiling was an incredibly detailed mural, depicting some sort of battle I surmised. The figures were lifelike, almost too lifelike. I could have sworn that the entire ceiling was one giant photograph. It took me a while, but I realized that the mural was actually moving. It was no trick of light or projection, for the solid ceiling was the only contributor to the mural.

I wandered through the chamber, first to inspect the bathroom, then lay down on the bed. All the information on Saurian technology was already pre-programmed into my memory, so I had little trouble activating the holographic projector above me and in front. Turning it on, there appeared a menu of options, probably voice activated. Of the options there were: Surveillance, programming, transmission, encyclopedia, and interactive programming. I assumed that "Programming" was the closest thing to television in the human world, so I spoke the word. Cartoon Network! Amazing, how the Saurian's had adapted to human telecommunications in a matter of eight hours.

"Ah, yes. S'Thkra wanted that up and running so that you could enjoy the last broadcasting period before it ends." Tyri-ar gave me a doting smile. "He really likes you, you know. He regards you as the son he never could have. Once the sterilization program began, he was devastated. He had lost three sons to a freak mining accident before the space colony formation, and always wanted a son." She looked down at the ground, a look of sympathy and sorrow forming in her facial features, while leaning against the door frame, me sitting opposite her on the bed. "When the time came to launch the observation program, he was overjoyed that he could create you, along with the others too," Tyri-ar said.

"Others? I never knew there were others like me..." I said.

"Oh yes. Fifty-three others, scattered around the globe. The first one was sent about fifty years ago, landed in South America. Soon after, another twenty or so arrived. The results were....less than acceptable....," she gave a slight smirk of dissatisfaction.

"What happened to them?" I inquired.

"They failed to properly incorporate human emotions into their interface program, and were murdered for the most part," she replied hesitantly, while heaving a sigh before continuing. "About fifteen years later, another twenty or so were deployed. They suffered the same fate: either murder or suicide. But S'Thkra, being the genius he was, took control over the operation and created you, the first and last of your kind." Now she looked at me, her eyes narrowed in observation. She spoke slowly, as if proceeding into one innuendo after another. "You see, you are more of a human than machine in flesh." She shifted her weight on the door frame. "In your mind you are a machine, and you think like a machine would, but your ability to incorporate human interface properly made you the most successful subject of them all," ending with a decisive smile.

Tyri-ar just stood there by the door, as if I was supposed to do something to make her go away and leave me alone. She was truly beautiful, and the second time I looked her over she seemed even more beautiful than the first. Her deep blue eyes peered into mine, piercing my mind, my thoughts. I hadn't recognized the horns atop her head in our last encounter, but two protrusions stuck out from her, parallel to her horse-like ears; her ears did not face forward, but were matted back, still not touching the skull, but sticking out to the side ever so slightly. Most humans would have run by now, or have begged to wake up, but half of my genetic information that lay dormant in each of my nuclei was saurian. The desire to reproduce with another saurian overrode my human sexual instincts. Never had I met a human that I had feelings for, but this female saurian was the first love I ever saw.

Of course, I wasn't that easy, and I hadn't taken off COD-AC faction Z yet, so my sexual urges were microscopic. I acquired all the necessary information on the human reproductive system during my embedding, and not a moment went by during those times when I wasn't nauseous. Even the thought of sex is disgusting to me, the thought of humans copulating with humans made me revolt even more. The mere thought of them, spreading their stench to the far reaches of the globe horrifies me. And that reminded me of the silent attack that was about to take place under my feet, one which I could hardly believe I had neglected for a moment since I had arrived at the fortress in the sky. Four billion would die as of sunrise tomorrow, and I would be here, safe and protected while I laugh at their death. I felt no guilt, and felt no guilt for feeling none. I felt no sorrow, and felt no sorrow for feeling none. I felt no regret, and felt no regret for feeling none.

For a while, maybe two minutes, Tyri-ar and I were silent. What was her position upon this ship? A servant? An officer? I felt curious.

"What is your position on this ship?" I asked her.

"Weapons Engineer and Combat Specialist," she replied in a to-the-point manner, almost saluting as if to an officer. I believe my question provoked the idea that I was militarian, but upon Saurian territory I ordered the Federation to consider me a civilian.

"Skilled in combat are you? What kinds?" I again inquired.

"Hand to hand, long range interception, explosives, close range weaponry, melee fighting, covert oper--,"

"I get the point, I get it," I replied, producing a laugh and a smile. I got up from the bed, walked over to the cabinet to my right. As I had half-expected, it was full of weapons: rifles, pistols, daggers, sies, shields, belts, armor, and a pair of broad swords. Being very fond of swords, I picked up the two in the cabinet, one in each hand. They were heavy, about thirty pounds each; normal humans couldn't handle the strain, but my arms infused with saurian technology, picked them up and swung them around like a pair of butter knives. "What about swords?"

