A state I learned and perfected over the years In the military.
But the moment I felt the dropship decelerate, my eyes snapped open, instincts hardwired from military life lighting up like flares in my brain.
I leaned sideways, squinting through one of the tiny armored viewports and there it was. Mount E*erest.
A wall of ice, stone, and death, glowing under the morning light like some ancient, frostbitten g*d. My skin began to prickle. Sweat beading at my temple.
"Hey… who's flying the dropship?"
I turned sharply to Invicta. She sat casually, dangling her foot off the bench, her manicured toes spinning the strap of her flip flop with lazy precision.
She didn't even look at me.
"I am. What of it?"
I blinked. Then blinked again.
Then leaned forward, trying to peer into the cockpit compartment, but all I saw was seats and a bunch of holographic displays.
I whipped my head back toward her, panic prickling up my spine.
"Hey If you bothered to open youre eyes we're gonna make a close and personal impact with a f*cking mountain at this rate!"
She didn't even flinch. Didn't stop flipping her g*dsdamn sandal.
"Relax."
She said with a dismissive wave.
"It's optical camouflage."
"The hell does that..."
Then it happened. We passed through something, a shimmering veil, like a ripple in the air itself, momentarily visible before snapping back into invisibility behind us.
The dropship's external lights kicked on automatically. Ahead, darkness gave way to cold steel. The rock vanished, replaced by an enormous tunnel, carved into the heart of the mountain.
And at the end of that tunnel. A hangar.
A massive, echoing, war forged cathedral of metal and decay, stretching into shadows deeper than my trust issues.
The same brutalist design as the dropship, but far older. Far more worn.
Everywhere I looked, pipes hanging loosely, wires draped like vines, armor plating torn and dangling off bulkheads like broken skin.
Rust in places that shouldn't have rust. Dents and carbon scoring as if entire centuries of war had passed within these walls. And somehow, despite all the wear and neglect, It still lived.
"By the actual f*cking G*ds…"
I muttered under my breath, rising slowly from my seat as Ifelt the dropship touch down on the hangars floor.
"How old exactly Is this thing?"
Invicta stood, stretching like she'd just woken up from a nap, not flown a multi ton warbird into a mountain.
"Oh… you know. Give or take a few million years."
She said it like she was talking about the weather. I stared at the crumbling fortress of ancient tech around me.
"Of course it Is."
I muttered, sighing like my soul had just aged another fifty years. We descended the ramp, boots echoing on rust stained steel.
The hallways were sterile but worn, like a military facility preserved in time, but with scorch marks, collapsed conduits, and broken screens that hinted at chaos long past.
It was like walking through a sci-fi ghost ship. I half expected to turn a corner and see a skeleton in white polimer armor, clutching a plasma rifle.
But no. Just dust, darkness, and the hum of systems barely clinging to life. Eventually, we arrived at a lab or what looked like one.
Translucent tanks lined the walls, filled with liquid the color of liquefied nightmares, old holographic monitors flickered to life as we entered, displaying static or indecipherable code. And there right in the middle an operating platform. I stopped short.
"Alright. Strip,"
Invicta said, already walking over to a coat rack and grabbing a white lab coat like this was a normal Tuesday.
She pulled it on smoothly, then added black rimmed glasses, tied her hair into a tight bun, and snapped on a pair of clean latex gloves with the kind of crispness that made my butt cheeks clench up unvorantarily.
I turned around, looked at her. And immediately had a problem. Damn. That doctor cosplay was f*cking hot.
She looked like she was about to give me a check up and a terminal erection at the same time. And that's when it happened. A pop of flame appeared on my right shoulder, followed by a smug puff of smoke.
Mini Chibi Demon me emerged, all red skinned and horned, dressed in a sleeveless leather jacket and dark shades, feet kicked up like he was watching from a lounge chair.
"Unh*ly hell, bro,"
Demon Drac whistled, fanning himself with a pitchfork.
"She's giving hot professor meets dominatrix vibes. I say we bend over that exam table and let fate take its course."
