Junip flinched as Gunmetal shouted from his bed. Ze shot him a glare and brought a finger to zir lips to shush him. The Grey was staring wide-eyed at Orion, hand on his hip as he reflexively reached for a gun that wasn’t there. The Grey was clearly frightened and confused by the twisted metal monstrosity currently in captivity. But that was strange. Orion was badly warped, but surely Gunmetal recognized him?

  The thought was abruptly cut off as Orion stirred. One huge, disfigured limb shifted and scattered the fallen items across the floor. Junip was spurred into action. If Orion woke up in this state, ze wasn’t sure if even the Quarantine Chamber would hold him.

  Closing zir hand to dispel the ball of psionic energy, Junip opened the door and quickly got to work before the Org stirred. Scanning the floor, Junip found what ze was looking for. Vine fingers snatched the repair kit from the far corner and quickly slapped it against the brain implant.

  Orion spasmed violently. Junip ducked as Orion’s left hand struck out and grabbed for zir. The Zylvaan wasn’t quick enough, and the chitinous black fist closed over zir remaining antler. Dr. Birchett jerked back instinctively and the horn came away in Orion’s hand with a sickening Snap!

  Orion roared and his body started to twitch and flail like a dying insect. Junip leaped backwards through the open door, landing on zir back. Ze kicked out with a stiletto-like foot and hit the Close Door panel with zir heel. The door shut just as the pickax hand slammed against the reinforced glass, the strike aimed at the prone doctor. Amber sap oozed down Junip’s face, zir usually serene face frozen in a rictus of terror.

  Still, the frenzied Cy-Org thrashed in his containment. Heavy limbs pounded against the walls impotently, the structure holding firm. The surgical tray was smashed against the door like a club, crumpling the equipment’s steel frame from the force of the blow. Orion’s shrieks echoed through the room as the living cybernite metal started to recede from bleeding flesh.

  As Orion’s implants grew more compromised, gouts of green fire started issuing from the seams of his back plates. Black smoke filled the Quarantine chamber, mercifully obscuring the transformation. Occasionally a limb would slap wetly against the glass, leaving behind blue streaks of blood.

  Junip stood shakily and backed away from the scene. The Terran nurse offered her shoulder for support, which the doctor gratefully accepted. The trainees had abandoned their stations to assist, their now failed tests left unattended.

  Junip was about to call the guards when the noises began to die down. The fire suppression system turned on inside the glass enclosure, pouring white foam into the small room. This continued for some time before the super-heated flames died down. This left a few feet of foam filling the bottom few feet of the chamber, and black soot staining the glass walls.

  The Med Bay was deathly quiet, save for the occasional pop of hot metal shrinking under the frothy layer of foam and the steady beep of health monitors.

  Junip slowly lowered a shaking hand from the emergency comm window open on zir HUD, seconds away from contacting Max.

  Gunmetal limped over to the Quarantine Chamber, an office chair awkwardly clutched in his hands like a baseball bat.

  “Seriously, what the hell is that thing?” Gunmetal asked in a shaky voice.

  The Kreelux nurse gave him an odd look before answering, “It’s Orion. You know, the Governor?”

  Gunmetal shot a panicked look at her, “You have a monster for a Governor?”

  “What? He’s not a monster, he’s an Org!” The nurse corrected indignantly.

  Gunmetal stared at her a moment. He clutched his bruised head, lowering the chair to the ground with his other hand.

  “Ahh! My memory is a bit foggy. I must be from my head injury.” Gunmetal moaned, “Orion! Of course I know Orion.”

  Junip turned and shushed them with a frantic wave of zir hand.

  As the two started to have a whispered argument, Junip slunk closer to the door. The sounds had stopped. Keeping the emergency line open on zir HUD, Dr. Birchett reached out with a trembling figure and unlocked the door.

  White lather tinged light blue at the bottom pooled out of the door as it slid open with a hiss. More froth was draining into the sarcophagus portal, being sent to some unknown destination. Smoke billowed out of the open doorway and was sucked into air vents that activated automatically for just such a purpose. Nothing disturbed the fluffy carpet of foam.

