Sidekick

by Carl Stubblefield

  “Yeah, I wondered why I was so tired. I was getting used to needing less and less sleep.”

  “If I were you, I’d shift your Energy Absorption skill to be more active after Leeching some powers, so you don’t get overwhelmed.”

  With a little guidance, Gus made the changes to automatically pull needed energy from the environment as opposed to his own limited stores of glucose and body fat.

  “Now that I know that some abilities can give a huge boost to stats, I think my main focus is going to be maximizing my MP pool. I’m pretty sure Aurora will agree, but I plan to sink all my points into Intelligence for the foreseeable future. Plus, I need to get a comfortable buffer of HP until I get some kind of self-healing effect.”

  “Seems reasonable, just make sure you practice using all your new abilities so you aren’t using them for the first time without knowing how they function.”

  Turning his comms on, he called Aurora and asked if she wanted to train. “I’ll meet you there. I’m almost done here. Feel free to start without me. I think I’ll be done quickly, but just in case, go ahead.”

  Gus stood on the scanner in the arena and waited as the beam played over him, back and forth. “Is there something wrong with the scanner, Nick?”

  “I think it’s just overloaded with your changes and trying to figure out a training regimen that would be adequate.”

  Gus stepped off the scanner and opened the menu that displayed training options. The cursor blinked for a minute doing nothing. “Did I break it inadvertently? Wreck-It-Gus strikes again.”

  “Give it a minute.”

  Finally a new set of tabs appeared and Gus opened the new menus. Reading the description of a tab labeled ‘Adaptive Training’ Gus had a smile spread across his face.

  Adaptive Training: Opponents generated in waves, with successive waves increasing in difficulty and learning attack styles and defending against them with greater efficiency as levels progress. Future training sessions will retain this information, creating an ever-changing challenge for the user.

  Gus started the session and a single pillowbot slid to the center of the arena. Gus dashed and punched. With his Enhanced Strength, the pillowbot flipped and rolled out of the circle that demarcated the confines of the arena.

  After a brief pause, two more combatants appeared. Gus dashed to attack again, but the speed of these pillowbots was unlike any they had ever shown before. Two rapid punches to his kidneys surprised Gus as he dodged out of the way. He had never even seen the pillowbot move behind him. He almost triggered Hyper to double his Agility and increase his own speed—but caught himself. What if the system ramped speed up even more? Would he even be able to compete at those speeds?

  He jumped up and got a view of how the bots were arranged in the arena, his descent slowing automatically as he reabsorbed the kinetic energy as gravity pulled on him. This allowed him to direct his fall and kick into one of the bots. He got a good kick to the head in, but it quickly dodged away, reducing the potential damage to half of what it should have been. He tried to dash and punch but the bots were just too quick for him, anticipating his attacks, and since there were two of them, they outmatched him, one getting in a punch while his attention was focused on the other.

  Enough of this. Gus reviewed the description for Electronic Mind.

  Electronic Mind: Facilitated communication with non-biologic entities, as well as intuition in construction and repair of all constructs meant to interface with biologic tissues.

  Since these were essentially robots, maybe he could detect the location and how the two bots were communicating. Maybe even influence it somehow. Gus felt an incoming attack on his flank and was able to block and execute Sweep the Leg. His leg shot out and toppled the pillowbot.

  Have I ever done that without Jet?

  Gus punched the ground where the pillowbot had fallen, but missed. It had barely managed to turn, over and over, while Gus pounded futilely at the mat, chasing it. Gus followed until it rolled out of the arena, signaling a loss. Gus sensed the other bot jumping at him with a kick, and he found that he could exactly time his attack. He sidestepped and grabbed the outstretched leg, swinging it so the robot followed its partner outside the ring. That type of win was much easier than brute force.

  Gus realized that he would have to stay clever, and not become too reliant on using physical strength, especially as green as he was with these new attacks. He wouldn’t have the nuances and utility as a super that had used fewer powers in various situations.

  It just felt good to punch things like a beast though! Turning, three robots had reset in the arena. This would be a test of stamina too, as the levels increased. He wondered if they would keep adding pillowbots, too.

  They all sprang to life, dashing towards him. Gus took to the air, confident that they could not fly. One bot leaped to the shoulders of another and launched toward him and grabbed him. No fair, was my last jump considered a Bound? Probably, if his landing was affected.

  The dome around the arena was only about fifty feet high, and he really didn’t have that much maneuverability with flying. On reflex, he activated Intermediate Shielding before he hit the ground. It saved him from having the wind knocked out of him.

  Crap. Would the next wave have shields now?

  As far as Gus could tell, the pillowbots could not use techniques until the next wave, so he might as well take advantage. He placed shields around two of the attackers, and fixed a shield embedded in the floor of the arena, only leaving the head of the last pillowbot exposed. Gus jumped to the top of the shield and began punching the pillowbot until it deactivated in defeat.

  Gus could see the other bots punching the shields but making no headway. The shields turned out to be extremely resistant to melee style attacks. Gus focused on one and shrunk the dimensions, constricting it and folding the robot into the diminishing space until it went limp.

