Overclocked -CH21-

A loud and obnoxious buzzing noise invaded Wrench’s quiet thoughts.

Opening his eyes, he lifted his head and looked around.

Everyone in the lobby seemed to be hearing the same thing, each of them all turning their head this way and that to figure out where it was coming from. No one made a move otherwise and appeared to be as confused as he was.

“Okay! Everyone please exit the lobby and enter your rooms!” called a voice. Wrench had no idea where it was coming from “Your matches will proceed from there! Good luck everyone!”

Sighing, Wrench levered himself up out of his seat.

Around him, three other men did so as well.

Wrench had heard Chuckles and the other two arrive, but they hadn’t said anything to him. They’d been quiet and hadn’t said a word.

Leading the way, Wrench went back to the room he’d started in.

No sooner than the door was closed then there was a clank, a hiss, and the room began moving.

“This is amazing,” Chuckles said with an awkward laugh. “There’s so much going on here. I didn’t realize how big these games were. This seems like overkill. Doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, yeah, it does,” said the Brawler who’d been stabbed.

“Hey, what’s your names,” Wrench said, looking at the other two Brawlers. They looked to be brothers now that he was looking at them. One looked to be a few years older than the other but not by much.

They both had brown hair and bright blue eyes. Not to mention they were both quite handsome to boot. It meant that wherever they’d come from had been a higher-tier Hume facility.

“I’m Lucky,” said the one that’d been stabbed.

“Uh… I’m… uh… Berry,” the other Brawler said.

Weird name.

“Lucky. Berry,” Wrench said, pointing from one to the other. Then he pointed at Chuckles. “I was told to kill if you must. Don’t worry over it if you kill someone in a fight. That’s expected.

“If you can spare someone, or have the opportunity, good idea to do so. Helps you stay on the good side of hte Tongsta, I guess. Other than that, these are the preliminary fights. Gauging who’s good, who’s bad, and where you’ll fight later.

“All for the greatest entertainment possible for those watching. Just remember that you’re here to give them a show if nothing else. You can fight that notion and worldview all you want, just remember that it won’t save you here.”

Wrench went and sat down on his bed. There was no reason to stand around and wait.

They’d tell them what to do when they got where-ever it was that they were going.

“Uh, what else do we do, Wrench-Head?” asked Lucky.

“Nothing. Rest, stretch, warm-up, mentally train. We’ll be fighting soon. I get the impression these preliminary trials are where most people die,” Wrench muttered. Then decided to offer them some hope. He’d listened to everyone and had inferred a few truths. “After this you’ll be worth more to them, so you’re less likely to be killed. That way you can come back for the next games and perform again. Pretty sure the only reason we were in that death-match at the start is because we’re all new.

“Next time we won’t be in that, which obviously lessens our odds of death or being… uh… crippled. So get through this one, and it’s always easier.

“And hey, if you do well, you get rewards. Women, weapons, items. So just… you know… do well.”

“Easy for you to say,” Berry offered.

“I’m a Fixer,” Wrench remarked and looked to the Brawler. A person born to fight and kill. “We had different starting points. I got where I am just through training and pushing myself. It’s not like you can’t do it.”

“Will you train us then? When we get back? If we survive?” asked Lucky.

“You’re not part of my Hab. I’m on loan to your Hab,” Wrench stated with a shake of his head. “Sorry. Not much I can do about that but… but I’ll do what I can to help if I get the chance.”

I need Brawlers.

People I can train and take with me.

Damn. So much to do.

***

Nothing happened for quite a while for Wrench.

Three times the door opened and the other inhabitants were asked to step out. Each of the Brawlers leaving one by one. Till Wrench was alone in the room with his thoughts and the silence.

When the door hissed once again, he got to his feet.

There was no one else in the room so this could only be for him, after all.

“Wrench the Fixer, please step out,” called a voice from the other side, just as it had done for the other three times.

Exiting the room, Wrench found himself in a Tongsta common area. The small Hab he’d been in was disconnected from everything at the moment.

In front of him were two Tongstas.

Looking to the one on the left, he was fairly certain it was Goodie. The placement of her tentacle was always in the same spot and she also had a slightly different coloring he’d begun to differentiate from others.

The one on the right seemed unfamiliar to him, but he had a hard time of differentiating Tongsta.

“Well?” asked the Tongsta on the right. “The Admini called him out but it doesn’t seem like he’s doing anything.”

“That’s because he hasn’t been asked to do anything,” argued the Tongsta on the left that he now knew was Goodie. “Watch. He understand everything.

“Don’t you Wrenchie? Can you come over here my good boy? They want to see how much you can do.”

Wrench nodded his head to that and began walking over to Goodie and stopped just beside her.

Almost unable to help herself it seemed, Goodie stuck at tentacle down behind him and in an almost protective way.

“See? My Wrench is amazing. Clearly his pedigree is wrong,” Goodie argued.

“Yes. Yes it… it does seem odd. Almost like the xxhht made a mistake.

