Doomsday Hunter 2, page 29
part #2 of Doomsday Hunter Series
Karla nodded and then motioned for us all to follow, so all three of us walked into the side room that housed the makeshift doctor’s office.
“Tracey?” Karla gestured to the bed. “I’m going to test you first, my dear.”
“Test me?” The tall brunette blinked her hazel eyes in confusion. “Test me for what?”
“Enhancements,” Miss Nash responded. “When Natalie became bonded with Hunter, they both gained physical enhancements. Strength, agility, lung capacity, all that.”
Tracey seemed skeptical as she sauntered over to the bed and then hopped up onto it.
The second she was up there, Karla brought out the stethoscope and the reflex tool. She slid the bell of the stethoscope up under the back of Tracey’s shirt, and the brunette woman let out a small gasp.
“That’s cold!” Tracey half-grumbled, half-giggled.
“Sorry.” Karla patted Tracey on the shoulder. “Now, take a deep breath, and hold it for as long as you possibly can.”
Tracey nodded before she inhaled a large gulp of air.
Next, Natalie and I watched in awe as she held that single breath for almost fifteen minutes. Finally, Tracey exhaled and clutched at her chest.
“How was that?” she asked. “That didn’t feel like very long.”
Karla just looked at the woman with disbelief on her face. “You held your breath for fifteen minutes… That’s more than Natalie or Hunter could do last time. Can you do a couple of push-ups for me?”
“I know where this is going,” I chuckled and nudged Natalie gently.
“Uh, sure?” Tracey noted as she slid down from the bed.
“I’ll time you,” Karla explained. “Do as many as you can in the next minute.”
The brunette woman got down onto the floor, took a push-up stance, and then proceeded to do one-hundred push-ups before the timer went off.
“How is that possible?” Tracey panted as she got back up. “I could barely do one before…”
“Well, if my hypothesis is correct,” Karla noted as she reached up for the sleeve of Tracey’s shirt, “I think you are--Yes!”
Karla slid up Tracey’s shirt sleeve to reveal a small “one” tattoo, just like the one Natalie had on her shoulder.
“That’s new,” Tracey gasped. “What does it mean?”
“It means you’re now bonded with Hunter,” Karla explained. “Which means-”
“I’m pregnant?” the slender programmer trailed off as she stared at the wall. “Hunter… got me pregnant?”
Karla just nodded, and Tracey’s face lit up with a pearly-white smile. Then the brunette woman dashed over to me, threw her arms around my body, and kissed me intensely.
“I’m glad you’re taking it so well,” I chuckled when she finally pulled back.
“What do you mean?” Tracey mused. “I told you I wanted this back when we were--You know…”
“People say a lot of things when they’re in the throes of passion.” I shrugged. “I’m just glad you really meant it.”
“Of course, I meant it, Hunter.” Her hazel eyes stared deep into mine. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” I said, and we kissed passionately for another brief moment.
Our romance was then interrupted by Karla clearing her throat.
“I hate to break up the happy moment,” she noted, “but didn’t you say your body was in rough shape?”
“Oh, yeah.” I blushed, and then I pulled away from Tracey and headed over to the exam bed.
Karla then proceeded to spend the next few minutes checking out my body. She listened to my lungs, used an ophthalmoscope to look into my eyes, checked my ears with her exam light, and then tested out my reflexes.
“Huh,” Miss Nash muttered. “You look healthy as a horse. A few scratches and bruises, but nothing else.”
“You sure?” I questioned. “Because Dr. Merrick nearly snapped my spine and ribs in half.”
“This happened inside the server?” Karla asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah,” I admitted, “when we were having our final showdown.”
“Well, that explains it, then.” She shrugged. “It was all in your head.”
“Uhhhh, it felt pretty damn real to me,” I chuckled with disbelief.
“That’s because Merrick wanted you to feel it,” Karla continued. “He wasn’t actually hurting your physical body whatsoever. The bastard was just manipulating your brain into thinking it was feeling pain. That’s quite an advanced AI.”
“Damn.” I whistled. “Coulda fooled me.”
I slid off the table, and then Karla promptly examined Natalie. Much like myself and Tracey, the Scavenger seemed to be in tip-top shape. Almost better shape, in fact, than when we left.
“Incredible,” Karla muttered to herself. “Your enhancements are somehow even stronger. We must tell my father immediately.”
The four of us walked back out to the main room, where we were greeted by Dr. Nash.
“Is everything alright?” he asked when he saw us approaching. “You all look euphoric.”
“Tracey has the ‘one’ tattoo, father,” Karla announced. “And the same abilities as Hunter and Natalie.”
“Fascinating…” the AI mused. “So, this confirms my theory that the ‘one’ stands for our dimension, and not for the number of Wayfarers.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Karla grumbled, “I lost that bet. No need to rub it in my face. Buuuut, it gets better, Father. All three of them seem to be exhibiting stronger physical abilities than before. For example, they can hold their breath for a full five minutes more than they could previously, and their reflexes are nearly double as fast.”
“So, they are bonded, then?” Dr. Nash questioned.
“You tell us,” I spoke up. “What is the probability of Tracey’s dimension being saved?”
Dr. Nash frowned before his face disappeared, and then it was replaced by a series of binary code as he tried to calculate his algorithm.
However, this time, I understood everything on the screen. Even though it was just a bunch of “ones” and “zeroes” in a seemingly random order, I could make out what they were saying.
“Calculating probability” said one. “Cross-referencing empirical data with cross-dimensional variables” read another.
