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 |  This is the book version of my Army of Humans and Monsters |
| As Jenkins walked in, he saw, on at least three of the sides, showerheads between six and thirty feet above the floor, hundreds of them at that. “Damn,” he said. “How many people can take a shower in this one room?” “Well, if all of them are the heights for the different showerheads, two thousand people total, at once. Of course, as people normally don’t want others looming over them, also taking a shower, you may only, on normal occasions, see about a third of that using this room at the same time. Of course, even then, you best be careful, this floor can be very slippery when you have a lot of soap, shampoo, conditioner, and water, as well as a few other things, on it,” Bloodtooth said, as she placed the clean, and dry, outfits on a shelf, and placed a couple of cards on them. “Always mark your clothes kid,” she said. “Because when this place gets full of steam, even those with the best of sight have trouble seeing clearly, and could take someone else’s clothes by accident. Each race has a different color, orange for humans, blue for werewolves, and so on. Also, there is a sign for gender on them, a simple stick figure for males, and a stick figure with a dress for females, and so on. That way, even if you somehow managed to grab the wrong set of clothes, at least it was those of another male human, and not that of a female werewolf.” “So, where does one undress, and place the dirty clothes?” Jenkins asked. Bloodtooth pointed at a hole in the wall. “You will toss the previous day’s outfit into that hole, so it will be sent to the laundry room and cleaned for use the next day,” she said. “As for getting undress, well, the moment that you set the current day’s clothes on the shelf and mark them, start stripping.” With that, she pulled off her shirt, which she had already unbuttoned, and tossed it into the hole, which was quickly followed by her pants, shoes, socks, and her unmentionables. As she turned around to face him, Jenkins felt his jaw drop. “I see that you like what you see,” Bloodtooth said, as she walked over to him. “Uh ha,” Jenkins said, lowly, as he nodded his head up and down, slowly, as if he was a school boy back in high school. “Well, in that case, hurry up and get undressed and get your dirty clothes tossed into the chute,” she said, walking towards the far side. “And maybe I’ll let you see more.” With that, Bloodtooth turned a knob, which turned all the shower heads on, causing the room to quickly fill with steam, and started to shift into her human form. At this, Jenkins undressed as fast as he could, and tossed the mud, and saliva, covered outfit into the chute and ran into the steam, with some hope of seeing Bloodtooth in her human form, and naked at that. However, as he got to her, Bloodtooth was already shifting back to her werewolf form. “You’re a little slow,” she said. “But don’t worry, you will have plenty of chances to catch me naked while I’m in my human form, and you will get faster with training.” Then she started to walk towards him. “Of course,” she said. “That wasn’t a bad time for a fifty meter dash.” “What are you talking about?” Jenkins asked. “I was being timed?” “Yes and no,” Bloodtooth said, tapping her head. “I can easily keep very accurate timing in my head, and the distance between the shelves and here is fifty meters. Of course, times for running in the showers do not count on the recruit’s records. But it will help you get the best spots when it comes to taking a shower. Now, would you hurry up and get cleaned up. I want to introduce you to your other teachers. You will find soap, shampoo and conditioner at arm level at every showerhead.” “So, where are these best spots that you were telling me about?” Jenkins asked. “The ones without someone using a higher showerhead,” Bloodtooth said, pointing up. “And they are much safer too, less of a chance that someone will fall on you when they slip on the floor, because at one point or another, everyone slips in the showers. Of course, like I said kid, we do have a damn good medic-mage on the base, though you may find yourself seeing a bunch of potential medics taking notes, after you are revived, because that guy will use any incident, that requires him, as a teaching experience for the others, in case they have to deal with something like that. I should know, although, if you are conscious, he will ask you if you wouldn’t mind him letting his students watch him heal you, so they will know what to do in a similar situation. My best advice to you on that is this; allow them to watch, because one of them could get attached to your squad and the more that he or she knows about healing wounds, the better off you and your squad will be.” “So, if the medic is needed, I’d best let his students watch.” (Jenkins) “Yah, one of them might save your life in the future. Now hurry up. I don’t want to make my one friend, Tiny, impatient waiting for us to show up.” (Bloodtooth) “Who’s Tiny?” (Jenkins) “Only the best damn chef outside of a culinary arts school. That guy could take rotten deer meat and make it taste like the finest venison that is only served in the most expensive of restaurants.” (Bloodtooth) With that, Bloodtooth smiled and walked towards the front of the room. “I’ll be waiting outside the room for you,” she said, as