Dark Universe & Forbidden Love (21 page)

It was midnight, quiet and dark.
General Kalan carefully made his way to the weapon depot for second class
species. It took Kalan a while to find Jason’s armor suit. He knew Jason would
wear this armor suit very soon for the final of the ball game. He took out a
small container and opened it cautiously. A one centimeter long spider like
tracer slowly crawled out of the container and crawled into the armor suit.
Kalan knew as soon as Jason got into this armor suit, the spider would get into
his body and Jason would never know it.

The next
morning, Jason and his teammates were waiting for their armor suits at the
shooting range.

“I heard
you broke someone’s arm.” Sayilin said

“Everyone
knew that already?” Jason asked in surprise.

“You are
famous!” Sayilin said in a joking voice.

“Of
course I am famous. Who else is cleaning toilets these days?” Jason said
easily.

His
teammates laughed.

“So it
is true you broke Dreon’s arm.” Idi said in a doubting voice.

“It was
self-defense, right?” Orizy asked seriously.

“No, I
just wanted to set an example so that no one tries again.” Jason said coldly.

“If I
was in that situation, I will do the same thing or maybe even more.” Lucis said
proudly.

Idi and
Orizy was shocked at Lucis’s words. Others smiled politely.

“If you
were there, you might end up like Dreon.” Sayillin chuckled.

“Come
on, man. I can fight!” Lucis shouted unhappily.

“Yes,
one on one. But one on four. I will just beg for my life.” Sayilin said
sincerely.

“Yea, me
too.” Erikon nodded.

“Jason,
I can fight, right?” Lucis asked seriously.

“Ah, I
need to go to restroom.” Jason said as he headed to the restroom.

Others
broke into laughter.

Just at
this moment, robots carried their armor suits into the room and set them on the
floor.

Lucis
looked at his suit and glanced over at Jason’s suit. He could clearly see the
team leader mark on the right shoulder. He activated his own suit and Jason’s
suit at the same time. Others were busy with checking their own suits. Before
they noticed, Lucis jumped into Jason’s suit.

“Hey,
Lucis, are you drunk? You are wearing the wrong suit. Isn’t it too big for
you?” Orizy said loudly.

Others
laughed at Lucis.

Lucis
walked several steps in the suit and then stepped out. He flash a reluctant
smile and said, “Yea, that was stupid.”

“I love
to wear that, too.” Erikon said to Lucis.

“It is
just a suit.” Lucis said coldly.

Jason
walked out of the restroom and headed to his armor suit.

Right at
this moment, a Zontean emerged from the doorway, followed by an Oepttese.

Jason
knew this Zontean. His name was Eoie, the team leader of the opponent team in
the upcoming final. He had a tall and thin figure, dark skin, a long head with
four eyes and a large mouth. The Oepttese’s name was Heoton. He had a large
build with four arms.

“Jason,
how are you doing?” Eoie asked politely and nodded at others in the room.

“Alright.
Youself?’

“Pretty
good.”

“How can
I help?” Jason said coldly.

“Always
straight to business, huh?” Eoie chuckled.

“You
always struck me as a Zontean who doesn’t want to waste his time.” Jason
smiled.

“Jason,
I was surprised at your speed and strength, especially recently. I feel that
you had some kind of biological enhancement.” Eoie said seriously.

Jason
knew exactly what he talked about. He also felt the change on his body, which
he couldn’t explain why. But he didn’t want to talk about it with Eoie. He
laughed and said, “You worried I took some kind of enhancement drugs?”

“No. I
doubt you have the money to get them.”

“Thank
you. What else?” Jason said carelessly.

“Well,
good luck to you and your team. I will see you in several days.” Eoie said
coldly and headed out.

“So they
came here to check whether you are on juice?” Idi asked.

“I don’t
know and I don’t care.” Jason said easily.

“You
know, he actually had a point. You are much stronger than before.” Sayilin said
cautiously as he looked around at others.

Lucis,
Erikon and Titainein nodded their heads. Idi and Orizy looked confused.

