Borderlands: Eden

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Borderlands: Eden

Part 3: The Doctor Is In

Alex (As the Shadow)

Oh, please.

Alex was fed up with his companions already. The moment Twilight had killed the Raiding Thug, she had collapsed to the ground crying. He knew that it was her first kill, but still. When he had killed for the first time, he hardly batted an eyelid.

It occurred to him that this was because he had gotten actual, military training, but he pushed that thought out of his mind. He was determined to stay bitter. He had every right to; he had just came back from a war and now he had to fight a different one, except against people who pretty much insulted his skill.

He was even paired with such people. So far, the only person who came across as an equal to him was Bane. Viper couldn’t even hold a gun and Twilight…

Alex looked at her. Yep, still crying.

Viper had slithered over, trying to console her. “It’s alright.” She said gently. “You had no choice.”

“I know… but…” Twilight choked.

Alex turned to Bane and gestured to Twilight. “What is she, a child?”

Bane grunted ambiguously.

Turning back to the two, Alex said, “Get her up.”

Viper glared at him furiously. “She needs to rest!”

“Can’t.” Bane said bluntly. “There’ll be more Bandits.”

“Can’t you two see-?!”

“I’m fine.” Twilight sniffed, when she quite clearly wasn’t. She stood up shakily.

“Good.” Alex said.

Bane picked up the Submachine Gun the Thug had dropped. The title card read Purebred Woodpecker. It was level one and the manufacturer logo appeared to be some sort of face with an overlarge moustache.

Egghead Inc. Alex decided.

Bane handed Twilight the gun. “Here.”

“I- I- !” Twilight backed away from it.

“Your kill, your trophy.” Bane said forcefully. “Besides, it was a good kill.”

Alex looked down at the Thug. There was a nice, clean hole in the middle of his helmet. The bullet appeared to have gone right between the eyes.

“Clean headshot.” Alex decided. He looked at Twilight. “If it makes you feel better…”

“It won’t.” Twilight retorted, holding the gun.

“…Then he probably didn’t feel a thing. He would’ve died the moment the bullet passed through the other side of his head.”

Twilight rubbed her arm, doing anything to avoid looking at the person she had just killed.

“Uh…” Claptrap rolled over. “Should we continue now?”

“Yes.” Viper said, still glaring at Bane and Alex. “Let’s go.”

“You’re injured.” Bane pointed out.

Viper looked at her tail. The bullet had blown the tip of her tail clean off. She was obviously disturbed by it.

“I’ll be fine.” Viper said.

“Ooo! I could take you to the town doctor!” Claptrap said.

“You have a doctor?” Twilight asked.

“It’s not that unusual.” Alex said.

“Yes! Assuming that the Bandits haven’t killed him yet, that is!” Claptrap said in his ever-present cheerful tone. “This way!”

Alex really hated these things.

He and the others followed Claptrap down the road, their weapons ready. They had wisely decided that there were going to be more Bandits, so they had to be prepared.

Alex was certainly prepared. He had stocked up on pistol ammo before he left for the planet. He had to spend his only galactic dollars on Thomas’s stock before he could, but it was probably worth it.

At the thought of Thomas, Alex’s bitterness increased. Why did he have to bring up Maleviolent? Why did he want to go this planet of all places just to make a measly profit? Why did he need Alex along for the ride?

He shouldn’t’ve agreed to this. He didn’t know why he did. Maleviolent would be just as sceptical about the Tree as he was. This whole journey was completely pointless. He had come to this dusty, sandy planet for nothing.

He almost didn’t see the Bandits.

Luckily, their presence was announced by Claptrap’s screaming of, “AH! I’M SORRY! I’M SORRY FOR EVERYTHING I’VE EVER DONE!”

This pulled Alex back into reality. He spied about four normal Thugs and a Raiding Thug on the far side of what looked the town square. He whipped up his pistol and immediately shot the Raiding Thug through the head. Best to eliminate a problem before it gets out of hand.

Bane fired a bunch of rounds into about two of the thugs. He seriously looked like someone who had some sort of criminal or ex-military career in the past, definitely something that required killing.

