Jupiter Ascending /Caine Wise

Chapter 4 - Complications

Hours later, Jupiter begins to stir. Confused and disoriented she looks around trying to figure out where she is. Then she spots a gun on the ground in front of her. Her captor, or maybe her savior is standing with his back to her. She quietly reaches out for the strange looking weapon and points it toward him.

Turning his head in her direction Caine says, "I thought it would make you feel better."

"What?" Jupiter asks still groggy from the sedatives.

"The gun," he replies with his back still turned towards her. "It works better if you flip the switch. "

Jupiter reaches out and activates the gun, still pointed at Caine. "Careful," he warns as he raises his hands, showing he isn't a threat. Turning slowly to face her, he says, "You've been asleep for almost 12 hours."

Jupiter tries to stand but is still weak and gives up. Keeping the gun aimed at Caine she begins to demand answers, "Where am I?"

"Still in Chicago," he answers being careful not to spook her but maintaining eye contact.

"Ok, good," she mumbles to herself as she surveys her surroundings. Realization dawns as she notices she is now fully clothed in jeans and a plaid top. "My clothes?"

Caine interrupts and offers a quick explanation, "Umm, you were still in the paper clinic gown..."

Shaking her head, Jupiter stops him, too embarrassed to let him continue. "Eh, I can't really think about that now. "

"Look Jupiter," Caine says moving a little closer, "is that your name?"

Tensing up, she says, "How do you know that?" Still holding the gun, she glares at him.

"Sorry, just trying to figure out what happened. You probably used a fake name at the clinic and their tests probably tripped the monitor to your gene pool."

Not really understanding any of this Jupiter admits to using a fake name, "Lots of people use a false name for this. What does that have to do with what happened to me?"

Caine takes a breathe and slowly sits beside her, still holding his hands in the air. "OK. When I was in the Legion, they gave me protocols for this," trying to figure out how to explain to her that everything she knows is a lie, or at the very least only a half truth. "It can be difficult for Terrsies, um, people from underdeveloped world's," he says, gesturing towards Jupiter, "to hear that their planet is not the only inhabited planet in the 'verse." He pauses to see if this is sinking in.

"No, this has to be some sort of dream. It's the only way any of this makes sense. " she says thinking back to the anesthesia, still not accepting what's going on.

"Compared to what?" he scoffs, then adds more gently, "The idea that you are the only intelligent species on the only inhabited planet in the universe so full of planets that you don't even have a number to describe how many there are."

Jupiter thinks for a moment, reeling from the idea that this could be true. "Are you saying you're an alien?" For the first time she really looks at Caine; he looks human enough but his ears are pointed on the ends and he has silvery hair. But he wouldn't be the first person to surgically alter his body for asthetic reasons. No, he could looked almost as human as anyone else, anyone who was in amazing shape and was ruggedly good looking and... just stop. What am I thinking! Jupiter's thoughts are brought back to the present as Caine answers her question.

Caine shrugs slightly, "Genome-gineered human. They cut my DNA with something like a wolf. I'm a lycantant, bred for the military, but," he says pausing, his eyes almost sad looking, "that didn't work out for me."