Planet Hero- Civilian

by M. A. Carlson

  “We want you to take Dr. Portal’s place,” Major Miracle finally stated plainly and directly.

  “Hmm, no,” I said immediately and with a firm shake of my head. “I’m a doctor. I heal the sick and the injured. I’m not a superhero or a spy or anything else. Surely you have someone else that can shapeshift or something do it. Someone actually trained to do it.”

  “A shapeshifter can look like Dr. Portal but wouldn’t be able to create portals like Dr. Portal. With a little training, you can,” Major Miracle argued. Before I could reply, he pressed on, “And we would train you, first in portal creation and manipulation and then how to fight. And more importantly, we would help you get your Milestone up enough to pass for Dr. Portal in a very short amount of time.”

  “Training? That’s your big solution? Training? Just how much training do you think you can give me and in how much time? I can’t imagine you have years to get me ready before whatever this villain plans to do will be done,” I replied.

  Major Miracle finally cringed a little, then said, “Admittedly, time is short. But we wouldn’t be asking you if the fate of the world didn’t hang in the balance.”

  “Even more of a reason not to use me,” I almost shouted. And fate of the world? Did he really want to put the fate of the world on an untrained civilian?

  “Davis,” Light finally interjected. “This device, it might be your only way back home.”

  Any more argument from me died in my throat. Home. I hadn’t thought about home for a few weeks. I kept myself busy with my new superpower and cultivation. I kept myself . . . distracted. But hearing that word, a sudden rush of feelings threatened to overwhelm me. My sister was back there. Oh man, I tried not to think about her too much. If I did, it would usually send my thoughts spiraling out of control with worry over her situation. Did she get evicted without money from me? Was she starving on the streets? Or worse, did she turn to selling- No, I cut that thought off right there.

  “If I help, I’ll get one of these devices?” I asked, looking at Major Miracle.

  The Major looked uncomfortable but nodded. “I’ll do everything I can to help you get back home. And if these devices are the only way to do it, then I’ll make sure you get one as soon as possible.”

  I didn’t necessarily like his word. As soon as possible could mean a lot of things. That said, he was a hero, a good guy, which meant I should be able to trust him at his word. Still, I looked to Light and asked, “Can I trust him?”

  Light just nodded.

  “Alright, I’m willing to try,” I said, pushing down my reluctance and the feeling that this plan was going to go horribly wrong.

  Major Miracle just smiled.

  10

  The wilds. As Light explained it to me, they were what was left of the world after the Nano-Virus changed everyone and everything. The Nano-Virus even changed plants and animals, enhancing them as much or more than humans. And unfortunately for humans, the plants and animals had a much higher survival rate. I guessed that the death rates I heard about following the virus had as much to do with the Nano infected beasts killing people and people killing people as it did the virus itself. Anyway, eventually the Fortress Cities were built to stand between the people and the wilds that dominated the rest of the planet.

  Now, the wilds were a hunting ground for the more daring of ability users. Animals and plants with high Milestones were very valuable commodities. A 50th Milestone animal’s pelt could be used to create Nano-Infused Armor, like the bodysuits all the heroes wore. Its meat could be eaten and the abundance of Nanos within it could be cultivated much more quickly than through standard cultivation. Same for plants and trees, different fruits, nuts, vegetables, and even flowers could be harvested and eaten to enhance cultivation.

  And then there was actually hunting and killing beasts in the wild. Apparently, when a beast or person was killed, they released a large amount of their Nanos. Nanos that were extremely easy to cultivate as they were dazed and disoriented from the death of their host. A lesser amount could be gained from just beating them into submission or unconsciousness. Obviously, killing people was highly frowned upon and a quick way to get the heroes after you. Killing beasts, not so much.

  Early on the morning of our planned departure from New Haven, Light, Ward, and myself were loaded into a windowless vehicle. I didn’t get much of a look at the vehicle and there were no windows for me to look out.

