Bloody Acclimating

Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic

It could not die. It was timeless. But it was cut off from the source and that's why it became weak. The entity wandered the corridors, unseen, unnoticed. What could it do? Of course, it had to adapt to this strange environment, that was the solution. But how? Then it noticed something, something that was suspiciously close to its source. At least its concept. On one hand, the imitation seemed completely unsuitable, but at the same time, it gave the impression that nothing else was an option. So the entity formed itself accordingly. Yes, it was fine like that.

"Bah, I hate the maze!" Athena pulled at her silk top and sniffed it. "Everything smells like cigarette smoke." Crystal rolled her eyes. "For an intelligent woman, you're incredibly stupid sometimes, Snowball. Don't look at me like that, what did you expect?" Of course, the maze reeked of cigarettes, damn it. Behind them, the entrance folded up like origami, while in front of them lay the long, white corridor. Beyond its three blackstone locks lay the nest. They were finally home. "Even our welcoming committee is here. Damn, is that Ellie?" Athena raised her hand in greeting. "Hey, low-income earners. CMK, this especially means you! Keep both eyes open while on guard!" The addressed blonde with the long, stringy hair looked up from her deck of cards and raised her middle finger. "Fuck you, Stone. And don't call me CMK." "California Mountain Snake is too long for me, it doesn't roll off the tongue." The other three women now also looked up from their cards and raised their hands in salute. Except for the blonde, who held her middle finger even higher. "Your tongue is about to really roll if you keep blubbering like that, Snowball." "What are you playing?" Crystal interrupted Athena before she could respond to Ellie's challenge. The former Interpol agent and later assassin was a viper, one of the oldest sisters, had been in the nest for some of the longest time, and was correspondingly heavy, strong, and skilled. Neither Crystal nor Athena stood a chance against her. Ellie belonged to the absolute elite. Which kind of put Athena on edge. That's why she brought up Ellie Driver's assets at every available opportunity. An assassin of her stature might have earned relatively well, but even at fifty thousand dollars per big hit, most of the money went for weapons, equipment, and intelligence gathering. You didn't do this job to get rich. Compared to the effort, the earnings were ridiculously low. Especially when compared to the lavish salary of the former CEO.

Ellie lowered her finger and refocused on her stakes. The duo had reached the four women sitting on the floor and Athena leaned forward. "Huh, I don't know that game. What are those cards?" "Flare." Ellie grunted. "Now shut up, I.... Damn it, Sofie! What are you playing, you stupid cow? You nailed-up blockhead? Why are you bringing acorns instead of hearts? Do you think I've been playing off the hearts as a joke? Oh, you ought to take a club and pull it over your stupid skull!" "I had four acorns, I thought I could cut!" "Four times acorns, sure! Must have counted your own knob over your clit to it because you held your cards too low. Use your little brain, Fatale, you're not giving a law lesson here! This is a card game! Savietta, it's your turn." With her large hands in front of the cards, the broad-shouldered giantess began to grin. "A patty in acorns." "Little pile in dumplings!" "Double in leaves!" "Pound in leaves!" "Flare!" "Don't sleep, Cassidy. A double in flare is called for. What do you say?" "Big pile in acorns!" "I had that one this morning, too." "I'll pass. Haaa! And now? Isn't flare coming? Cold feet, sister? You come, Sofie. Cassy, if you wink at her one more time, I'll put a ding on your lights that you won't be able to wink until winter." "Under." "Maiden!" "And king! On top of the maiden! My sting, and haha, I still have hearts, let no one say I'm heartless. Under, banner, nine..." "And trump on it! If you don't show any trumps, you'll have to clean the dumps! And now, roll! Da, Ellie? That's where the shoe pinches you?" "Look at her, the fucking Russki. Oh, if I had my sword with me..."

Leaving their ranting sisters behind, Crystal and Athena stepped in front of the entrance. The automatism was immediately set in motion, one by one the three blocks lifted, clearing the way. "Always thought guard duty was boring." "It is. Nothing is more boring than standing guard, believe me." The brunette glanced around again. "They do look lively, the four of them." Crys snorted. "Yup, something must have happened again. AFTER an incident, the guards are always alert and lively. Just like they were just after you brought me here." Athena laughed out loud and clapped her hands. "Oh yeah, I'll rub that story in Molly and Caroline's faces today somehow. As soon as i t fits." "You have a mean streak." But the blonde smiled a little, too. Her first days had been tremendously wild, everything was new. Of course, she still shed a lot of blood, actually much more than before. But the new had given way to the familiar, the initial horror to the new normal. 'It wasn't easy,' the blonde thought to herself. She looked at Athena's back and smiled.

