by Skyler Grant
The Righteous were able to remove the power crystals of others, and also they collected Source Orbs. Obviously the two were connected in some way. It was something I'd never seen a Righteous do. That white glow must have been Tara triggering her Ultimate ability—as an agent loyal to me she had one too.
The crystal she removed from Sylax had to be the amplification crystal. That was why Wolf and Sylax were both doubled over, they were both experiencing a sudden massive loss of power.
Tara absorbed the amplification crystal and it was her powers being amplified. I'd only seen her have two, the powers that all Righteous had. The ability to reincarnate—and the ability to dampen other powers.
I couldn't power on the cell. Tara's dampening field was now stronger than anything I could put up.
"You need to get her away. She's dampening my powers," I said.
Anna didn't get it, not as fast as I did. How could she? She didn't have nearly my processing power. But she didn't have to get it to trust my judgment and she did, pulling Tara towards the exit.
"No powers huh?" Sylax said with a wicked smile, reaching up and pulling free the bone sword Wolf had impaled through her shoulder.
No instantly closing wounds, not now. Blood gushed from the wound, coating her armor as she stalked forward. Sylax buried the blade into Wolf's throat and began to saw.
His healing wasn't working any better than hers, not with Tara in range. By the time she got far enough away for me to activate the containment cell it was too late.
Sylax sat on the floor, pulling Wolf's severed head into her lap. She laughed as if it were the funniest joke in the world.
Perhaps it was. I was still working on humor.
I had places to be and a lack of skins to wear. Reconnected with my district I was scanning for any of my defensive drones, but they were all dead. The best I could manage was one of my science drones I'd long ago sent to explore the city’s maintenance conduits.
There was something suitable to that. I slipped my focus inside and headed for the Central District.
The Central District’s power was out and the main city reactor was going cold. I knew why—everybody knew why. It was displaying on every screen.
Error
Central District cannot be claimed by an unpowered individual
Restore powers to existing city head or appoint a new one by majority vote of District Lords
Sylax could no longer hold the city, and with Wolf dead the only District Lord still under any sort of compulsion—mine—would be Crash.
We needed a meeting of the District Lords. Stop trying to kill each other and call together a council.
147
Arriving at Sylax's castle I found things greatly changed. All of those unique horrific touches that had made it hers were gone and instead the building was crafted of white stonework with intricate touches.
It was much like my first glimpse of the city had been, before we had all remade it in our image.
I'd thought I might arrive to combat, but what did any of us have left to fight with? The wars between each other had left the city devastated and our forces along with them.
"Emma," Crystal said, looking over my drone as it hovered in, "Do you know what happened?"
She meant Sylax. Until she had come under Wolf's compulsion her concern there never faded.
"Alive, but with her amplification ability removed. I have her in captivity. Wolf is dead, as you probably figured out. I did what none of you were capable of doing," I said.
"I guess that’s your pitch for taking charge?" Jade said.
"Fixing everyone’s problem? I think it qualifies me for the job," I said.
Crystal shook her head. "Emma, you accepted my guidance and gave me your loyalty. We had an agreement."
"For the purposes of rescuing our companions. Something I wound up accomplishing without you," I said.
"That was a jolly good feat," the Professor said.
I noticed Anna arriving through a side door. She'd brought Tara with her and both had rifles aimed at the floor, safe but ready. None of the others had realized yet that they were without abilities,. If it came to it, I didn't doubt Anna would kill them all.
It was one way to seize the city, but we didn't have enough Powered individuals to fill up the districts if we did. I'd also come to respect the capabilities and drive of everyone here, for all I'd often been on the wrong side of things.
Crystal said, "I'm the most experienced of any of us, and the most powerful. You all know that. I commend Emma on her accomplishments, but if you are going to place an upgrade core in charge of this city it should be me."
"Agreed," said Flicker's orb.
With Crash under compulsion I had one vote. I needed three others.
I said to Jade, "You were devoted to bringing down Sylax. Would you really choose the person who created her over the one who brought her down? While I know you are that stupid, I still would hope that some bit of lingering spitefulness would lead to you making the right choice anyways."
Jade frowned at my drone but nodded. "It does. Emma has my vote."
That made it three to two in my favor.
With Wolf dead it was possible for this to end in a tie. We were only eight now.
Zora said, "Crystal, while none of you know it yet, Anna is worse than Sylax ever was and she's Emma's little pet project."
That made it a tie again with two votes remaining.
"Do it for SCIENCE," I said to the Professor.
Crystal told him, "Clone armies aren't science. Whatever pretensions she made towards science, she has left those behind."
"And yet she has appeared here today in a SCIENCE drone. I can only approve," said the Professor.
Four.
That just left Ophelia.
Ophelia had managed to reform from vapor, a good thing as otherwise Tara's presence probably would have killed her.
