E. M. Hyland: August 2014

Due to writer's block on Bushido: Zendou and some miscellaneous inspirations I started writing a short story last night as a writing exercise to help break up this writer's block. Might as well share what I have so far.

As a warning this piece is a darker satirical piece.

Caste of Dolls

Samuel Craddock slammed a shirtless screaming man against a concrete traffic divider. The screams only got louder when the shirtless man noticed a rib piercing through his skin. Samuel was certain the man didn’t feel the rib break and slip through his skin, because he looked hopped up on Testostradin; know as Mad Bull on the streets. The drug was made from the blood of men on an adrenaline high. It gives the user a near limitless tolerance to pain and a rush of muscular strength. The combination has led to users overtaxing their muscles and having them tear the ligaments and tendons right off their own bones. The most concerning part is the careless use can lead to a blood bourn outbreak of disease and sickness. This would cripple the worker class and cause unnecessary problems for the whole society. It is crime like that Samuel is to root out and put an end to.

“Clear!” a woman’s voice shouted from past the traffic divider. Samuel let go of the man and jumped back. Right as he jumped a hollow thud was heard. An opaque blue gel slapped around the man’s face muffling his screams as it began to send thousands of volts through his body. The man began to convulse as he tried to claw the Shock-Stop gel from his face. Samuel whipped his telescoping baton out and landed a solid smack to the man’s calf. The added stimuli of the strike on top of the drugs and electricity caused the connective tissue in his knee to give way. He collapsed as his calf rolled down inside his flesh and his leg could no longer support him. Once he was on the ground Samuel struck the man in the throat with his baton. The muscles in his neck ripped away and the screams stopped. The man kept fighting the voltage until all that was left was a convulsing corpse.

“Turn it off, Bethany.” Samuel called to a dark haired, tan skinned woman now standing a few feet from the traffic barrier. The body stopped twitching and Samuel ran his hand through his black hair.

“Why do they take this stuff?” Bethany asked while she hopped the barrier.

“Check under the hood.” Samuel replied. “I bet breakfast he is a Doll.” Bethany extended her baton and used it to slide the corpse’s pants down. This revealed that the man had been gelded, completely.

“He was on his last strike.” Bethany stated.

“Mad Bull must have been the only way he could feel like a man again.” Samuel said while retrieving a hypodermic vial from his coat pocket. “Here take a vial of his blood. We get the read out back in the car; it is too dangerous to stay out on this road.” Bethany nodded and filled the device.

“Did you remember the Duster Sticks?” Bethany asked as she handed the hypodermic vial back. Samuel took it and handed her small box. She opened it took out two slender plastic sticks and handed the box back. Bethany twisted the sticks together making a crackling noise. Then she set the nanite filled sticks on the corpse only to see it rapidly dissolve a few seconds later. In under a minute the corpse was rendered to dust and Samuel and Bethany returned to their squad car across the street.

E. M. Hyland

Sunday, August 31, 2014

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Short Story Exercise - Caste of Dolls

Bushido: Zendou - Part One Available