Leaving Sabrina behind, she looked into Athena's face and bared her teeth in hatred. Crystal was sure she had landed in hell. And this woman had pushed her there. 'She was supposed to BRING ME IN.' And that's what the brunette had done. Ripped her out of her life. Again. Involved her in an abstruse game whose rules she didn't know. AGAIN. Thrust her into a whirlpool of death and violence. AGAIN! With each internal 'again' she sped up. Staff Seargent Crystal Creasey ran toward her nemesis, her feet splashing on the white bridge. Of course Athena noticed the assault, retreated behind the entrance, but Crys didn't slow down. Only at the last moment, just before the threshold, did she throw herself forward, rolling shoulder-first through the doorway. Athena's leg came from above, as expected, and the SpecOps simply slid under the kick and immediately got to her feet. She quickly turned around, parried the brunette's boxing punch and slid behind her back. At least that's what she tried to do, because Miss Stone took a leap backwards and pushed Crystal against the railing. Her elbow hit Crys on the left side of the jaw, but the blonde used the resistance in her back for knee kicks against Athena's kidney area. Which proved to be surprisingly firm. Although her opponent roared, she did not collapse, contrary to expectations. Rather, she spun, rotated her hips and placed another hit against Crystal's face, this time to the jawbone. Then she grabbed the soldier's throat, pressing her against the metal as if to send her plummeting. But the kick to her shin sent her toppling forward, right into Crystal's right hook. The brunette fell on her back and already her opponent was on her, ramming her fist into her face.

At least one hit she fully conceded in the process before she brought her guard up. Not a static one, those sucked. Crazy Monkey, hands on the crown of her head, forearms back and forth. Though she still took hits to the ear and shoulder in the process, Athena bought herself valuable time. And hooked her left leg into her enemy's. "Oh, no you..." Crystal wanted to say, 'You don't do that!' But of course Athena did what she wanted. Again. Nimbly tensing her hips, the sole of her right foot braced against the cold metal, she brought her lower body up. Then her right shin between herself and the blonde, at the same time she turned her whole body to the left side, still moving her arms up and down like a mad monkey. With her left leg she pulled her opponent's towards her, the right leg pressed against Crystal's stomach area. A scissor movement, fluidly executed. The whole thing lasted less than two seconds. And already the SpecOps was down, her shoulder blades not yet in contact with the floor, when a boxing blow hit her against the face. Just the one, Athena jumped right back, got to her feet and rose. Before the brunette could kick, her opponent swung her legs over her head and did a backward roll, Athena's bare foot stomping just inches from where Crystal's midsection had been before. The soldier completed her roll and came up, gradually getting warm. She held her hands defensively in front of her, scowling at the other woman through the cover. But she smiled, showing her teeth. One arm in a defensive position, the other beckoned Crys to her. "Come on, Creasey. Dance with me."

Jaw clenched, the blonde rushed forward, wanting to smack that grin off the ex-CEO's face. Her jab was a tad too late, unfortunately, and Athena dove, throwing herself forward and grabbing her torso. They fell again, furious Crystal drummed on the brunette. On head, shoulders. The face hit never came, unfortunately, Athena had her arm to her ear in time, blocking the blow. Hit her enemy with the other fist against the solar plexus. With her legs, the soldier wrapped Athena's hips, forcing her to the ground, where both women fought a wild brawl. Blow for blow, blow for blow. There was relatively little force in such hits, but it was enough to crush a nose. Find cover, strike. Athena's left eye was struck by four knuckles. Blood flowed from Crystal's lower lip. They groaned, cursed, rolled around. For the first time Athena's whole weight was on the blonde and she groaned. 'Heavens, how heavy is she?" her elbow worked Athena's rib like crazy, over and over again. The brunette cried out angrily, grabbed her nemesis' head and started pushing. What strength she could muster. Crys screamed in pain. Panicking, she dug her fingers into Athena's choke pit, which gave her the respite she had hoped for, the pressure on her skull instantly ceasing. Quickly another hit to the center of her chest, a knee to her stomach at the same time. Crystal came free, rolling away.

Gasping, she stood up. Damn, everything hurt. And she was getting tired. Not so Athena. She shook herself, growled and spat. But her breathing was steady, she still looked ready to fight. More than that, she seemed downright euphoric. Only then did a thought occur to Crystal. 'She's playing with me.' Yes, that's what it was. The damn bitch was just playing, with the weight she had at her disposal, even one seriously delivered punch could be the end of the former soldier. 'Where the hell does she get that mass? Sure, she's more muscular than before. But that alone doesn't explain this physical strength. She almost crushed my skull!' Sure. Besides, Athena had spent how many years in this strange half-beyond? Three years. And she had apparently used them while Crys had argued with customers and stared apathetically into space. Suddenly, real fear spread through her. She didn't stand a chance. With that realization came anger, boiling hot, fear burning away. 'Am I supposed to be her punchin bag?' Is that why she brought me here in this madhouse? "RAAA!" There was something animalistic about her battle cry, her bare feet braced against the metal floor, she leapt towards the brunette. Who expected a takle, set her legs hip-width. But just before her hip, Crys suddenly stopped. Instead of continuing forward, she used the momentum to go up with her legs. A right uppercut, executed with all her might, jerked her opponent's head back. The attack didn't stop there, immediately Crys turned her hips and smashed her knee into the coverless rib area. But no bones cracked, nor did Athena topple sideways. Passionate hatred flared in brown eyes, teeth bared, and aided by a snap of her hips, Athena's elbow slammed squarely into Crystal's nasal bone, driving the bone into her brain.

