#015 - "A New Life"
Chapter 2: The Catalyst
Anna had quickly taken a liking to being carried. Opting to lean her head into my chest with a face covered in pure bliss.
Me and Anna enter the First Officer’s Quarters together.
“Oh! You have such a lovely room Master!”
“No – WE have such a lovely room.” I proudly proclaim.
Anna looks up at me with a look of genuine confusion.
“-We?”
“Yes ‘we’. You’re going to be living here with me from now on.”
Her eyes widen in surprise. Joy and excitement washes across her face, as her little broken feet paddle midair.
“Here, pull the sheets down.”
“Okay!”
I lean down with Anna in my arms, as she flips the sheets down.
I then walk around to the other side of the bed, and slide her into her new spot on the bed - Nearest the door.
“How is it?”
“Extremely comfortable, thank you Master.” She says with a blushing face.
She gives a small inquisitive look.
“Why go to the other side of the bed? Why not just set me down near the bathroom?”
“I like sleeping on my right side.” I say matter-of-factly.
“Ahh.” She says with a mischievous smile. “I’ll remember that.”
Knowing her, she really will commit that random bit of Master trivia to memory.
“If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask. I am more than happy to change your bandages, get you new gauze, or carry you to the bathroom. It’s got to beat a bedpan or whatever futuristic equivalent this world has. This carpet is white, so I’d rather not get bloodstains all over it. So unless it’s an emergency and I’m not around, please just have me carry you.”
“Understood, I’ll let you know.” She says with an indescribable feeling of contentment, snuggling into her new spot.
I close the door to the room, as I find Anna digging through the drawer next to her.
She pulls out a remote and changes the image on the simulated window.
We went from looking at a grassy field with trees and gently passing clouds, to a scenic view under the sea.
The room immediately dims to a dark cool blue feeling, as fish, sharks, and whales pass overhead. The ocean floor is littered with colorful coral reef and schools of fish which are indistinguishable from real life. Off in the distance, there’s a sunken antique sailing ship that is peacefully being illuminated by the passing rays of sunlight from the water’s surface.
“Oh look at that sunken frigate! It’s so beautiful!”
“I agree, it’s incredible. But that’s actually a ‘third-rate ship of the line’, not a frigate.”
Anna looks at me with her eyebrow raised.
“A what?”
“Ah, that’s right.” I say slipping into bed, leaning my back against the wall. “This world only has a vague understanding of its history. That identifier might not even apply to this world.”
Anna scooches up to lean against the wall too.
“So Liz told you?...” Anna looks at me, with a underlying sensation of guilt radiating off of her.
“Yeah. She told me about the Scion, the Blackout, the Spatial Anomalies, all of that.”
Anna peers down. “I’m sorry I never told you. You had already had a panic attack, and we were pressed for time. I had to keep us moving…”
“It’s okay – You made the right call in that regard. I basically had another panic attack shortly after Liz told me that.”
I opt not to tell Anna I basically had a full-on mental collapse in the shower. It wasn’t a panic attack like in the hub, so much as it was an absolute meltdown.
Anna makes an uncertain expression before sliding herself underneath my right arm. Cozying up next to me as her tail lightly wraps around my arm, intertwining between my fingers.
Anna points to the sunken ship off in the distance.
“You said that was a ‘third-rate ship of the line’. What’s the difference between that and a frigate?” She asks with genuine curiosity.
“Well the rating system was something used by the British Royal Navy way back before I was born. The more cannons a sailing vessel has, the higher their ranking. A frigate would only be fifth or sixth-rate. Whereas a third-rate ship would have 60 to 80 cannons. Notice all those gunports on the side?”
“That dinky thing has that many cannons?? Where do they keep all the shells?” She asks, nuzzling into my chest, and looking up at me curiously.
I laugh, “It doesn’t use shells, it uses cannonballs.”
“Cannonballs?”
“Yes, they’d fill the cannon full of black powder. Then they’d ram a big lead ball in there, and light it with something called a linstock. Which was basically a long pole that sometimes looked like a spear. It would have a lengthy rope wrapped around the end, which would burn very slowly because it was soaked in potassium nitrate.”
