Foundation of All

Sean started taking a few of the other survival classes that Brenda had suggested in between his sessions with her. They were still practicing diving and a few of the finer points on his swimming technique. He had only broken his legs or neck by a bad jump from the board a few times.

He had been upset at the time, but quickly calmed down when confronted by Brenda’s unconcerned attitude at the incidents. And she was right, there was no pain after he healed. There really was no logical reason for him to be afraid or concerned in such a low stakes situation.

The survival courses were varied. Mostly they described things like how to hunt for food and make tools when you were left with nothing more than yourself on an isolated planet.

He had thought it was all rather archaic, but it made an odd sort of sense. Whatever disaster happened to leave Sean stranded was unlikely to let anything he was carrying survive. He would have to make everything from scratch without any modern technology to help him along. Having food was unnecessary to Immortals, but Sean could imagine he would want to have some after spending potentially years alone on some far flung planet.

Even the most durable of the clothing bands couldn’t survive atmospheric reentry, so he would likely have nothing but himself to work with if he ever got stranded somewhere. That was a survival class he was going to leave until last. He was not looking forward to burning into a crisp multiple times to learn how to land or guide himself to the most promising spots of land when landing on an unfamiliar planet.

Most of the courses were either taught by AI instructors and used holodeck simulations or managed by Brenda with an assistant or two in some specialized classrooms. That had been a surprise, but over half of the courses were actually taught by her. It seemed that she was the resident expert at survival and physical sports both. She was friendly and laughed a little good naturedly at his surprise that she was the teacher, but other than that she treated him the same as any of the other students as they went along.

There were other immortals also taking the classes, but none of the classes had over ten people including him. Most of the others seemed remarkably unconcerned in ever actually being put in the situations presented in the course. They were casual and hardly paid attention as they went along, treating it like some sort of game more than anything, joking and laughing with each other when they were supposed to be practicing in between Brenda or her assistant’s lectures. It annoyed him a little, seeing them blowing off the lectures and demonstrations that could be so important to them in the future.

Sean did not joke around, he was focused on everything they were taught. He knew how much he would rely on these lessons when he was all alone on an unfamiliar planet. And with him being immortal he saw no reason why he wouldn’t end up in these situations eventually even if he didn’t seek them out. It wasn’t like everyone was benevolent, he knew that there were immortal pirates and Plaguebringers out there at least. They could easily do something like this to him without even batting an eye.

Brenda appreciated his dedication at least. She was very helpful when he had some more detailed questions or needed help on how exactly he should go about starting a fire. He had just asked on identifying which kinds of wood or plants were easily flammable and Brenda had quickly explained some of the more detailed signs. The class moved on as Brenda kept speaking and giving them more survival tips.

“Just fuck or don’t already you two. By the Shadow, this is excruciating,” one of the guys groaned loudly as Sean asked another question about the methods of creating a stone hatchet or knife. The man’s beefy right arm was wrapped around a mousy woman that looked rather uncomfortable at his touch, but still remained in his grip anyways. She had long black hair and was a few inches shorter than Sean, but attractive in an understated kind of way especially since she was wearing baggy clothes that, while not ill fitting, didn’t accentuate her feminine features at all. Her green eyes were dull as she stared at the man with his arm around her. What was a girl like her doing with a big boisterous guy like that?

Everyone looked at the man who gestured to Sean and Brenda who was in the middle of answering Sean’s question.

“I mean you don’t have to suck up to teach this hard, Sean,” the man said, “We’re all just here to have some fun. You’re really killing the mood here. I’m sure she’ll sleep with you if you ask nicely enough, she’s certainly spending enough time talking to you while answering your stupid questions this whole class.”

Sean blinked, not sure how to respond to that. Was that what they thought he was doing? He looked to others and saw that despite them looking slightly uncomfortable most seemed still to be nodding along and shooting annoyed looks at Sean. What? Brenda pointed at the door, looking pissed as she stared at the man who had just spoken.

“Get out of here, you spoiled asswipe,” She said, “And don’t let me find you signing up for any of my other classes unless you want to act as the dummy for my archery course. At least one of you is taking this seriously. This is not a game. I don’t have to entertain you and your delusions. So. Leave. NOW!”

The man looked taken aback, “Now, look. I paid fair and square for this…”

Brenda stepped forward, “What is your name? Full name and age.”

“Lars Ricktor, Twenty thousand,” the man said proudly, “And I have paid for your time so…”

“Do I look like. I care,” Brenda said menacingly as she took another step closer, “Leave. Before I remove you. I don’t have to deal with your disrespect. Not now, and not ever.”