Blinking, she stared at the upper mattress. Then she threw herself out of bed before another blade could pierce her body. Of course, her legs got tangled in the sheet and her roll became an ungallant plop on the floor. Laughter rang out next to her and Crystal felt a blush come to her face. She quickly got to her feet with a backward roll, tripping over the damn sheet but keeping her balance. "Was that supposed to be the famous death somersault?" The ash-blonde soldier stared at the bed next to hers. The two women still lay in it, naked and wrapped tightly together. But at least they weren't licking each other out like ice cream sandwiches. Caroline and Molly looked mischievous. "Well, do you like what you see, Creasey?" "You can join in, we're done warming up." Molly laughed and kissed the younger woman on the tip of her nose. Crystal just stared at the two of them. 'Okay. Very slowly, one-at-a-time.' She cleared her throat carefully. "No. No, thank you." "Are you sure, Creasey? You look like you could use a little distraction." "If she doesn't want to, let her, Molly. It's her first day anyway, don't overwhelm her." A rumble made Crys glance toward the bunk bed at the end of the room. There, before her eyes, the blanket lifted as if by magic. A woman's body manifested, appearing out of nowhere. "Wha...?" The two naked women laughed again. "And all on the first day." A surge of hysteria rose up in the ex-soldier, but she wrestled it down with practice. Not quite ten seconds later, the young curly-haired woman lay before her on the top bunk. 'Liberty is translated.' Almost, Crystal could feel the knife sliding inside her again.

Growling, she reached for the weapons on the bedside. "Relax, she's not even awake yet." "If you want to play with her, okay. But please go outside, we're not done yet." "Let her, I think fighting noises during sex are kinky." "Me too, but when those two fall on us, it's really annoying. We hear them from outside too." 'Okay, now it's getting kind of... again.' Shaking her head, Crystal cleared her thoughts. "All right, quiet now. I demand some answers." "Might take me a while to explain it all to you. "Yes. Imagine you don't know Star Trek. Well, not at all, not even as a concept. And we're supposed to explain the whole franchise to you. It just confuses you even more." But Crys was not deterred. Liberty muttered softly, rolled over. And woke up. Immediately Crystal raised the seized knife, went directly into fighting posture. Teri "Liberty" Wible snarled, pushed herself backward toward the wall, and grabbed a thrusting dagger. "Teri! Hey, Teri." "What?" The curly-headed woman kept her eyes on Crystal, bristling with fighting spirit. "Girls, relax. Crys, sit on the bed. Gals, you've already had your fun together today." "Fun!" With her ice-blue eyes, the blonde's gaze wandered from one bed to the other. Teri smiled darkly, lowering her knife. "Fine, fine. Let your vaiki have her fun with you first. We'll play our game later. Long and hard." Crystal ignored the threat. There it was again, that strange word. "What does it mean? Vaiki?"

Teri rolled her eyes. "Molly, you explain." "Nothing there, you brought it up, so you get to explain the term as well." "And how am I supposed to do that?" "You got that expensive university education, didn't you? Caroline and I are just little lights compared to that." "Big Red, that's the smartest thing you've ever said. Bravo." "Fuck you, Libtard." They glared cruelly at each other. Eyes full of hate, full of violence. But they smiled as they did so. "Let it be. I'll explain." Caroline moved from under her partner, her black hair bobbing over her face. "Sit down Crys. This is... complicated. So. you died." "I know, Sabrina told me." "Uh? Which one?" "Tall, built like a tank, red curls. Marine, I'd guess." "Oh, came across Mama Bear?" "Mama Bear? Yeah, kind of fits." Indeed, there was something maternal about Sabrina. She made you feel right at home. "I'll sum up what I already know. I'm dead, but alive. I'm in a parallel universe (how stupid that sounded) and I was apparently taken by Athena. Whatever that means." "You experienced the Bliss." Teri uttered without any irony at all. According to Crystal's research on her former captors, however, Teri was an atheist. Had that changed in this place? "The Bliss?" "The Bliss, the Joy, the Delight. Take your pick of those." "By the old Ones, don't make it worse, Liberty. Are you telling the story or am I?" "Then get on with it, Dead Sexy." "Yeah, well, let me! Heavens. So, yeah. You're dead. Really dead, you've been killed, Crys. And your consciousness, as it were, loaded into a cloud here. Which is how you got the Bliss, your place among us." "Athena ambushed me in my house. Took me out of my fucking life. How is this a bliss? And how do you even know my name?" It didn't occur to her until now. She had never had any contact with any of the women. "Well, from Athena, of course." "Yeah, I'm glad you're finally here. She hasn't stopped talking about you at all." "And how she threw herself into training. Scary." Teri laughed. "That's just the way she is. No half measures. Always with her head through the wall." "Yeah, without thinking first. Going all in on something." That elicited a shrug from the curly-headed woman. Her former supervisor was pretty, well, fixated.

"She told you about me?" "Sure, you're the one who sent her here in the first place. She was constantly raving about your fight and obsessively focused on her training. She wanted to be ready for you when you got here. We didn't know then that we'd ever be allowed out of here. Boy, was she happy to oblige the command." "Uh-huh." Ooookay, that sounded kind of funny. "So one more time. Vaiki. It's a term that combines several concepts into one. The noun vaika can be roughly translated as revenge. Even though that's not true at all." Crystal merely stared at the naked woman. Caroline tried again. Crystal still didn't understand. Not completely. Vaika-Chahinoika. The art form of revenge and retribution. A vendetta directed at a very specific person. But a slight did not always have to have occurred first. Even the possibility of potentially losing face or reputation could trigger a vaika. A feud. Whereby it could well happen afterwards that the persons who stood in vaika to each other became intimate with each other in the process. It meant rivalry, but it didn't have to be emotionally limited. 

