Cast a Die

"Mommy, mommy look at the monster over there."

"What are you talking about sweety?" the mother asked her young daughter as she looked to see what she was pointing at. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry sir! Sweety that's not nice to say about someone like that. Please forgive her sir, I know she has better manners than this." She takes her daughter by the hand and leads her away.

"It's not a problem ma'am, I'm kind of used to it these days. Have a good day." I say and pull the hood up on my hoodie as they walk away with the mom trying to correct her daughter about my disfigured face and missing limbs. "Yeah right, used to it my ass!" I whisper to myself as I grab the jug of milk from the produce section before checking out and ignoring the curious looks from the other customers as to why I have my hood up and covering my face.

As I am loading the bags and myself into the bus that just pulled up at the bus stop my phone rings in my pocket. I curse as I have to put my bags down and dig it out of the hoodie pocket to see who it is as the bus pulls away from the stop and I almost fall over from the sudden movement.

"Damn it" I say as I fumble with the pocket and try to keep my balance as well.

"I got you sir. Thank you for your service, by the way." a nice younger guy next to me catches me and helps steady me on my one good leg with a smile on his face.

"Thanks. Your welcome I enjoyed my service until I was discharged for obvious reasons. Haha." I say as I finally get my phone out and see a 'US government' number but not one I recognize on the caller ID. I answer the phone. "Hello, who is this?"

*"We've never actually met before Sargent but I know you very well indeed, and for the record I personally don't think that you look like a monster at all."* A sultry voice answers me back from the other end of the line.

"And why do you say that out of the blue, huh?" I ask.

*"The little girl a bit ago called you a monster and the mother said her daughter had better manners but didn't argue about what she said either. I think that the scarring is pretty bad but if the mother knew how you got those scars, she would have been all over you to show her thanks."*

"Somehow I seriously doubt that. So, who are you, also why and how are you watching me?"

*"You can call me Dr. Cjensen. The why and how will have to wait till you get home if you are okay with me meeting you at your apartment?"*

"I guess that is okay. Can I ask what department you work for in the government?"

*"Again, you can ask but the answers you want will have to wait till we meet as an open conversation out in public is not the kind of thing that we need at the moment. Suffice to say I have a job opportunity for you and the incentives are too good to pass up. I'll see you in about 10 minutes when you get off the bus." * With that she hung up the line.

"She seemed persistent huh?" with a grin I asked the guy still holding my shoulder so I didn't fall over again.

"Yeah she did. Gave you a whole lot of nothing but 'see you later' and then hung up the phone, huh. Typical woman." He said with a laugh.

Bill as I learned his name was and I shot the shit till my stop came around then he helped me get off the bus and handed my bags to a very attractive woman in a dark business skirt and jacket over a white blouse. Her blueish green hair and sneakers really threw off the whole professional look.

"Sargent Disen, it's a pleasure to finally meet you in person." She smiled and gave a very crisp salute that I returned without thought. Way to quick and sharp for her to not be military of some kind even with her hair and younger body.

"Are you good, Dice?" Bill asked politely.

"Yeah, thanks again Bill." I told him as he got back on the bus.

"Good luck, Sargent!" he says with a grin and a thumbs up as the bus door closes behind him.

The woman took my grocery bags with her as she turns toward my complex and starts walking.

"Are you coming Sargent or just waiting to see if I really know where you live? Or are you checking out my ass in this skirt?" she asks with a smile on her face as she looks back over her shoulder and winks at me when she sees my eye jump back up to her face from said ass.

"Dr. Cjensen I presume? I am sorry for my behavior its just been a long time since a woman has been so carefree around me especially one who is as attractive as you are and jokes around like you too." I answer her as I try to hurry to catch up and my left 'leg' tries to keep me upright as I move to fast for it to do its job properly and almost faceplant on the sidewalk still about 20 feet from the front of the apartment and about 15 feet from the Dr.

"I got you Sarge." She says as she catches me before I fall and a sorry look on her face.

I try to salvage my dignity as this 5' 2" teenage looking hottie continues to support me into my own apartment while carrying my groceries as well. Up the stair we go and after I dig into my pocket to find the key for my door, she moves her hand up to the lock and it clicks open without a fuss. She sets the groceries on the counter and helps me to the living room couch after my 'leg' finally fell to the floor just inside the door after the last of the torn Velcro finally gave way to the call of gravity.

"That seems awfully convenient Dr., what you did with the door as well as whatever you have that helped with my heavy ass weight." I say while smirking her way.

"As long as you don't report me to my supervisors, I will help you out how I can. Deal?" she asks shyly.

"That depends on what you have to say and what else you are going to do to 'help me out' while you're here" I reply.

"Well aren't you being awfully presumptuous about why I'm here to see you Sargent?" she says with a sneaky grin on her lips. "My strength and the trick with the door are a part of why I came to see you actually."

"Okay you have my attention. I'm listening"

"I'll put your things away while you listen and process. I only have an hour or so longer before I have to head back to the lab and I need an answer from you before I get through security when I get there." She says as she starts putting things exactly where they go as if she has been living here for years herself.

"Yeah that's not weird at all." I say as I watch her with my food and boxes through the kitchen doorway.

"Sorry, bad habit, would it be better if I asked where things went instead or....?"

"Your fine, go ahead and keep going I assume this all has something to you being here anyway so might as well get over it now."

"Right, so Sargent, I probably don't have to tell you that everything I am about to tell you is classified and so 'Top Secret' that even the President doesn't even know about most of the things that I do? Anyway, I have been watching you for a while and even though the Corps is done with you and can't help you much anymore I can if you let me, give you a new lease on life as well as a job and a bunch of benefits that just about everyone in the world can only dream about." She starts explaining as she finishes in my kitchen and enters the living room with a couple of glasses of water.

"So, I shouldn't tell my girlfriend everything you tell me after you leave, huh?" I ask her.

"We both know that you don't have anyone that you could talk to about this, besides I didn't think the Corps gave out a sense of humor whenever you were discharged. I know for a fact that they don't issue you one when you enlist unless they stopped after you got yours and they have seen how messed up yours is. Hahaha. Anyway, I'll start at the beginning then. The Military in general has been interested in being able to fix the people who were useful but got busted up too bad to continue with their service. They'd been working on it for a long ass time before you got out but only after myself and a few other got in on the project did things start too actually be productive. To the point that things could be enacted to fix minor things and then recently we had a huge breakthrough. While out on a Joint Op with a group of locals at an undisclosed location where we were investigating a shall we say prospective 'test subject' that we came across a group of people who were doing strange rituals were the 'subject' was eating raw meat and drinking the blood of different 'things'. I was in charge of making contact and researching the process but after seeing the way things were going, I decided that it was to risky to try and contact this particular individual. As we were leaving the thing turned to us and growled loud enough that we all heard it from well over twenty feet away and a few of us made a run for it but the ones who stayed behind to cover for us opened fire on it as it made a beeline to get to us before we could leave the area. Of the 7 of us that were there only myself and one other made it back to the airport and on the plane to leave. The other researcher had a few bruises and scratches but was otherwise unscathed." She continued to explain.

"I guess you just run faster than them then huh?"

"Actually, he was the lucky one. I lost an arm and part of my right foot to the damn things claws and teeth." She says and holds up her left arm and slides off her right shoe to show her bare yet whole foot.

"But how is that possible there isn't even any scar tissue that I can see?"

"That's what I was getting to actually. All I could think about the entire time I was stuck in the damn recovery room was how fast and deadly the 'subject' had been and what we had seen for ourselves. So, after I got back to the lab from the hospital, I immediately told them that I was only going to be doing lab work from now on so I could still do my job even with just one hand and I could still walk well enough to get around. They weren't happy but after a trail run and the earlier results spoke for themselves, they left me to my work. The trials were going great with the lab mice and I was ready for a real test subject but was told no. so I started testing on myself after everyone left the labs at night. I started on my foot because no one would see if it worked or not, the procedure hurt like hell but it worked. The next day as I was getting dressed for work, I noticed that I could walk to the door for my shoes easier than I could the day before and my foot looked just like it does now. That night I did the same thing to my shoulder as I did to my foot the day before and hoped for the best as I passed out from the pain at my desk. My assistant screamed bloody murder the next morning when she found me on the floor by my chair. It took me a bit to explain to the higher ups that I knew it would work before I did it and they finally put me in charge of the whole lab and agreed to let me start doing human trials the next day. So, I started checking out recently discharged veterans and their medical files. While doing so the original procedure was tweaked and adjusted with some other things to better 'equip' others that we tested." She said.

"Like the thing with the door lock a bit ago? Is that what you mean by tweaking and adjusting?"

"Yes again, I tested everything on myself first just to be sure that everything works before we try anything on a veteran who has already served our country honorably. Aside from a few oddities that occurred recently that I had to remove from the procedure everything has worked out just fine so far." She answered.

"Is that why you're here then for me to become a test subject for you to poke and prod?"

"Something like that. Personally, after reviewing your files I thought I was going to come off as a sick stalker or a twisted fan or something but I guess if you only see me as a mad scientist then I guess I will just have to live with that as well. Honestly, I thought we might get along well enough that you might trust me to do this

for

you more than

to

you but the decision is yours to make. Anyway if you decide to at least come to the lab and look things over there before you make a final decision just call me at this number before I get back to the lab and processed through security in about an hour and twenty minutes so I can inform them that you are coming then and get things started for you clearance card. Whether you decide to come in or not, thank you again for your service to our country and thank you for your time as well." She finishes up while checking her watch before leaning in and kissing my cheek bashfully and starts to leave out the front door.

"Wait." I say to stop her before she reaches the door.

"Yes Sargent, what is it?" she asks as she turns back a bit teary eyed and trying not to sniffle.

"Everything that you can do will it fix my face and eye as well?" I ask as I pull back the hood to show the full destruction of my face and everything else therein as well.

She gasps and then tries not to stare or turn away with a disgusted look as well. It's on odd expression that very few have been able to pull off but she managed pretty well by looking at the good eye on my right side.

"I will personally fix it myself if you'll allow me to. Even if you don't want to stick around, I still plan to at least give you back what was taken from you while in the Corps." She says with a gentle smile.

"In that case let me catch a ride with you. If that's okay, I mean?" I ask her as she carries the cups to the kitchen.

"You'll come to the lab then? Great, you won't regret this I promise." She says as she starts typing on her phone while walking to the door and waits for me to get ready.

The ride to the lab was pretty uneventful the windows tinted to black as the Dr. pulled away from the curb in her fancy black car that didn't have a make or model that I could see or make out. I was beginning to think that she may be more Spook than Dr.