Prehistoric Regeneration

Exploration

Once the sun had set and it was dark enough for them to leave unnoticed, Ocheeva spoke up,

"I've marked our location so we can easily find our way back."

"You sure have embraced this technology with open arms haven't you," Koios said.

"Well, I don't see why not use it if I have it," Ocheeva said, "Not to mention it has saved my life a few times."

"Ha," Nuada laughed, "Saved your life. What a trivial statement."

"Stop saying that," Ocheeva yelled, "You have no idea how it works. Only Koios and Rayner have regenerated a second time and we don't know if it would happen again or at all for some of us."

"Let's go before she wakes everyone up," Tuuli exclaimed.

Ocheeva and Sprita hopped up onto Nuada. Tuuli and Koios approached the gate and were about to jump over it when Nuada enabled his night vision and saw sensors going up about 20 feet above the gate and walls around the labs.

"Stop," Nuada warned them.

"Why," they both asked.

"Because there are sensors all over that gate and the walls surrounding the labs," Nuada explained, "You can't jump high enough to clear them and if you touch them, the resulting alarm will wake everyone."

"Well, what do you suppose we do then," Tuuli asked.

"Yea," Koios said, "If we open the gate, it will no doubt set off an alarm as well."

"Grab on," Nuada said as he released the cable on his grapple gun and took to the sky.

"You want us to hold onto that while you fly over the gate," Koios said.

"Are you sure it can handle the weight," Tuuli asked.

"It can and I can," Nuada said as he took a shot of adrenaline that would last just long enough for them to get to the other side, "Now grab on!"

Tuuli grabbed on and climbed up far enough to leave room for Koios, who filled the space left for him. Nuada pulled up high enough for them to clear the sensors.

"Wow, the view from down here is pretty nice," Koios said as he looked up at Tuuli.

"What," Tuuli asked as she looked down, feeling kind of embarrassed.

She was glad that Koios didn't have night vision yet as her face was red. She failed to remember that he still had his natural night vision.

"Oh, did I embarrass you," Koios asked.

"Yes," Tuuli growled, "Are you happy?"

"Actually, no," Koios said, "I didn't mean to embarrass you."

"Sorry I lashed out at you," Tuuli said.

"It's okay," Koios said as he felt his feet hit the ground and let go of the cable, "I know you still long for your mate."

"I'm glad you understand," Tuuli said as she released her grip on the cable, falling several feet.

She purposefully landed on Koios, knocking them both over. They fought playfully for a few seconds until Nuada landed and broke it up.

"You can do anything you want when we are out exploring," Nuada said, "but please don't wake someone before we even leave."

"Sorry Nuada," Tuuli and Koios apologized, knowing he had no clue what happened while they were in the air.

"Which way should we go," Nuada thought aloud.

"Well," Ocheeva said as she and Sprita jumped off of Nuada's back, "We've been east and west, so we should go north or south. What do you think Sprita?"

"South is all desert," Sprita said, "I personally find that kind of boring. North of here is forest which sounds much more appealing."

"And it looks as though there is a waterfall with a lake below it," Ocheeva said as she used her helmet's zoom function.

"Okay then, let's head north," Nuada said.

They all turned north and began their journey.

"Wait," Tuuli said, "I sense a presence other than us."

Everyone stopped and looked at Tuuli.

"Where," Sprita asked quietly.

"On the other side of the walls," Tuuli said.

"How," Sprita asked.

"I don't know, but it is, so it must be ended quietly," Tuuli said, "Nuada, can you fly me over?"

"Why you," Ocheeva asked, "He could take Sprita or me since we are lighter."

"Because with me, he can be cloaked," Tuuli said, "If it sees us, there will be a lot of noise."

Nuada crouched down to let Tuuli on his back. She lay down and cloaked. Once Nuada took off, he became cloaked as well. They flew up and over the wall.

"Whatever you do, don't land," Tuuli said.

"Why," Nuada asked.

"Because you won't remain cloaked if you touch the ground," Tuuli said.

"Okay," Nuada said, "Got it."

