The King's Gamma (#Wattys2024)

Ninety Four

I had watched Vice Admiral Rorin get on the contraption and start to run in place. He ran for some time before the doctor had him come down. 

He waved for me to get on and told me to start running, and so I did. I ran for some time at a steady pace, a pace that was normal for me to keep.

"Do you think you can go faster?" he asked as he kept notes and checked the contraption a few times.

At his question, I pushed my legs faster, a pace I considered to be a jog. The more I ran, the more they stared at me. They could not believe that I was running at the pace that I was running, yet for as long as I was running.

Then the doctor stared at me and finally asked, "Is this as fast as you can go?"

"Did you want me to go faster?"

He nodded in agreement, not quite seeming sure what he was expecting. I smiled, barely able to keep my excitement at bay. This was my chance to show off. I picked up the pace and ran as quickly as my legs allowed me to. The machine beneath me started to hum and rattle. The sound slowly turned into a screech, almost deafening in the warehouse. The rattling grew louder and louder and louder, and so finally the machine broke beneath my feet. I did not stop in time, crashing into one of the Warehouse walls. 

"Hal, are you all right?" the doctor asked as he ran towards me to help me get out from the debris.

I shot up, holding my dislocated arm in place as I climbed out of the rubble. My body was covered in scrapes, and bruises were visibly forming and fading as the skin stitched itself together in areas where it had been completely torn or cut. I shook my head slightly, a bit light-headed by the hit I had taken to the head. The doctor approached, but stopped short the moment he watched me wrench my arm further out of its socket before placing it back where it should be, the crunching sound causing silence to fall over those around us. I shook my head a second time as the numbing feeling from my shoulder left me, the lightheadedness causing sudden nausea to build up. 

I kept my mouth closed, waiting for the nausea to pass before finally looking up at the stunned men in front of me. 

"Are you alright?" the doctor asked as he shook himself out of his stupor and approached me.

"Yeah, I just think I had a concussion. It should be healed now. I don't feel lightheaded or nauseated anymore."

"Holy Arasil," one of the men said as he approached and quickly lifted my previously dislocated arm, then checked the shoulder. "That's all it took for you to heal from that kind of damage? I've known a few berserkers, but none of them healed this quickly."

"Really?" I asked, genuinely curious, as I only really knew the berserkers from my own bloodline. And though I knew I healed too quickly, possibly also due to my double bloodline, they never took much longer to heal.

"It's almost strange that you're healing this quickly."

"And you reset your shoulder yourself?"

"I've done it before," I said with a shrug.

"You are an anomaly," the doctor said. "There is one last test. You will be diving with one of our men so we can see how deep you can go underwater and how long you can keep your breath."

"Is there a specific reason for this?"

"We're mostly a seafaring people. Being able to dive and swim is expected of people in the naval fleet."

"Oh... I've never swum before, but I can hold my breath for a long time." I said it almost as if questioning myself.

The men shared a look of concern and scepticism.