Dust to Dust Ch. 04

She felt something waking her. Something was . . . licking her face? She felt it all over, and then felt something soft bump against her face. She opened her eyes.

"A puppy?" she whispered, unaware of the people around her. But she heard the running of water and felt that wonderful breeze: it was like her life before Chimera found her. Outdoors . . . free . . . and she . . . she had a dog back then. A dog that had once been . . ."A puppy?!" she said, wistful but strangely content for a moment. She reached down and picked up the excited little creature that was wiggling for all it was worth. It was a tannish color: a little ball of fluff and energy. She couldn't help but smile, holding the animal in front of her face and relishing its kisses. "Where did you come from little guy?" she cooed.

Alyidana and Dusty and Dr. Trendenfall and Eliza and Vicky were all on hand for this change in events. At the moment, it didn't even seem like Ash knew anyone was there.

Dusty had a strange smile on her face. Ash was acting like a girl! A confused girl, but a girl nonetheless.

Ash put the puppy down and watched in scamper, running to and fro before colliding with Dusty's legs. It put its paws up on Dusty's legs: it remembered the woman who had come and gotten it out of the cage. Dusty was distracted by the adorable rascal, but then she looked up. Ash was looking right at her, and she was crying. But it was the first time she had really "looked" at someone instead of through them.

"Why does my head hurt so much? Too many voices – " she whimpered. Then she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Dusty, and Dusty didn't even think for a moment before reciprocating. "I just want it quiet . . . just for a little while."

"We'll figure it out," Dusty whispered. "I promise."

------------ ----------------

A month later . . .

------------ ----------------

Dusty lay on her bed, alone in the suite. She had promised her father she would return to school once Ash was on her way to recovery, and he had held her to that. Once Ash's dementia had broken like a fever, Dusty had reluctantly been whisked back to school. That had been three weeks ago.

While Dusty had undergone a number of adventures, not many people on Terra knew about them. So much of what she had seen and knew was classified, so she wasn't allowed to talk about it. But the Terran Academy's board of regents knew some details, and realized that it might not be in their best interests to put any other students in with Dusty for their own security. While the Purity was certainly almost fatally wounded, they were still twitching just a little bit. There had been a few instances of violence, so they had politely quarantined Dusty as much as they could.

For some reason, Dusty wasn't able to really get back into the swing of things. All her old suitemates would drop by to say hello or have dinner, but even they noticed that something was missing. Dusty had lost some of her swagger. Katrina had tried to coax her friend into a tryst, but Dusty just had no interest. When caught daydreaming in professor VanHouten's class, she was called to the office on a couple of occasions. But instead of sex, Dusty just wanted to talk. And Martha was quite capable of just listening.

She was in almost daily contact with the Hybrid Security compound, checking on Ash's progress. The pseudo-young woman was being counseled by Alyidana, who had decided to extend her visit to Earth for that purpose (as well as visit her daughter). Evlidone Msabdteelfinclor, Security Director for the Devlia province on Terra as well as being Eliza's father, had some choice words for his daughter. He was a wise enough man not to criticize his wife directly, but he and his daughter had bickered for decades before reconciling. But old habits died hard. Dusty had still been on Earth for that, and the words that had flown during that cross-dimensional communication had made everyone around blush and / or leave the room. Eventually, Alyidana had been forced to step in and play peacemaker . . . again. Once she had made it QUITE clear that it was her decision (using that tone that only a wife knows how to use with her husband), Evlidone stopped grumbling and Eliza bit her tongue.

In the week before Dusty had left, Ash had slowly began to calm down. She was wracked with guilt over the things that she had done, and still gun-shy about the things she had experienced. It was going to take a while to get everything out of her. Strangely, she felt more comfortable in a sleeping bag out next to the creek now than she did in any of the guest rooms. Luckily, both trolls slept outside as well, so the girl was never in a situation where someone wasn't watching out for her.

And the puppy, who had been affectionately named "Mr. Fuzzy Butt," was Ash's emotional anchor. Whenever she started to rant or mentally stray, the little creature helped ground her again. Alyidana had told Dusty repeatedly what a good idea that had been. Dusty didn't feel particularly brilliant: she had just been the only one who had actually listened to Ash.

