PATHOS
CHAPTER 3
BY ARTHUR
CONTACT AUTHOR:
Artcart65@gmail.com
authors note:
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Andre could not believe his luck, all that remained now was for him to learn everything he had to so he could fulfil his contract with Leon and the Government, as yet he did not have the faintest clue what he was going to be expected to do but it had to be better than what his future held as a lowly pleasure boy looking for contracts.
After a late dinner, Conrad adjourned to his own small apartment at the far end of the penthouse, Andre went to his new large bedroom, he tried to get a feel for it, it was so large he could still not get his head around the fact it all belonged to him, finally, as the need for sleep came over him in a rush that a full belly helped along, Andre stripped naked and collapsed into the majestic bed and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.
When he awoke late into the morning on his second day of being a home owner, Andre went to look in on his mother, she lay in her bed looking even more frail and ill than the previous day, Andre was now really worried about her, calling for Conrad he asked about medical help for her, within seconds, Conrad was on his communicator and only thirty minutes later a health crew was there.
After the health crew looked over his Mother, the senior of them pulled Andre aside.
"It does not look good Sir, she is very undernourished and this has led to some of her vitals breaking down, all we can do is take her to the hospital and look after her until her time comes, if she stays here with you I cannot promise she will see out the rest of the week."
Andre could feel the tears welling up in his eyes, he had never thought that his Mother was so ill that she had little time left, the realisation hit him hard and he collapsed onto a nearby chair, tears began to fill his eyes as he thought of all that his Mother had sacrificed for his future and now she was going to die because of those same sacrifices.
Suddenly a large hand was placed on his shoulder, looking up he saw the face of Conrad looking down at him with sadness.
"Andre, you have to do what you think is right, this is something no one else can decided for you, as your mother told you, you are now the man of the house so you have to decide."
Andre sniffled and gave a deep and heartfelt sigh, he had to do what was best for his Mother.
"Thank you, yes I think you must take her to hospital, please do everything you can for her, I will be in tonight to see her once she is settled."
"Which hospital would you prefer Sir?"
Conrad interrupted and gave the man a card.
"This is where you are to take her, they will be ready by the time you get there and are expecting her, all your fees are to be charged to this account."
Conrad gave the man another card.
"Thank you, is she still conscious, I'm sure she would want to see her son first?"
"No, I'm sorry she is still passed out, we will make her comfortable and take her to the hospital, perhaps it is best that she sleeps for now."
Conrad hugged Andre close as the men went in to load his Mother on the trolley for transport, this was going to be a hard day for such a young boy, one that had always been so dependent on his Mother for his decisions. Conrad stayed close to Andre as the trolley was wheeled out, Andre broke into stronger sobs as he saw his Mother taken away in such a state, he hugged closer to Conrad, he felt his bright new life had just been torn away.
"Conrad, what should I do now?"
"Now we go to see your Mother settled then we see what we will see."
Andre went to his room and dressed in better clothes, there seemed to be no shortage of them now that he had spent a day shopping. When he was nicely dressed he went down in the private elevator with Conrad and got in his car, thirty minutes later they were at the gates of a private hospital. Entry was by card only which Conrad took from the glove box and pushed into the waiting slot, next thing they were parking close to the main doors.
Andre followed Conrad as he lead them through four floors until they came to a private room. Outside the door were five Doctors, all seemed very involved in looking through a file folder, the looks on their faces did not help Andre's feeling of dread.
The oldest of the Doctors looked around and saw Andre, whispering to the others he left them and came towards the boy. When he was standing in front of Andre he held out his hand, Andre took the hand and gave it a single shake as was the form for a first meeting.
"Sir, I'm very sorry but your mother is in far worse shape than at first thought, we have done all the tests we can do and the prognosis is not good, I think you should prepare yourself for her loss, we think she may not last out the night, do you feel up to going to see her?"
Andre could only nod his head, how could she have deteriorated so quickly, Andre felt Conrad's comforting hand grasp his shoulder then walk beside him as the Doctor lead the way to the private room. The first sight of his very ill Mother only caused more tears to flow down his cheeks, he looked down at the thin sallow face, his Mother's eyes were dark and sunken even further than before, the tears increased.
Andre reached out and took the slack hand in his own; even he could feel the waxiness of the skin as he held her hand. His Mother's eyes flickered open and she tried her best to smile at her little boy, she had done everything she had set out to do and now she could rest, he was well prepared, had a good and wealthy sponsor and was on his way, she sighed and gripped his hand as best she could.
