Necessity is the Mother of Invention

The same accident that caused the loss of his leg at age six also stimulated the latent genetics that ran in his family to trigger a mutation. Although becoming one of the ‘exo-humans’ the government monitored would prove to be the least of his worries once he stumbled upon his family’s secret.

Brought to you by the warped mind of Nuuan

My apologies for the time between this and the last chapter, real life has a way of getting in the way of the fun things we do. As most of you know, I live along side the Mississippi River, which about a week ago reached a record setting flood level in my area. So needless to say I was a bit preoccupied with things other than writing and editing. Things are still a little hectic, with roads still closed and everyone cleaning up but I did manage to get this chapter ready :)

~o~O~o~

Chapter 8

Between the last of Ayer’s flash bangs and the diminutive coyote sacrificing its self to provide a distraction the survivors managed to get safely to the cave and seal the entrance. Ryan sat leaned against the wall of the cave after everyone else had already fallen asleep from exhaustion. In his mind he played back the fight with the creatures, what he could have done differently and how David would take the news about his coyote when he finally woke from the strange sleeping sickness the swamp had induced in him. While composed of metals and various other synthetic parts, all man made and all reproducible, long ago the coyote had become more than just the sum of its parts, it had been David’s best friend and companion over the years that David was confined to a wheelchair.

Of course this was not the same stuffed animal that David had been given at the hospital after the accident, that one had been lost. Paul, Ryan’s tech, had built the boy a new one. That was the first robotic coyote, although very simple in comparison with an aluminum chassis, electric motors and a battery that had to be recharged, it had eventually sparked David’s interest in science and engineering. Ryan smiled to himself as sleep over came him while his thoughts drifted to how a young crippled boy and his favorite toy had led not only to the great advances we now have in prosthetics, but also David being able to once again walk.

After everyone had gotten several hours of sleep, Ryan walked back up the stone carved stairs that led back to the cave’s entrance. Seeing light coming in through the gaps between the stone slab and the cave walls Ryan pushed the stone slab that covered the entrance of the cavern out of the way. Stepped out in the bright sunlight Ryan began laughing while Ayers and the surviving natives stood in various stages of shock and amazement after spotting what caused Ryan’s laughter.

Several yards away in front of the entrance stood the small figure of the coyote, its fur coated in blood and gore, one of its ears appeared to be torn almost in half, the remainder of the ear flopping forward. The coyote stood with its arms across its chest, tapping its foot impatiently. The area around the cavern entrance was littered with several dozen dead creatures. “By chance does that cavern contain a water source?” it asked in its distinct British accent.

“I should start calling you Timex!” Ryan laughed, “Takes a licking and keeps on ticking.” The coyote only glared at him.

“Yea, there’s water little guy,” Ayers overcame the shock of seeing the coyote still alive and kicking.

“I need to bathe,” The coyote grumbled as it walked past the group into the cave tunnel.

“You think after all that he’s still waterproof?” Ayers leaned toward Ryan and softly asked. Ryan started roaring with laughter once again.

~o~O~o~

A woman wearing a knee length dark blue skirt and a white blouse walked into the waiting room and stopping just inside the doorway. Hanging from a lanyard around the woman’s neck an ID card with large letters that read ‘DEHA’ along with a picture of the woman. The woman put Melanie in mind of a school teacher or librarian the way she was dressed, although the woman’s figure and face would have made her right at home in one of cosmetic advertisements in the teen magazines she read. “Doctor Bell and Puppet?” The woman looked at both Melanie and her mother, “I’m Miss Black, I’ll be helping you with the testing and paperwork today.”

Melanie’s mother stood and held her hand out to Miss Black, “Hello Miss Black, I’m Doctor Bell and this is Mel… I mean Puppet.”

Looking down at the outstretched hand, then back up to Melanie’s mother without offering her hand Miss Black said, “Follow me please,” before turning on her heels and walking away. Melanie and her mother had to rush to catch and keep up with the woman. Stopping at an elevator Miss Black pushed the down button, the doors immediately opened. Gesturing for Melanie and her mother to enter, Miss Black followed them in.

