The Beast

The Beast - Part 14

Gabriel and Zuski decided that planned escape had to be delayed until further options presented themself, plus neither of them wanted to talk to the crew or even leave the room for anything but the essentials causing them to simply be stuck together in a room. Zuski didn't take long to teach him the games of her homeplanet, showing herself as a big boardgame geek. All of them were either weird variants of chess or some abstract puzzles against each other, Gabriel wasn't much of a board game fan but he was split in what he enjoyed more, seeing her eyes light up when she beat him or winning himself, so they played on day and night switching between games and house rules they invented to balance each other.

Until Chip opened their door in the middle of a game he was definitely going to lose. She inspected the room before talking: "I'm here to bring you to Tibi, can you follow me?"

"This isn't a Question, is it?" He turned his attention to Zu before standing up, "Let's call it a draw." She rolled her eyes but didn't want to talk in front of Chip.

"It's not." She waited for the door to close behind them before continuing, "The suit Aina gave you isn't just worth a small fortune but also a small customized marble of destruction. Building a small pile is super disrespectful, put it together."

"Disrespectful to you or Aina?" He didn't care about the armor but knowing who he was angering would be nice to know.

"To the suit it's called respecting your weapon." It was Chip, Chip was pissed by the way he treated his armor but why didn't she just say so?

Chip continued: "You're not supposed to know but the mission you'll replace Pin in, you know the mission you traded the girl for, got a whole lot more complicated. If I was you I'd get some real use out of her to get even in the deal." Gabriel didn't know if he was supposed to be more scared about the first half or more disgusted about the second half but he was still keeping cover for Zu.

"Trust me, she's entertaining in more ways than just games, why did the mission become more complicated." Chip chuckled at his response.

"Aina called it a 'change of associates'. We're here." She opened the door, waiting for him to enter, he did and Chip closed the door behind him. It was the room he woke up in, in the middle was the padded table and all around the room were white cabinets and, what he tought to be, medical instruments.

Tibi was already waiting for him: "How are you feeling?"

"You bought me, forc-" Tibi interrupted him: "I can't change any of that but I can take care of your body, so how about you take a seat and I'll do my best to make the pain go away?" She was clearly just trying to perform her duty so he followed her request.

"Let's play a game. You get to ask a question and then it's my turn to ask a question." All the time with Zu got him in a more playful mood and he was desperately trying to answer some questions anyways.

"Sounds fair, but you know that there are some questions I simply can't answer."

"I know, start the game." Gabriel was already laying on the table.

"Do you feel pain in places you're not supposed to?" Tibi undressed him to his underwear and started examining his bruises.

"The bruises and my elbow hurt but I got shot at, hence it's supposed to hurt." Tibi turned away to get something.

"My turn, why are you on this ship, you don't look like a soldier?" Tibi brought back a paste, which she was now applying on him.

"Long story, short. The Confederacy is smuggling scientific assets out of Union territory and I'm supposed to help the commanding officer to target and return anything of relevance, but you know Aina, she doesn't have much patience for retrieval missions, all she knows is efficacy at all costs, leaving me to be basically a glorified medic." Tibi was visibly irritated by her fate, "My turn, did you experience headaches, dizziness, fatigue, anxiety or Insomnia post rampage?"

Gabriel had to actually think before answering: "Insomnia, Headaches and dizziness definitely not but having a bomb inside you doesn't combat anxiety much."

"Well, you're clearly not fatigued, that's good." She finished applying the paste. "The cream I applied should help you, but who knows I usually don't treat giant beasts. You can leave."

Gabriel took the opportunity presented: "It's my turn one last time. Why was Zuski chosen?" Tibi looked at him confused for a moment before figuring it out.

"You mean the girl? I warned you that some questions are off limits. By the way, you don't have to play games if you want to know more about war, Aina or genetics. I used to be a professor before the war and Aina."