A snort came from her nostrils, presumably in laughter while she retained the smile despite my engaging demands. "It happens to be my specialty. You wish to fight?"

"Oh, absolutely," I said, grinning.

"So be it. To tell you the truth, S'Thkra wanted me to pursue more...intimate pleasures with you. Yet what pleasure is peace if there is not fight, I suppose."

With that, the doors slammed shut. The bed, holographic projector, cabinet, chandelier, all had melded into the floor, the ceiling and walls, leaving the two of us in an empty chamber, spacious and fit for fighting. Tyri-ar withdrew a short, metal rod from her hand. Slowly, the rod extended, the edges began to sharpen, a hilt formed, and the metal bent back, forming a polished scimitar that now rested in her hand. Tyri-ar began to grin, her eyes widening, and her entire face becoming that of a berserker's. Halfway through the one's formation, she withdrew another that followed the same morphing procedure. She now held two scimitars in her hand, easily as long as my six foot broad swords, if not longer.

Tyri-ar stood in a readied stance, fully defended yet prepared to strike at any time, her menacing glare fixed on me. I assumed a stance as well, gripping both swords in my hands as tightly as possible, having a rather deadpan expression though. For twelve point eight seconds exactly, we stood motionless. I grew impatient, so I ran and lunged at her. She evaded to the right, completely dodging my attack. She swept forward with a powerful blow, one which I fortunately blocked, lest it might have made a clean cut through my neck, separating mind from body as it were. Five strikes she made, no single one the same. Eight more, each one unique and unpredictable. In a matter of seconds, she made twenty more blows to my meager defensive position. Two metal bars were holding back a beast, and that's all the more purpose those two swords served me at the moment.

I pushed back the two giant fangs with all my might, and jumped backwards. Trust me, if it were not up to my program, I would have run out of there or begged for mercy, the latter if she really was pissed at me. I wasn't under the impression that she held any vice against me, as she stood there, breathing calmly while holding the gargantuan scimitars in a combat stance. There was little expression upon her face, now, except the face that one shows when one means business. In fact--Watch Out!!!

SLASH! SLASH! SHANNNGGG!!! She had nearly caught me off guard, such that, provided I hadn't been paying attention enough, I would be in several places at once: most of me lying in a heap, some of me sprayed around the room, some of me in a corner, you get the point. By the time I was able to recover, I saw her by the weapons cabinet, which I now stood farthest from in the room. When she turned, there was a set of throwing knives in her hands, with one of her swords on her back, the other still drawn. Now I saw a smile crack on her face again.

One, two, three, ten, twenty, the knives just kept coming. I dodged each one, but blood stained some, while flesh was in others. This fight that I started was now turning into a war. I didn't know if she was still fighting for sport, or whether she really was trying to kill me. I referred to the age old saying: shoot first, ask questions later.

She no longer had any more knives, and I readily charged her at full speed. Her wrist went up, and I saw a chance to strike. I cut upward, only for her other sword to block it just as I had blocked her tyrannous assault. She was, however, caught off guard, and jumped back from the fray momentarily. Now that I knew what I was up against, it was time to get serious. A blow here, a counter there, a parry, a block. Now she was caught in defense, and my opportunity to strike was at hand. With all the force in my body, I delivered the most powerful blow I could, another, five more, ten, twenty! I was on a rampage of slices, quicker than lightning each of them. I had her in my sights, and it was only a matter of time before she gave in. Then the tides changed once again. I thrust at her face, obviously devoid of attempt to harm her. I froze, the tip of my sword hanging in front of her snout, and I had won the match.

"I win," said I.

"Oh you have, have you?" she said, panting, that look of maternal compassion on her face now. "Look again."

Her scimitars were criss-crossed against my throat. With a single movement, my life would be over before I could react. It was a very funny match it was, as I was not sure that she had given her all, or if she was just toying with me all the while. She gave no comment of that matter in particular.

"You are not a bad fighter. Aggressive, powerful, but you take too much time in making decisions. You don't flow from movement to movement and you move too slow," she lectured me, like I was a little child. "Of course, I knew you could dodge those knives; the new organoids S'Thkra designed could do that any day of the week. Still, I expected them to be much more fluid and graceful...."

"How do you expect me to move quickly and fluidly with seventy pounds in each hand? Those scimitars of yours can't be all that heavy." I walked over, and she laid both her swords in front of me. I underestimated the weight of the sword, as it took great strain from both of my hands to lift even one of the swords. "These must weigh two-hundred pounds each!" I huffed.

"Let me think. Yes, I believe that by your standard weight units, it is about two-hundred ten pounds. They're made of ultra-dense nuclei of molecules with mostly neutrons, and a very thin electron layer that lays close to the center. They can be made into a quilt of sorts, with a density fourteen times greater than that of stellar iron. It is my weapon of choice."

