Whispers of the Diamond: A Romance of Memory and Desire

Chapter 9 - Alex

I really hated this part. As the blinding light of the med lab hit my new eyes, I turned and immediately vomited, throwing up a mix of the mimetic gels used to clone me and the chemicals used to ensure I didn't go insane when they rebooted the vacant brain.

I blinked and lay back, groaning. I could feel the heat of copper through my flesh. It would pass, but the part I hated was that I felt everything in the worst way. I sat up slowly.

"Easy there, cowboy," the doctor said, eyeing me suspiciously. I caught his badge: Jakobson. I stretched and then rolled my shoulders. At least the body felt good. We were complete copies of ourselves; the DNA held from the first time you were brought back. I was forty at the time, so every return left me in the body of a slightly healthier forty-year-old than when I died. Being a Hunter took its toll. The difference is you came back with everything you knew before you died, minus maybe the last couple of minutes.

"How much did I lose?" I asked, eying the machine that read 99.998% complete.

"About 90 seconds. Probably for the best. The resistance made a mess of you. And yes, your charge escaped, which means—" He didn't have time to finish as Abigail stormed through the door, walking toward me with eyes flashing at the doctor, who immediately scurried off.

"HOW THE...?" I struggled to grasp what was happening.

"I don't know. They ran into the car, and it was over before I had a chance to react. We obviously have a leak," I snapped, still feeling the sting from being sprayed with semi-automatic fire.

"Find her!" Abigail snapped, walking away before turning to face me. "And this time, kill her!" She left me to sit and try to piece together the mess I'd wound up in. My assessment of help from the inside was at least correct; there was no way they could have known Terra would be transferred.

"Am I clear?" I asked, frustration evident in my tone. The doctor simply nodded, his eyes on the tablet in his hand as he went about his next task. I stood slowly; it takes a minute for your brain to tell the new body how it works. If you rush, you end up on the floor like a dumb animal trying to find its footing. Humans are mammals, but we don't have to look so dumb at times.

I took a step, unsteady, then another, and a third before my body adjusted and remembered how to work. I crossed the lab to where my clothes and gear were and dressed, tucking my gun in its holster. With practised grace, I whipped my jacket in a wide arc behind me before slipping my arm through and putting it on.

I passed from the labs to the tech division and was greeted by Sara. She was a short girl but smart as they come. She ran up and gave me a huge hug.

"Hey Lexi, you survived again?!" Her voice was enough to drive away even the gloomiest of thoughts—a rare ray of sunshine in such a dark and twisted world. "So, um, you got shredded with semi-auto fire?"

It was a dig, and I chuckled in response and nodded. It was a well-meaning jibe, and I never took Sara for less than who she was. She was also responsible for most of the tech that kept me alive or brought me back to life when, like earlier, things went wrong. In my line of work, they can and do go awfully wrong.

"So, I've been working on a new nanofiber polymer—a lightweight vest," she said, tossing me a rather flimsy-looking garment, which I immediately put on. She then rounded on me, having not even seen her grab the weapon. As three shots rang out in succession, I felt the impact and my brain froze—fuck, she was the... wait. I looked down to see the bullets had landed on the floor. "It's not invincible, but it should stop a few. Unless they all open up on you like in that wreck, not sure I can magic your way outta that!" She chuckled again. I was admittedly impressed.

"What's the range?" I asked.

"Should be effective from..." She stepped up close, about a foot from me, and fired again. I felt that one even more, but again, there was no searing pain, just internal heat as metal tore through flesh. "About there?"

I pushed her back with a chuckle and then quickly whipped the weapon from her hand, turning it on her. She skittered back with a squeal, then burst into laughter. I tossed her the rifle back and shook my head.

"Well, I'd rather you be the death of me than them." I grimaced, thinking of the third or fourth time I had died at their hands. I wasn't sure how many times I'd died over the last four decades. Truth be told, I stopped counting after a dozen.

"So, what else you got?" I asked.

"Eesh, typical man—never bloody happy," Sara chuckled and led me across the lab to the garage, where she grinned at a huge 4x4 sitting waiting. "This is new: reinforced lightweight titanium alloy, reinforced bulletproof glass, and—" I heard the click of a pin being pulled before she tossed a grenade beneath the car. "FIRE IN THE HOLE!"

The blast erupted, sending clouds of dust into the air with a thunderous boom. I shielded my eyes from the blast and, as the dust settled, looked to see the car was completely unharmed. Sara hit a button on her fob, and the car engine roared to life.

"Course, if they hit it with another truck, you're in trouble, but eh, only so much I can do," she tossed me the keys and grinned.

"Try not to break this one, huh?" I shook my head and made my way to the car. "Oh, and Alex—"

I paused and looked back. She rocked on her heels with her hands clasped behind her back, deliberately drawing out the moment because she knew I hated inefficiency and unnecessary chatter.

"Full package in the back, plus a few extras just for my favorite hunter."

"Thank you, Sara. What would I do without you?" I replied sincerely.

"Be Swiss cheese!" She laughed and sauntered off back to the lab.