She glanced at the woman under Lars’ arm that looked like she would rather be anywhere else at the moment. Sean saw Brenda’s eyes harden as she met the woman’s dull eyes that had lit up with nervousness. The mousy woman looked paralyzed and unsure of what to do.

Lars got a mullish look in his eye and squared his shoulders as he sneered down at her from his over six feet of height and bulky frame. He released the woman he had come with and took a step forward towards Brenda. The mousy woman quickly scurried away from the budding confrontation.

“No, I don’t think so…” Lars said.

Brenda moved in a blink of an eye and struck him hard across the jaw, sending him falling to the floor in a heap.

“Think you’re some tough guy?” She said as she stood over him, “That just because you can’t die you can do whatever you want?”

She stomped on Lars’ hand and Sean heard the bones crunch under her boot. She lifted her foot and Lars cursed and quickly pulled his hand back.

“Well I’ll teach you something real,” Brenda sneered, “All your victims, everyone you treat badly. All of them. Every Immortal you’ve ever insulted or exploited thoughtlessly.”

She kicked him in the side, caving in parts of his ribs before they popped out again and repaired themselves a second later.

“Fucking.”

Kick.

“Remember!”

Kick. Lars groaned and held his side, seeming too taken aback to mount a defense to Brenda’s assault. His face was filled with pain and he looked frightened as she kept hitting him.

“EVERYTHING!”

Kick. Lars slid across the floor a bit under the force of her blows. She paused and stood there and didn’t say anything else as he went to stand. He composed himself as he stood there and ended up glaring at her as she pointed to the door.

“That lesson was free,” Brenda said, “Now leave. Before I decide that I want to be more generous.”

Lars looked at the mousy woman. “Lira? Come now, we’ll go somewhere else. Perhaps the Casino?”

“She still has more to learn,” Brenda cut in, “Unlike you, she at least was paying somewhat attention to the lesson. Don’t make me say it again.”

Lira wavered before she shook her head at Lars who looked upset before grunting, “Fine,” he said, “Waste of time anyway.”

He left and the rest of the students were quiet as the lesson continued. Sean didn’t ask any more questions, still thinking over what had happened.

At the end of the lesson, everyone went to leave without another word.

“Lira? Can you stay behind for a moment?” Brenda called out as the mousy woman went to leave. Lira paused and then turned back. “Sure,” she said without much enthusiasm.

Sean walked past her and lingered at the doorway, looking back at the two for the moment. Brenda met his gaze and made a shooing motion. Sean turned away and left, shutting the door behind him.

“Are you okay, Brenda?” Sean asked as they rode in the elevator up to the diving platform above the pool, “You’ve seemed upset for these last few weeks ever since that thing with that jerk in the survival course.”

Brenda glanced at him before shaking her head, “None of your business. It’s got nothing to do with you.”

“Well, I’m just saying that…”

“Shut up! Are you trying to get in my pants or what?” Brenda said in a harsh tone, “I told you it has nothing to do with you. I’m your instructor. I teach you things, you do them. We leave the classroom and we’re done. So back off.”

Sean blinked at the vitriol in her tone and took an unconscious step back.

“Okay. Sorry,” he said. She didn’t reply. For the rest of the lesson she only spoke in short sentences, although towards the end she softened and started looking a little guilty. He missed his dives more often than usual and ended up breaking his neck over four times in the lesson. Usually he never ended up doing it more than once at most in a session.

The lesson ended and Sean started walking to the locker room.

“Hey, Sean,” Sean turned to see Brenda standing there, “Sorry about earlier,” she said, “It really is my own problem and I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. I should be more professional than that.”

“Thanks,” Sean said, “Hope you solve whatever’s bothering you so much.”

Her stance softened slightly, “I already did,” she said, “I’m just mad that it happened at all. I do appreciate how hard you work in our lessons in the classes you take. You’re an excellent student.”

Sean thought back. His parents had taught him everything he knew, assisted by the programs on the family holopad. Sean Turretson, carrying on the legacy through the generations. And now they were gone forever, “I learned from the best,” he eventually said after realizing that he still hadn’t responded.

“See you next time,” he finished before turning and walking into the locker room to shower and change back into his normal clothes.

Sean raised an eyebrow as he was a poster attached to his front door. He had briefly talked with the neighbors, but with how long people spent out of the house it was rare that he would ever naturally run into them. They had all pulled together to introduce themselves at one point, but it had been polite greetings and nothing more.

He pulled off the paper on the door and raised an eyebrow as he felt it. This was authentic paper, whoever did this went to some serious effort to do this. There were some colorful shapes and in the center in big letters was the word ‘PARTY!’ Below were some of the details on the timing and place. He looked to either side to his neighbors and saw that they didn’t have any similar posters. Interesting, maybe this was just for him?