  Gus went to finish the last robot, but the shield had expired and it was free. Gus activated Electronic Mind again and found that he could sense where the robot was going to move, but then the signal fuzzed out after ten seconds, changing something about its frequency so Gus attempted to use Electronic Mind again to sense the robot’s planning again to no avail.

  What the hell am I doing fighting these mercs, just send out these OP robots! The robot began jumping around at increasing speeds and Gus couldn’t even find out where to attack. It found ways to jump behind him and rabbit-punch him in the back of the head before he could respond. He began to get pissed at his inability to retaliate.

  Looking at the new abilities he hadn’t used yet, he decided to try a new one, but a little less conventionally. When the robot punched him again, he tried to activate Absorb.

  Absorb: Extract energy and store for later use, most effective when directly draining MP and HP from others.

  Gus wondered if the ability would even work. Did pillowbots even have simulated HP? Another punch interrupted his thoughts. He gritted his teeth as he missed the timing on the first two hits, but on the third, it activated and Gus felt a jolt of energy as he pulled energy from the bot, replenishing both his HP and MP.

  After being drained, the robot moved much more slowly and Gus easily finished the fight. After the round, the pillowbot was replaced, it’s battery obviously drained. To Gus’ relief, only three robots reset for this next wave. Gus recognized the shimmering blue aura as shielding.

  Sighing, he readied for the match to start. He threw up a shield and the robots darted in, hitting it repeatedly until it began to sound like popcorn popping in the microwave or hail on a roof. He reviewed how Krackle worked and decided to give it a try.

  Krackle: High energy burst attack of concentrated cascading spheres of energy.

  The effect consumed one of the pillowbots, charring the material covering the robotic skeleton. Gus dropped the shield, preparing to trigger Absorb. When he fired the ability, nothing happened, and he knew he had gotten the timing wrong.

  One m
ore ability down. What else was on the list?

  Warp: Distort reality in a localized area, either crushing or expanding items in a 1-meter diameter sphere.

  Xyzzy: Bamf! Form wormholes to create portals and transport from one location to another. Base range is 5 feet. Each additional level extends this range another 5 feet.

  While Gus tried to figure out what to do next, he saw one of the robots was using the downed robot as a bludgeon to hit him, while the other tracked behind, skirting to one side or another, awaiting its turn to attack. This extended reach kept him from having direct contact and draining them again. He was running out of tricks.

  Let’s see how you like this… Gus activated Warp on the arms of the bot and the downed pillowbot-club. The two were crushed together, and part of the active bot’s forward leg was included in the effect, significantly reducing its mobility.

  For the first time in the session, his TimeSight activated and gave him a warning. He used Xyzzy and focused on the other side of the arena. He reappeared a couple feet away as the last bounding robot brought its clasped arms down, hitting its fellow robots now that Gus had vacated that space. He hadn’t even noticed the other robot slip away.

  As they tangled together, Gus dashed in and attacked the mobile robot and then finished off the crumpled one. The robots reset; mashed robots being replaced with two others. Gus raised his hands in defeat and walked out of the arena.

  Hearing a slow clap, he looked up and saw Aurora watching from the side of the arena. “Good job. I’m impressed. Are you ready for some sparring?”

  “Give me a minute.” Gus sat on the edge of the mat, his hands on his knees.

  “Okay, I’ll give you a break then. For now. Have you eaten yet? You look a little faint.” Gus just shook his head. “Let’s go then.” She motioned and they headed to the cafeteria.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Holding in the World

  Gus checked his logs and saw that the Adaptive Training was a great way to gain XP.

  You have completed (4) waves of Adaptive Training. Final difficulty rank: B.

  20,000 XP awarded.

  LEVEL UP! Congratulations, Level 17 reached!

  500 FP awarded.

  You have (5) additional stat points to assign.

  5,700 XP to level 18.

  Gus shivered as the post-level euphoria faded. A big smile crossed his face at how fast he was leveling now. Maybe taking that XP boost with his guiding principle wasn’t a bad idea after all. He dropped two points into Constitution and three into Intelligence, bringing them both to 45. Once his HP hit a thousand, he’d put them all into Intelligence.

  He wondered if the influx of new powers was so rare that it triggered some compensatory XP when they were used. He remembered having to work an entire three hours to get one new skill. He was already planning future sessions, anticipating himself power leveling with the new discovery.

  “You just leveled again, didn’t you?” Aurora asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “I hope I don’t look like that.”

  “Like what?” Gus asked, a little concerned now.

  “Full on ahegao.”

  “How do you know what…?” Gus asked as he flushed deeply.

  “Daphne told me.”

  “Oh.” Gus was at a loss. He could wait to check his logs until later from here on out.

  There was an awkward pause and Aurora finally broke the silence. “Here, why don’t we grab something to take with us? I spent the morning on the beach and it was perfect.”

  “I’m down,” Gus said, grateful for anything to change the subject. He ordered some food to go. Their meals arrived in a large bag, complete with utensils. “I have to do this more often. I wouldn’t have even thought it was an option if you hadn’t suggested it!”

  “I imagine it’d have to be with a facility this size.”

  They headed out to the beach and kicked off their boots. They ate in silence, watching the waves.