  The vehicle stopped about two hours after we left the Hero Association complex. When it did, I asked if we had arrived. Light informed me that it was just the New Haven Fortress City gates and that we still had a few more hours of travel before we would reach some sort of outpost. I was told it was unmanned and seldom used anymore. I was also informed it was a site the Hero Association once used for training purposes. And then that the Hero Association stopped using it because it became too dangerous.

  I was honestly nervous as I felt the vehicle start moving past what I imagined where massive towering gates that kept the wilds out of New Haven Fortress City. I imagined mutated lizards the size of dinosaurs just waiting to chomp down on our transport, but no such attack came. In fact, it was boring. The transport was the smoothest ride I’d ever been on, not a single bump in the road. No rhythmic bumps of a highway to lull me to sleep. If it weren’t for the acceleration, deceleration, and turning, I wouldn’t have even known we were moving.

  As Light said, a few hours later, the vehicle came to a halt and the doors were opened from the outside. It was another hero, or I hoped it was. He was dressed more dully than all the other superheroes I had met with his grey bodysuit. He had the image of a jackhammer on his chest with the letters HJ. He was large and imposing. If not for the ridiculous looking jackhammers that were strapped to his back, I might have been intimidated.

  “Let’s go,” Light said, moving for the exit followed closely by Ward.

  The outpost looked like a small fort with four thick metal walls, it was maybe 50-feet across. There was a single lookout tower at one corner of the walls and two buildings at opposite ends of the courtyard. There were no training dummies or targets for practice that I could see, so I wasn’t sure what I was going to use for training, not that I had seen any of those things at the Hero Association Headquarters either.

  I was barely out of the vehicle when my thoughts were interrupted by the new hero that opened the vehicle door and introduced himself. “Yo, I’m Hammer Jack,” he said, his deep voice was gruff and unenthusiastic. Strangest of all, he spoke with a southern drawl. “I’m your babysitter for the wilds.”

  I wasn’t sure how I felt about being told I needed a babysitter. Then again, I had no skill when it came to a fight, so maybe a babysitter was exactly what I needed. It still hurt to be told as much, and so bluntly. “I’m Davis, nice to meet you,” I said, trying to keep the peace.

  “Yeah, yeah, now, before we can start hunting the wilds,” he said, pausing to point to the outside of the slowly closing metal gate, then continuing, “you need to learn some kind of attack or defense, preferably both, with at least one of your abilities. As good as I am, if we run into a pack of beasts, you might not have a choice but to fight or die,” Hammer said bluntly. “Normally, a training expedition into the wilds would have at least ten heroes of the twentieth milestone or better. Due to the secretive nature of your mission, the four of us are it,” he paused to motion between Light, Ward, himself and me. “And in reality, only three of us are really qualified heroes. However, if you can manage to learn some kind of attack, we will be able to start hunting and therefore rapidly increase your Milestone.”

  Hammer hadn’t really told me anything I didn’t know except for the current plan, which was simply for me to learn an attack or defense with one of my abilities. Once I accomplished that, we would start hunting. I didn’t appreciate the jabs at how I wasn’t qualified, but I let it slide. I couldn’t afford to anger the man that was charged with keeping me alive.

  “Now, I’ve heard what
you can do with Time. I want to see what you can do with Space,” Hammer said, brooking no room for argument.

  I tried not to wince. I still didn’t like the feel of Space. It was an empty, hollow feeling. Like if I let it out, it would swallow everything in an effort to fill in that hole.

  “Shouldn’t we get settled in first?” Light asked.

  “No. We can get settled in once I know it’s going to be worth settling in. And I won’t know that until Dr. Portal here stops hesitating,” Hammer snapped at Light. Then he turned to me and said, “It’s your ability. Learn to use it and control it. If you don’t, one day you might use it on accident and really hurt someone, maybe even kill someone, yourself included.”

  This time, I flinched. He was completely right. Blunt as hell, which I hadn’t expected from the hero given how all the others tended to speak. I hated that I hadn’t even considered that my lack of interest in exploring my other power could’ve led to someone getting hurt.

