Mist of Doom

7. Of Love and Mates

"Gimme a sec, Brandon," a robotic voice spoke in Brandon's head; the words shot out rapidly like bullets from a machine gun. "I'll make a proper introduction after this."

Intense heat ran down along the streak of glossy blue on Brandon's torso. The line glowed just like Mika's left hand.

"Orion?" Mika asked.

Brandon approached Mika, who kept staring at the cyan light around her hand. Were the aliens talking privately to each other?

Soon, the radiance around Mika's hand dimmed. Then the heat on Brandon's body faded, and the blue line there stopped glowing.

"You guessed it right," the same rapid robotic voice came from his torso. "It's something personal among us Methuselah folks."

Brandon's face contorted in bewilderment. A talking hand was tolerable, but a talking torso? Ridiculous!

"You'll get used to it. No worries." A pause. "All right, let me introduce myself. My name is Scutum. Your creator chose me to infect your corpse for two reasons. One, you always tried to protect your loved ones during your mortal life. Two, I'm known as 'The Shield.'"

Mika stroked her chin with a finger. "That means you can teach Brandon how to cast a barrier?"

"Teach?" Scutum laughed. "I can generate a barrier whenever he's attacked in such a misty region. Try punching him, Mika."

"But-" Her left hand curled into a fist and ripped through the air. A thick wall of glass stopped the blow and vanished once Mika retreated.

"Sorry for hijacking," Orion said, "but I noticed that you were unwilling to give Scutum a chance just because your target was Brandon."

Mika's worried look turned into a smile. "No problem. Now, I'm even more confident that with Brandon around, we can slay the dragon!"

Brandon nodded. A talking torso wasn't that bad after all; with its power, he could protect Mika even better.

"That's one of my specialties," Scutum bragged. "I'm also great at sculpting."

Mika quirked an eyebrow. "Sculpting?"

Brandon frowned. Scutum had better not spend too much time on bragging, especially not about a worthless skill.

"Just look at these pecs and abs, Mika. I created them by restructuring Brandon's body composition." Scutum laughed. "Don't they look great?"

Hmm,  Brandon did like how his body looked. Rock-hard pecs and six-pack abs aside, he also had a narrow waist and a set of artfully sculpted lats, delts and biceps. With a pair of solid thighs and calves, he could easily become a model for Men's Health magazines. Too bad humans never liked the undead.

"Brandon always looks great," Mika said rather plainly.

"No credits for me? Come on, I've also given him big guns."

Mika blinked. "You created Cerberus? I'm pretty sure that Brandon's creator crafted those guns..."

"'Guns' is also a slang for the muscles on your upper arms," Brandon chimed in, his words coated in annoyance. Damned thing really had to stop bragging now.

Scutum questioned in his head, "What's the matter? I'm just talking about my talent, you know?"

A growl escaped through Brandon's gritted teeth. Talent, eh? What if he had died with a potbelly instead? Could this boastful little alien make him this ripped?

"It'll just take more time."

"Done talking, Scutum?" Orion asked. "With so much mist, it's not good to stay in one place for so long. Especially not for bragging."