Chapter 7

David and Luna had spent well over 24 hours inside the new training environment. They had perfected the telepathic link between one another during this time. The book kept teaching him new things but they only appeared as tidbits of information. It felt like the book was urging him to question everything around him. Sometimes it taught him new tricks, such as letting him see through Luna's eyes briefly. Other times it gave him brief snippets of information about the Sylve themselves.

He had spent yesterday training all day and didn't even bother to speak with his family after they got home from work, nor had he spoken to them before they had left for work. He had never before ignored his family like this and he knew something was wrong, but his mind urged him to just forget it and keep working hard. It was during the second day of training that it happened.

David had to focus solely on Luna's eyes in order to use the remote viewing ability he had developed. It was rather strange to him to be able to see out of 2 pairs of eyes. He saw himself sitting on the ground in intense concentration. Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. An idea popped into his head and he thought about her mind. He felt a strange sensation, as if his consciousness left his body and entered hers. He felt a rush of emotions inside his head; desire to be with his family and to protect them from the impending doom. It was as if a dam had collapsed and he was momentarily overwhelmed. He lifted his hand up to his face and was shocked to find Luna's hand instead. He started to panic, feeling trapped. Just as quick as it had started he was back inside his own body again.

He could feel all the emotions and thoughts of his family leaving his head again as soon as the transfer was complete. He went to ask Luna about the transfer but she didn't appear to have noticed that anything had occurred. He wondered why the book hadn't offered this ability to him.

David knew that Luna cared for him deeply, but wasn't it her duty to protect him? She was very clear that the constructs had to protect a Master's life at all costs. Was she responsible for his feelings towards his family and friends?

<Luna, we need to talk.>

<Yes Master?>

<I want to know why you have been messing with my head and I want to know now. I order you to explain things to me as your Master.>

Luna flinched visibly after hearing the request. She stood up straight in a defiant manner.

<I felt that as your construct you needed to be trained now before it becomes too late. You must understand Master that your family will not understand what you are going through! Didn't you see the horrified expression on Beth's face when she saw your true form? It pains me inside to see you hurt physically or emotionally. Besides even if your family did help us we certainly can't take them with us. We have the means to hold the menace at bay while we prepare to leave and they don't. Can't you understand that they will burden you beyond what you will be able to handle? I will accept any punishment you deem fit for me Master for my impudence, but I honestly feel this is the best course of action.>

David could feel the rage boiling up inside him. He had wasted over a day that could have been spent protecting his family and not just himself. Well maybe waste was too harsh a word. He had learned a considerable deal during that time. But still, it felt like she was protecting him from himself. He hated when people thought they knew what was best for him and didn't even bother to consult him on the topic.

<Luna I demand you stop tampering with my mind this instant. I know you are my bodyguard and that you want to protect me, but that doesn't mean you can control me. You forget your place in the hierarchy here. If I find out that you try to pull something like this on me again I will terminate the contract that binds us.>

Luna began sobbing at what he said. When he said it he didn't care if he sounded harsh, but he didn't want to make her cry. Pushing those feelings aside, he felt she had no right to do the things she did to him and in the name of protecting him no less.

<Master, please don't ever think of terminating the contract. I would rather disappear forever than let you kill yourself just to end my existence.>

David had learned quite a few things during the training and knew what he was being told by Luna and what the book taught him weren't matching up. The book had explained to him how to terminate the contract rather simply. It would have been clear in the book if it had some kind of significant risk or danger associated with it.

After her display of manipulation though, he wasn't sure if he should share this new knowledge with her. He did know that if he forced her to swear an oath she would uphold it unless it directly conflicted with keeping him alive. Perhaps he could use that to his advantage.

<You must swear to me on your honor as a royal Construct that you will never again do anything to undermine me. You will protect those that I deem fit and eradicate those that I choose. Anything I tell you through our link remains a secret between us and you may not utter a word of it to anyone unless I ask you to.>

Off the top of his head he couldn't find any loopholes so he figured it was good enough for now. Luna knelt before him on the bedroom floor and repeated his oath and swore to it. He felt it stronger now, like a tingling inside his head when the alteration wore off of him. He was able to shake off the fog and tried to focus on the best course of action. He left the training area and found himself in his bedroom again. Luna kneeled next to his chair remaining silent.

He knew his folks were at work but he had to warn them. His father had been in the army reserves for a number of years and had picked up his survival instincts from them. His father hadn't let him down yet with his advice and he doubted that it would start now. He picked up the phone and called both his parents and begged them to come home. He was going to have to explain himself when they got there which was a thought he was truly dreading. While he was on hold waiting for his father to answer he websurfed to his favorite forum. They seemed to all be pissed off at something the government had done. He found a link to Google Video that showed a clip of our military aircrafts dropping bombs on the city of New York. The United States Air Force insignia prominently displayed. Another link took him to a site that was tracking more so called riots with a map of USA. Red dots pinpointed all the affected areas. He saw several dots here in Florida as well. He was already out of time.

It was a chilly morning at the makeshift base here in the outskirts of New York. A woman in her late 50s approached the clear plastic tent that surrounded their scientists. Off in the distance the fires burned bright in the once great city. Once she had arrived at the base she had gone through several security checkpoints manned by rough looking military men holding M-16s. She donned the protective suit and went through decontamination before she was allowed inside. The chemical spray hissed above her and sounded like soft rain as it pelted her suit.

Her name was Barbara Sampson and she had been hired by the military to figure out what biological agent was being used against them and how it behaves. Hired was probably too strong a term to use in this instance, seeing that the offer was made to her at the end of the barrel of a gun. The men in the camouflage suits didn't seem like they would take no for an answer. She absently wondered why they would need someone with a background in Virology and Biology. She knew there were better choices out there, but not many.

Once she was inside the tent she spoke with a medical officer to get updated on what they had found so far. Several stretchers were set up and spaced apart; a body adorned each of them. She felt that if she was going to be forced into doing as they asked of her she would at least make the best of things.

"Well ma'am, so far we have determined that it isn't airborne and is like no virus we have ever seen before. Let me show you the data," he said while handing her the clipboard of printouts.

She looked dismayed at the findings. The person on this table was clearly dead based on his vital signs, yet here he was trying to break out of his restraints. They had a muzzle on the man as well which prompted her to ask about it.

"Ma'am, the subjects get a bit... ," he trailed off his thought trying to come up with a proper word for it.