Nuada glided above what he identified as a Baryonyx, grabbed him by the neck with his feet, ended him by snapping his neck, and gently lay him down as to avoid a loud crash. He then landed so they could take a look at the intruder.

"He is wearing some sort of clear armor," Nuada said as he felt his tail, "He also has a weird device on his back."

"Isn't Koios' species about the same size as this Baryonyx," Tuuli asked quietly as she uncloaked.

"I believe so," Nuada said, "Why?"

"I think he should put on that armor and device and see what it can do," Tuuli suggested.

"Isn't that kind of reckless," Nuada asked.

"Wow," Tuuli said, "That is the last thing I would have expected you to say seeing as you are the one who thinks we can't die."

"Maybe," Nuada said, "but I'm still rational."

"Can we try it or not," Tuuli asked as she began to remove the armor.

"Sure," Nuada said, "Go for it."

Tuuli gathered up the armor, the device, and some adrenaline to replenish what she used and for Koios' new armor then got up onto Nuada's back.

"We need to dispose of the Baryonyx," Tuuli said, "so carry him over the wall."

"Ok," Nuada said as he took a shot of adrenaline then hovered in the air and grabbed the Baryonyx by his midsection.

Once they were over the wall, Nuada put the Baryonyx down and landed.

"Can I eat it," Sprita asked as Ocheeva removed the heart.

"I guess," Ocheeva said as she handed the heart to Sprita.

She swallowed it whole.

"So, what is that you have there," Koios asked, noticing the armor.

"Well," Tuuli said, "It's quite obviously armor, but what it's capable of is a mystery."

Tuuli held up the device which was mounted on the back of the Baryonyx.

"Why don't we find out then," Koios said, already putting on pieces of the armor.

Once Koios was done putting the armor on, Tuuli attached the unknown device.

"We really should be going now," Ocheeva said.

They turned towards the forest and headed in. It was quite thick, so Ocheeva climbed a tree and jumped from branch to branch above them for a while. Koios couldn't help but watch and lost track of where he was going.

"Watch out Koios," Tuuli said, noticing he was going to run into a tree.

"What," Koios said as he walked right through the tree.

Tuuli and the others stopped dead in their tracks and were speechless. All Tuuli could do was walk up to Koios and find out what happened for herself. She put her hand up against Koios' side and pushed. To her surprise her arm went all the way through.

"Whoa," Tuuli exclaimed, "This is a feeling beyond description."

"Tell me about it," Koios said.

"I wonder if that device is doing that," Ocheeva said as she jumped out of the tree she was in.

"Well, that almost speaks for itself at this point doesn't it," Tuuli asked.

"I guess so," Ocheeva said.

"But it doesn't use any adrenaline while doing so," Tuuli said as she checked Koios' adrenaline supplies, seeing that they were full.

"Then what is the adrenaline supply used for," Nuada questioned aloud.

"I'm more worried about whether or not it can be turned off," Koios said, "I can't fight if I can't hit anything."

"Well, can you," Sprita asked.

"I think so, hold on," Koios said as he looked for the deactivation in his helmet's database, "Ok, now try."

Tuuli pushed on Koios again. This time she knocked him over. He got up and looked at the leg he fell on. His armor was cracked.

"You put a crack in my armor," Koios said as he turned his right leg towards Tuuli.

"No I didn't," Tuuli said as she examined it.

"What," Koios said as he looked down at his leg and saw no cracks.

"Let's test this shall we," Sprita said, "Brace yourself Koios."

Koios focused his strength on his left leg and lowered his stance. Sprita charged at Koios' leg and landed a direct hit on the armor. It shattered, but remained intact. What they saw next astounded them. The armor was slowly repairing itself.

"Did you feel that at all," Sprita asked.

"Nope," Koios answered.

"Ok, now I really want to find out what the armor's adrenaline function is," Nuada said.

"Fine," Koios growled, "I'll look for it."

When Koios found out what the function was, he was speechless and stood there for a minute to ponder the gravity of the situation.

"Have you found it yet," Ocheeva asked, wanting to know as badly as Nuada.

