The Beast

The Beast - Part 36

He opened his eyes to a rolled up nian on his right and Zu to his left, He took the time to appreciate the view before standing up. Kanu looked like a typical nian, long fur covered limbs with cat-like claws at the end, the claws didn't injure him in the elevator but he assumed they could damage other species. Their Torso was more humanoid because the fur was more sparse and on top was a scaled up cathead. In sum it created a weird being standing between 3-4 foot tall. His view shifted to Zuski, hyees were more complex. Mostly because he had never seen one without the distinct long white robes. They reminded him of an ancient Greek himation but wrapped longer and subsequently more often wrapped around the wearer. At least the Head was simply an owl head and even though there were claws on Hyee feet their hands had fingers, leaving him with two weird features left to think about. Zu had also turned her head 180 degrees before, which was scary at first but he got used to that. And the more paradoxical fact is that he saw Tibi fly up a cabinet after he woke up, nothing bigger than a few feet tall should be able to fly and especially not while wearing ropes.

He got dressed, freshened up, took his mace and looked at the two before leaving the door. Both were actually quite beautiful considering he was looking at aliens, if his life wasn't whatever mess it was right now he would've maybe considered making a move, but his life was a mess. Additionally the two both had an unacceptable relationship to him anyways. Zu was legally his property, but even the thought of touching her felt like confirming Aina's beliefs about him. And Kanu tried killing him, which was a red flag but admittedly not as bad of a turn off as it should be. He let out one quiet groan before opening the door. Why couldn't the universe pause his fight for survival?

Next up was putting on his armor, there was no way he would get close to Chip without being armored from now on. He reached the top of the stairs to find Verona waiting for him. Normally he would start the conversation with small talk but he knew that she only showed up if there was a solid reason behind it.

Verona waited for him to get close before starting to speak: "I came here to help you dispose of the body."

"What body?"

"An individual with a very particular backstory has been missing for quite some time now and was last seen following you, leaving two options open. Either you killed her and are too ashamed to tell, or you made her talk and have a person with a mental state beyond repair in your room. What is it?" Her words had no judgement in it but he still felt judged.

"Can't there another possible outcome exept torture and death?"

"You have high morals but so I don't think you would do worse to her and a short investigation revealed blood, your blood in an elevator close to where she worked. The story writes itself, you had to resort to self defense."

Gabriel was in a good mood: "You are underestimating human creativity."

"Human?"

"Nothing. Kanu is healthy and happy in my bed if you forget about the terret marathon Zuski put her through.", he tried to quickly change the topic, "You can have her back by the end of the week."

Verona thought for a little bit: "Those are acceptable terms. I hope Tibi's analysis was correct."

He asked what Tibi's analysis was but Verona turned her back to him and walked away without giving him an answer. Gabriel shook off that weird conversation and continued on his way to Chip, expecting to get shot at every time he turned a corner but it never happened. He walked through Chip's door to see a holoprojector opposite a chair in the center of the room.

Chip noticed him and turned away from the cone shaped thing and laughed when he came into her sight: "Why the suit, did you seriously think I was going to shoot you?"

"You literally tazed me yesterday."

"Yeah, it was fun but this is serious. Take a seat, we have to go through a lot." She signalled him to sit down and pressed a button on her robotic wrist that made a holographic assault rifle appear.

"Am I supposed to know that?"

"Now, no. By the end of my training, yes. Part one is teaching you about the weapons you'll most likely encounter. I want you to know strengths, weaknesses, how they damage your suit, how they could injure your body and additional specialties based on weapons the second you see it in someone's arm out there."

Gabriel expected differently: "I thought, I'd start learning to fight."

"You can rip me in half within seconds. I don't care whether you know how to throw a punch. I care about you knowing what is scary out there." Chips demenoir changed from dead serious to delighted, "Speaking of ripping someone in half, how are nians?"

Gabriel had no clue what she was talking about: "What do mean?"

Chip walking behind Gabriel, who was still unknowingly sitting in his chair: "Don't play dumb, stories spread like fire on a ship like this. A nian vanished into your room for the night."

Gabriel got the hint this time: "Would you believe me, if I say nothing happened?"

Chip chuckled: "No. You laid naked on a table in the spike for days. Do you really think Tibi wouldn't check for sexual compatibility after we found out you are sentient?"

He didn't know if he should feel violated or not but he chose to not think about it too much: "I guess that means I am compatible with nians and hyees. Are we compatible?"

Chip responded annoyed: "I wish but no and the crew refuses to talk to me since the incident."

"What incident?"

"Told you already but enough for now. It's time you learn something."

Chip spent the next hours talking about dozens of different weapons from pistols to rocket launchers. Gabriel did his best to keep up and Chip was admittedly a surprisingly good teacher. He felt tired but good after the lesson and headed back to his room. He thought to himself that even though Chip didn't try to kill him today he would still wear the suit during every lesson just in case she had some surprises waiting for him, as he put it back to its place.

He heard Tibi's door open followed by a: "Ah, you're back. How's your new friend doing?"

"She hasn't tried killing me in a day, so we're definitely making progress." He felt good, today was a calm productive day.

"Good to hear, I thought you'd have killed her by now."

"Why do people keep assuming that?" He walked back to his place.

"You have killed more people than there are days since you have woken up. Gabriel, I get that you are a good person but you have to admit that your reputation doesn't scream open for friendships."

Gabriel resorted to sarcasm: "Encouraging words, thank you."

"Choking someone unconscious and befriending them tied up to a chair in your bathroom isn't the most natural way to change that image. You know?"

"I'm doing what I can." Gabriel ended the conversation by closing his door behind him.