Chapter One

Five years of living in an isolation cell has a way of taking its toll on you. There’s all the damn white everywhere, for one. But then there’s the understanding that you’re watched. Always. Make a wrong move? Become a tranquilizer pin cushion. System malfunctions? Tranquilizer cushion.

That was the only life I knew, aside from flashes and snippets to the event that had resulted in the imperial military isolating me for study. The ‘Resonance Incident,’ they called it. Some alien species had fired a harmonic weapon at the city I lived in, reducing buildings to ash and the people to goo.

Except for me, and some other survivors the researchers talked about on occasion. Something about us was different. Not only did we survive, but we were reduced to a feral state. We attacked and killed the invading aliens, as well as human responders.

People who could kill the aliens were valuable, valuable creatures. Thus, we were pumped with sedatives at range and brought into isolation rooms to be studied.

There were just two little problems.

First, I had no memory from before the Incident. According to Doctor Abel’s study, the resonance that had given me superhuman abilities had stolen my past from me. He was hopeful that I would recover, but I didn’t believe I would.

To combat the amnesia, I’d been permitted to have reading material. I studied anything and everything they’d let me. For the most part, that had been ancient history from fallen human planets throughout the universe. I hadn’t been afforded much modern or present information.

The second problem, was the issue of us ‘going feral.’ Apparently, the other survivors struggled to remain themselves. Some were stuck in their feral state, while others were easy to trigger.

In that state, we acted like wounded, cornered animals—thus the moniker. I had control over mine, mostly.

And so, I was up for review.

I ran my fingers over a printed piece of paper I’d been given, eyeing the instructions for conduct. Meeting military officials wasn’t exactly on the list of activities I wanted to participate in, but I did want out of my damn cell.

“Subject Zero, place your hands on the table,” a male voice ordered over the comm system. Once I did so, he stated, “We’re going to check you for weapons. Stay still.”

Once the scans were complete, the doors hissed open and Doctor Abel strutted in with his hands linked behind his back, and an apologetic smile on his face. “I do apologize, Subject Zero. They do love their protocols. Are you ready to meet with Gideon and Zeke?”

“Ready enough.” I stood when motioned to. “I think I’ve seen enough salutes to get it right.”

“Good, good.” Abel rubbed his hands together, his eyes flicking around the room as he led me into the hallway outside. “This way, we will be meeting in the conference room near the mess hall.”

The mess hall, at least, was a place I knew. As they’d begun loosening my leash, they’d started allowing me to eat some of my meals with the soldiers—most were scared of me, but there were a few who didn’t care what I could do. So long as I, ‘remained on their side.’

The conference room was a little too large in my opinion, and still just as white as the rest of the damned place. Inside, half a dozen guards awaited with two formally dressed men.

“Generals, this is Subject Zero,” Abel introduced me, stepping aside. “She has yet to be briefed on the Resonance Project. If I may—”

“I don’t recall giving you permission to remove her from her cell, Abel.” The burlier of the two men furrowed his brow.

Sensing tensions rising, I spoke up, “Sir, if you would prefer to have this discussion at my cell, then we can go back to it.”

With that, they marched me all the way back and locked me in it. Gideon, Abel, and the guards stood on the other side of the clear sliding doors, though I had no idea where ‘Zeke’ had wandered off to—he’d received a call, and stopped to take it, saying for us to go on without him.

“The Resonance Project focuses on utilizing survivors like you, who have inhuman power. We want to replicate it in our soldiers,” Gideon started speaking, his tone giving me the impression he thought he was wasting his time. “More importantly, we want you to kill more Syldrari. Any and every you find. Those evil bastards must be destroyed for the good of the empire.”

“I’m supposed to just…what, take you at your word that the Syldrari are ‘bad’ and its fine for me to kill any and every one see?” I scoffed at the man standing outside my cell. “You think ‘freedom,’ if you can call it that, is enough to make me another of the government’s mindless pawns? I don’t even know what a Syldrari is!”