"We take it relatively seriously. One usually stays vaiki forever. Um, I think love-hate would be a good synonym. But even that doesn't completely capture it. It's more a form of... Affiliation. Based on violence and blood, garnished with interest in one's partner. To defeat your enemy, you have to understand her. And once you really understand her, well, then it gets complicated." All at once, Crystal was electrocuted. Athena had not been playing with her. No, not at all. A flash of light went on for the SpecOps. 'Honey, I'm home.' That's what Athena Stone had said before jumping Crystal. She could have just ambushed the soldier while she slept. Never in a million years would Crys have looked in the closet for an assassin. 'No. Not an assassin.' She realized that the former CEO was courting her in an, admittedly, overly idiosyncratic way! 'But she's not offering me a bouquet of flowers, or chocolates. Or even a trip to the movies.' She pushed Crystal into a world of constant violence, brutal fighting. Endless excitement. Offered her a universe dripping with blood. 'She rips me out of my old life. Without asking what I want. Yeah, just like back then.' Shaking her head, Crystal put her hands to her temples. "Are you telling me Athena has a crush on me? Is that it?" The three other women glanced at each other.

Molly was the first to speak. "Well, kind of. There' a thin line between love and hate. Vaiki walk that fine line in between. It's a pretty intense relationship with each other. You talk about things that you might not necessarily tell everyone. And you can be sure that they won't be gossiped about either. Also, you usually fight with your vaiki more often and also more wildly than you would with other women. You may have already noticed that you perceive pain differently." This, too, felt increasingly familiar to Crystal. "Yeah. Feels weird now." Teri stifled a laugh. "I guess you meant to say lewd. What is that look on your face, when we were whetting our knives, the three of us, you were grinning from ear to ear." "Not true!" "Sure you were, when I had you pinned to the floor I thought you were squirting on our bedroom." Crystal's mouth remained open. "Nonsense." Teri laughed derisively. "Please. I've seen your face. Hey, it's not like we feel any different, either. There's nothing like the rush of battle." "You bet!" Molly also joined in, nodding her head. "And the best experience is with your vaiki. Oho, the shreds are really flying between Jamie and me! Literally." The redhead's eyes lit up with excitement." "And who's that? Thought you and Caroline were dating." "Jamie is part of Sabrina's squad, the fourth room if you go down the hall to the right. We here are Wu, roommates. Now that you're here, finally complete, too. Six women, one fully occupied room. A Wu was the smallest tactical group in ancient China. Usually five soldiers, here it's just one more. A Wu is hanging out with each other, fighting, practicing..." " Have unrestrained, passionate sex." 

Teri rolled her eyes. "Horny bitch. But Molly and Caroline are right. A wu sleeps together in a room, you practice and study together, you go to the Mensa together..." "There's a dining hall here?" "Sure, our bodies need food too." Crystal nodded. Slowly, she made progress. She was still missing quite a few pieces of the puzzle, but at least she had put together a few parts from the edge. "And where does the food come from. Don't tell me there's a delivery service." "You'll see." Teri stood up, still holding the knife in her hands. Immediately, Crystal moved into a defensive position. "That's it, Crys. Always stay alert. But the magic is gone, so at least for today, you don't have to worry about me." The younger girl gracefully walked past Crystal, winking at her. "I'm going to go outside and play for a bit. If you don't want to listen to the sounds of our two graces here, you do that too." Still plenty confused, Crystal looked back at Molly and Caroline. The two were touching each other with the tip of their noses and it looked like this was just the beginning. She quickly followed the curly-haired brunette out of the room. "Saw the pictures at Athena's house. Damn, my head is spinning." Teri laughed. "Yeah, ours at first too. The five of us woke up here at the same time, after all. And when the others finally recognized Athena and me.... My God, we didn't even leave our room for the first three days! Blood, guts, screams, we went completely crazy. Went all over each other, didn't leave anything out." "How did Molly and Carol find out that you and Athena...." "Because our faces were shared thousands of times on social media. Besides, you have to give me credit for one thing. I always show my colors!" That was true. The SpecOps remembered her encounter with the curly-haired woman well. 'Do you think I should spare you just because you're a girl?" 'No!' BANG. Yes, Teri had guts. "You, Liberty. You said there were five of you who arrived here. Where's number five?" Before the brunette could answer, a wire dangling from above was already wrapped around her throat.