“I can
feel the change as well. I don’t know what happened to me. It seems that when I
am getting excited, something is coming out of my bones and fuel my energy and
strength.” Jason said honestly.

“Since
when you had this kind of feeling?” Titainein asked caringly.

“Since I
was on Sylareon.”

“Glycan
did something to you?” Erikon asked.

“Except
trying to kill me. Nothing really.” Jason joked.

“Maybe
something on Etitaeg?” Titainein said.

“I don’t
know.”

“You
should check with doctors.” Idi said.

“I kind
of like it, actually.” Jason grinned.

“Everything
comes with a price.” Sayilin said sincerely.

“Alright,
let’s get ready for this training.” Jason said easily. He knew his friends
cared about him, but he didn’t want to see doctors. He was afraid they would
take away that power.

Mark spent most of his days
guarding different checkpoints in the slum. Right now, he was standing near a
steel door and watching the factory, a big basement the size of a basketball
field. Different kinds of rusty machines and equipment took most of the room.
All types of buckets, bowls and bottles covered the rest of the room. Workers
in the factory were mostly men.

Pennington
walked to Mark and asked, “How is everything?”

“Same
old.” Mark said easily.

“I kind
of like it this way.”

“Me,
too. I guess we all get old.” Mark smiled reluctantly.

“Yea,
that is truth.” Pennington chuckled.

“Hey,
Mark, it’s your turn to dump the shit.” A gunman shouted at Mark.

“Pennington,
can you take my position for like two minutes. I need to do this.”

“Sure,
go ahead.”

Mark
left the room and headed to the so called restroom. Since Mark was a new guy,
he became the chosen one to dump body wastes. After about 10 minutes, he put
the buckets on the edge of a big well the size of a small swimming pool. When
he emptied the buckets, he noticed a skeleton that was half buried in the hole.
It was not a surprise to see dead bodies. But Mark could tell this skeleton
belonged to a Glycan. There was also something on the skull. It was a string of
number and it read “734.” Mark was shocked and he was quite sure this Glycan
was not a real Glycan. Later Mark found another two Glycan bodies and they all
had numbers on their skulls. Mark couldn’t understand what he saw. He went back
to Pennington and said, “There were Glycan skulls in the sewer.”

“Yea, I
know.” Pennington said casually.

“But
those are not real Glycans.”

“How do
you know that?”

“Well,
they have numbers on their skulls. Glycans wouldn’t mark themselves with our
number system.”

“I see.
I didn’t notice that.” Pennington said easily.

“There
is something going on here, right?” Mark said carefully.

“You are
right about that. But I am not sure what is going on. I can show it to you
tonight.”

Mark and
Pennington waited until midnight and sneaked out of the room. They reached the
lowest level of the underground structure and climbed down a 200 meter long
steel ladder. Then they walked along another tunnel. After spending about an
hour in tunnels, they crawled out through a small vent and stood on a cliff. It
was a huge cave, several kilometers in diameters, to say the least. Beams of
light shooting from the bottom illuminated the cave. Mark looked down. It was
very deep.

“Something.
Huh?” Pennington kept his voice as low as possible.

“Yea.”
Mark marveled at the construction. He knew digging a cave like this required a
lot of work.

“This
mine site was abandoned at least 500 years ago. So here is the question.”

“Who is
digging right now?” Mark said.

“Exactly.”

“You
went down there before?” Mark asked.

“Only
one time. It was a very very long way down.”

“Does
colonel know anything about this?”

“I don’t
know. I didn’t tell him.”

“You
said you went down there. Who was there?” Mark asked.

“I
didn’t see anyone that time.” Pennington said quietly.

“You
think that has something to do with those Glycan skulls?”

“I don’t
know.”

Mark had
so many questions and he knew going down there could bring up more questions
than answers.

“You
want to go down there?” Pennington asked.

“No, not
today.” Mark felt he had had enough for one day.

They
left the mine site and headed back to their room.

