Sidekick

by Carl Stubblefield

  His version of it was more like bracing himself and kicking the knee of the pillowbot. It had the same effect and saved his boys from some trauma. Gus stomped the downed robot and approached the third. Having a larger reach, Gus was able to grab the last pillowbot before it had a chance to flee. He began to swing it around, moving it in an arc until it collided with a downed pillowbot. He rushed in for the pin when the bot was taken to the ground. Gus heard a chime while he was subduing the last pillowbot, and then the battle was finished.

  “No way. No way! That has to be an ability you haven’t told me about. I had to train forever to get that good. Did you do martial arts growing up?”

  Gus raised his arms to placate her. “Hold on, I did hear a couple chimes so let me check my logs.”

  You have leveled up the skill: Master of Tasks to Level 3!

  600 XP awarded.

  600 FP awarded.

  You have leveled up the skill: Master of Tasks to Level 4!

  800 XP awarded.

  800 FP awarded.

  11,200 XP to level 16.

  “I guess you were right. My skill Master of Tasks just leveled twice to level 4.”

  “What does that ability do?”

  “Description says ‘Enhanced ability to mimic and adopt physical skills by observation.’”

  “Balls! You realize you are one lucky S.O.B., right?”

  Gus smiled, pleased to see both her competitive side as well as a less formal, composed Aurora. She seemed more real.

  “It kind of goes both ways, lately. You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have—”

  “I don’t know why I’m getting upset. Jealous, I guess,” Aurora butted in, lost in thought. “This will actually save us a bunch of time. Gus, I’m just going to show you all the submission techniques I know, so we can practice them, got it?”

  Aurora began going through the fighting styles that she had learned during her time at the academy and beyond. Gus absorbed everything like a sponge and leveled up Master of Tasks two more times. When she felt like she had gone over everything she could remember, they shifted to sparring.

  This was a lot harder for Gus because he could copy her attacks much more easily than he could compile them into a directed, intentional defense or attack. Gus escaped some holds and pins merely by luck and a desperate application of one technique or another. Despite her smaller size, she could hit like a truck and when she bore down, Gus could feel her using more than just her body weight to press the attack.

  At last, she had pinned Gus to the mat, straddling him. She leaned in, her forearm pushing just hard enough on his neck to cut off the blood flow without collapsing his windpipe or causing any real damage.

  He began to fight more savagely as the sides of his vision started to dim. The position she had him twisted into, along with the vice-like pressure she exerted, prevented him from squirming out of the hold and he was losing the battle. Gus looked into her eyes as things started to wink into blackness, and saw her pupils suddenly expand and then the pressure was gone.

  Choking and rubbing his neck, he sat up and saw that Jet had slid under her outstretched arms and forcefully pulled her backward and away from Gus. She landed unceremoniously on her butt a few feet away.

  Jet, under its own power, floated in the air and interposed itself between her and Gus, blade twitching menacingly as the two sat there dumbfounded. Gus shook his head and shrugged his shoulders and they both stared at the scene. Gus reached out and grabbed Jet out of the air and it relaxed into his hand and resumed its normal weight as it stopped maintaining itself aloft.

  “What just happened?” Aurora asked, nonplussed.

  “I have no idea, that wasn’t me. Niiiiiick?”

  “My guess is that Jet’s Kroutonium must have leveled along with you as you defeated Methiochos, becoming more self-aware than an average weapon. I didn’t know that it could manipulate ether and move on its own power—that is new. Obviously, it was trying to protect you.”

  “You have a sentient weapon? I didn’t think they really existed,” Aurora said as she walked around the polearm with new appreciation.

  Gus and Aurora looked at each other and smiled. Gus stood Jet upright and thought of what he wanted it to do. Sensing his intention, the naginata retained its position upright as he let go, hovering in the air in the exact position. “I had no idea that was even possible!” Gus said with excitement.