Once inside Miss Black held up her ID to the side panel then spoke, “Yvonne Black, Executive Assistant to the Director.” A darkened panel lit up with numbers, Melanie could not see which number the woman pressed but from the amount of them that showed up on the panel this place must have several underground levels. Melanie felt the sudden weightlessness of the elevator staring to go down.

The elevator opened into a wide hall, “This way please,” Miss Black took off at her quick pace once again, not bothering to check to see if they followed. Stopping partway down the long hallway, Miss Black waved her hand in a gesture towards Melanie and her mother to enter as she pushed the door open. Entering herself then holding the door while Melanie and her mother walked in, closing it behind them once everyone was inside.

Melanie saw the room was very large, larger than the gym at Melanie’s school, and over half full of various pieces of equipment some rather large. There were also several stainless steel tables scattered around with a few stools around some of them. At one of the tables a man sat in a wheelchair in front of a laptop on the table. He wore the typical white lab coat short brown hair and looked to be in his late 30’s or early 40’s.

“Doctor Wayne,” Miss Black said to get his attention, “This is Doctor Bell and the young girl that I spoke to you about.”

“Ja, vee hab ben expecting zee frauline,” The doctor turned his wheelchair to face them. Melanie’s hand went up to cover her mouth as she began to giggle at the fake Halloween eyeglasses with a large plastic nose attached to them along with dark bushy eye brows and mustache the doctor had on. Tossing the fake glasses onto the table the doctor grinned then began rolling the wheelchair toward the three. Looking directly at Melanie, “What do you say we get this testing out of the way, so you can get your ID and get out of here?”

The doctor could see just how frightened Melanie was, although his fake glasses did seem to lighten her mood a bit if only for a moment. “Okay all of you please follow me,” the doctor said as he turned the wheelchair around and rolled back to the table he was first sitting at. Once there he reached into a briefcase that lay open on the table and pulled out a black box roughly the shape and size of a pack of cigarettes. Sitting the device on the table, he pushed a button on it and a small red LED came on beside the button, within a handful of seconds it began flashing, and then went out as a green LED began flashing another half minute and the green LED began a steady glow. “Okay, now that I know that no one can hear us. Melanie, Miss Black and I are friends of David’s Uncle.” Glancing up with a grin at Miss Black, “Very good friends.”

“You both know the Wiley’s?” Melanie’s mother asked.

“Very well in fact,” Miss Black answered, “Teri and her husband never miss any of our big barbecues.”

Melanie’s hand shot up to her face as she gasped, “You, your Aunt Yvonne?”

Looking at Melanie’s mother, “Wesley and I are not married, but we do spend a lot of time together. When David was younger he started calling me his aunt, we never saw a reason to correct him, and to be honest I like him calling me that.”

“David has told me all about your big cookouts and how much fun they are,” Melanie perked up.

“I hope you and your parents can join us at our next one.” Miss Black smiled at Melanie’s mother, “I’ll make sure to have Teri let you know when we have another.” Miss Black turned her attention to Melanie, “Now then, Wesley wanted to be here himself, but is still out in the field so he asked me to make sure you got the red carpet treatment.”

“But, but I’m not special,” Melanie blushed.

“You aren’t?” Miss Black tilted her head inquisitively, “Is David you boyfriend?”

“Uh, yes, I guess so,” Melanie spoke timidly her face turning a darker shade of red as she let her head drop down while looking up at her mother.

“Yvonne, if you want to give Mrs. Bell a little tour, maybe hit the cafe or something, Melanie and I can get these tests out of the way.”

Taking a step halfway behind her mother, Melanie squeaked. “Will it hurt?”

“I’ll be as gentle as possibly sweetheart,” The doctor smiled at Melanie, “If you could go over there to that changing room, you’ll find a gown to wear. Put that on and come out when you are ready.”

Melanie hesitated, looking both at the door to the room the doctor pointed at then to her mother. “Don’t worry,” The doctor spoke again, “We don’t use those nasty hospital gowns that show everyone your rear.”

“This should help also doctor,” Melanie’s mother handed him a large document sized manila envelope.

“This is?” The doctor took the envelope from her.

“A copy of her medical records.”

Melanie exited the changing room after disrobing and putting on the light gray hospital gown to find the doctor’s wheelchair still over by the table but empty. Melanie jumped when she heard the doctor’s voice, “Would you step up on the scale for me?”

