Page 66 of I Married Kayog
I shamelessly tried to convince them to let her stay the night with me, but the reason for their refusal quickly became apparent. By the time they were done setting me up, I had lost count of the number of wires, magnetic monitoring patches, sensors, and other devices attached to me in one form or another. It was a good thing I’d never been the toss and turn type or they would have had to strap me to the bed to avoid all this shit flying off the minute I attempted to move.
The second day started off with a few more tests before thankfully switching to a far more interesting one. Arafin led me to a lower floor of the building and introduced me to a Raithean male named Yinric.
Like all the members of his species, he didn’t possess legs but a set of eight tentacles, only four of which boasted suction cups. His torso was muscular and well-defined, with two arms and five fingers like me. Where soft down feathers covered my torso, from a distance, his chest might have passed off for that of a human with dark-gray skin. But on closer inspection, one could see that his skin was a bit more akin to that of a sea mammal like a dolphin, and discreet scales were scattered along his shoulders, arms, and sides.
He extended a hand for me to shake in a traditional human greeting. Although I reciprocated, that took me aback. Neither his species nor mine normally shook hands. I could only speculate that frequent interactions with humans had turned this into an instinctive response when meeting strangers.
He smiled warmly, the tips of the shorter and narrower tentacles that graced his head almost like hair slightly curled in a way that expressed excitement. It should bother me that the prospect of running tests on me triggered this thrilled reaction. But there was something so innocent and enthusiastic about him that made his responses somewhat contagious.
“I leave you in Yinric’s capable hands,” Arafin said, the amusement in his voice hinting that he, too, had perceived the Raithean’s eagerness. “Once you’re done, please go see Ellen to make sure all is well. Do not let him overexert himself,” Arafin added in a stern voice while eyeing his colleague.
By the sheepish expression Yinric gave him, I realized the warning was actually meant for the Raithean, not me. I suspected him to be the type to easily get carried away by a project of passion.
As the Temern doctor exited the immense room, Yinric waved for me to follow him. He walked to what resembled a crescent moon-shaped reception desk. A quick glance at it indicated that it was in fact some sort of elaborate control board.I suspected it could activate various apparatus throughout the space.
About five meters ahead of us, a large table with enough seats for eight sat in front of a theater-sized screen that spread over nearly half of the back wall. Currently, it displayed an idle animation of a luminous beam with shimmering pastel colors crawling lazily over the screen.
“My role is to help assess and train both your physical and kinetic abilities,” Yinric said with a thrill in his voice as he stopped next to the control panel in the central area. “First, we’re going to run you through some basic warmups and then cardio and strength exercises. The scans and tests your doctors performed indicate that you haven’t suffered any atrophy while in stasis. However, you used to be a top athlete, and we want to be sure to bring you back at least to the same level you were before the incident and hopefully make you even better.”
I gladly complied. My eyes widened when the Raithean tapped a button on the control console, and the floor parted in four different locations on the left side of the room, as did a couple sections of the wall behind it. The best training equipment available anywhere in the galaxy rose from the floor.
With a will of their own, my feet carried me closer, only to have Yinric stop me. He ran me through a specific series of exercises, which proved to be more like tests than an actual proper warm up and training session. Having me running on the treadmill almost qualified as such, but the wretched male stopped me right before I could get my second wind.
“You will get a real workout tomorrow or the day after next,” the Raithean said with a chuckle when I glared at him. “Today, we’re just making sure everything works as intended. And so far, it seems to be the case, which is excellent news!”
He pointed at a large rectangular room enclosed by a glass wall. It was completely empty and ate up more than a third of the right side of the room.
“The second half of today’s training will take place in this holodeck,” he continued. “These glass walls are reinforced and strong enough to sustain the pressure of outer space. I’m confident they will be able to withstand whatever you throw at them.”
I couldn’t help a frown that he should have made that last statement seriously instead of as a joke. Just how powerful did he believe me to be that this would have been a consideration?
“The main thing we want to assess is the extent of your kinetic powers,” Yinric said while typing a few instructions on the control board.
A series of virtual targets appeared along the walls inside the glass room at different heights. Some of them were extremely small, requiring substantial precision to hit them while much larger ones would be nearly impossible to miss. The giant screen on the back wall also came to life, the swirling animation giving way to a series of charts and tables currently empty of data.
“Please hold still for a moment while I place these on you,” the Raithean said.
He picked up a handful of wireless electrodes, which he strategically placed on my chest, temples, forearms, and lower legs. To my surprise, he added three more to my back: one on my nape, and the other two alongside my spine, between my wings. Various numbers instantly populated the tables on the giant screen while the charts came to life, indicating my pulse and other vital signs.
Yinric glided towards the holodeck, gesturing for me to follow. The swaying motion of his hips was hypnotic.
I vaguely wondered why he hadn’t twisted six of his tentacles into makeshift legs as was his people’s wont. As suction cups alsoallowed Raitheans to taste, they usually avoided gliding over the ground. After all, no one wanted to lick the floor. Granted, they could shut down the tasting ability, but some granules or residue always managed to find their way in.
“First, I will ask you to enter the room and try to summon the kinetic pulse you used to knock back the masked men in the convention center,” Yinric said while waiving me in as soon as the doors parted before us.
I stiffened. “Errr… I’m afraid I don’t know how. Honestly, I didn’t even know I possessed that power until Linsea told me what happened.”
He pursed his lips and slowly nodded. “Do you remember what you felt that day, and more specifically at that precise moment?”
“The only thing I felt was pain and anger. It was like a dagger stabbing at the center of my brain,” I replied, my innards twisting at the memory of that horrendous experience.
“Try to focus on the seat of that pain. It could be the section that activates your power. Then try to channel it towards one of the targets in the room. Starting with a bigger one might be easier,” Yinric said with enthusiasm. “But wait until I’ve exited the room.”
I gaped at him while he swiftly slithered out. Did he think I had some sort of switch that I could just flick on and off to zap my surroundings with kinetic energy? The door closed behind him, and I just stood there, feeling lost and a little useless. He stopped on the other side of the glass wall and made a slightly impatient gesture telling me to get going.
Heaving a sigh, I tried to follow his instructions. Focusing on the seat of that pain was much easier said than done. Sure, I could try to zero in on it, but it still didn’t give me anything to work with. I didn’t feel any type of spark or dormant energy that I could attempt to enhance and project outward. Theseconds stretched into minutes with nothing happening. Each passing moment increased my frustration and his impatience in equal measure. I couldn’t even be annoyed with him as his outward demeanor was perfectly calm, composed, and even encouragingly supportive. But you couldn’t fool a Temern’s empathic perceptions.
“I’m sorry,” I said at last, starting to feel aggravated and incompetent. “I don’t know what to do as I’m not feeling anything in the area that had caused me pain. Maybe I lost that ability after the severe brain hemorrhage I sustained that day.”