  “Now, show me what you’ve got,” Hammer ordered.

  I frowned. I still didn’t like being ordered around like that. And his expectation that I could snap my fingers and make my abilities work, really ground on me. I couldn’t even use my Time Compression so easily and that was by far my best ability. Sure, it was my only ability but that wasn’t the point.

  Thankfully, Light chose to intercede. “Relax, Davis, just do like you did the first time you used your Time ability. Close your eyes and feel your ability. It will guide you on how to use it.”

  I nodded and closed my eyes. I had become very familiar with feeling the Nanos in my Bioenergy Converter, which, by the way, was the worst name for an organ ever. I mean, where was the beauty of the heart, the kidney, or pancreas? Bioenergy Converter sounded like some kind of high-tech garbage disposal.

  Anyway, I took hold of my Nanos, just as I had done when I learned to use Time Compression. Only this time, I wasn’t focusing on the fast and slow rhythm. I felt for the emptiness. I tried to understand what it wanted. It wasn’t like Time. It definitely did not want to wrap itself around me. In fact, I felt like it would kill me if I did that. No, this was something . . . violent and dangerous.

  I opened my eyes and looked around the courtyard for something to . . . project the emptiness upon. I was tempted to unleash, whatever it was my Space ability wanted to do, on Hammer Jack, but I didn’t think the heroes would appreciate it if I somehow accidentally killed one of them. Instead, I picked a spot on one of the metal walls ten feet away from where I was standing. I picked a spot about 5 feet off the ground and about an inch in front of the wall, a mental target. I took hold of that feeling of emptiness again and the world turned black and white all around me as a ball began to form at my target. I fed power into it, eventually expanding the ball to about an inch in diameter. I tried to get a better understanding of what the ball was, but it was completely void. There was nothing inside it. No air, no moisture . . . just nothing. With a pop, the void burst and everything rushed to fill in the empty space.

  Color returned to the world around me once again. The first thing I saw was a new black energy bar just below the gold bar. I also saw that the black energy bar was already half-empty. It told me that my ability did something, but I couldn’t see anything at first glance. So, I approached the wall to get a closer look. The metal wall appeared to have warped slightly in the direction of where the small void I created was. It didn’t sheer apart the wall or crush everything in the area. In fact, if you weren’t looking closely, you might have completely missed it.

  “An implosion. That is a very solid attack,” Hammer Jack said from right next to me, startling me when he did. I had no idea when he’d come so close to me. Still, the man’s nod of approval, as he looked at what my ability did, made me feel somewhat mollified, and then he spoke again, “It’s weak, but still quite nice. At least it gives us something to work with.”

  I tried to ignore him. Which as it turns out, wasn’t very hard. After using my new ability, I didn’t feel as exhausted as I did after I used Time Compression for the first time, but I still felt slightly winded. That said, I was excited to see what my Status looked like now.

  “Void Burst,” I read aloud.

  “Is that the name of the ability?” Light asked, having joined Hammer in examining the wall. Once again, I hadn’t even noticed he moved over to check it. I really needed to be more aware of my surroundings.

  Davis Malory

  Aliases: N/A

  Occupation: N/A

  Alignment: Neutral

  Milestone: 10th

  Nano: 192,704/275,000

  Body

  Athleticism: 1

  - Strength: Average

  - Agility: Above Average

  - Accuracy: Above Average

  - Speed: Average

  - Stamina: Average

  Resistance: 1

  - Physical Resistance: Average

  - Energy Resistance: Above Average

  - Mental Resistance: Above Average

  Recovery: 1

  - Physical Injury: Average

  - Nano Energy: Average

  Ability

  Power: 10

  - Time: Below Average (4/10)

  Time Compression: 59%

  - Space: Weak

  Void Burst: 2-Uses at Maximum Size

  Control: 10

  - Time: Below Average (4/10)

  Time Compression: 14-Seconds Uncompressed Time

  - Space: Weak

  Void Burst: up to a 20-Foot Range and up to a 1-Inch Diameter

  “Yeah,” I replied.

