33. A Rude Awakening

        Malodon, god of Transformation, rummaged through his tools and machinations, thinking creatively, simple deception had been sufficient to secure funding for the Crystal Gen Program Research but he still had to figure the puzzle out in order to move forward with the concept. He paused to study the setup in his lab for a moment, then selected the moth box, placing it on a grip stand between the fetus and the skull. He then connected the wires from a generator to the control panel on one of the artificial wombs and connected a wire to the host, unconscious on the bed beside it. He adjusted the dials, flipped a few switches and began to administer electrical shocks to the midterm fetus, via the host. But once again, to his dismay, the moth remained still at the bottom of the box.

         "Damn!"

         Meanwhile, across the water in Atlan, the blast that had brought the Underworld to a grinding halt was headline news, reminding the citizens of the Atlan Empire that the threat of annihilation was very real, everyone was to live in fear of Aquilla. Today the tabloids announced a solution: a Coming War, that The Time to annihilate the ancient beast once and for all, had finally arrived. Nerves were steeled, from the bowels of the city to the penthouse suite tempers were short. In spite of the media op, the benign source and exciting discoveries the latest lab explosion had in fact granted, Atalon was in a bad mood.

         "I want him gone!" Embarrassed, the king threw the Tabloid on the table and sat down in his chair while Halios poured him a glass of wine.

         "Yes" Halios agreed. "We all do. This time we will annihilate Aquilla once and for all!"

         "Him too!" The king snapped. "I want that Orius aribu gone! He knows WAY too much and has WAY too much power at his disposal. Bomb the Engine Chamber! Mighty Medel! Next thing you know he'll bomb the Villa!"

         "Yes…" Halios agreed. "He's a threat, I agree." He had seen the damage, Orius had dangerous talents but they were valuable, nonetheless. "He needs to be somewhere that has more limited resources, facilities, budgets and materials." 

         "Zero resources, facilities, budgets and materials!" the king corrected.

         "Maybe we should send him to Ebar, give him a colony gig, that way we can keep him and control his resources, while giving him something fun to do so he won't complain. We need his brain, not his hands."

         A knock at the door interrupted the discussion, it was a visit from Seton, he had some good news, his new medifications were having some notable results. Hungry for good news Atalon's mood was lifted immediately, but Halios was skeptical of Seton's new claims, he knew how questionable his research and subjects were. "You've probably only tested it on Moha Lab expirees! How can you arise at such confident conclusions when you're using such questionable test subjects?"

         "Halios is right!" Atalon agreed, "Moha expirees are for preliminary testing only. Why don't you try it on some of the soldiers and see how it works on them?"

         Angry, Halios objected. "NO HE WILL NOT! Why should I let Seton waste my first class aribu on his ridiculous Lunie experiments?" 

         But Atalon just shrugged. 

         "At a time like this?" Halios gestured to the Tabloid on the table. "You CAN'T be serious?"

         "Dion has the first class gens" Atalon reminded. "Like you said, Seton's only got Moha Lab expirees to work with. If he's having so much success he ought to be testing on working aribu, strong aribu, the ones we need it for. Idiot!"

         Halios felt the sting of insult, he had seen the expirees wasted on Seton's experiments yet he knew in his gut Atalon was right. Whether his aribu or aribu from one of the other departments, they would need to sacrifice some valuable resources in the name of science. The truth was, all of the Gens were disposable, especially his. 

         "I will arrange for one or two" he agreed, reluctantly.

         "Excellent!" Atalon returned to Seton. "I'll look at the results tested on the soldiers, not on the garbage Gens."

         Zara woke up slowly as the sun crept across her face, she opened her eyes half way, the green curtains billowing gently in the wind were soothing to her pounding head... Green curtains? Where was she? Eyes open, she scanned the room, panicking slightly, the room was unfamiliar... She sat up, scared, unable to remember how she got there. But as she sat up, she realized she wasn't alone, there was someone sleeping beside her! Naked!

         Then, with horror she realized she was naked too! Panicking, she pulled one of the sheets up to over herself, thoughts racing... Slowly memories returned... The Green Serpent... The dancing… Nolan… 

         She glanced back at the sleeping body beside her... She had joined the Club! It was Nolan sleeping beside her! In shock, suddenly she couldn't remember anything! Why? Once again she scanned the room, trying to recall the events, she was in some kind of strange hotel room, the only familiarity was the portraits of Atalon, Malodon and Dion, hanging on the wall... Did she really join the Club? 

         She returned her search to Nolan, sleeping soundly under the covers... Wasn't it supposed to be magic? Something not so easily forgotten? She struggled to remember even one detail of the lusty affair, this was terrible! Had she really drank that much?

         Gently she pulled the sheet back a little... WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL HIS HAIR??? Confused, she walked around the bed to study his face when to her horror, she realized it wasn't Nolan at all! It was a complete stranger, she had never seen him in her life! Freaked out, she leapt backwards, knocking a vase off the book case with a crash.

         Bell grunted as the vase smashed, stirred but barely woke before drifting off to sleep again.

         For a moment, Zara froze, she didn't know what to do... Moments later she scrambled through the pile of blankets and clothes on the floor looking for her Tangerine dress, wrinkled and moist, it reeked of alcohol. She slipped it on, found her shoes and crept out of the room.

         As she emerged from the nightmare scenario and found the front door of the hotel, she became aware of how out of place she looked in her wrinkled frock and tousled hair in the early morning sun, a complete turnout violation for sure. Scared to be seen, she scanned the street, trying to recall where she was, geographically. The Circuit… It was round… It was round and round of hustle and bustle in the bright morning sunshine, aribu were everywhere opening their stores and setting up their merchandise displays…

         The clock tower of the merchant’s building at the harbor saved the day, she knew which way to go now. Heart pounding, Zara darted behind carts and doorways, greenery planters and alcoves as best she could toward the harbor, from there she would find her way back to the dorm.

         A sigh of relief washed over her as she made it to the front door of the building. But as she arrived at the door to her dorm, she heard a commotion coming from inside, banging... was Dena in trouble? Curious, she pressed her ear to the door, she could hear more banging and what sounded like sobbing coming from inside... A man's voice? It sounded like Dena was upset! Was she crying? Worried, she reached for the door handle and gingerly opened the door. But to her horror, Dena wasn't crying, she was naked, having heavy and sweaty sex with not only Josh, but Nolan too!

         Nolan stopped immediately when he saw her and sat up smiling. "Zara!" He was happy to see her at last. "I was hoping you'd come back, why don't you come join us?"

         But Zara froze... Nolan was having sex with Dena? Feeling sick with shock, she backed out of the room, closed the door and sat down in the hall outside, eyes filled with tears of humiliation and shame. But the noises continued to rock the dorm, Dena was clearly having a good time, and so was Nolan. 

         It went on and on and on… A hot tear rolled down her cheek as the reality hit home, one pounding grunt after another. Adamantly she wiped each tear away, she knew she was malfunctioning, she knew she wasn't supposed to react this way, but the tears just continued to flow. There was nowhere to go. Again and again she wiped her blurry eyes, her mind lost in a sea of toxic emotions, stuck sitting in a stinky moist Tangerine dress on the third floor hallway as the noises kept rocking from behind her dormitory door.