“Black powder?” She asks, not recognizing the term.
“Black powder was the precursor to modern smokeless gunpowder. Instead of being made with nitrocellulose, or nitroglycerin, or whatever they make smokeless powder from now - Black powder was very simplistic. If I remember correctly, it’s 75% potassium nitrate, 15% charcoal, and 10% sulfur.”
“Wait…” She mumbles with genuine confusion, “So they kept the gunpowder separate from the bullet?? That seems terribly inefficient.”
I chuckle amusedly to myself. It’s actually kind of adorable to see someone as intelligent as Anna struggle with things which were relatively common knowledge back home. But it seems that black powder shooting and muzzleloaders are a lost art in this world.
But the fact that Anna doesn’t know about black powder, sailing ships, or antique cannons tells me that this simulated image probably came from a vague understanding of mankind’s history. Probably old paintings, or books that managed to survive the Blackout. Even then, it doesn’t mean that this world is the same as my old one. Powering ships by sail and using black powder cannons is honestly a pretty natural progression for humanity to follow. Now that I look at the image a bit more closely, I also notice that some of sea life is miscolored. The hammerhead shark that is drifting through the sea anemones is a hazy blue, not grey. The blue whale up above has a slightly yellow tinted belly, and a slate grey back. So wherever they got this information from had either deteriorated with age, been miscolored, or was monochrome to begin with. Of course, they could just be entirely different species all-together.
“So…” I chime, “You said that when you were the original Ionna, you played music?”
Anna’s ears perk up.
“Oh yes! I can play almost any musical instrument because of Ionna’s memories. Which is no doubt why I was given those memories. How about you Master? Can you play any instruments?”
I scratch my cheek with a small tinge of embarrassment.
“While I hate to say that I can to someone with 132 years worth of experience – But I did learn how to play piano when I was younger. I also learned a bit of guitar in my late teens. But in hindsight, I enjoyed piano far more.”
Anna’s face lights up.
“You can play piano!? I would love to hear you play Master!!!”
I give a wry smile. “I don’t mind, but I doubt I’m anywhere near as good as you though.”
“Still, you probably know songs that have never been heard before!” She giddily exclaims. “The vast majority of musical history was lost during the Blackout. Regardless where you come from - Anything you play will be brand new to me!”
I look up at the light shimmering off the ocean’s surface in thought.
“Have you ever heard Greensleeves?” I ask looking down at Anna.
Excitement fills her face. “No, I’ve never heard of it before!”
She isn’t just giving me lip service – She’s jumping for joy on the inside. Like a kid waking their parents up at the asscrack of dawn in order to open Christmas presents. She is genuinely ecstatic to hear me play.
“It’s probably my favorite piece to play on the piano. It’s a relatively simple song to play. But for whatever reason, it never gets old to me.”
Anna is beaming with anticipation.
You know, I guess I never really thought about it before. But theoretically, I could make a fortune off my knowledge of music, movies, games, shows, books, and other lost technologies.
I’m not interested in preaching the truth about humanity’s possible history. I’ll just end up like the other countless forgotten heralds of truth, teachers of inconvenient knowledge, or the innumerable amount of nameless preachers throughout history. All of which tried to do the same, and met a terrible fate because of it.
Such as William Tyndale. Who is widely accredited as having translated the first mass-produced English version of the Catholic Bible based on the original Greek and Hebrew scriptures.
It was forbidden to translate the Bible where he was, so he fled to another country in order to do it. While he accomplished his mission, finally succeeding in bringing the scriptures to the masses – He gravely infuriated the Catholic Church. Who, due to both widespread illiteracy at the time, along with the language barrier, more or less held a monopoly on what the current interpretation of the scriptures was.
The church declared him a heretic, and sentenced him to death. They strangled him, publicly impaled him, and immolated his corpse.
Yeah… I think I’ll pass on that.
As Dad always said: “Don’t hang yourself on the cross.”
Granted he was just referring to the fact that you shouldn’t go around pitying yourself, or go through life trying to play the victim.
All three possible interpretations are definitely applicable to me right now.
