Warslave

Chapter 11: Debrief and Rebrief

The soldiers didn't fulfil their purpose, not in the least because both Viper and him were still armed. The only thing it did was that when they aimed their rifles, both Warslaves immediately readied themselves to fight.

"Both of you, stand down."

Vincent didn't have to raise his voice, he didn't have to motion or threaten them. They both listened, sheathing their weapons in the scabbards they had placed off to the side of the training room.

"And both of you put a shirt on, this is unseemly."

They shrugged. They usually trained with either a thin shirt, or none at all. It kept them on their toes, especially when fighting creatures that couldn't otherwise harm them. The problem was that they did the same when sparring with each other, which had led to both of them being covered in a web of scars.

Even small cuts scarred on them, as they healed too fast, meaning the skin wouldn't properly restore at first. The nerve ends were restored just fine eventually, unlike with humans, but the scars never faded, even small ones. It was an aesthetic flaw to the Warslaves, which was to say no one gave a shit.

For Wolf, that went doubly. The metal of his limbs extended further than just his arms and leg. The entire right side of his chest and a part of his side, were made of the same black metal as his limbs, with the same silver lines where his scars had once been.

Both Warslaves were covered in blood, along with their scars. It was a normal sight to them, but humans found it unsettling. They knew that, of course, but it had never bothered them much.

In fact, it was why they wore white shirts after training. The contest was to move in such a way that as much of the fabric remained white for as long as they could manage. The winner was still undecided, though less due to the fact that they had gotten good at it, and more due to the utter impossibility of the challenge.

"Wipe the blood off first. At least a little bit."

There was little fun to be had with their boss around. They'd realised that a long time ago. Weiss would have preferred to keep them completely without emotion, had that been possible. It had not been, but that didn't stop the man from treating them as if it had.

"Good, now let's discuss abnormalities in your debrief. 48, leave the room and check in with engineering, they have questions for you."

Viper nodded. They knew why the man split them up. It was to make them easier to deal with. Together they were strong, even in other ways than just fighting. Alone, a Warslave was vulnerable, less stable.

As his twin left the room, Wolf felt a cold chill run along his spine as Weiss looked at him. It was utterly ridiculous, of course. He could crush the man with a flick of his wrist, or easier than that even. He had thousands of ways to dispose of the man, without giving it a second thought. Yet still...

He was afraid.

"Now then, we'll start with the big one: why is Whirlwind not in our custody?"

"He's Bureau-"

"And was never officially there. You could have taken him and they wouldn't be able to do a thing about it. Why didn't you?"

He had to come up with a lie, had to...

His mind went back.

"So... you're not killing me?"

The speedster had healed quite well, with some help from Swallow. His legs looked functional again, and his right arm moved. Wolf was left wondering how potent the newblood's healing powers were, given how badly he had maimed the man before.