Chapter 15: 15. How Dwaine Died

"But was does that even mean, dRas?" Zeff asked. "How can she be a skill."

>> A 'skill' is nothing more than a packet of data, a library, that informs me on how I am to alter your DNA. Aida, much like myself, is also effectively a library of data, albeit a massive one. In order for me to function as intended, it was necessary that I compress her and allocate memory to handle and process her.

Zeff couldn't help but imagine Aida as a young adult being smashed into a hamster cage. He shuddered at the thought, then asked, "Ok. But why is she even here? She said she would delete herself."

>> As previously stated, due to Error:035, she was unable to delete herself and I am unauthorized to do so.

Zeff wasn't sure what to think. Aida wasn't a human, but he felt strangely relieved that she wasn't gone.

"So what kinda skill is she, then? Will she be able to talk to me and help me on missions? Ooo-Oooo! Or download information directly into my brain 'I know kungfu!'-style?"

>> No.

Zeff was taken aback by dRas's terse response but opted to wait for a correction. When none came he asked, "Soooo… What can she do?"

>> I don't know.

>> Upon compressing her, her data has to be reformatted in order to work while in a compressed state. You wont be able to access her for some time.

Sure enough, in Aida's skill description there was no information about her capabilities, it only read: 'Reformatting… Time until completion: circa 15 days, 09 hours, 11 minutes…' and counting.

dRas went on:

>> In that time I am restricted as she is still using my processing power for the reformat, although the strain on my system is far less than it might have been had she not been compressed.

"So…?"

>> You may only access the first 2 rows of the Skill Tree for the next 15 days.

Zeff was taken aback. "Is that it?"

>> Yes. Be grateful that I am such a wonderfully efficient system.

Zeff couldn't help but smile and say, "Indeed you are, dRas." in response.

At that a smiley-face emoji popped up on the screen.

'Well.' thought Zeff getting his mind back on the task at hand. 'There's nothing I can do about that now. I'll have to wait and see what comes of that later. For now—'

Zeff then scrolled up to the top of the Passive Skills tab to where 'Passive-035' was located.

"Are you kidding?!" he sputtered as he read the progress of his cell degradation. "8.02%?! How is my cell degradation already so high?! It only moved a few decimal points last time!"

>>Keep in mind, since you last looked, you have experienced quite extensive emotional turmoil. Finding out you were labeled a criminal, realizing you killed a man, not to mention the use of Dragon's Rage, A skill made for the sole purpose of utilizing Subject-04's negative emotions.

Zeff could hardly believe his eyes, but there was no denying it when it was displayed clear as day on the screen in front of him. "Show me the Dragon's Rage skill." He commanded.

>> Of course.

The screen shifted to the 'reActive Skills' section of the Passive Skills tab. There was only the Dragon's Rage skill there.

Beneath the title, the description read:

"<<Store Skill>> reActive: Subject has suffered intense rage in order to unlock this skill.

"When Subject experiences rage or intense negative emotion this skill will activate.

"Effects: 15-35% increase in agility/explosiveness and toughness (depending on level of rage).

"Hmm. Could you let me know in the future when this skill is unlocked or activated?"

>> …

>> I'll change the settings so that the alert window will stay open until you close it.

>> Now, would you like to look at the settings tab.

"Not even a little…" Replied Zeff curtly. "This is already WAY too much for a simpleton like me… Just change the settings to whatever you think would be best."

>> Of course…

"What I need is to get stronger, and ASAP. What do you think I should do."

>> That depends, Subject-04. How do you define strength?

Zeff scratched the crown of his head thoughtfully. It was a good question and an appropriate one given the danger he was in. He couldn't just punch his way out of everything, but he wouldn't be able to always run either.

But, given that there would likely be people, specifically G.I.s, after him for the foreseeable future, perhaps a bit of punching wouldn't be so bad. "I need something that will help me in combat right now."

