Factory

With help from the employee, since she forgot to take a key with her, Factory made it back into her room where the girls were still slumbering soundly. She was relieved that they weren't awake, hoping to avoid any worrying they were sure to have done if they'd awoken.

Feeling thoroughly disgusting from her physical activity and rolling around on the floor, Factory enthusiastically walked into the bathroom. The suite had a very extravagant bathroom that was the size of a large bedroom. There was a large open shower, a hot tub that could hold at least a dozen people, and three very fancy bathtubs. Almost every surface was covered in beautiful marble tile. The floor was black and textured making it easy to walk even if it was wet, and the walls and ceiling were a beautiful soft white with many intricate designs expertly placed about the room.

Not really into the idea of lying about in her own filth, Factory decided that the shower would be the best option. When she stepped in the area, n.a.k.e.d and bruised, she realized that she didn't know what to do in order to turn the shower on. She noticed that several of the tiles were in fact shower heads aiming from all different angles, but there were no knobs or handles to control the water.

"Um, turn on?" she guessed.

Reacting to her command, the shower began spraying her softly with a very soothing array of hot water. The bathroom immediately began to fill with a lovely atmosphere and Factory felt as if she would melt in her relaxation. She stood motionless in the shower, letting her aches and pains be swept away by the water's soothing qualities. She felt an aching in her face and stomach from her fight with Revenant. Factory knew she was going to have some explaining to do when the girls woke up as those spots were sure to show evidence of violence.

Opening her eyes into the incoming water above her, she noticed something peculiar: the water was suddenly moving very slowly. All of her surroundings were traveling at a snail's pace and she could see each and every individual drop of water moving through the air. She giggled and pushed the water away from her as if dodging incoming attacks and she even let a water droplet enter her open mouth but then quickly ducked away before it would strike her tongue. After having her fill of foolishness, she calmed herself down and concentrated. She stared hard at the water in front of her. She stared and stared, tensing her body until finally she reduced her speed and everything began moving faster. Factory managed to reduce her speed down to normal again and then in a flash she stuck out her hand in front of sudden burst spray from the side and the water very nearly stood still in front of her. Finally, some control was hers.

First thing in the morning, Factory awoke to what she knew was coming. Being as gentle as can be and attempting to let Factory continue to sleep, Misty was rubbing medicinal creme into her stomach and cheek in order to combat the bruising and speed up the healing process. Factory was afraid of the confrontation and instead of opening her eyes she pretended to sleep soundly, ridden with guilt.

"Poor thing," Misty said. "I hope she beat the living crap out of whoever did this to her."

"I'm sure she did," Max assured her. "You don't just end up freshly showered and bruised after losing. If she lost I'm sure she'd be much worse, or not even here."

"Shut up, don't say things like that. I just wonder who did this to her. What happened last night? I feel terrible that we didn't go with her."

"She's a big girl, Misty. And she's quick as Hell and a great shot. No one is going to get the best of her. No one normal anyway."

"So, you might know what's going on then? What's happening to her?"

"Yeah, I made a few phone calls earlier. I'll tell you about it over breakfast. Let her sleep. We'll bring her something."

Not intentionally, Factory felt her fatigue lingering and she fell asleep once again on the soft bed, now soothed by the creme applied by her Misty. Down in the extravagant dining hall of the hotel, Max and Misty enjoyed a simple breakfast and went over the details that Max had managed to dig up earlier. It was a beautiful hall with dozens upon dozens of tables arranged about on the main floor and even more contained on the second floor balcony that ran along the outside of the main floor like a giant horseshoe.

"So, this is some big shit then?" Misty ask rhetorically.

"Yes," Max answered. "It actually wasn't that difficult to find out after I called the right people. This is definitely the genuine article. A pharmaceutical company created drug, stemmed from tons of human experimentation and biological research. We have a refined and perfected version somehow that someone thought would be great to spread to the world and give anyone with a bit of cash superhuman abilities and general soldier-like skill. A real chaos junkie. This won't just give someone a super power of sorts, it'll also shape their body up and ready it for combat. It's like taking medicine that will instantly make you a badass."

"It just, all seems so hard to believe."

"I know, but this means Factory is in a ton of danger. We all are and we have to do everything we can to survive now. I think someone knows we have the drug. Even if we get rid of the backpack we're screwed. Someone already came after Factory last night and it's only going to get worse. We have to get our asses off this planet."

"Could we just buy tickets and travel somewhere then?"

"No, it's too easy to track," Max replied, rubbing her face in frustration at their predicament. "I'll have to get us our own ship that way we don't leave a trail. The thing is, Factory is now the only capable one of us who can deal with the coming storm."

Misty looked Max dead in the eyes.

"I will protect Factory no matter what," she told her.

"Then let's go to the truck."

Max and Misty stared hard at Factory's backpack as they sat in the back of the truck with the doors closed. The inside of the large box had several individual doses of Power lying about, scattered from the movement of the driving.

"You ready for this?" Max asked Misty.

"Of course I'm ready," she replied.

"Remember, the first is the initiate. We might have to take two or three in total to make the change permanent."

"All right."

"We also have no idea what this is going to do."