Startled, Crystal took a step toward the frantically wriggling woman, but this one knew how to stand her ground. With the flat side of the knife pressed against her cheekbone, she was able to prevent the garrote from being pulled tight. She choked a little, turned frantically toward the railing, and braced her bare feet against the metal with all her might. Screaming with effort, she threw herself lengthwise, across the aisle, and her attacker on the floor above lost her balance and fell from the brace on which she must have been standing. But her fall remained short, slender fingers clutching a railing post in time, and Crystal could see a honey-blond mop of hair emerging over the edge. Growling, the girl swung onto the railing, fixing first on the soldier, then on the target of her ambush. Teri freed herself from the wire, spat, and was immediately out for blood. The blonde just managed to do a roll into the hallway before the knife nearly pierced her windpipe. Rolling past, she grabbed the wire and already she was in fighting stance, knees bent, garrotte about twenty inches in tension. Holding the tip down, Crystal brought her knife up to chin level. "No!" Trembling with aggression, Teri grabbed Crystal's shoulder and pushed her toward the wall. "Don't interfere." "Almost had you, Liby." Feuding, the blonde licked her upper lip. "Without a bunker around you, you make an easy target." "Ooooooh!" Teri wielded her knife in a figure eight, her upper body slightly bent forward, always with her feet in motion. The blonde didn't stop either, prancing lithely from side to side. Then she shot forward quickly, the garrote stretched like a shield over her head and neck. First the knife attack came from the side, the wire followed the movement.

But it was only a feint, the brunette immediately drawing a side blow with her lead hand against the ribs of her opponent, who growled in frustration. Teri had miscalculated, however. The thin wire wrapped around her knife hand and pulled her forward, already a knee slammed into her stomach, Teri sagged downward. And came back up with an uppercut that broke the blonde's nose. Blood flowed, the combatants roared. With her eyes open, Crystal just stood there, watching in a strange trance the dangerous dance of the two girls. And that's when she recognized the blonde. She had seen her only twice, once shortly after her abduction, where she had just awakened from her stupor. And once in the photo on Athena's trophy wall. Emy Roberts, daughter of an arch-conservative Republican. 'How fast she is!' In a flash, Emy pulled down the garrote, breaking Teri's fighting stance, the blonde kicked her in the thigh, she toppled to the side, Emy immediately rushed behind her enemy. And her weapon wrapped around the brunette's neck. With all her might the blonde cut off Teri's wind pipe, but again the knife saved the situation, prevented total air closure. Even if by now the knife fighter had deep cuts on her face where the blade tip had been pressed in. Instinct made Crystal step forward, immediately Emy's eyes bored into hers. "Let us be!" Crys froze, the intensity of the look both terrifying and mesmerizing. She felt her pulse increase at the sight of the fight.

Choking, Teri struggled against the garrote. Blood flowed down her neck where the steel cut into her skin, her eyes darting back and forth, searching for a way out of her predicament. Emy's face lit up, she rumbled in victory, you could see the muscles of her arms working. Tighter and tighter she pulled the noose. Suddenly she toppled to the right, her opponent had hooked her foot into the blonde's, bringing her down. Now the brunette was lying sideways on top of her, Teri twisted with a gasp and jammed her fingers into her enemy's jugular. Emy made a strange sound. Now Teri was finally able to free her knife hand from the wire, with eyes blazing with hatred she thrust the weapon down. But with her left arm, the blonde quickly steered the knife to the side, simultaneously bringing her head and upper body to safety in the opposite direction. The knife slammed against the metal floor. Furious, Teri looked to her opponent, both women breathing frantically, sweat pouring down their bodies. With her legs, Emy wrapped her fist around Teri's torso and rammed it into her nose, breaking it as much as her own. Screams rang out, the knife flashed again and bored into Emy's palm, but her other hand performed a hard punch against Teri's chin. Since the brunette was fixed in her position, she couldn't really dodge.

But she could strike as well, both women thrashed at each other, the garrote still dangling from Emy's hand, but without the second hand it was more or less useless. Teri's knife, on the other hand, was still deep in her enemy's palm and Emy prevented any attempt to pull the blade out. So they were left only with the blows, with no means of cover, every blow the two applied sat. Crystal heard the wet clap, saw the red flowing. Bright and glowing. The two combatants toppled to the side, Teri finally wrenching her knife free and lunging for the blonde's eyes with it. But the garrote's small counterweight was already in her injured hand, and again the wire tightened, blocking the knife. They pressed their weapons against each other, steel scraping over steel, the young women hissing, vibrating with mutual hatred. "Beautiful sight, isn't it?" Athena's voice sounded right behind her, Crystal immediately turned her hips and her elbow slammed into the brunette's jaw making her stagger. And instantly Crys followed up, she wouldn't give Athena time to recover. Not after the last experience. While behind her the action continued to rage relentlessly, her eyes were fixed only on the woman in front of her, a cross-punch against the former CEO's right face followed by a knee kick against her chin. But Crys wasn't quick enough on the kick, contact was made but the brunette took the hit, performing a roll backwards, reducing the force. Elegantly she came back up on her bare feet, wiping her face. "Good, good. Hehehehe." Her teeth flashed as she looked at the soldier, the same intense look in her eyes that Teri and Elmy gave each other. "What do you want from me?" asked Crystal softly but firmly. For answer, Athena merely glanced behind her, gurgling sounds sounding behind the ash blonde's back, gasps and pained, pointed cries. Crystal wasn't stupid enough to let Athena out of her sight. But.... 'Jesus, help me. What are those two doing back there with each other?' The ex-CEO's smile widened. "Are you going to come at me or what?" She got into fighting stance, knees slightly bent. And lunged at her vaiki.