Pop. Opposite shoulder. White glow. Enter Mini Chibi Angel me, pristine white robes, tiny fluffy wings, a golden halo and even a floating mini h*ly book, arms crossed in judgmental disgust.
"Absolutely not. You are under medical supervision. She's wearing gloves, have some dignity man!"
Demon Drac just gave angel me the middle finger
"Exactly you goody two shoes. Gloves mean business, and business is hot."
Angel Drac just snorted.
"She's a synthetic AI millions of years old preparing to inject you with unknown chemicals and augment your body! This is not the time to pitch a tent!"
I blinked, looked at the two mes, then looked at her as she adjusted her glasses like she hadn't just transformed into every army grunts medic kink fantasy, and then looked back at the two bickering little s*its.
Alright Im officially loosing It.
I thought choosing to Ignore the two bloody c*nts.
"Hey… you're not thinking about probing my ass, are you?"
I asked suspiciously, pointing a thumb toward my own backside. She stopped. Her eye twitched. Just a little.
Then she lifted her hand and pointed, not at me, but at a pair of sleek robotic arms hanging from the ceiling.
They whirred softly, coming to life with menacing precision, mechanical pincers and laser scalpels gleaming in the dim blue lab light.
"Strip, or I'm going to let them do it."
Her tone was flat. Deadly calm. I gulped.
"Right. Clothes off prompto. Got it."
I came to decision on the spot because I wasn't about to get undressed by Dr. Murderhands 9000 and his six different needle configurations.
I peeled off my t-shirt, kicked off my pants, and stood there like a half naked idiot, shivering, but not from the cold.
"Underwear too,"
Invicta added casually, her hands tucked in her coat pockets, her voice calm as still water. I paused Briefly considered my dignity or at least what was left of It.
Then sighed. There was no dignity left. I dropped my boxers. And we just… stared at each other. Unblinking.
The silence was so thick I could hear my own heartbeat. Good thing I've built up extremely thick skin over the years, or I'd probably be curled up in the corner screaming into my kneecaps.
I used to be proud of this body. Used to show it off, strut shirtless, flirt and flex.
But now? After years of decline, laziness, and disappointment? I couldn't even walk onto a beach without wanting to wear three layers and a hoodie.
And she… She just smirked. In that Infuriating smirk of hers.
"Hmph. Don't worry dearest hubby of mine"
Her voice was warm with wicked delight.
"I'll whip you into shape. No problem."
Before I could come up with a retort a sudden hiss and sharp sting pierced my neck. One of the robotic arms had injected something straight into my carotid. Everything tilted. My words slurred.
"Whaddidyou...?"
Black.
...
FL POV
Just before Dracula could collapse face first onto the sterile metal floor, Invicta calmly operated the labs Instruments with her mind.
Two robotic arms snapped forward, grabbing his unconscious body by the arms with inhuman precision and gentleness.
With coordinated grace, they hoisted him like an oversized mannequin, gliding across the lab to an empty suspension tank.
The tank's glass chamber hissed open, interior flickering to life.
Additional arms unfolded from above, precisely attaching sensor pads along his spine, shoulders, and chest.
One slipped an oxygen mask over his face, then fed a long, flexible respiratory hose down his throat.
Another pair of arms Injected hoses Into his organs and extrement collection ones Into his anus and manhood.
As his body was suspended in the upright chamber, diffrent kind of colored liquids began to spread through the hoses.
While a flood of dense nutrient fluid surged into the tank, surrounding him with a viscous, glowing bath of proteins, nutrients, caloric energy, and metabolic fuel.
Holographic windows bloomed across Invicta's vision, coded data streaming alongside anatomical readouts.
Genetic restructuring serum administered. Expected outcome.
Height increase to 2.0 meters.
Body weight Increase to 136 kg.
Expected body fats Index decrease to 5 percent from 25 percent.
Expected brain neural activity to 100 percent human theoretical limit.
Expected testorone level Increase to the max of male human potential.
Expected change In physical functions 99-100 percent of human limit.
Estimated metaphorsis period. 365 E*rth days.