CHAPTER TWELVE: IT'S ALL COMING TOGETHER

Dae-Seong, VV-06, and I sat in silence for the rest of chow while the last member of our team decided that she’d spend her time staring at me with a stupid shit-eating smile that stretched from one side to the other of her dark brown bangs that hung across her chestnut brown face. What is this chick staring for? Shit, I guess her parents didn’t teach her any table manners. Man, I pray this chick is alright in the head. I don’t need another team member to worry about gunning for my neck. I continued shoveling down food while blood dripped from the corners of my mouth as I chewed voraciously. The pungent taste and odor of raw meat had become a welcomed flavor to my altered pallet. I looked up now and then from my plate, catching sight of the subtle seductive way she rested her chin in her hand. With one quick glance at her chest plate, I could see the letter and number combo PA-10 was ingrained on her chimera suit. An icy shiver ran down my spine as every hair on my body stood on edge worse than when I had rumbled in the halls with Cunt-Seong. I lifted my head up again to make eye contact, not wanting to be outdone. As I stared into her dark brown eyes, I saw a sort of primal desire linger that differed from hunger, but similar in intensity. Another kind of burning craving I had yet to experience. Whatever it was, though, rubbed me the wrong way oddly as my temper rose to its boiling point.

“Is there a problem, miss? I can’t help but notice that you’ve been staring this entire time while I’ve been eating. I don’t mean to be rude, but with all due respect….you’re creeping me out. What’s a gentleman to think if you keep staring so hard?” I said.

PA-10 must’ve found my sarcasm and forced Noblesse accent funny because she responded with a hearty chuckle, all while my field of vision converted back to the infrared blobs on reflex. Ok, this is getting weird. I usually only go infrared when I feel threatened by another predator, but she’s not making any threats or movements. I watched while she manipulated the food on her plate that appeared to me as slabs of reddish-yellow. My sight shifted to her mouth and then her body as I tried hard not to let my discomfort show on my face or body language. My heart picked up its pace, not yet racing, but definitely pumping faster than it was before, especially since I had a gut feeling that her eyes followed every motion I made. A fact that made me annoyed, curious, and, mostly, anxious. Like they had caught me doing something wrong.

“A gentleman might think it an invitation. But you can never know for sure nowadays when everyone’s playing childish games. Tell me Shit-stain, what do you think?” PA-10 asked, with a giggle that didn’t register as at all friendly.

Crazy bitch.

“I think that you might have a few screws loose in the head that you may want to work on tightening before I have to readjust them for you, miss.” I said through a smile of my own as my lips peeled back over my teeth.

“That I would love to see, SSM-13, you give me the impression of being the energetic type. I’d hope you could last a few rounds.” PA-10 said with a wink and a bloody smirk.

“You could always fuck around and find out.” I said “harshly, turning my attention back towards my food.

“I just might.” PA-10 said.

###

It was a short walk back to our barracks room, but the tension that manifested between the four of us made every second felt like I was in an emotional war zone where one wrong word could set everybody off like a landmine. VV-06 headed the front of our group as Dae-Seong and PA-10 each took a side while I meandered at the back, jotting down mental notes of everyone. I was the largest of the group, with VV-06’s slender figure coming second. PA-10, on the other hand, was an inch or two shorter, but visibly much curvier as I watched her hips sashay from side to side with a bit more twist than might’ve been necessary. Dae-Seong came dead last. However, I’d learned my lesson once about underestimating any of my Superiōrem comrades, especially the cadre. We made it back to our barracks room that was marked with a large camo letter ‘D,’ painted off to the side as we marched inside. Within our empty barracks room, we came upon the sight of four strange colored, abnormally large rifles that weren’t there previously as they hung off the top of each of our bed posts.