The final match had a different
game ground. It was a rectangular field with trenches, bunkers, barricades and
high ground platforms scattering everywhere. In the center, there was a mine
field around the ball with a radius of five meters and a pressure sensitive
bomb was right under the ball. There was no robot in the final game.

Jason’s
teammates were getting ready for the game, but Jason was hiding in the restroom
and checking the game field blueprint sent by Gloria. Nothing really stood out
except a huge water pipe buried under the field.

Jason
knew better than anyone that the opposing team was stronger than his team. The
team leader Eoie was a sniper. They had two Oepttese who had four arms, which
meant they had more firepower. They also had a Jynese, a Tizuee, a Ptueit and a
Btienen. Ptueit was a species having four eyes on the back of their heads.
Brienen was the fastest among second class species. He told his teammates there
was no need to have a plan, because he didn’t have a plan. He was playing
tough, because he knew morale sometimes was more important than what they actually
had.

Jason
walked out of the restroom and joined others.

“You
know, I learn that the odds is four to one.” Sayilin said uneasily.

“We are
four?” Orizy asked.

“No.”
Sayilin said sadly.

“Did you
bet?” Titainein asked curiously.

“I am
thinking, actually.” Orizy smiled in a shy way.

“I bet
on our team!” Erikon said proudly.

“What?
What did you bet? Your food?” Sayilined joked.

“No. I
can’t risk that.” Erikon said seriously.

Everyone
laughed.

“You
think we will win?” Orizy asked Jason.

“I don’t
think questions like that.” Jason smiled.

“That is
a real comfort.” Sayilin said ironically.

“We have
gone this far, so we really have nothing to lose.” Titainein said happily.

“Actually,
we have. Nobody cares about who is the second. If we lost, all our previous effort
are gone. Also think about if we win, we will build our reputation and everyone
knows us.” Lucis said seriously.

“They
know us, because you have to do some research before you bet.” Jason said
carelessly.

“I don’t
really care about that. I just hope no one gets hurt.” Idi said.

“No
pain, no gain. Remember?” Lucis said loudly.

“Next
time, you should replace Jason to give the motivational talk.” Sayilin
chuckled.

Everyone
smiled.

The red
light was flashing. Jason and his teammates quickly got into their armor suits.
Then the gate slowly slid open from the middle.

“Let’s
go!” Jason shouted. They ran into the game field in a triangle formation,
heading to the center zone. Jason was taking the lead.

“Idi,
Orizy take the platform on the left. Lucis, Titainein take the bunker next to
the center zone. Sayilin, Erikon…”

“Bang!”
A bullet hit Jason on his shoulder. It came from the bunker across the center
zone.

Jason,
Sayilin and Erikon rolled into a trench about 10 meters away from the center
zone.

“That was
quick. Are you alright?” Sayilin asked.

“Yea.”
Jason said as he peeked over the trench.

“That
must be the Btienen. The fast guy.” Erikon said.

Idi and
Orizy were shooting at the bunker. At the same time, the two Oepttese were
pressing them. Eoie’s team was pushing close to the center zone in two groups.

Lucis
and Titainein made to the bunker and blasted their rifles like crazy. Two teams
were exchanging fire over the center zone. Electric charges, lasers, bullets
were flying all over the place.

“Idi is
down. Idi is down!” Orizy shouted as he rolled down the high ground platform.

“Take
cover. Orizy!” Jason shouted.

But it
was too late. Eoie shot Orizy on the helmet.  A medical drone picked up Orizy
and Idi and took them off the field.

Now two
Oepttese were focusing their fires on the bunker where Lucis and Titainein were
holding.

Jason,
Sayilin and Erikon were trying to push back Eoie’s advance, but Eoie’s team was
slowly gaining the ground. The fast guy Btienen had moved to the very edge of
the mine field.

“Don’t
worry. As soon as that Btienen sets foot on the mine field, he is done.”
Sayilin said as he changed another magazine.

“I don’t
think they are that stupid!” Jason said uneasily.

Just at
this moment, Eoie shot at the ball. It bounced away and the pressure sensitive
bomb exploded, triggering a series of explosions.