“Asking the right questions.” Doctor Abel nodded in approval before turning to look at the rather agitated military man beside him. “She doesn’t remember anything from before the incident, sir, and information has been kept sparse as per your orders…”

I decided to keep my mouth shut and observe. Abel’s ‘I’m smarter than you all’ attitude rubbed me the wrong way, but Gideon irked me more.

“Then let her go see the Syldrari Sector herself.” Gideon crossed his arms. “Once she learns the horrors of their kind, she’ll be on our side

“And if she isn’t willing to kill every Syldrari she sees?”

Gideon frowned, then referenced a data pad. “…you can negotiate her terms of service. If she remains unreasonable, we can retire her. She’s got an alright face, I’m sure you could find a buyer.”

With that, the military bastard walked off and I turned to glower at Doctor Abel, who raised his hands to placate me.

“They know they need you if they want to deal with the Syldrari. He won’t give up that easily.” Doctor Abel shook his head slowly. “I’ll be brief. There are two factions of Syldrari we are aware of those who live among us, and those who are responsible for the Resonance Incident that destroyed your city and awoke your abilities.

“The higher ups want all Syldrari off our planet, as those two factions are at war with each other. Our people often get dragged into their conflicts, and even augmented humans don’t stand a chance against Syldrari—trained or otherwise. The Syldrari are also suspected to be the cause of the increased crime rates throughout the empire.”

I crossed my arms. “…and since I can do more than hold my own, these bastards want to use me to kill their problems? That the gist of it?”

“Until we can discover a way to awaken more humans with abilities such as your own? Yes.” Doctor Abel released a heavy sigh. “And even then, they will want you to train the new recruits. However, they’re offering you more freedom if you cooperate.”

If humans can’t survive against Syldrari, yet I can… Does that mean humans can’t survive against me either? My gaze flicked around my cell, noting the cameras, vents, and the narrow slots that shot tranquilizers. Hmph. So that’s why they went so overboard with security, even though I behave myself. They’re afraid of what will happen if I stop playing nice.

“I know you don’t want to spend your life in a cell or as some rich politician’s pet,” Abel coughed into his hand pointedly. “So, what’s holding you back?”

“I don’t like the idea of mindlessly agreeing to serve as a weapon against the Syldrari. I’m hesitant to believe they are all criminals.” I shrugged, shaking my head faintly. “Executing criminals, I can get behind. But I’ve read enough history while stuck in here to know that it’s never a good thing when a government starts trying to purge an entire race or species.”

Abel frowned. “Then, your potential terms are?”

“I’ll only kill proven criminals—ones we have footage of, or ones I catch in the act. If they’re merely suspects, I’ll capture them alive or the military can send a different dog after it.” I motioned loosely with one hand, smirking. “And if the government really wants me to hunt Syldrari, then they can give me a good reason to believe they’re all scum.”

An unfamiliar man walked into view, escorted by the missing Zeke. Rather than a military or researcher uniform, he wore a sharp suit and had a clean look to him. His brunette hair was combed back, and his piercing grey eyes framed by gold-rimmed glasses. Abel promptly bowed and moved out of the man’s way. “If its proof you need, a visit to the Syldrari Sector should suffice. However, she can’t go looking like that. Abel, procure proper clothing for Subject Zero and arrange for her to visit the Syldrari Sector. She should understand their villainy then.”

Who the hell…? I wondered, watching the new man. He seemed to have a presence to him, and every worker in the area bowed to him in greeting or before passing to continue their work.

“Y-yes sir.” Abel bowed deeper, wringing his shaky hands as the man strode past him and down another hall. Abel stayed that way for a while, before turning to check if the man was gone.

“Explain?” I sighed in exasperation.

“The Syldrari Sector is where all V’shir Syldrari in the empire reside. The empire makes certain their kind are segregated from the human population.” Abel shook his head. “It will be a few weeks before everything is ready for you to visit there. Continue your training while I make arrangements. With any luck, some of the other Resonance victims will stabilize soon too.”

