VESPID || Qode Leucopsis

“A little to the left. Up. Right. Yes, there. Pay attention to the chart, Lieutenant. You’re doing well.” A gruff middle-aged man’s jade eyes flicker between the anatomical poster on the far West wall and Qode’s hand, then hums. “That’s good. Insert it.”

Qode stands beside a gurney, where a cadet has all four of his limbs strapped down. The cadet is faced down into the mat, a large gag wound around his jaw. As he pushes a thin four-inch needle into a place around the cadet’s spine, a part of Qode wonders if they used to know eachother. If, back when he was a Cadet Command Sergeant Major, this was one of the men he used to see every day at training.

“The BL18 point is an important point for relieving emotional issues like depression, anger, irritability and stress.” The middle-aged man continues as he explains. "Lieutenant?"

Qode repeats the next segment of the parasitization textbook, remembering the case studies inside. “In cases like these, it’s best to prompt the point as a regulator. The cadet is currently showing extreme signs of emotional distress, which isn’t conducive to harmonization.”

As the needle punctures the skin, the black steel begins to pale, an inky burst blooming visibly in the cadet’s bloodstream. The cadet starts gasping for air and breathing heavily as their body tries to cope with the ongoing discomfort. Exhausted, the cadet can barely vocalize their pain anymore.

Guttural groans, moans, whimpering sounds.

Eventually, tense silence.

“Is it time to stop, Sergeant Ropalida?” Qode notices the cadet’s eyes become muddled, and hesitates.

This is Qode’s fourth time doing acupuncture on a cadet. Even after becoming a Vespid and joining the military, all officers and enlisted soldiers are mandated to spend a week’s time at the training centres performing parasitisation.

Parasitisation is a long and gruelling process that starts the second a cadet is brought into the camp. Just like real Vespid soldiers, cadets do arduous training. Battle drills, strength exercises, endurance, torture resistance, group formations.

When the body, mind and soul are tired and offering no resistance, the toxin works best.

A Vespid’s venom is a lethal soul toxin when administered in high doses, like on the battlefield. It invades the soul and completely corrupts it, twisting it into something poisoned and distorted. It’s chaotic and unreasonable.

When the soul launches a counter-attack against the toxicity, harmonization begins. The body attempts to fully acclimate to and immunize itself against the toxin, finding order in the chaos. If an unadapted soul tries to do this, failure is almost certain. Even after years of being exposed to Vespid venom in low doses and adapting toxin tolerance, the harmonization process is mostly fatal. 95% of cadets that undergo harmonisation die. Their bodies are set alight in giant heaps.

“No.” Sergeant Ropalida shakes his head, reaching from the kit on a nearby table and handing Qode another needle. “It’s already started. Continue.”

Wasp steel is the Vespid’s main export. It’s the toughest, most resilient, sharpest steel in all of Hive. Its additional special property is that it can soak up the venom of Vespids. The thin and small needle model makes it easier to administer the low doses needed for effective adaptation.

Qode runs the needle along his tongue, letting his saliva drench the steel. When the pale steel begins to blacken, he waits for a minute then inserts it into the cadet’s XR13.

“ARGGGGHHHH!!!” A keening wail shrilly tears through the room, making Qode start and move away as the cadet’s back arches. “NO! NO NO NO! ARGH!” The man begins to squirm and twist, tossing and turning against his restraints.

Have you ever heard that eyes are the window to the soul?

Qode has no way of knowing what happened to him the day he survived the harmonization process. It’s all of a blur of torment and suffering that his mind has tactfully chosen to forget. He was always a stellar, high-performing cadet. And, when his venom was found to be extremely potent, he was immediately enlisted as an officer-in-training, then later instated as a Second Lieutenant.

Now, he sees.

Sees the way the man’s pupils seem to shatter into a billion pieces, clouding the whites of his eyes as his body goes black and purple. Resembling more and more the compound eyes of the Vespids. His veins bulge, each capillary visible against the pale skin. The blood drains from his face, making the cadet look ghastly.

“YOU CAN DO IT, CADET!” Sergeant Ropalida bellows, stepping up to the gurney and gripping the cadet’s shoulders. “PERSEVERE! THINK OF ALL THAT AWAITS YOU! LEAVE BEHIND THIS INFERIOR HUMAN FORM AND JOIN US! RESIST!”

The cadet thrashes even harder, and Qode can hear the distinct sound of the man’s bones breaking. Slick pops as they’re removed from the sockets of his joints. He screams even harder, a piece of his tongue spat out onto the gurney as he bites down far too hard on it, jaw unhinging.

Sergeant Ropalida’s eyebrows furrow, the crow’s feet in the corners digging deeper into his flesh. His knuckles whiten on the shoulders of the cadet, and his lips are set in a grim line. With a slight, dismissive sigh, he releases his grasp. Wiping his hands on his trousers, he starts heading towards the exit, his hand gesturing for Qode to follow.

With another sidelong glance at the cadet, Qode moves to follow Ropalida out. The steel boots of his armor thud softly against the hard marble tiles, drowned out by deafening shrieks.

“Q-o... d-e?” From the trembling violet lips of the thrashing man, a whispered rasp escapes, stopping Qode in his tracks.

Seargent Ropalidia must hear the two sets of footsteps become one, and turns to meet Qode’s eyes. With a stern look and a reprimanding tone, he warns Qode. “Ignore it, Lieutenant.” He chides, shooting a glare at the writhing mess of limbs and dislocated bones. “It’s going to die soon. It’s just in its death throes. You’ll get used to it soon enough.”

After a moment’s pause, Qode nods and continues walking. Whatever small sympathy he had scatters like dust in the wind with a simple few words from his subordinate. With it, another part of his humanity seems to scatter with it. Despite the cadet’s agonizing screams, audible even through the dislodged gag, Qode pays him no heed.

“P-lea-!” Another hoarse, desperate plea is cut-off midway as the cadet’s head topples to the ground, blood spraying out onto the walls of the enclosure.

Qode’s broadsword is poised millimetres above the gurney, crimson running down the fuller. Orange eyes meet jade ones, and Qode makes no effort to apologize for his small mercy. Ropalida, on the other hand, simply smiles. “I was the same as you when I started. You're only a newborn. Some immaturity is expected. That's why I'm here.”

As the two Vespids leave the parasitisation room, Ropalida guides Qode to the next room over. “You’ll be doing it on your own this time. I’ll wait outside. If you need me, call for me.” He opens the reinforced door, letting Qode step inside, then shuts it behind him.