Pirate Assassin

Page 48

Zack was first quite disappointed when he heard that he wasn't an Elemental class Bonder. He had been told of their prowess on the battlefield; how they were able to generate unlimited amounts of their element in battle to sweep away opponents. He remembered the Supreme Commander and his light purple electric bolts and imagined him blasting a ship down. The next morning when he woke up, he had another surprise waiting for him as he washed his face. His hair was completely blue! And it went down as long as his knees with sideburns going half as long. It wasn't sky blue, like Elyss', but a deeper shade of blue akin to the ink of a blue whiteboard marker. He stared for a moment before deciding it didn't look as bad as he originally thought. He pulled his hair forwards over his right shoulder, unsettling him a little when he realised how girl-like the action was, dressed and went down to the research centre.

Not surprisingly, he drew stares from most of the people he passed by but he wasn't paying attention instead focusing on an internal conversation. "Elyss?"

"Hmmmm?"

"You are going to be so shocked when I walk into the centre." He could feel her confusion. "Why, what's up?"

"You'll see," and he opened the doors and walked into the research centre. The training field was right behind the building, separated by transparent glass doors. Elyss gaped when she saw him and Zack committed that to his memory. He had never seen her so surprised before. He went to her and asked, "So. How do you like it?" She stood there incoherent of intelligable speech for a moment and flung her arms around him exclaiming loudly. "Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh. What happened to you?" Zack shrugged. "I don't know. You tell me." Another voice interjected, "A Symbiote sometimes changes your appearance in relation to your psyche. Seeing as how a Wolf has imprinted on you, it must have altered your appearance to the one you know so well." Elyss looked at him, twirling a lock of his hair between her fingers. "Doesn't matter, I like it!" She said as she grinned happily. Lieutenant Major Arna beckoned to him. "Now that you've manifested, as Miss Masters has informed me, we shall begin to examine you in earnest. Follow me."

It truly was in earnest. Arna not only did numerous tests but began to instruct him in numerous ways of general usage of his new powers as she was a Bonder herself. "Mine is a Miscellaneous class. Quite unique, but I find it fits me." At a flick of her finger his arm neatly came apart into layers, as if it were a piece of machinery that was opened for maintainance. They hovered above the ground in its natural order, skin then fat (precious little of it) then muscles and ecetera. Strangely, even though they seemed separated, he could see his blood flow normally and everything functioning as it should. Exactly as he thought before: a piece of machinery taken apart. Arna inspected his hovering body parts. "My Enigma allows me to 'open up', as you laymen see it, something, be it organic or inorganic. Like so." She pointed at the microscope nearby and it came apart just as his arm did, with screws and bolts hovering over where they had been fastened. "It enables me to inspect anything as it functions, thus allowing me to not only see the inner mechanisms, but how it functions. And, it brings about no damage whatsoever," and she snapped her fingers. The microscope came together again, everything just clapping back into place. She smiled at him. "With that, let me see what you can do."

Zack concentrated like the night before and it came to him easier this time. The blade sprang out like a switchblade. With his arm dismantled like a mechanical arm, he and Arna saw the blood at his palm solidify and pierce through his palm forming a blade as it extended. Arna tried experimenting, asking him to try make spikes from his forearm. He managed to do that too. She then requested him to do the most ambitious thing he had imagined, to make an armour of hardened blood scales. Apprehensive, and a little disgusted, he complied. Soon, his arm was covered with ruby scales. It felt like his whole arm was covered with a scab which wasn't as bad as he thought. Arna poked the new addition to his arm and it hovered above his arm at a respectable distance as she took out a drill. With a very mad scientist-y grin, she said, "Now, let's see how strong it is."

"Your Enigma will be a great asset," Arna said to him. She had drilled for a good amount of minutes before breaking through. "You see, the Enigma particles need a medium to flow through. For Elemental classes, it's their mind. Metamorphosis and Enhancement class, their body. So what I'm saying is that though its your blood their using, its stronger and sharper than what weaponry we have today." Zack looked at her in astonishment. She took out her cutlass and struck viciously at the scales. Zack yelped and jumped back but Arna smiled. "Look at the scales." He looked and was amazed that there was no visible damage to it. Arna continued from where she left off, "You may not be an Elemental class as you hoped but what you do have, is versatility." Zack raised an eyebrow. "It all depends on your nature now, whether you are a leader supporting your troops or a single-man army. I can already think of many ways you could use this ability in both. Of course," she said forestalling Zack's question, "If I told you, that'd be too easy. Think of it yourself. That way you retain creativity by yourself especially in high pressure situations." Thus the conversation ended and she motioned to the door and Zack Ying took his leave.

Zack had no more pressing issues that day, which surprised him. He thought that the military above all else would have placed him in a unit straight away but that apparently wasn't the case. Elyss was in a similar situation. The difference was she actually knew WHY and much to his annoyance, she kept it hidden from him. The pleasant day distracted him from his dark mood and they visited Corby who was sparring with a sword master. Corby was also completely taken aback by Zack's new appearance and the three chatted for a few minutes before Corby's instructor called hin back onto the sparring ground again.When they left, Zack was in a somber mood. They dropped by the engineering faculty next. Carvin was deep in thought and he didn't realise Zack's change in appearance until it was pointed out to him. Even then, he failed to be shocked which was a first for him. Personally, Zack felt it was a good thing for Carvin. He had finally found an avenue to put all his heart into something. He reflected on himself. No change there, he thought wryly. By that time, the star which gave light was setting so they walked back to their respective dorms. As he lay down on his bed, he reflected on himself and the others. True, he could command but he had a preference to being alone where he could arrange his own plans which were open to his discretion; this was hard to do with an army. If he were to have one, he would prefer if they were veterans so that they would know what to do without him telling them. All in all, it wasn't in his nature to get into groups - he had been excluded from them his whole life! He slipped into an uneasy slumber but by that time, he had made his choice. When he arrived at the main research centre (which was actually the main hall, Zack realised) Arna asked him what kind of training he would now pursue and he answered without hesitation, "I prefer to work alone, but of course, it would be foolhardy to work COMPLETELY alone, so a small man team perhaps?" Arna stopped him with a gesture. "I know what you mean. I could tell from the nature of your Enigma: mastery over yourself. I'd like to introduce to you Major General Taz Guffkin." A grizzled, wiry man with a scar running from his left eye diagonally down to his top lip and a face set in a scowl stepped out from the faint shadows where he was almost invisible and offered a hand. His uniform was remarkably different than any high ranking marine he had seen. He was wearing a dull grey sleeveles jerkin, with dark brown pants. They were not baggy, but not skintight either and they hid the metal combat boots which went up two thirds of his lower leg. What bits he could see, which was his feet, looked heavy duty. He was wearing gauntlets too. Lastly, he was, as all high ranking officials did, draped with an overcoat. Unlike the others, however, his was purely black and bore no symbols or crests. It also had a large hood and cowl. "Zack Ying?" he asked in a gruff and throaty voice. Zack nodded. "Are you sure you can handle everything we throw at you?" Zack responded firmly. "Yes sir, I am." A ghost of a smile passed the Major General's lips. "Good. Then if you will, follow me and we'll get started straight away."