Turning quickly toward the sound of his voice she saw him standing beside one of those scales they always use in a doctor’s office. Looking back to the wheelchair then again at the doctor, “Your wheelchair, you can walk?”

“Of course I can walk,” the doctor chuckled.

“But the wheelchair?” Melanie pointed over at the empty chair.

“It’s the only thing in here to sit on other than a hard metal stool.” The doctor grinned. Checking Melanie’s height and weight against the records her mother had given him. “So it looks like you had a complete exam two weeks ago, including full gynecological is that right?”

“Yes,” Melanie softly answered while looking at the floor.

“Usually we don’t do those but once every six month at most unless there is a problem. Can you tell me why you had this one three weeks ago, so soon after your last?” Melanie continued to stare at the floor without speaking. “It’s okay to tell me, I am a doctor. I only want to make sure there is nothing going on that needs to be corrected before it could cause you harm or pain.”

Looking up just enough to see the doctor, “I, I mean David and I, well, we kinda…”

“So you had sex,” The doctor said without emotion. Melanie nodded before looking back at the floor. “I take it your mother found out, had the exam done, then put you on birth control?” Melanie nodded again. “Good thing you were honest with me young lady, standard birth control doesn’t work for a lot of exo-humans. You could think you were protected, continue having sex and become pregnant. I’ll make sure to check this in your blood work and see if we need to change your prescription.”

~o~O~o~

It had taken several more days to reach Black Rock. At first sight it was obvious how it got its name. The mountain of dark obsidian glass that rose up from the weathered basalt rock like some kind of large dome that looked as if it had been placed there by the hand of some god. Ryan guessed it took up an area larger than three or four football fields.

“That has to be manmade,” Ayers spoke.

“I would tend to agree,” Ryan stated.

Once inside the large domed structure they could see the interior did not resemble other structures Ryan and Ayers had seen these people build either, Most of the interior walls and floor were made out of the same basalt rock that this planet seemed to have such an abundant supply of, but the precision of the joinery were far beyond what these people could do with the tools they had seen so far.

Both Ryan and Ayers were marveling at the craftsmanship that went into the interior when one of the natives that had brought them to the place interrupted their exploration, *D’pakja, our Saseja wishes to speak with you and your Sechaja.*

“What did he say?” Ayers looked at Ryan.

“Their elder wishes to speak with the two of us,” Ryan answered then looked down at the coyote, “Stay with David.”

“Of course!” The coyote did not bother to look back as he walked away with the natives carrying David to whatever their version of a doctor would turn out to be. Ryan motioned for the native to lead the way to this elder.

The native stopped outside a large archway and motioned them to continue inside. The room was no more than thirty feet by thirty feet square, along its center stood a long table that appeared to be made out of the same material of the dome that encapsulated the structure. On each side were benches of the same material. At the far end of the table sat an elderly man, his appearance frail beyond belief. His skin taught showing almost no muscle beneath. A boy and a girl stood to each side of the chair he sat in.

“Protector of the royalty, greetings I bid to you,” The old man spoke in heavy accent.

“You speak English?” Ayers was surprised.

“Honored warrior, I do. My father’s father ruled that all those that would take his place would learn the language the Protector of the royalty adopted.” Turning toward Ryan, “Protector of the royalty, forgive an old man’s rantings, you appear the same as you did when you first visited my father’s father when I was a child.”

“Forgive me Saseja,” Ryan seemed confused, “This is the first time I have visited your people.”

“Protector of the royalty, you told us that you would not remember your first visit,” The old man explained, “This was one of the keys that we were to watch for upon your return. These two,” the old man motioned at the boy and girl that stood beside his chair, “will lead you to those items you ask us to keep safe until you returned.”

~o~O~o~

“So they were calling you, Protector of the royalty?” Ayers quizzed once he and Ryan were alone in the room the two children had led them to.

“Yes, although their translation may be a bit too literal,” Ryan tried to play down its importance.

“Well they made it a point to use that name for you ever chance they got.”

“That’s just part of how the language differs, in their language you always begin speaking by formally addressing the person you are speaking to.” Ryan explained, “So even though they had learned the English words, they were putting them together in the fashion they were used to speaking.”

