Death under the sand, or under the sun

"Only the dead have seen the end of war."

-Plato

I was on a date, walking by the lake with Jean, when the paging system called me and her to be ready to go to the desert dig site. The research team need the security details team to escort an object dug out of the site, and escort it back to the western outpost. Jean call back her companion that hanging on a tree, i called Fang and Snow to get back to our room. So we got back to our room to change, i was taking off my shirt. When i glance to Jean, her slender body is great! The breast are quite a size, i gaze checking it and now half naked she is wearing nothing but a bra and undies, and she is trying to get into a body suit, when she glance at me. "Quit doing that Cass! We gonna get late!"

I broke my stare unwillingly and take off my pants, wearing only my underpants and quickly get in my body suit. "Nice ass tough!" Jean smiling. After we both get into our tight body suits, Jean hug me from behind and kiss me in the back neck, "We should do this without our clothes on.." i said teasing her. She whisper in my ears teasingly "maybe i would do that.." and her hand smoothly go down under my belly button and softly rubbing it, i get an instant hard on. And then she pull my shoulder, turn me around, "now! lets go lover boy! Times up!" She kissed me on the lips, pat my hard on "let us save this for later on" and went outside, I followed her smiling lewdly.

Dean is waiting in front of the room, "you two love birds should haul ass!" Smiling at both of us. "Shut up Dean! Quit making fun of Cass! Only i can do that!" Jean glance at me, while slapping Dean's stomach. "Come on, it's the three of us! Grey and Shawn not coming, they got request to guard the Valorem intelligence tent." Dean informed us.

"Who's leading from the military?" I asked him curiously. "None! This one is our findings! The researcher was in a hurry, i bet this is something big!" Dean is really excited over this. "What else did you hear?" Dean thinking hard and then "hmm i did heard some weird place they mention that have a connection with it! I think it's a monastery or moon something" and in that exact second i also got excited.

"Let's go!" I instructed them as hurry walking to the transportation area.

Jean and Dean share a look (WTF with Cass look), and followed me.

The monastery is connected to the two dragons that i and Fang see on the mountain the other day.

"My name is Master Hunter Armshead, and this are my mission! Please mind my every orders, and give it your absolutely best effort!" The bulky man said to the three of us in the briefing room of the outpost. All the information that me and the rest of the team knows are this was a simple escorting mission. It will take a half day to directly bringing what ever that they has found in the desert, and securely store it, in one of the outpost base storage facility. We rides on a small desert buggy in the back row of the convoys, the master will lead the convoys, Dean rides with him."He is a walking legend!!" That is what Dean is screaming after the briefing. He was pretty much hype up for this mission, thinking everything that will happen and will be recorded in the mission history of his mission resumes. And i think he is right it will be very cool, but this shit has a very foul smells of covert ops on it, why an intelligence officer will go all the trouble to lead a security escort of a findings, four mile from the outpost. This was totally a sham escorting missions, nobody needs three student escorting pieces of artifacts, when a Fucking legend is escorting this convoy.

Master Hunter Companions was a Black Panther, a Golden Eagle and something of a menace under his sand cloak, if i am not mistaken it was some kind of a snake. I have seen he is communicating with it, when the snake shown its head near his neck. Lots of adventures working on the dark, takes concealed companions for protections and detections. They will be safe at their sleep, at nights and prevents danger risk when infiltrating or detecting something unseen by human eyes. The companions will be kept near the adventures at all times, the animals you want to take for this kind of companionship is has to be either the most cunning, deadly, senses heighten or a very smart ones. A snake is a common options, but what kind of snakes was the real mystery. But Fang told me to be careful around him, what is under his cloak is very concealed, and undetected. Pilot is the reason why we can detect the snake, she can see so clearly the head of the snake and told Jean about it, and Jean will absolutely told me! I am her man! Gazing at her slender body, "What the heck you are smiling about!" Jean words snapped me of my thoughts.

"Please concentrate on the tasked, i swear Cass if the missions gonna failed because of your day dreams, you will never get to see or contact me for a months, and no visits too!" She warned me. And i smiled at her, she slaps my stomach! And smiled back! "Now knock it off! Lover boy! Eyes front, not on my body parts!" She is back gazing at the convoys.

