Imposter System

Matt crouched and tried to get her attention. She wasn't unconscious but seemed delirious. He grabbed her chin and turned her to look into his eyes. Using his hypnosis, he tried to clear her mind and tell him what happened. It took several attempts but he finally managed to pull her out of her panicked state. Her breathing normalized and she kept her eyes locked with Matt.

[Hypnotism Activated]

"Now that you're calm, tell me what happened."

"I… was called in for a repair… I cut myself on a piece of metal…" She talked really slowly and would seem to go into a daze occasionally. This was a bit exaggerated for a single wound, even if it was a wound that is now infected with the living metal. However, he kept pushing her to figure out what exactly happened. He continued to use hypnosis to interrogate her, which seemed to help maintain her calm mind.

"What happened after you got cut."

"I… left to get treatment… on the lift… someone helped me… told me to go straight."

Matt thought this sounded more and more suspicious as he listened. He searched her body while she was going into a daze again and found her ID badge. Her name was Alexandria Mikos and Matt instantly realized there was a conspiracy here. He picked her up and brought her into his lab. Feeling herself being picked up she seemed to regain some lucidity and finally had a chance to inspect the person. She felt very hot and drunk so seeing the strong, muscular chest of her savior made her heart race for other reasons.

Matt laid her down on a spongey mat and went to grab the first aid kit. It made sense that Shepherd had begun actively watching him since Willard's influence was lessened. His actions in Matt's quarters were likely a one-time thing for a while. The identity of the person on the lift with Alexandria was likely one of Shepherd's agents. He didn't understand why this scene was orchestrated, but the AI has so much computing power it probably ran several simulations and thought this plan would lead to something.

When he returned to Alexandria, he checked her abdomen and saw that it had already closed up by the living metal. Still, he took out some iodine and sterile water to clean the area. Once he finished, he knelt and leaned forward to try and get some more information out of her but she wrapped his arms around his neck and started kissing him. Matt pressed her down with his hand blocking her assault, but could taste the sweet saliva that invertedly entered his mouth.

[Hypnotism Activated]

"What did the person in the lift do to help you?"

"Ah… he gave me… hah… something to... ngh… numb the pain." She had started to writhe around and her heartrate and breathing were accelerating. Fortunately, Matt was resistant to drugs and toxins, so this strange little plan didn't work. But the problem was, if her body condition worsened, the living metal would spread quicker. Whatever they gave her seemed potent enough to be excreted through her bodily fluids as she started to give off a peculiar scent.

Shepherd must have placed her in his path in order to get him to form a relationship with her in some way. However, since there was no data about his powers, such a plan was doomed to fail. Matt wracked his brain to figure out the end goal when he received a message on his personal device.

("The girl will be your first test subject. Solve the problem of rejection or let her die. Her physical and mental condition will be the basis of your evaluation. Her status is top secret, any leaks will result in immediate termination of your position.")

Matt was frustrated with Shepherd but realized the difficulty of his position. Making him emotionally attached to her wasn't the only goal. Humans were simple in the AI's mind. Throughout history there were two things that drove mankind— war and sex. In order to control Matt, it used the threat of violence and allure of sex. Although basic, it would be very effective on many people. Alexandria was starting to get uncomfortably aroused and Matt found it difficult to keep her still.

[Hypnotism Activated]

"Sleep."

Matt whispered to her. She struggled against his command but her mind was already too weak to resist. Her eyelids became heavy and her muscles relaxed. Once Matt saw her chest rising and falling steadily, he relaxed. The situation was difficult but not impossible to deal with. The order he received was complicated. While thinking about the overall situation, he finally finished changing and returned to where Alexandria was sleeping.

The first thing that gave him a headache was her name. The AI chose her for this reason. Likely in order to keep reminding him that they are threatening Alexis. Secondly, she was very charming and Matt was naturally attracted to her. Fortunately, he had already come to terms with his emotions and his mind was steady as a boulder. Well, his abilities also helped.

The next issue was her infection. Shepherd clearly arranged for Alexandria to be injured while on a repair, thus inoculating her. He experienced himself how volatile the living metal is and it would only take a single cell to begin propagating. From his inspection, the aphrodisiac worsened her condition quicker than how it would normally progress. Matt couldn't remove the cells of the living metal for a few reasons.

If he did remove it, then she would be missing a large chunk of her abdomen and likely die. Also, Shepherd would then know he had the ability to extract the living metal after it was already fused to flesh. Matt had discovered from the documents that it was impossible to extract the metal once it found a host. Not even a blade made from living metal could cut it out since the blood would then destabilize the blade.

Matt suddenly stood up in a panic and tried to connect to Alexis through their link. Fortunately, she was close enough for the connection to reach.

{Alexis, I need to see the combat suit immediately.}

{Hum, okay, I'll come down there right now.}

He was annoyed at himself for completely forgetting about the main application of the living metal. They were used in the combat suits and the mechanized suits. But what he didn't understand was why that was considered safe. What would happen if the person wearing the suit bled? Would they then be infected as well? There was a secret locked in the technology that he wasn't aware of. Something was special about the living metal in the suits versus the main cell line.

While waiting for Alexis, he sat on his stool and searched the documents that were sent over for any information about the combat suit technology. However, there was nothing except for a few references that seemed to be related to the combat suits. He messaged the researcher that sent him the documents why there wasn't anything related to the suits when Alexis walked into his lab.

Alexis was wearing sweatpants and a large shirt. She shuffled over to Matt with the suit in her hand. The smell of sweat was the first thing she noticed. It was a fragrant smell unlike Matt's typical scent. She sniffed around and became hyperalert. She still hadn't shown much growth on her stomach but her hormones had already begun to fluctuate. The tantalizing scent made her a bit hot and before she knew it, her breathing was accelerated.

When Matt noticed Alexis come in, she was already affected by the aphrodisiac that Alexandria was doused in. Since he was immune to the effects, he had forgotten about it. Although he had already dedicated himself to be more mentally organized and not forget things, it was still happening. It was unfortunate, but this seemed to be a core problem of his that wasn't easily solved.

"Hold on Lexi, let me take you back. Leave the suit here."

"Matt… what is… going on… in here?"

"Just someone's prank, don't worry. Let's go."

Matt quickly led her out and back to their room. He was worried about his tipsy fiancé so he made sure she was back in their quarters. The two of them never held back their desires in the past, and now that they were linked together, they were even less inhibited. Because of this, Matt ended up being swept away by Alexis's mood and indulged for an hour. After finishing, his mind was much clearer and he realized that the aphrodisiac wasn't completely ineffective on him. He had just not noticed the effects.

{Alexis, what happens when you get injured in the suit?}

{Oh, it has some healing properties or something. During the allocation of suits, the instructor had us prick our finger and touch the inside of the suit. It heals almost instantly.}

Matt sat up and held his head in his hands. He had a good idea about what was happening now. The suits weren't inert, they were the opposite. The ritual to get a suit was essentially feeding a starved animal to gain its loyalty.