I lay the sword down, and she took it back up, letting it transform back into the rod it was before. I requested to hold the rod, skeptical that it still weighed the two-hundred some pounds it was before. As I took it in my hand, my knees bent and my arms sunk. Sure enough, it was no trick. Tyri-ar took back the rod and slipped it back into her hilt while she walked towards the door.

"I'm sorry, I've distracted you from your rest. I will see you later, I am sure. Rest well in the meantime," the moment she exited, the room came back to its former state, full of furniture, trophies, pictures hanging on the wall. I did not fully understand how this mechanism worked, as I was most likely just unfamiliar with the latest aspects of Saurian technology. I checked my watch: 5:47 AM. The time was fast approaching for the attack, but my mind was far too fatigued to debate going back to the command center. I dropped dead on the bed and fell fast asleep instantly.

***

7:45 AM

My body ached all over, but it was mostly my throbbing arms that bothered me when I woke up. All my wounds had been healed since the encounter. Obviously Tyri-ar knew I would recover, lest she would have pursued her "intimate" pursuits instead. Laughing out loud, I figured my body could heal better than my mind. My energy levels had recovered since the flight, so I was able to go back into organoid function mode. As soon as my computer took control of my body, the pain that made my head hurt became a graph of stress on my body, painless and efficient. After I checked my watch, I realized that it was time for me to reconvene at the command center to monitor the initial strike that would end everything once and for all.

Without further hesitation, I left S'Thkra's quarters and headed towards the way I was led by Tyri-ar. This time, instead of ignoring me like they had before, some of the saurians made glances towards me, sometimes with a smile or a friendly gesture of some kind, but mostly just for recognition of a foreign being in their presence. As I walked along at a brisk pace, I considered that the saurians made much less of an attempt at singling me out as a human would. Had a saurian been seen walking down the streets of a human city, no attempt would be made at reasoning with it before it was shot, killed, and examined for scientific purposes. All the more reason as to why the human race did not deserve to walk upon the face of that beautiful planet: discrimination.

I could see the sterile lights of the hallway disappearing and the light of day replacing it as I neared the command center. Upon my entrance, I noticed Ecanius and S'Thkra huddled around a particular station on the floor, along with several saurians, no doubt belonging to the Federation as well. Ecanius twirled around and made my acquaintance in his father-like tone. It became increasingly obvious that I was the little child of the house, as it were.

"Up already? Then again, none of us could sleep during a time like this I suppose. Nevertheless, look here. Does this look right to you?" Ecanius stepped back, revealing a map of the target cities on a monitor. "Each red dot signifies a major population center over five-hundred thousand, as it had been explained to you. We only need confirmation that this is at least the majority of them, and we will commence the operation. Of course we trust your data, but I suppose that you being here to verify the data is an extra reassurance for what is to come." He spoke like a nervous advisor to a powerful mob boss. So I yielded power, yet was a child? A prince? I wonder...

I studied the chart carefully, going over the cities from east to west. Tokyo, Sydney, Singapore, Beijing, New Delhi, Baghdad, Moscow, Paris, Madrid, Montevideo, New York, Sao Paulo, Mexico City, Los Angeles, among many dozens of others I have not mentioned, were targeted on the map. "This looks to be precise."

"Good, good. Of course, the disease has a life of three years and a range of five thousand miles maximum, so little is to be missed if we skip a few here and there." Ecanius said with a carefree attitude. Either his confidence was unnatural or my confidence was abnormally paranoid.

"And by 'skip a few' I hope you mean a few individual humans, I am sure Commander?" warned S'Thkra.

"....Of course, sir. Just a few humans," he replied. With that, he toggled a graphic interface of sorts, like a hologram, which came up in front of his face. Ecanius asked permission to begin the operation.

"At your will, Commander Ecanius," S'Thrka replied.

If there was ever a moment in my life that could be played over and over in my mind for the rest of my life, that moment would be it. That black, rapier-like claw reached out to touch the button. It brought new meaning to the phrase, "The button has been pressed," to me. The panel glowed, and a dull, pulsating alarm sounded over lull of saurian voices.

WOOAAAA-WOOAAAA, WOOAAAA-WOOAAAA.

The map of the planet that was on the monitor just a moment ago had now appeared in three dimensions on the holographic projector that sat at the stage of the amphitheater-like room. After a deadly pause, another hologram appeared in front of the station where the small troupe I was with was at, a saurian face upon it with voice.

"Commander, we have received word of operation commencement. Please verify."

"This is Commander S'Thkra speaking. Lieutenant, Project Advent is a go, please confirm."

"Affirmative, Commander. Project Takeback is now in operation. Commencing to scramble air forces now. Lieutenant Rammeus out." The hologram disappeared, with only the ominous globe remaining. Then S'Thkra spoke to me.

"Remember this moment well, my son, as it will be forever grained in your memory."