"Yes," Koios said solemnly, "but I'm not sure I like what I'm seeing."

"Well, what is it," Tuuli asked.

"Rage mode," Koios said apprehensively, "Should I try it?"

"Eh, why not," Ocheeva said, "The worst it can do is kill you, right Nuada."

"Real funny," Nuada said.

"I guess I'll try it," Koios said, "as it will be very useful if I can handle it."

Koios enabled his rage mode. It was quite a spectacle. His armor started to glow a bright red and his eyes turned black. It was a look of pure evil. Although he looked evil, he was able to distinguish between friend and foe. Ocheeva touched the armor. It was very hot and hard as steel.

"How strong are you," Ocheeva asked, unknowing as to whether he could talk or not.

"I don't know," Koios said in a deeper tone of voice than normal due to the rage mode, "but I sure would like to find out."

Koios grabbed onto the tree he walked through earlier and pulled on it. It came right out of the ground without him applying much force.

"Wow," Koios said, "I feel like that was only a small percentage of my strength."

"How can he handle it just fine and Ocheeva can't," Nuada pondered aloud.

"Well, I would guess that since his rage mode doesn't amplify his natural adrenaline," Tuuli suggested, "and simply runs on the synthetic supplies, his body and mind are seemingly unaffected. His rage mode seems just as strong as Ocheeva's and maybe stronger yet it has no apparent cost except for adrenaline reserves."

But, little did they know, there was a very critical cost.

"I can also increase my strength using adrenaline," Nuada said, "How is that any different?"

"Yes, you can," Tuuli said, "but it is simply increasing your natural abilities and only makes you moderately stronger. Kind of like how Ocheeva can increase her speed with her adrenaline 

reserves. Koios' rage mode makes him far stronger than you could even imagine doing with your adrenaline supplies."

Without warning the others, Koios lifted his left leg as high as possible then brought it back down with full force. The impact caused the ground around them to rumble with fury. It didn't cause cracking like Nuada's ground pounder, but lasted much longer. Once the ground stopped rumbling, Koios checked his adrenaline supplies using his helmet's display. The first cartridge was still 98 percent full and there were two more cartridges.

"This device seems to be very efficient at using adrenaline," Koios said, "My first adrenaline cartridge is still 98 percent full. What do you want me to try now?"

"How about this," Sprita said as she faced him and lifted her head to display her chest armor.

"Oh, yea," Koios said, "The armor that even Nuada's ground pounder couldn't dent. Are you sure?"

"Yes," Sprita said.

"Okay," Koios said as he swung his fist at Sprita's chest with what he deemed to be his full strength.

Upon contact, Sprita flew back towards Nuada who caught her before she could go any further. Nuada put her down. She was unable to stand and was breathing very rapidly.

I think…you…punctured…one…of my…lungs," Sprita said in between breaths.

They looked at the large dent in the armor. The force that dented the armor had also broken several of her ribs which punctured one of her lungs. Koios removed the chest plate and took out the dent then handed it to Ocheeva. She watched Sprita slowly heal. Her ribs moved back into place and though not visible, the hole in her lung sealed up and she began breathing normally. Ocheeva put the chest plate back on Sprita.

"Well, I'm satisfied," Koios said as he disengaged his rage mode.

The second he disengaged it, he felt an extremely sharp pain shoot through his entire body. It was far too powerful even for him to block out.

"Ow," Koios roared loudly.

"What," Nuada asked.

"The pain flowing throughout my body," Koios growled, "It's so overwhelming."

His mind couldn't take it anymore and he passed out.

"You think he'll be okay," Sprita asked.

"He'll be fine," Ocheeva said, "I'm more worried about who developed this kind of technology and why they are trying to use it against us."

"We'll have plenty of time later to figure that out," Tuuli said, "Let's just enjoy our freedom right now."

They waited until Koios came to and Tuuli helped him up.

"Are you okay," Tuuli asked, displaying genuine worry.

"I'm fine," Koios said, "I've been through worse than that."

"So, do you think the power was worth the consequence," Nuada asked.

"Most definitely," Koios said, "I would only use it as a last resort anyway, so why not."

