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nChapter 11: Injection𝒆𝙣𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝙚𝙩

nDante slowly felt his mind coming to, but he was still so very groggy. His mind was extremely tired after going through that hectic situation with Beatrice, as he had always been on guard.

nThe man was just a 21-year-old, not some 10,000 IQ champion. It was good enough that he didn’t show his young age when dealing with the serious stuff, but to expect him to wade through all of that like a seasoned pro with no backlash was asking too much.

nAnd that manifested itself in the form of mental fatigue.

nSo his mind was coming to, but it would take some time for the engine to warm up and for his thoughts to come to life.

nThat would have been the case but, his slightly awake mind heard some frightening words.

n“I wonder if this will fit inside him? It’s a bit big and it might hurt though, but I’ve always wanted to try it and he’s vulnerable anyway.”

nImmediately, all fatigue was beaten from Dante’s body as he jumped up and grabbed his booty while scuttling away. The sheer look of frozen fear mixed with the fact that his eyes were still bloodshot from his deep sleep created a very comical image.

nBeatrice, who was standing by the bed with an injector in hand, was utterly dumbfounded as she stood there… for only a second.

nThen she burst into uproarious laughter that almost caused her to fall over herself. Her body shook as the injector in her hand fell onto the bed, the blueish liquid within sloshing viscously.

nDante slowly came to as his beating heart calmed down, and his horror and fear turned into rage. However, he simply rose to his feet and patted himself while glaring at Beatrice coldly.

nBeatrice tried to hold back her laughter, but she was gasping at this point and struggling to breathe. She clutched her midsection as she gasped for air in between laughter.

nSeeing Dante’s cold look didn’t make it stop, but she did try to suppress herself more. In the end, her eyes became bloodshot from holding it in and her teeth were about to crack.

nDante walked to a glowing door by the right of the bedroom, which was locked. A red circle glowed at the center and it seemed to scan him first before switching to green and allowing him in.

nThe moment he disappeared from sight, Beatrice burst into laughter again, freeing what was held back by sheer willpower.

nAs for Dante, he knew from the downloaded plan of the entire ship that this was the bathroom for the vice-captain. What was downstairs was for guests and visitors.

nThe bathroom here was spacious. There was enough space between the toilet and the jacuzzi, shower, as well as bathtub such that even if one released the filthiest and smelliest lumps, it wouldn’t reach the place where one bathed.

nDante scratched his chin and did his morning do, which was routine for him. Then he walked over to the shower and noticed that while it was kinda high-tech, it was still a very modern design.

nWhen he walked in, the door automatically closed and an AI voice asked him how he wanted to shower. The AI chip connected and automatically inputted the settings Dante wanted: mildly hot water and lime-scented soap.

nThis one too had holographic features, so Dante set the background to be his shower at home. The opaque glass that constituted the shower’s body instantly became transparent and perfectly reflected the scene of his home’s bathroom.

nDante had seen this amazing technology with the bed, but damn, it was something else. It really looked like if he opened these doors, he would walk out into his bathroom on earth.

nHe showered but almost didn’t want to leave as he rarely encountered such a perfect soap and water temperature like this. Not to mention that there was a heap of assistance from the shower itself which had many automated features.

nSeriously, even if you were the type who was lazy to bathe at home, this kind of technology was meant for you. You’d probably catch yourself showering ten times a day.

nDante eventually got out and was blow-dried by the shower after he exited. Then a towel was wrapped around him by some robot arms and he couldn’t help but feel his dark mood lift up.

nHe came to the door of the bath and exited, but the AI voice warned him that he had a guest in the room in case he was dressed improperly.

nThere, seated on his bed while fiddling with the injector, was Beatrice. When she saw Dante, her eyes roved his body up and down. However, there was a mild look of disdain in her eyes.

n“Yeah, I already knew this, but damn, you are flawed as hell. You are probably the only pure human with such pure genetics that is so… deformed.” Beatrice stated bluntly.

nDespite the harsh words, Dante reasonably took no offense. He was not ugly nor unfit by normal standards, he was relatively slim, kinda tall as he was over 6 feet, and handsome enough that it was semi-easy to attract female partners on earth.

nHowever, given Beatrice’s flawless body proportions, skin, and her perfect symmetry – which Dante assumed should be the norm for every pure human – he really would look deformed in her eyes since humans on his earth couldn’t customize their genes or enhance themselves using technology.

nIt was like an earth human telling an intelligent monkey that it was a monkey. No matter how offended the monkey felt and how similar it felt to humans, it was still a monkey.

n“Uh-huh. Are we at earth yet?” Dante ignored her and asked coolly.

n“We’re just about to enter the orbital space station. Before we do that, I’ve got to inject you with these modified gene enhancers I spent all this time working on.” Beatrice waved the injector around.

nDante’s heart skipped a beat. “Gene enhancers?”

nBeatrice nodded. “That’s right and custom ones for you too. When you entered the ship, your entire body was scanned and uploaded to the internal database, so I had access to a copy of your unique genetic code.”

nBeatrice hesitated, folded her arms, and then looked Dante up and down. “Is it okay if I call you a Neanderthal? Because that’s totally what you are.”

n“You are such an anomaly. Your genetic code is at the peak of when humankind was still trapped on earth, just a few years before we began spacefaring officially.”

n“It’s like you time-traveled forward into the future and appeared on that street, huh?” Beatrice asked with a sudden sharp gaze.

nDante controlled his reaction forcibly, but Beatrice noticed some ticks. No matter how strong the poker face, it couldn’t withstand the senses of someone with bionics and psionics of her level, not to mention her base genetic level.

nTo compare, it was like the difference between superman or the flash and a normal person. To the normal person, the flash was talking with them at normal speed, but for the flash, he was literally slowing himself down to match you.

n“Whatever. So what happens to me if I inject that?” Dante asked what was on his mind.

n“Well, first of all, we update your genetic code to our level. There are hundreds of adaptations and modifications to the human DNA that have occurred over the millennia since we left the planet. You have none of those protections.” Beatrice answered with a shrug.

n“Ever since I met you, you have been exposed to hundreds of millions of unique bacteria that your body had never adapted for, some harmful and others not.”

n“The only reason you haven’t melted into goo is because you’re automatically disinfected whenever you use a teleporter, when you entered the ship, and when you entered the shuttle.”

nDante shivered at that.

n“However, we can’t have you walking around on earth while sweating in pain from hundreds of viruses and the like running rampage in your body,” Beatrice concluded as she got up and brought the injector near him.

nDante took a step back when he saw that huge needle that looked like it could penetrate his organs. However, Beatrice suddenly moved like a cheetah and stabbed the needle into his chest, right into his heart.

nThe pain made Dante almost blackout, and he felt his knees go weak. Having your heart suddenly pierced was not something you could picture unless you went through it yourself.

nWhat came next was even more horrific as the blue liquid was pumped into his heart right from the tube, and then entered his bloodstream.

nDante fell on his ass and coughed painfully, clutching his chest as he felt like lava was flowing through his body starting from his chest. His temperature spiked greatly and he began to sweat.

nBefore he could even scream, he fainted right away in order to protect his mind from the part that came next.

nAs for Beatrice, she carried him and put him on the bed before sitting by the side and watching him quietly.

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