Dammit! I wasn’t sure I wanted to add her to my team! Seriously? Stupid system! Couldn’t you wait for a few minutes at least?!
Structure build in process…
Unable to stop procedure.
Next update in 00:01:49:528
Shit! Ugh, well I supposed I just had to wait at this point, but I wasn’t about to move any closer in case she woke up unexpectedly. I wanted to appear as least threatening as possible – a difficult task for someone of my size.
Thus, instead I just sat on the ledge and pulled up her stats, assuming that I should be able to see them already…only to get an error.
Dammit, so I just had to sit and wait. At least, it looked like this would only take a minute…
Sub-handler 002 structure build complete.
Sub-handler 002 resources ready for distribution.
Initiating biometric condition display for Sub-handler 002…
Activated.
I tried to glance at the screen really quick, but simultaneously saw that she had woken up, appearing alarmed. I quickly saw that her Connection stat was at 8, and she had 7 resources available – shit, talk about cutting it close, though I supposed I could have just had a one-way conversation with her before getting her to eat more.
As fast as possible, I added 2 points to her Connection stat, bringing it up to 10 while dropping her resources by 6 points. As I did so, another string of text appeared towards the edge of my vision – this time about her allegiance and obedience levels, but I didn’t have time to read it, my gaze shifting to the young woman.
She had jumped up when she saw me again, only to sway a little like she was dizzy, her fatigue climbing by only 6% – not enough to make her want to sleep, but enough to notice. She was at 71% fatigue now – another 9% and she would likely want to sleep, with her stats beginning to fall the longer she stayed awake.
“Try to talk,” I called out to her, prompting her to focus on me again, her posture still defensive.
“Wh–” she froze solid, grabbing her throat, before looking back up at me with a bewildered expression. “What do to me?” she demanded.
Ah jeez, how to explain that one?
“Umm, it’s complicated. Basically, when you eat something you gain a few points, and then you can use those points to enhance your capabilities. Like, I just raised what’s called your Connection stat to ten, which allowed you to begin speaking. It’s sort of like a videogame, though trust me, it’s one hell of a shitty game.”
She just continued to stare in disbelief. “I…can use points?” she clarified, reminding me of why I didn’t leave my Connection stat at ten. She almost sounded like a cavewoman.
Even though I was sure she was thinking clearly in her mind, she struggled to get the words out. And it wasn’t even consistent as to what words she could manage. Ironically, if she tried really hard, she could get a full coherent sentence out that sounded normal, but it would require a lengthy pause in between each word, which was super annoying, to say the least.
Again, it was like being a stroke patient, with there just being a disconnect between what you wanted to say, and what actually came out.
I scratched the back of my head in response to her question. “Umm, I’m not sure that you can,” I admitted. Honestly, I didn’t know. As far as I was aware, Harper didn’t see this hallucination that I did, but I also had never asked her about it before. Could those under me actually improve their own stats? Honestly, that might make it all easier, assuming they didn’t do something stupid with their character build.
“I use points!” she demanded.
I sighed. “Look, I have no control over whether or not you can. Most of this is all new to me too. I just regained my consciousness like four days ago…” Had it really only been that long? So much had happened in the last three days especially – so much time spent with Harper too, leveling our stats in the boiler room, never mind everything that had happened outside of our home.
When the female Night Stalker didn’t seem satisfied with that answer, I continued. “Trust me, I would prefer to not have to babysit everyone who starts thinking again, so if there’s a way to let you handle your own stats, then we’ll figure it out. But not right this second. I have somewhere else to be, but I just wanted to ask if you could tell me anything about what you remember? Like about being human, or at least where you woke up?”
She shook her head, seemingly at my first question, before pointing toward the street. “Wake up, down.”
I followed her gesture, my eyes widening in shock when I realized she was vaguely pointing in the direction of the hole in the building wall where that horde had attacked us when I had been transporting Savannah and her family.
Shit! I knew why I recognized her now!
My eyes snapped back in her direction as I tried to wrap my mind around all of this – because she was the Night Stalker I sank my teeth into!
Holy shit!
Was that why Harper regained her senses too? She attacked me, I bit her, and then suddenly she could think for herself a few minutes later…
What in the hell?
With the gears in my mind spinning a thousand miles per hour, I thought back to something I had seen in my stats, specifically regarding my mouth.
Oral Cavity
Mandible Crushing Strength: 3,774
Salivary Effects: Fatigue, Unknown Toxin Detected
Was the unknown toxin responsible for this? And if so, was it the reason why I had also regained my senses? And shit, did that mean I could fix this Night Stalker problem? Would everything I bit regain its consciousness?
