Base 6

“Look at him, he has the mental capacity of wet cabbage…”

My skull strangled my brain, my heartbeat making every vein in my body pound against my thoughts with an oppressive pressure. My vision bubbling in and out, a fuzzy silhouette coming slowly into focus.

“He could have gotten me, and my entire crew killed, do you understand the gravity of that Raymond!” Something soft and cold came to dab at my forehead. A growing stinging sensation humming lowly under the gentle pressure.

“Augh- “My voice came out more gargled than I expected, and my bones screamed as I began to sit up. A gentle hand pushed me down to my back once again, the pressure of the cold cloth coming back to my head. I felt as if I had just woken up from a fever dream which details were slipping away from me.

My vision came back to me in fuzzy pictures as the figure tending to my wounds came into view, soft droopy brown eyes greeting me. He gently removed the cotton swab pressed to my forehead and smiled, and the smell of iodine flooding my nose.

“Ah, You’re awake. Good. We have questions to ask you.” We? I blinked and glanced around the room. Another person stood a little further back, steps forward his hands on his hips. Soft round features juxtaposed with sharp piercing blue eyes that bore into me. His blue hair messy and faded, revealing dirty blond roots.

I blinked once, twice. But I wasn't going crazy. The blue haired man with a stern glare wasn't human- an angry tail thrashed right to left with extreme force. Attentive ears turning and twitching to assess me. If I had to guess I'd say he had elements of a canine of some variety, maybe a fox?

"HEY! Eyes are down here jack ass! This isn't a zoo where you get to gawk at me!" I blink hard and try to look anywhere else in the room- I must have been staring.

“Sam, step back please you’re going to scare him.” The doctor with soft eyes reached a hand up to push the blue haired antagonizer back with resistance, those sharp eyes felt as if they were piercing me to the core.

“He’s fine! A little beat up but if he has the energy to fight his way through an entire troop of drones, then he has the energy to talk!” Sam pushed Raymonds hand down and I felt myself tense up. I opened my mouth to speak, my voice caught in my throat.

Every bone and muscle in my chest screamed and I began to cough hard, only making the pain growing all over my body worse. That caused my aggressor to back off, but he still looked as if he wanted my head on a spike.

“For fuck's sake Sam! Look at him!” Raymond’s softer demeanor shifted, and he seemed to also be getting annoyed at this point. “He has two broken ribs, and you have patience! So go wait outside before I call Faerin to come drag you out!”

That shut Sam up, he stormed to the door. Right before he left, he caught my eye and if looks could kill I would cease to exist. Raymond sighed and turned back to me, preparing gauze and bandages. “I apologize for his behavior; he’s really stressed out right now- we all are.” Raymond smiled warmly at me with tired eyes that haven't slept well in days.

I'm finally being given some time for my brain to process this cluster fuck of a situation.

Then I noticed. Raymond was also a hybrid. I hadn't seen it in the chaos of the situation, but he had gently drooping ears that resembled a deer's and large rams' horns that curled from his head, coming to a sharp point as they coil around his ears.

“Here, just breathe. I’ll get you all patched up and you can rest for a bit. You must have a lot of question!” He chuckled as he patched up, dressed, and wrapped my wounds with fast but careful hands that must have done this hundreds of times before.

The room was quiet, and I wish I could relax but my mind was running a mile a minute trying to piece together the puzzle that has been the last 24 hours. I was home, a little beat-up collection of three rooms that was technically considered habitable. Leaving to go somewhere... I was just on my way to work- Dammit! Work! They must be wondering why I didn’t show up. Well, it's kind of my own dammed fault for not showing up-

I realize now that what I did was reckless and stupid… I don’t even know now what came over me, but my feet were moving on their own.

A horde of Drones. the oppressive presence that has been strangling the city in the name of ‘safety’, I wish I could imagine the world before them, but it seems so far away. The government swallowing a cat to catch the mouse.

I can’t remember why I decided to jump into the fray, I just remember running and punching, my knuckles ached just from the memory. I imagine that’s what it feels like to be black out drunk, my inhibition taking over and running on nothing but pure instinct.