'And again the mattress above me.' She sighed, rubbing the dirt from her eyes. Shortly, dark, wavy hair fell down the edge of the bed, Athena's face immediately following. Ice blue eyes searched deep brown ones. "That elbow thing was mean." The CEO grinned broadly. Crystal snorted. "It's not like it did me much good." Athena swung off the bed and squatted in front of the bottom mattress, glancing searchingly at her enemy. "Are you hungry?" 'What an odd question from someone who's been smashing my eyes in with both thumbs.' Not sure what to answer, Crystal remained silent. "Come on, get up. You haven't eaten anything yet. Gals!" The brunette stood up, her voice raised. "Let's grab some food. Stand up in a line. Yes, Molly, you too. Go, go, go." Her voice sounded so lively, so full of energy. 'Something to eat. ' Yes, a bit of normalcy in this lunatic bin. Crystal reached back anyway and felt for one of the weapons on the wall. She didn't trust Athena at the time. But then she saw Molly also reaching for a thorn-studded mace; below her, Caroline chose a gladius of some sort. Athena herself had a kukri in hand, swinging it tentatively as she gave the soldier room to stand up. As Crystal sat down on the ledge, she glanced toward the third bunk, Emy wrapping her wire around her wrists. Then she threw her torso downward, wrapped the garrote around Teri's left arm and pulled her toward her. In a moment, the knife was at her throat, a drop of blood falling into the blonde's drooping hair. She clawed her fingers into Teri's mop of hair, pulling her face toward her. Immediately the two young women shared a kiss, full of hateful passion, aggression and desire. Blood also oozed from Teri's scratched skin, but the kiss was not interrupted. "Hey, save it for now. I want some breakfast." The two youngest broke away from each other, but still shared a special look that made Crystal shiver. 'Okay, probably another element of this Vaiki thing.'

Now the six women lined up one behind the other, Athena assigning Crystal the spot in the middle. Which elicited a shake of the head from the latter. "What's with this lineup, please?" "We're going to the Mensa. That's where we eat. But to do that, we have to pass a lot of other rooms. And sometimes their occupants are hungry for different fare." Emy giggled softly. "We're going through enemy territory. So be prepared for anything, newbie." "Yoga Pants, as I recall, you were the one with the bullet in your head and Crys was the one who made it home." "We saw what you're worth without your sniper rifle yesterday, Liberty." Immediately Teri turned to her rival, but Molly whistled. "Hey, save your energy for the walk to the canteen. Snowball, on your command." Athena nodded gratefully to the redhead and strode to the door. "As usual, eyes open, weapons ready. And go." 'Snowball. Yeah, that name really suits her. I think YOU should be Snowball.' The memory rattled Crystal a little. But she paced behind Molly and Caroline, Tery and Emy at her back, while Athena led as a matter of course. As they stepped into the hallway, the soldier looked around. Women were coming out of rooms from everywhere, as if by appointment, each armed, each blinking suspiciously back and forth. Some called curses or greetings to each other across the floors and the chasm in the center, raising their weapons threateningly or waving them in a friendly manner. Then they started moving, bare feet splashing over metal. Crystal noted the litheness in the steps of many of the women; many more, by contrast, looked rather awkwardly plodding. 'Am obviously not the only new girl here.' Most of the other girls had the same clothes Crys wore, gray short tops that left her belly exposed and mid-length gray pants. But others had colorful clothes, practical, tight jeans and vests made of leather or other materials. 

"Is there a kiosk here, too? Or even a mall, or what?" "Keep your eyes open, Creasey. Stay in the middle of the aisle! Not too close to the railings or the doors." The blonde rolled her eyes. "I've walked endless patrols and I know house fighting, thank you very much. By the way, we're too close together." Next to her a door opened and a dark-skinned, broad-built Amazon stuck her head out, holding a spear in her hand. But she did not attack, eyeing the passing Wu suspiciously. Only when Emy was a good distance from the room did the occupants step out of the door one by one. "Is that how it is here, this paranoia? Hey, keep your distance, I said. Otherwise, we'll get in each other's way if someone attacks." "It's okay, we recognize your expertise, after all. Right, girls? You heard our new sister, further apart. And to answer your question: We don't want to have our breakfast ruined. If someone kills you here, it'll be eight hours before you wake up in your comfy bed. And then you have to make your way to the cafeteria alone if you want something between your teeth. Because WE are usually busy with other things then." "Training." "Fighting." "Screwing!" "Painting." Crystal turned around. Emy shrugged her shoulders. "I got some crayons. Wanted to paint some landscape pictures from memory." "And on what paper, please?" "Okay, I'll have to get that, too." "Do you have enough points to sacrifice?" "After yesterday, definitely, Liberty." Tery emitted a growl, immediately it was returned by her enemy. "Uh..." Crystal felt like a fifth wheel again. "What kind of points?" "You'll see."