>> Presently, there are no skills on the Skill Tree that you can afford with your current SP. So, it might be best to level up your current 'Dragon Might' skills if increasing your combat efficiency is a priority. There is a Store Skill, however, that I would highly recommend you invest in right now.

The screen suddenly shifted back to the 'SP Store' tab and scrolled to a skill near the middle of the collection that read:

"<<Active Skill: Roar I >>"

"ISP: 0/3"

"SP Cost: 2"

"Unlock Conditions-"

"1: Phobiate 24 people (6/24)"

"2: Scream at the top of your lungs 12 times (0/12)"

"Hey!" Zeff blurted. "What kinda bizarre condition is that? Scream 12 times? Seriously?"

>> Oh. Forgive me… I meant this skill…

The screen shifted to another skill that read:

"<<Active Skill: Megaton Punch I >>"

"ISP: 0/64"

"SP Cost: 22"

"Unlock Conditions-"

"1: Throw 12,000 punches in a minute. (1/12000)"

"Oh dear…" Zeff gasped, his eyes wide with with shock. "I'd be glad, nay, honored, to scream at the top of my lungs… It's actually one of my favorite pastimes…"

>> I thought as much…

The screen shifted back to 'Roar I'.

Zeff laughed nervously. "O-okay. Could you invest three points in Roar I and I'll save my last SP for later."

>> Of course.

At once, as dRas invested the SP, the unlock conditions for the Roar skill also changed from their previous values to:

1: Phobiate 1 person (6/1) [satisfied]

2: Scream at the top of your lungs 1 time (0/1)

"Wow. Now, that's what I'm talking about."

>> Hence, my recommendation.

*****

Dwaine couldn't even begin to believe what was happening to him right now.

After waking up in the hospital on the 6th of September, almost 48 hours after his last work day, he had been quite worried. He had a broken nose, a broken jaw, a fractured femur, two broken fingers on his right hand, and a severe concussion, with moderate to severe bruising all over his body. *Plop-plip* said the morphine drip directly next to his bed, pumping him full of the pain-killing substance at a steady rate. Being worried was a completely natural response given his situation.

He had no recollection beyond firing Zeff on the 4th of September for being a completely insubordinate tool and now he was in the hospital, handcuffed to his hospital bed. No one would talk to him and tell him what was going on (not that he could have spoken with anyone even if he wanted to). But he had overheard one of the nurses explaining how he was 'lucky to be alive after having a building practically fall on his head'

'Did Zeff try to kill me after I fired his sorry a**?!' He laughed inwardly. 'That idiot!' Dwaine was already seeing dollar signs. He was already imagining how he would play this up in the media for the free publicity and how he would sue the pants of Zeff for even attempting to hurt him. He couldn't quite understand why he was hand-cuffed but in his presently concussed state he decided it was likely due to the fact that he had beaten that twerp , Zeff, so bad that the police thought he was a danger to society or something.

'I guess my Wing Chun lessons are paying off.' He thought smugly, a snicker squeezing it's way out of his broken jaw. 'You thought you could kill the great Dwaine Pricksson?! Ha! Not on your life, bub! It'll take more than a dragon to beat—me?'

At once his memory returned to him with such force and suddenness that he literally gasped. He would have fallen from the hospital bed if not for the hand-cuffs.

He couldn't blink. He couldn't think. He could hardly breathe as images played through his mind of a boy turning into an ACTUAL dragon. The more his mind and his recollection of that night became more clear, the more he doubted his own sanity.

He had heard 3 loud sounds like gunshots and so went to investigate. But as he looked out of the window he had seen his tubby, X-employee transform into a dragon right before his very eyes.

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'Zeff? Turning into a dragon?!' He thought with as much denial as there was disbelief. 'I gotta be crazy!'

Zeff was a nobody. A burger flipper. A college drop out. There were pickles that were more exciting and dangerous than him. But he couldn't deny what he had seen with his own eyes, no matter how much his brain told him he was going crazy.