Ophelia said with an unpleasant expression, "You're both crazy. One throws me into blenders and the other is a creepy spider thing."
"That isn't actually an answer," Crystal said.
"And they're called grinders," I said.
"Whatever. I always go with the winner. With my vote that’s you, Emma," Ophelia said.
As soon as she spoke the words I felt my awareness shifting.
Aefwal
You have claimed the central core of the city
All compulsion bonds have been broken
City systems critical
Districts Two and Seven in need of assignment
Having been in Sylax's head the connection to the central systems wasn’t totally a new thing. It was still an exhilarating rush.
The tower walls rippled with organic conduits and biowalls spreading outward as it took on my manifestation. I took a moment to initiate repair protocols throughout the city.
Crystal tilted her head. "No hard feelings, I hope. In that case I would like to request the return of Sylax. Without the core her insanity will be dampened and I'd like to take the chance to try to put things right."
I could afford to be merciful.
"Done," I said.
I observed a bit of tension leaving Crystal's shoulders and the District Lords overall looking a bit relieved. Starting off my reign with mercy instead of murder wasn't the way Sylax would have done business, or Wolf.
Anna cleared her throat. "And just so that nobody forgets. Emma is in charge of the city, but I am Annabella Besari, Queen of the whole damned World."
Trust Anna to feel insecure. To be fair, she had so many reasons.
I said, "A fact this city recognizes. We have two empty districts. Hot Stuff, because of her valor and loyalty, I award District Seven."
"She's in the Medbay, but I'll make sure she knows," Anna said. I could tell my choice pleased her, I didn't think the next one would.
"District Two I assign to Tara, hereafter known as Blank as a newly Powered," I said.
"You're giving a District to a Righteous?" Crysta
l said.
"The Scholarium will tolerate a lot. They won't tolerate this," Anna said.
"Why?" the newly labeled Blank asked.
I said, "I didn't take this city to involve us in Scholar power struggles. I didn't take it to go to war against the Righteous. We're fractured, we're all broken. I don't remember my own past and I can say the most terrible things about every single one of you without having to lie at all."
That earned a few amused grunts, but they still looked wary. They should.
I continued, "The world itself is broken. It was shattered a long time ago and I've seen enough to realize that, left as is, it won't survive. The people that are left are still tearing themselves apart in a struggle for power. Aefwal from this day forward has one purpose above all others. We're going to mend this broken world and make it whole again."
Most of the gathering looked sick to their stomachs, but not Anna. Anna was grinning.
THE END
The Metropolis
In charge of the great city of Aefwal Emma searches for the lost history of the breaking of the world. It is a quest that will bring the city into conflict with both the Scholarium and the Righteous, and put them on the wrong side of the powerful who would prefer the world remains broken. A new city-building mechanic, insults, and all-new powers.
Author Notes
The third book has arrived, although a bit delayed by the holidays as Christmas and New Year’s fell right as I was working to finish it up. The changing of the year always brings a lot of ambitious new goals, last year I’d hoped that my writing would allow me to become an author full time and I realized that. This year is all about getting the stories told that I want to tell.
The Laboratory was an experiment. While my dungeon books are popular there weren’t any others quite like the one I wanted to tell. You can already see it is going in a direction that others aren’t. I’ve always been sad when I hit the limit to a game, when it stopped getting bigger. In fiction we aren’t bound by the same walls, I can keep going and tell stories unlike anything else out there.
You’ll see some new ideas from me this year, and if you’re a member of the mailing list you’ll be getting some polls so I can get your feedback on some of the more unusual concepts I have so I can figure out where to focus my attention first.
<<<<>>>>
148
The Metropolis
A touch transformed one of my drones instantly into stone. A moment later it crumbled into a cascade of gravel.
It wasn’t the only thing that wasn’t going my way in the fight over these ruins. I’d struggled with how to deal with single Powered individuals in the past. Here there was over a dozen.
A week ago, they’d been of interest to nobody. Teenage scavengers living in a patch of desolate streets and broken buildings long since picked bare. Then a crystal shard transport from King Boreas crashed after a battle with a Righteous gunship and suddenly the scavengers had something everyone wanted.
“You gyjarks aren’t getting what you’re after,” said an emaciated young woman who was an incongruous sight in combat boots and a pink tee.
Anna said as she crouched behind a wall, “Kid, if that was an insult you need to get better at it. Emma, show them how it’s done.” Peering over the brickwork, a blast of Anna’s stunner sent a young man sprawling unconscious. His skin seemed to be detailed with a topographical map that fit the local area.
As powers went it probably wasn’t the most useful for him, but I might be able to do something with it.
“Your face is a gyjark,” I said. I was capable of more, but a demanding Anna didn’t get my best work. I had my pride.
“Really?” Anna asked, before she rolled from her position as a brilliant cascade of what appeared to be fireworks exploded where she’d just been hiding.
