Aberration, Part 2

Aberration, Part 2


Light met Kane's eyes briefly as he fell back towards the ground. Blindness took him over again as the black sludge enveloped him, becoming his body, restoring his previous size and form.

"Get your clothes back on," he heard his attacker say.

Kane opened his eyes again, shaking a bit. The light stung, but these eyes had just been regenerated by the sludge, so it was natural they'd be a bit sore.

"What are you waiting for?" the attacker asked. "Get your clothes."

Kane felt around for his clothes by the base of the tree, and hurried to put them back on. So many weird things happened in so little time.
After about a minute, he was almost completely dressed again. He stood up slowly, using the tree to brace himself.

"What's wrong?"

Kane laughed quietly. He didn't know why he was laughing. Nothing was funny about his situation.
In the past few minutes, he'd had most of his body matter blown off; his size reduced; he'd been swallowed, thoroughly interrogated, barfed back up, and now here he was.

"You ate me," he said quietly, without turning around.

"It happens," the attacker said, all too casually. Her voice was calm, as if it was something she did all the time.

Kane finished buttoning up his blue-and-black shirt, and then turned around to face the assailant, still in shock.

It was another jackal Xeeok, much taller than himself. She stood well over seven feet. Her fur was various shades of brown, with some black. Another feature of hers was that she had long, red hair on her head, hanging down to around the middle of her spine.
Her torso was covered by an off-red garment. The irregular gray markings around the neck and shoulders suggested that her clothing wasn't always red. Her khaki pants were secured on her hips by a leather belt that looked sort of worn. On her head was a tan bowler hat, which had holes for her ears to fit through.

"You had said earlier you were looking for someone named Yhana Iyalesh, right?" she asked.

Kane nodded, trying to get over the fact that he'd just been inside this person. Although, stranger things could have happened, and he knew it.

"You found her," the predator said.

"Ah. Great..." he sighed. He'd dealt with enough weirdos already.

"So, why were you looking for me?"

"Transport," he said quickly, a bit under his breath. "I heard that you're a member of the crew of the ship, Stormrunner, and that you can usually be found on land. I'd heard that said ship was here, so I searched in areas I'd been told you could be found at.

"I came looking for you to see if I could get a ride to another island," he continued, "I've been on this one for quite some time."

"I'll see what we can do about that. You've got money, I'm guessing?"

"Yes. I've been on this island for a few weeks. I've gone through a few employers in that time."

"Good. We'll probably be able to get you a ride."

"Any specific price?"

"No, the captain's a bit fickle. It normally depends on what sort of a mood he's in, or how tight the schedule is. Just hope he's happy, and he may be able to give you a decent price."

"Ah." Kane looked around at the broad expanse of grass; trees sparsely placed around the field. "So, you're here often?" he asked, trying to break the silence.

Yhana walked over to the tree as Kane stepped away from it. "Yes. I like quiet places like this. Both the ship and the city are too loud for me to think straight in, most of the time."

"I can understand that," Kane said. After another moment of awkward silence, he said, "Well, I guess I'll just be on my way."

"Alright then," Yhana said. "We're planning on leaving tomorrow afternoon. You should be able to find our ship at the docks at the edge of the city."

"Okay." Kane started to walk away, but then stopped, turned around and started to inquire, "Next time you see me, are you going t--"

"I'll be gentle," Yhana answered, interrupting him. After a pause, she smiled a bit and said, "Joking; we can skip the assault next time."

"Great," Kane breathed in relief. He walked off without another word, leaving the predator to herself.

>>>>>

Uloth stepped out of the water, just as dry as he was before going in. His five Aberrations followed, dripping with seawater.

It was the simplest way to travel. Teleportation of so many subjects would have used too much energy, and all ships and watercraft of any kind had left the ruined island. And a walk underwater wasn't so bad. Breathing wasn't a necessity for him or his minions. The sea around the general area was rather shallow; at the floor, there wasn't enough pressure to crush the Syringe or the Aberrations.

His current base of operations wasn't too far away from the recently destroyed island he'd found his new followers on; it was a rather small piece of land, but the abandoned lighthouse on it provided him with a good amount of storage, shelter, and privacy. Not that anyone came around here.

Uloth stopped outside of the heavy doors, and turned to the pile of machinery next to it. He walked over to it, and then dug his right hand deep into it, searching for a switch. His long index finger touched down on it eventually, and as soon as he heard the thing start up, he withdrew his hand to give the Aberration some room.

While operating, the Aberration didn't look much different. It still looked like a junk pile; the only difference was that it moved. Two metal claws dug between the double-doors, and forced them open. Uloth and the five salvaged constructs walked into the lighthouse, and the construct outside shut the doors, before moving to the side and powering off.

When it was needed, Uloth could get back outside; he had a machine hooked up to the doors that could open them from the inside. He'd been planning to repair the Aberration outside so it could operate full-time, but he'd never gotten around to it.

The five Aberrations recieved a telepathic signal telling them to go to the lower floors, and they did so. The lowest floor was where all of Uloth's Aberrations hibernated until they were needed.

Uloth took a different ramp, going up to what was once a floor used for astronomy. Nothing too high-level, just simple moon study. He had remodeled it over time, making it an area in which he could Aberrate with plenty of room and equipment.

He dropped the heavy bag full of parts on the floor. He brought a bag with him to the dead island, and he had filled it rather well while he was there. Thanks to his mechanical enhancements, he was able to carry heavy loads, even at his old age of 110.

He opened up the bag and dug through it, checking to make sure he'd gotten all the parts he needed. Upon finishing, he would have smiled, if his plague-mask face was flexible enough.

All parts were accounted for. His new reconnaissance agent would be ideal.