With that, Abel was off, muttering to himself.

A visit to the Syldrari Sector so they can prove to me how terrible these aliens are? I wandered over to my bed and flopped down. Right. So, they’re expecting the Syldrari to try and do awful things to me on sight. Are these fears grounded in reason, or…? Well. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to work on my training just in case.

Several weeks later, I found myself outside of the military compound and above ground for the first time in years. Buildings of steel and black surrounded me, with brightly colored signs flashing everywhere. A military craft had dropped me off at the edge of the Syldrari Sector before zipping off about its business. They were so confident in their plan that they hadn’t even rigged me with explosives or listening devices. All I had was a wallet stuffed down one pocket, and a communicator down the other. Around one wrist I had a band with a button I could push in case of emergency—and Abel had argued quite aggressively to make sure I’d gotten that.

The sector, from what I gathered, was treated like a slum by the humans. The military didn’t bother patrolling it since they couldn’t do anything about Syldrari. For a so-called ‘lawless zone,’ it looked tidier than what I’d seen of the city, and there were civilians walking about.

Unless those were the Syldrari?

Abel had warned me they were shapeshifters, but…whatever.

I strode into the sector, hands in my pockets and my ears trained for the faintest hint of trouble. The odd looks I got gave me the impression that, indeed, these weren’t humans around me. It wasn’t long before someone stopped me…but it didn’t appear to be out of aggression.

“We don’t get many humans in here,” a slender woman with bright pink hair frowned at me. “You clearly not lost, and you dropped off by military. What can…we do for you?”

“I’m looking for a place to eat breakfast,” I answered simply. When her confusion seemed to worsen, I smiled. “Where I come from, I’ve never heard of Syldrari. I wished to learn more, especially with what the military claims…”

“Bah! I see.” The woman flapped a hand in annoyance. “Always speaking ill of Syldrari. Yes, yes, I’ve seen before. But never with human of open mind. Why breakfast?”

I gave her a faint shrug. “Food is a good way to learn and share culture. I figured, since I don’t believe the military on their thoughts for what will happen to me here, I’d see about getting some food since I haven’t had any today.”

“Honest human, huh?” A man nearby shook his head in disbelief, before giving me a dangerous stare. “I suggest you keep that honesty going. The consequences for lying to a Syldrari are worse than if you leak information your masters don’t want you to share.”

“Oh? So that part of my briefing was true?” I remarked.

“Breakfast, ah… this way!” The woman motioned down a wider street.

The restaurant the woman led me to was a cozy cafe. Inside, a very different sight awaited me. The Syldrari all had odd skin colors—blues, pinks, reds, yellows, and the colors of stones. Just about every shade of every color humans couldn’t be—and some they could. There were glowing sections in their hair, they had varied horns—some glowing, some not—and all present had tails. They all had pointed ears too, though some had longer ones than others.

Stranger still were their eyes. Where humans had one round pupil, the Syldrari had either a slit or diamond shaped pupil surrounded by multiple smaller triangular pupils.

“A human?” the man behind the counter narrowed his eyes at me, then looked to the woman that had led me there. He had slate blue skin, which was quite the contrast to his eyes, which gradated from white to yellow.

“I’ll be blunt—the military wants to convince me that hunting and killing Syldrari is the righteous path. When I refused, they decided to send me here so that you could prove to me yourselves that I should hunt you,” I stated, crossing my arms. Several Syldrari growled, but none made a move toward me. “Since I think they’re fucking idiots, I’m playing along before I go back to living out my life in my cell.”

“Your cell?” The woman turned to look at me, wide-eyed. “You criminal?”

“No. I’m a survivor of the Resonance Incident. They’re studying me to figure out ‘how’ I lived.” I shook my head, then turned to look at the man behind the counter—presumably the owner. He looked utterly uninterested right up until the mention of my cell—now, he appeared contemplative. “I’ll understand if you don’t want to serve a human in your establishment.”