A young woman flew towards Anna in an attempt to knock her down. Anna didn’t even use the stunner this time. An uppercut caught the girl’s jaw and sent her crashing hard to the earth.
It would have been easy enough to kill everyone here. Crystal shards weren’t as powerful as full crystals, although once bonded with a host they did grow over time. None of these had been in place very long and so all the powers we were facing were on the weak end.
A girl clapped and a sonic blast knocked out another of my drones.
Weak was all relative, of course. We’d gotten to the transport site first and found ourselves confronted by the scavengers. If we took too long we’d be dealing with the forces of King Boreas coming to reclaim his missing goods. That would be a far uglier fight. We had to be quick.
I flanked insult girl with four of my drones and she downed two with prismatic bursts of energy from her hands. Two wasn’t enough and twin stunner beams caught her from either side knocking her over.
She was the last of them. Anna walked through the collapsed bodies to check inside the house they’d been guarding. Sleeping mats were spread over the floor, but what we were really interested in was the massive cylinder three-quarters filled with a shimmering dust.
“A quarter gone? Were they eating the stuff?” Anna asked, as she found the lid and secured it.
“Don’t get tempted. The last thing we need is for you to start looking at our energy supplies as if they were cookies. We’ll be dark within the week,” I said.
Several of my drones with boosted strength surrounded the container and with a heave were moving it to the transport.
“What about the kids?” Anna asked.
It was a valid question. A few of their powers might be useful. I’d gone in utilizing stunners for a reason. I still had that curiosity, but none of them would be winning us a war.
That wasn’t all she was asking. Lately I had been collecting strays. Perhaps I’d been doing it all along—what was Anna, if not a stray? But it had been getting particularly bad lately with the Gobbles, and then Magpie and her people.
Anna wanted to know if I was going to try to bring these kids back with us.
It wasn’t a simple question. I’d never been more powerful than I was now as the core of the city of Aefwal, but I’d also never felt more helpless.
Resources were tight, painfully tight, and that made missions like this critical.
“We’ll take them back with us. You know my habit of surrounding myself with the completely useless and inept,” I said.
We were half-done by the time I detected a warping signature overhead. An incoming jump.
It would be either the Righteous or King Boreas, and both were bad—although each was bad in different ways. The Righteous could dampen abilities and had formidable equipment. King Boreas could rewind time. If he’d given that power to a captain of one of his vessels it would make them agony to fight.
The ship blinked into existence and beam weapons instantly fired taking out three of my drones.
Boreas it was then. I hadn’t had much experience fighting him, but I’d thought about it. The best counter to rewinding time was either to out-think the time jumper or to out-power them.
If I’d had a high-yield missile ready to plow into that ship in fifteen seconds, there was nothing a rewind of time might do to prevent the large-scale destruction.
Unfortunately, I only had an armored personnel carrier.
BioArmor sprang up around Anna just as she took a shot to the shoulder getting aboard.
“Why are we still here?” Anna asked.
We hadn’t come in the Graven, it was off fighting its own battles as we searched for supplies. Instead, I’d keyed one of the city’s teleportation gates for the destination and brought the vehicle through.
If I had sufficient power, I’d simply have taken us instantly back the same way. Power was the issue though—as it had been ever since stripping Sylax of her Amplification core.
It took minutes to charge up the energy for a gate use.
I had to time this carefully and focus my sensors on the attacking vessel.
A teleportation portal could do damage to
an airship. Slice some key lines in the engine core and, after a few seconds, the ship would be in a critical state.
Two seconds before I had enough power I detected the ship venting extra cooling into its engine core. In some possible future I’d tried this trick. Which meant it was time for something different.
When the capacity charged I opened the gateway beneath the transport and allowed us to fall through. No time reset, not this time. The captain of that ship must have decided he preferred the future of us getting away, rather than the one of his engine core going.
149
The vehicle tumbled through on the other side and came to rest. Back within the city on familiar turf my people had no problem teleporting. Anna took herself to the nearest Medbay and I sent drones to transport the canister of dust to the reactor core.
The city looked even worse than it had a week before, when I’d been struggling for control. Seven districts had been reduced to rubble. The sun dome overhead was little more than a dim glow bathing the city in perpetual dusk.
Again, it was a matter of power. The city power supplies had been nearly exhausted when Sylax was in charge, and the heavy use I’d made since of the city’s teleportation gates had only made matters worse.
My Bioreactors worked well for a single building. Put enough of them together properly networked and they could provide power for a district. However, an entire city required a whole other scale of engineering and despite having the title, I just wasn’t there.
That was where the crystal dust came in. I triggered its absorption into the reactor.
The sun dome brightened and I began to get reports of energy spikes throughout the city. The Scholars made use of shards and dust extensively as a power supply—it was part of the reason they fought so heavily over crystals. This amount wouldn’t keep the lights on for long. I’d bought us perhaps a week of breathing room and more reliable gate use.