  Orion sat bolt upright in the middle of the chamber, rising like a Kaiju emerging from a turbulent sea. His clothes were shredded, leaving him topless aside from a few scraps of blood soaked blue fabric and foam. His hair was disheveled like a swamp hag, burned and standing out in every direction. His skin had been peeled like an orange, blue muscle and sinew exposed over half his body. His implants had subsided almost back to his default settings, but there was new growth on his shoulders, hips and temple. His eyes were wild and unfocused as he stared at the four shocked faces watching him.

  “Someone tried to kill me!” Orion shouted, then keeled over with a splash of foam. He was unconscious before he hit the ground.

  “I wish you’d have called me sooner,” Max scolded Junip. “There was no telling what would have happened if Orion had escaped in that state.”

  Sheriff Thrustar was in the Med Bay, under the pretense of keeping an eye on Orion. Mostly he was there to comfort his partner after that harrowing encounter with a rampaging Cy-Org. Junip was stoically protesting that ze was fine, but Max was well practiced at sensing zir moods. Ze was more shaken up than ze let on, but was maintaining a brave facade to keep the patients and nurses calm. He didn’t push the issue, and Junip took comfort from his presence.

  Cyclone and Titan (Possibly Surge) were guarding Orion as he recuperated in a medical bed. His Orgish regeneration had already healed the worst of his injuries, and his skin was slowly knitting back together. Despite looking like his jovial, carefree self again, both men had their rifles drawn, but at ease.

  Rusty had somehow detected the mess and had already roped off the Quarantine Chamber. He was diligently mopping up the mess with his usual synthetic grumbling. Gunmetal was nearby, watching the mustachioed Cy-Org janitor suspiciously.

  Max nodded his head toward Gunmetal’s direction and asked, “How’s he doing?”

  Junip finished applying a small health patch to zir missing antler and disposed of the sappy bandages. Ze glanced over at the pacing Grey and sighed.

  “He seems to be experiencing some memory loss,” Junip answered. “Possibly from the blow to the head. Other than that he’s mostly fit. I’d recommend bed rest for the next week.”

  Max shook his head with amazement. “It’s incredible that his injuries weren’t worse!”

  Junip ‘Hmm’d’ noncommittally. Gunmetal’s injuries didn’t line up with memory loss. However, he had experienced a great deal of trauma due to the attack.

  The door to the lab slid open and Xing clicked in, completely nude. She pushed her way past the startled nurses and made a beeline for Orion’s bed. Gunmetal tried to scramble out of the sashaying Jrassk’s path, slipping on the wet floor and landing with a splash in the foam. Rusty grunted and pushed the flopping Gunmetal with his mop, sending him spinning across the floor like a curling stone. There was a crash as a different surgical tray was knocked over, sending tools clattering to the floor.

  Max stood to put an end to Xing’s swath of destruction, but Junip was prepared.

  “No. We’ve talked about this young lady,” ze ordered. “No nudity in the Medical bay. It’s not sanitary.”

  Xing skidded to a halt at the voice of authority. Max well knew that Junip’s tone had all the measured cadence of a mother who was sick of your shenanigans. It was the voice of someone who, if said hijinx didn’t immediately cease, would be very disappointed in you.

  Xing shuddered as the maternal command washed over her. She squirmed under the Doctor’s gaze, then lifted her chin haughtily. Attempting to fold her arms defiantly Xing missed completely, her right arm meeting only empty air where the lost prosthetic would have been. Xing’s scales turned pink as embarrassment washed over her and she quickly equipped a black tank top and baggy camouflage cargo pants from her inventory.

  “Sorry Ma’am,” Xing muttered quietly, swaying her hips from side to side nervously. “Is Orion okay?”

  Max relaxed and beamed at Junip with a look of open adoration. Xing was always a problem prisoner before the formation of Phoenix. Yet not even the most hardened criminal ever messed with his Junip.

  Junip nodded with satisfaction, “Orion’s recovering in bed three. He’s sleeping, so don’t disturb him. And there’s no need to hack his nanos, his natural regeneration ability is already working overtime.”

  Xing’s scales brightened to her normal verdant green as she quietly said, “Yes, ma’am!”