 None of us made a sound as the four of us each took up our bunk that were conjoined to a large metal closet as we began sorting out our individual areas. Intrigued by the sight of the novel UNF weapon, I swiftly grabbed up the unloaded rifle from my post as I began manipulating the matte ash-gray colored firearm in my hands. Coiling my fingers around its grip and handguard while I tried to get used to the ergonomic feel of the rifle. I lifted the weapon a bit, pressing my face against the near end butt of the rifle. Staring down its iron sights while I sat on my bed. Shit, this thing has to weigh thirty no–forty pounds at least. No matter how excited I was though experimenting with my new toy, I kept each member of my team in my line of sight, uncomfortable with the idea of having my back towards my supposed teammates that I hardly knew from a can of paint. 

I better sleep light tonight. Who knows what any of them might try while I’m out. I stood up, swishing back the sheets, nearly about to hop on my cot along with my rifle, only to pause at the last moment. Wait, hold-up, what are you even doing D? These folks got you tripping hard. Are you really about to hop in bed suited, booted, and extra fucking bloody like a dumbass? Least undress first, you know better than that. No, Noblesse would want to go to bed dirty. I thought to myself, closing my eyes as I remembered what the medical officer had said about the basic operation of my combat suit. Ok, happy thoughts, happy thoughts. Imagine that Cunt-Seong and Psycho bitch aren’t even around. You’re in a penthouse suite filled with all the best cuts of meat, expensive liq, and beautiful women. Yeah, that’s it. Imagine living the UNF dream, your dream. I voiced internally as the slow crawl of nanos tickled my skin while exposing my spandex suit. I looked back down at my hands and feet, examining the mini reddish-black balls that gathered together around each of my wrists and ankles as they formed small trinkets that resembled my life-band. 

“Uau!” A voice that sounded a lot like PA-10’s said in the background, accompanied by a long high-pitched whistle. “I can see now how you got such a high physical rating. Dr. Atunde sure has an eye for her candidates.”

My heart pumped faster after the sudden sound of PA-10’s cat-calling caught me off guard while I turned to see the sight of my questionably mentally stable teammate staring at me with the same near wide-eyed hungry look she gave me the entirety of chow as she pointed directly at me. Fuck, is this chick talking about? Confused by her vague under-handed comment, my eyes followed the direction that her finger pointed to as they began moving down my body and towards my length. Which, at some point during my mental exercise, had become fully erect as it stretched out the crotch area of my spandex suit, pitching a large black tent. And there goes my dignity. I rushed to cover up with my rifle with one hand as I attempted to painfully tuck myself between my legs with the other as I tried to hide it away from the rest of my teammates. Another snicker echoed in the background as I turned to see Cunt-Seong laughing hysterically while fixing his bed joined by VV-06 who snuck a glance out the corner of eye, which afterwards she began shaking her head apathetically. My cheeks, with a swiftness, became flushed with heat and though I was a bit too dark to really blush, it for damn sure didn’t stop my body from trying.

“Don’t be shy, SSM-13. Trust me, you have nothing to be embarrassed about. In fact, you might be the most heavily equipped Superiōrem I’ve seen so far, and that’s including the ones that didn’t pass.” PA-10 giggled.

“Grow up you two.” VV-06 sneered.

“Oh, I doubt SSM-13 could do any more growing little miss perfect. Matter of fact, I’d be more impressed if he did. That would definitely be a sight to see for sure.” 

“Slut.” VV-06 mumbled under her breath while the dull yellow and black nanos of her suit rolled down her limbs.

Whatever bit of warmth had gathered in the room disappeared with VV-06’s last comment that all of us heard as PA-10’s focus shifted towards her like a cat with a new toy.

“Watch your mouth, princesa.” PA-10 said.

“Make me, skank.” VV-06 said, turning towards her with indignation.

“With pleasure, just don’t complain to the cadre after I ruin that pretty face of yours.” PA-10 said, shooting up from her bed as she took two steps forward.

Without a second thought, I threw my rifle on my bed, jumping in between my teammates, arms stretched out while my head began swiveling between the two. I pray to whoever’s watching over us we’re not the only team going through this bullshit, otherwise I can kiss a decent spot in the rankings goodbye. 