Not that there was any way in hell I could bite all of them, even if I bit one per second, that was still probably hundreds of millions of seconds, which could be over a year worth of nonstop biting – and that was assuming I had them all lined up! Never mind the fact that new ones were still probably being created every night – maybe not around here, but somewhere in the world.
There would be no feasible way for one person to accomplish such a feat, and it wasn’t like I was passing this toxin along to others – Harper still wasn’t venomous, though I just now realized it might be a good idea to try to add an effect to her bite…if possible…
Shit.
The woman was just staring at me with wide eyes at my reaction to her gesture, probably wondering why I looked so alarmed by her revelation.
But I really didn’t have time to explain all that to her. Not to mention, I wasn’t sure what to do with her right now. I really didn’t need the extra burden. And no way in hell was I going to just let her tag along when I had no idea if I could even trust her.
Speaking of which…
I pulled up the stats related to me.
Hierarchical Status: Independent Utility
Evaluating allegiance…
Calculated Allegiance: 31%
Condition Status: Acceptable
Evaluating obedience…
Calculated Obedience: 72%
Condition Status: Acceptable
Wow, an allegiance of 31% was acceptable? Maybe it was because her obedience level was so high? Honestly, I had no idea, but even more reason to not put a ton of trust in her right now when I had other things going on. For all I knew, she might not be as reserved about killing people, and might just go and massacre all the humans at the hospital.
I mean, both Harper and I didn’t have too much of a problem killing people who annoyed us, but we also wouldn’t kill just to do it.
Either way, now wasn’t the time for this.
Sighing, I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, devising a plan. “Okay, so here’s the deal. I’ve got someplace to be, so I’m going to leave you alone now.” I pointed to the midnight corpse. “If you keep feeding on that, then I can raise your Connection stat more, allowing you to speak more clearly. Each meal should allow me to increase that particular stat by one point, and you need to go up about seven or eight more points to feel comfortable with your speech.” Gran
ted, of course there was a more efficient method of gathering points, but no way in hell was I going to tell her about the isopod – not when it was such a limited resource and I barely knew this person.
The woman’s eyes narrowed as she processed that information, before nodding slowly. “I eat,” she replied simply.
“Good – oh, and I guess you need a name, unless you already have one in mind?”
Her eyes widened again as she thought about that. “Lin – Lindsay.”
“Lindsay,” I repeated. “Was that your name as a human?”
She shook her head. “I no know. Just seem nos–” She began choking on a word, prompting me to try to finish for her.
“Nostalgic?”
She nodded once, looking annoyed with herself now.
“Okay, Lindsay. I plan on stopping by here in a few hours to check on you, and maybe we can see if there is a way for you to deal with your own stats. And, if for some reason I don’t see you today, then I’ll try again tomorrow. In the meantime, I need to go.”
Her eyes narrowed a second time as she inclined her chin slowly, defensive again as I stood up and readied myself to take flight. No wonder her allegiance was so low – she obviously didn’t trust me either at this point. Granted, that was kind of silly in my opinion, because if I wanted her dead, then she’d be dead. As far as I was aware, I was significantly more powerful than her right now. Even Harper might be able to take her out with her current strength.
And honestly, I wasn’t giving the little imp enough credit, because it was actually almost a guarantee she would win, especially with her capacity to strategize like an adult.
Before I left, Lindsay kind of seemed like she wanted to say something else, but kept her mouth shut. And I likewise wasn’t interested right now, considering I had my own issues to deal with at the moment.
As I leapt into the air and began pounding my wings, I decided to change my trajectory and head off course in the event Lindsay decided to follow after me. The last thing I wanted to do was lead her directly to the humans and have another problem on my hands. Plus, I was finding myself wanting to keep Harper’s family alive now, for the little girl’s sake, so I didn’t want to take chances.
I enjoyed it when the gremlin occasionally smiled, and the last thing I wanted to see was her cry. Even if she didn’t remember her family from when she was human, she was getting to know them again now, and that kind of emotional blow might make her smile disappear forever.
So, I would do my best to keep that smile on her face, for my own sake as well.
After landing in the street a fair distance from the hospital, I decided to test out my running speed, finding that I was quicker than I assumed, though my heavy steps probably sounded like a stampeding elephant. However, as I attempted to run more quietly, I discovered that I could reduce the volume a ton by changing how much of my momentum was going up, versus forward.