  “Me either,” Aurora added, watching in wonder. “Still, that one doesn’t count. I had you beat that round. You’ve got to really start training as much as possible. If you can’t beat a single super like me then you’re going to get creamed when fighting a whole group.”

  Gus frowned a bit but nodded his head in agreement. They continued to train, adding Jet into the routines and Gus found that Jet could, and would, follow his orders; the polearm would do some truly amazing things when Gus gave it a general commands like ‘protect me,’ or ‘create an opening while I attack,’ and let it interpret how it wanted to follow the order.

  Aurora held her own and still gave Gus a challenge as she multitasked and fought both of them at once.

  After working for another couple hours they decided to break for lunch. Gus hadn’t eaten breakfast in his haste to get to the arena and was ravenous.

  Gus left Jet in the arena, wanting to try something. As they were eating in the cafeteria, Gus sent the message ‘come to me’ to Jet. He told Aurora and they waited to see if the weapon could sense what he wanted from this range, and how long it would take to make it past the doors and across the different floors. They were both surprised when, in less than two minutes, the lift opened and Jet flew out of the opening doors, doing a little flourish as it reached them, reminding Gus of a victory dance.

  “Is Jet bragging?”

  “It kind of looks like it,” Gus said, laughing. “Okay, buddy, take a break. We’re going to be really busy in the future, and you’re going to be a big help.” The wide blade dipped as if bowing and rested atop a long table nearby.

  Ever the strategist, Aurora began planning the afternoon. “After lunch, we should make some quick upgrades to the manor, then train your new abilities.”

  Gus nodded and looked forward to using the new abilities, especially Advanced Flight. It was the one power that he had wished he had when he was young. If only he could fly, it would confirm that he belonged to the family and was a super. Right after his older brother had come into his powers, his father would have Alan give Gus piggyback rides to help him improve the skill. The feeling was exhilarating. To actually fly himself, rather than do an extended jump or hover, almost seemed like a validation to him, despite all he had been through.

  “One of them is Advanced Flight, and Nick recommended I try that outside on level ground before I get too crazy. Maybe we can have Nick and Daphne sync and you can see how it is done so you can improve your skill.”

  “Is that even possible?”

  “Sure is, sister,” Daphne replied.

  Aurora shook her head. “I’ll admit, I’m curious why we were conditioned this way. Skill growth would be much easier with this type of cooperation in the academy,” she mused out loud before going on. “Anyway, it would be helpful to get some rendezvous points and scope out some vantages where we can await their attack. What about the cafeteria upgrade? Didn’t that make it possible to get something to boost stats while we’re out in battle?”

  Gus kicked himself for not getting on this immediately. As soon as they entered the cafeteria, he waved to the kitchen and the waiterbot wheeled out.

  “What boosts should we get?”

  “Let’s do MP and HP boosts, and something to boost healing speeds. I think we’ll be okay with our stats as is, but those could be clutch in a battle.”

  Gus made the order and noticed a timer pop up in the lower left of his display.

  “It’ll take about three hours,” he informed her.

  “That’s perfect. Let’s eat, the
n head outside. Don’t forget to bring Jet with you.”

  A half hour later, Gus picked up the naginata on the way out, looking again at the formidable weapon. What other secrets do you have, Jet?

  Chapter Eighteen

  She’s Crafty

  They headed out to the grassy field in front of the manor and Gus tried Advanced Flight for the first time. The movement was effortless and he could move in any direction and hover without any conscious thought of anchoring himself in the air. His hands began waving back and forth as if treading water by instinct but, upon testing, he found that the movement was totally unnecessary, and did nothing to keep him aloft.

  “Here, try to lift me,” Aurora said.

  Gus floated down and grabbed her arms. When he raised in the air, the additional weight anchored him and he couldn’t budge her at all. He could tell by the lack of pressure in their grip that his flight wasn’t exerting much force beyond being able to lift himself.

  “I guess that’s a bust. Daphne, can you show me what the ether around this looks like?”

