Chapter 7 War, War never changes part 3

(Jason)

=I winced=

Ah, old wounds are the worst. You find out how much they still hurt when they get opened.

(Dormii)
Yeah...it's even worse when you made them yourself.

(Jason)

Ouch.

==I took a sip of water=

Well, you have my sympathies.

(Dormii)
=i nod=
Thanks. So, what have you been up to?

(Jason)

Not much. Miranda was just telling me that due to the increased size of the ship, we're going to need a crew. She's going to put some feelers out for some old friends of hers that she says would be perfect for the jobs.

+++listen and read+++

"Defeat is Unacceptable!
Move! Repel the enemy!"
says the commandont.

Soldiers begin to line up in formation. Men move. I sit upon a rock overlooking the camp. I see an army in the distance the enemy. I don't remember anything of my past life. only what I am capable of. The Orb told him to fight, but not for who. He chose the more primitive warriors favoring their ideals more than the more advanced enemy. The Marched into battle, against vehicles, tanks, Falcons and more. Armed with Machetes, simple pistols, bows and arrows. He fought beside them a Giant.

He flipped over a tank, killing the drivers. a Warthog tried to run him over, he hijacked it, and killed the driver, shooter, and passenger. He killed infiltrators, Snipers, pilots, and the enemy. The Planet made long term inhabitants taller, stronger, and more agile. over time, men grew two to 3 feet. Nikolaus believed there was something in the air, or the ground that made this possible. He himself, with his altered DNA grew more as he stayed on the planet. He felt younger, more agile. He was now nearly 10 feet tall. The next tallest Male was eight foot seven. the women were only 6-8 inches shorter than the men. some were taller, but they were special. Some biological factor caused them to be more fertile, ignored by the natural predators, and loved by certain animals.

the Battle raged on. We won. I looked at the tags some of the Enemy wore, UNSC. I didn't remember what that meant, but it stirred odd feelings of resentment and pride.

(Dormii)
Have you looked around in the civilians population? I'm sure there is an engineer or two in there somewhere.

(Jason)

Well I would, but part of being in a relationship is that whole quid pro quo thing: If I want something, I need to give something in return. And she wants her friends with her.

=I leaned back a little=

And don't take this the wrong way, but I'd rather it was people she knew instead of people from here. I don't mean anything by that. I just want to keep her comfortable.

(Dormii)
=i get up and grab a bottle of honest-to-gods milk. As in, from an Earth cow, milk=
No, I understand. How can you work with someone who you don't trust?

(Jason)

Yeah, that's true.

=I was silent for a bit=

So, what's up? Anything going on?

(Dormii)
=i drink a bit=
Well, the UNSC is coming again.

(Jason)

Dormii wrote:

Well, the UNSC is coming again.

=I was drinking some water when he said that, so I was slightly embarrassed when I spit it out in surprise, and it hit someone at the other table=

Sorry, sorry.

=I turned to Dormii=

What?

+++listen and read+++

As the convulsions stop, young Nicholas comes out of his comatose state panting, tired, but awake. One of the restraints and broken, he had kicked a Doctor into a medical tray. The Doctor looked at him in surprise, seeing him awake was astonishing, as his condition was unique and unheard of. He unstraps himself and gets off the bed, still panting. He helps the doctor up, and leaves silently and quickly. He jogged lightly to the Messhall, feeling energetic and hungry. As he does this, vox disappears. People look at him strangely, not recognizing him. He began to notice for the first time that people knew he was not a civilian or shipmate. He talked to an Engineer on the ay to the messhall, he had been headed the same way. The Engineer was Christopher Senkigich. apparently he had just fixed something in the agricultural part of the ship, the young lad talked with him about engineering, expressing great interest. The engineer and the boy talked for 10 minutes, sat together in the Messhall and talked for even longer. In the end, when the engineer was called back to work, Nick had learned much, and gained a friend.

(Dormii)
=i start cracking up when he spews the water=
UNSC is showing up again.

(Jason)

Well, Miranda is going to love this

=I ran my hand through my hair=

Shit, when will they get here?

(Dormii)
No idea. Zero told Zeru. I was just kinda listening in. If he knows he didn't say.

(Jason)

Well that's just great.

=I drummed my fingers on the table as I thought=

On the bright side, I'll be able to test the upgrades in combat.

(after the engineer leaves)
(looking around)
(sits at his table with a plateful of food)

(Dormii)
Yeah. Invisible ship with possibly the most dangerous weapons known to human kind. Should be fun.

=i smile and see Nic off by himself. i wave=
Hey, Nic!

=walks into messhall and grabs a bite to eat not noticing anyone else=

(turning at the sound of his name)
(doesn't know where the caller is)

(Dormii)
=i wave some more=
Nic!

(looking around, looking for the caller)
(spots Dormii waving frantically)
(picks up tray and sits at the table)

(Dormii)
Hey, Nic, how have you been?

=i take a drink of milk, again=

uhm, swell, i guess

(unconvincingly)

(Jason)

=I got up=

Okay, I'm gonna head back to my ship. Talk later?

(Dormii)
=i nod to Jason=
Yeah. Later, man.

=to Nic=
You don't seem convinced.

(Jason)

Thanks

=I headed back for my ship=

(introverted)

I…………don't know.

(Dormii)
C'mon, you can talk to me. I'm the closest thing to a confessional this ship has.

(humor)
ha, like the Stranger confessional?
no thanks, i'll take my chances with a priest or qualified psychologist.

(Dormii)
=i chuckle=
Not quite. See, I do have a religion, and I do practice it, but it doesn't have an priests or holy men, save for the Founder.

=i shrug=
The way I see it, it's better than nothing.

(conversationally)
Well, I'm Traditional-Roman-Catholic, so i'll stick to the priest of the church.
who's the founder?

(Dormii)
Equalitarian, for me. And we don't know. We know it was founded during the 21st century, near when AI were first being developed. The Founder, whoever he or she may be, created this religion to allow true freedom to be practiced.

(conversationally)
ok, interesting.

(Dormii)
=to Zeru=
Not quite.

=i look back to Nic=
For example. I believe Catholics worship on Sundays, is that right?

yup, who are you talking to?

(looks around)

I don't see anyone talking to you...

(Dormii)
=i tap my comm unit=
Sorry, comm unit. Well, Catholics worship on Sundays, Equalitarians don't worship anyday, we worship everyday, or none at all. To worship only one day would show inequality to the other days. It would show preference. Equality is about getting rid of that as much as possible.

(looks around, someone was near the cafeteria area getting food, but no one looked like they were talking to Dormii)

okay...

(Dormii)
=i take a drink of milk=
As well as a few things that seem to, well, not make much sense, I guess. Like how a priest is needed to marry two people together. How can a third person know how strongly two people love each other?

(laughing)
bahahahaha, you don't know much about it then. but whatever, continue………

(Dormii)
=i look at him=
You first, help me fill in the gaps. What is the priest for in marriages?

(more laughter)
isn't it obvious?
The Priest is there for assurance of the couple and to help them build a spiritual bond, the whole point of Marriage is to Spiritually bond yourself to another, effectively becoming one. One Adam and One Eve.

=laughs=

spritual bond my ass makes it seem like if a priest don't do it the marriage will fail

(Dormii)
And yet, if the priest is unavailable, then the marriage cannot happen.

Do you hear something?

(looks around, only Dormii and Nick are in the masshall)

huh

(Dormii)
You okay?

yeah, i'm fine

(Dormii)
You sure? You've been looking around a lot recently.