Andre could not believe she had slipped into this condition so quickly, he felt he still needed her, he was not old enough to look after himself, even though now he was in a better position than any pleasure boy had ever been but it looked as though it was all ready to fall apart, without his Mother to advise him he would be walking on thin ice.
Somehow his Mother could almost read what he was thinking, gripping his slender hand as tight as she could manage, she forced herself to speak, she well knew she had little time left, the last two weeks she had been living on pure adrenaline so he would be ready for the world outside before her time came, giving Andre a warm smile she said.
"Baby, you can do it, it's your time now, you know everything you need to know, remember, be the best pleasure boy you can be, try to be the best that has ever been seen on Pathos, even if you don't succeed at least try for it, I'm very proud of you my little boy but now it's your time, always remember I love you and will always be watching over you."
For Andre it was almost as though his Mother was just waiting for this time, as he held tightly to her hand he heard a deep long sigh escape from her lips, she shuddered for a few seconds and then he felt the warmth leaving her hands and her eyes closed as her head tilted to one side. As she stopped moving all sorts of alarms began to beep and ring, within seconds there were medical staff running through the door and trying to usher him outside.
Andre felt the strong hands of Conrad guiding him away to the waiting room, as he did so Conrad pulled his communicator from his pocket and made some calls.
It took no more than a few minutes before the same elderly Doctor walked up to Andre, the look on his face said it all, Andre now knew he was alone, the tears flowed harder and he could not hear a word the Doctor was saying, he felt to devastated to even try to make sense of it all, Conrad took over and Andre was left alone with his agony.
It was two days later when Andre next saw his Mother's body. She had been prepared by an expert and looked as though she was just taking a rest. The service was short but meaningful and as he watched her body taken away for cremation, he turned and buried his head in Conrad's chest, there seemed to be no way to turn off the tears.
The next day Andre got a call from the Councillor, after giving his condolences the Councillor told Andre they had postponed his training until he felt better. Andre told him not too, he needed to keep busy and as soon as his Mother's ashes arrived he would be ready to leave for the camp. Conrad watched as the small thin boy pulled himself up to his full height and seemed to glow with a new strength and determination, the boy had guts he thought to himself.
Andre's Mother's ashes arrived that afternoon, once he had shed the last tears he promised himself to ever shed again, he set about packing a small bag for the trip to the camp the next morning.
When the sun rose on the next day, Andre thought they would be travelling by car, instead, when he got to the parking area, he saw a three man hover jet just setting down on the fresh green lawn. He was eventually to learn that agency people only moved and were supplied with the best of equipment, the flight to the training ground took the jet two hours and that was at a speed Andre could not even guess at.
The camp turned out to be placed on an Island far out in the ocean between the two major land masses of Pathos, it was a very large Island situated close to the equator where it was like an oven on high during the day and an oven on medium during the night, it also seemed to rain in buckets for two or three hours every other day, it was torrential for the time it fell but then would stop as suddenly as it had started, it was a new experience for the small city boy.
When he stepped from the jet he was met by an older man, the man took one look at the small thin boy and shrugged his shoulders before saying.
"Fuck, are we getting this desperate?"
Conrad was quick to step in.
"This is Captain Lightfoot, he is under the protection of the Councillor, see that he is treated properly or your head will be on the block, he is to get his own quarters and be treated as though he was an officer of high rank, you will assign a Cadet to see to his needs, I will be staying here as well."
"And who are you, this is my facility, we're not here to cow-tow to prissy little pleasure boys."
Conrad did not answer the man he just took out his communicator and dialled a number, it took less than a second to get a connection, everyone within ear shot heard him speak to the disembodied voice on the other end of the connection.
"Councillor, we have a problem with the commanding officer of the facility, he seems to not want Captain Lightfoot here...yes Sir...very good Sir...thank you Sir."
Conrad replaced his communicator in his pocket then turned to the officer.
"Where is your 2nd In Command?"
"In the office where he should be."
"Call him here now by order of the Councillor."
The Senior Officer did not look happy as he talked into a shoulder mounted communicator, but within two minutes a younger officer was seen running towards them, when he came up to the small group Conrad turned to him.
"By the Order of the Councillor for Security, Leon Sadan, you will take full command of this facility and escort this officer to a place of detention; he is to receive no visitors until Councillor Sadan has approved it."
The younger officer looked as though he had just been punched in the face but managed to stutter out a prompt "Yes Sir, is there anything else Sir?"
