The Vespidian

Arc 2: Me, Myself, and Neon Nurse

Chapter 6

“There is one last thing to do. Well, there are several, but for tonight it would be good to figure out what your powers are.” Smiled Neon Nurse leading the way along the cold white corridors.

“You are not going to make me run some insane obstacle course, are you?” I asked, looking at her with tired eyes.

She shook her head, and we entered into a large training room. There was an Olympic sized pool at the far side. A complete gym dominated the immediate area and in the back was what looked like a locker room. I stood looking over the rubbery ground and finely tuned machines.

Fire Chief was bench pressing without his armor on, just the undersuit. It looked like he was lifting two hundred rather casually. His muscles were well defined and bulging deliciously. Unconsciously I licked my lips. I really wanted to get some of that. He noticed us and put the barbell down.

“Getting used to the place? It might be intimidating at first, but you will get used to it.” Smiled Fire Chief.

“Have her do the tests, and I will be back after I fix my leg.” Said Neon Nurse.

“What happened to your leg?”

“Just a little scuffle, not much damage. I should be done in twenty minutes or so.” She smiled, limping away.

“Just because her pain is dampened doesn’t mean that she should be pushing herself so much.” Said Fire Chief. “Let’s get you all sorted out so you can join a team.”

I stared at him, distraught. “You mean I am not joining your team?”

“Typically, we do not choose who goes where. That is up to the higher-ups. If you want to be on my team, I will petition for it.”

“I think that would be for the best.” I smiled shyly.

“Alright, if you get on my team, it is mostly emergency rescue and firefighting; you sure you want to do that? All you kids these days want to fight criminals, so it might be better if you went to Captain Metal’s team, Enforcer’s, or Crimson Sweeper’s, if that is what you want to do.”

“I am fine not fighting people.”

“If you say so. Well then, let me explain the tests.”

It was reasonably straight forward. Strength test I had to lift weights to see what my limit was. Endurance there seemed a little more convoluted; there were several tests since Endurance could be broken into different subsets. Among the tests were several types, from swimming to getting drilled to see how durable your skin was. Speed there was a track to run on in the next room, very simple.

When he was reminded about my regeneration, he was less than keen to test me on it. Apparently, it was a rather brutal test where the wounds would be inflicted, with incremental severity. Based on how fast and what I regenerated would determine my Rank in that.

Mind abilities were harder to do since I did not think that I had any. Unless having a subconscious that talks back to you is considered one? I doubt it though, more likely, they would look at me like I was insane or something if they learned about Sub. That stupid Dreamer better not have blabbed!

The tests included but were not limited to: to see if I could control animals, bend metal, move things, create fire, move fire, shift earth, move water, summon water, make the wind blow, see the future, read minds, teleport, create portals, technical knowledge, biological knowledge, mind control, and mind delving.

Honestly, there were way too many to deal with, and it all muddled together. Brain felt like it was overheating before it was all done. That was a problem since I had not even done any of the tests yet.

“Alright, put me in, coach.” I grinned, and a shiver ran down his spine.

He gave me an odd look but decided not to voice his concern. “Alright, well, just try to lift this.”

The physical stuff was first, and I lifted weights. It was not bad at first, but he kept adding weight until I had to use my legs rather than arms. My legs were twice as strong as all four of my arms combined. It felt refreshing to vent. His face was turning a little red from my musky aroma. I was hoping to get to know him better in a variety of ways. Judging by what I saw, he was a definite catch. If I could get him worked up enough, watching my body push its boundaries, and hopefully, my pheromones would do something.

“So how did I do, coach?” I asked hesitantly.

He looked a little embarrassed. I think my moves are working on him. “Why do you keep calling me coach?”

“Well, you are like my coach. You are telling me to do stuff, and it helps me focus.”

“Is that so?” He nodded. “If it helps you, then go ahead and think of me as such.”

“So, so how did I do?” I asked, shifting shyly with googly eyes; well, they might be portals into the deepest darkest pits of hell; I could tell by how his face tensed up. Oh no, I goofed. The mood was totally off now, and he had shaken off my seductions.

He had a rather somber face as though he was in work mode. “You are rank 3. Somewhere in the middle.”

“How strong are you, Coach?”

“Rank 6 in the big suit and rank 4 in the medium one.” He flexed, showing off his guns. My knees shook a little, and I wanted nothing more than to just be held in those strong arms. It was a bit mesmerizing. He snapped his fingers a few times to bring me back to my senses.

I stammered, wiping some drool off my face. “Wh.. what is next?”

He was not even looking at me now. Damn it, Vesper, you are being a weirdo and scaring away the hot guy! “Endurance test.”

“What am I supposed to do, coach?”