her figure disappeared into the steam. “Make sure that you turn the showers off before you leave. The commander gets a little uptight if they are kept running when the room is empty.” About ten minutes later, Jenkins and Bloodtooth are walking towards a room, which has mouth watering smells coming from it. “Ah, All-You-Can-Eat Buffet,” Bloodtooth said. “Name a dish, within reason of course, and if it is not there, Tiny will make it himself. The guy is a master of cooking up good tasting meals.” As the two walked in, Jenkins found his nose being assaulted with dozens of wondrous scents. “Smells good,” he said, with wonder and amazement in his voice. “Imagine what it is like for me,” Bloodtooth said, tapping the side of her nose. “After all, a werewolf’s sense of smell is a hundred times sharper than that of a human’s, at the very least.” “I guess it must smell like heaven to you then.” (Jenkins) “Yah, if they don’t serve sentient beings there.” (Bloodtooth) “Well, um, what about here? You’ve said that people on the base do eat others on occasion.” (Jenkins) “Yah, but it isn’t often that we execute someone for treason in the military. You’d have to go off base for that, but you would have to follow the rules, spare the children, and basically put them someplace where they would be safe, when no one is watching, and offer the others the choice to serve in the military, and should they take the offer, stash them someplace safe, pay the bill, and leave without saying a word, and drop the kid, or new recruit, off before the second-in-command of the base, explain the situation, and eat at the mess hall. At least, that is what the regulations say.” (Bloodtooth) “What do you mean by having the soldiers offering their perspective meals the chance in the military?” (Jenkins) “It’s kind of drilled into their heads that it is disrespectful to eat a defenseless person, even those of the ‘lowly’ human race. Besides, bringing in new recruits is an easy way to make a slight bonus in one’s paycheck, with an addition of two percent, per new recruit, and an addition of one percent, per child confiscated.” (Bloodtooth) “Sounds like the military frowns upon what most of society sees is just the norm.” (Jenkins) “True, but those of us in the business of dishing out death to others, also knows that each life is important. After all, anyone can take life, which even a human could do, but it takes something else to spare someone and offer them a new chance at life.” (Bloodtooth) “Do you know of any other place that does something like that?” (Jenkins) “Well, I heard through the rumor mill that there is this town, where a wealthy size-changing werewolf lives, that there is a no-predation law in effect, due to this werewolf, who, from what I heard, is the principal at the local school, and he is a strict vegetarian.” (Bloodtooth) “How strict are we talking about?” (Jenkins) “The guy hasn’t eaten a human as part of a meal since he was seven, which was well over twenty years ago. Well, at least, that’s what I’ve heard. I’ve also heard that he has adopted a human girl, married a human woman, who was his late boss’s daughter, taken control of the three most influential families there, and, in addition to being a one man army, he tries to save everyone that he can. Now, this law that the town supposedly has, while it doesn’t make predation illegal, it makes it so predation is, at the very least, frowned upon, thanks to his efforts.” (Bloodtooth) “Sounds like a guy I’d like to meet,” Jenkins said, as he picked up a plate and started looking at the food being offered on the buffet. “Man, so many things to choose, but where to start,” Jenkins said, muttering under his breath. “I heard that,” Bloodtooth said, giving him a gentle slap on the back. “Personally, I like to start off with a sandwich. Aren’t I correct, Tiny?” At this, a deep voice says, “Why if it isn’t my good friend Bloody Teeth. I was wondering when you’d show up. Hey, is that the recruit that broke the commanding officer’s personal record?” “Yah,” Bloodtooth said, looking at no one in particular. “Hey, do you know if Doc’s got that lozenge for my throat made yet? I heard that he borrowed some mint from you this morning.” “You’d have to ask him. He’s sitting at his usual spot.” (Tiny's voice) “Thanks Tiny.” (Bloodtooth) “Well do you want something to eat first?” (Tiny's voice) “I’ll have just a light meat soup for now. I’ll be at my spot when you get done with it.” (Bloodtooth) “Okay Bloody Teeth. I’ll get it ready in a jiffy, once this guy tells me what it is he wants.” (Tiny's voice) “Well in that case,” Jenkins said, looking around for this mysterious Tiny. “I’ll have a ham and cheese sandwich, with American cheese and white bread.” “I have one coming down right now, buddy.” (Tiny's voice) With that, Jenkins heard something creaking, and saw a large hand come down to his level, facing palm side up, with a, relatively, small ham and cheese sandwich, on a plate, on it. “Here yah go,” said the voice. “I hope that you like it.” As Jenkins carefully got the plate, he looked up to see the owner of the hand. Looking down upon him, with a friendly smile, was a two hundred foot tall giant, with three eyes, two being in the same relative places as those of a human, and one above them, in the center of his forehead. “Um, thanks,” Jenkins said, as he carefully walked away from the three eyed giant. “You’re