Free Chrono Inquisitor (Gods Be Damned) by Rien Reigns Page B

When I reached it the itch was gone and I asked Kali with a calmness I didn’t know I possessed, “Kali, if everything was working properly, how was another vehicle able to touch us?”
    Just as before, the pip suddenly jerked.
    This time I was luckily thrown into my cushy, soft chair. Thrass on the other hand was thrown back at the wall. His head gave a shuddering thud as it collided with the metal.
    “Kali,” I growled, like an engine revving, that rage returning. “What in all of creation is going on?”
    The tornado of light returned as well.
    Kali replied , ‹I can now say with 100% certainty that we were just struck from behind by another vehicle. I can also say that the collision occurred because safety protocols were temporarily disabled right before impact. They were however, restored immediately afterwards.›
    Thrass groaned.
    I looked his way and saw him holding his head in his hands as he sat against the wall.
    “Let me know when the ride is over,” he said. “I’m going to take a nap now.”
    I grabbed the light and ripped it from the ceiling.
    That’s better, I thought.
    “Kali, turn on all internal lights.”
    Four imbedded lights in the ceiling came to life, basking the room in a warm glow.
    “And give me visuals of what’s going on outside.”
    I looked over at Thrass who had his eyes covered with his hands.
    “And you, don’t you dare fucking fall asleep on me. You’re no damn use to me dead”
    Kali displayed the video feed of what was transpiring outside the pip on the table screen
    “Kali, is that my pad?”
    ‹It is, sir.›
    “My pad struck us?” I wondered aloud.
    ‹Indeed it did, sir.›
    Thrass groaned again and fell over.
    I looked at the screen, over to Thrass, and back at the screen.
    “Fuck!” I stepped away from the table and extracted a syringe from inside the vault while moving towards him. I knelt down next to the young man as he was beginning to lose consciousness and stabbed him in the neck.
    He gasped and his eyes shot wide open.
    “What…did…you do to me?” he asked.
    “I’m saving your life,” I said, and began monitoring his Chrono. “But don’t expect me to be making a habit out of it or you’ll find that I’m a one trick pony. Now sit back and relax.”
    He’d suffered a concussion. Luckily, there was no internal bleeding.
    I figured I should get him to a Methuselah Pool, just in case. I doubted he needed a baptism. Though he could probably use one. It would have to come out of my pocket though. Good thing I had a discretionary account I rarely used.
    Determining that my charge would survive for a while longer without my attention, I went back to the table. I reached it just in time to see my pad accelerating.
    “Brace yourself,” I said, and grabbed onto the table.
    My pad struck again, but this time both Thrass and I were prepared, or at least as much as one can be prepared when a four-ton truck comes barreling at you at deadly speeds.
    “Kali, I want control of my own damn vehicles. Get me back control. Now!”
    ‹I am attempting to do so, master.›
    There was that antagonistic attitude I couldn’t get rid of. She only called me ‘master’ at the least appropriate times.
    I was at the threshold of containing my anger, but chose to ignore her. Instead I took a deep breath and looked over at Thrass who was now sprawled out on the floor.
    “You still with me, partner?”
    He turned his head towards me. “So…now we’re partners?” he said, still a little groggy.
    “I guess we didn’t actually come to a conclusion on that, but hey, we might be partners in death if I can’t figure out what’s going on,” I said with a smirk.
    “Great,” he moaned, and closed his eyes. “Caught in a death trap with a comedian.”
    “ Gotta have a sense of humor in this kind of work. Though, I will admit, it does get a little twisted over time. Kali?”
    ‹I am sorry, master. I am still attempting to override the controls.›
    “Are you at least