“Swim. I will tell you when to stop.”

“I can do that.” I grinned and lept into the pool.

The water was cold, and it felt like I would drown every time I went under in my attempts to swim. I learned the hard way that I had to reeducate myself on the finer points of swimming. It is not easy to swim with smooth surfaces, all over the body. Now I know that it will make me faster once I get the hang of paddling with four arms, but at the moment, I felt like a disorganized rowboat team. I was not going anywhere fast and ended up circling. It took a good ten minutes to figure out that both arms on each side at the same time were needed to properly propel myself forward.

Once that was down, it was easy, and I felt almost as though I was amphibious. There was a nagging feeling, though, that water was terrible and that I should not be getting into it often. I mean, I am a bug, and they typically can’t swim to save their lives. If this was Endurance, how does swimming have anything to do with that? It seems that getting hit by things would be a better measure of how durable my skin was.

I crawled out soggy wet. My vents burst open and shook like a dog, spattering the surroundings with water. Fire Chief wiped it from his scowling face, and I felt mortified. What the hell? This stupid body acting like an animal. At the least, let me not look so bad in front of the guy whose pants I want to get into. Sub, you are in there, right? Stop it with the instinct stuff. I want to be a people, for fuck sake. Look at what we are doing, creeping him out. How am I supposed to get laid like this!

“Coach, how did I do?” I wearily asked.

He toweled off and replied. “Not bad. Rank 3. Just warn me if you are going to do that.”

My antenna drooped. “Sorry. I did not know that I would do that either.”

“So that was something like a reflex?” He tossed the towel at me, and I started padding down the carapace. Wait, this touched his body... I rubbed all over it vigorously. The antenna were pleased by his manly scent, writhing against the cloth. I drank it all in with a glazed smile. Then I realized what I had been doing. Wearily I looked at Fire Chief; he was giving me the same look somebody would give a pervert! It is not like that, I swear!

“It is not what you think.”

“Oh really?” He gave me a troubled look.

“It was so soft. I wanted to rub all of it.”

He did not look too convinced and sighed. “Just keep it in moderation, will you?”

“What should I do with this?” I waved the damp thing at him.

“Just hang it up on the rack.” He pointed to a metal stand with extended out notches. I put it with the other towels and followed closely behind him.

“What are we doing now?”

“Taking a break.” He replied, sitting on a bench looking out over the room.

There were armrests at either end, and I sat at the far side away from him. The abdomen curled up in front of me, and I hugged it vaguely. It always calmed me down to embrace myself, even if it was this repulsive thing. Just looking at it reminded me of what I was, a freak, a monster. Where the hell did I even get off trying to act normal? All those doubts started plaguing me, and I could not help but feel self-conscious. Fire Chief looked over at me while I rocked back and forth.

“You alright?”

“Yeah... no. Worried you don’t like me.”

“Don’t like you?”

“Look at me.” I sniveled. Damn it, why in front of him? “Everyone always screams or tries to hurt me. It hurts a lot, you know. Not the outside that heals pretty quickly, the inside.”

He seemed lost for words for a minute or so. I just sat there cupping my face. Then his hand started petting my head. “People tend to judge by appearances. It is normal to be afraid of new things.”

“Easy for you to say. You are not the new thing. You even treated me like a monster when we first met.”

He sighed. “That had more to do with you being wanted for vandalism and assault.”

I scoffed. “Well, excuse me for being scared out of my mind.”

“You are safe here, so calm down. No one is going to hurt you.”

“Maybe not physically. I know everyone is afraid of me. I know you are scared of me. I can smell it, so don’t try to lie and say that is not true. It hurts so much being rejected by everyone, well everyone except the crazy people.”

“Sure, you scare me. There are a lot of things that scare me. Every time I go out on a call, I wonder if something bad will happen, if I am going to get home to my family. I am terrified that some criminal might break into my house and kill my wife or son, hell the damned dog as well. I am afraid that I won’t be able to help people and let everyone down. It is normal to have feelings of trepidation. In fact, if you did not feel anything, then there would be something wrong.” He sat there explaining everything. He dropped a bomb without even realizing it.

“You are married?” I stared at him.

He smiled, nodding, and it felt like there was a massive hairball in my throat. Damn it. I knew it was too good to be true. It felt like a bucket of cold water was poured over me. Fire Chief was married, and I had been acting like a fool. Here I was, being a thirsty bitch. I should have known; there was no way this guy was not already bagged. In good consciousness, I could not pursue a more in-depth relationship; marriage was something sacred. I hung my head, and he just pat me more.

Stop that I might end up following you around.

“So Vespidian.” He said. “You were not always like this. If you don’t mind me asking, who were you before?”