“Boom!
Boom! Boom! Boom!” It lasted for about 10 seconds, leaving a huge hole on the
ground.

Dust was
stilling cycling in the air. Jason ran out of the trench, heading to the center
zone and searching for the ball. After several seconds, dust started to settle
down. Jason took cover behind a barricade on the verge of the hole. He could
see the water pipe at the bottom of the hole.

“Find
the ball!” Jason shouted.

“It was
on our side. Near the gate!” Erikon shouted.

“I will
get it!” Sayilin shouted. He jumped out of the trench and ran to the gate.

“Cover
fire!”Jason said as he blasted his rifle.

While
Sayilin was running back to grab the ball, the Brienen was also heading to it
on Jason’s far right. He was so fast that Jason was not able to take him down.

“Watch
your left. Sayilin. Watch your left.” Jason said nervously.

“I got
it.” Sayilin said excitedly as he was just about to pick up the ball.

Right at
this moment, Btienen showed up at Sayilin’s left and shot him on the helmet.
Sayilin’s armor suit was down. Btienen picked up the ball and ran away.

“Sorry,
guys.” Sayilin sighed. A medic drone took him off the field.

“Damn
it!” Erikon shouted angrily. He stood up behind the trench blasted his electric
charge rifle blindly.

“Get
down. Erikon!” Lucis shouted.

Dozens
of bullets hit Erikon at the same time, his armor suit riddled with holes.
Erikon felt pain everywhere, but he was still firing his rifle. Then Eoie shot
him on the helmet. Erikon froze there and dropped his rifle on the ground.

“Erikon!”
Jason shouted.

“Jason,
we can’t hold it anymore.” Titainein said calmly.

Eoie’s
team was surrounding them. The two Oepttese were keeping Jason under the
barricade. Eoie and three other guys were encircling the bunker. The Btienen
was holding the ball and hiding at the back.

“Get out
of there before they box you in.” Jason said as he checked his watch.

There
was still 17 minutes left.

Lucis
and Titainein rushed out of the bunker. Eoie shot Lucis on the back where the
suit battery was located.

“I am
running out of fuel!” Lucis said sadly.

“Lucis,
it’s OK. Take it easy.” Jason said calmly. He saw what just happened and he
knew Lucis couldn’t make it.

“Damn.”
Lucis said unhappily. Soon Lucis’s armor ran out of energy.

“Lucis,
you have done well.” Titainein said.

A
medical drone took Lucis off the field. Now three opponent players were
approaching Titainein. Eoie and another three was coming at Jason.

“Titainein,
you see the camera drones?” Jason said.

“Yes.
Why?” Titainein said as she looked at those low flying drones.

“Get on
the platform, wait my word, then grab one of them.” Jason said calmly. Then he
suddenly rolled into the enormous hole and slipped to the very bottom, landing
on the water pipe. He fired his rifle at the huge water pipe.

“Boom!”
The water pipe broke. Water busted out of the pipe, flooding the field within seconds.
Titainein climbed onto a platform in chaos.

When the
emergency shutdown finally kicked in, the whole game field was covered in one
and half meter deep water. Everyone was standing in the water except Titainein.

Jason
swam under the water, found Erikon’s electric charge rifle and removed the
magazine. He stayed under the water the whole time.

“Titainein,
ready?”

“Yes.”
Titainein said and aimed at one camera drone.

“Now!”
Jason shouted as he fired at the magazine. Titainein jumped off the platform
and grabbed a camera drone.

The
magazine exploded and released gigantic amount of electricity, electrifying
everyone in the water and paralyzing their armor suits. No one could make a
move, not even a step.

Titainein
now understood why Jason asked her to grab a camera drone. If she was on the
ground, she would end up the same.

After
several seconds, the electric pulse was gone. Titainein jumped into the water
and swam to Btienen who was still suffering the electrification. She took the
ball from him, held it with both hands and lifted it in the air. There was
still 15 minutes left for the game. Eoie’s team only held the ball for seven
minutes and now none of them could even move.