Their way was not entirely smooth. There were definitely girls who would rather fight than chew, blades flashed, more than once Crystal saw wrestling women, heard the death screams. Saw two female fighters plunge into the abyss, hands around each other's necks. "Wow." "Been through it all ourselves. Focus on us and the hallway." That's when they came to a corner. "Watch out," Athena hissed redundantly. But no one was lurking behind it. At least not a fighter. Two young women, almost girls still, stood behind a ladder of some sort, looking searchingly over the moving ranks of warriors. "Give me the az. Hey, are you deaf? Cryssy, Salia! Damn it, pay attention!" At the top of the ladder, a black-haired Asian girl glared down grumpily, appearing much younger than the girls were. But her authority was unquestioned, immediately the two below scrambled up and rummaged in the pile of tools that was under the ladder. The Asian girl grumbled, her hands stuck in a tangle of strange wires and odd technology. When the Arab-looking girl handed her a curved metal bar, she hissed angrily. "The az is what I said, Salia. Not the baraz! Shit, what am I even doing here. Go on, fuck off to the caves. You'll keep Clara, Heba and Mary company digging tunnels." The two girls groaned in disappointment. "Save it! If you're not going to pay attention to me anyway, I don't see the point of teaching you. You go join the others and help them dig out the new rooms by the foundation. If you do your job well, I'll resume teaching. If not..." The Asian woman rumbled, low, hard. Inhuman. "Go on, you damned Debi. I'll come look in three days, and I'd better not find umgak work!" Both girls, Caucasian and Arab, turned pale. The red-blond Caucasian muttered something about her superior being 'only Navnsdegi' herself. Immediately, the Arab grabbed her by the shoulder, just in time, for the Asian threw part of the cladding onto the spot where the muttering girl had been standing a moment ago. Both apprentices ran away from their instructor. "One more of those lines and I'll rip your tongue out of your mouth, Cryssy!", the black-haired girl roared after the two fleeing girls.

"Three days, don't you forget it!" Then she jumped down the ladder and grabbed the tool she wanted. A grunt escaped the SpecOps. "The purest sergeant." No sooner had the words left Crystal's mouth than the girl's head snapped up. "Who the hell are YOU?!" Athena raised her hands defensively. "It's just our new arrival, Gogo, just ignore her." The girl moved her head at an angle, she eyed Athena, then Crystal. "From your chaos squad, Stone? Pah, I should have guessed. You there, adult!" She pronounced the word as if she meant an entirely different species. "I have one piece of advice for you, adult. I am Gogo. Gogo Yubari. I am the janitor. Here's what that means for you. First: I am right! Second: You do what I say, when I say it. Third, if you ever have doubts about anything, rule one automatically kicks in." "Koko wouldn't sign it that way." Athena's voice sounded soft and cautious. Gogo's eyes darkened. No, not dark. Black. As black as tar, as the emptiness of the universe. She opened her mouth; Crystal could see at least two rows of cruelly needle-sharp teeth. 'Wait, there's a third row.' She raised the weapon. "Keep your toy down, Milk Tooth. I'm not one of your sisters. And to you, Stone, I say this: Koko may be a future engineer. But the technician puts theory into practice. Hekmatyar knows that as well as I do. Now get the fuck out of here." Athena was about to start again, but Gogo was already climbing the ladder. "Yessss, spare me your fancy speeches and make your dramatic exit right now, I'm working." Athena closed her mouth and hurried past the ladder, wordlessly. "Thaaaank you!" said Gogo, fiddling with the electronics again. 

'Okay, what just happened there?' The girl wasn't just scary and inhuman. The way she had treated Athena and Crystal down herself was just unbelievable. 'And our belligerent Miss Stone let this pass without a sound.' "I want to ask something. Does the craziness ever actually end? Alien dimensions, gateways between worlds, constant battles to the death, and now mutant zombie teenagers with shark teeth. Is this it? Is this the end point?" "If I say yes, will that heal your troubled mind?" "Maybe." "No, no, and no again. It's only from here on that it gets really crazy." Gradually, Crystal had had enough. She hurried past Caroline and Molly, grabbed Athena by the neck, and pushed her against the hallway wall. "Hey, Creasey..." "Damn it, wait." Crystal ignored the shouts, looking into the unblinking brown eyes. "I've had it. I want to go home." Athena's expression remained stony as she replied. "You want to go back. To your old life." "Yes. You bet I do." "I still have the photo." The grip around her neck tightened as the SpecOps pressed in close to her enemy. "If I hear any more riddles, there will be disaster here." Athena's expression softened. "I mean the photo of you at work. I can show it to you when we get back to the room. You look on it like you'd rather have been killed in combat than spend another second in this workplace." Despite Crystal's increasingly angry face, she continued. "I also still have this one phrase of yours stuck in my ears. Remember that time you kicked me in my fireplace? You said, "Shit, this is fuckin' great." Those were your words. So don't tell me how much you want to go back to your old life. Because I'm not buying it. You're overwhelmed, but that's gonna go away. Here...." She spread her arms wide, "Is your home. With us. Nowhere else." Molly put a hand on Crys' shoulder. "She's not wrong. Believe me, I've broken that nouveau riche bitch's bones more than once for what happened in Croatia. But there's no doubt in my mind about what she's saying. So calm down."