I cupped my face trying to figure out what the hell to even say back. He was, as far as I could tell, trustworthy, but every time I opened up, it seemed that betrayal was close at hand. My tone was darker than I wanted it to be, and the inner feelings were leaking out. “How about you tell me more about you before you start prying into my life.”

He shifted a little to that. “What did you want to know?”

“Don’t ask me. I hardly even know you.”

“Sometimes I can’t help myself.” He smiled wryly. “I see somebody in trouble and want to help them.”

“Well, aren’t you a nice guy?” I sneered. “Alright, tell me about your family.”

He slapped me on the back. “Now, who is prying? I won’t say too much. After all, I have to protect them, not that I think you would try anything. I can tell you a few things. My wife’s name is Rachel, and she makes the best blueberry pies I have ever eaten. My son’s name is Tim he is only five, but he loves dinosaurs. My dog’s name is Dutch, and he is a German Shepard.”

I mulled it over and crossed my arms. “Well, if it just names, I guess I can tell you. My name used to be Vesper. Then this happened.”

“Vesper Walda Vasska?” He asked, not even believing it.

“How do you know my name?” I snarled at him.

“I was one of the people looking for you.” He looked entirely drained. “You fell off of the face of the earth. No one had seen or heard anything, and there was no ransom or body.”

“That tends to happen when you get exposed to green goo and kidnapped by a Russian Super Villain.”

“Have you seen your parents since you disappeared?”

“Yeah, and I regret it. My mom threw things at me and called me a monster.”

“I am sorry.” He said with his hands clasped together. He seemed to hit by that a bit hard.

My eyes opened wide. “About what? It is not your fault. Let’s talk about something else.”

Well shit, that was a sure-fire way to shut down the conversation. We both sat there in silence. It felt like an hour, but it was likely only ten minutes or so. Then he started to talk.

I learned that his favorite food was meat, bacon to be exact. He loved bacon and eggs. He read while he was not working out or on call. It was not anything interesting, just technical manuals, science, and engineer stuff. Then he touched the subject of Mecha, and it was like a chatterbox switch had been flipped, and he became rather energetic and animated about how cool they were.

To put it simply, he was a Robot enthusiast. I admit they were pretty neat; ok, it was fucking cool. Giant robots and shit, but the way he talked about them made it sound like they were alive. It kind of gave me the creeps. I could see why he and Neon Nurse got along so well. One of his hands was a robo hand from her. It had been crushed when a flaming car exploded back before getting his powers and making the suits. He could still feel it a little, even with the fake doing everything he wanted. It would hurt whenever it got too cold.

Then he started talking a bit about his family. Since he knew who I was now, it relieved a bit of his anxiety from before. I did not say a damned thing, just listening. His marriage was going good from the sounds of it. He told me a story about his son. He didn’t name him, for eh, security reasons. Understandably so, the man just met me today. Why would he divulge secret identity stuff?

At any rate, the little brat apparently once ran into the street, and he had to jump out there to save him from being run over by a car. Chief was rich, so it was no surprise he had a big house. Had a doting housewife and Dutch well, he was something of an escape artist. Damn it, he was a good person. The more he talked, the harder it was to stay mad. I wanted somebody to vent to.

At this point, I was wondering exactly why I had been mad in the first place. It was simple, jealousy, I realized. My enthusiasm had been crushed. Messing around with a married person was not in my morality. I found myself clinging to the things I could remember from being human. It made me feel less like a monster. However, I just wanted desperately to be normal again, knowing full well it is impossible. Then I remembered that humans were not exactly kind beings themselves. It was human nature to covet what others had after all.

The little voice in my head started whispering reassurances. It is fine not to be human, that they were filthy hypocrites, that we could do better by freeing ourselves of their standards, rules, and just doing what we wanted.

I shivered, holding my face and drowning out the voices. Sub, I thought you were on my side. I mean, it would be terrible if the man that I would eventually track down, seduce, and have children with cheated on me. I would probably go all praying mantis on him and eat him with how angry I would be. Then I would cry myself to sleep over what I had done.

The break finally ended, and I brooded while we went to the next station. “So what is next, coach?” I asked, not entirely there.

“We are going to check your speed. Not hard. Just run around the track as fast as you can. If you need to rest, don’t be scared to.”

“Running? Alright, I guess we should do it two times. First for two legs, then me on all my limbs. I go faster on all sixes.” He nodded to my words.

The track was maintained to the point it looked as though nobody ever used it. The AstroTurf gripped like a vice so one could not slip easily. I was set to run a mile and took off when he waved his hand. Running flat out on two legs and made it in six minutes eight seconds. Then on all sixes, and not only did he scream in surprise at how fast I was, well, more of how weird it looked. I will admit when I run on all sixes, I look like a horror movie monster, but hey, it was faster. I ended up making it in two minutes flat.