Her communications with Ash were almost mind-bending to her. Ash the bodyguard had been stoic, calm and overly rational. Ash the girl was a rambling, emotional rollercoaster. She was a teenager emotionally, but had the knowledge base of someone in their late fifties. It made for some interesting conversations. It had been odd to hear a woman talk about breaking down, cleaning and reassembling a gauss rifle with the same enthusiasm that most teenaged girls talk about figuring out what outfit to wear.

That made Dusty smile. Ash was unlike anyone who had ever lived, so maybe it was good that she was under Eliza's protection. Who else could understand "uniqueness" like the co-leaders of Hybrid Security?

Her communications orb began humming and blinking, so she activated with a casual thought. It was her father, and he looked distressed.

"Dad? What's up?"

Dr. Trendenfall looked nervous. "You might want to watch the news stream for a second. Something just came on."

Dusty felt herself shudder. She switched the sphere over to the information stream connection, pulling up a joint Terran and Earth news broadcast.

*Again, the following is a message sent from someone calling himself 'The Savior,' claiming that the World Council is reopening the Chimera Project.*

Dusty's heart caught in her throat. 'This couldn't be a coincidence,' she thought. A slightly grungy copy of a video feed began to play on the stream.

*Ladies and gentlemen of Earth,* the voice said smoothly, *I am sure that you will find what we are about to show you as deplorable as we did ourselves. Many decades ago, some of those obsessed with the dark art of magic sought to corrupt the human race by conducting disgusting experiments on unsuspecting human beings. Now our own governments and councils, in collusion with the menaces from Terra, seek to reopen the doors to Hell and once again defile the very substance of our race.*

On the display, Dusty saw a grainy image of a military convoy. She knew what it was: someone had captured a video of them transporting Ash to the facility. She couldn't make out any details and couldn't see any individuals, but whomever was holding the camera pulled back the shot to make sure and capture the sign that said: "Chimera Pharmaceuticals: Keep out."

*As you can see, the operation was performed in secret under the cloak of darkness. No official reason or report for the trip has been produced, nor can any rationale be given for disturbing the ghosts of that horrible place. It is obvious that the powers that be seek to make US more like THEM . . . a super race undreamt of since the days of the Nazis in World War II. Do not allow yourselves to be duped any longer. Rise up and stop the government from further tainting the human blood line. Use whatever means necessary.*

Then the transmission ended and Dusty switched back to her father. "What does this mean?" she asked.

"It means that things aren't as 'over' as I would like for them to be. Please be careful. I don't think that we are really targets anymore. They seem to have found a better rallying point, but it does mean that we aren't out of the woods yet."

"I'll be careful . . . I promise." The communication ended. Strangely, her first thought was, 'I hope Ash is going to be okay.'

------------ ----------------

On Earth . . .

------------ ----------------

"Is Dusty going to be okay?" Ash asked quietly, sitting under her tarp in the mild California rain. She, and the others at Hybrid Security's compound, had just got finished watched the Purity's latest message. Mr. Fuzzy Butt was curled up in her lap, periodically yawning just to remind everyone how cute he was. "I should go," she whispered confusedly. "I promised . . ."

Alyidana took her hand. She and many of the others had taken to spending time with Ash out in her little area. "You know that you can't do that now . . . you're not invulnerable anymore."

"So?" Ash replied desperately. "A promise is a promise."

Eliza looked on carefully. The girl was still very "raw" in regards to her mental state, though she had stabilized a lot. "Right now, you're not in a position to be a very good bodyguard, promises or no," Eliza said sternly.

"I can still help!" Ash replied, a little hotly. She stopped, looking around. "That's anger," she muttered, then actually looked excited. "I was angry!" She looked around, enormously pleased with herself.

{{ She is so odd, }} Victoria thought to her partner.

{{ Tell me about it, }} Eliza sent back. "Ash, you're just now able to string complete sentences together. What do you really think you could do to help Dusty if there was trouble?"

There were moments when Ash had been nothing more than a golem where she had shown flashes of being a person. For a moment, Ash the person remembered what it was like to be a golem. Without even thinking, she grabbed a couple of rocks off the ground. She skipped one off the surface of the creek and then nailed it in the air with the other. Apparently, you don't need to have muscles to have muscle memory . . . at least not in her case.

Eliza smiled. The girl had some gusto. "Okay, now if you needed to use something bigger than a rock – " Eliza's smile vanished and she looked dead serious. "You've had to deal with killing a lot of people while you were changed. Do you think you could kill someone now? Even if Dusty's life depended on it?" She pulled a rail pistol and handed it to the girl.