Maybe I shouldn’t have given Liz my phone. Because I’m positive it’s absolutely loaded with music, e-books, and other valuable data. I know I did a lot of reading, and was somewhat of an audiophile when it came to music quality. So I would directly download everything because it would preserve the music’s original bitrate.
While to me, it’s just a phone. A way to call, text, read, watch videos, listen to music, and mindlessly doom scroll the bottomless well of brain rot and propaganda online.
But to the rest of the galaxy, that phone is basically an archeological treasure trove of monumental significance. Even if it doesn’t contain humanity’s past, it still might as well be the Library of Alexandria to them.
Screw it. I need to know if that phone contains any information about my past. That is what is most important to me right now. While definitely still incomplete, I can remember my pre-twenties somewhat well at this point. But the earlier the memory, the clearer they become.
But past that, my memories are spotty at best, and straight up missing at worst.
I remember small, irrelevant day to day life things. But important things are just gone – Completely wiped.
To make matters worse, the rate at which I’m regaining these missing memories feels like it has slowed down to a crawl. I’m genuinely scared they might stop all-together.
I will entrust the phone situation to Liz. I might be fairly mechanically inclined, but I feel pretty safe in assuming that her knowledge probably dwarfs mine. Not to mention all of us are genuinely stuck with each other at this point. Liz has no reason to betray my trust given her current predictament. So long as we aren’t actively being a liability to her, she’s better off keeping us around indefinitely. Having four people looking out for each other is definitely better than one person fending for themselves.
Liz is far from stupid. She knows that sharing anything from that phone carries a great deal of risk. We’re already at the top of the DRAC’s shit list. I don’t think we could piss them off anymore than we already have. But cultural and historical information that could be on that phone should be handled like its radioactive. If we share something that just so happens to be inconvenient to another country, we'll only stand to add to our list of enemies. So while Liz might make a backup of whatever is on that phone, in fact I encourage it, she would definitely think twice before releasing anything.
I don’t know how Liz’s finances look currently, but even if the information on that phone is worth a fortune, it’s not worth adding to the people coming after us.
“…Master?”
Anna calls out to me in a concerned voice. I look down, and she’s staring at me with big upturned eyes. Her amber cat eyes are shimmering in the darkness of the ocean floor.
“Ah - Sorry about that,” I chuckle. “I zoned out there for a second. For whatever reason… I am suddenly feeling really exhausted.”
“It must be the Retrogen finally taking its toll.” Anna replies with a nod.
“Retrogen? The orange stuff Liz shot me with? I thought that was just a rehabilitation supplement?” I ask, tilting my head inquisitively.
“It is, and Retrogen is known for making people sleepy due to your body accelerating its recovery. But the Retrogen you just took was a military grade HAZE-Stim, or ‘Hazardous Environment-Stim’. Unlike regular Retrogen, which is meant to be taken after an injury. The HAZE variant is meant to be taken before going into a contaminated environment.”
I look at Anna with genuine concern.
“How does that differ from regular Retrogen might I ask…?”
“Well…” Anna starts with a slight hesitation. “Both regular Retrogen and the HAZE-Stim variant accelerate your body’s healing process, and fortifies your immune system. But…”
“But…?” I say, my eyes narrowing in suspicion.
“Well, the HAZE-Stims use a much more blunt force approach…”
My mouth hangs open, hesitating to even ask what she’s implying. Anna is noticably fidgeting, her cat ears flicking up and down.
“Anna… What the Hell did I just have put into my body?” I ask forebodingly.
“Umm… Well you see… I knew you probably weren’t vaccinated yet, so I uh…” She stammers in a timid voice.
“ANNA.” I boom in a clear, stern voice. “WHAT DID YOU JUST HAVE LIZ INJECT INTO MY BODY?”
Anna flinches, as her ears droop flat up against her head.
“Well… Umm… Military grade HAZE-Stims aren’t sold to the public. They’re only given to active service members and approved mercenaries…”
“YEAH? AND?”
“W-well they're made with the assumption you’ve already r-received your mandatory vaccinations, soooo….” She says, averting her eyes.
“SOOOOO…?” I say, glaring straight into her soul.
Anna slinks back further underneath my arm, hiding from my now firey gaze.
“It introduces temporary antibodies to prevent infection, and break down chemicals absorbed into the body…”
“Okay... And?...”
“Potassium iodide for radiation protection…”
“Yeah?... What else?...”
“…Along with… A ‘refresher’ of all your vaccinations…”
I just stare at her in silence as she rapidly shifts between looking up at me, and looking away.
“…How many vaccinations…?”
Anna squirms underneath my arm, clasping her hands together, twiddling her thumbs, and biting her lip nervously.
She looks up at me, and in a barely audible voice she says:
“…Umm… One… Or two…”
“That’s it?”
“…Hundred.”
“WHAT!?!?”
WHY THE FUCK WOULD LIZ GIVE ME TWO HUNDRED VACCINES AT ONCE!?!?
No – Liz didn’t know about my background yet. She didn’t find out that I came from a different world until after she gave me that shot.
Based on the sheer anxiety radiating off of Anna – It was definitely her doing.
Based on the blood stains in the hallway, she was already on her way back from the clinic to deliver me the Retrogen and Vitagel. Liz just took whatever Anna had already grabbed.
I slide down into the bed, resting my head on the pillow.
“Don’t worry Master!!” Anna exclaims, trying to reassure me. “While you might feel pretty bad for the next day or two, it’s perfectly safe! You can trust the science!!”
I slowly turn my head, and look up at Anna. I stare at her, dead-eyed and vacant – Anna winces.
“…I’m not sure why… But whatever you just said triggered an instinctive fear response within me.”
“I know! I can feel it!! Why!?!”
I sigh outwardly.
I know Anna did it to protect me, given we’re going planetside. It’s not like military ships are stocked full of individual vaccines. Just like the station and those bombs – This was the option that she had.
Even when crippled, hobbling, and in terrible pain – She still thinks of me.
In her own… ‘Unique’ Anna way.
I’m just trying to mentally brace myself for the impending shitstorm of cold chills, vomiting, and diarrhea. Might as well try to be asleep once this freight train hits.
“Let’s go to sleep Anna. I’d rather be unconscious when all these vaccines hit at once. Do you need anything before we call it for the night? Bathroom? Gauze?” I ask, yawning out my words, and turning over to my right.
“No, I’m alright for now. But I’ll let you know if I do.” She says with a gentle smile. “Do you want me to turn off the display?”
“No… That’s okay... I find it relaxing…” I mumble, barely keeping my eyes open.
I close my eyes, and after a brief moment, I hear the words:
“Goodnight Master...”
I feel the bed and sheets shift around, and suddenly I feel something fuzzy tickle my neck, as something soft and plump pushes firmly against my groin.
!?!?!?
I open eyes, to see that Anna has effectively *merged* with me. That is to say, she is spooning with me so closely, that her entire body is up against mine with no gaps. She has wrapped her tail around my wrist, and is using my arm for a pillow.
“Umm… Anna?”
“Yes Master?”
“You do realize that your gown has no back, right?”
She giggles playfully, “Oh, I am well aware Master.”
She reaches back and grabs my left hand, bringing it up to her chest.
“Squeeze.” She says firmly.
“H-huh??”
“I said squeeze.” She reiterates, forcing my hand into her bountiful meat mountain.
I squeeze, as soft flesh swells between my fingertips.
JESUS CHRIST THEY ARE SO MUCH BIGGER THAN I THOUGHT!!
I can’t even fit my hand around all of it. They’re soft, but springy. Firm but malleable. My hand is practically melting into her chest.
“You see Master…” She says, wriggling her butt around against my lap. “The entire time we were in Junis-12… I could sense every single time you snuck a peek at me.”
“Wait – Really??”
“I can feel everything you feel, remember? So anytime you feel aroused…”
Oh my God.
This entire time, I’ve been doing foreplay with her, and didn’t even realize it.
Everytime I checked out her butt, or oggled her explosive chest spilling from her top, I’ve been teasing her without realizing it.
Fucking Hell.
Anna giggles, “That’s the reason I never told you about your mask’s night vision functionality when we crawled through that tunnel. It would have been… Distracting.” She coyly confesses.
Wait – That mask had a night vision mode?? So you mean to say that, instead of subjecting myself to the ‘Tunnel of Unknown Horrors’, I could have been staring up Anna’s skirt the entire time!?
“It’s not nice to tease your Master like this you know.”
“Oh?” She answers snarkly, “You say that, but I can tell you actually enjoy being teased like this...” She grins.
At that exact moment, I realized our symbiotic connection is both a gift and a curse.
“It’s no use trying to hide it from me. Give me a few months, maybe a year at most – And I'll have all your fetishes mapped out.” She says with a seductive smile.
…She’s not joking.
“T-there’s no need for you to go so far…” I sputter.
“While it might be a bit crass for me to say… Dealing with people’s fetishes is what I do – Or did, before I devoted myself to you Master. There’s no reason to be embarrassed. I doubt any fetishes you have will be new to me. Besides… In your case, I don’t even need to use deductive reasoning…” She says as she mashes her butt even more firmly against me.
She glances back at me with a mischievous grin.
“…I can feel the results in real time.”
Calling myself “bricked” right now is an understatement.
Right now, *I* am snuggly entrenched between two warm, plump, round cakes.
The perkiness of her cushions is unreal.
Literally the only thing between *me* and her is a thin barrier of fabric and denim.
I can’t even back up because my ass is up against the edge of the bed.
“Harder.”
“H-huh??”
“I said squeeze harder – Remind me who I belong to.” She demands, covering her hand over mine, and forcing my fingers tight.
Her silky soft flesh violently bulges through my fingertips.
“Ah!” She jovially squeals, as she looks back at me with seductive eyes, flush red cheeks, while panting heavy heated breaths.
“Mmmm…” She satisfyingly hums. “Much better…”
Her chest is a weapon of mass destruction.
Believe me, I want to do it.
I *REALLY* want to do it.
But Anna can’t even shift her body around without risking reopening the wounds on her feet.
I need to try to cool things down a bit.
“So… Uh… What was the weirdest fetish you ever dealt with?” I say, my voice cracking in desperation.
Anna makes a ponderous expression.
“For the sake of my dignity, there’s a lot of things I hope you’ll let me take to the grave…”
“I won’t pry if you’re scared it might change how I see you. I don’t blame you for your past.”
She smiles, “Thank you…” She says with a nod. “But! I can tell you the funniest fetish I ever had to deal with!”
Yes please change the subject, for the love of God. I can feel your body heat through these pants.
“A-and what was that?”
She giggles, “Believe it or not, one client had a tuba fetish!” She says with a laugh.
Okay, I know I was just trying to change the direction this was going – But I am genuinely invested now.
I have so many questions.
“…What do you mean by ‘tuba fetish’?... Tuba – As in the brass wind instrument??”
“Yup! She had a fetish for tubas!” She exclaims.
“How… How does that even work??? And it was a girl!?”
Anna laughs. “Yes ‘she’ – And I didn’t really understand it either. It had something to do with, ‘Tuba players being more submissive, and hiding behind their instruments.’ Or something like that. All I know is she forced me to sit in a chair, and play a tuba for two-hours straight before we actually did anything.” She says, brighly chortling out the words.
I laugh right along with her. Imagining Anna sitting in a chair for two-hours playing tuba just to get some weird woman off is actually pretty hilarious.
“Did you deal with a lot of female clients?” I ask.
“Not nearly as much as men obviously, but occasionally. Women were always more tricky.”
“How so?” I ask.
Anna leans back into me, flicking her ears against my neck.
Mercy please Anna. I really don’t want to jump a cripple. I don’t need that on my conscience.
“Do you remember how I said that, for Therianthropes, our emotions are dulled unless we are feeling them through our masters?”
“Yeah…?”
“While what I said wasn’t untrue, we do feel what you’re feeling. But in hindsight, that may have been a gross oversimplification. There’s more to it than that.”
That’s true. Both Anna and Ionna clearly have feelings of their own. In fact, I’d say that therians are somewhat emotional creatures.
“It has to do with our reward systems.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, raising my brow curiously.
“Humans, when doing something pleasureable, like sex, drugs, eating something good, learning something new, or accomplishing a task, get a certain sensation of accomplishment and pleasure from the dopamine they receive. Seeing something you worked hard on get finished makes you feel good. But for therians, these reward systems are dulled unless it’s experienced through our master.”
Ahhh… Things suddenly make a lot more sense. So it’s not like therians don’t feel emotions without a master. They aren’t emotionless dolls. It’s that they don’t feel good, or at least *as good* about the things they do unless they’re experiencing it vicariously through their master’s enjoyment. Anna did describe it as “Eating something you enjoy over and over again until it doesn’t taste as good.” Which is actually the human reward system at work. If you listen to a song you love too many times, eventually your brain is going to stop releasing the same level of dopamine in response to it.
That is why therians feel such a strong instinctive urge to find, and serve a master. Anna wasn’t exaggerating – I really do “complete her.”
“When it came to male clients, fulfilling their needs was usually pretty simple. For men: Doing certain acts, fixating on certain parts of the body, or saying certain things was usually enough. But for women, it’s all about the mood and general experience.”
“General experience?”
“Yes. Like the atmosphere and what it makes you feel. But because I couldn’t feel their emotions like I can yours, it usually involved a lot of guesswork.”
Anna shifts her butt around playfully, tickling my ear with her tail.
ANNA PLEASE – YOU’RE FLYING IN THE DANGER ZONE.
“Playing with you is probably the first time I truly enjoyed this kind of thing.” She says in a dulcet tone, looking back at me with a devilish grin.
“Anna… You’re injured. While believe me, I want nothing more than to go all out right now. I don’t want to risk reopening your wounds.”
Anna chuckles, “I know. I can tell you’re trying to distract yourself from what *it* is currently seated between...”
I grit my teeth in frustration.
“But… My hands still work.” She says with a suggestive smirk.
“I-I can just go to the bathroom and-“
“No.” She bluntly abjects. “This is my duty and pride as your slave. I will never allow my Master to ‘Take care of it himself’ ever again – Understood?”
That declaration feels more like an order than a pledge.
I nod.
Anna peels herself off of me, and turns around.
“Just leave everything to me.” She says with a wide grin.
□■□
I had both a wonderful night, and an indescribably horrible one.
First, the good part.
Calling Anna a professional is an insult to her and her mastery of her craft.
Anna is an artist.
That girl probably knows more about human anatomy than a medical professional.
I learned things about the human body I don’t even think doctors back home had discovered yet.
Like the spot between my… Well… Nevermind.
Point being – Anna knew what she was doing. She basically made me go cross-eyed several times throughout, and genuinely seemed to have fun in doing so. She definitely gave it her all despite her injuries.
Anna is nothing if not thorough in everything she does. I was able to fall asleep soundly despite her erotic cuddling.
Now for the bad part.
I woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, shivering like I had fallen asleep in a freezer, and had to run to the toilet before I destroyed my pants.
There I would sit for hours, all the while keeping the shower door open.
Why did I keep the shower door open?
Because my body was violently ejecting fluids from both ends.
Fortunately there wasn’t anything in my stomach…
I had never felt this ill in my entire life. Words cannot describe the sheer magnitude of agony I was in.
I had no strength, I was freezing, I was shaking like I had Parkinson’s Disease (which I could have been vaccinated for – Who fucking knows), every single part of my body felt like it had been savagely beaten with a crowbar, the room was spinning and tilting like I was stuck inside a gyroscope, my vision was oscillating between glittering stars and blinding white just like in the hub, I went deaf, I was gasping for air, and I’m almost certain I passed out several times while on the toilet. Like actually full-on fainted.
I vaguely recall that at one point, in my delirium, I started singing the world’s worst rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner. I don’t even know if that memory is real, or if I just imagined it.
All I know is that I was genuinely wishing for death as I painted the shower wall a new, vibrant shade of bile.
After washing off the shower, drinking a pitcher’s worth of water from the sink, eventually I was able to get back to sleep. Somehow, Anna managed to sleep through my hours-long werewolf transformation on the toilet.
I would say she’s a heavy sleeper, but I’m going to guess it’s probably because her body is still recovering.
Because nobody – Not God, human, nor therian would have been able to sleep through the absolute tempest that had occurred in that bathroom under normal circumstances.
□■□
「Hey Max, you alive in there?」
I awoke in a daze to Liz’s voice sounding out over a loudspeaker throughout the room.
“H-huh…? Uh, yeah… Yeah I’m awake.” I groggily reply.
「Oh good, you aren’t dead.」
I chuckle sardonically, “Somehow I made it, yeah.”
「Yeahhh… I didn’t realize that was a HAZE-Stim when I gave you that Retrogen – Sorry about that…」
“It’s alright. You just took whatever Anna handed you. You were busy dealing with a lot of things at the time, so I don’t blame you for overlooking it. Not to mention there’s no way you could have known I came from another world.”
「That’s true I suppose – But receiving a year’s worth of vaccinations at once… I can’t imagine that was a pleasant experience.」
I was supposed to receive all of those over the course of a year!? She was probably only half joking when she asked me if I was dead.
“How long was I out?” I ask, sitting up and scratching my head.
Anna is still sleeping soundly next to me.
「Uh, almost two days.」
“Two days!?”
「Yeah, you’ve basically been in a coma. Frankly I’m impressed you’re already up and moving. Most people would be bedridden for weeks after a shock like that, and that’s best case scenario. You’re one tough son of a bitch Max, you know that?」
I scoff, “It’s probably not so much my ‘toughness’, as it is my normal living environment. Earth’s medical field was way behind this world’s knowledge of medicine. My immune system was forced to get stronger due to a lack of alternatives.”
「Hmm… That’s very probable actually. Your world followed a model of natural immunity supplemented by selective immunization. Whereas with the adoption of mass interstellar travel, we have subjected ourselves to a state of transient immunopathology through excessive viral clearance. Which has likely caused a degree of collective immune exhaustion; degrading immunological memory and T-cell activation over time.」
I just stare up at the ceiling like a dumbass.
“-Huh?”
I hear Liz sigh over the line.
「Basically your immune system is like a muscle. If you rely entirely on rudimentary back alley steroids to get stronger, your testes will shrink. We probably rely on vaccines much more than your world did. While the vaccines protect us from specific diseases, it has probably weakened our immune system’s natural ability to respond and adapt in the long-run.」
“So do you guys get sick a lot?”
「Common illnesses, infections, viruses prone to cyclical mutation - Basic stuff like that. I wouldn’t say we get sick a lot, maybe a few times a year on average. But it’s probably more often than you get sick. I should give you a full physical later. Try and see if there are any fundamental differences between you and other humans.」
I look up with a dubious look on my face.
“I thought you weren’t a doctor?”
「I’m not. But as I said before - I do know an extensive amount about the field.」
I turn and sit on the edge of the bed. I look over at the dresser next to me, and see a brown bag in the shape of a box sitting on top of it.
“Hey – What’s in the bag?” I ask.
「Oh – That’s your lunch. I grabbed it from the MRE supplies we have on board. While I gave you an IV drip, Anna was insistent on having a meal ready for you once you woke up.」
I pick up the MRE in my hands. In bold, dark brown letters it reads: “ACN Field Ration – MRE No. 47.”
It seems to be some sort of meat and pasta dish.
“How am I supposed to eat this by the way?”
「I gave you a simple one to prepare. Just open the bag, pull the pin on the tray, and wait a few minutes. Fork should be inside.」
I pull the bag apart, and pull out a silver metal pan sealed with a metal lid. I shake the bag out over the dresser, and a baggy with an aluminum fork, spoon, knife, and a small roll of napkins falls out.
I look at the tray from all angles, and find a pin hanging from the bottom near the side.
“Just pull it?”
「Yup, that’s it.」
I pull it, and a long, thin strip of metal comes with it. It legitimately feels like I just pulled a pin on a grenade.
Immediately I feel the bottom of the pan start to heat up, and I set the pan aside.