“I can hear your stomach growling from there. Come here and sit down.” The man pointed at an empty stool across from him. His deep, commanding tone threw me off-guard. He was so…pretty, I hadn’t quite expected that. Sassing him didn’t seem like a smart idea with so many agitated Syldrari around, especially when I’d chosen to be overly blunt, so I decided to obey. As I situated myself, he spoke again, “From what I heard, most Resonance survivors don’t require convincing in order to hunt us. Though, I’ve never heard of one being locked up in a cell either.”

“Well, they’re traumatized imbeciles who think everyone is out to get them,” I scoffed. “If they spent more time reading and less time kissing ass, they’d realize its only ever a group—not an entire species—who is ‘bad.’ As for why I live in a cage and they don’t, it’s simple. They were further from the blast than I was or lost loved ones to it.”

“What was this about returning to your cell?” The man asked as he placed a menu, and a cup of steaming pink liquid in front of me.

I studied his expression for a moment, getting the feeling that the passerby’s warning was quite correct—honesty was a safer path when dealing with the Syldrari. Especially if I took into account that I wasn’t attacked outright for my ‘introduction.’

Sighing, I leaned back a bit in my seat. “Ah, that? I have two choices, three if you stretch it. One, submit to their ridiculous demands and hunt/kill every Syldrari and criminal I see. Two, live the rest of my life isolated in my cell, as I already have been since the Incident. Three, the military says, ‘fuck it’ and either reprograms me to do as they want or sends me to be some fat bastard’s sex slave. I hear they’ve been going the latter route with survivors who aren’t suitable for military work.”

“…what? And you would go with the second of those options?” The woman who had escorted me exclaimed as she sat beside me. She promptly whacked me upside the head with her menu, then looked to the cafe owner. “Dumb! Stubborn-dumb!”

The man pressed his fingers to his temples. “Honestly. Just agree to hunting us. It’s not as if humans have the means to kill us anyway.”

I raised an eyebrow. “That’s not quite the reaction I was expecting.”

“One more human hunting us won’t change anything.” He shrugged, before pointing at my cup. “It’s a bit bitter for humans usually. Let me know if you need sugar.”

With that, he turned to speak in some other language with another customer, and the woman beside me—whose glowing patterns and the underside of her hair were now a deep red-orange color—leaned over my arm to point at something on the menu.

“This very good. Hearty, traditional Syldrari breakfast. All nutrients needed for a day of hunting, and taste good too.” The woman pointed to a massive picture of what looked like a main dish surrounded by at least thirteen side dishes, though her tone implied she was still fuming about my ‘stubborn-dumb’ approach. “Syldrari traditionally hunters and gatherers. Home planet have many, many dangerous beasts. Rulers and nobles only ever men and woman who good warriors.”

I nodded faintly, listening as she continued to make suggestions from the menu. While she did, I picked up my cup and gave it a tentative sniff, then a sip. “Oh, it’s sweet.”

That caused the owner to abruptly stop his conversation to give me an incredulous look.

“Ah! She have Syldrari tastes!” The woman giggled, nodding approvingly, her glow rapidly shifting from red-orange to a brighter, neutral cyan color. She gave the owner a smug look. “See? Not all humans taste the same.”

“…we need to work on your grammar.” He pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Hmmm, can I get an order of these two?” I pointed to the large meal, and then to a smaller meal that consisted of some manner of soup and more side dishes.

“…do you eat like a Syldrari too?” He eyed me disbelievingly. “You’re a bit small to pack away that much food.”

I pointed to his own sign behind him and gave him a smug grin. “I can take ‘home’ what I can’t eat.”

“And our little jailbird has money?” He countered just as smugly.

“Mmhmm, that I do.” I pulled out my wallet and pulled out the requisite amount of cash—and then some, placing it on the counter. “For the meal, for tolerating my presence, and for not having me shanked the moment you heard I have military ties.”

Another customer laughed. “Heh. Not scared of us at all, is she?”

“The human military is way scarier than we are.” Another snorted.