Ryan reached over and grabbed the edge of a large stitched together leather hide that covered the only item in the small room. From the amount of dust this caused it was easy to tell that this leather hide had not been touched in more than a few decades. Underneath it was a black metal cube roughly two feet per side and four feet long. The surface was seamless, the only flaw in the smooth surface was a small hole along one of the long sides, less than a half inch across and deep. Ryan placed a finger in the hole and the top of the cube disappeared revealing an assortment of objects with an I-Pad lying conspicuously on top of everything.

Picking up the I-Pad, Ryan found the power button and it slowly came to life, immediately starting a video with Ryan holding the device at arm’s length in front of himself. “Okay we know the drill, so I’ll make this short and sweet.” Ryan’s likeness spoke in the video, “Greg has a good soul, I know it is difficult but you can trust him. I have left everything we need here to nudge things toward the best possible outcome that Sara could determine.” Ayers watched the video over Ryan’s shoulder. “Greg, I know that I have given you no reason to trust me so far, but your life depends on this. You MUST leave your armor and weapons here.”

“Let me talk to him,” They heard a female voice in the video. Ryan moved the camera slightly to the side so he appeared on the edge as a woman moved into the screen. Wavy red hair framed a face that held a pale complexion that sported freckles on a pert button nose that continued under her penetrating steel blue eyes, her hair continued below her shoulders and off the screen. “Greg I know this is probably even harder for you, but it’s the truth, you must listen to Ryan he will get you home. I know that you are low on ammo so the weapons you have will be dead weight soon anyway. Ryan and I left what we could for you in this container, so you will not be defenseless.”

“Is she Sara?” Ayers spoke while the video continued.

“I thought you may know her?” Ryan twisted his head to look at Ayers as the video ended leaving the pair framed in the devices screen.

“She reminds me of…” Ayers paused for a long time as he stared at the picture of the woman, “old pictures of my mother. It couldn’t be could it?”

“I doubt it, but there is a family resemblance,” Ryan stated as he looked into Ayers own steel blue eyes.

Making his decision, Ayers began removing his armor.

~o~O~o~

Ayers watched as Ryan continued to inspect and tinker with the silvery bracer that had not worked for David back in the swamp while they sat in the floor outside the room the natives were working on curing David, “Damn wish I had known that was all the boy needed, I would had snatched a bottle from a liquor store before we came.” He chuckled.

“We have no idea if that would work,” Not bothering to look up from his work Ryan answered, “There could be some special minerals or chemicals in their homemade hooch that is the cure.”

“I’d still like to be a fly on the wall when you explain to your sister why you got her son drunk.”

“Yeah,” Ryan sighed, “I think we should skip that part of our story.”

“WE? You got a mouse in your pocket? The Reaper, Apocalypse, and the head of Wiley Enterprises all in one room. I don’t even want to be on the same continent when that happens!” Ayers laughed.

Ryan looked at Ayers and chuckled, “When you put it that way, it does sound a bit extreme. Although knowing my brothers as well as I do, you won’t get off that easy. You’ll be lucky if our sister doesn’t talk him into naming his first born after you.”

“Why would she do that? I haven’t done anything but follow you so far.”

“Those flashbangs you set off, saved all our asses,” Ryan explained, “That was great thinking, I never thought about how sensitive those things would be to light.”

“So how exactly does that thing work?” Ayers pointed at the silvery bracer, wanting to change the subject now that it had lead toward talking about himself.

“Basically it takes a sample of DNA from the person you put it on, then it uses that as a pattern to repair the person’s body.” Ryan did not look up from his work.

“So it uses nanites to make the repairs?” Ayers scooted closer to Ryan to get a better view of what he was doing.

“No,” Ryan shook his head, “It, like most all of our technology is based on expanse.”

“Expanse?”

“Yes, the void between the realms,” Ryan continued working.

“Dark matter?” Ayers sucked in a breath.

“Maybe, I’m not sure what the difference may be, if there is one.” Ryan sighed, “I’m not a tech, if I were I’d have this damn thing working!”

“I’m pretty good with electronics,” Ayers had moved closer so he was sitting right beside Ryan, “So let’s look at this logically, how does it collect and store the DNA sample?”

“That’s what is weird the collector should be right here,” Ryan turned the band over and pointed at a spot on its underside. Sliding open a panel he then pointed at some circuitry, “Here is where it should have a collector to pull a sample, but I’ve never seen this thing in its place. I can’t believe my tech missed this when he modified the damn thing!”