"Yes, you will assign a young Cadet to take care of Captain Lightfoot; I believe he is expected at the medical office right now."
"Yes Sir, I shall attend to it immediately Sir."
While Andre was trying to see if Conrad had made a mistake, the younger officer started giving orders to other personnel that were close by, within moments Andre had a young teen by his side and the older officer was being escorted away, no one was ever to see him again, the younger officer suddenly found himself with a promotion that gave him two more stripes on his epaulet.
Andre and Conrad followed the young cadet, he looked to be about fifteen and wore a single white stripe on his shoulder epaulets to denote his junior officer status, Andre wanted to ask Conrad about the fictitious rank he had given the man before but did not get a chance before they stepped into the medical centre.
Waiting for him were four male doctors and a male nurse, they all had a stunned look on their faces as the three walked in, they had been told that a new recruit for the ministry would be arriving but had expected the usual adult and not a small boy that looked very much like one of the pleasure boys from the capital.
Conrad took over immediately.
"Doctors, this is Captain Lightfoot, you have the list for the procedures?"
"Ahm, yes but we were expecting an adult, this is just a young boy, will he be able to control the equipment?" asked the elder of the doctors.
"That's why he is here to be trained, now, Cadet, what is your name?"
"Junior Cadet Simmas Sir."
"Well Cadet Simmas, you will go to the Captains quarters and make them ready for when he leaves the medical centre, you will inspect his uniforms and make sure he has everything he ever needs including his weapons and clothing, as of this minute you are assigned to watch over him, anything he needs you will get for him, you will be permanently assigned until he leaves, any questions?"
"No Sir, I'll get to his quarters now Sir."
Once the cadet had disappeared, Conrad looked at the doctors.
"How long will it take before he can leave?"
"Three days Sir."
"Good Take care of him he is under the personal orders of Councillor Sadan, I'll be back to collect him once he is done."
Conrad left the medical centre and Andre was left in the hands of the strangers, he only hoped he would still be in one piece after they finished with him, the older doctor now smiled at him.
"Are you ready for this young man?"
"I don't know what `this' is yet but I suppose I have to be now."
"Good, good, now come this way we have everything ready for you."
Andre followed the group of five into another room, this one had a chair and a small narrow bed along with a small wardrobe. The doctor then asked him which was his dominant hand, after telling him it was his right and the doctor inspected both his hands for himself, he was told to strip and lay down on the bed, the last thing he remembered was the clear mask being placed over his mouth, from then on there was only a comfortable warm darkness.
Andre awoke with a start, he almost immediately began to panic, he could now only see out of one eye, the other was covered with something, both his hands and feet felt a little numb and there was a soft background hissing in his head, suddenly the familiar voice of Conrad came through the soft hissing.
"Hey it's Ok, everything went well you just have to adjust to the extras now, stay calm it's all Ok."
Andre looked to his right and saw the familiar face, Conrad looked calm so Andre began to settle down.
"What did they do to me?"
"It's all good stuff, you just need one more day and then you'll be back to normal then we can start your training, are you hungry?"
"Yes I'm famished, it's like I haven't eaten for days."
"You haven't, it's been three days since the procedure, wait and I'll call for the Cadet to find you something."
Andre relaxed back onto the pillows, he was now not so sure he had made the right decision, what if they had ruined his ability to dance the Terrasan or even worse, had made it impossible for him to be a pleasure boy any more, before the panic could set in once again, Conrad returned with the Cadet carrying a large tray of food, Andre's need for food overtook anymore worries he had.
Andre spent one more night in the medical centre before the doctors began to remove the pressure bandages from his hands and feet, after it was all done he was allowed to go to his new quarters, as usual they turned out to be far better than he would have expected of a military camp, everything he would need was set out for him by the cadet.
His uniform was the normal grey one piece, on the epaulets were the two gold embroidered bars of a captain and over the breast was his new name and a number, Cpt. Lightfoot on the right and 0001120 on the left, he still did not know why he was a Captain.
The Cadet brought in a tray of food for Andre and Conrad sat in a chair opposite as the boy began to wolf down the food, Andre's hands and feet still tingled a little but at least they had feeling, the soft hissing was still in his head but the blackness of his left eye was still a worry to him.
When he had finished eating, Andre looked over at Conrad who had been sitting silently while the boy ate.
"What have they done too me, I'm blind in my left eye and my head is all fuzzy?"
