Night City Aliens: The Wandering Planet

Ch 4: Sleep

Lord Dominator stared at the gap in her teeth before closing her mouth into a frown. After figuring out how to use the digital mirror, she decided to inspect herself while drying off. It wasn't a pretty sight. She was missing a tooth and some of her hair had been torn out as a result of Lord Hater blowing up The World Eater. This was on top of the multiple bruises and fresh surgical scars that riddled her body. At least she was clean.

"Hey, V," Miss Tee called out. Or at least that's what Dominator thought her name was.

The woman had already redressed in her sweater and pants. On the doctor's bed, she had laid out fresh clothes. All of them seemed to be for Dominator, which bewildered the green woman. Lord Dominator shrugged off the thought, not wanting to waste Miss Tee's generosity while she could still use it.

With Miss Tee's help, Dominator got dressed. Bra and panties that fit disturbingly well, a grey t-shirt with a big, yellow X on the front, dark blue pants, and red sneakers. Despite how snug the pants were, Dominator was still able to move easily. She did wish she could have a black dress like her old one, but pants were probably better when on the move. The last piece was a navy blue, zip-up hoodie which Dominator left open.

Through the process, Miss Tee didn't seem all that scared of Dominator. After her stunt in the shower, the green woman thought her assistant would be slow and hesitant. Instead, she was efficient and smiled the whole time. There was a small tinge of fear in Miss Tee's eyes, but it was laced with something else.

Dominator's first thought was that the woman felt some kind of sympathy for her, but again shrugged it off. Lord Dominator didn't need anyone's pity. The only reason she was still hanging around was because of her injuries. As soon as she was fully healed, she was bailing on these losers.

Dominator took one last peek in the mirror before leaving with Miss Tee. She almost couldn't believe how normal she looked without makeup and armor. Gone was the intergalactic menace that committed planetary genocide purely for laughs. For the foreseeable future, she was V the common street thug.

---

The drugs the doctor gave her had worn off, allowing Dominator to walk around without help. She was still slow, as she would be for a while. She was just thankful to have her full wits again. Without the threat of bleeding out, Dominator could fully take in her surroundings.

The first thing she noticed was how dark the doctor's office was. It was clean, as the smell of sanitizer was ever present in the room. However, the only well-lit area was the surgical chair in the middle. Everything else was bathed in a dim blue from the sparse lighting fixtures.

It was also quite a large area, mostly open. Off in the corner was a row of lockers and a dumbbell set. She watched Jackie using the weights when she was still half out of it, but it was weird seeing them in a medical area. There was also a punching bag, so maybe the doctor was into competitive fighting?

The three locals were having a conversation that she paid no mind to, until her name was called.

"V," Jackie said, gaining her attention. "Did you...?" He held up one of her scavenged food items and pointed to her. Dominator wasn't sure what he was referring to and just raised an eyebrow.

"Food," he pointed to the package. "V," he pointed to her before making an eating gesture, "munch, munch."

Dominator wore a skeptical grin and she slowly nodded. Yes, she ate the food. Why wouldn't she? She was stranded in the desert on an unknown planet. Her confusion only grew when the doctor (Rikter or something?) let out a hearty chuckle.

"V. Look." Jackie pointed to a line of symbols on the back of the package. They were printed in black and stood out against the package's bright, neon coloring. Then he pulled out his pocket device and held it up. It displayed a similar string of symbols. Problem was that Dominator didn't have the slightest clue what the symbols represented. After receiving a very confused frown from her, Jackie explained further.