  Aurora walked around Gus and observed him from different angles.

  “Gus, try moving a little this way.” Aurora motioned to his right. “Okay, now the other way.” She squinted and then closed her eyes. Some cords on her neck stood out but she stayed earthbound. She opened her eyes again. “I’ll have to work on that. Here, let me shoot some weak projectiles at you and try to dodge.”

  “Will they hurt?”

  “Only if you get hit,” she said wryly. “One, two…” she said, firing her first mini Ion Storm before hitting three.

  Gus dodged backward reflexively, angling upward and to the side. He spun sideways and twisted to face her once again while keeping relatively close. Usually, he ended up far away from his attackers, which was perfect for staying out of the claw reach of zombies. Now, with Leech, he had to find ways to get in close.

  They practiced more, and Gus found a couple additional movements that he could use in a pinch, trying to circle around behind Aurora after she attacked.

  The better he got, the more she ramped the speed and number of snowball-sized Ion Storms. The air reeked of ozone when Aurora decided they had practiced enough and Gus had reached level 3 in Advanced Flight, getting another 1,000 XP and FP for the levels.

  From there, they moved to stealth skills. Gus would hide and then try to make it to the front door without detection. Camouflage worked well when in more dense foliage but he found he had to switch to Phase-Shift if he wanted to cross the open section of grass in front of the manor. They had made an agreement that he wouldn’t use his flight skills at all, and Gus found that Aurora was very good at seeing the depressions that his feet would make in the grass. Even if he moved slowly, she would punish him with an ion ball more often than not.

  The expanse of the courtyard was too long to move quietly through and not expend all of his MP since that required Phase-Shift. The refraction of Camouflage was too pronounced at his level. He still made noise while using Phase-Shift, which was something he was glad to have found out before battle. Occasionally the rubber in his boots would squeak at an inopportune time and telegraph his location. Aurora would fire off a stream of ion balls and she could easily find where he was when they impacted him and dispersed around his form, the others traveling on to the distance.

  Once he found a new route that allowed him to bypass her, she also changed her approach, her competitive nature not giving him a chance to gloat as she shut him down time and again. When he finally called uncle and toweled off, he glanced at the fruits of his labors: one level for Camouflage (Level 6) and Phase-Shift (Level 7) jumping three whole levels.

  Satisfied that Gus was familiar with the techniques, they headed back to the cafeteria.

  Three trays were on the counter lining one wall. Red, blue, and pink gels sat in the trays, sixteen of each. Gus picked one up and looked closely at it.

  “They kind of look like those tiny soaps you put in the dishwasher,” he said, squishing the rubbery film around the colored liquid. He lifted it to his mouth to eat a red gel.

  “Wait! Do you trust me?” she asked with puppy-dog eyes.

  “Less when you say it like that.”

  “Don’t be a baby. Hold your hand out like this.” She lifted her arm up to her side like she was being sworn in for court. Gus did the same and she zapped him point blank with an ion ball.

  A flash of itchiness followed by an intense burning sensation hit Gus’ hand as it started to blister. “Damn! What the—”

  “Hurry, eat the gel now.”

  Gus popped it in his mouth and bit down. A strong cherry flavor hit him, then disappeared before he could swallow. He expected there to be liquid but all that was left was the chewy outer casing, which quickly dissolved as he continued to chew. A second after he had bit down, he looked at his hand. The pain was gone and the small dip in his HP jumped back to 100%. His hand looked pristine and the red, sunburned appearance and blisters had disappeared.

  “It wouldn’t have done anything if you ate it at full health. Sorry if that hurt.”

  Gus marveled as he flipped his hand back and forth, feeling it with his other hand. “That was so worth the FP!” he raved, and excitedly ordered the cafeteria to continually make the gels so they would have a surplus when needed.

  “How should we carry these? They look a little fragile,” Aurora wondered aloud.

  “I think I know just the thing. Hey, maybe I can teach you too. Have you ever sewn anything?”