Misty stared hard at the little plastic bag of white powder with determination and with a little help from a water bottle she had brought along, she ate her first dose.

Immediately, she felt terrible. She began feeling excruciating pain all over her body and was completely disoriented. She didn't know which way was up, everything was spinning, and everything felt like it was on fire.

Max quickly grabbed a hold of Misty and held her tight as the drug made her shake violently.

"F.u.c.k, is this what Factory went through? Hold on, Misty, I got you," Max assured her.

After a few minutes, the symptoms came to an abrupt halt, frightening Max into thinking something had gone wrong.

"You all right?" Max questioned her. "Feel anything different?"

Misty didn't reply. Her expression was blank and empty; eyes barely moving through each blink as if they were in slow-motion. After a moment of nothing, as if Misty suddenly realized that Max was in front of her, Misty reached forward and hugged Max tight and dug her head into her as if trying to get comfortable for a nap.

"Okay, then," Max sighed in relief. "You want to cuddle instead of make out, that's good."

After about a thirty minutes of sleep, Misty woke up and stretched out her arms toward the ceiling and yawned deeply. She blinked vigorously as she tried to figure out what was going on around her.

"Hey, what happened?" she asked.

"You took your first does," Max answered. "You scared the shit out of me and then you just took a nap."

"Yeah, that sounds like me. Your turn now?"

"Okay, make sure you keep an eye on me?"

Next thing Max knew she was quietly rushing out of a room with nothing but a sheet covering her n.a.k.e.d body. In the hallway, Misty was fast asleep against the wall across from the room, loosely holding a melting ice bag. Her left cheek was badly swollen.

"Misty," Max called out in a hushed tone. "Misty, what the f.u.c.k is going on?"

Misty let out a big yawn and stretched her arms above her head. It seemed as if waking up suddenly had brought forgotten pains as she quickly flinched and ached at the movement of her body. Max frustratingly hurried over to Misty and sat next to her in the hall.

"Misty, what happened?" she asked.

"Oh, you got horny and went on what you called a 'cute guy safari' I think," Misty explained. "When I attempted to restrain you, you fought back with a crazy amount of strength. Just you grabbing my arm bruised the hell out of it. I hope you didn't break that guy's pelvis or something. Oh, and my b.u.t.t hurts too by the way. I've been sitting out here for who knows how long. It's already the late evening."

Max couldn't find anything worth saying in their current situation. She felt as if she was still trying to catch up.

"Let's just please go back to the room now," Misty g.r.o.a.n.e.d. "I'm glad we never actually sold any of this horrible shit to anyone."

Much to their surprise, Factory was still sound asleep. Every time she had attempted to wake up she instead just kept letting the soft comfort of the bed take her away once again.

"Wow, she sure can sleep," Misty said, giggling.

"I feel like I could've sleep all day too," Max barely made understandable through a deep yawn.

"So, from what I'm gathering so far," Misty began. "Factory has the ability to move very quickly, like super speed, and you seem to have super strength, which f.u.c.k.i.n.g hurts by the way. I don't appreciate getting thrown around."

"Sorry," Max said with a laugh.

"But what did I get?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe whatever is going on in you isn't done and needs more of that good shit."

"That's not funny it really hurt the first time."

"It shouldn't this time. It's already rewritten a lot of what it needed to. Now you just need like, a booster or something."

Very reluctantly, they each retrieved and took two more doses of the drug with water and waited in the room. Max didn't seem to feel anything different, but Misty started feeling very warm.

"Wow, Misty you're sweating bad," Max observed.

"Yeah, I know. It's so gross. But I'm actually starting to feel better."

The bruising and other pain quickly left Misty's body as the warming sensation cooled down and she felt her normal operating temperature return.

"Wow, you healed up," Max said, observing the swelling going down. "Maybe you have like, superhuman healing powers. Or you just became an immortal or something."

"Oh, come on. Be serious," Misty said, crossing her arms in frustration.

Curious in a very brutal way, Max picked up Misty easily with her enhanced strength and tossed her into the wall above Factory. Misty slammed into a large mirror that was in place behind the beds, breaking it into several pieces that would have caused serious injury to Factory but she quickly moved out of the way much faster than the danger could follow. Helplessly, Misty landed onto the bed, covered in sharp glass that could not cut her.

"What the f.u.c.k was that about?" Misty demanded to know.

"Just making sure of our abilities," Max explained. "I picked you up with my strength, you didn't get hurt because you're invulnerable, and Factory moved out of the way because she's super quick. There. Everyone up to speed?"

"Um, I'm not so much," Factory said. "What's going on? Did you guys-"

"Yep," Max quickly answered. "As it turns out, we're probably in for a lot of whatever you had to deal with last night. So, we decided the best thing to do would be if we all had an edge so we can survive long enough to get off this damned planet."

Factory was still struggling to understand what had happened. So much so that she thought she might be getting a headache. Distracting her from hurting herself, Misty gave Factory a big hug and held her tight.

"Please don't run off like that again," Misty said softly. "But I am proud of you for coming back in one piece. Will you tell us all about it?"

"Yeah, of course," she answered. "Can you guys explain more about what's going on?"