"Firstly you are not blind, you have a patch over your eye to protect it from the light, we can take it off soon, the hissing in your head can easily be turned off and, as for the rest of you, I think you will be pleasantly surprised, from this day on you will never have to be afraid of anyone again. Over the next two weeks we are going to train you to use all those special things the doctors gave you."
"Ok but why can't I see, if I can't see then I can't dance?"
"Alright Captain Lightfoot, then let's start with your eyes, I'm going to turn down the room lighting until you get used to the difference you now have, just a moment; Cadet Simmas!"
"Yes Sir?"
"There is no need for you to see or hear any of this, it is all classified so you can leave, we will call when you can return, until then you will keep all personnel away from the Captains quarters."
"Yes Sir, Very good Sir."
The Cadet saluted and left the quarters, the walls, unknown to Andre were soundproofed so there was no way for anyone to overhear what was about to be disclosed, after dimming the internal lighting, Conrad walked back to stand beside Andre's chair.
"Ok Andre, I want you to close your left eye, don't open it until I tell you."
Andre nodded and waited as he felt Conrad fidgeting with the patch over his left eye, he had to concentrate to keep it closed, when he felt the patch being removed he took a small breath and waited.
"Ok Andre, now I want you to close your right eye and keep it closed, when you have done that you can slowly open your left, at first it's going to be very bright and then out of focus but just be patient, it will clear in time."
Andre did as he was told, as he opened his left eye the bright flash of light made him wince and draw in another sharp breath, slowly he opened it further until it was wide open, the room was still dim but to his new vision it seemed too bright, everything around him was blurry and he tried to clear his sight by shaking his head a little.
"It's Ok, Andre, that's normal, just be patient, it will clear soon."
True to Conrad's word his vision began to clear, it took a few more minutes but soon he was able to have Conrad brighten the lights to normal, there was now just a hint of blurriness to his sight.
"It's still not fully clear Conrad, how can I dance if I can't see properly?"
"Well you might try shutting the camera off."
"What camera, what do you mean?"
"You have a miniature camera inserted in your left eye behind the pupil, it can be turned on and off by pressing your finger to your left temple with your left hand, try it. Place your finger on your temple and feel around a little, you should feel a small hard bar just under the skin, when you have it just tap lightly on it once and your eyesight will come back to normal."
Andre did as he was told, it took a few seconds to find the narrow thin bar just under the skin but, when he tapped it softly, his left eye came back to normal, he almost grinned with satisfaction as he looked at Conrad with a wide smile on his lips.
"What Else did they do?"
"Well now, the hissing in your head is from your transceiver, press your right finger just behind your ear lobe, you should feel a little, hard bump, press on that and the hissing will stop."
Andre did as he was told and immediately the noise in his head stopped.
"The reason it was hissing is that you have not been given a frequency yet, you'll get that before we leave here, when you have that you will not have that noise anymore, now for the next surprise, stand up and stamp your feet on the floor."
Andre did so and was surprised to see the floor slats bend as though a heavy weight had fallen on them.
"Your heels and the balls of your feet have been injected with liquid Stelgel, you will find that your knuckles are also done with the same material, this will still give you all the flexibility you need to dance but now you can smash bricks or people with them."
Andre lifted his small hands up to his face, he could barely make out the micro surgical scars on the skin over his knuckles.
"Now you hands and feet are for protection, if you want to go on the attack then you have the second finger of your right hand, hold your right hand out flat and upwards, good boy, now with your thumb press on the pad of the third joint close to your palm."
Conrad watched as Andre followed his instructions.
"Do you feel that hard little button under the skin?"
"Yes."
"Press down hard with your thumb."
Andre did as asked, there was no sound but he now had a small silvery needle about two inches long sticking out of the end of his finger, it had a small drop of yellow liquid dripping from the tip, Andre's eyes shot wide open as he looked at the small needle, there had been no pain or anything to indicate the needle was under his skin.
"What is it?" He asked Conrad.
"That's Sunburst Scorpion venom."
Andre leapt to his feet and stared at the drop of yellow liquid, the Sunburst Scorpion was the most venomous and dangerous of all the insect on Pathos, the single drop sitting on the end of the needle was enough to kill a grown man in seconds, he could only look at the drop with utter fear, what had they done to him, Conrad saw the fear on the boys face.
"Don't worry Andre, you are now immune to it, in fact as the venom is so virile you are now immune to most any other venom in existence, the doctors injected you with a special enzyme from the Sunburst Scorpion, your own body now produces it so you are immune, you know what it can do so if you have to use it you don't have to worry about your own safety."