It was definitely incredible, and the feeling that I had accomplished something swelled in my chest. I had never been able to run that fast. Even the two legs was astounding. Finally, this body was starting to do something useful.

“So how did I do Coach?” I asked brimming with excitement.

“Looks like lower rank 2.”

My smile dropped. “Rank 2?”

“Yeah, Panther can easily run the mile in two seconds. That is just him jogging. He is Rank 6, though.”

“Oh did I do bad then?”

“No. In fact, you are a lot faster than me.”

Come to think about it, everybody around here was a Rank 6, is there like a scrub team or something I am supposed to join? I thought threes to fives were average among Supers. It turns out that the captains have to be fives or higher and lead teams with more minor ranks.

Neon Nurse was a 6 Rank in Cybernetics, and Captain Metal was a 5 in Sonic Engineering, not that I cared about that asshole anymore. It is just good to know how you rank among those around you. Dreamer was the scary one though she was a 7 in Mind Diving. Just thinking about that made me shudder, but I had learned that she needed to physically touch my head to do her power, so as long as I stayed away from her, I would be fine.

The only physical test left was the regeneration test. We decided to put it off until later since he did not want to hurt me, and I was not inclined to allow him. After the shit that I had gone through with Molotov, there was no way. I told him about being able to reattach limbs and heal damage within minutes if left alone. He said that was at the minimum a Rank 4, but to figure out if it was stronger, we would have to test.

It was decided that we would do it later, and with that, the tests for today were done. The results, I was a Multus Rank 3. This was a bit uncommon since you typically only get one superpower, though typically, there was a minor enhancement to help control the power. For instance, with super Strength, there would be a degree of Endurance that applies to the body when the power is used so that the body does not harm itself. However, biological powers granted improved all-around abilities, so it was not too uncommon for my category.

He showed me along the corridors until we reached the dormitory. I was stuck with Neon Nurse as my roommate. I had a bad feeling about it, but it could not be that bad... could it? Yeah, instant regret. It was that bad.

If you could call it that, my side of the room was more of a lab than anything else. To be honest, it was some sort of research chamber. I was the research subject. It sealed airtight, and I had all the everyday commodities that everybody else started with. You could bring stuff in later, apparently. There was a large cot bed and what I assumed was a bathtub behind a shower curtain. I did not like how there was an observation window that revealed the whole room to her side. The glass was impact resistant and bulletproof, or so he said.

The ceiling lights could be switched on either from inside or outside of the chamber. This meant I could not hide in the darkness if I wanted some alone time and Neon Nurse really wanted to bug me. A shower was built like a cylinder, and thankfully, the glass was fogged for privacy. There were cameras, and I had a distinct feeling that I was a lab rat. I guess I did sign up for this, right? There was a table with two chairs in the center of the room, and that was it. Fire Chief took off, leaving me to get settled.

Neon Nurse arrived about ten minutes after I had started my nesting habit of moving my bed into the corner behind the shower. It was the only place that was mostly out of view from the window. It just felt safer to have walls around where you slept. She tapped on the glass and waved, locking the door so I could not escape.

“Is everything to your liking?” She asked, checking some sort of tablet.

“Why is this place a specimen holding room?” I glared at her. “And why did you lock me in?”

“Oh that? Silly, you are under quarantine. The blood samples came back very strange, and we are trying to figure out if that is a bad thing or a good thing. Now granted, you will be allowed to leave under my supervision, so no need to worry too much.” She smiled brightly.

“Quarantine?”

“Well you are a new species to think that you have zero Homo Sapien DNA. I was quite surprised.”

“But Molotov said I was five percent... Why would she lie about that?”

“Nope. You are more related to a Vespula, a wasp, in case you don’t know. The rest is, well... alien in origin. The Spore is the closest thing that we have to the strand, but even that is off a little. If I didn’t know any better, I might think you had direct exposure to the Spore. We need to find the exact batch of Mutigene and study it to see how your creation came about. It is similar to human, but the makeup is very different. She may have lied to make you feel better.”

“She was manipulative. I will give her that.”

“I think it is about time to go to bed. My batteries need charging. We will conduct more testing tomorrow.”

“Right.” I nodded.

The light turned off, and I snuggled up with the soft pillow. Sleep took me almost immediately. I was safe and sound for the first time in as long as I could remember recently.

Dreams were fleeting, and I could not recall them when morning came. Usually, I might have been concerned, but it felt good just to blank out and not have to worry about some torture. Neon Nurse might be eccentric and get riled up easily, but she appeared to be a person of her word.