“Hold on!” Twilight said, raising her Woodpecker. “Let me!”

Alex, at first, was pretty sure that she’d miss at the very last second. However, after a few seconds of aiming, Twilight fired a burst into a Thug’s chest, downing him instantly.

Alex found that he was slightly impressed. She still started crying, but at least she wasn’t sobbing.

Viper sped up to the last Thug. She flicked him into the air, then smashed him back down, breaking his neck. To Alex, she seemed like she had gotten professional training in some sort of martial arts. The fact that she didn’t use guns annoyed him though.

Bane turned to Twilight. “Good shot.”

“Thanks.” Twilight muttered. She was wiping tears out of her deep purple eyes. “Doesn’t make me feel any better, but thanks.”

Alex frowned at her. He guessed that she was some sort of witch or magician, because she radiated Pure Magic. Not Dark Magic, the type he had grown up with, Pure Magic.

He had taken an instant disliking of her the moment she stepped on the bus, and he was pretty sure she felt similarly.

To test this theory, he told her, “You take too long to fire.”

“Well, excuse me if I’m not used to killing people!” Twilight snapped.

Yep.

The Claptrap unit recovered from his meltdown and rolled over to the group. “Good work on killing those Bandits! Let’s go on!”

“In a moment.” Bane walked over to a container and prised it open.

“What’re you doing?” Viper asked.

“Looting.” Bane replied simply. “We’re going to need supplies, like ammo and money.”

“Stealing money?” Viper looked almost as uncomfortable as Twilight did when she was asked to kill someone. “Well… I guess if we have to survive…”

“Exactly.” Alex walked over to a chest with a glowing green light and opened it. He immediately found $10 and a bunch of shotgun shells. He picked them all up and stored them in the S-NET.

Twilight went to a cylindrical container and opened it. She hesitated for a good while before picking up some green notes and SMG ammo.

Viper slithered over a body and picked up some money. She did the same thing to another body before deciding that enough was enough.

After a bit more looting, during which Alex and Bane took most of the spoils, the group continued on.

“The doctor’s hut is just next to the football field!” Claptrap announced. “And that’s just over there! We’ll have your injures fixed in no time!”

“Bet they’ll be more Thugs.” Twilight muttered.

As the group walked down the street to the doctor’s hut, Alex looked up at the sun. It appeared that it was close to setting. Or it could be rising, Alex didn’t know which direction the sun set on this planet. He couldn’t even tell what hour it was due to the lack of a clock.

Alex blinked at that thought, then asked Claptrap, “Hold on. Why don’t these S-NET things have digital clocks?”

Claptrap turned to him and shrugged. “I’m not sure. I wasn’t built by the Scaleskin Corporation.”

“Then who were you built by?” Viper asked.

“I was built by the Hyperion Corporation!” Claptrap said proudly. “My product line was cancelled and all my brothers and sisters on Eden were killed by Bandits!”

This didn’t surprise Alex one bit.

“That’s horrible!” Viper proclaimed.

“Tell me about it!” Claptrap huffed. “If I sound pleased about this, it’s just because this is my default tone of voice. I’m actually quite depressed!”

“Let’s move on.” Bane said.

“That’s the football field?” Twilight asked, pointing to a square of solid rock. “It’s not even made of dirt! How is it safe?”

“It isn’t!” Claptrap said happily.

Twilight sighed. “I guess that can be expected.”

“Bandits.” Bane said, jerking a thumb to a hut on the other side of the field.

There were about three thugs, all gathered around the hut. They seemed engrossed in it. The hut in question had a giant medical ‘+’ on the top. It couldn’t be more obviously a place for healing if it had white paint on the hut.

Twilight sighed and readied her SMG. Alex held a hand up. “Wait. Let’s get in close.”

Twilight frowned in confusion, then in alarm when Alex pulled his sword off of the magnetized leg plate.

Seeing her expression, Alex rolled his eyes. “Oh come on. It’s no different from shooting them. They still die.”

“At the very least, don’t do anything too violent.” Twilight ordered.

Alex glared at her. “You have no authority over me.” And with that he walked towards the Thugs, ignoring Twilight’s protests.