A few days later, Sean headed over to the room where the party was taking place. The rooms were big enough that there was plenty of room for people to hang out. Sean walked in through the front door into the bustling room full of people. He had thought that his room was elaborate and big, but this one was far more so. Probably at least double the size of his own rooms and even with all the people that had come there was plenty of space for them to spread out.

There was music playing and several party games set up. Sean curiously picked up a nearby drink from the table and sniffed it. Something sugary. He took a sip, and was slightly disappointed as he realized that it wasn’t alcoholic. Oh, he had just realized… Drugs and alcohol must be a thing of the past for him. Given how fast he could regenerate a missing limb he shuddered to imagine the kind of drugs that could manage to get him drunk or high for more than a few seconds at most. If it was even possible.

He picked up the cup and started walking around and observing the party games while occasionally talking with a few people. Most were talking about fashion or some of the local gossip, which was a little odd for Sean. He wasn’t plugged in to all the drama and barely knew anyone in this place, so most of it flew way over his head as he wandered around. But he talked with a few people that were interesting and exchanged holopad contacts with them. Maybe he could finally start dipping his toes into the social scene here on Immortus Station.

Sean wasn’t sure how long it had been. Clocks and generally telling time were not common here and generally you had to actively remember to check the time if you didn’t want it to slip away from you. He had noticed that it might even be by design considering the time wasn’t automatically displayed on any of the devices he had interacted with. Instead it was buried deep in the settings and took up to six clicks sometimes before you could get your answer. Even when you had to get to meetings, they messaged you with an alarm a few minutes before the event automatically when you registered and told you which day it would be instead of giving you a specific time to be there. You could set your own alerts as well, but again it never told you the exact time when the alarm went off unless you actively spent the effort to check. There were no clocks or any public ways to tell time if you didn’t have a holopad or other device on you.

Anyway, he hadn’t checked the time and didn’t have his holopad on him so he had no clue how long it had been since he’d gotten here. He had played a few of the party games and been absolutely thrashed in them. But more people came up to talk to him after and he swapped holopad contacts with many of them to speak with later.

People had been drifting in and out of the room as time passed, and the host didn’t seem to be flagging in the slightest. The man was still floating from group to group, seeming to be having the time of his life, ignoring when people spilled their drinks on the floor or accidentally bumped into some of his furniture.

“Ooooohhhh. Someone’s looking your way, Sean. He’s coming over now. Looking rather angry too.” One of Sean’s newest acquaintances said and darted his eyes to a spot behind Sean. Sean turned and saw an angry Lars pushing through the crowd to approach him. The nearby people were gradually taking notice and turning to the budding confrontation in front of them. Several moved out of Lars’ way and the crowd began circling and whispering at each other.

Lars stopped a few steps away and just watched Sean for a few seconds. “Well?” the big man said with his arms crossed, “You have anything to say for yourself?”

Sean blinked, “About what?” he asked in genuine confusion. Surely he wasn’t blaming Sean for his ban from the classes?

“You know what,” Lars said, “I know you and that teacher were working together to slander me with that whore. Just admit that it’s all a lie and we won’t have any more issues.”

Sean blinked again and tried to understand what in the Shadow Lars was talking about.

“Look, you did it to yourself,” Sean said, “You insult the teacher in the middle of class and she kicks you out. She gave you several chances to leave on your own and you refused. What did you think was going to happen? Don’t really see how that’s my fault.”

“That’s a lie and you know it!” Lars shouted, “You two set that whole charade up just to discredit me! Paying the others to lie to go along with your stupid story. Admit it! It was a. Lie!”

“No,” Sean said steadily, looking up and down the other man. A man who froze at Sean’s flat refusal before exploding in anger.

“You little-! You’ll pay for that!”

The big man moved forward and hit Sean across the jaw full force, sending stars spinning in his vision as his head snapped to the side and he fell to the ground stunned. Lars said something in a harsh tone, but Sean ignored him and shook his head. He had just frozen up and been so surprised by the hit that he wasn’t able to respond at all. Lars looked down at Sean on the ground with a superior smirk.

“So?” Lars said, “Do you admit it? Is it all lies? Or should I hit you again?”

Sean frowned in confusion. Maybe that threat would work if they were still normal humans. But why would Lars think that would work here? In front of a crowd of witnesses too? Was he threatening to ruin Sean’s clothes? But they weren’t particularly fancy and easily replaceable. That couldn’t be it, right? Surely he must have… Sean remembered when Brenda had been hitting Lars. Lars had… groaned in pain. And been fearful. Had he not ever been hurt that severely before? Sean had broken his neck dozens of times at least practicing his high dives with Brenda. Sean had fought those giant beetles for days having his limbs torn off each time along the way. And he had learned to ignore the pain in a crisis if he had to. Or he had months and months ago at least.