Andre could only stare down at the yellow drop in awe.
"What do I do now?"
"Lick it off and press the pad again, the needle will withdraw and your hand will look normal again, then there is only one thing more to see."
Andre could not quite believe what he had just been told, did they really think he would purposely put a drop of Sunburst Scorpion venom in his own mouth. He looked up at Conrad to see if he was joking, he wasn't. Conrad just stood there and nodded for him to do as he was told. Tentively Andre lifted the thin needle to his mouth, closing his eyes thinking this was a very stupid thing to do, he poked his tongue out and licked the yellow drop off the end of his finger. Seconds later he was still standing, much more of a surprise was that the venom tasted a little like a sugar drop, he relaxed as Conrad began talking again.
"Now for the last item, look at the nails on your left hand, tell me what you see?"
Andre looked closely but could see nothing different about his finger nails.
"Nothing, they look just like they always did, well perhaps they are cleaner and a little more polished but that's all."
"Good, Ok now flick your wrist as though you were trying to shake something off your hand but do it sharply like something is very sticky."
Andre did as he was told, when next he looked at his nails they were now longer by an inch, he looked closely at them but could still not see anything different apart from being a little longer, he looked up at Conrad.
"How did that happen and why?"
"The nails on your left hand have been replaced with Tetrylon; you now have four very sharp knives, to hide them again just run your right hand flatly over the backs of your four fingers, you will feel the small bumps under the skin, they lock back into the first joint for safety. You can cut through most anything except steel with them but they are mainly used to cut anyone that attacks you."
Andre stood there with his mouth open, he was now like a walking arsenal, he only hoped he would have time to learn how to control all these things, it was soon answered for him by Conrad.
"Now for the next seven days you will be working day and night to control all of those extras, how to use them and more importantly, when to use them, you will also be taught how to use your legs and feet as weapons for unarmed fighting, at the end of that you will have one more operation to undergo, but for now it's not important, it would be a good idea now for you to have the rest of today off and practise a little on your own, tomorrow the real training starts."
Andre could hardly believe it all, he had heard that there were many things that went on in the security division but he had never thought it would be anything like this.
"Does everyone that works for Leon have these things?"
"No Andre, you're the first, why he decided you were the one I will never know but personally I think he was right in selecting you, now time to get some rest, do you want your cadet to come back?"
"No not yet, I want to practice a little more, do you think it would be ok if I asked him to bed with me, I... well...I sort of feel horny after all this."
Conrad laughed and then said.
"You just tell him what you want, he has his orders to look after anything you want, make good use of him, it's the last free day you will have for some time, enjoy it."
Conrad left the room so Andre could investigate his new body, firstly he wanted to make sure he could still dance with all these new things inside his body, he turned to the music station and began to dance one of the minor dances, it was the Tildan, a dance that used most of his body but lacked the insinuations of sexual delight like the Terrasan.
As he danced, Andre tried to work out what other operation Conrad had meant, there was little left for them to do too him, he had little option but to wait and see, he only hoped that it did not interfere with his dancing, it was the one thing he was really good at and thoroughly enjoyed.
The Cadet arrived and began to get his bed ready, Andre could see from the corner of his eye as he danced that the Cadet was trying not to watch him as he twisted and twirled in the dance, when the music ended he asked for the ablution room and went to wash up, afterwards it was a light snack and then he was ready for bed, Andre decided to throw caution to the wind and asked the Cadet.
"I would like you to sleep with me."
The Cadet answered promptly.
"Yes Sir, I would like that as well, do you wish me to be a top or bottom Sir?"
"A top please."
"Very good Sir, I hope you enjoy it with me."
There was little time for talk, it took the two boys little more than a minute to become naked and slide into the large soft bed. In the morning Andre had little to complain about, the Cadet was not as well endowed as Leon but he was very enthusiastic. After their tryst, Andre slept well and awoke to a hot breakfast waiting for him on a tray, it took a while before he realised it was only 4.00am, within thirty minutes he was in full uniform and being marched to his first training session.
Sixteen hours later and feeling as though his body was broken in small pieces, Andre dragged his aching body back to his quarters where the Cadet was waiting for him. He had been put through a wringer, every muscle in his small body ached even though he would have been considered exceptionally fit by other standards his trainers had shown him what fitness was really about.
