Food For Thought Ch. 005

Waking with a start, Logan sat up. The dream was so vivid but he was starting to question whether it was actually a dream. As he sat there, Lilith shifted next to him in her sleep. Her stomach was almost flat again.

His mind recounted the first strange dream he had after he was bitten, he recalled the same voice he had just heard telling him he would remember more when the time was right.

Logan guessed that the time was not right, whatever that meant. His body still hurt a little bit, but it was leaps and bounds better than just a few hours ago. If the dream was right, he probably had hundreds of small little machines floating around in him which is likely why he was healing so quickly.

Lilith had healed quickly as well. Leaning over slightly, Logan could see the bite on her shoulder was completely gone. There was no question that she also had to have nanomachines floating around inside her, the question Logan did have was whether or not he put them there.

"What have you gotten yourself into?" Speaking quietly to himself he took a deep breath and watched Lilith sleep.

He had a dozen more questions now and many of them would probably not get answered while stuck on Skye. If the disdain present in the voice that shoved him from his dream was any indication, answers would be hard to come by.

The voice also said he could control the nanomachines. Shifting his gaze down to his own body, the changes so far hadn't been anything he deliberately did. Maybe not consciously.

Thinking to himself, Logan was sure that the sudden advancement in his dream had to do with the electricity he absorbed. It must have kick started something that his body was slowly being made ready for.

The small pricks of pain still present throughout his body were a clear indication that humans were not built to receive, and then discharge, large volumes of energy. The feeling he had right before he woke up cuffed to the chair, of not being ready, made more sense now, it had to have been some sort of protection mechanism.

"Protecting you from yourself obviously." He shook his head and spent the next thirty minutes thinking about what to do next, he had a particularly interesting idea that he thought Lilith would like.

Eventually rolling over and looking up at him, Lilith gave Logan a sleepy smile.

"Morning sleepy head." Logan leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"How long have you been up?" She asked, cuddling into him.

"Only thirty or so minutes. I've just been thinking. We should have some food and then talk, I had another dream." Stroking her hair Logan calmly smiled at her.

Lilith got a worried look but sat up and nodded. The pair got dressed and retrieved some of the prepackaged meals they had found the night before. While not particularly appetizing, having food to eat was better than not.

Lilith didn't eat much and Logan assumed it had to do with the cum she was seemingly absorbing. It apparently didn't matter where he came, her body would absorb it or the nanomachines were doing something with it.

Logan repeated the details of the dream to her, then shared his thoughts about his body and the slow transformation he had started to notice. Lilith looked thoughtful, slowly nodding her head and taking it all in.

"When I saw you start absorbing the electricity yesterday it definitely makes more sense if it was the nanomachines latching on to a source of power. If the voice you heard suggested that you weren't supposed to be finding out about them yet, I think it's fair to say that the jolt in power they received unlocked something a little too soon." She tapped her chin idly as she thought.

"Judging by how my body felt after discharging most of it, maybe it's supposed to be ready to handle that at some point?" He asked.

"What if we think about it like this, our bodies have a small natural electrical current running through them right? What if that's what they are using to stay powered and make slow changes. Eventually they would need more power if there were enough of them." Pausing for a moment she poked his arm and raised an eyebrow.

"Following that thought, either they would need to make your body produce more energy, or find a way to store that energy inside you. I'm not a biologist though, so I have no clue what that would even look like."

"You're very smart." One of the reasons Logan was drawn to her was her intelligence, among her other obvious assets.

"You didn't know that?" She smirked playfully at him.

"Of course I did, it's one of the reasons I was infatuated with you when we first met." Logan reached for a bottle of water and gave her a wink.

Lilith rolled her eyes and pushed her breasts together "You sure it wasn't these?"

"I said one of the reasons, not the only reason. I do very much like them though." he leaned over and kissed her quickly, giving her breasts a squeeze as he did.

"Is there more where that came from?" She gave him a hungry look.

