Tattoos & Rail Guns Chapter 6: Day of the Doctor

The next day, Lieutenant Sawyer started her plans for Douglas and Samuels. She took advantage of them eating together with Walker to talk to them. Fortunately, they had taken a trip to the PX and so Douglas was not in his usual blacks but instead a pair of jeans and a PT shirt. Well, Walker was sort of with them; he was deep in a book with something Latin as the title.

Looking directly at Douglas, she made sure she had his attention. “You have a formidable pool of abilities, but they only apply when you are in the zone. If you're going to be an adjutant, I need to know that we can count on you no matter where we are.”

Douglas smiled. “So this is where I get to play with guns?”

She had to stop her eyes from rolling. “For the next couple of hours, Samuels here is going to be your instructor.” She smiled inward when she heard Samuels' sigh. “By lunch, you will have received some basic training in firearms and self-defense. After lunch, you will undergo a physical exam.”

Samuels looked Douglas up and down. “Yeah, he's going to need a doctor.”

Douglas' grin got bigger. “I think you may be surprised.”

“We'll see.” Samuels grabbed the kid and dragged him off. Walker pretended not to notice, stifling a smile.

Lieutenant Sawyer smiled. She grabbed a coffee, two sugars, a cream, and a mixing stick, but her smile disappeared as she walked away. She had to take care of some business, and then she could summon Kev. That gave her a weird feeling; a few years ago she would have never thought she could do something like outside of a game, and not she could do it in real life. She passed Rodriguez working on his dogs; he was fine-tuning them even as he repaired their systems. He barely saluted her as she passed; she just wanted to check in on him before she got going on for the day.

Her only other bit of business she had to deal with was checking up Lieutenant Prowse. She popped into the squad's office to see what she was up to. Lieutenant Prowse was not in a good mood: She was running around the small office, organizing and re-organizing things, checking supplies, making sure everything was ready. She snuck up behind her, and hugged her; her surprise only lasted until the coffee was placed in her hand. She was mildly annoyed until the other items were put in her hand.

Lieutenant Sawyer smiled. “Moving in?”

Lieutenant Prowse let her aggravation show. “Sure. I can't believe how far you've let this place go. I actually had to start with a dusting.” She mixed in the creamers.

“Well, we are a combat squad. We tend to spend a lot of time training, cleaning weapons, repairing gear, and, well, fighting.”

She mixed in the sugar. “Yeah, this will not stand. I should have the place cleaned up by lunch. At least your records are organized.”

“General Martins made it very clear that our paperwork will be very well organized or we shall suffer for it. That made it easy to do, especially when we saw what happened to Captain Apone.”

Lieutenant Prowse's face scrunched up. “Yeah, that wasn't nice. The guy volunteered for a rank reduction to sergeant after that.”

“Well, have fun. And if you need something to cheer you up, Samuels is instructing Douglas in self-defense.”

Lieutenant Prowse smiled. “I may have to check that out.” She sighed. “Assuming I can make some progress in cleaning up this mess. I may have to requisition some grenades.” She took a sip of her coffee. “Thanks for the java!” She put it down and returned to work as Lieutenant Sawyer walked off.

She soon found herself outside of the office of Dr. Taggert. She felt a little nervous as she reached into her pocket to grab the ring. Never did it seem that something of such slight weight carried so much gravity. Nonetheless, she grabbed and said one word: “Huc .”

A circle of blue light formed right in front of her and then formed into a cylinder. Kev formed in the cylinder and then the cylinder disappeared, leaving behind the boy. She noticed that he had left behind any obvious weapons; she was disappointed to not see the stake gun. “Howdy, Lieutenant! How are you doing today?”

She smiled: This was a weapon? “Fine. Yourself?”

“Outstanding. Especially considering what I was dealing with before you called me.” He looked around. “So, which test is first?”

“We're starting with a physical exam, and then a psych eval. And the cruelest test of all: Lunch.”

He smiled. “Okay, so bring it on.” He paused. “Since I'm assuming that the exam is going to be thorough, I assume you have no problem with male nudity?”

She was taken aback. “Um...why?”

She bowed his head to look at her squarely. “Look, we both know that there's going to be a lot of discussions regarding my brain and my body. Obviously, it is only going to help if you have a better idea about my capabilities. My culture has no issues with modesty; Zeus only knows how much time I have spent in gymnasium alone. So, it is not an issue for me and it may be educational for you.” He straightened up. “So, I ask again: Any problems with male nudity?”

“Nope. Just not a question I was expecting to hear today. Or ever, really.” She opened the door and pointed to it. “After you, then.”

They entered and after a few informalities, Dr. Taggert worked to establish a medical history, which was mostly noes. Kev was then asked to strip. As he stripped, it seemed somehow that his body lost a bit of its vitality. There was evidence of some scarring, like someone who had trained with knives for decades, but they had mostly become smooth and almost non-existent. His body was wiry, like that of a gymnast; it was obviously he had spent most of his time in a gym.

Lieutenant Sawyer took note of his tattoos. His arms and torso were covered with them, with one or two on his legs; given the time and detail, they must have been done over a long period of time. While there was one or two that were done large and decorative, such as the monster on his back and the rose on his shoulder, the rest were a little simpler, but it was only by a degree; all of them were finely detailed. It looked like they had been placed almost randomly, with no real rhyme or reason. Of course, if he had to touch them to activate them, well, then a sort of pattern began to emerge as the tattoos placed in easier to reach spots would have been the most commonly used.

“These are pretty spectacular works of art. They all have a use, I presume?”

“Yeah. Each one represents hours of drawing, weeks of recovery, and a lifetime of commitment. They make me into the ultimate transport specialist, as well as enhance my physical capabilities. Don't worry; we can go over what they do whenever you want.” He looked at the doctor. “Doctor, you can grab some samples if you need them. Given the way that mana flows on this world, my skin isn't as tough as it normally would be.”

Doctor Taggert took a step back. “Your flesh doesn't seem that tough to me.”

Kev smiled. “Normally, you would not be able to pierce my skin with those needles I see you have ready. However, because the planet's mana flows are relatively fresh, I cannot access it as readily as I could normally.” Dr. Taggart looked confused as he took in what Kev was telling him. “Yes, it is all sorts of weird for me as well.”

Doctor Taggerts shrugged and motioned for Kev to sit dress. When he had, Doctor Taggert motioned for him to lay down on a bed and proceeded to take several samples of blood, followed. He then looked at Lieutenant Sawyer: “If you could, I need you to test his 'toughness' when you get a chance.” He looked at Kev: “If that's okay with you?” Kev shrugged.

He handed Kev a small glass of orange juice and some cookies. He finished up his paperwork with a few taps on his tablet and then processed the blood samples. “Okay, you two can leave. I'll have the results in a few hours.”

Kev got up and they left the office. Lieutenant Sawyer led him down the hall. She stopped at another door and ushered him in. “I'd love to hear this conversation, but I can't. Instead, I'll wait for you right there for when you've finished. The receptionist will help you.” He nodded and went to the receptionist, was quickly processed, and was sent to the office of Doctor Michaels.

[The last chapter can be found here. The last chapter can be found here.]