Play Testers Wanted Pt. 09

"Is that slo-mo?" I asked and Kat nodded.

"Watch." Kat purred.

I watched as I spun away, igniting the blue lightsaber, and slashing his back. Everyone went ape shit. They screamed when the Sith dropped to the street and the others opened fired on me. The slo-mo ended and my blade became a blur blocking and reflecting bolts back at their owners. The footage ended with Indigo stepping out from behind cover with a bloody dagger in her hand.

"What is that in her hand?" A female player asked. The footage paused and zoomed in. "It looks like glass... blue glass... ooh that is pretty. Katria Forge Master... she is a smith! She made her stuff! Ooh, I need to find her!"

The video ended and I could almost hear the cha-ching of customers and all those lovely credits in my account.

"Looks like you've got competition Booker," Kat said and smiled. "Got to give it your A game."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." I told her. "Need some fresh air." I said feeling suddenly claustrophobic. Kat helped me to the elevator, and it went directly to the penthouse. I didn't miss her moment of shock. I held up the gleaming bangle she herself had placed around my wrist. "Surfer."

"I forgot." She admitted. "Here, let me help." I leaned against her as we staggered up the steps that led from the penthouse to the roof. The gleaming day star made me blink and the blast of wind against my skin felt like a shot of adrenalin. I stopped and stood up to my full height and thrust my fists to the sky.

"Better?" She asked. "You color has returned."

"Thanks for the help," I said. "I forget day and night down there."

"All of the players have access to the roof, the gymnasium, and the park behind the building." Kat explained with a gentleness in her voice and eyes.

"Gymnasium?" I asked and Kat smiled.

"Follow me."

The gym was located at the western side of the building and you could look out to the garden and walking paths. It was built in a series of concentric circles. On the outer most circle was a jogging track around the circumference of the room. The middle circle was filled with weight and exercise machines. The center was the duel ring. There was enough room in the middle to host four duels simultaneously. I saw that Kyanna was working her way through the weight machines. I changed into sweats and moved to the next machine in her routine.

"Booker." She greeted me.

"I don't think you've got what it takes to make Master." I challenged her.

"What?!" She snapped and then she saw my smile. "Fine!" She agreed pushing past her comfort zone.

"Single blade or double?" I asked as I took a single bladed practice saber from the wall.

"I fight two handed," Kyanna stated.

"Let's start with one and work our way up," I suggested, and she agreed. "We'll start slow so that your physical body can acclimate with your virtual one."

"Agreed." She said and got a feel for the weight and balance of the weapon.

"Which forms do you know?" I asked.

"The first five, you?" Kyanna said and I just smiled. "Really? Shit!"

"Form three to start things off." I said and we assumed defensive positions.

We went back and forth as Kyanna quickly adapted and grew confident in her skills. I switched to form five mid exchange and her instincts kicked in and she adapted on the fly. She really was an excellent duelist. We paused, caught our breath, and grabbed a second saber each. It was time to bring it up a notch. The lights dimmed around us as the sabers lit up with hers being blue and mine red. The sound system began playing Duel of the Fates as I went on the attack. Kyanna was better with two sabers than with just one. She was an equal measure aggressive, patient, and calculating. The music swelled and she an awe-inspiring acrobatic series of spins that forced me back and she went on the attack immediately afterwards. She pressed her advantage and I was forced to slip into form eight to survive her onslaught. The crowd reacted to form eight and it was enough to throw Kyanna off her game and grant me the chance to score a point.

Panting and covered in sweat she yielded, and the crowd went crazy. They were on their feet cheering and whistling. I grabbed her hand and raised it over her head. We bowed to the audience and then to one another. I put the practice sabers away and hit the showers. Kyanna followed me and asked if I were okay with her joining me.

"Absolutely. I won't..." I began when she threw her arms around me and kissed me.

"I never knew I had it in me," Kyanna gasped as she broke the kiss. "Thanks! Oops... did I do that?"

"Yeah," I chuckled. "Mistress Kyanna. You showed your skill out there today."

"I did, didn't I?" She purred. "I have other skills if you'd like to see them later."

"I... well... Aoki and I are kind of seeing..." I stammered and unsure of in a way I'd never feel in the game. "I..."

"Can anyone join?" Aoki asked as she dropped the towel covering her torso. "Kyanna, did you do that?" She purred as she pointed at my erection.

"Yes," She replied her voice as unsure as mine.

"I figured you did. Booker, why don't you help her wash her hair."

"Sure... whoa!" I gasped as Kyanna wet her long mane of hair, braced herself against the wall, and arched her back so that her hair hung directly over her full round ass. "We might bump," I warned her as I lathered up her hair while my erection slid between her ass cheeks. "You okay?"

"MMMMHMMMMM massage my scalp?" She purred.

I used my fingertips to work the shampoo into her scalp as she slowly rocked her hips. While I massage her, she massaged me. I ran my hands through her hair and squeezed and rubbed along its length. We moved back under the flowing water where my hands settled onto her hips as she leaned back and rinsed. I watched some of the suds race down her neck, across and between her breasts, down her belly, and vanish down the drain.

"Your turn bend forward you are way too tall for me to reach," Kyanna moaned. "How does that feel?"