"I hate sands" i pick that feelings out of Fang's mind. He is pissed that in this open top vehicle he can't see at the front without having a sand in his eyes, and his nose is always ticklish because the sand particle always gets in his nose. Snow is tucked under my cloak, she is sleeping. While Jean new companion is at her shoulder pads half closing her eyes. Pilot is nocturnal, she was active at nights and hunts at night, but she is still to young to flying out in the opens, she would waste too much energy hovering above the convoys on broad day light and scorching sun. But make no mistake her eyes are as good as in the night time, they are raptors just the same as the golden eagle that the master had, the one securing the convoys from high above.

Reaching the dig sites after one and a half hour, master Hunter sent direct neural message instructing where are our positions when they loading the object to the truck. Fang is on patrol, snow will learn from Fang and stick with him. Since they are both white, they blend in perfectly with the sand scenery. "Please hydrate guys!" I sent them my thought through direct neural link. Fang and Snow are packed with survival kits on their resizable backpack, a mechanical pouch of water are included, i can operates the mechanical pouch using his small cores, which i program to give him and Snow water when ever dehydration is detected beyond fifteen percent of body lacks of fluids. Fang and Snow are also equipped with armor suit, and claws round nites that can be shaped as iron claws. The claws currently active as the hot sun heated the sands, without the paw gloves at their paws, the sands are eating their paws alive.

The object is a seven feet long and six feet tall, it was a black box. Some kind of a console, the box is transmitting a low level neural link. The security details instructed us not to go into the console, it was guarded by the master. And it was his responsibilities, no security details have the clearance to make any contact with the object. They load the object and i called my companions, we went into the sand buggy and went back to the outpost. The way back took us half an hour more, because the truck has to keep the safety of the object conditions, so the speed should be slower because of the loads standard operating procedure says so. That night the security is tight, the scientist was back and forth probing over the console object in one of the outpost warehouse, they even move some of the warehouse things into the storehouse, they make shift the warehouse as an emergency research lab.

Pilot is watching the whole outpost from the nearest tower near our positions, Fang is taking Snow for a routine patrols. I was taking a short break drinking coffee with Jean, i was backing my back to a wall of a building facing the desert holding my mug, while Jean was leaning to my chest. We are gazing to the starry night sky, there are three moons hanging over the sky. They are so beautiful tonite, suddenly Jean smiles and looking at me with hilarious expression "Cassidy Reed are you getting a hard on me?"

"It was out of my control" i said. She reach for my hard on spot with her left hand. "Please hang in there, maybe when i am ready we can do it.." as she rubs it with her left hand. She smiles at me, i kissed her lips. Suddenly her eyes went big, and pull her head off my chest! "Now what do i do wrong!" I said confusedly. "Cass a breach! Someone is running away from the lab, to the desert!" She is pointing at the lab, Pilot is informing her from above the tower. I told Fang to get to the intruder and cut his escape route, but then i get there faster. The intruder just died holding his chest, a glowing ball shaped object falls from his hand rolling to my feet. A snakes that i spot moving away from the body "an Inland Taipan! The most deadly snake known to man!" I carelessly pick up the ball object, as i see the snakes picked up from the ground by a bulky man, it was the master. Before i can asked anything to the master, a bolt of shock runs to my neural link the ball is glowing bright blue. My consciousnesses is sucked into a network of frequencies.

"Hello who is there!" I picked up a direct message in the neural link. "Cassidy Reed", i answered.

"How can you tabbed into this neural link? Where are you from?" The linked inquiring me again. "Valorem" i said. "He did it! Xu Chenglei, How many utility core you are using on yourself?" The link replied. "One, i just got it build." I try to lied but the answer is always come out different from what i am try to concealing. "Stop resisting boy, you can't lie in my direct link!" The link seems to know the action i was taking. "I should see this day would come! Just tell them to contact the monastery! Tell Juliet to reach me! Juliet Sierra! Remember that, ONLY TO HER! As soon as possible! I am gonna break this link to prevent extended neural damage, you can't handle the console orbs power output any much longer before damage exposure!" The link broke off as the glowing orb left my hand.

