Rune #11

Part 2/3 chapter 4

Rune on the bed sat in silence, his head in his hands. His cybernetic arm was icy against his skin. With a jolt, he realized his siblings probably hadn’t been told he was alive and relatively well. They would be a mess. He sighed and dropped back onto the bed. There was nothing he could do about it now. He would have to wait until after he got out. Hopefully that wouldn’t be too long.

And it wasn’t, but to Rune it felt like forever. Having nothing to do, he paced around the room for two days. There were two guards outside the door, they would occasionally peer into the small window in the thick metal door, he would ignored them coldly and continue pacing. Sometimes, just for fun, he would hide against the corner where they couldn’t see him and then laugh when they freaked out. Of course, this annoyed them greatly, but Rune would still be laughing when they returned to their posts. He was completely stir-crazy when the guards finally opened the door to admit Admiral Gallas and General Aspen. The General looked pale and his eyes red, but he was stern and stoic as ever. Rune stopped pacing and faced them. Usually, he would have saluted, but he was not in the mood.

General Aspen stepped forward. “Lieutenant Samarvir, I still have no recollection of the day you disappeared. I assure you I am not against you, nor am I trying to get rid of you as you said.”

Rune shook his head. “I never said that.”

“Admiral Gallas told me you suspected it was I who was against you.”

“No, he said that. I only told him what happened that day.”

Admiral Gallas stepped forward, interrupting the argument. “Lieutenant, we have concluded that you are not safe to our people. You will remain here while the electronic builds a better way for you to learn. Meals twice a day.” with that, they turned and exited, leaving Rune alone and frozen in shock. That was an unexpected turn of events. He sighed and dropped heavily onto the bed, his breath rushing out of him. Staring at the blank ceiling, he drifted into a troubled sleep.

The next day, Rune could barely control his frustration and boredom. The same blank walls bored into his brain. He muffled a shout of rage into his pillow and then threw it across the room. It hit the wall with a thump and fell to the floor. Rune picked it up and threw it again, it seemed childish, but it gave him something to do. The guards heard his muffled shout and one of them peered into the window, only to get a pillow in his face.

Rune burst into laughter, doubling over at the guard’s surprised expression. He dropped onto the floor, the pillow in his lap. He sighed, his smile shrinking. All sense of amusement left him, leaving only anger. The pillow dropped to the floor and Rune punched it violently. To his surprise, the blow went through the pillow and there was a loud bang as his metal fist connected with the floor. He lifted the pillow and sucked in a breath. There was a large dent carved into the floor, curves where each of his fingers struck. Amazed, but feeling useless, he flung the pillow back onto his bed and leaned against the wall, studying the dent through half-closed eyes. His mind wandered back to Admiral Gallas and General Aspen’s conversation. Admiral Gallas said they would ‘build a better way for him to learn.’ What did he mean by that? Rune growled in frustration and wished for the thousandth time that he had something to do. Being a soldier his whole life, constantly full of action and always something to do, inactivity left him feeling completely useless and bored out of his mind.

He rose and paced, studying the wall for a minute. Better way for him to learn. Rune tilted his head, gazing at the blank wall and he got an idea.

Bang!

A massive dent in the wall warped the metal and distorted Rune’s blurred reflection. Each of his metallic fingers curved grooves into the wall. Rune swore as the shock rippled up his arm and into his head. He spun and delivered a mighty kick with his metal heel. It had the same effect, carving out the shape of his foot. He could use this solitary time to learn of his cybernetic limbs and gain better control over them. Could that have been what Admiral Gallas was talking about? Rune shook his head. The Admiral had said they were going to build something, what that meant, Rune had no clue.

Rune knew about the blade in his arm, but was that the only thing unique about it? No. His pointer finger lit with a long flame, burning blue. He frowned, wondering what the point of that would be.

One hour later, he had exhausted his brain and discovered one other use. Wickedly long spikes generated on the bottom of his foot, again, he wondered in what situation that would be useful.

The night came without warning, Rune dropped onto the bed. As he fell asleep, he realized how long it had been since that day when General Aspen ejected him. It had been only half a month, but it felt so incredibly long ago. His breath rushed from him and he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Fourteen, horribly boring days passed before something different finally happened, but this was not a good change.

“...before he wakes up, hurry!”

Voices drifted into Rune’s consciousness, he felt something wet and cold on his left arm. Then a sharp prick, a familiar fire spread through his veins. His eyes snapped open, his right arm moving on its own, clamping down on a nurse’s wrist, she was leaning over him; she had slid a syringe under his skin, but released it in shock at his sudden movement. Rune quickly snatched the needle out and dropped it on the floor, the remaining liquid spilling out as the glass smashed.

He swung to his feet, glaring down on the woman several feet shorter than he. “What do you think you’re doing?” he demanded, his words slurred. The sedative was already setting in. Despite the surprise of his sudden movement, the nurse smiled.

“The electronic has made a way for you and the cybersoldiers after you. They are implanting a new chip, this one in the limbs themselves. The leaders will be remotely controlling your cyber limbs if necessary. This will prevent injury to yourself or any other people.”

As she spoke, Rune vision blurred, he swayed on his feet, half asleep. He was shaking his head. “don’t.. want.. that.” he answered haltingly. She pursed her lips. “They aren’t giving you a choice.”

Rune desperately tried to fight the sedative. It was taking longer to set in. He swayed heavily and dropped backwards onto the bed again. He shook his head, blinking to clear his vision. The nurse turned and called to someone outside the cell. Stomping of boots fell in rhythm with Rune’s heartbeat. Voices muffled into unrecognizable noises humming around Rune as he fell on his side and his eyes slipped shut.

Shifting sheets.

Quiet breaths.

Purple eyes opened.

Rune felt confusion welling inside him, but he quickly remembered. He gasped and sat upright, startling the guards, that now stood on the inside of the door. Rune glared at them before glancing down at his cybernetic arm. There was a new, gleaming piece of metal over the shoulder. He turned back to the sarsh who stared ahead blankly. “How long has it been?” He asked, obviously longer than he was comfortable with, his voice was rough. The guards didn’t move, but Rune kept eye contact and the younger of them broke. “A day and a half,” he replied. The other guard’s eyes flicked to his companion, making a displeased cough in his throat. Rune smirked.

Annoyed by the lack of activity, the guards, and the unwanted upgrade to his cybernetic limbs, Rune stood and paced, ignoring the wary expressions of the guards. He remembered what the nurse had said before the sedative set in; they could control him. He shook his head and shuddered. Not only was it extremely creepy; but also worrying. They could make Rune do whatever they wanted him to. Rune licked his lips, frowning.

He needed to figure out what had caused all this mess, who was behind it all. He already knew it wasn’t General Aspen, there was truth in his words when he said he had no memory of that day. It was someone else. Rune ran through the possible suspects, but found no one who would do it on Zenith. Maybe it was someone on Earth or.. Then Rune remembered the blue eyes of the rebel leader. He was the only human that knew about him, and if it was not someone on Zenith, he must have something to do with it. Rune sighed. He was getting ahead of himself. He had no way off Zenith and he was only five percent sure the human had any part in his ejection.

He sighed again. Should he escape or should he stay? He would never rise to his rank again, what did he have here? Rune frowned. The sleeping hour was nearing. The guards would switch shifts soon. Thinking of Earth’s wind and animals, the peace that came with it all, Rune decided.

He would run. He would take his fighter, Archangel, to Earth. He would track down that rebel, who most likely didn’t stay on that planet Rune had first found them on. Glancing down at his cybernetic limbs, he smiled. This wouldn’t be too hard.

Rune lay with his back to the guards, pretending to be asleep. He heard them murmuring to each other. Their shift would end soon, giving him a window of opportunity.

“Is he asleep?” the younger guard asked. Rune smirked, but kept his breath even.

“I don’t know, go check.”

Rune clenched his jaw. His plan wouldn’t work, the sarsh was going to instantly know he was actually awake. His hands curled into fists. He was going to have to improvise.

As the footsteps of the guards neared, Rune shifted until he was facing the guard, but kept his eyes closed. The guard stopped several feet away, watching for a minute. Rune felt his eyes burning into him.

Two feet. Rune cracked his eye open just a slit, the guard’s stomach was level with him.

One foot. There was a flurry of action as Rune’s cyber arm shot out and connected with the guard’s stomach, his breath rushing from him. The sarsh recovered quickly and straightened as Rune leaped to his feet, obviously very awake. Both guards were now brandishing their guns at the cybersoldier. The Lieutenant discreetly put his right arm behind his back. Hidden from their sight, the gleaming black blade appeared.

Rune spun and cleanly sliced the gun of the closest guard and then planted his right foot in his chest, sending him flying across the room. He hit the wall and collapsed in a groaning heap. “Sorry,” Rune called. “But I really have to get out of here.” He turned to the younger guard. “Drop the gun.” he commanded. The sarsh shook his head stubbornly and brought the gun level with Rune’s heart. “Don’t move or I’ll shoot!” he said, his voice trembling a little. Rune pursed his lips, he knew they couldn’t actually kill him.

He lunged for the guard, there was a mighty bang and Rune froze in shock.

His eyes followed the guard’s down to his lower calf. There was a shallow groove in his leg, silver blood welling from it. Rune turned to the guard, his jaw half open and his brow drawn together. The guard may have missed his original target, but he didn’t miss entirely.

With one deft movement, Rune knocked the gun from the guard’s hand, reducing it to pieces as it flew across the room and smashed. He stuck his face in the guard’s. “you missed.” he hissed. Then his metal fist slammed down on the guard’s head and he crumpled. Rune felt a little sorry for the younger sarsh, but less so after he had shot him.

The Lieutenant smashed the four cameras with his fist and then approached the door. He had sixty seconds until backup arrived; he was being closely monitored. Rune snatched the entry key off the still form of the guard. As he did, he studied the sarsh closely, then smiled.

He shrunk, his purple eyes turned blue, his hair turning lavender. There was still his small earring in one of his ears, but he doubted anyone would notice. If they did, at least his disguise would buy him time.

The door hissed open.

Footsteps.

Rune walked on, his prison clothing changed to the typical guard uniform. He rushed past several sarsh, completely unnoticed. For the moment.