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  She tiptoed the rest of the way to Orion’s bed. She pulled out a swivel chair from her inventory and sat down, crossing his legs over the seat. She pulled up several HUD screens and summoned Phish. She started to monitor his vitals and compared notes on the virulent computer virus against the meteor’s. Phish swam over to the Quarantine Chamber and pulled up more windows to monitor Rusty’s stats. For his part, the lanky Cy-Org was unperturbed by this, busy washing the soot-covered walls.

  “Xing could make a decent doctor herself if she refined her hackzor trade.” Junip said thoughtfully. “Respecing as a nanotech would make good use of her hacking skills. Maybe she’d agree to some medical training with the girls.”

  Max stood and cupped Junip’s cheeks, planting a kiss on zir petal soft lips. Ze smiled at him and returned the kiss. leading to a small makeout session that nauseated Phish as he swam past. He stepped back, still brushing his partner’s cheeks with his thumbs.

  “You’re amazing, you know that?” Max said as he separated from zir, “I can see you’ve got this situation well in hand. I’m going to go check on the progress of the turrets. The Smuggler’s Union just brought a bunch of scrap back and the Construction Union should be starting work now.”

  “Be safe,” Junip ordered.

  Max smiled, “Always.”

  Gunmetal stepped up next to Max, still sopping with mop water. He saluted, a roll of bandages loosely tangled around his arm.

  “Ready to go, Captain!” Gunmetal exclaimed.

  Max cast a worried look at Junip. Turning to Gunmetal, Max shook his head.

  “Not you, soldier. You’re still on bed rest.” Max cut off any protest by adding, “Doctor’s orders. My hands are tied.”

  Rhythmic beeping sounds cut through the fog of Orion’s consciousness. There were no sounds of fighting or screams, so he relaxed for a moment to take stock of himself.

  He was clearly laying down on something soft, a blanket tucked over him. There was a warm pressure on his stomach, like a tiny weighted blanket. He wasn’t feeling any pain, aside from the accustomed dull ache that came from his overgrown implants. Shifting his body revealed that his peg leg was attached to his stump, the phantom leg pain he sometimes got was both familiar and weirdly comforting. There was the distinctive smell of disinfectant and the musk of rodent.

  Safe. He wasn’t in any immediate danger.

  He slowly opened his eyes and found himself staring into the holographic glare of an animated ichthyosaurus.

  “Damn. You survived,” groused Phish.

  “Stop that,” Xing scolded and waved her hand through the grumpy AI, causing him to swim away. She smiled at Orion, “You didn’t hurt anyone.”

  Orion sighed with relief, tension he didn’t realize he was feeling draining away. He still felt exhausted, a side effect he got when his regeneration had a lot of damage to recover. He idly glanced over to see several IV’s were connected to him, keeping him hydrated while his body repaired itself.

  One of Gemini’s bodies climbed over his chest, nuzzling a helmeted head against Orion’s cheek. The other body wubbed lazily and rolled over on Orion’s stomach, the pink car’s wheels spinning as he chased something in his dreams. Orion gave the blue Ratillac King’s dark fur a scritch and kissed Gem’s visor. The black screen lit up with a red LED heart.

  “There’s my good boys,” Orion cooed, “Were you worried about me?”

  Xing swiped her HUD windows to the side and watched Orion appraisingly. She swayed in her seat, calculating her next words.

  “We all were. You fell out of the sarcophagus still fully transformed into a Cy-Org.” Xing said carefully, “The Doc was able to reverse some of it, but there’s some lasting damage. You’ve got a 10% corruption rate in your implants. That’s just a small jump from the 5% you had before, but-”

  Orion said the unspoken part out loud, “But it could get worse the longer I stay here. Especially now that Bite Rock’s gooey nougat core of evil has been fully exposed.”

  Xing gave him a curious look, “I’m just going to assume that made sense and say ‘Yes’. The Grunge even attacked me, hence why I’m disarmed. Tried to take over my cybernetics, same as yours, so anyone not fully organic is in danger.”

  Orion glanced at the empty ball socket on Xing’s artificial shoulder. He was about to ask when another pressing question nudged to the front of his brain.

  “I’m sorry, the ‘Grunge’?” he asked.

