Imposter System

{Take me there immediately!}

Matt was shocked. This was something he didn't expect to hear. Such a thing couldn't be real. Alexis was confused but got dressed and came down to meet him in his lab. When she arrived, Matt was anxiously waiting outside pacing back and forth. Seeing his reaction, she became more serious about the situation and led him directly there.

When they arrived, Matt saw the dilapidated room and had a huge grin. He walked over to one of the corners and approached a safe. Anyone that played the game knew what this was. This is the equipment graveyard. It was the unofficial name for it. A player wasn't able to access this place until further into the game when it was unlocked. However, this was reality and he had the cheat code called Alexis. Her access on this ship was fairly high so something like this would be easy.

During this time, she left Matt alone and just watched him. He walked right passed where the suits were stored and went to an old safe that hadn't been touched since they left Earth. No one knew the code or what was in it, so they all assumed it was empty and left here. Matt crouched down and activated the screen. The keypad came up and he began punching in the series of numbers he had long since memorized.

In the game, there were many steps to take to discover various easter eggs around the ship to find the riddle that gave you the numbers to this safe. It was a long, convoluted process, but in the end, the prize was worth it. Of course, since the answer was discovered once already, everyone just kept a copy of the code lying around and opened it as soon as the room was unlocked. Once he put in the lengthy code, the magnetic locks released one by one and the safe popped open slightly.

Matt pulled it open and Alexis leaned in closer to see what was inside. Matt took out a hoop that was about as wide as an average head. The material was some sort of composite and had a slightly yellowish tint to it. It was very worn out and tarnished, so it was difficult to tell. Alexis was about to ask, but Matt started explaining it first.

{Halo of an Angel.}

{You can't be serious? Is that some sort of codename?}

{I don't understand the reason, but this is an extremely valuable object. I wanted to confirm it existed. For now, I'll leave it here since this is probably the safest place for it to be. As long as no one else understands its value, it will be left alone.}

Matt carefully placed the halo back into the safe and closed it. The magnetic locks sealed back up one by one and he heaved a sigh of relief. Now that he confirmed the existence of the second object needed to craft Excalibur, he was certain that the 'Heart of a Dragon' existed as well. However, he would never be able to access it without the captain's keycard so he gave up on finding it.

Now that that was over, he went to the part of the room that held all the 'malfunctioning' suits. It seemed weird that they would be kept here until he inspected them closely. It seemed that all of the living metal inside the suits had left it and all that remained was the damaged shell. Once the suits no longer remained stable, they fell apart. And based on Matt's conjecture, they immediately attacked the one wearing them and begin taking over a new host.

What Matt found strange was that there were only three damaged suits here. There were certainly more casualties to the suit debacle. That is, unless those others didn't die because of the living metal. Matt could only sigh and give up for now. He decided to look around the room in case there was anything else interesting and however this wasn't called a graveyard for nothing. In the end, the two returned without taking anything at all.

Since he hadn't had a chance to talk with Alexis about his discoveries, he slowly explained the whole situation to her. She seemed alarmed about the suits, but was happy to discover that she may benefit from them instead of getting hurt. However, until their baby was born, she didn't want to risk it. Even if she could handle it, the risks of it not working are too high. Matt understood and was glad to have someone to share his problems with.

It had already become dinner time. Matt had completely missed lunch due to all that was happening and so he was a bit hungrier than usual. They stopped by the lab so Matt could get his jacket and check on Alexandria. She had woken up at this point and seemed to be quite calm while daydreaming. When Matt entered the room, she became alert and focused on him. She didn't even notice Alexis right next to him.

[Hypnotism Activated]

"Miss Mikos, I'll have someone bring you food. You are also free to go but it could be dangerous…" Matt stepped forward and whispered the rest in her ear, pretending to hide it from Alexis. "Don't let anyone discover your injury."

Alexandria nodded fervently and her ears turned red from the intimate whispering. As her fantasies ran wild, Matt and Alexis had already exited the lab. She gave him a sidelong look and was curious about his expression. However, he still had his usual contemplative 'I'm thinking too much' look. Sometimes she wished he would just leave their minds connected and share every thought with her so she could help him more. But she didn't want to interfere with his privacy.

Alexis smiled and looked forward to the next day. It was already time for her parasite to mature. She wanted to keep it a secret and surprise Matt. Once she had a mature parasite, she could start to share more burdens with him. And most importantly, start to get stronger. Although he didn't recognize it himself, Alexis noticed how much more muscular Matt had gotten. While they had sex this morning, she noticed his abs beginning to develop, his chest more defined, and his arms and legs becoming thicker.

Although he was still a ways off from those soldiers that eat sleep and breath training, he had already gone well above the average soldier. While the two of them were in deep thoughts, they walked hand-in-hand until they finally reached the cafeteria. For once in a long time, they actually arrived right on time and were able to queue up quite quickly. They put their orders in and sat down. While the couple enjoyed each other's company in silence, a strong hand smacked down on Matt's shoulder.

"Doctor O'Connely! It's good to see you again. You've given quite the encouragement to my soldiers the last time you practiced with us; I'd like to see you join us again sometime."

"Hello Commander. I'll think about it. Thanks again for the steak. I don't know how I'd fill my stomach without it!" Matt said with a genuine smile.

"Ah, don't worry about it. I'm already old and have difficulty digesting. The future is with you kids and your kids. When are you expecting Commander Alexeyev?"

"It's already been nine weeks, so about seven months left. Also, Commander, you're not old. You haven't even reached seventy! Middle aged is far off for you."

"What are you saying, I'm a soldier. I have many injuries from the old days. There is no way I'm living past one-hundred twenty. Besides, the conditions on Exveus won't be the same. Who knows how little or long we will have? Anyway, I just wanted to give my greetings. You kids take care."

The barely sixty-year-old man walked away with a solemn look as he thought about the end of his life approaching. The technology on Earth had already reached a stage where the ultimate limitation on the human body was surpassed. Unfortunately, by the time people got passed one-hundred years, their DNA simply couldn't keep up and they became more susceptible to diseases.

Essentially, all the issues from his age were pushed back an average of forty-years. Most adults didn't see the common issues from his era until they were eighty! Unfortunately, longer lives inadvertently decreased the birth rate. This was also why practices like marriage fell out of favor. Something like increasing lifespan had many social and economical ripples throughout a culture, it was remarkable.

Matt thought about his suggestion and decided that it wouldn't work. Currently he was busy with dealing with Shepherd and his new test subject. Additionally, he still had various samples and living metal he needed to find time to absorb. Remembering Alexandria, he sent a quick message to one of his lackeys to bring food to his lab three times a day. As he checked his inbox, he noticed that the other researcher had responded to his message about the suits.

("Doctor O'Connely, I tried to find more information about the combat suits, but I was locked out of the system for a day. It seems that this isn't something we have access to.")