"Cass! Cass! Are you alright! Answer my Cass! Open your eyes!" I heard Jean screaming, but i was too tired. The ball sucked my life force away, and i can hear my companions also near me, faintly i heard the master instructing a stretcher for me. The boys Dean, Grey and Shawn is running approaching me, as i was taken with a stretcher, Jean is turning to Shawn and crying in his chest. My consciousnesses is slipping away.

When i wake up, i can't hear anything at all in my neural linked, i can feel my idle super cores. I can feel my small utility core is running the show keeping me alive. Suddenly a direct link internally asking an approval to reset the cores and neural link.

RESET COMPLETE

BOOTING ENGINE

SUPER CORES ONLINE

NEURAL RESTORATION COMPLETE

BOOTING NEURAL LINK CONNECTION

NEURAL LINK ESTABLISH

The crowd is back to my head, "Cass!" Jean hug me crying, her eyes is red and a black shade under her eyes, she seems having not enough sleep. Fang and Snow minds comes storming "Cass!" "Daddy!"

On the bedside my monocle is beeping. The Valorem super computer is calling me, a couple of the Valorem staff arrive to check on my condition. I was at the Valorem, the implant center to be precise. They handed me the monocle, i put it on my temple. The information is flowing, a couple of direct message from Ms.Rose and my team. Then suddenly all of the sound is tuned down accept for one sound.

" This are the Valorem super computer, please explain your current neural and super cores condition!" The system inquire me.

"Online, and normal" i replied.

A direct message is explaining my brought in condition, i was in the state of neural shut in, and core dead. The Valorem staff is keeping my body healthy because the utility core is fixing the damage inside. They would not know how to expect because it was a new system, they monitored me for two weeks now. They was asking if i can explain what happened to me on the outpost. Remembering the link instructions about what i am suppose to do i only said one sentence.

"GET ME, JULIET SIERRA!" after that exact words, every question will be answered in that only one sentence (my mind is being hacked). It was like the message is embed to my super cores program and i can't fight it head on. It was a mandatory tasked and i has to finished it.

"Please relay the message!" Suddenly a direct message enter my neural link.

SYSTEM: NEURAL SIGNATURE ACQUIRE

ID: JULIET SIERRA

ACCESS GRANTED

"Richard Cumolo is looking for you, please contact the monastery"

END OF MESSAGE

I even can not control myself, the message just relayed through my neural link. I hate it so much, i am not some kind of recording machine. But a replied come before i can asked why is this happening to me through my direct neural link. The Valorem super computer is asking me to go to the simulation chamber of heroes. I close my eyes and the simulation started, the instruction is to go to the 402 picture of heroes. A picture of a woman it's the same woman that i see when the first time the classroom was implanted with the super cores.

MASTER JULIET SIERRA

… I am gonna read it but suddenly the picture talked.

"Welcome Cassidy James Reed!" I startled.

"My name is Juliet Sierra, drop the honorific too! And no this is not a recording or artificial intelligent interactive program!" She warned me what to ask her.

"You are Ms.Rose.." half way talking "Grandmother!" She complete my sentence. "I'm sorry what!?" It came suddenly i can not connected the dotted lines of the sentence. "I am Ms.Rose Grandmother dear.." she said it slowly. After that she inquiry me about how did i got the message, i tell her about that night the ball rolled over my way and my exact words to Richard Cumolo, the voice on the neural link. And then she asked me if there is i want to asked, i asked about the monastery. "Hmm that place huh!?" I caught the unwillingly to tell the accessed information's. Too reassure her i said i have read it too in several books in the library. "Oh! And what kind of books would mention that wretched! Place" I mentions some books i read stupidly. "Hmm, don't tell me you see one of this dragons" she said to me smilingly, guessing it was only a fascination of a weird kid. Suddenly seeing my expression, her face became serious! "Now tell me what you see!" Her facial reactions scared me a lot!