Chapter 8 - Selene finds something interesting.

Having put the woman on top of a relatively clean bed, Ivar went back to where he found the corpse, grabbed it by the neck and kept it at arm's length while he walked out the door and tossed the corpse down the stairs they came up from.

Returning to the apartment, he decided to stack some things in front of the door in order to at least make it harder to open the unlocked door.

When he was done, he sighed and went to take a seat on a chair next to the unconscious woman so he could take a little rest as well. After all, he had not been able to do so since he started the day intending to get married.

After having done so, Selene appeared, sat down on his lap and draped herself over him for reasons only known to her as she said, "So, any thoughts about everything that happened so far?"

While trying to ignore the feeling of a voluptuous woman against his body, knowing it was all in his head and she was just teasing him, he answered her, "I'm just taking things as we go. Since this world has humans, I think there's a good chance this is the original homeworld your sister spoke of.

But I don't yet know enough about it to decide how to proceed. Judging by this city, it seems that these humans are much more technologically advanced than the therians and vampyrs, but that doesn't necessarily translate to strength. 

I need to know if there are people on this planet that can reach above the strength of regular mortals like the therians and vampyrs can."

Over the many years since coming to Máni, the therians and vampyrs had preferred to focus on individual strength rather than technological advancement. 

But it seemed that the humans who remained on Earth had taken a different path since they had less opportunity to increase in strength. 

Yet, that did not mean there were no humans who could do so, and Ivar was certainly not stupid enough to discount the possibility. Not to mention that this planet's advanced technology could also do real harm to him.

Thinking back to his encounter with those thugs, he said, "We also need to find a way to quickly learn this planet's language."

Still lying in his lap, Selene nodded and said, "Well, for now, killing those lowlifes and turning this woman has given me enough energy to unlock a little more of your lineage. It won't be this easy in the future, though. The more we unlock, the more energy it will require.

We'll find a way to allow you to choose for yourself in the future, but for now, I think I know what will be most useful soon." She said her last words while looking at the unconscious woman and grinning a little.

Then she put her finger on Ivar's forehead and closed her eyes for a moment. Ivar felt something change, but he was unsure what, so he asked with a raised eyebrow, "What did you do?"

Selene smiled mysteriously, "You'll see."

Ivar rolled his eyes, not enjoying the mystery, but he realised this woman wanted to tease him, and he had no way of stopping her, so he let it go, at least for now.

Despite his recent ordeals, Ivar was not feeling particularly tired yet, so he decided to search the pockets of his new clothes for anything interesting and quickly found a thin rectangle, seemingly made of glass.

He looked at it with interest before trying to fiddle with it, thinking it was surely more than just a piece of glass; otherwise, why would that man carry it around?

Eventually, the piece of glass lit up, and Ivar realised he was holding a piece of technology. Selene looked at it with interest as well before she raised an eyebrow and put a hand on top of the rectangle.

She mumbled, "This… I can interact with this?"

Ivar looked at Selene with a questioning gaze, "What do you mean?"

But Selene didn't answer him as she seemed focused on something until she suddenly seemed to receive an electric shock and almost moaned as she said, "Ooooh, that feels weird. This is… amazing. Ugh, can't get lost in this."

Ivar was very concerned as Selene's image started flickering, and he asked, "Hey, Selene! What's going on?! You remember we are bonded, right? I'd rather not find out what happens to me when something bad happens to you!"

But he received no response until Selene suddenly disappeared.

Of course, Ivar knew her physical body was all in his head, so her disappearance didn't worry him as much as her silence.

After five minutes of radio silence and worrying, he finally heard her voice again, "Phew, that was an experience. Listen, I got some interesting stuff out of that, and I'll need a little time to think, but for now, take this."

After she finished talking, Ivar suddenly felt a terrible headache, but it was gone in less than a second, and there seemed to be some new information in his head.

Before he could ask what was going on, he heard Selene's voice again, "I just transferred all this world's major languages to your brain. Now I suggest you have a rest. You have been through a lot, and that transfer just now probably tired you out a bit aswell.

I'll keep an eye on the woman and wake you if she stirs."

Ivar wanted to ask some more about what just happened to her, but he could barely keep his eyes open; it seemed that the information transfer, combined with all the excitement from today, was catching up to him as he slowly drifted to sleep.

******

Meanwhile, not too far away from Ivar's current location, someone was receiving some bad news.

A man who seemed more machine than human was standing in a room that seemed like a combination of a mechanic shop and a surgical theatre while glaring at his subordinate.

"What?! Ricardo and his two idiots are dead?! What the hell happened?! All they needed to do was kill that Alita bitch! Our contact in sanctuary even made sure her weapon would jam!"

The person reporting the occurrence shook his head, "I have no idea how it happened yet. I have already sent someone to the current location of their trackers. Though it's likely all they will find there are corpses. After all, their health monitors are showing no signs of life."

The first man seemed to be almost boiling from rage as he suddenly lashed out and used his mechanical arm to punch a dent in the nearby metal wall.

He had always had trouble containing his anger, but the issue seemed to only get worse as he added more metal to his body. Regardless, it had become somewhat of an addiction, and he found it hard to stop.

Right now, it was all he could do not to murder the man in front of him, as he was his most competent subordinate.

After somewhat regaining his calm, he asked, "What about Alita's health monitor? Our contact gave us access to that, right?"

At that question, the subordinate frowned and said, "Yeah, but the data we are receiving is strange. At first, she seemed to be near death, then her situation suddenly stabilised rapidly before she fell into some kind of coma.

Ever since then, the data we are getting has only gotten weirder; I have honestly no idea what is going on with her body right now. 

However, she does still appear to be in a coma, so with some luck, the men we are sending that way might find her unconscious so they can finish the job."

The first man snorted, "Hmpf as if things are ever that easy. Go now. Send a message to our contact in sanctuary to inform them of what happened, and then come find me the moment you hear from the people you send to investigate."

The subordinate nodded, "As you say, boss."

*******

In yet another part of the city, a woman was receiving related news.

She seemed somewhat frantic as she almost shook the person standing in front of her, "Do you know what happened yet?! And what is the status of her health monitor now?!"

The subordinate in front of her, another woman, shook her head, "We still have no idea; we can trace her movements after she left the sanctuary for a little while, but then she just disappeared. 

As for her health monitor… all I can say right now is that she is alive, if unconscious, but there are some bizarre things going on with her body."

The first woman swore, "Damnit! And damn that girl for refusing a tracker! She better come back alive, or I'll drag her back from hell myself!"

After taking a moment to collect herself, she asked, "What do you mean by bizarre things?"

The subordinate woman looked helpless, "I truly have no idea; temperatures are both spiking and sinking, hormones are going out of wack, blood production is off the charts; honestly, I have no idea how she is still alive, let alone what is going on with her."

This information did not calm the woman down as she started biting her nails and mumbling, "Damnit, sis. Please don't make me lose you, too."