Back to top Chapter 3

When Holster started to wake up it was quite by accident. At first he didn’t know where he was or what had happened. Then, slowly, flashes of what had happened began to flood back. The subway tunnel, the mystery woman in the leather, the hostage situation. He then started to notic the sounds around him. It was either a large number of people bustling about a hospital or the sound of the ocean. In his state the two sounded incredibly similar and it be either one. He couldn’t feel any wind on him at all. Maybe it was ajust an open window or a recording. But then where was he? Then he noticed his eyes weren’t open.

Or, he thought to himself, perahps they were and there was just nothing to see. As he gained more and more consiousness he started to notice more about his surroundings. He didn’t know how he knew but some how he knew this was a place with white walls and a flood of light.

Perhaps he was dead. Or just thought he was dead. He thought he should proabably try and move one of his extremities. First he tried a a hand. He was trying to make a fist. He thought he was doing it but cuoldn’t quite tell. It was almost like he was num in some fashion. Suddenly a voice cut through his thoughts and spoke to him.

“The transition has left you largely numb. Just releax and your feeling and eye sight will come back with time.” The voice was warm, reassuring. Holster some how didn’t like it already.

He started to try and speak only to be cut off by the voice once again, as if it could read his mind.

“Your friend is ok, he is similarly recovering.” The voice said.

At this Holster started to releax again. It seemed obvious there was nothing he could do about his situation at the moment anyway. And bsides, if he was going to be hurt his apparent captors could have done so at any time they so chose.

Meanwhile, at the site of Holster apparently relaxing at hearing his friend was alright, the mysterious female in leather smiled a little from behind a two-way mirror. The specimans she had found were turning out entirely better than she could have hoped.

Turning, she looked at her superior, obviously asking the question of his approval. At this he only nodded little. A sign of approval very over whelming for likes of him.

The two specimans, their names unimportant, she had captured would be used for experiments and then fed some line about being chosen and released to rescue what they had referred to as hostages. This would be the first field test. It would likely be very confusing to them, and for all she knew the experience would destroy them like it had some others before them. She hoped it would go better than that however.

The two specimans were laying flat on sterile examination tables. They each had electrical diodes on various parts of their heads and special helments covering up their eyes with red lights flashing on them in specific patterns. Right now their bodies were fragile from the trip so it was very pleasant waking up sort of stimulii.

The two of them had been flashed with a psycholgically signifcant flash of light which had overwhelmed their senses and caused them to pass out instantly, falling to the hard tunnel floor with a thud. At this she had attached what the specimans would have described as disk shaped and about the size of a nickle with a red light on one side and a nasty looking need on the other. The disk shaped device was attached at the top of their spinal cords. Upon contact it had sprouted extra legs and further attached to them, the red light blinking with their heart rate.

She then took out another device, pushed a sequence of buttons and all three of them had been transported to her lab.

The recovery of the transport was actually fairly painful. She had grown accustomed to it in her lifetime and was able to recover within a few minutes. The specimans would have needed more time than that but the lying them out on the table was purely for the experiment and other wise not necessary.

It had been several minutes since she had spoken to them over the speaker. The vacation was over, it was time to test these new specimans. At this she turned a dial and punched in a few parameters then sat down to watch the results.

It was at the point the sensations in Holster’s head took a decidedly much more unpleasent turn. The sound of the ocean and the sense the room was white and flooded with light was suddenly replaced with a much more distressing sense of danger and darkness. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest. In fact a lot of the feeling in his extremeties was coming back. He could feel his arms and legs and the sensation of making a fist. He could also feel a rather hard and unconfortable table he was apparently laying on.

This sensation was immediately replaced by that of heat. At first just a little on the backs of hands and his toes but then quickly growing in intensity. He tried to move, to identify the source of the heat and move away from it but it seemed to all around him. He tried to move his arms but couldn’t. Were they constrained in some way? It was hard to tell.

Then he started seeing some strange things coming up in front of him. First it was a bunch of rocks and flames, like something out of a popularized personification of hell but then it started to clear up. He realized he he was actually looking at a model of something like that. As his vision began to come into focus furhter, he realized he was actually looking at a highly decorized fish tank made up to look like a highly polpularized imaged equivalent of hell. He could see little devil fish swimming around in side it. Strangely appropriate, he supposed.

But then where was the heat coming from? He started to look aroundand realize he was a in what looked like a big office or possibly someone’s private den. To his left was a large raoring fire and two large logs burning in it. He was suddenly not feeling very comforatble. He started to look around the room and saw what looked like a big desk oppisite the fish tank. The chair was empty. He then scanned the rest of the walls and noticed there were no doors at all. This seemed odd to him and less than practical.