As Alex closed in on the Thugs, he heard them talking to the hut door, presumably talking to the person inside.

“…We jus’ need all your bitches to come out to help us, ‘kay?” The one closest to the door was saying. “You don’ wan’ me to go get King, do ya? Open the door!”

Alex walked over to the one furthest from the door and cut off his head. The other Thugs took a moment to react. By the time the lead Thug had pulled out his pistol, Alex had slashed the throat of the other guy and whipped out his own gun to point at the Bandit’s head.

“Don’t move.” Alex said coldly. “If you shoot me, then my friends will shoot you back.”

On cue, Bane stood next to Alex and aimed his ASULT-RFL at the Thug.

On the other side, Twilight leaned up against the wall staring at the severed head while Viper looked away and tried to get Twilight to do the same.

The Thug gulped and put away his pistol. “O- Okay. Wha’d you want?”

“Your boss.” Alex said. “Tell him to stay out of the way of the Tree Hunters if he knows what’s good for him.”

The Thug’s eyes widened. “You fools are Tree Hunters?”

“Yes.”

A retching sound came from Alex’s left.

The Thug turned to the source and asked, “Even her?”

Alex closed his eyes and said through gritted teeth, “Yes. Even her.”

“Yup!” Claptrap rolled over. “These guys are certified Badasses, Bandit! That oughta teach you to attack us!”

The Thug snarled. “You losers are hangin’ with a Claptrap?!”

Alex pushed the barrel of his Revolution into the Thug’s forehead. “Focus.”

“Okay.” The Thug said quickly and fearfully. “I’ll give King your message. Can- can I go now?”

“Yes.” Alex said, grabbing the Thug and shoving him off. “Make sure you sound terrified.”

The Thug nodded quickly and ran off to a vehicle parked nearby. Alex saw that it was dark red, the same colour vehicle that had attacked them earlier. The Thug climbed in and drove off as fast as he could.

Bane frowned at Alex. “That was unwise. You just declared war.”

“It’s going to happen anyway, why delay it?” Alex muttered, putting his sword back on his leg and storing his gun in the S-NET.

Twilight had finished throwing up, meanwhile. She glared at Alex, wiping vomit off of her mouth.

Ignoring her, Alex rapped on the door of the hut. “Open up!”

No response. Of course. The doctor probably thought that they were more Bandits.

Claptrap rolled over to the door. “Attention, citizen of Bycroft! There is no cause for worry! These new visitors have eliminated the

threat!”

There was a bit more silence, then the door opened up and the doctor stepped out and looked at them all. He was wearing a brownish-white coat covered with blood splatters that covered a white shirt and red tie. He wore red surgical gloves and had a short-trimmed, black haircut. On his shoulder was the Red Cross.

“Vell,” The Medic said in his German accent, adjusting his glasses and grinning. “Zhis is intervesting.” (Get on the operating table)

“It is?” Bane asked.

“Of course!” Medic spread out his arms. “It’s been a long time since zhis town has had any visitors.”

“Can’t imagine.” Twilight grumbled.

Medic looked at her critically, noticing the puddle of vomit. “Stomach pains?”

“No.” Twilight shook her head. “I’ve just never seen a severed head before.”

Medic sighed. “Shame. You vould’ve made an interesting specimen.”

It took a moment for that to sink in for everyone.

“Specimen?!” Twilight spluttered.

“…Um… are you a doctor?” Viper asked.

“Vell, I lost my medical license after a certain… inzident.” Medic admitted. “But I do heal people who pay me vell. I alzo keep ze Med vendors working.”

“Right.” Alex muttered. He pointed at Viper’s tail. “How much would it cost to fix that?”

Medic looked at it. “Hmm. Zhat vould require surgery. Maybe… two hundred dollars.”

Alex looked around. “Do any of you have two hundred dollars?”

He was greeted with a collective shaking of heads.

“Great.” Alex muttered. “Well, guess you’ll just have to live with it then.”

Viper nodded. “Okay.”

“C’mon, doc!” Claptrap implored. “These guys killed all the Bandits in town! Plus, they’re Tree Hunters! You gotta help them!”