  Light nodded. “Seems your Space ability is more offensively aligned. We’ll need to do some additional testing to find out just how much damage you can do with it. Unfortunately, as great as the Nano Interface is, we don’t get damage numbers. For example, the damage you did to the wall probably isn’t enough to kill someone with one hit, but it can still do significant damage depending on where you target. A head shot has a very good chance of rendering someone unconscious, even a hero or villain.”

  “That would kill someone if I set it off inside their heads,” I stated. I was a doctor, I understood just what kind of trauma an implosion could cause.

  Hammer Jack snorted, then said, “Ha, you think you can just use an ability inside the body of another person? It doesn’t work like that rookie. When you use an external ability, you are directing the Nanos that are part of your colony to act on a specific location. Unlike friendly healing Nanos, if you try to perform an attack directly inside the body of another person, those Nanos will be attacked and destroyed by the defending Nanos almost instantly.”

  “So, a body’s Nano colony acts like an immune system where foreign Nanos are bacteria or a virus,” I said, letting my medical brain take over.

  Hammer just looked confused then shook his head and said, “Sure, go with that. Anyway, range abilities are either aimed and travel at a target like Light’s Light Pistol or created near a target. And even then, you need to contend with resistances. Yours will probably struggle against people with higher Physical and Energy resistances.”

  I barely knew Hammer, but I could already tell we weren’t going to get along very well if this was how he was going to treat my questions. I was glad to get the information. I just would have preferred a better delivery.

  Thankfully, Ward spoke up. “That is a fair assessment. Also, something Hammer didn’t mention, those destroyed Nanos are removed from you permanently.”

  That sounded bad. That meant I could potentially lose Nanos, which meant potentially losing Milestones.

  “I understand,” I said, swallowing thickly. I was very glad for the warning.

  “Now, back to your new skill, Void Burst was it?” Hammer asked, no longer studying the wall.

  “That’s correct,” I said.

  Hammer nodded then followed up, asking, “How many times can you use it before you exhaust your Nanos?”

  “It says I get two uses,” I answered.r />
  Hammer frowned then looked from me to the wall and back again. “You’re Space ability is ranked Weak, right?”

  I nodded.

  Hammer’s frown deepened. “That’s a low number for a Weak ability. I would have expected you to have at least four uses.”

  Ward chimed in. “That metal wall is four-feet thick. The power required to warp it even that much is quite high. I do not believe his ability is as weak as you seem to think it is,” he stated, looking at Hammer specifically.

  “Humph, we’ll see,” Hammer said. “Alright, the bunk house is on the right, equipment shed on the left. Grab a cot and some equipment from the shed and set yourself up in the bunk house. I’m going on a quick patrol. I need to make sure you weren’t followed.”

  “Light, get him settled. I’m going to put up some wards,” Ward said, moving toward the gates, not far behind Hammer.

  “Come on, Davis. Let’s get you kitted out and settled in,” Light said, motioning for me to follow him toward the equipment shed.

  11

  “Welcome to Nano Beast hunting for beginners,” Hammer Jack joked as he held back an animal that at one time might have been a bulldog, if bulldogs were the size of horses, covered in porcupine spikes instead of fur . . . and was that acid it was drooling?

  “This is a quilldog,” Hammer Jack continued, ignoring the ineffective swipes from the giant animal. “It’s only a 15th or 16th Milestone, no more than a juvenile at best. The quills make dealing physical damage nearly impossible without hurting yourself,” he explained, then added, “unless you have some kind of skin hardening ability, which you don’t.” The quilldog tried to pull away from Hammer Jack but he just ignored it and held it firmly in place. “Alright, you’ve got two shots to kill it. If you do, all the Nanos are yours. Fail to kill it, and I’ll kill it and keep the Nanos for myself. Good luck.”