Every exercise was also designed to not only improve how he already was but to not interfere with his natural flexibility and dancing needs. The hardest exercise was the unarmed combat, he had never been a boy that liked confrontation but now he had to learn from scratch how to attack and defend in a lot of scenarios as well as when and where not to use is extra weapons.
It was Conrad who took him for training on his extras, the Ministry did not want anyone else to know what he had been given, everything about Andre now had a top priority security clearance, he was to be an invisible deadly weapon.
As each day passed, Andre got better and better until the last day of training arrived. He could now feel the extra strength, speed and flexibility he now had, there was only the final operation to be done, Conrad had told him it would be another three day operation but he would not need two days to get over it, as they arrived at the medical centre the same four doctors and the single nurse were waiting for him, minutes later and he was in blackness.
When next Andre opened his eyes he was still on the medical bed, Conrad was again sitting beside him with a smile on his face.
"How are you?"
"I'm not sure, what did they do this time?"
"Just finished off your additions and activated your communications wave length, switch your transceiver on and see, there should not be any of that hissing now."
Conrad waited until Andre had checked his transceiver and then smiled at the boy again.
"Now close your eyes and tap the camera bar twice quickly, like a double tap but keep your eyes closed."
Andre did as he was told, as he saw the changes he almost opened his eyes and yelped, on the inside of his eyelids he could see a miniature heads up display, opening his eyes he looked at Conrad.
"How do I switch it off and what use is it?"
"Just tap again like with the camera and it's for getting instructions without sound or you can use the planetary maps, you scroll through the menu by blinking your eye lids and with practice you can change it with your thoughts, there is a nodule implanted in your head to activate it, you will have to practice as we go for that, it's time for us to leave, the jet will be here in an hour so you better get up and get your things ready."
Andre rolled off the bed and stood up; when he blinked he still saw the menu behind his eyelids, he reached up and tapped his left temple and was back to normal. When he reached his quarters the Cadet was there waiting for him, everything had been packed including his uniforms, he did not think he would be keeping them as he could not see where they would be used in his new life.
Hours later and Andre was back in his new apartment, he had no sooner settled into a chair and rested his head back than the door buzzer sounded. Conrad waved him back into the chair and went to the security panel to see who had arrived, it was the young man that had met them there on the first day. Conrad pushed the door button and the young man came into the lounge.
"Good morning Master Lightfoot, I have drawn up some sample scenes for your apartment, if you wish to approve any of them or change them it would be Ok and then we can start to make the changes you would like."
Andre could only nod his head as the young man took out a large portfolio of drawings. Andre now felt that as this was going to be his home forever he might as well try to make it as homely as he could. He went through each drawing until he found what he wanted, the only alteration he wanted was a large real oil picture of his Mother to be made and hung in the lounge.It would be done from one of the only two photographs he had of her when she was still young and healthy.
After the young man left he heard a soft click inside his head, his transceiver had been switched on without his using his hand, in his head came the calm and friendly voice of Leon.
Hello Andre, or should I call you Captain Lightfoot
Andre couldn't resist a giggle and talked in his normal voice, Conrad seemed unmoved by the conversation Andre was having.
"Hello Councillor, I've just got home from camp."
Yes I know, now I have something for you tomorrow, do you remember the man that wants you to do the Terrasan for him?
"Yes."
Well it turns out he is having a group of important diplomats to watch you. I have seen his guest list and I will be there as well but it is the Ambassador for Karapak that I want you to try to get close to. I'll be at your apartment first thing in the morning to talk it all over with you so for now, have a good night's rest and I'll see you in the morning.
"Ok, thank you Leon."
Andre heard the soft click in his head as the Councillor left, he then turned to Conrad and asked.
"Is there anything to eat here, I'm starving?"
"No sorry, the apartment has been closed while you were away, you may want to think about getting a servant to watch the place for you when you're away, we can look for one and have him cleared by security."
"Yes that sounds like a good idea, now can we go out and find a restaurant, I could eat ten Bactra's in one sitting."
A Bactra was a meat animal about the size of the normal dog and was the main protein animal for Pathos, it had a slightly gamey taste but was high in iron. For Andre it was almost like a luxury after his life in Quadrant seven, for those living in Quadrant four it was an everyday meat, there were other animals used for high end meals.
After he got changed into street clothes from his new wardrobe, Andre and Conrad left in his car for the city centre. It was time to spend some of his credits and see some of the sights he had missed growing up. It was another new adventure, his young body seemed to glow with a new found health after the training camp.
TBC.
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