Medic’s eyes lighted up in a suddenly boosted interest. “Tree Hunters?! Vell, vhy didn’t you say so? Come in, meine freunde!”

Alex raised an eyebrow, then gestured for the others to follow.

The hut was full of cupboards with various bottles of liquids. Some looked like medicines while others were definitely poisons. In the middle of the room was an operating table with a fresh body on it.

Twilight and Viper stared at it.

“Zorry about ze mess.” Medic said, calmly pushing the body off of the table. “I’ve been trying to bring zhis body back to life, but it hasn’t been going vell.”

“Why would you want to bring it back to life?” Twilight asked, looking like she knew she’d regret asking.

“I need a test subject for my zombie virus.” Medic replied. “Somevun who von’t object, zat is.”

Viper turned around to slither back out, but she was blocked by Bane, who glared her back inside.

“Just lie here.” Medic said, patting the table. “Now, let me just find ze donor tail.”

“You have a spare snake tail?” Viper asked, lying down on the table.

“Not exactly.” Medic pulled a black, barbed tail end. “Zere are some Nightmares zhat live on zhis planet called Vhippers. Zey sort of resemble snakes. So ve’ll just attach zhis.”

“Whippers?” Bane asked, looking at Alex. “Anything we should know about them?”

“Yes.” Alex frowned at the tail. “Their tail is poisonous.”

Medic gestured to one of the bottles in the cupboards. “Don’t vorry. I extracted ze poison.”

“Even so… is it safe to attach the body part of a Nightmare to a non-dark creature?”

Medic chuckled eagerly. “Actually, I have no idea vhat vill happen! Zhis is all adrenalin-pumping!”

“You know what?” Viper said, grinning nervously. “I think I can survive without the tail. It’s no big deal.”

“Don’t vorry. I may not look like it, but I am a professional.” Medic assured her. “Now zen, miss…?”

“Viper. Actually, we haven’t asked your name yet.”

“Kristof Sankt.” Medic smiled like he was sharing a private joke. “But I vould prefer it if you called me by mein job title, Medic.”

“Well, looks like everything’s under control” Claptrap clapped his hands together. “I’m going to go tell the other townsfolk that everything’s safe!” He turned around and left.

Medic smirked. “I vish him luck. Last time I checked, zere were only three people living here. I vouldn’t be surprised if zey died or joined ze Bandits.”

“Only three?” Bane frowned. “What happened to everyone else?”

Medic got some bright red sewing thread. “Zey all died. Some of zem did join ze Bandits.”

“Sorry.” Alex said bluntly.

“No matter.”

“Why are you helping us?” Twilight asked.

“Because you are Tree Hunters.”

“Right. So why are you helping us?”

Medic raised an eyebrow in amusement. “Very vell, zen. You know how ze Tree is considered to be a myth?”

“You mean it is a myth.” Alex grumbled.

Medic ignored him. “Vell, ze people who hunt for ze Tree are responsible for most of ze trouble that ze W.A.R. has to put up vith.”

“There’s a war going on?” Viper winced as a threading needle penetrated through her skin.

“Nein. W.A.R. stands for Veapons und Armour Reservation. It’s a division of ze…”

“Buy n’ Large Corporation” Twilight said.

“Quite.” Medic nodded. “They put ze division in charge of maintaining law on zhis planet. Zey haven’t succeeded, but zey don’t really try to.”

“Let me guess.” Alex said. “Corrupt?”

“Maybe, alzough I suspect zat zey’ve simply given up.” Medic shrugged.

“So Buy n’ Large own the planet.” Twilight said angrily. “What else is new?”

“Anyvay,” Medic threaded through the last hole he had made and cut off the string. “Ze more trouble zat is caused by us, ze more often W.A.R. has to report to zeir superiors. Und ze more often zey get reports, ze more likely zey’ll consider leaving ze planet alone.”

“Is that good?” Alex asked.

“Ja.” Medic got a red syringe out of a drawer. “Zey treat everyvun on ze planet as Bandits, even zose who aren’t. Plus, zey demand zat ve pay bills.”

He pushed the syringe into Viper, ignoring her grimace, and injected about a third of the stuff into her.

“Zere ve go.” Medic said, satisfied. “Your body vill now treat zat tail like it vas never blown off.”

“…This is so weird.” Viper muttered, staring at her new, black tail.

“What’s that red stuff?” Twilight asked.

Medic held up the syringe. “Zhis is mein own concoction. It heals vounds of any type or size save for ze severing of limbs. Zo bullet vounds, blade vounds, etcetera.”

“…Can we have a few?” Bane asked. “We’re going to need them.”

“Nein, but you can buy zem from mein Med vendors.” Medic said. “Zey have all ze healing you can expect from a real doctor,

zankfully vithout ze ‘Tree-is-a-myth-you’ll-get-yourself-killed’ lecture.”

“That’s a shame.” Alex muttered. “I was hoping to find someone sane.”

At that, Medic laughed. “Good luck! Zere isn’t vun person on zhis planet zat isn’t insane! It’s an occupational hazard!”

Viper slithered down from the table. “Not one?”

Bane looked at Viper, as if remembering something. Then he asked Medic, “Something else.”

Medic raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“We need a way for her to hold a gun.” Bane pointed at Viper. “Do you know anyone who can help?”

“I don’t need a gun.” Viper protested.

“You can’t fight this whole planet close-quarters.” Alex replied. “That’s how you lost your tail.”

Medic tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Vell… if ze Engineer vas still here, zen he could build a pair of limbs… but no-vun here can build zomething like zat.”

“Do you know anyone who can?” Bane asked.

“Ja, but zey’re not anywhere near here.”

“That’s okay. I can wait.” Viper said.

Alex raised an eyebrow. She seemed really desperate to avoid guns.

“Well, are we done here?” Twilight asked awkwardly.

“Yup.” Alex said. “Let’s go.”

“Vere’re are you going?” Medic asked.

Bane frowned, then shrugged.

“This was your plan, coming here.” Alex said coldly. “You should know where we have to go next.”

“I suggest staying in Bycroft till tomorrow.” Medic said, gesturing to the darkening sky. “It’s getting late.”

“I agree.” Viper said. “We should take time to plan our next move.”

Alex frowned. He didn’t want to stay. He wanted to get going and avoid wasting any more time.

“Agreed.” Bane said finally.

“I’d like to rest on a bed.” Twilight said. “Any objections from you, Alex?”

“Yes.” Alex said bluntly.

“Majority vote.” Bane said. He turned to Medic. “Where do we stay?”

“Ask ze others. See who died and who didn’t.”

“Understood.” Looking at the others, he said, “Go on ahead. I need to ask the doctor some questions.”

Alex sighed irritably and followed the group. No sense going on his own.

Rest would be nice, but Alex just wanted to get this over and done with. He didn’t want to drag this on for any longer than he had to.

As they walked towards the town, a face appeared in the top right of his HUD. It was emerald green in colour, female and was clearly the same figure that had appeared earlier on the bus.

“Good work.” The figure said, smiling. “I knew I choose correctly.”

Viper jumped in alarm, then shook her head. “This place…”

“Who are you?” Bane asked over the radio.

“Seriously!!” Viper exclaimed, probably in alarm at hearing Bane’s voice come from nowhere. “What is with this place?!”

“I don’t have a proper name.” The figure said. “But you can call me Ivy, if you like.”

“I feel like I should know you.” Alex said.

“…No. We don’t know each other.”

“I know, but… I dunno.”

“You say that you want to help us.” Twilight said, stopping and folding her arms. “How’re you going to do that?”

“Advice. Directions. Information. That sort of stuff.”

“Do have any for us now?” Viper questioned.

“Yes: you’ll need the local’s help if you want to find the Tree.” Ivy said. “I’d suggest helping them with some of their problems.”

Alex groaned. “Labour?”

“They’ll pay you well for it, trust me.” Ivy assured him. “I’ll contact you again soon.”

She disappeared from the HUD.

The Tree Hunters looked at each other. Alex shrugged and kept walking. The others followed.

Eventually, they reached the town where they met Claptrap, who was standing there awkwardly not really doing anything.

