Chromium

4.2

Dia kept tossing and turning in bed, a series of images repeating in her mind in slow motion. It was always the same scene: a metal door closing and those inhuman red eyes looking at her, reminding her why she was alive, whose life she had to destroy to survive.

She was dripping with perspiration when she woke up, dizzy and lost like she couldn't understand where she was, unable to recognize the dark room around her and even less that bed, too soft and comfortable compared with the hard bunk where she used to sleep.

But the worst part was she didn't wake up on her own, someone else did. The plinky noise of the door buzzer was still ringing in her ears, prolonged and annoying as much as her alarm clock on the Siren when she opened her eyes.

"Light" She croaked and then squinted when the round spotlights went on. The light was too bright for her eyes like she had been in the dark for a long time and she wasn't used to it.

She was still trying to adapt when the door buzzer rang for the second time.

Whoever was on the other side, patience wasn't one of his virtues.

Dia walked across the room before pushing the door's button, finding herself face-to-face with someone she didn't recognize, not at the start at least. It was Omen. He looked bigger in the camouflage tactical armor he was wearing, imposing and dangerous even without a gun.

"We are about..." He started to say, his blue eye widening slightly as he looked down at her.

And that's when Dia became aware she was only wearing her space jumpsuit. She winced, and it took all her training to stay where she was. She was used to the stares of men, but the intensity in Omen's gaze was anything but common.

"What is it?" She asked, snappy like usual when she woke up. A close encounter with another strange man was the last thing she wanted at the moment.

Omen blinked, slowly looking up at her face. He fixed his arms at the side like he was standing at attention, that deeply ingrained movement a little woody, as if he was trying to use the habit of life to divert his attention.

"Change your clothes, corporal." He said, his tone stiff. "We are about to land." He ordered with the

tone of someone used to command, no much different from the way his old captain talked to her.

Dia was about to salute when she realized the man in front of her wasn't her superior officer, and she wasn't in the Navy. Not anymore.

"Land? Where to?" She asked.

But apparently, avoiding to give answers was a habit for the men in this ship.

"You uniform is in the cabinet. You have ten minutes to change" Omen said before leaving the room.

Great. Just what I need, another asshole. But then she frowned. Wait. Did he just say uniform?

She thought before searching for the cabinet Omen had talked about and finding it near a corner of the room. The uniform inside had the same design of that she used to wear on the Siren, minus the color, black and blue instead of the imperial red.

An imperial uniform on a Syndicate's ship? Dia shook her head while she put it on. The entire situation was getting weirder and weirder. Moreover, the uniform fit her perfectly like

it was tailor-made for her and Reyes, or whoever chose it, knew exactly her size.

My new size.

Of course in the great scheme of things, not to mention what happened to her lately, everything else seemed unimportant.

She tried not to think about it and left the room, discovering Omen was waiting for her outside.