“No,” Sean said shortly as he started standing. Lars snarled and kicked his leg to knock him down, but Sean shifted his leg and the kick became only a glancing blow. He managed to stand to his feet as Lars was off balance and Sean swung his fist towards Lars’ exposed head.

His form was terrible, the punch sloppy. But it hit and Lars stumbled slightly as he stepped back and straightened up again.

“Fuck him up, Sean!” the man he had been talking to a minute ago cheered as the two of them squared off. Roger, he thought his name was. The rest of the crowd started shouting and cheering to match now that Roger had started things off.

Lars made a move again and despite Sean being prepared this time, he still had zero training in martial arts. Something that Lars clearly did have training in as he smoothly grabbed Sean’s punch and rolled it into an arm bar.

“Admit it!” Lars said, “Or I’ll break your arm.”

Sean was silent as he continued pushing forward, ignoring the threat. Lars hesitated, but then grunted and Sean’s arm snapped the wrong way and flopped loosely in the wrong direction. Sean grimaced as he felt the burst of hot pain in the arm, but as soon as he felt the phantom limb left behind… something shifted in him. The pain went away and Sean flashed back to his battle with the swarm of beetles. He had to fight with all he had or they would drag him off to whatever nebulous horrible fate awaited him if they succeeded. Lars was the same.

Sean saw the flesh of the flopping arm intersecting with Sean’s phantom limb dissolved away. Lars let go and stepped back as the flap of skin between Sean’s upper arm and the flopping limb grew thinner and thinner. As Sean’s skeletal arm finished forming, his former broken arm was severed from him and fell onto the ground with a wet thump. Lars stared between the severed limb and Sean with wide eyes and backpedaled slightly. But Sean ignored it and kept moving forward, reaching out with his skeletal limb.

Before Lars could react, Sean managed to land his skeletal hand on Lar’s face. The man immediately screamed and writhed, but Sean kept moving forward and grabbed his shoulder and kept on the pressure with his regenerating arm. Muscles and tendons began sprouting to cover Sean’s arm as Lars kept screaming and the crowd around them grew quiet.

Lars fell backwards and Sean followed him down and he managed to spot what was happening to Lars’ face. Little chunks that were intersecting Sean’s phantom limb were disappearing and leaking little streaks of blood, only to heal just as fast through Lars’ own regeneration. The two powers, destruction and regeneration, warred with each other, a process that apparently didn’t spare Lars any of the pain that came along with it.

The muscles finished and the skin began to form on Sean’s arm. He drew his limb back slowly with a sucking sound as Lars’ healing paradoxically kept Sean’s hand trapped as he drew it slowly out as if through thick mud. Finally Sean’s hand came free with a wet pop, he stood, and stepped back away from the heavily panting Lars on the ground. Sean’s regeneration began to cover Sean’s palm where his newly regrown skin had just been ripped off all in one chunk. Lars remained on the floor with one hand on his now perfectly healed cheek covered with blood that had dripped down his neck and down to his shoulder.

Sean met his gaze.

“Are you going to attack me again?” Sean asked coldly as he lowered his hand down to his side.

Lars shook his head and made no move to stand as the crowd watched on.

Sean took a deep breath. That was… Maybe he had imagined Lars as one of those green beetles a little too much. Then again he had broken Sean’s arm with no hesitation, so maybe Sean’s brutality there was still somewhat acceptable…

“Good,” Sean said, “I think we’re done here.”

Lars shifted backwards on the ground before standing and leaving without another word, pushing through the crowd with gritted teeth.

“Yeah, that’s my boy! Let’s go, everyone cheer for Sean the champion!” Roger cheered loudly.

The crowd closed in and Sean was offered many a back slap and cups filled with drinks. For the rest of the party he was the center of attention with Roger at his side retelling the story over and over with gusto to any newcomers that hadn’t seen it themselves. Based on their reactions, none of them liked Lars all that much and were more than happy to hear all about Sean’s victory.

Eventually the party ended, and Sean promised to meet up with Roger again soon. The two of them had just clicked as the party went on and by the end were talking and joking like they’d been friends for years.

Sean made it back to his room and laid back on the luxurious bed and thought about the fight. It oddly enough had felt too easy. Sean had terrible form and if Lars had been focused he could have easily have absolutely thrashed Sean without him being able to fight back at all. If only he had fought through the pain and used his regeneration to the fullest. It seems that somehow Sean was more in tune with his immortality than someone nearly twenty thousand years older than him.

He wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing.