Anarchy

Unfolding Connections

Peering into the room, she stared at the blue-haired Concloian. Sweat trickled down his back, making his human form glisten under the low lighting of the weight room. Scales that were visible just under the skin were flickering through shades of deep gray as he grunted under his breath.

His hands were not wrapped, and his blue hair was tied in a thick braid that flowed halfway down his back. The large sandbag he was punching was linked to a wall gauge, the numbers flashing with each solid hit. He let out a guttural roar that was somehow low enough not to bring the other crew members running.

Stopping, his breathing ragged, he dropped to the bench a few feet away as he grabbed a green-coloured drink that was beside him. It was probably some kind of Concloian protein supplement. The sandbag chain squeaked slightly as it slowed, then stopped. His head fell back, his silver eyes closing slightly as his nostrils seemed to flare.

Azrael stepped back, content to finish her walk around the station. Smiling to herself, she noted the location of the weight room.

“Hey.”

She turned back to the Concloian. Her eyes wide as she realized he wasn’t even looking at her. “Me?”

“Anyone else in the hallway?” He countered, his lips upturned in a sly smile. “Couldn’t sleep?”

Shaking her head, she sighed as she leaned against the open doorway. “I slept. I just have trouble staying asleep. Thank you, by the way. You and your, um…”

“Brother,” he supplied. “Bane is my older brother, born of the same parents. Valiant is his clutch mate, meaning they were hatched in the same communal clutch back on our home planet. I was born a few years later.”

Tilting her head to the side, she smiled. Her eyes shimmered. Her hands toyed with the water bottle, jostling it from hand to hand while the liquid sloshed inside. “I didn’t mean to interrupt you. When I heard someone in here, I just wanted to see who else was awake.”

“You didn’t. Interrupt me, I mean,” Misha said, ingesting more of the green drink. He held it up to the light, grinning. Shaking the clear container, he let out a short laugh. “Believe it or not, this is plant based protein.”

“You’re not carnivorous?”

“Omnivorous, actually. Very much like humans, but we Concloians prefer raw meat over cooked,” Misha explained. He opened one eye to look at her, the silver orb focusing easily in the low light. “Can I ask a question? Seeing as you’re asking, it’s only fair.”

She laughed softly, taking a tentative step into the room. “Depends on what the question is.”

“Bane, Val, and I have a bet going to see who guessed your age right or was close enough to win. Bane said seventeen. Valiant said you looked younger, maybe fifteen or sixteen. Me? I said you might look young, but could be older. My guess was around twenty,” he admitted, humour making his eyes shine brightly.

Her laughter filled the room, making him sit straighter as unfamiliar heat pulsed through his body. She moved closer, stopping at the pull-up bar. “Do you mind?”

“Knock yourself out,” he answered.

“I’m turning nineteen soon, so you were actually the closest. The looks thing is because of the whole DNA crap I went through. Apparently, Andromedans were known for youthful bodies, advanced technology, and communicative techniques.”

Misha offered her hand wraps, but she scoffed and shook her head. Using nothing but her physical skill, she parkoured off the wall and grabbed the bar easily. “Whoa.”

“Yup,” she grunted, already five pull ups in. “Training on that station was a lot of fighting against machines, other subjects, and tactical thinking for covert movement. It saddens me that the others died by my hand, but I did what it took to survive in that place.”

He blinked, thinking over what she said and the pain in her voice. His brows drew together, his hearts thrumming with anticipation. “The researchers used you to kill them. That’s not the same as cold-blooded murder.”

Azrael stopped, pulling herself up until she was sitting on the bar. “I’ve never thought of that before. I always felt so much pain afterward, like I was ripping out my own heart.”

“See? That means you actually cared about what you did. You carried their memories through your pain. That’s not what a murderer does, Azrael.” He stopped, taking another drink. “So, you recall your birthday?”

“When I said I remember everything that first week I was here, I meant it. It’s hard to forget when the DNA I was spliced with holds memories from one generation to the next.” She answered.

He sat back down, shifting from human to reptilian. “Now you know both my human and Concloian forms. In this form, my hair turns into the mane along my spine plates.”

“Cute, in a lethally dangerous, I-can-bite-a-man’s-head-off kind of way.” She said, laughing again. “My birthday is 04-24-3110. I was kidnapped in 3121.”

Blinking at her, Misha calculated the timeline in his head. “Wow. So, you were stolen at eleven?”

“Yeah,” she answered sadly. “Right out of my front yard on Zepher colony. They blew it up right after, so I don’t have a home to return to anyway. Besides, I’m sort of safer here. At least you guys are nice to me.”

He knew of that colony, knew of the explosion that was blamed on a reactor and an electrical storm. Dragging a clawed hand over his face, he snarled. “That was an asshole move, but why kids? Easier to control or something?”

Shaking her head, Azrael sighed. “No. It’s because our bodies were still growing, still changing, evolving into adults. According to the stuff I overheard, they used kids to splice DNA, bone marrow, and, in some cases, brain tissue. I was subjected to all three.”

“Azrael, that’s not possible unless there was an Andromedan in your family history. Someone who escaped the slaughter and lived where they couldn’t be found,” Misha muttered.

She frowned, her dark brows drawing together. “Make that make sense.”

Misha finished the drink, scowling as the last of it dripped down his throat. “I’m not entirely sure, but I don’t think you’re just spliced. You’re possibly the last remaining descendant of that species. It would explain your easy control over your abilities and your survival when none of the others made it.”

“Maybe Talis can check for me,” she whispered. I mean, a proper mapping might help figure out why I am the way I am and how I survived when the others couldn’t.”

“I’m sure the good doctor wouldn’t mind. After all, Solara seems to like you.”

“Solara loves anyone who pays good attention to her and praises her. She’s terrified of raised voices and will often bolt for the quietest places to hide, which, believe it or not, is wherever Axel is.” Azrael smirked, swinging downward until she was hanging upside down by her knees, her arms crossed over her torso. “I think its hilarious.”

Misha laughed, deep and rumbling. “Axel is twenty cycles old, but he’s a prey species that is easily startled. You should have seen it when we first found him. He was so afraid, he almost clawed our eyes out with his talons. After a while, he learned that we were safe to be around. Novidia and Trykerius joined shortly after. He was escaping his family on Arcadia Station when they ran into each other.”

“That’s a lot. So all of you were running from something?”

“Pretty much,” he told her. “My brother and I were always friends with Valiant, so when he was blamed for killing a high-ranked Kulnomian representative, we acted. We snuck into the holding cells, and busted him out. We’ve been on the run ever since. When we found this asteroid, we literally carved a home out of the largest rock and called it Helix.”

She looked at him before dropping to the floor with a quite thud. Moving to the chair in front of the reptilian, she sat down. “Did he do it?”

“No,” Misha answered. “He was with us when it happened. Valiant is as his name implies, fiercely loyal, protective, determined, and strong when his people are in danger.”

Taking a drink of her water, she recapped the bottle and sighed. “Is Kulnomia your home world?”

“It is,” he answered. His reptilian lips pulled back in his version of a grin. “So, can you detect lies?”

Her brows went up, her cheeks heating slightly as embarrassment. “I could, if I wanted to. And I did when I first arrived, but nothing any of you said was a lie. So, that said, I started to trust you. Solara, being a child, is too innocent to lie as creatively as an adult of any species.”

“You’re blunt. I like that. It makes you easy to talk to,” Misha said. “I’d advise probably talking to the easier people first. Tryky, pronounced tricky, is our engineer and shipwright. He tends to clam up when anyone asks about his history. Novidia will regale you with her hunting stories before she was captured for apparently hunting in a restricted zone.”

Azrael laughed, the sound more free than any other she’d made in the last two weeks. “So, the clothes fit fine, but the shoes are a bit too big for me. I was thinking I could get out of here for a bit. Maybe go shopping in some shadowy district somewhere I’m not known.”

“I’m glad the clothes fit, and sorry about the boots. He was guessing,” Misha said as he laughed. “And, yes. Someone here can totally take you to a safe location. We have plenty of credits, so don’t worry about that.”

“Oh? Stolen?” She asked, and it took him a minute to realize she was joking.

“Nah,” he answered. “All earned through shipment deliveries, acting as guards, clearing dangerous debris from safe space confines. You know, the work no one wants but anyone will pay big credits for.”