"Okay, well, let's continue on," Ocheeva suggested as she climbed back up into the trees.

They followed her lead and continued on through the forest. When they reached the clearing, Ocheeva decided to try and scare Koios. She jumped out of the trees when she was just above him, expecting to land on his back. What she didn't expect was that he was very aware of his surroundings. The second he sensed her falling, he enabled the antimatter device. Ocheeva fell straight through him and landed on the ground.

"Trying to scare me huh," Koios laughed as he disabled his antimatter device.

"Yea," Ocheeva said as she got up, still a little stunned by the fall.

Once she was standing, Ocheeva sprinted towards the lake.

"Wait," Nuada yelled, "You need to be more cautious."

"Caution is for the weak," Ocheeva yelled back.

When she reached the lake, she stopped and looked down.

"It's clear," Ocheeva said as she turned around and looked back at everyone.

Just as she turned back around to face the lake, Ocheeva saw a Plesiosaur's head poke up out of the water.

"Well, who might you be," Ocheeva asked, surprised to see a Plesiosaur.

"My name is Darya," she growled.

"Are you friendly or do you wish to fight," Ocheeva asked.

"Oh my, I would never have any desire to harm anyone unless they attacked me first," Darya said.

"That's nice to know," Ocheeva said.

Ocheeva looked back at the rest of her team. They looked frightened and had all the right to be as the Plesiosaur was even larger than Nuada.

"Oh come on," Ocheeva growled, "it's fine. She is not a threat."

They all joined Ocheeva at the edge of the lake.

"I'm guessing you are confused about why you are here aren't you," Nuada asked Darya.

"Not really," Darya said, "All I care about is that I have plenty of food and lots of space to swim in."

"Well, do you mind if we take a swim with you then," Sprita asked.

"Not at all," Darya said, "Come on in."

Ocheeva and Sprita climbed to the top of the waterfall to dive in. Nuada, Tuuli, and Koios jumped in from where they were.

"Wow," Koios said as he poked his head up out of the water, "it is really warm."

"Ah," Nuada sighed, "It sure is."

Ocheeva and Sprita had finally reached the top of the waterfall.

"Are you ready down there," Ocheeva yelled.

"Yea," Tuuli yelled back, "why wouldn't we be?"

"Okay then," Sprita said as she and Ocheeva faced each other and locked their claws together.

They jumped off the waterfall sideways and went into a feet first freefall. To keep from rotating in the air they used their tails to steer. When they were close to the lake, they kicked their legs to bring their feet together. Once their feet were touching, they bent their legs, released their claw grip, pushed off with their legs, and flipped backwards. This action sent them into a head first dive facing away from each other. When they entered the lake, it was a race to the bottom. Sprita, with her superior leg strength, was able to reach the bottom before Ocheeva, but only slightly. On the way back up, Ocheeva had the advantage as she weighed less than Sprita. What Ocheeva didn't notice was that Sprita's foot was stuck on the floor of the lake. She was unaware until she reached the surface and looked down, seeing Sprita struggling to free herself. Knowing she was short on time, Ocheeva did something totally unexpected. She removed her minigun and put it on the ground outside the lake. Then she dived below Nuada, removed his grapple gun, and put it on her free arm. She aimed it and fired at the floor of the lake near Sprita. When she retracted it, she quickly reached the floor. Sprita grabbed on then Ocheeva aimed and shot at 

the edge of the surface of the lake. They were back up in a matter of seconds. Sprita took a deep breath and got out of the lake.

"Thanks for saving me Ocheeva," Sprita said as she rolled around on the ground to dry off.

"Why are you drying off," Ocheeva asked, "Aren't you going to swim with us?"

"How could I after that," Sprita asked in a very emotional tone.

"Sorry," Ocheeva said, "You don't have to."

"Thanks for understanding," Sprita said as she walked towards the waterfall and began to climb.