Then he started to realize he was probably imagining this whole thing, that he was being manipulated in some way. As he thought about this a stabbing pain shot through his head. With a cry of pain he started to hold his temples and lower toward the floor on his knees. This distracted him long enough he forgot about the imaginary theory he had and the pain started to subside.

He wasn’t sure what was going on but he didn’t like it. He knew on some level there was a way to control what was happening to him but he also knew he would probably be in enormous pain if he did so.

Then, without warning several figures appeared in the room with im. Within moments they had formed a loose circle around him and were wearing what looked like some kind of combat sword.

They were dressed in all black from head to toe and wore some kind of special mask over their heads. Only their were visible. Theyalso seemed to have some kind of wire coming up their backs. A microhone perhaps? Perahps something else. In any case these figures didn’t look like they were going to wish him a happy birthday. As he was thinking this he looked down to realize he was earing his normal street clothes and even had his favorite hand gun in his favorite holster. One of htem directly in front of Holster started reaching up to grab at the hildt of his sword. At this Holster started to reach for his gun.

Then in a remarkably fast motion that seemed to happen all at once and in a single blur all the figures, at least six them of them Holster counted, started to run at him, swords raised. He took out his hand gun as he dove out of their way in one fluid motion. As soon as he landed he started to fire at all the attacking figures as quickly as possible. As always his marksmanship was perfect, but instead of injuring and disabling the attacking figures they simply vanished into a puff of smoke as if they had never been there at all. Holster kept firing and firing until, at last, there was onl one figure left. This figure had landed on the other side of room by some twist of fate or perhaps that just made the figure the most likely to survive the fight.

Holster raised his weapon, pointed it at the figure and pulled the trigger only to hear the familiar click of an empty clip. Putting up a face that could only be described by a a long string of four letter explitives, Holster put the gun back into his Holster.

“Who, or what, are you exactly?” Holster asked.

The figure in black only looked at him, sword raised in front of him.

“Why have you been sent here, to attack me of all people?” He moved from his position to his right slowly as he said this tring to study the details of this new nemesis.

The figure still said nothing. Then, suddenly, started to to vibrate and shimmer. Or at lest the air around him did. The figure fell to his knees, dropping his sword. He still made no sounds but was clearly in pain. Then there was a bright flash of light.

As Holster’s focus began to return he saw the figure on the ground. At least what he thought the figure should have been. As he looked closer he started to realize he was actually stairing on someone very familiar.

“Kipper? Is that you?” he asked.

First there was no response. Then, slowly, a sound of pain came from Kipper.

Kipper slowly started to get this feet. He seemed to be surprised to be where he was and even more surprised to see Holster. Though the look in his eye was not one of ‘glad to see you so much as ‘you son of a bitch’.

After several second of obvious painful climbing to his feet, Kipper walked over the Holster. He looked like he was about to say something but instead punched him in the nose as hard as he could. Holster screamed and pain and held his now extremely painful nose and struggled with his vision.

Chapter 4

Stairing through the two-way mirror, Mavaria was more than shocked to see that holsters nose had begun to bleed. That had never happened to a subject before now. What the hell was going on? The combat scenario should have still been going on with all the normal sofegards turned on.

She then turned and sent through a door to her left. There, as she expected was kipper in a identical room also knocked out and going through similar tests and scenarios. She didn’t know what was going on but knew it couldn’t possibly be good. She could only hope her superiors didn’t find out before she wanted them to know. If she played it right she could spin this situation to her benefit.

She went back to the first room. A nose bleed. That didn’t seem right some how. Could it really be? Could Holster be the one they had searched for? It was a crazy idea.

She picked up her radio and started to issue orders. Some staff medics came in and started to clean the blood from Holsters nose. One of the medics radiod back from inside the room that Holster’s nose was broken and that he seemed to be trying to talk or ake up. This, Mavaria, knew, was impossible. All the precations had been taken to prevent either of them from waking up a minute before she decided as much.

She picked up the radio and responded, telling them to do what they could now and she would deal with the rest later. The medics acknowledged this and packed up the supplies and left.

She was dreading how the superiors would respond to the news but it was better they here it from her.

She walked over to the red communicator and put it into her ear and pushed some buttons on the console. The communicator started to make some ringing sounds and then a voice answered.

“Yes? What is it” the voice asked.

“Sir, it may be what we have been waiting for. One of the speciman’s noses is bleeding. I, I think it’s the one.” She said this trying not to let her voice shake at all. She only half succeeded.

“Really. Interesting. Keep me up to date on the situation Mavaria. Out.” With that the voice was gone. She wasn’t sure what was going on but she was going to find out.  ¶ 5:34 PM