  They stopped at the dispensary to grab some cloth scraps, and a supply room for some Velcro. They headed back outside, and Gus used Ether Leash to bring two chairs down to Atlantis beach. They both kicked off their boots and dug their feet into the soft sand.

  Gus, Nick, Aurora, and Daphne shared information so that she could see how to manipulate the weaves to make a small bag of holding. Since she had experience and a basic understanding of ether weaves, she bypassed having to use palm fronds and she set to replicating the complicated weaves, but it still took some trial and error to remember the basics.

  “I always wanted a crafting ability,” she mentioned offhandedly. “My old mentor, Rory, was so good with his hands. We would fix vehicles all day, and he just had a magic touch. I got pretty good, but I wasn’t naturally talented at it. After hours, he would carve these little figurines out of wood and paint them. They were so lifelike, and were only about three-quarters of an inch tall. I don’t know how he didn’t break the wood while carving them.

  “I especially liked this one with a paladin he did, his sword uplifted like he was going to smite something and his cape flapping behind him. He had painted it so that the armor had a mirror finish on it too. He gave it to me for my eighteenth birthday.”

  Her voice turned melancholy. “It was on the station when it went down.”

  Gus looked up but quickly returned to his work when his weave started to fizzle and unravel. “I’m sorry, Aurora. When we get back, maybe he can make you another, yeah?”

  She smiled again, Gus’ optimism that they would overcome and make it home bolstering the uncertainty behind her facade of strength.

  “Yeah. First thing when we get back.” She turned back to her work. “Okay, I think I got this first part done, what now?”

  “Hold on, speedster,” Gus caught up and finished the small ring of weaves. “Hold yours tight and watch how I connect the two ends together.” Gus made the loops and turns larger than average so she could see what he was doing then cinched them together. As the sides connected a shimmer pulsed around the tiny ring.

  With his ring stable he turned his attention to her and guided her as she tied the weave. He laughed a little as her tongue snuck out of the side of her mouth as she concentrated. Gus saw the shimmer with her ring as well and knew that it was finished.

  “Now the easy part. See these loops? Just connect them to the Velcro, like this,” he instructed, showing how to attach the now-tangible rim of the bag of ho
lding. Gus added the adhesive strip on the smooth backing of the Velcro to his hip where a pocket would be and reached inside. Keeping it open, he poured in some of the red and pink gels. The angle made it feel like he was storing them inside his upper thigh.

  Aurora laughed as she played with the strange dimensional effect. They hadn’t made the bags so deep that they would have to fish around during an emergency for a much-needed gel.

  “Let’s make another for the other side, then we can separate HP from MP boosts,” she said, a giddy grin on her face.

  “Good idea.”

  They set back to work, Aurora finishing her second bag without any coaching, and much quicker than Gus had done.

  “T-t-today, junior!” she taunted.

  “You don’t have to brag about it!” He laughed as she teased, trying to distract him and make him lose his concentration. He had to spin to face away from her in order to keep his eyes on the delicate finishing step. At last, he saw the shimmer and knew he was done.

  “You’re horrible, you know that, right?”

  “You don’t know the half of it,” Daphne added.

  “Hey, you’re supposed to be on my side!”

  When they were finished, they loaded the blue gels into their left pockets. That done, they sat there and took in the ocean.

  Before they could even relax, red stars popped up in their displays and they looked at each other. Aurora turned to Gus, her eyes pinched.

  “They’re coming.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Catch Me If You Can

  “Let’s do this,” Gus said as he hit his Camouflage skill and moved into one of the cover positions they had designated.

  “Crap, I haven’t unlocked any of the new facilities for the manor yet,” Aurora said as she flew up to an overlook and got into position. For Gus, the strain of flying was gone, and he effortlessly glided above the ground, the advanced level of the skill sapping barely any MP at all. Aurora moved painfully slow, but to her credit, she had managed to eliminate ‘propelling’ herself by using Ion Storm.