When she got to the top, she squatted down on her tail and just sat there watching over everyone. She enjoyed being alone as it gave her time to think. With her free time, she perused through her visor's functions. She found a function called full body diagnostics. When she selected it, her visor displayed statistics about her body. In the middle of the display, she saw a virtual render of herself, showing her injuries. It showed that she had sprained her ankle on the floor of the lake. Around the render, she saw things like heart rate and blood pressure.

"Hmm," Sprita thought, "that could prove useful."

She continued looking and found something which had been hidden deep within the menu of the visor.

"Ocheeva isn't the only one with a hidden ability," Sprita thought as she read the word adaptation on the screen.

She immediately contacted Meryl to question the situation.

"Hello Sprita," Meryl said as she answered her phone.

"I found my hidden ability," Sprita told her.

"You don't have a hidden ability," Meryl explained.

"Then what is the adaptation ability," Sprita asked.

"I have no idea," Meryl said, "I didn't add it. Hold on, I'll ask my team if they did."

Sprita waited for a minute until Meryl came back on the line.

"Well," Meryl said, "It turns out my team added it without me knowing. They want you to test it as it is still a prototype."

"I would be more than happy to test it if you explain what it does," Sprita said.

"It is quite simple actually," Meryl explained, "It alters your D.N.A. so that you can survive in your environment. It only uses adrenaline when it is making the change and uses very little in doing so. The problem is that since it alters your D.N.A., there could be devastating side effects."

"It can't kill me can it," Sprita asked.

"Probably not," Meryl said, "but it could cause undesirable changes to your body."

"The ability outweighs the risk to me then," Sprita said.

"Okay, just be careful," Meryl said.

"I will," Sprita said as she closed the connection.

Without even a second thought, Sprita got up and dived off the edge of the waterfall. Ocheeva saw this and was worried at first, but she sensed something was different this time, so she just watched in anticipation. Sprita enjoyed the feeling of falling so far, but she didn't know why and didn't care. When she hit the water, she enabled her adaptation ability and her body immediately began to change. Her hands and feet became webbed. Gills also began to form on each side of her neck. She took her first breath as an aquatic creature and swam over to Ocheeva.

"I have a hidden ability also," Sprita said.

Everyone listened in on their conversation.

"Oh, and what might that be," Ocheeva asked.

"It's called adaptation," Sprita said as she held up her hand, "and it alters my D.N.A. so that I can survive in my environment."

"That's cool," Nuada spoke up.

"Yes it is," Sprita said, "Apparently Meryl's team put it in there for me to test."

"Oh my," Tuuli said, "more unknown side effects."

"You can swim like me now," Darya said.

"That is amazing," Koios exclaimed as he touched one of her gills.

"It sure is," Sprita said as she slipped back under the water.

She also noticed that she could see without a problem under the water. It was very clear and colorful. She went all the way to the bottom of the lake and was able to swim back up very quickly. Her return to the surface was so quick that she flew up out of the water several feet. While she was in the air, she felt her arms begin to change. When she reentered the water, they returned to normal.

"What was that," Sprita thought, still a little confused about the whole situation.

She had the desire to figure it out. Sprita got out of the lake and her body returned to normal. With her adaptation ability still enabled, she began to climb the waterfall. The bottom of her hands and feet became sticky as to make climbing easier. When she reached the top, she jumped off the waterfall. This time, her arms lengthened and wings grew out of them. Her eyesight also became far better than before. She instinctually flapped her arms and took to the sky.

"What on earth," Nuada growled as he looked up and saw Sprita flying.

"It's her adaptation ability," Ocheeva explained, "It sensed that she was falling and altered her D.N.A. to protect her."

"Wait," Nuada growled, "Where is Tuuli?"

Just then, Nuada felt something grab his legs and pull him under.

"Under you," Koios answered nonchalantly knowing Nuada couldn't hear him.

Having had enough fun, Tuuli relinquished her grip, surfaced, and uncloaked.

"That was not funny," Nuada snarled at Tuuli.

"Yes it was," Darya laughed just before she dived back under the water.