  Gus massaged his feet in the soft sand. “Man, some days I wish I could just sit here in the sun with no responsibilities, powers or not.”

  “Someone told me that it doesn’t matter how much power you have, there’s always responsibility.”

  Gus sat up and looked at her. “Who said that?”

  “He was an older super in Purple Faction. He retired a couple years after I started. I forget his name.”

  “Hmm. What did he look like?” Gus’ grandfather had always said that to him and he always attributed the tenet to him, but it was probably just part of Purple Faction training. Still, what if it was Grandpa?

  “I don’t know. Old? Gray hair, typical super build. I never talked to him directly, he just gave us a pep talk before one of our practicals. It was pretty typical for them to try to give us a bunch of advice pretty much all the time.”

  “Was any of it useful?”

  “Yeah, sometimes. You heard the Purple Faction tenets a lot, and while I didn’t understand them all, at first, you got to see why they were there after a while. Some advice only really sticks after you see what happens when someone is seriously hurt or dies from ignoring it.”

  “Sometimes I feel like I’m like that guy in Greatest American Hero.”

  “What’s that?”

  “It’s an old TV show about a guy who gets a super suit from aliens and loses the instruction manual. Then he basically figures out his powers from trial and error.”

  “That’s pretty on the nose, at least as far as you’re concerned.”

  “In some ways, my situation is a lot better because I have access to my Nth to help me train, and it sounds like most supers don’t have that. On the other hand, I feel like I’m struggling to reinvent the wheel. Doing things the hard way that is probably obvious to most other supers. However, I definitely am glad I didn’t have to drink Purple Faction’s Kool-Aid. What you described just reminds me of propaganda a little bit.”

  Aurora tilted her head and screwed up her mouth in thought.

  “Maybe with some things, but I guess you had to be there. There’s no perfect system with imperfect humans, even ones with superpowers. You just try to find a way to do the most good. And learn how to live with the times where the system falls short. You can’t save everyone. You can’t please everyone. I think one of Purple Faction’s strengths is how it is structured, and how it provides a framework of behavior and ethics.” She speared a large chunk of watermelon and chewed.

  “I’ve been on the other side of that framework. It feels like compulsion and intimidation. As a super, you probably don’t really know what it feels like to do something under duress, but a lot of regs feel that way. There’s always the implied threat of recrimination if we, I mean they, don’t act in the right ways.”

  “It does keep crime down.” She shrugged.

  “I suppose. And I’m not saying I have all the answers either. My father would always say, ‘Don’t bring me a problem unless you have two possible solutions prepared.’ You may not realize it, but it can feel really demotivating to live in a world where even if you try your best your whole life, you can be easily surpassed by someone who has been mysteriously blessed with Nth.”

  “You make it sound like it’s all fun and games for supers. Like we don’t have any problems at all.” She turned and looked at him.

  “But you have to admit some things are easier, right? I never really found my thing until I got my Nth. How many people are there just like that out there? I know supers view people like me as layabouts, lazy and unmotivated. But what is there to be motivated about? Slaving away, being a cog in the machine? Sorry if I just don’t find nirvana flipping burgers or doing a job to make ends meet.” Gus stabbed at his food, his appetite gone.

  “Have you really ever flipped burgers? With your parents in the Faction, I doubt you guys were poor.” She arched an accusatory eyebrow.

  “No, but my father was always on me to improve myself. When I really didn’t have any interest in any of the typical
service jobs, he found jobs for me working for other supers. I’ll admit it was kind of cool at first. I’ve always been a fanboy of supers and their adventures.”

  “Yeah, tell me about that. How was the transition from a henchman to a super? I mean, you guys are really only known for following orders, usually poorly.” Gus scowled as she said this. “I’m sorry, am I wrong?”

  “No. The reality of being a henchman is actually pretty boring. I think anyone would be hard-pressed to always be alert. Ninety-nine percent of the time there’s absolutely nothing going on. Then there’s one percent running-down-the-street-naked-with-your-hair-on-fire level crisis mode. It’s easy to be disengaged.”

  “Okay, I get it, go on.”

  “When I met up with some other of my gamer friends, that kind of changed. I actually looked forward to going to work. It was less the actual job, and more the company. We could be cleaning the dried bugs off the windshield of an aerial fortress when it was in drydock, but it was still fun with those guys.”

  “I didn’t have many friends in the academy. Not when they realized I wasn’t ‘girlfriend material.’ I just wanted to focus on my training. I was an ugly duckling that transitioned late, and without any close friends, the other girls saw me as a threat. I had a reputation before I even knew I had one.”

  “Well, that sucks,” Gus said, shaking his head.

  “It worked for me. Kept people out of my hair, and they left me alone for the most part. But enough about me. So you and your buddies were, what do they call it, ‘henching’?”

  “Yeah. There were good times, just enjoying life. Still, as I look back on that time, I wasn’t really going anywhere. There isn’t any upward mobility or working towards something bigger and better; you’re just kind of stuck. Maybe there were some positions for those who went above and beyond, but it was way more responsibility and effort for barely any more pay. Not a huge motivator. Plus they’re usually much more dangerous.”