“Uh… hey!” Claptrap scratched his head. “Um… the population’s a lot lower than I remember.”

“How many people are there?” Twilight asked.

“Uh… including us? Six.”

Alex did some calculations. “So there’s only one person in this town.”

“…Yeah.”

“You mean Medic?” Viper asked.

“Yeah.”

The others stood there in silence.

Alex shrugged. “Well then, any hut is fine. I’ll wake you guys in the morning.”

Alex walked to the nearest hut, opened the door and closed it. He then lied down on the bunk and looked at his interior.

It seemed relatively tidy. He could only find one thing that was arguable, and that was the calendar with the pin-up girls. So he promptly tore it down and threw it away somewhere.

Alex lied there for a while before standing up and deciding to go through the draws and boxes. The previous tenant of this place had managed to save about $40 and apparently owned a few rifles, because Alex found sniper rounds and assault rounds. Not much else from that.

Alex sighed and flopped down on the bunk. It had been an interesting first day.

With nothing else to do, he willed himself to fall asleep.

The next day

So like, eight or ten hours later

“Rise and shine, Tree Hunter!” An overly cheerful voice said into Alex’s ear.

Alex woke up immediately upon hearing that voice, but that didn’t mean that he wanted to open his eyes. So instead, he said, “Get out.”

“Don’t be like that!” Claptrap said. “You’ve got a whole new adventure today! Life’s a-waiting!”

He rolled out the door, so that was something at least.

Alex groaned and got up. No sense wasting time.

Activating his S-NET, he called the others. “Wake up. We’re going soon.”

Alex equipped his gun and walked outside. He leaned against a wall and waited.

He looked up at a watchtower to see Bane emerge from the hut at the top. He couldn’t see very clearly from this far, but he assumed that he had slept well. He briefly wondered what Bane had talked to Medic about.

On the other side of the street, Viper emerged from a hut blinking and rubbing her eyes with her tail. She jerked her tail away though, presumably due to it being barbed and everything.

From the door right next to him, Twilight emerged, rubbing her eyes and looking significantly dishevelled.

“A brush.” She muttered. “My kingdom for a brush.”

“It’s always about appearance with women, isn’t it?” Alex asked sarcastically.

Before Twilight could get too outraged, Viper shouted in alarm. Alex looked at where she was looking at.

Bane, for some incredibly moronic reason, had jumped off the watchtower.

Fully expecting him to smash into four million pieces upon impact, Alex backed up to avoid getting too much blood on his face. To his bewilderment though, Bane landed on the ground with little to no injuries.

This was sort of the final straw for Twilight and Viper, with the latter’s jaw dropping open like she was about to eat a mouse while the former backed up with her hand to her head.

“How… what…” She stuttered. “Not… possi…”

“This planet has weak gravity.” Bane explained. “We can jump from large heights without any injury.”

“…Interesting.” Alex was mildly impressed.

The girls took a while to recover from this latest mind-breaker (Twilight took longer and a bit of provocation from Alex). Once they did, they started suggesting ideas.

“I say that we get out of here.” Alex said. “The sooner we figure out what a waste of time this is, the sooner we can leave.”

“Ivy said that we should try to earn the trust of the locals.” Twilight disagreed. “So I say that we help Medic with whatever needs doing.”

“A waste of time.” Alex said.

“He might actually be able to help us.” Twilight said argued. “We don’t know.”

“I agree with Twilight.” Viper said.

“Thanks, Viper.” Twilight said gratefully. “Good to see that someone is open-minded.”

Alex scowled.

“Well, I think that we should help him out of the goodness of our hearts.” Viper said. “Not just a need for help.”

Alex looked at Bane. “What say you? We don’t even know if they can help us.”

Bane appeared to be thinking. He was definitely a tactician. Alex could practically hear the gears inside his brain whirring.

Finally, he spoke. “It’s worth the gamble. They would be grateful, after all.”

“Wonderful.” Alex muttered. “Outnumbered again.”

“Good.” Twilight said. “Let’s go see what we can do.”

Alex sighed as the others left for Medic’s hut. This was going to be a long quest.