「Save the trash, it’s all recyclable. Anna can take care of it once she gets to feeling better. Once you’re done eating, come stop by my room across the hall.」
“Did something happen while I was out?” I ask warily.
「Nah, I just wanted to check up with how everything was going. Quick chat, nothing more.」
Ahh, she doesn’t want to talk about that task she gave me with Anna in earshot.
“Got it. First I need to piss like a racehorse.”
Liz chuckles over the intercom.
「Yeah I bet. Anna “took care of” those matters while you were out, but I can’t imagine it’s quite the same as doing it normally.」 She says wryly.
“Oh God – I’m not going to ask.”
「Anyway I’m going to hop off then. Enjoy your food, there’s no rush – See you in a bit.」
“Yeah, later.”
The intercom clicks off, and I stagger out of bed. I take the longest piss of my life, drink some more water, and open the now scalding pan.
Steam rises from the pan, which is filled with corkscrew noodles, chunks of meat, and some sort of orange sauce. It’s not tomato sauce, it has a smokier kind of flavor to it.
Honestly it’s not terrible. I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat it, but it’s also not bad either. It’s adequate for the first thing I’ve eaten in over two days.
While my stomach is definitely growling, you would think I would feel even hungrier than I am. It must have been the IV drip Liz gave me. Otherwise I’m pretty sure I’d be starving right about now.
Anna’s ears twitch, as she wearily opens her heavy eyes. She looks over at me, who is currently shoveling his face with no concern for tact. As soon as she sees me, a big relieved smile stretches across her face.
“MASTER!!!” She jubilantly cheers, leaping up, and wrapping her arms around me – Almost knocking the scalding hot pan all over my lap.
She’s definitely regained her strength.
“Thank God, I was so scared you weren’t going to wake up…” She whimpers, fighting back the urge to cry tears of relief.
“I’m fine, don’t worry.” I say with a mouth full of food, as I pat her back reassuringly.
She backs up, and gives me a guilty expression, looking at me with upturned eyes.
“…I’m sorry Master. I didn’t think the reaction would be this bad... It must have been horrible for you…” She says, her lips curling.
“It… Was pretty next level, not going to lie. While I know you did it to protect me – Don’t ever do something like that again. Understand?” I say, scolding her in a bold, stern voice.
Anna shamefully nods her head.
Confidence and kindness Max.
While I know she did it with the best intentions in mind, I experienced a level of Hell that I never knew existed. I smashed through the bedrock of Avīci, and entered the Shadow Realm of Suffering.
I sigh outwardly.
I got it over and done with I suppose. At least now I won’t catch Intergalactic Smallpox, or Space AIDs.
“More importantly, how are you feeling?” I ask, trying to move on from the lingering irritation I’m feeling.
Her ears perk up. “Oh! Much better! Liz says I’ll be able to walk normally pretty soon!”
“That’s great to hear. Anyway, Liz asked me to meet her in her room in just a bit. Do you need anything before I go?”
“Um, would you mind helping me get to the bathroom then?” She asks.
I nod, and rub her ear. She gives me a small happy smile – Too cute.
After finishing up my meal, I pick her up in my arms. I carry her to bathroom, and set her down on the toilet.
“Alright, I’ll wait outside then, just let me know when-“
Before I can even leave the room, I hear the distinct tinkling of water hitting porcelain.
I jerk my head back to see that, yes – Anna has indeed already started.
“Anna!? At least wait until I leave!”
Anna giggles amusedly.
“Are you sure? I know some men like to watch.” She asks, lifting up her gown unabashedly.
WHAT THE HELL DID THEY HAVE YOU DO BACK ON THAT STATION!?
Anna gives a mischievous grin.
“That’s another one to add to the list I see...” She playfully mutters.
I storm out of the bathroom, and wait for her to finish. I then help her wash her hands, and carry her back to bed.
“Alright, I’m heading out now. I’ll check up on you every hour or so. Are you going to be okay by yourself?” I ask as I tuck her into bed.
“Yes I’ll be fine, don’t worry.” She says with a content smile. “Thank you for worrying about me so much.”
I smile and pat her on the head.
“I’m off then.”
“Take care!” She exclaims as I head out the door.