“Look, everyone needs to calm down right the fuck now. It’s only the first night and we’ve already had one fight between me and Cunt-Seong. We don’t need another between you two where either of you could get hurt. Especially when we don’t even know what’s in store for us tomorrow. Just squash all the petty drama so that we can try to work together.”

“Don’t listen to Shit-stain, come on, I want to see a cat-fight!” Dae-Seong chimed in.

“Cunt-Seong, do me a favor and shut the fuck up.” I said. 

Each of my hairs once again stood on edge while my vision shifted back to infrared. I knew immediately that my body had prepared to be the last one standing, no matter what happened. I watched each subtle flex of muscle that shifted under both girls’ spandex suits as my eyes wandered. Actually, maybe Cunt-Seong might have a point. I thought for a moment before quickly shaking the thought out of my head.

“Count yourself lucky, princesa. I wouldn’t want to get a scratch on my toy before I get to play with it.” PA-10 said, turning on her heel. 

“I didn’t need saving, dumbass.” VV-06 said to me before following suit.

“Way to ruin a good show, Shit-stain.” 

I’m surrounded by psychos, assholes, and mad scientists. Just send the asteroid. I returned to my side of the barracks room, picking back up my rifle as I hopped in bed. The next nine months would be long, and I had to be ready. I laid on my back with my rifle pressed against my chest as I faced the rest of the room. My eyes grew heavy, closing slowly until darkness took over again.

###

I had no idea how long I slept for, but sad to sad I had apparently overslept. Well, more accurately, we all did according to Sergeant Mendoza, who stood in our doorway in his green and black Superiōrem dress uniform that I’d only seen on tv. Our barracks room doors jutted open as the sound of thunder crashed into the room. A metal trash can rolled around back and forth on the floor while Sergeant Mendoza held an empty, dripping bucket in his hand. Startled awake, someone had drenched me in something cold and wet as I leapt up to see that each member of DELTA Team was in the same condition as I was in. Faces decorated with bags and rings of crust around our eyes. 

“WAKE THE FUCK UP MAGGOTS. ITS ZERO-SIX HUNDRED AND NOT ONE OF YOU HAD THE GODDAMN COURTESY OF TOWING MY MOTHERFUCKING LINE TO GREET ME.” Sergeant Mendoza said as he walked around the room, straightening each and everyone of us up with ease, leaving no room for us to react as he quickly ended up back at the entrance to our barracks room. “OH I SEE. EVERYONE MUST’VE HAD A NICE FULL MEAL LAST NIGHT AND YOU DECIDED AS A TEAM TO SLEEP IT OFF. GREAT, I LOVE SEEING TEAMWORK IN ACTION. YOU KNOW WHAT? I WANT TO HELP CULTIVATE THIS WONDERFUL CAMARADERIE. TEAM! ATTENTUH! FRONT LEANING REST POSITION, MOVE!” 

Sergeant Mendoza barked out word after word while I did my best to mimic the rest of my team. Everyone dropped to the floor instantly into the push-up position, with their arms fully extended and faces staring straight down at the ground.

“NOW WHEN I SAY ONE YOU GO DOWN. WHEN I SAY TWO YOU PUSH UP, WHEN I SAY THREE YOU GO BACK DOWN THEN COME BACK UP AND COUNT OFF WITH ONE. SIMPLE, EASY, NOT EVEN A SPERM CELL WITHOUT A BRAIN COULD FUCK IT UP. WHEN YOU PUSH I WANT TO FEEL THE FUCKING EARTH ITSELF MOVE DO YOU UNDERSTAND?” Sergeant Mendoza said, spit flying everywhere, black shades resting on his fair skin 

“Yes!” We shouted in unison.

“YES THE FUCK WHAT? MOMMY? DADDY? BABY FUCKING JESUS?”

“Yes Sergeant Mendoza.”

“GOOD, NOW I WANT A THOUSAND BEFORE BREAKFAST. ONE, TWO, THREE!” Sergeant Mendoza sounded off with an easy to follow rhythm that created a tortuous melody in my head. 

Psychos and assholes, every last one of them.