“Anyway, alright. We’ll proceed to the next fight. Any concerns now that you’ve confirmed his well-being?”

“Nope. He looks great,” Goodie answered. “But ah… you mentioned making a wager earlier. Can I do that now that I’ve confirmed he’s okay?”

“That was the reason we did it so… yes,” agreed the other Tongsta. They sounded moody.

“I’ll bet on him winning. With a specific weapon, against a opponent you choose, and in a specific way,” Goodie offered. “But only if it’s a good reward for my Wrench here. He’s a special boy and I have to make sure I get the best for him.

“Do you have any xxhht? I know sometimes you have some. I want several. I’d be willing to bet a xxhht against it with the conditions I mentioned.”

“Yes, we do have them in stock for these games. I can make that happen. Are you sure though? He’s just a Fixer. He did well in his first fight but they were all unblooded,” argued the Tongsta. “Your… pet… will die.”

“I’m sure. He’ll do it and amazingly well. In fact, I’ll even include an xxhht, my house, my commission, and my xxhht. You’ll have to match me though. Can you even afford all that?” Goodie demanded with an acrid tone. She’d apparently been highly offended by the Tongsta’s words.

“Fine. I’ll even be generous and make it twenty of my special selection,” the Tongsta said. There’d been an initial crackle of static on “special selection” but it’d faded relatively quickly.

“Thirty. I’ll add my ship to the wager. It’s a third-generation xxhht,” Goodie countered. “Or are you a coward against my Fixer?”

“Forty. But I want everything from xxhht and your Hab!” hissed the Tongsta.

Uh… I think… this just spiraled rapidly out of control.

“Done!” Goodie declared and then hugged Wrench to herself. “Wrenchie. Pick a weapon out and kill whoever they put in front of you. Do it with absolute conviction. I’m sorry for putting you in harms way, but this is also for your future. This’ll make it much easier to give you the best.

“Can you do it for me my spssss? Do it for mommy?”

Err… mommy?

Pretty sure she just… yeah.

Yeah. She said do it for mommy.

Alright. Okay.

Didn’t realize they do have genders.

Or maybe they don’t and the translator is just doing what it can for me.

No idea.

But what’s clear is… what’s clear is she’s imprinting on me more as offspring than a pet. That uh… that explains a lot.

Wrench nodded his head at Goodie.

“Thank you spssss. I’m proud of you. I know you understand me. I know it. You’re not like the others. You’re my special Wrench,” Goodie murmured and just about crushed him against her strange body. “Don’t get hurt, okay? Even if you lose, it’s okay. I’ll make it work. Just make sure you come back to me. No matter what.”

“Follow me,” said the other Tongsta with some bite to their words. Then they took off into the air and began flying away down the large hall.

Goodie did the same thing, zooming off after the other one.

Wrench clung to Goodie and tried not to fall. The fact that Tongsta could fly was an incredible feat.

The trip didn’t last long before they’d arrived at a new Hab. Goodie transfering him gently into the air-lock for it then closing it. He’d been put into a room that was quite literally packed wall to wall with an assortment of tools made exclusively to kill Hume.

“He’ll select a weapon then proceed to the next room,” demanded the Tongsta.

“Wrench, take your weapon and go into the other area. I’ll see you afterwards, okay? I’ll see you aftewards and we’ll get our winnings,” Goodie murmured, sticking a tentacle to the glass next to him.

Wrench smirked, patted the glass atop her tentacle, and went to the weapons.

It only took him a moment to grab a sword.

He could probably kill anyone they put in front of him within a minute or two with this.

Unless they take a spear or something. That’d be annoying.

Do I take a spear then?

Wrench turned his gaze and gazed at the selection of spears.

There was one that really looked like a short-sword on a stick and calling it a spear.

He briefly considered it, then took the sword anyways.

Realistically the odds of his opponent taking a spear were slight. Given what he knew of Brawlers, they were more likely to take a sword or an axe.

Exiting the room Wrench found that he was in a wide open claypacked area again.

There was no roof to the enclosure.

Above him, all around, in every direction, were Tongsta. There were also strange devices set around the area that were all trained on Wrench and the center of the arena.

A vibrational roar hit him from nearly every direction. Tongsta that were shouting near constantly or cheering for what was coming. That they were completely involved in what was about to occur.

Thankfully his implant didn’t bother to try and translate any of it.

A spectacle.

Let’s make it brutal, swift, and unquestionable.

That you can’t under-estimate me.

Across the way a hulking shirtless man exited from a doorway. In each hand he had an axe.

While Wrench had modified himself and made his height, weight, and density much better to the point that he wasn’t a Hume anymore, this man could compare. He was taller than Wrench, wider than Wrench, and looked like he’d been fed a concotion of medicines, legal and illegal, nonstop.

It was like looking at an animal.

“The former champion has taken the field! The up-and-coming rookie, will be his opponent,” called an announcter from somewhere. “Our condolesnces go out to xxhht who’s about to lose her Hume. Though we appreciate you allowing such a sacrifice to happen for our own entertainment.”