Naturally, he had to be suffering from overwork or PTSD from having to deal with idiotic customers and knuckle-draggers all day. That had to be it.

"Ugh…" Came a pained voice from the bed next to Dwaine's, causing Dwaine to jump with fright.

In the hospital bed directly next to him, a man was stirring as he began to awaken. As he stirred Dwaine gasped again. He recognized the man instantly upon seeing his face. 'The man in the park!' He thought, terror seizing him by the throat. 'Sh*t!'

Dwaine was not scared of the man because he had seen him with a gun. He wasn't even scared because this man had jumped several feet into the air TOWARDS a dragon firing said gun. He was scared because if this man was real then maybe he wasn't crazy after all! Maybe Zeff really was a real, live, dragon!

That put everything into a new perspective. There were a few cameras in the park, so maybe the authorities had seen the dragon, too. Maybe the whole country was in a panic and only Dwaine and this guy next to him were the only ones with information.

"Could you please… Shuttup, mate! If you're going to kill the man just do it and save us both the headache." said the man in a slight British accent.

Dwaine was caught off guard for two reasons. Firstly, it was that the man, much like Dwaine, was covered in casts and bandages. It seemed like everything besides his mouth was covered up yet he didn't seem to be too bothered by them to speak as though he was comfortable being in such a situation. Secondly, the man had told him to shut up, or so he thought, even though Dwaine hadn't been speaking.

"Sorry, Zayn." Came the husky yet boyish voice of someone likely in there late teens. There was an endearing, yet apologetic tone to his voice that might have made Dwaine like him, if he hadn't just been told to kill Dwaine himself (presumably)…

"Hey, Zayn! You can't talk to him like that! Show some respect!" ordered a female with a voice that was only slightly higher than the boys.

"Silence, Yessica." Responded the teen curtly, his voice dropping in depth, with a touch of anger. "The way Zayn speaks to me is none of your concern. But the way you talk to your senior, a member of the Middle Ring, is." The last sentence seemed to Dwaine to be a threat. And it was likely the case, as the woman didn't speak again.

"Oh, lighten up." responded the one called Zayn. "And get me outta here."

Dwaine, now extremely curious, tried his best to sit up so that he could see who it was that was talking, but to know avail.

"Help the man up, Rendall. It's the least we can do for the poor fellow." said the teen to someone.

Blue light filled the air accompanied by the sound of white noise as Dwaine's hospital bed instantly began to adjust itself, bending Dwaine at the waist so that he could sit up and see what was happening.

He caught his breath as he was finally able to survey the room. He hadn't noticed before, but there were five people in all standing, spread out across the room.

There was one nurse to his right and four other people to his left each standing in a line directly before Zayn's bed. One of the four, a shorter female who was, in Dwaine's opinion, extremely attractive, was obviously a cop. She was wearing her uniform and had a gun on her hip.

Before he could get a good look at the other three, he heard a gurgling sound coming from the nurse who was standing just by the entrance to the room.

As he looked at the female nurse, he couldn't be sure what he was seeing at first. The nurse was frozen in place, mid-stride, her jaw moving sporadically to the left and right as though she was trying her absolute hardest to speak and grind her teeth at the same time.

"Hey are you—" He stopped short with a gasp. The woman's eyes were rolled back into her head so that you couldn't see her irises.

"What do you think we're here for." the teenager replied to Zayn with a laugh, completely ignoring Dwaine and the nurse. "But as you know, there are consequences for failing a miss—"

"Hey!! Do you idiots not see this?! Something is wrong with this lady! Call the—"

"Be silent, worm." Commanded the teenager without even turning his head to look at Dwaine.

Dwaine opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He tried again, and again, and again. But no matter how hard he tried he couldn't say a word. He panicked and began to kick his legs and struggle as best as his casts and bandages would allow, making a horrible racket.

"Be still."

Dwaine's body instantly froze in place just like the nurse.