“Uh, Karla?” I whispered to Miss Nash. “I-I think I can read binary now.”
“So, it’s not just you?” Tracey gasped as she clutched at her chest. “Oh, thank fuck. I thought I was losing my mind.”
Karla looked at all three of us with a raised eyebrow.
“Hold on… Can you all read what’s on the screen?” she asked.
Natalie, Tracey, and I all confirmed with a slight nod.
“To answer your question, Hunter,” Dr. Nash announced as he appeared back on the screen, “Humanity now has a ninety-nine-point-eight percent chance of survival in Dimension Fifty-Seven.”
It had worked. Dr. Merrick was dead, and Tracey was pregnant with my child.
The three of us had saved the world once again.
“Father?” Karla interjected. “All three of our Wayfarers can apparently read binary code now. Do you have any hypotheses about why that could be?”
Dr. Nash seemed taken aback by the question, and his brow furrowed, along with his mustache, as he thought it over. Then he simply shook his head.
“I do not know for sure,” he admitted. “But my calculations seem to suggest it is because Hunter has made a new connection, with a woman who has similar abilities. And, because Natalie is already connected to Hunter, she has gained Tracey’s knowledge, as well.”
“Holy shit…” Natalie muttered. “I didn’t even know what a computer was a few years ago, and now I can talk to them? Hot damn!”
“Maybe we can finally ask our router why it’s always shutting off on us,” I suggested with a wink.
“I doubt it.” The Scavenger shrugged. “If that thing could talk, I bet it’d be an asshole.”
“Well, then maybe we just need to go home and find out?” I suggested coyly.
“Not quite yet, Wayfarers.” Dr. Nash interrupted. “There’s still one part of this mission that isn’t finished yet.”
“My father needs the AI,” Karla explained, and then she walked over to the main console of the IFDR.
The brunette in the turtleneck reached up, pulled a lever, and then caught a cable that fell out from a hidden compartment of the machine. A small needle popped out of the side, and she beckoned for me to come over.
“Ugh,” I grumbled, though I obliged. “More freaking needles…”
“That’s the small one, at least,” Tracey giggled.
I walked over to Karla, let out a sigh, and then tensed myself up as I prepared for impact.
“It won’t hurt,” Miss Nash reassured me. “I used to do this to myself all the time, so I have plenty of practice.”
“You practiced on your--Ow!” I yelped as the needle suddenly entered my brain.
“See?” Karla purred. “Nothing to it.”
Miss Nash walked over to the console, typed in a few commands on the computer, and then pressed “enter.” The second she did so, I felt a slight shock of electricity reverberate throughout my skull, and I shivered at the sensation.
Thankfully, it was over almost as soon as it had begun.
Dr. Nash’s screen lit up with a small progress bar, which filled to completion in a matter of seconds. All the while, the virtual face on the screen tilted back and smiled as if he were receiving the best massage of his life.
Finally, Karla yanked the cable free from my temple.
“That’s it?” I questioned.
“That’s it.” She nodded.
“Oh, wow,” Dr. Nash’s AI gasped. “This Dr. Merrick fellow definitely has a large ego, doesn’t he? He’s currently monologuing at me about how he’s going to take me over and then quote unquote ‘unleash hell’ on this dimension.”
“That’s Merrick, alright.” I shook my head with amusement. “Just be careful. He’s got a way of getting under your skin.”
“I’ve got it under control,” Dr. Nash reassured me. “Merrick’s AI may be advanced in several facets, but it’s security is abysmal. Seriously, who makes their override kill switch a quote from the same book they quote constantly? Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of it being a secret?”
“If he steps out of line, you know what to do.” I winked at the face on the screen.
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Dr. Nash nodded. “Now, Karla and I will need some time to analyze this program, take it apart, and see if any of its components are worth salvaging and implementing into my own.”
“In other words,” Karla laughed, “you three are free to go. The money will be in your bank account by tomorrow morning.”
“That’s what I like to hear.” I winked, and then I threw my arms around Tracey and Natalie. “So, girls, I guess this means it’s time to go home?”
“Home?” Tracey asked as she looked down at the ground. “I-I don’t have a home in this dimension yet.”
“Bulllllllshit!” Natalie giggled. “Don’t be stupid, Tracey. You’re going to stay with us.”
Tracey looked up bashfully, and her eyes filled with excitement. “C-Can I? Is that--”
“We’re bonded now, Tracey,” I explained to the former Deltacorp employee. “Wherever I go, you go. And that includes my home. Though I’ll admit, we’re eventually going to need a bigger place if we keep adding members to the team.”
“We’ll also need a few more rooms,” Natalie added, “for nurseries and all that.”
“We will.” I nodded. “But we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, let’s just go home and get some much-needed R and R.”
“And some Chipotle, maybe?” Natalie giggled.
“And some Chipotle,” I promised.
The three of us bade farewell to Karla and Dr. Nash and then headed for the exit.
We would need to eventually get a bigger place. My two-bedroom apartment was already small enough for just me, let alone two other roommates. However, with the money Dr. Nash was paying me, it wouldn’t be long until I could have a place of my own.
That would be the day.
But right now, I just wanted to enjoy the rest of the day with my two women.
Tomorrow would be another day of training, another payday, and maybe even another adventure.
And I couldn’t wait.
End Book 2.
End Notes
End Notes
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Copyright © 2020 by Eric Vall
Eric Vall, Doomsday Hunter 2