"Eliza!" her mother said.

"Babe, are you sure – " Veronica started to say.

All objections were cut off when Ash raised the gun, glanced in one direction and cause several pine-cones to evaporate. But she was crying the entire time. "I don't want to kill anyone," she muttered, then dropped the gun and went to chase after Mr. Fuzzy Butt, who had been scared by the loud noises.

"That girl is going to be a lot of work," Alyidana said before slapping her daughter in the arm. "And you're not helping."

"She needed a wake up call," Eliza replied. "I admire her dedication to Dusty, but you KNOW she'd just be a danger: to herself AND Dusty."

"She NEEDS for people to stop trying to shock her into doing what they want," her mother reminded her.

Eliza nodded. "I'm not an idiot Mom, but I don't want her blood on my hands."

"I'm just saying there might have been a better way to handle that," Alyidana replied. She looked at Ash, who was again coddling the puppy who seemed to have forgotten the scary noises due to the thrill of simply existing and being petted. "Ash, maybe we can help Dusty. I think Eliza is right: it's far too early for you to think about trying to be her bodyguard, but maybe you can just be her friend. Maybe we should go visit her? It sounds like she could use some company."

Eliza nodded. "I could send someone with you. Just to be safe."

"You could come with us," Alyidana smirked. "Maybe go visit your father."

Eliza tried finding something else to look at. "I really don't think we have time – "

"Yeah we do," Veronica said, earning her an evil glare from her lover. "Colonel Corbin and the World Council have their eyes on the Purity and will get a hold of us if there is something we can do to help out. There's always going to be a next 'big bad' for us to deal with, so take a break while you can. You really should spend more time with your dad anyway."

"Any conversations with my father do NOT constitute a 'break.' And who's going to run things while I'm gone?"

Veronica looked her over. "Who am I? Chopped liver?"

"I just figured you'd be going with me."

"And be around you and your father bickering? Are you out of your mind?!" Veronica got up and headed back to the house, leaving Eliza to stare in wide-eyed exasperation.

"And you're going to marry her," Alyidana mentioned.

Eliza's only response was to sigh.

------------- ----------------------

The next day on Terra . . .

------------- ----------------------

Dusty looked up from her tired stupor when she heard a knocking on her front door. Her heart leapt a little . . . she guessed it was because she was still on high alert. She got up and went to the door and checked the spyhole.

"Ash!" she shrieked, flinging open the door and giving the girl a hug.

"And friends," Alyidana said from behind her.

"Alyidana!" Dusty replied with a grin and almost as much enthusiasm. "Eliza?! Terillia?! What are you guys doing here?" She stopped cold. "Is Dad – "

"Your father is fine," Eliza said, stepping inside before anyone spotted her.

"I was worried," Ash said. "I wanted to come check on you, but . . . And since you have free weekends . . . they said that I probably shouldn't . . . shouldn't come alone – "

"You just need a little more time," Eliza's mother said.

"I'm just glad to see you," Dusty said, hugging her friend again. "How long were you going to stay?"

"A couple of days," Ash said with a grin. She pulled up her little animal carrier, where Mr. Fuzzy Butt had begun to whine. It had been a long trip and he wanted out. "Does your dorm allow pets?"

Dusty grinned and opened the door to the courtyard, and the two girls went out to watch a young puppy frolic on another world.

Eliza was watching on with some amusement. "They are a pair, aren't they?"

Terillia piped in with, "Ash and Dusty or Ash and Mr. Fuzzy Butt?"

Eliza shook her head. "I can't believe she named the dog that." She turned to Terillia. "You okay with staying with 'em tonight? Tonight's argument with Dad – "

"Why do you assume that you and your father HAVE to argue?" Alyidana complained.

"Because it's ME . . . and DAD . . . You HAVE been paying attention for the last century, haven't you?" She turned back to Terillia. The succubus was obviously confused. "Questions?"

[[ Uhm, ]] Terillia said, reverted to at Terran dialect, [[ No. Not really. ]] She paused. [[ Yes. Why . . . not that I don't appreciate your confidence in me, but why me? I'm not a senior member of the team. ]]

[[ It's okay, ]] Eliza replied. [[ We're looking to expand the team, and I may need you to start taking on extra responsibility. No, you're not a senior team member, but you're probably the most enthusiastic one of the bunch."