welcome,” the giant said, as it placed something to cover the obvious hole in the ceiling. As Jenkins walked towards where Bloodtooth had sat down, he could feel everyone’s eyes looking at him, as the room, which was previously busy with light chatter, was now as silent as the preverbal septic system that many humans found themselves being flushed into on a daily basis. “How long did Doc say that he was under?” asked one voice, quietly. “I heard him say, ‘Forty-three minutes, fifty-three and seven one hundredths of a second’,” said another voice, also as quiet. “Well what about the intelligence test?” (First voice) “Well, given the fact that he and Bloodtooth are here now, I’d say that, if anything, he could, at the very least, make a good squad leader, maybe even higher.” (Second voice) “How high do you think that he could get?” (First voice) “Hell, for all I know, all the way to the top.” (Second voice) “Damn, you can’t be serious?” (First voice) “I’ve checked the footage from both the kid’s dream spell, and the room after he woke up. The kid’s got courage, and the willingness to risk his life for the sake of others. You really should see how, with Bloodtooth’s help, he touched the brick, as well as what happened afterwards. Personally, I know that I would have been terrified if I was put in that situation, but he managed to stay calm throughout the whole thing.” (Second voice) “Why, what happened?” (First voice) “See the footage buddy. I’ve got it on me now.” (Second voice) “Damn,” the first person says, a minute later. “Damn is right,” says the second person. “The kid took the lesser evil, which put him at risk at being Bloodtooth’s meal, instead of the one that would have killed both of them.” “So, do you think he’s anything like, you know, him?” (First voice) “Could be, the kid is his great-grandson. Also, if you look in his eyes, that same spark is there, a willingness to do whatever is right for the wellbeing of others.” (Second voice) “Just like him?” (First voice) “Yep, I wouldn’t be surprised if he made general before he died. Now, that’s enough about him. Let’s get back to our game; I believe it to be your move Jethro.” (Second voice) “In that case, it looks like my dragon Knight just ate your human Pawn, and now, your king is in check.” (First voice, Jethro) “Yah, but you just left yours wide open, I win.” (Second voice) “Damn, why do I always seem to beat everyone but you?” (Jethro) “I had to know plenty of strategies if I wanted to survive the Chess tournaments when I was in high school and in the Chess Club.” (Second voice) “Let me guess, the losers of each game were eaten.” (Jethro) “Yah, by the opposing team’s coach.” (Second voice) “Sounds like yours must have loved you then.” (Jethro) “Yep, in fact, he had us so well trained, that even those who had just joined each year were not eaten. Needless to say, we always brought home the trophy.” (Second voice) “Well, who was the best player of your club?” (Jethro) “I’d have to say that the coach was. After the big tournament one year, the club had a friendly competition amongst itself, with the losers having to be the winner of that game’s servant for a week, and the ultimate winner having to face off against the coach. Well, I was the ultimate winner, so I had to face him. We played for eleven straight hours, non-stop, before he gave me a smile and said, ‘Game’s yours kid,’ and stood up, and walked away. However, as my club mates were cheering at my apparent victory, I looked at the board and saw that I would have lost in three more moves.” (Second voice) “Damn, he just got up and walked away when he could have beaten you.” (Jethro) “Yep, taught me to learn how to fight offensively, with a defensive mindset.” (Second voice) “No wonder the Brass likes to talk to you. I bet that they used some of your chess tactics to deal with that one insurgent group last month.” (Jethro) “Maybe, but while they may ask me for advice from time to time, I am not privy to their discussions.” (Second voice) “Yah, well, on to the next round, and this time I’ll be black, and you can be white.” (Jethro) “That’s fine with me Jethro, fine with me.” (Second voice) Meanwhile, Jenkins was still feeling the gaze of everyone upon him, and saw several of the others looking at him. “Why does it feel like everyone is watching me?” he asked himself, while talking out loud. “It’s because they expect great things from you,” Bloodtooth said, as she slowly ate/sipped away at her soup. “What do you mean?” Jenkins asked. “The only person in my family that was a soldier was my great-grandfather and he died a month before my grandfather was born. All anyone ever said about him was that he assaulted his commanding officer, but was killed in the line of duty before he could be executed for it, and somehow saved the life of the officer that he had assaulted while doing so.” “That would be the truth,” Bloodtooth said. “However, what he did, it started something that affected how this country’s military ran from then on, and still runs under.” “What do you mean?” (Jenkins) (The following is being spoken by Bloodtooth) “Back then, an ordinary human like you would be sent to the front lines, with little to no training. You’d be nothing more than food, or cannon fodder. However, when he stepped foot onto the base that he was assigned; he started a social revolution of the military. He more or less made the others