“I’ll meet anyone’s wager!” Goodie shrieked over the sound of the maddening din of noise. “Wrench will win!”

Oh Goodie. You have far too much faith in me.

There’s no way I can let you down now.

“Uh, we’ll take a moment here to let some side-wagers occur,” declared the announcer. Even as he spoke the brute of a Hume kept coming at Wrench. “Well, as long as the champion let’s the contender live at least.”

Wrench smirked at that and decided to prolong this just long enough for Goodie to get what she wanted.

While he stood there he mentally dialed in his combat requirements into the System. Pushing his extreme body to a level that put him at peak performance.

On top of that, he modified his Skeletal, Muscular, and Integumentary System. He wanted them to be a bit more elastic. To stretch and react with the speed of his thoughts.

That they could react in a flash and generate movement instantly. Transmitting everything into extreme acceleration .

Which meant explosive force.

To make sure that worked, he needed there to be no delay from his requests of his body, to it occurring. That required his Nervous system being ramped up in speed and power considerably as well.

When the champion reached Wrench he didn’t hesitate. He charged in and threw out an over-head chop. Even without slowing down his perception of time, Wrench could react well enough that this wasn’t a threat to him.

Stepping to the side, he let the powerful, swift, and honestly clumsy, swing move past him.

Wrench had no idea if Goodie was done taking bets, but he’d have to assume she was.

Because this fight was already over as far as Wrench was concerned.

Dipping into his altered awareness of the world, Wrench slowed everything down. To the point that the champion wasn’t moving at all.

Stepping forward, Wrench drove a punch into the side of the champion’s guts. Putting everything he had into the blow. At the same time he tore the System to move back to a normal speed as far as his awareness went.

One second he’d been lining up the perfect punch, and the next his hand was burried in the champions side. The sickeningly sweet sound of the champions’ breath rushing out in a whoosh was his reward for the punch.

As well as the champion bending around the strike.

Letting go of his sword, Wrench decided to really turn this one into a bit of a spectacle.

Grabbing the axe in the champion’s hand that was near to Wrench, he pulled his arm back, and then burried it in the champion’s skull. The force of the attack was strong enough that the blade went down to where the man’s nose ended. With the back of the weapon sticking out the rear of his skull.

Stepping away from the champion, Wrench let go of the axe. Letting the soon to be corpse hit the ground.

Wrench took in a short breath, then let it out.

Sticking his hands on his hips he stared up at the Tongsta all around him.

He couldn’t see Goodie in the hushed and staring masses. There was no way to pick her out in them. He couldn’t—

“That’s my baby!” screamed Goodie off to Wrench’s right.

Turning, he looked at where the voice had come from and spotted Goodie.

Not waiting, he began walking over to that side of the arena.

Then the whole area erupted in screams, cheers, and excited chatter.

***

Wrench lost track of what was going on.

Being hurried off into a Hab by the short green creatures, rushed into another Hab, and then into a carrier. The Tongsta had buckled him in quickly and slammed the flap shut before Wrench could consider what was going on.

No one seemed angry at him, just excited.

Overly so.

In no time at all, the carrier stopped again and Wrench was unloaded by a delicate Tongsta tenticle rather than letting him getting out on his own.

He was lifted up, then set down inside a strange Hab.

There was only glass that came up to about his hip, and nothing above.

The entire area was open, filled with an inviting environment.

Grass, trees, bushes, a pond, an actual breeze somehow.

It was a Hab that actually felt more like being somewhere natural. A place that was meant for a Hume to be, rather than a Hab itself.

Not far off was an incredibly attractive brunette with brown eyes with a spark to them.

She was the singularly most attractive woman Wrench had ever been in the presence of. With a waist and bust line that made her amazingly sexy as well.

Wrench could barely think as he stared at her.

“Oh! You must be my victor!” said the woman in a breathy voice. “I’m Pretty-Girl! I was told you’d be coming to visit me. I’m so glad it happened. Sometimes my Admini lie to me and promise me things, but then they never happen.

“Now… let’s not waste words as I don’t think we’ll have much time. I can’t wait to just… have you all to myself. You’re rather handsome to look at.”

Pretty-Girl shrugged herself out of the rather form-fitting dress she’d been wearing and let it hit the grass at her feet. Revealing that what’d been hinted at through her clothes paled in comparison to the reality that was Pretty-Girl.

“Uhm… how about right here on the grass? I’m rather inexperienced in all this, I only had the normal training and one partner a year ago when I became an adult, but I think it’ll be fun enough. Don’t you think so?” asked Pretty-Girl, looking at Wrench with a wide smile.

I… err… sure!

Sure. Why not.

I knew there were prizes for winning, but I didn’t think Goodie would set me up like this. Maybe I’ll get to keep her and take her home with me? That’d be amazing.

Wrench had a drifting thought about Stripe and that he wanted more than just an arrangement.

Then Pretty-Girl kissed him and he gave up on those thoughts. The best he coudl manage was make sure his Reproductive system had been set tot he point where he wouldn’t be getting anyone pregnant.