  Xing nodded, “The weird living black ooze stuck to the ERROR ore. Random called it ‘grungy stuff’, and Grunge is a better name than just calling it ‘the corruption’ or something cryptic like that. From what I can tell it seems to be made up of a bunch of tiny nanobots but like, evil.”

  Orion tried to keep up, “So it’s alive?”

  Xing thought about this, “Yes. Maybe. In the same way a virus is alive. It shares a lot of properties with cybernite, like your implants. But where your implants have a symbiotic relationship with your body, the Grunge is more like a parasite. It seems to take over a host, ravaging the body until it takes over even the organic parts. I think that’s why you find bones inside dead Cy-Org corpses.”

  The Quarantine Chamber’s door hissed open and Rusty stumped out, dragging the mop bucket stuck to his foot behind him. He gathered up his caution cones and glared at Orion. Metal tusks poked out from the wire brush mustache as the custodian growled. Rusty eventually turned and shuffled off to attend to the next mess.

  Orion shivered, “So, the Cy-Orgs might be sentient?”

  “I’m-” Xing hesitated. “We’re not sure. The Prof and I have been comparing notes, and we think they might be. But the Grunge is definitely what’s transmitting the virus, not the crystal. That’s why the further away from the signal, the more lucid Cy-Orgs appear.”

  Xing pulled up videos of the mining operation under the crater. The Slumgum Gang had surreptitiously installed cameras along the ceiling to monitor the activity below. The mutant Cy-Orgs were all mining. Those that weren’t excavating were transporting ore towards the giant orange portal near the head of the Terraworm Matriarch. Stringy cords of Grunge were pulsing on every gold-ish crystal in sight, throbbing like clotted veins.

  Xing continued, “we think the Grunge is the reason you were mining so much. The signal is forcing the Cy-Orgs to dig for ERROR ore.”

  Orion scooted to a sitting position carefully so as not to disturb Genini’s nap.

  “But why?” Orion asked, “What does black sludge want with crystal?”

  Xing speculated, “We think the ERROR ore is creating the Grunge, just like how cybernite is produced in your bone marrow. We have to run some tests before we’re sure.”

  Orion looked at the ceiling thoughtfully. He thought about his options.

  “I need to get rid of it,” Orion concluded.

  “Random and the Construction Union have already roped off Bite Rock and are chipping away at it, dropping the pieces into the crater.” Xing responded, “Speaking of which, are you still carrying around a chunk of ore with you?”

  Orion was surprised by the question. He wracked his brain but couldn’t remember what he’d done with it. Pulling up his inventory window, he saw that it had gotten filled with random crap again. Orion started to pull out useless items and set them on the bedside table next to him. After a few moments of digging, Orion winced and found the offending chunk of crystal. He set the ERROR ore down on the table, which caught the attention of the Terran nurse. She quickly flounced over and removed the rock, almost sprinting over to the waste disposal chute and tossing it inside.

  “My bad,” muttered Orion, caught off balance. “Well, if Bite Rock is being taken care of I should get working on the turrets.”

  “MacTruck has already started building a new turret tower,” interrupted Xing. “And before you ask, every task from that town meeting is being worked on. Mayor Fussypants, as much as I hate to admit it, has things covered. There’s nothing for you to do in Phoenix.”

  Orion’s hangdog expression made Xing frown. She stood and leaned over the bed, kissing him on the forehead. “That doesn’t mean you have nothing to do.” Xing consoled him, “It just means you get to do the fun stuff.”

  Stunned by the sudden display of affection, Orion stammered, “W-what fun stuff?”

  Xing smiled, “Explore! You’re the head of the Star Explorer’s Union, aren’t you? You mentioned another buried city, that seems like a good place to start. You get some rest, I have to finish some preparations before we can leave.”

  Xing closed her HUD and gathered her chair before walking off without another word. Phish swam after her, turning to stick his tongue out at Orion as they made their exit. Orion felt comforted by the kiss and the thought that he could still be useful to his beloved city. He started to drift off to sleep, lulled by the warmth and soft snores of Gemini when something Xing said came screaming to the forefront of his mind.

  Orion’s eyes shot open. “We?”