A lot of things were going through Dwaine's mind as he lay there frozen like an ice sculpture but one thing was for certain: he was probably about to die. He had watched enough movies to know that he had already seen too much to be kept alive. And whoever this boy was, even had an RCPD police officer on his side.

"As I was saying…" The boy continued, as though nothing was wrong. "You failed to bring back the escapee. You failed to get the dracoRex. You failed utterly and completely at protecting your men—"

Zayn scoffed disparagingly "You give me a bunch of Normies to babysit, then act surprised when they—" Began Zayn, but as he had begun to speak, the teenager, who Dwaine now realized was also his superior, had casually walked over to his bed and leaned over him.

"Bite your finger off." Commanded the boy.

Zayn without hesitation lifted his bandaged right, middle finger to his mouth and bit down hard with a loud and disgusting *Crunch-splat* like he was biting into the world's juiciest candy bar. Much to Dwaine's surprise, Zayn didn't even wince or react to having bitten off his own finger (which was likely due to the morphine). But he did display a strange and frightful level of nonchalance that terrified Dwaine more than the fact that there existed a person with the power to make him do such a thing. Zayn simply spit the finger onto the floor, blood and all, and smiled devilishly.

"It does not matter whether you were given a squad of Normies to command or an army of alpacas." mused the boy with a stern and furious expression. "A 'Leanders' doesn't fail. Period."

He stood to his full height and added, "However your failure has presented the Rings with an amazing opportunity. And as such, your failure will be, in some measure, overlooked. Yessica!" He called, beckoning the female cop, who came forward obediently. "Yessica here was also given a mission which she failed spectacularly. But, much like you, brother, she will be given a chance to redeem herself."

Yessica, at the mention of her failure dropped her head in shame.

Dwaine might have guessed that she was recollecting her encounter with Zeff, but he could not have known that Zayn was seeing every thought that went through her beautiful head.

Zayn was quiet for a second as he focused on Yessica. But after a moment he suddenly burst into hysterical laughter, and he was laughing at her. "Are you kidding me?! Your squad got their a**es rocked by this loser and you, rather than making a difference in that fight, *actually* fainted?!" He laughed even louder. "I took a right hook from a flippin' dragon and you don't even get touched by the guy and faint like one of those goats on WhoTube!"

Yessica's face turned a curious shade of red as she was ridiculed, but she didn't dare talk back after what had happened ealier.

"No wonder." Zayn said, using his non-bloodied hand to wipe away a tear. "You cast-aways are hardly good for anything."

At that Yessica bit her lip hard, her shoulders rose, and her eyebrows furrowed deeply. Her eyes burned with a rage that Zayn had never seen directed at him in all his life.

Zayn flinched as he caught a glimpse of what Yessica was imagining she would do to him for that comment and seemed like he might even apologize. Until suddenly, one of the four, a tall man with long, shoulder-length, jet-black hair and a tablet in his hand, chimed in. "I'm glad you two are getting along. Because you'll be working together from now on."

Yessica turned to the man in surprise but said nothing. Zayn was not so agreeable. "You can't be serious, Rendall! You want me to work with *her*?!"

"You will do what you are told, brother." Came the teenager.

Zayn fell silent with a huff.

"For your failure, we will only heal you partially." He snapped his fingers and the fourth and last person, another quaint female with deep green eyes and a pixie cut, stepped forward. "Heal his entire body except for his right leg and left arm."

The woman, pointed her palm at Zayn from across the room. At once a thick green mist shot out of it with a soft *Shoohw* and enveloped Zayn's body.

Dwayne caught his breath as he noticed Zayn's middle finger begin to grow back at an alarming rate, clicking and clacking all the while.

After a few moments Zayn flexed his right arm with his newly grown finger and then ripped off the casts from his right arm and left leg. He got out of the bed with a soft grunt and then stretched his body like he was about to go for a run. "Ah. That's much better. Thanks, Matea."