“What sort of criminals does the military want you to pursue?” The owner took my money with a nod, then made a gesture toward the stove—which immediately fired to life. I tilted my head faintly, eyeing the stove—was that an ability of his, or did stoves have motion sensors?

“They were rather vague about that.” I shook my head. “The gist was just…any, plus Syldrari. I’m under the impression they’re looking for more manpower to patrol the city. They mentioned something about 1 in 5 citizens being victimized.”

“You survived the Resonance, you said?” he murmured while preparing ingredients. “That was an atrocity committed by the R’selkti, yes?”

“Mmhmm. They employed some kind of sound weapon. It leveled my city and turned most people into ‘goo’ in an instant.” I stretched back in my seat, crossing my legs at the ankles.

“And you…survived?” He shook his head.

“Not unscathed, mind you. I don’t remember anything from before that day, and anyone who knew me is gone. We don’t even know what my name was.” I shrugged. “Most of what I know is from being told—though I was shown some rather gruesome bodycam footage…”

“Then…what do they call you?” The woman frowned at me.

“I’m just a number,” I answered dryly.

“A number you can’t divulge, I imagine.” The man shook his head, then glanced over. “Finished your drink already? I’ll get you another.”

“Number? Numbers are not name.” The woman shook her head. “Hmmm, call you Huntress!”

“I never agreed to—”

“You should. Sacrificing a chance at freedom—or a shard of it—would be foolish. I don’t think there’s any among us who would begrudge you for that choice.” The man poured me a new cup of…tea? Whatever it was. “These are hard times for many people. Unless you’re born into wealth, you will struggle in the empire. If hunting Syldrari will grant you freedoms and comforts that would otherwise be denied to you, then you should take your chance. Human lives are short. Ours are not. We will manage.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Humans are that little of a threat, huh? So little a danger that you can show compassion to a potential enemy?”

“Quite.” A chilling smile spread across his face as he met my gaze. “Do you fear the dust under your bed?”

“Hah. I get the point.” I let out a short laugh. “Even so, morally—”

“Morals just get you killed in this day and age—at least in the empire. You might not know it yet, but you’re in a fight for your own survival.” The man made a dismissive motion. “If you cooperate with the military, at least, you can hold on to part of yourself. If you disobey them, they’ll turn you into someone else. We’ve seen what they do to enslave their own kind.”

…so, the military sends me here to get hurt, but instead I’m getting life advice. Oookay then. I let out a small sigh and gave him a tired smile. “So, that blue stuff—it’s some type of meat?”

“You can tell? Full of surprises, aren’t you?.” he remarked dryly. “You’re an odd human. If you find some manner of middle ground with your superiors, you’re welcome back anytime.”

I’m…what? I blinked at his back in surprise.

* *

“Well?” Abel asked as I disembarked the carrier. “You don’t look harmed.”

“The terms of my service are as follows: I will only kill criminals I catch in the act—Syldrari or otherwise. I will also execute criminals you can provide me with proof of. I’ll also hunt monsters. I will not kill Syldrari just because they’re Syldrari.”

“Wha—” Abel nervously looked to his superiors.

“Will you fight in a war if one breaks out?” One of them asked.

“I was already assuming I’d be treated as a soldier, so yes.” I nodded.

“We will accept your terms,” the other one stated. “You will be relocating to the Resonance Project Headquarters. Abel has assigned a specialized team there, and any others who join our cause will move there as well. You will continue your training there—and begin training the new recruits to tame their feral.”

“I’ll introduce you to the head of the program when we arrive.” Abel let out a relieved sigh and turned to look at me. “Headquarters is in the city itself, to ensure the fastest response possible when threats are detected. The building is disguised as a civilian business, but the facilities we need are all there.”

“Abel, the Syldrari…” I started.

“I suggest keeping your opinions to yourself, Subject Zero.” Abel shook his head. “The last thing you want to do is give your superiors a reason to dispose of you.”

“…understood.” I grimaced.