“Okay so why does it need a DNA sample?”

“Mainly to make sure it doesn’t inject Vrie’za nanites into a person or creature that it would kill,” Ryan explained.

“Vrie’za? That’s your people?”

Nodding Ryan continued, “Humans and Vrie’za and very close genetically, so close that the Vrie’za believed that all human-like people throughout the realms have a common ancestor.”

“So what you’re saying is the nanites wouldn’t cause any problems for humans?”

“Correct.”

“Could we bypass that collection thing?”

Shaking his head, “No it has to compare a sample to the one it holds before it will lock in place.”

Ayers grinned, “So we remove that part that you said is where the collector should be and rewire it so it compares its own sample to its self.”

Ryan’s eyes widened at the simplicity of such a repair, “You’re a fucking genius!”

~o~O~o~

“Master Scythe, Master Ayers,” The coyote, who had not left the boy’s side, yelled form inside the room, “David is waking up!”

“Wiley?” David’s raspy voice no more than a whisper.

Reaching over, the coyote picked up an earthen cup that was beside the bed, “You have been sick and must drink this,” holding the cup in front of David.

Raising his head, David allowed the coyote to give him a drink from the cup. “That tastes terrible!” David spat out the foul liquid.

“It’s medicine,” The coyote held the cup in front of David’s face, “You have to drink it to get better.”

“What happened, where are we?” David looked around.

“Welcome back to the land of the living!” David heard a voice he recognized as two men entered the room.

“Uncle Ryan?” David attempted to get up on his elbows and collapsed back onto the bed, “How did you get here?”

“Take it easy son, you have been out for several days.” Ayers looked at David then at Ryan, “I take it you never told him?”

“Told me what?” David

“Do you remember how you got here?” Ryan asked.

“Uh yea, I was trying to get out of that place, then Apocalypse was there chasing me. There was an DEHA guy there too and the whole place was filling up when those people tried to make Aegisium and Apocalypse teleported us.” David looked at Ayers, “You’re the DEHA guy?”

“Yes,” Ayers answered.

“So you got me away from Apocalypse?”

“No,” Ayers chuckled, “Apocalypse rescued both of us.”

“Apocalypse did what?” David looked from Ayers to his Uncle Ryan.

“Davey,” Ryan walked over and sat down on the bed David lay in, “This is something you have to keep secret.”

“Like the time you took me to the ball game when I was grounded secret or like Sara secret?”

“I think this may be bigger than Sara.”

“What can be bigger than Sara?”

“Drink what’s left in that cup your coyote is holding and I will tell you.” Ryan grinned.

“Uncle Ryan that stuff burns and it tastes terrible.”

“This secret is worth it son,” Ayers grinned, “I don’t know who Sara is, but it CAN’T be as big as this!”

David reached out and took the cup away from the coyote, wincing as he took a sip.

“It’s not going to get any better,” Ryan advised, “Best hold your nose and drink it down all at once. At least that way it’s done and over.”

David did exactly that, finishing the strange liquor then dropping the cup as he began coughing and gasping for breath. “Ok, tell me.” David said between gasps.

“Apocalypse was there to rescue you.”

“What you’re telling me smells worse that the stuff I just drank!” David shivered.

“I’m serious buddy,” Ryan chuckled, “Your mom would kick Apocalypse’s ass if he ever hurt you.”

“How could… Mom?” David glanced up at Ryan then at Ayers who was grinning, “No way! Apocalypse is a super villain, he would clobber mom.”

“If Cindy even tried to hit you, would you hit her back?” Ryan asked the boy.

“No, she’s my baby sister.”

“Do you think that maybe even Apocalypse would think the same way about his baby sister?”

“But no one knows who Apocalypse is or if he has any family and you and Uncle Wes are mom’s brothers.”

Ryan dropped his gaze to the floor shaking his head, “For the smartest kid I know, you can be pretty dense at times.”

“Stop teasing the kid and show him,” Ayers chuckled.

David’s eyes grew wide when he saw the dark blue armor begin to quickly form around his uncle. “Holy crap! You’re him, Uncle Ryan you, you’re a super villain?”