My train of thought is halted by the door clicking open. “Hello Reed, how are you feeling?” A short and cheery plump woman entered the room, and I lifted my eyes from my hands in my lap at the sound of my name, I felt an eyebrow raise and the butterfly bandage holding my wound closed pulled at my forehead.

“Oh, I’m so sorry dear, I should introduce myself, I’m Agatha! But you can call me Aggy. I’ll be taking care of you.” She smiled and took a seat across from where I lay, picking up the clipboard that sat on the desk. Her hair bounced gently, the painful fluorescent lights washing out her beautiful caramel skin.

“Oh, uh- no… how- how do you know my name?” My voice was weak, but I managed to push past the raging pain in my throat and chest which had been reduced to a dull roar by the medication being pumped into me.

“AH! Yes yes, I’m sorry! No wonder you’re so confused. We were able to pull up your file from Biovix Technologies using your blood work.” Her sweet smile and big round eyes really took away from how creepy that sounded.

“Biovix- You mean the shitty desk job I work at! Why would they have my blood… like on file?” Aggy laughed a little and crossed her legs jotting something down.

“You are so funny Reed- the only reason you’re still here is because of that ‘shitty desk job’, we believe you will be a valuable asset in our research. You’re quite lucky Faerin has decided to come meet with you personally! Or you’d be in a gutter right now.’ Agatha had this comforting air about her that relaxed me, despite all the very terrible things she was saying… and the many questions she gave me no answer to.

“We? Research- what research? How do you know where I wor-” A soft knock hummed at the door cut me off, and Agatha smiled as she held her finger up to me as if she was shushing a child before she stood and walked to answer the door, opening it just a crack and whispering something to the person on the other side. I tried to lift my head to see who she was speaking to but sitting up felt like a knife being driven into my sternum.

Murdered… I’m definitely about to be murdered! Left in a gutter-

Aggy stepped aside and in stepped a taller thin man. He had a sloped nose and sharp eyes that turned up a little in the corners, his long black hair streaked with white stress, was tied back just enough to keep it from his face. Calculating eyes assessed my every being and I felt as if he could read my thoughts from just giving me a once over.

“You’re kidding.” The voice doesn’t match the face, it was jarring hearing such a soft voice come from such sharp features. He turned back to Agatha who gently closed the door and retook her seat.

“He took down a horde of drones all by himself- if Sam’s squad hadn’t already been monitoring the situation, he’d be left with much worse than a few broken ribs.” She gestured at me with the pen in her hand “But the kid has some serious guts!”

The memory came flooding back to me-

The streets were so quiet, but a thunderous sound crept up behind me… I saw the young boy before I saw the drones. He had to be some kind of hybrid the way he was bolting down the street. He had something clutched in his hands and pressed preciously to his chest; terror painting his face. Then I saw them, there must have been at least ten sprinting after him. I could feel a lump grow in my throat and the adrenaline begin to pound through my veins.

I remember pummeling the hunks of metal until their attention was pulled towards me, watching the small hybrid boy be able to slip away. Once I got my ass thoroughly handed to me, and right before I blacked out; controlled chaos erupted around me, and I could see the drones surrounding my dropping like flies as I gave in and lost consciousness.

“The boy! The little hybrid- is he okay?” I turned my head hard to the side and groaned with immediate regret. The man’s eyes locked back onto me, and his eyebrows furrowed deep in thought. Aggy opened her mouth to speak but was cut off.

“Luckily, yes. He is currently in the care of base 5, and you’re lucky he’s still alive. You could have easily made the whole situation worse or have gotten him killed. You do realize that, right? You didn’t even have a squadron with you.” The man took a step towards me, and I could feel myself tense up as he approached. The more questions got answered, the more questions I gained.

I cried out “But- “

“Faerin. Look, the kid didn’t know the situation was being monitored. He’s just a civilian.” Agatha came to my defense, the man whipping around to face her. You could feel the room tense up and fill with the seething silence rolling off of him.

“HE’S A CIVILIAN?!” His once soft voice boomed through the room as if speaking through a megaphone. I squeezed my eyes shut tight, trying to turn off my hearing from sheer will. Maybe if I tried really hard, I would wake up from this nightmare.