The Beast

The Beast - The End

Months passed as Gabriel, Zuski, Kanu and Chip became regulars in the City. They alternated between going to their favorite places and discovering new locations. Zuski founded a board game club that quickly grew in size. Kanu could always be found talking to traders at the hangar. Chip dabbled in many things after finishing Gabriel's rifle but nothing was able to keep her attention for longer than a week, so she ended up following him around in between her phases.

The station flourished under Tac's reforms. Although she avoided longer conversations with Gabriel, he knew that she was slowly healing. She had not only improved the existing system inside the base but also started a handful of new efforts. The first one was a memorial to her father in the form of a secondary hangar named after him. She then used the funds freed up to assemble a strike force for Gabriel. He was concerned about the militarization at first but an incident with a pirate band changed his mind. Her other reforms were about supply and logistics, he still read the proposals before signing on them but that didn't make it less boring to him.

Tibi, well, Tibi left. The Universities of Fortschritt reviewed her findings and deemed them worthy for her to join their ranks; it was the one goal she had and Gabriel couldn't bring himself to try and convince her to stay. However, he insisted that she keep her sources secret, so as to not receive any unwanted attention. Elle informed him that any attempts on her side to break confiability would end in a fatal accident after parting ways with Tibi.

Verona got picked up by Taro's men in a big spectacle just like their deal stated. Her departure tanked his mood for a week and thinking back to it still twists his stomach. Gabriel liked Verona, she was great to spend time with, understood his emotions faster than anyone else and seemed thankful for everyday she woke up. Not to forget the kind moments they had back on Taro's ship. He could still remember the evening they laid under the glass dome of an abandoned point defense system and watched the stars with every detail.

Gabriel kept himself busy with many different things. At least once a week he would go with Chip to the bolg bar. Not because it was particularly good but because he noticed that she was more comfortable there. He was also a regular at Zuski's club even though he never won a tournament. He also tried to figure out what fascinated Kanu about trading stories with travelers but it eluded him.

Another major interesting thing happened, a cargo ship with dozens of abominations of war stopped at their station to refuel. Tac confiscated it and arrested the crew. They were sent to the union to face trial for their war crimes, but the more mechanical than biological creatures stayed with them because the union refused to accept them. When Gabriel saw them a switch inside him flipped, they intimidated him. Gabriel was unsure what to think at first but after weighing the options he chose that disposal by airlock would be too big a shame.

He ordered them to hide them in a part of the tunnels only he had access to. When he had the time and energy he would go there, flip one on and fight it to destruction. Where the urge to prove himself against these things came from was a question he couldn't answer but he did it anyways. These fights started off as struggles for life and death but by the end he could instinctively calculate how long it would take Elle to repair an injury, allowing him to develop a fighting style that integrated her assistance.

One day he was in the shower after an underwhelming duel. These things would 'bleed' fluid that sticks to everything it touched like glue. Gabriel rubbed his thigh aggressively with a sponge fighting the stickiness when he slipped with the sponge and cut himself with his fingernail. It hurt, Elle had stopped numbing the pain entirely during the fights at his orders, but that didn't concern him. Ice cold fear washed over him, making him forget the hot water running down his body. He stared at the small cut, frozen in fear. It wouldn't heal. A drop of blood formed on it. Red blood. For the first time in months it was red blood. His shaking knees gave in causing him to fall to his knees.

Eye still pinned on the tiny cut he spit out some shaking words: "E-Elle? What is happening...Elle!"

No response. He sat on the floor keeping the panic away with sheer focus, as he watched the red drop roll down his thigh. His deep breaths were interrupted when his limbs suddenly, violently, extended. Fighting against the sudden change he witnessed Elle had returned as instantly as they had left. His fear was overpowered by an foreign wave of ecstasy. The blood coming from his cut turned back into the pitch black tone he got used to but it didn't stop there. The veins under his skin darkened too which was a nerve rattling first.

He asked for Elle again and again he was left without an answer.

The blackness in his veins spread up his body, inching closer to his face with every heartbeat. In a desperate attempt he tried to stop the expansion by pressing down on the dark lines, when he noticed a blackspot on his forearm. It wasn't black under his skin or over it but Elle had fused with him. By the time he had comprehended what he saw the blackness had already spread way past the point he was pressing down on. It was now crawling up his stomach. Unable to come up with another plan he laid on the tiled floor and watched it spread, waiting for something, anything to happen.

When it suddenly felt like every part of his body twisted 180 degrees and with that the torment was over. The spot was replaced by normal skin in the blink of an eye and the same went for the crawling black. Now he was just laying in shower with hot water raining down on him.

While catching his breath he spoke: "I hope you have a good explanation for your breakdown, Elle."

"I found another Human."