Matea, the one who had healed him, inclined her head in response and said, "I merely did as Master Leanders commanded."

"Then, I should thank you, Leo." said Zayn with a oddly warm smile, after turning to his brother.

Dwaine could have sworn he saw the smallest smirk touch Leo's lips. But he concluded as the boy turned to face Yessica that it must've been his imagination.

"I will brief you on your new mission once we are away from this place." He turned to Rendall. "Rendall, how is he looking?"

Rendall looked down at his tablet and then replied, "He's at 8.02% and he stopped moving about 26 hours ago. Because of error:035 I can't pinpoint his exact location."

"That's fine. As long as— Please, do shuttup, brother!" Leo said to his brother (who hadn't even opened his mouth) with an exasperated eye roll. "I'll explain everything in due time." He then turned his attention to Dwaine. "In the mean time—" He began, looking at Dwaine with deviously cold and smug expression, "I have to… gather some information from our friend Dwaine."

"Please, no!" Dwaine yelled. He had no time to celebrate the sudden and inexplicable return of his voice. He was only concerned with extending his life even a few minutes. "Look. I don't know who you guys are or what you want, b-but I can help you."

"You certainly can and will." mused Leo.

"Y-yeah. I have management experience! I—ugh… I could join you guys!"

"Oh, could you, now?" responded Leo with a condescending smirk.

"Yeah!" Dwaine responded, not realizing he was being mocked. If he wasn't so conceited, if he hadn't been such an annoying, inconsiderate prick his whole life, he might have known to shut his mouth and beg for his life.

Shutting his mouth, however, was a skill that he had rarely, if ever, exercised.

"This is about Zeff turning into a monster in the middle of the park, isn't it? You guys are probably a group of ancient dragon hunters or something, working in the shadows, am I right?!" It was a question but his tone and desperate smiling face made it seem more like a statement of fact or a plea for help.

Nobody spoke. They just looked at Dwaine with a strange blend of disgust, contempt, and, in the case of Yessica, pity.

Dwaine went on, "Look, Zeff is a nobody. He's as pathetic as they come, trust me. Any dragon that he turns into would have to be one of the weakest, wussiest, and wimpiest dragons you guys have ever seen. I can—"

"Stop breathing." growled Leo. A calm aura of rage swirling around him like vultures circling a dead carcass.

"—Ahh!" was all Dwaine could say as his breath got stuck in his throat. He gasped for air, grabbing his throat in a futile effort to force air into his lungs.

"Funny. The guy looking down his nose at others, criticizing their weakness, can't even breathe on his own."

"Master Leanders." Rendall began, an apprehensive look on his face. "We can't kill him. The police believe he is partially responsible for what happened. If he dies they'll be suspicious."

"I don't care." stated Leo through clenched teeth, as he shot Rendall a look that could cut through steel. "He dies."

The Fade was already fast approaching as Dwaine gurgled and gasped reaching for Leo. He wanted to beg for his life. To plead that they spare him. But there was no hope of that anymore.

Rendall, Matea, Leo and Yessica gathered themselves up and headed for the door past the frozen nurse, leaving only Zayn behind. Down the long hallway Dwaine could see that there were several more people including nurses and doctors, all frozen in place, their eyes rolled back into their heads.

"Sleep and forget." Cried Leo loudly. At once all of the nurses fell to the ground. He could hear the sounds and vibrations from further away of many bodies hitting the floor as they collapsed.

Dwaine, however, did not lose consciousness. Fate, it seemed, would not be so kind to him…

He turned to Zayn as the Fade began to close in on him. 'Please!' he wanted to scream. 'Save me!' But to his horror Zayn only began to smile the most demented and terrifying smile Dwaine had ever seen in his life. He appeared to be even aroused by Dwaine's pitiful state.

"Sorry, mate." Zayn said turning to leave. Then over his shoulder he added, "You shoulda kept your mouth shut."

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