realize that their time would be better spent if they went out and killed enemy soldiers for their meals than it would be to eat the others on the base. Well one day, while they were in the trenches, the commanding officer, a werewolf, told the other soldiers to get a human for him to eat. Well, there were no prisoners being held for that purpose, which meant that they’d have to give him one of the humans, of their own military, for him to eat. They went to your relative for help. He told them to take him before the commanding officer, and leave the two of them alone. They did that, and just as they left, he broke the officer’s nose, causing the man to chase him into a set of woods. Now mind you, these woods were full of landmines that could blow a giant’s leg off. Well, according to military folklore, the officer had to stop moving, because he had stepped on one. Your ancestor, who was just in front of him, saw what was wrong, and asked if the officer wanted to live. The officer said, ‘Yah, I want to live, so I can see my wife and children.’ At this, your ancestor allegedly said, ‘Tell mine that I love them.’ And he stepped on the mine and told the officer, ‘Now run Sir, and don’t let my death be in vain.’ With that, he saluted the man, and pushed him off of the mine. A moment later, as the officer was running out of the woods, there was an explosion. It was in that moment that the officer realized just how close to death that he had been and it was, only, because of the sacrifice of a lowly human, that he was still alive. After that, as if to honor your ancestor’s sacrifice, he, and the other soldiers of that unit, worked tirelessly to change the regulations, in all services, so that all soldiers are treated the same, and that no soldier could take the life of another without just cause, and so on.” “So, my great-grandfather was a war hero? Why was my family never told?” Jenkins asked, shaking his head in disbelief. At this, Bloodtooth smiled and said, “Well, truth be told, they were. However, the officer was still having nightmares about the event. In them, he was alone in the woods, stuck standing on that landmine, until your grandfather showed up and say, ‘I’ll take your place sir. Now go and live the life that I gave to you.’ Given how he felt about what happened that day, the officer just gave your family the bare minimal truth, that your ancestor had assaulted his superior officer, but, when they were in a life or death moment, due to the efforts of the enemy, your ancestor gave his life to save his. Of course, back then, and now even, no one could, or would, have believed that a human would willingly give his life to save that of another, who had tried to kill, or eat, him beforehand. Also, the day after he had died, the officer and some of the other soldiers went into the woods to collect his remains, when one of the soldiers, a rakshasa, stepped on a mine himself. Well, he told the others to get away from him, immediately. The other soldiers said that they wouldn’t leave him. It was at that moment that a dragon, wearing the uniform of the enemy, showed up, stepped on the mine, and pushed him off. He then said something that only your ancestor would say, ‘Hello, my brother.’ It is said that your ancestor would always call the other soldiers his brothers or sisters, as if they were family to him. Well, this caused everyone to look at him in shock, because the guy had become a ghost and found the enemy soldier scouting the woods, and setting more landmines, so he possessed him. He then told the other soldiers that they were his family, and that he would always watch out for them. He then told them to leave the woods, while he did what he had to do. After the soldiers left, there was a series of explosions, followed by one last, and relatively, soft one. The guy had destroyed every landmine in those woods, because the one he had possessed had plenty of ordnance to do the job. Even today, if you ever get stationed in that country and check the place out, you will see a large crater where the woods once stood. Needless to say, most people won’t believe the true story, until they see the ghost of your ancestor themselves.” “Wow, my great-grandfather really did all that.” (Jenkins) “Yep, saw the crater myself and your ancestor’s spirit as well. In fact, when I saw you on the medical table in that room, I thought, for a split second, that you were him. The resemblance is uncanny, especially your eyes, they got that same spark, that same willingness to give your life for another.” (Bloodtooth) “Damn,” Jenkins said, running a hand through his hair, which had been trimmed to that of a crew cut. “And here I had signed up because I was a few grand in debt and was in danger of being claimed by the county. I never would have thought that I’d be hearing about a relative that I barely knew.” “Well, be glad you did,” Bloodtooth said, with a smile. “It was because of your ancestor that that officer had a daughter, who had a son, who had a daughter, who joined the military to escape being executed for avenging her sister.” At this, Jenkins’s eyes bulged, as he pushed his seat away from the table. “No way,” he said. “You’re the great-granddaughter of that officer that my great-grandfather gave his life for.” At this, Bloodtooth just chuckled and said, “Yah, small world isn’t it?” |
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