The Carnival

[Victoria]

The fight was over before she could really take him down, but in truth, she wasn’t sure if that would be possible. He didn’t mess around, behind all of his words and attitude was a real warrior, and she didn’t want to look like a failure yet. She took his rain check for another fight, by then she would surpass his skill and really give him a show. She smiled to herself, knowing that their end of the spar really saved her the humiliation. As it was Orion was impressed by what she had done, and she liked that.

After eating a Hot Dog for the first time, and berating the very idea of the Hot Dog, he conversed with her again. She ate her snow cone delicately, careful not to get the red liquid all over her lips and face. Guilty as she was, she felt like such a kid in this carnival. During the events she had to put on her game face, but away from all of that, she just wanted to be happy. She had to make lemons from lemonade, or something like that.

“I’ve always been able to do this.” She looked at the wound on her arm, it was gone, but the blood still caked her skin. “I didn’t even notice it until I fought someone and they impaled me with an antenna.” She chuckled lightly at the memory.

“Well, surviving that must have been a shock.” He replied. Victoria could only wonder if maybe the Saiyan were jealous, perhaps if he had been given such a gift he never would have died.

“Yes, it was, so I asked my supervisor, Jeremy, about it.” She looked down for a moment. “He took me into The Company, and knew everything about my past.”

“You don’t know your own past?” He asked curiously.

“I knew what my adopted father told me, at the time I thought he was my real father but that was all a lie. I believed everything he told me, but I was nothing more than the property of The Company.” She replied vehemently. “This ability, it’s a curse in disguise."

“How could such power be a curse? You’re lucky to have it.” He was baffled, but she couldn’t blame him for not understanding.

“I’m not just a human,” she replied. “I’m…I don’t know, it was all his doing, my adopted father,” she tried to explain. “Jeremy told me that because of my regenerative cells, my father developed a means to adapt advanced organic technology with my body.” She held a clenched hand to her chest. “I was a baby, and he just opened me up and…” she trailed off, near to tears, but she had to stop before it was too late. She didn’t want him to see her cry, she was not weak.

“Anyway,” she interjected before he could speak. “He developed a drug for The Company, and used it on me. The drug had blood from my mother, which was what made it work. It made me stronger and better. I developed the ability to harness electricity. I’m not sure if the drug did it to me, I’ll never know. However, he only made enough of it for me, and because of that The Company took me away when I was thirteen, because I belonged to them.” She said this calmly, as if she had been reciting the information for years. She had only found out within the last few weeks.

“He used a drug on you as a child?” He asked, shocked at such a thing.

“It made me who I am today, at least that’s what I’m told.” She looked at the Saiyan helplessly. “The drug that The Company developed is hardly the same. They use it on recruits that aren’t Supers.”

“Supers?” Orion asked.

“People like you or me,” she shrugged slightly. “They’re strong, but not strong enough, so they get that drug. It’s all they could come up with but it’s got bad side effects. It makes a recruit more primal. They are susceptible to anger, lust, and hunger. The Company has rules to deal with the drug, recruits are encouraged to socialize in a way that will meet those needs…” she trailed off.

“I don’t understand,” Orion furrowed his brow. “They are primal…like Saiyans?” he inquired.

“That’s what Joal said, he’s half Saiyan, so he didn’t need the drug.” She smiled. “He was my first friend. Until I met him a few weeks ago I never really left my room, only to eat and train. I would do missions every chance that I could get. The men on Zone 5 are crude…they see me as nothing but a tool for their own lust and desires.”

“There are other women, though?” He asked.

“Yes and almost all of them are also on the drug. It works fine for them, they both get what they want, but because I keep to myself they target me…one of them attacked me and I shocked him before he could do anything.” She blushed slightly, but remained cool.

“Barbaric,” he stated, “I didn’t think humans could be so inhumane.” He shook his head.

“It’s all I know, I have nothing else. I found out here that there are other planets, though.” She looked up excitedly. “I want to go to one sometime, see what it’s like.” She looked away, her face shifting for a moment sadly. Dragging up memories never sat well with her, but in time they would become forgotten, and her life would be greater than them. She looked at the Saiyan and flashed him a smile, for all it was worth; his company would be included in the new and happy memories.