"I would love to, but I think having you walk around looking pregnant and full of my cum might raise some questions." Logan would have very much enjoyed filling her up again but for now it was probably best left to the evening so she could absorb it all over night.

Blinking for a second Lilith slowly nodded her head. "Right, I forgot about the four that decided to stay." She pouted and idly rubbed her belly. "I did really enjoy how that felt though, even if it was surprising. The nanomachines are probably the reason I can take your new and very improved loads. I'm curious what the point is though."

As Lilith got lost in thought Logan couldn't help but admire her.

"Hey Lilith, before you get too lost over there I have an idea for you." Looking back at Logan she tilted her head curiously putting a thought on pause.

"I'm probably in hot water if we manage to get off the planet, I did something I really wasn't supposed to and I can imagine the Colonel Audit Service being pretty upset with me." Nodding as Logan spoke she kept listening. "I know you're probably pretty eager to get your bio marker data back, but, If you're willing to wait a little longer would you like to burn Steepler Interstellar to the ground instead?"

Logan waited as she stared at him with some hesitation and minor irritation.

"How?" Lilith raised an eyebrow again.

"Well, I think if we implicate Steepler in the outbreak on Skye we can subsequently also include all of their other illegal dealings which would cause an investigation into their other locations. If the Government can't find an explanation for the infection I can guarantee you they would be happy to have a scapegoat." Logan wasn't quite sure how she would react.

Lilith sat for a moment and just kept staring at him.

"I think any corporation that allows the kind of horrible things Steepler has been doing to people doesn't deserve to exist. If you actually think that it can bring the whole thing down, then I'm up for it." She had a pretty serious air about her at the moment.

"The first step would be for me to get my J7 fixed so I can melt the hinges off the safe. After that I'm hoping our new friends might be willing to help us. Video evidence of infected locked in cages in a secret underground facility would be pretty damning, add to that some very sad looking people in their own boxes and a few shots of their small lab in the other room and you have a pretty awful pile of evidence." Logan thought for a moment.

"Not to mention working in shots of all the other things they have laying around for icing on the cake. Everything they needed on a silver platter to destroy Steepler Interstellar. I could frame it pretty easily as a subsequent investigation after being taken prisoner by them so they could attempt to extort me."

A small smile crept onto Liliths face. "Sounds like a pretty solid plan."

"Much of what's happened so far has been pretty outside my job description as an auditor, but this lands squarely in what I honestly feel the true description should be." Logan felt excited for the first time in a while. He was going to cross every t and dot every i, putting together the most damning list of evidence of corporate corruption he had in his life.

"We should find some more food today as well, I hope the situation in the city hasn't gotten worse, but that might be wishful thinking." Lilith interjected.

"I agree, I'll get to work on my J7 then. It's probably much quieter than the shotgun and better for keeping a low profile. What are you going to get up to?" Logan stood and started cleaning up quickly.

"I'll probably do some organization. If we are going to stay here for a while I think making some better use of the office space upstairs would be good." Lilith helped him tidy up.

Getting the day started, they split up. Lilith headed upstairs as Logan made for the supply closet next to the small laboratory. Going through the items in the closet, he was able to find a multitool, as well as some other general tools that might come in handy at some point.

Entering the laboratory he sat at one of the high tables that was in there, it would make a pretty decent workshop for now. Placing the J7 in front of him, he tapped on his glass and pulled up the manual he had downloaded years ago when he first got the weapon.

He didn't need the manual anymore but it helped him focus. Logan quickly disassembled the pistol into five parts: The barrel, frame, prefire chamber, charge pack, and the grip. Setting about examining all the parts for damage, he didn't have his cleaning or parts kit with him. Those were still in the locker by the startport. Logan hoped it was something he could fix without them.

The barrel seemed undamaged by the higher energy output, it was lined with small emitters that helped to focus and direct the pulse of energy as it left the prefire chamber. Putting that aside he moved to the prefire chamber itself, it was akin to a regular chamber on a propellant based weapon. Energy from the charge pack or battery was funneled here as it coalesced into a sustainable pulse.