And so Crystal opened her hand and stepped back into line, continuing to stare at Athena. The returned the stare for a few seconds, then nodded to the soldier. "Let's eat something. And after that, we'll have a long talk." Crys had no doubt that it would be the knives rather than her words that would do the talking. So be it. Though... "That Gogo. Who's that?" "One of our great overlords. The ones who brought us here and built this facility in the first place." "I see, are they aliens? "Aliens?" "No, something far more otherworldly. I'm NOT going to explain that to you right now. All that matters for now is that you should be careful around Gogo. She's not necessarily evil, but she's very.... physical. One blow from her and you'll be a lump on the wall. And you should be even more careful of Koko. Although she practically never shows up here, so we hardly need to worry about that." Shaking her head, Crystal put one foot in front of the other. Gradually, it was really getting to be too much for her. But Athena had hit the mark. Her old life was a pile of shit. 

Arriving at the dining hall, the SpecOps first went wide-eyed. Then she let her gaze wander over the room. 'Room, my ass. This place is as big as a football arena.' "How many people can you fit in here?" "The whole block, so six thousand women." "And there's cooking for all of them?" Teri and Caroline laughed, Molly made a face, and Athena shook her head in denial. "There's actually a real kitchen here. But it's unused so far because there are no ingredients to cook from. I hope if I'm allowed out, the others can too. Maybe we can go shopping...." "And what, please, will be served instead?" "Come." The group led Crystal to a pillar. There was one of these at regular intervals, interrupting the otherwise eternal pattern of cafeteria tables. "I'll go first." Emy put her hand on the pillar. Lights appeared. The blonde gazed intently at the white stone. And in front of her, virtually out of thin air, a sheet of paper materialized. "Shoot, it's pretty expensive. Just cereal for me today." After passing the paper for Teri to hold, she placed her hand again. And soon a bowl was hovering at a comfortable height above the ground. "This floating state lasts a good five seconds, so you have to hurry a little." She reached for the bowl and made room for Teri. "Now, I want something hearty. Bacon and eggs." Her hand wandered over the stone as well, concentrating. And suddenly the delicious smell of fried bacon wafted around Crystal. Her mouth watered. It dripped onto the floor because her lips were wide open. "Awesome." "Yeah, great, right? You can have just about anything made, including clothes. Come on, try it."

Excited, she placed her hands on the warm surface. The stone felt rough, strong. Numbers reeled before her retinas. And she realized she had five points. For five points, there was... nothing. Almost nothing. A dish was displayed to her and finally formed in the air in front of the soldier. When the Wu finally took a seat on the bench, Crystal looked unhappily at the group's plates. "Why do you all have such sumptuous meals and all I get is rice with meat?" The response came promptly, Molly banging the table with the flat of her hand and roaring with laughter. Teri and Caroline clapped their hands, Athena even smacked her forehead on the table with laughter, causing her steamed salmon to wobble. Emy had put her hands in front of her face so her grimace couldn't be seen. But you could hear her clearly. "Praaaaaahahaaa." "Okay, a joke at the new girl's expense. Got that. Haha." Athena pounded her fists on the wood. Then she jumped on the table, braced her hands at her sides, and roared at the top of her voice. "Sisters!" She whistled loudly. "Sisters, I would like to officially welcome our new addition, a round of applause for Staff Seargent Crystal Creasey. Who will now eat her first serving of rice and meat here with us!" That's when life came to the dining hall, whistles and boos, clapping hands. The chanting boomed from everywhere. "RICE WITH MEAT! RICE WITH MEAT! RICE WITH MEAT! BON APPÉTIT!" Then the laughter, in all pitches. Crystal knew a rite of passage when she saw one. She brought the cutlery created along with the dish to her mouth, took the first bite of the synthetic meal. Swallowed. "It will do." 

"She says IT WILL DO!" Athena was obviously having the time of her life; her pronouncement was immediately followed by more laughter and clapping. Finally, she sat back down. "The cheapest meal, you can have it for free. And you'll love to hate it. Get used to it, for now you won't get anything else." "Why? Because I'm missing points?" Caroline nodded. "Exactly. You get the interesting stuff from fifty points up." "And how do I accumulate points?" "Through fights. Real fights. If you lose, you get points too, but a lot less. If you win, on the other hand, there's a nice chunk to spend." "The total changes depending on how your performance was. Long fights bring in more revenue, however the program notices if you're just dragging things out. The better your technique, the bigger the score." Yes, that made sense. And fit with what Crystal had already seen. "So we're encouraged to be violent. Does anyone know why?" With her fork in her fish, Athena smiled at her opponent. "It bonds us together. You get very close in the process." Again, those hidden hints. 'At least she's not clumsy enough to grab my ass.' Which was probably just a matter of time. 'No, she's too sophisticated for that.' Again she brought a piece of unknown meat into her mouth, chewed on it. It was neither chicken, nor pork, nor anything else. It was just meat. Grinning, Athena slid a piece of fish onto her plate. "Let no one say that I don't take my obligation to the lower income classes seriously." While the six women at the table laughed, complained, and Crys poked at the CEO with her fork, a pair of green eyes glanced at Crystal's back from further back. The soldier would not be so relaxed anymore if she had known what thoughts were forming behind those eyes.

Yes, that shape came in handy. This way, the entity could exist for quite some time. Satisfied with it's new condition, it relaxed. And waited for what might come.