Terillia smiled proudly and went to check on her young charges. Alyidana looked at her daughter.

[[ What's the REAL reason? Don't lie to me, young lady. ]]

[[ What? ]] Eliza replied, looking as innocent as she could. [[ I think she has leadership potential. ]] In actuality, this was her way at getting back at Veronica for sticking her on this trip. Terillia was Vicky's lover . . . With Terillia gone, Vicky wouldn't be getting any. When Vicky wasn't getting any, she tended to whine. The person she tended to whine to was Veronica. If Eliza was going to have to endure an argument with her father, Veronica was going to have to put up with a whiny younger (though only by a few minutes) sister. [[ Shall we go? ]]

---------- ------------

Later on . . .

---------- ------------

"I'm sorry that they won't let you have your roommates," Ash was saying, sipping on the fruit smoothie that Dusty had made for her two guests. Terillia looked quite content, though she was still in full battle regalia. But the succubus didn't seem to mind, so Dusty didn't say anything.

"So Ash," Dusty started, "have you been thinking about what you want to do next?"

Ash put her drink down. "Not really. Well, Alyidana thinks I should go back to school." She bit her bottom lip. "I . . . I never graduated from high school. I dropped out when my parents abandoned me. I don't know why," Ash said, almost pouting. "I HATED school. Everyone trying to tell me how I should be. I mean, I've got enough money that I don't need to work – "

"Really?" Dusty asked. "How much? I'm sorry, it's none of my – "

"About twenty million, world currency," Ash replied.

Dusty and Terillia both just stared.

"What?" Ash said, suddenly very self-conscious. "I haven't spent anything on food or shelter for forty years. No real need for anything but guns and some neat gadgets. Being a golem was a cheap lifestyle, at least," she said glumly.

Dusty went over and wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulders. She liked being close to Ash and –

"Ash," she said, suddenly curious about something. "What's your real name?"

Ash just stared at her, then blushed and grinned shyly. "Ashley."

Terillia snickered, and Dusty just smiled.

"Really?"

"Ashley Eddings," Ash replied, then looked sad again. "Some of the homeless guys I knew started calling me Ash because I would tend the trash fires while everyone was sleeping . . . put 'em out so they didn't catch – " Ash was trying very hard not to cry. She had never liked fire, even before it had changed her life forever. She forced a smile and cuddled against Dusty. Then, for a moment, she felt like she actually might be okay.

"I understand . . . a little," Terillia said. "I went to Earth from Terra because I was didn't like what my nest wanted me to be. It is hard sometimes to find a place you belong. I was fortunate."

"You found Hybrid?" Dusty asked. "Or more specifically, you found Vicky?" she added slyly.

Terillia grinned. "Miss Vicky was brought into Hybrid Security about the same time I was. It was a most fortunate turn of events."

Ash let her head rest in Dusty's lap. As her friend started to run those tanned fingers over Ash's slightly haired skull, Ash said, "I want that. It would be nice to have a 'fortunate event' for a change."

Dusty was trying very hard to think of something to cheer her companion up. "What did you like to do?" she asked. "Besides play with dogs? You know . . . before?"

Ash shrugged. "I dunno. Hang out. Street kids do a lot of that. Beg for money . . . we'd try and get creative with that. Find some dumb disease that no one ever gets. Dumpster diving . . ."

"Dumpster diving?" Terillia asked.

"Yeah . . . we'd go through trash dumpsters and see what kind of cool or sometimes just weird stuff that people threw away. What?"

Dusty was snickering. "You went from dumpster diving to . . . well, now you can buy just about anything you want! You should buy something," she said excitedly. "Something you always wanted but never thought you'd have."

"I . . . I wouldn't know what to get," Ash said earnestly.

"The Lalia Market is open for five more hours," Dusty said excitedly. "Let's go! You don't have to get something big, just . . . just something!"

Terillia looked concerned. "I am not sure that's a good idea."

"C'mon," Dusty said, her voice crooning. "Listen, you'll be there to look after us, and it's just a little bit of the Terran equivalent of mall walking. I thought I wasn't a target anymore anyway, and no one knows to look for Ash . . . Ashley – " She looked at her friend. "What do you want to be called?"