Opening the chamber carefully with the multitool, Logan examined the internal workings. He didn't purport to fully understand how the weapon worked but he knew enough to fix certain things. The science of lasers was lost on Logan and there were absolutely parts on the J7, that if they broke, he'd have to either try and find a new one or call someone for help.

Finding spare parts for the Vertec J7 was a nightmare and not cheap given they went out of business, thankfully Logan had managed to keep in contact with one of the people behind the weapon. She had provided some advice a few times and even fixed it for him once.

The prefire chamber was lined with a coil and some kind of array. Looking across the array Logan found the issue. One section of the array looked damaged, the central node of that section was burned out. Reaching in with the multitool logan gently plucked the node from the prefire chamber and dropped it on the table.

The J7 would still work just fine missing one node. It should return to normal with the damaged part removed. Though the chance for an overload when firing rapidly increased as more of the array was damaged. He didn't plan on pushing energy into it again, so it should last till he could get a replacement.

Breathing a sigh of relief Logan went over the other pieces, finding no issues. Reassembling the pistol, he slotted the charge pack and the weapon powered up. After doing a quick diagnostic the red overload light changed to steady blue indicating it was on stun.

Despite the lack of stopping power on armored targets, Logan thought the Navy was insane for passing up the J7. It was reliable and one of the best things he had ever purchased. It was an expensive project that yielded subpar results considering they were hoping to create something that rivaled Assath energy weapons.

The Assath were one of the most technologically advanced species in the known regions around United Colonial space. They didn't trade their technology, but were happy to trade just about anything else. The Assath were known to become fairly nasty if they thought their technology had been stolen or acquired by another species. As long as you didn't do that, they were an agreeable people.

Now that he was thinking about them, the Assath might be a decent place to start looking for someone who could help understand the nanomachines that had been placed inside him.

Until then, Logan had a safe to open. Grabbing a large wrench from the supply closet he headed up one floor to the office where the safe was and swapped the pistol to lethal. He'd go slowly to ensure he didn't accidentally damage his prize weapon again.

The safe was sitting about chest high in the wall. Leveling the pistol at the top hinge and standing a few feet back, Logan pulled the trigger once as a test.

A red pulse slammed into the safe leaving scorch marks around the hinge as the energy dissipated around it. Logan touched the hinge quickly, it was hot but it would take a few shots to really damage it.

Standing there for a few minutes Logan gently pulled the trigger making sure to space his shots far enough apart. The top hinge slowly started to glow red, after a few more shots with the J7, Logan hit the hinge a few times with the wrench to weaken it. It only moved a little so he continued shooting it until the heat was pouring off it making him sweat a little. Hitting it again, the top hinge gave enough for him to break it.

Looking at his glass, it had taken almost twenty minutes. Checking the charge on his J7 showed he was at about 75% power. He got started on the bottom hinge and twenty minutes later the door to the safe lay on the floor gently melting the spots where the hinges rested.

Inside the safe were a stack of what Logan had to guess were two hundred bio marker chips. They looked like credit chips almost, but were a bit wider and a very obvious shade of blue whereas credit chips were green, yellow, red, or a translucent gray.

Normally you wouldn't need a physical copy of your bio markers, it wasn't uncommon for some people to have one stored in a safe at a bank or for elderly parents to entrust one to their children. Having this many was absolutely not normal.

Logan picked one up and examined it. 'Ishaan Anand' and a long string of numbers was etched into the surface. He picked another up, 'Nathan Molina' and another string of numbers were on it. Putting them both back Logan stared at the pile and shook his head in disgust.

Hundreds of people under the thumb of Steepler Interstellar, forced to do who knows what at the fear of their lives being totally ruined beyond what they were already enduring. Logan would have to interview and take statements from the four who stayed, if they were willing.

Tapping on his glass he started the process of 'officially' logging them as evidence. Logan took a picture of the safe, and began to individually image and tag each of the bio marker chips. It was repetitive, about fifteen minutes into the task he stood holding Lilith's chip in his hand.

