“Yes,” Tripp’s voice developed a jarring and somewhat inhuman tone since the blast to his head, “I am.”
“No one cares, my friend. And why should they? What was it you told me when I found out I was, too?”
“No, don’t—”
“You’re a man, aren’t you?” Jaycee thumped him against the wall, shattering the cracks apart.
“Yeah,” Tripp muttered, close to tears.
Jaycee slapped the good side of Tripp’s face, “Don’t you dare cry in front of me, Captain.”
“I d-don’t know what to—
“—You have memories? A loving family, right?”
“Yes. I do.”
“What’s your son’s name?”
“Ryan,” Tripp’s pink tears sluiced through his shiny, synthetic skeleton. It trickled down his exposed row of teeth, “At least, I think he’s my son. I’m not so sure, now.”
Jaycee screwed his face at the lump of emotional technology he kept pinned against the wall.
“Then as far as everyone’s concerned, you’re a human being. What’s the difference?”
Tripp’s broken face revealed he was far from human. Both men knew that the reality of their situation was merely – literally, even – skin deep.
“You may be made of reinforced titanium, but you have a healthy set of organs like any other human. And a fully-functioning brain. You have memories.”
“I remember everything.”
“All that anger deep in your gut? Put it to good use. Focus it at those bastards in there.” Jaycee pointed at the door with his wiry stump and chucked Tripp forwards.
Wool’s eyes fluttered. She pressed her elbows to the ground and groaned. “Oh, oh, my head. I must have fallen asleep.”
Tripp moved away from the window and offered Wool his hand, “Get up.”
None of them saw the view of the ocean through the window. If they had, they’d have seen the tree slowly re-emerging in the center. This time, the branches resembled limbs rather than branches.
The spinning sun above it ravaged the sky, creating a soft vortex-like shape amongst the silky white clouds.
“What happened?” Wool groaned and held her forehead. The scratches on her face were still fresh, not that she’d noticed.
“We’re going to fight the bad guys—” Tripp threw Jaycee off him and grabbed his K-SPARK in both hands.
“—Wha… where’s Jelly?”
“We’re going to protect her,” Tripp pulled the creases out from Wool’s crumpled inner-suit, “Stay here and keep an eye on the E-MRI report. It’s the safest place for you.”
Wool saw half of Tripp’s face was missing, “My God, what happened to your face?”
“I fell.”
Jaycee burst with laughter at Tripp’s crap retort. At least his friend had finally snapped out his depression.
“That’s one hell of a staircase,” Wool attempted to touch the broken half of his skull, “It’s okay, Tripp. You’re human to me. I can’t imagine what it must be like discovering you’re an Androgyne. Just know that I’m on your side.”
Jaycee shook his head at Wool’s fresh naivety, “Better the devil you know, eh?”
“Jaycee, let’s go,” Tripp walked backwards toward the door and threw Wool a wink with his right eye. A partial success, given his eyebrow had ceased operation, “And I’m sorry for hitting you.”
“You hit me?”
“Never mind,” Jaycee bounded after Tripp as he walked through the door.
Wool felt the scratch on her cheek, “That explains that, then,” She turned to the E-MRI image and clicked her finger, “Commence diagnostic report, please.”
The abdomen contour glowed a bright pink. “What’s that?” she whispered, surprised by the image.
“ETA three minutes,” advised the machine.
Jelly bounded on all fours through the sliding door to Botanix. She slowed down to a cautious crawl, splashing along the three-inch pool of water that had formed from the broken H2O unit.
She lowered her head and lapped away at the water with her tongue.
CRASH-BAM-BAM-SCREECH!
The force field blanketing the broken end of Botanix prevented thousands of Shanta from entering the ship.
Jelly had yet to clock the apocalyptic commotion from outside. She was thirsty, and feeding time came first. Her ears lifted, finally attuned to the chaos that lay fifty feet away.
Bonnie ran into Botanix and clocked the Shanta trying to get in. She slid behind a battered plant and held her Rez-9 at the force field, “Jesus, they’re everywhere.”
Tor ran in after her and froze solid. “Oh, jeez. Forget that.” He turned around and made for the door.
“Hey, ass clown,” Bonnie pointed her gun at him. He threw his hands up and gasped.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Um, I thought I’d—”
BLAM!
She fired a warning shot across his shoulder, “You’re not going anywhere. You’re staying and fighting.”
“I don’t have a gun.”
“I know. We might need you as a protective umbrella, so stick around. Get over by the H2O unit and quit your whining. Now.”
“Okay.”
It was either get shot by Bonnie or torn apart by those things outside.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Bonnie smirked as she watched him run, “Our own little maggot bait to hook the fish.”
Jelly lifted her head at the word fish. She clamped eyes on the Shanta jumping at the force field and growled.
“Jelly, sweetie?” Bonnie yelled, “What are you doing?”
She pushed herself back on her hind legs and squatted on her knees. “Miew,” She lifted her behind, straightened her tail and stood up straight for the first time in her life.
“Oh, good God…” Tor’s jaw dropped at the wondrous sight of Jelly standing up straight like a proper, regular human.
She arched her back and pushed her chest forward. Her arms stretched out sideways. The infinity claws on each hand sprung out like a bladed star.
“Nggggg,” she winced and threw her head back, feeling spine adjust and straighten to that of a human. “Uh, uh, uh…”
Tripp and Jaycee stormed into Botanix, ready for war.
“Shhh!” Bonnie turned to them and waved them over. “Something’s happening to her.”
Jaycee clomped over to the opposite wall and sneered at the Shanta. He lifted the mount lever down on the side of his K-SPARK and lowered it to the ground.
“Stand back, people.”
The gun’s grip folded out in three directions and attached itself to the floor, propping the bulk of the weapon on a tripod. A devastating-looking turret waved its barrel left and right ready to open fire.
“It’s armed.”
Jelly’s hair dropped down the back of her neck. Standing a clear four feet tall, the back of her neck and shoulders suggested she’d formed into a healthy adolescent.
She turned around and faced Tripp, Bonnie, and Jaycee.
“Jelly…” Bonnie said, softly. “You’re…”
“I am,” she said in her new sultry and husky voice. Only a small semblance of cat remained as the ship hovered a few feet from the grounds, “They like war. Let’s give them war.”
“Okay, Jelly,” Tripp said.
“Then, we go,” she finished in her six-year-old girl’s voice.
He lifted his K-SPARK in both arms, “Do it.”
Gracefully, Jelly twisted around and held her palm out. The pain in her stomach bulged a glowing, bright pink color.
She spread her infinity claws out and held her palm to the force field, humming to herself, “Da-da-da-dumm…”