Nuada was the only one not laughing. Even Sprita, with her superior eyesight, saw the entire thing and was laughing. Nuada heard the laughter and shot a fireball her way. She used her telekinesis to send it back at him. Nuada flew up out of the water, barely dodging the fireball. It landed harmlessly in the lake or so they thought. Darya was below Nuada when the fireball hit. She had been struck in the back. When she surfaced, everyone saw the large burn on her back.

"I'm sorry about that," Nuada said.

"Actually, that was entirely my fault," Sprita said as she landed and her arms and eyes returned to normal, "I should have just let that fireball fly past me."

"It doesn't matter whose fault it was," Darya said, "I'm perfectly fine now."

In the time it took them to sort it out, Darya's wounds had healed.

"So, now what shall we do," Tuuli asked.

"Let's just enjoy ourselves and swim for a while," Sprita said as she dived into to the water.

They all played around in the lake until dawn then got out and lay down to watch the sunrise.

"So, when do you think they will find out we are missing," Koios asked.

"I'd say right about now," Ocheeva said as she opened a connection with the call that was coming in on her helmet, "Hello."

"Where are you," Meryl asked, sounding unhappy about the situation.

"We are north of your position," Ocheeva said, "Swimming in the lake under the waterfall. We went north because south was all desert."

"Oh," Meryl said, "then you aren't very far from the lab. Also, south of here there is an ocean, so that desert is actually a large beach."

"Oh, nice," Ocheeva said, "we will have to visit that sometime as well. Why didn't you question our whereabouts when Sprita contacted you?"

"I guess because the conversation was important," Meryl said, "and I didn't even think about you not being here. I had just assumed that Sprita was contacting me from outside the lab."

"I guess that makes sense," Ocheeva said.

"Is there anything new that we should be aware of," Meryl asked.

"Yes actually," Ocheeva said as she projected the video, so everyone could see everyone else.

"Wow, a Plesiosaur," Meryl said, "What might your name be?"

"I am Darya," she said.

"What is Koios wearing," Meryl asked.

"I was getting to that," Ocheeva said as Koios got up and approached the video feed, "Just before we left the lab, there was an intruder, a Baryonyx, who almost snuck in unnoticed, but didn't thanks to Tuuli. We ended him then Koios took his armor and that device on his back. After all was said and done, it turned out to be an anti-matter device. Koios also gained a rage ability similar to mine, but it runs on his adrenaline supplies and is much more powerful. He was even able to dent Sprita's armor. The impact also broke several of her ribs and punctured one of her lungs. As you can see though, she is fine, so don't worry about it."

"Did he remove the dent before he went out of rage mode," Meryl asked, "seeing as he would be the only one capable of doing so?"
"He did," Ocheeva reassured her, "There is one more thing about the armor."

"What would that be," Meryl asked.

"It is organic and self repairing," Ocheeva told her, "It also becomes as hard as steel when he uses his rage mode."

"We will have to study the technology and see if we can reproduce it," Meryl said, "Though I am kind of worried about who might be using it against us."

"That will be our next mission after we build our house," Ocheeva explained.

"When are you doing that anyway," Meryl asked.

"Immediately when we return to the lab," Ocheeva said, "as I no longer deem it safe to sleep outside after what happened last night."

"When will you be returning," Meryl asked.

"I don't know," Ocheeva said as she looked at everyone else.

"I'd kind of like to get some sleep," Tuuli spoke up, "No better place to do it than here."

"I agree," Nuada said, "It would be hard not to fall asleep in such a serene place."

"I guess we are sleeping here," Ocheeva said.

"Later then," Meryl said.

"Later," Ocheeva said as she closed the connection.

"So where will we be visiting next," Sprita asked, having heard only Ocheeva's side of that part of the conversation.

"What you thought was desert," Ocheeva explained, "is actually a large beach and there is an ocean which we will have to swim in some time."

"Oh, okay," Sprita said, "Let's get some sleep. Do you mind if I sleep in the lake tonight seeing as it is so warm and inviting?"

"Not at all," Ocheeva said, "Go for it."

Sprita dived into the lake, changed to her aquatic form, and went to the floor of the lake where she soon fell asleep.

Ocheeva and Koios lay back down and they all fell asleep quickly in the presence of the warm sun.