"Good," I admitted as Aoki soaped up her breasts and used them on my back.

"Not as good as my ass cheeks though," she said. "Yeah, I get that. What the hell was that at the end?"

"Oh, you mean form eight," I said a little too nonchalantly for her.

"Form Eight?!" She exclaimed her fingers leaving my scalp. "Where in the hell did you learn that?"

"Spoilers!" Kat Shaw purred from the shadows. "Finish up, you have a doctor's appointment all three of you."

We laughed and I switched to an ice-cold shower to deflate my erection. It was back to scrubs and the halo scanner. I stood with arms above my head as the ring-shaped device slowly lowered to what felt like a much longer session.

"Impossible! The rate of change is beyond belief. Something else is going on here. This is clearly months of activity not days." The elderly doctor exclaimed not caring who heard him.

"I concur Doctor," a female voice replied over a speaker. "Look at his muscles and the connective tissue. What do you make of these readings?"

"An entirely new type of cell." The old man gasped. "Hold still Mr. Booker, I need to take a biopsy."

A metallic arm swung down from the ceiling and extended a particularly long ass needle. A soft puff of spray hit the injection sight numbing it. It didn't numb the pain when it jabbed my thigh muscle and took a sample of this new cell. With a curse they decided to take blood as well as bone samples. I was ordered to rest and get some sleep. Kat was waiting outside and winced when she saw me limping.

"I'm sorry but these new findings are a bit alarming." She admitted.

"Hey, at least you are being honest about it. Hold on... we passed my room." I cried out in surprise.

"Not anymore," Kat smiled as we took the elevator to the ninth floor. "Things were a little rushed, but I made a command decision. The champion should be treated like a champion. The revelation of the last two days has led me to protect our female players and make necessary alterations. Your room is just beneath the penthouse. Call it an added incentive or reward. I feel bad that I interrupted things forgive me?"

"Sure. You are looking out for me. I appreciate that. Holy shit, this is as big as yours. Is the entire floor mine?"

"Most of it. There are two smaller bedrooms attached to it. While you were being scanned, I talked to your two students and they agreed to a cooperative living arrangement. Isn't that right?" Kat asked as she opened the double doors revealing the master bedroom.

The bed was huge and occupied. Aoki and Kyanna were snuggled under the covers. I limped to the foot of the bed as Kat withdrew. The pair rushed out of the bed and helped me onto it and get comfortable. I heard the front door close as Aoki gingerly touched the bruised injection site.

"I think we need to take his mind off the pain." Kyanna suggested.

"We'll have to be gentle though," Aoki purred.

"Are you two okay with... UNNNNNN never mind." I gasped as they went on the offensive.

Fade In:

Kat Shaw held the scanner in her hand and groped her way around every available space searching for a hidden door. Booker's former room had to be part of the key to what was happening to him. All this accelerated growth, a new type of cell, and his waking up wet and the footprints. The scanner alerted to the portion of wall directly ahead of her. She flashed her ring which sent out a pulse of data. If there were a hidden door this should open it. An almost inaudible hum caught her attention as the panel silently slid open. The passage beyond was dark but her advanced physiology made that child's play. She strode down the hall confidently to the first of several room. An operating theater stood before her. Above the bed was the powerful flower shaped lights that could illuminate the area especially a patient on the surface below it. The light was extinguished for now but along the walls were dozens of instrument packages and to her surprise she didn't recognize any of them.

"What the fuck?!" She cursed as she noted three corporation names that were equally unknown. "Nox, get me a listing for these companies, holdings, board members, the works."

"I will comply," Her personal A.I. solemnly declared.

Kat explored the hallways and rooms that led from the operating room. One was a clean room where surgeons, in this case a single medical cyborg, could wash and prep for surgery. The cyborg was advanced, too advanced, and it wasn't a Numenor product. It wasn't covered in dust and seemed as if it were awaiting orders. She looked it over and found the manufacturing mark, Eidolon.

"Jon Masters. So, you are making cyborgs now?" She mused. Jon had disappeared after he was sent to Germany with his family aboard the Orient Express. "What is going on?"

She continued to explore. She smelled that strange chlorine scent that Booker had described when he woke this morning. She pushed open the spring hinged doors to a room filled with large egg-shaped containers. They were of dark metallic housing with a large glass aperture on one side. She couldn't see what was inside and crept closer. They appeared to be filled with an unknown clear fluid. All but one of them that is, one was empty, and the glass door was open.

"I don't like the looks of this." She muttered to herself.

The pods, as she thought of them, were so dark it was impossible to see their contents. There was something else in them besides the fluid.

"Please god, let me be wrong." Kat prayed as she neared one of the pods. She wiped the condensation from the aperture and peered inside. Something or someone was floating inside. They were in a fetal position and she couldn't make out their features. She took a step back startled and that is when she saw the reflection. Someone was standing behind her. He grabbed her in a vice like embrace and the damp cloth was placed over her nose and mouth.

'Don't breathe,' she willed but, in her shock, she inhaled deeply of the pungent chemical. 'No.' She wept as her body and mind went numb. Her vision quickly narrowed to a dark tunnel and then... nothing.

Fade to black.