Running his finger across its surface he spent a moment looking at it before imaging it and setting it aside. The rest of the chips took almost another forty-five minutes. Scrounging a secure case from the room full of storage containers Logan stacked all the chips inside and locked it. He then imaged the case and logged the code used to lock it.

Logan walked the case to the room which held the mountain of blank credit chips. This was where he had decided to lock up items related to the case he was now building against Steepler Interstellar. While he was in there he imaged the neatly stacked credit chips and logged a rough count.

Using his Terminal he locked the door and overrode it's normal function so only someone with the appropriate digital key could open it. The key was now logged with the CAS database. It was a convenient way of keeping evidence safe. It required a VI to authorize its use so he was surprised when there was no challenge request.

Logan stepped out into the hallway to collect the ammunition and shotgun he had removed from the armory to image it, when he heard someone calling his name.

"Logan! Logan!" Lilith rounded the corner from the foyer and was jogging to him.

"Hey-" He started, but she cut him off.

"You have to come upstairs and see this." Lilith looked worried.

Nodding Logan followed her as they hurried upstairs, Lilith led him to the 2nd floor and over to one of the large windows.

Logan froze as he looked out onto the street. There were eight infected people stumbling down the street in front of the office building. He could tell right away they were infected. They were all grievously injured yet still walking around. One was missing an arm, another had a chunk missing from his shoulder.

Reaching for his glass, Logan began to record. He tried to capture the obvious injuries and other clear indications of infection.

They both stood there watching them slowly make their way down the street. Logan turned to her and realized they weren't alone, the tan skinned man and the ochre hued woman were standing there watching in horror as the grim procession passed.

"Those are infected people right?" The man asked.

"Yes." Lilith spoke softly.

"They can't see us can they?" He added, a worried look on his face.

"No, the windows are polarized and mostly one way." Logan said firmly. "We should be safe."

They watched quietly until the infected were at the end of the street, turning to each other unsure what to say. Logan tapped his glass and stopped the recording.

"I don't actually think we were properly introduced yesterday." Logan broke the silence.

"Effy" Said the woman with mellow-brown skin, the ochre tones seemed warmer bathed in the sunlight pushing through the clouds.

"Vance" He nodded at Logan. His tan skin had some gold and bronze hues that were more visible in direct light.

There were some footsteps coming down the stairs as the other two individuals appeared looking shaken.

"You.. you all saw them right?" The tall pale man said. He looked like he might be sick.

"They were what I was trying to tell you about last night. It's certainly different seeing them with your own eyes." Logan spoke with an even tone, he didn't want to worry them any more than they already were.

"We were just introducing ourselves." Effy offered.

Standing in silence for another awkward moment they all looked at each other until the redheaded woman blurted out her name.

"I'm Tanya!" She reddened and looked at her feet.

"Lindon" The tall man murmured, still shocked by what he had seen.

"I suppose it's good you have all seen what's out there with your own eyes. I'd strongly urge you all to stick around here unless you're interested in going out there for supplies." Logan hoped at least one of them was capable.

"We were going to head out to look for more food later as the packed stuff we found is almost gone now." Looking around the group Lilith did her best to offer a kind smile to the worried individuals.

"I'm... I'm gonna go downstairs" Lindon turned and hurried off.

"I think he'll be ok eventually." Effy smiled back at Lilith but she was still clearly nervous. "I might be up for helping you guys later if you need it."

"We'd appreciate the help." Lilith placed a gentle hand on Effys shoulder.

Still looking at her feet Tanya murmured something to the floor and walked upstairs.

"Well, It's nice to know your names. I'm going to head back down stairs and finish documenting things." Logan gave the group a polite nod and headed back downstairs.

He stopped on the ground floor for a moment and realized Lilith had moved things around. A neat set of stacked desks had been moved into the entryway behind the metal security gate. Easily four deep there was no simple way to use the front set of doors now.