In the end, eliminating my upward bounce, both increased my speed a little and reduced the volume, though I suspected I might appear a little odd having my legs fly underneath me while my torso remained almost completely motionless – not that I really cared.
When I got closer, I slowed to a jog, discovering that Chris was sitting in the bed of the truck, his arms wrapped around his gun, the barrel pointed at the sky. He looked lost again, his light brown hair disheveled, just staring down into space.
It took him a few seconds to notice my approach.
His brown eyes widened when he saw me, before he scrambled out of the truck and rushed inside, presumably to get everyone else.
Sure enough, Randy came running out, his white hair disheveled as well, surprisingly agile for being at least in his sixties. “Sorry to keep you waiting,” he replied urgently. “If you want to hop into the truck, John will be out in just a moment, and we’ll go.”
I eyed the large vehicle for a moment, before replying. “No, I’ll follow you from the sky. The more I can see, the better.”
He hesitated, his green eyes uncertain. “R-Right, okay.” He paused, seeming to think of anything to delay, so I wasn’t just standing here wasting my time. “Umm, so what’s the plan? What do you want us to do?”
I shrugged, staring down at him. “There is no plan. I’ll go in, and kill anything not human. Your job is just to take Tony’s body back, dead or alive.”
Randy winced. “R-Right.” He then looked away, speaking under his breath. “Dammit, he probably hates us for leaving him.”
I scoffed. “What else could you have done? Stay and die?”
His eyes pained, but he didn’t respond.
My brow furrowed. “Oh, and I met another Night Stalker who could think for herself. As far as I’m aware, she won’t be a problem, but you might want to warn the others to not spend a ton of time outside. I ran partially here to avoid her following me and finding out where you were located.”
“Oh,” he replied, his slate-green eyes wide again. “Of course.” He hesitated then, taking a step to the side, before heading for the entrance. “I’ll be right back.”
Now alone in the parking lot, I waited patiently for them to return, not about to fret over a little lost time.
Chris came back out first, not saying anything as he climbed back into the bed of the truck. Then, when Randy returned a couple of minutes later, both John and Savannah were with him, prompting me to speak up immediately.
“Wait, you sure as hell aren’t going,” I retorted to the nineteen-year-old.
She looked surprised. “Oh, no. I just came to see everyone off…” She hesitated, seeming a little nervous. “And to thank you again.”
“No promises. There’s nothing I can do about it if he’s already dead.”
Chris ducked his head at my words. I had no idea what emotion he was feeling though. He could be angry about my callousness, resentful about needing my help, or just depressed due to the reminder that his younger brother might be dead.
Or, he might even hate me since he – and apparently everyone else – was trying to get into Savannah’s pants, though I hoped he wasn’t having such petty thoughts at a time like this.
Still, humans could be pretty stupid, especially when it came to jealousy, whether it was warranted or not.
Savannah cleared her throat, moving closer. “I…I know. Thank you. Please come back safe.”
I nodded, taking a step away to leave, since just turning around abruptly might cause my tail to hit her like it had done to Harper a few days ago. No doubt Savannah would get hurt, unlike her younger Night Stalker sister who just climbed up it like a monkey to hop onto my back.
Without another word, I leapt into the air to take off, beginning to circle the hospital low so that I wasn’t easily visible in the event Lindsay was scoping out the horizon. Randy gave his oldest granddaughter a tight hug, before jumping into the driver’s seat with John in the passenger’s.
It appeared that the prematurely balding man named Garrett wasn’t coming, possibly because of his head injury. That, and maybe the humans had decided that this endeavor was too risky, not wanting to send a ton of people needlessly on a suicide mission.
As they took off down the road, I followed them just above the buildings, only climbing higher in the sky once we were a few miles away.
And thus began the long boring trip to the powerplant.
Chapter 17: Rescue
The trip there was definitely a lengthy one, though it was thankfully uneventful.
On the way, I was able to increase Harper’s Thermoacoustic stat by another 6 points, bringing her Thermoacoustic up to 10 already.
Even though I knew that getting it up to 20 was only half the battle, since it required a decent chunk of points to make the augmentation, I was still a little surprised we were getting there so quickly. However, the biggest issue now was her rapidly increasing fatigue.
After the second points-dump, she was suddenly at 99% and unconscious.
Made sense, in hindsight.
At an av
erage of 9% fatigue per point for Thermoacoustic, it looked like I may have forced her to pass out with this last boost, increasing her fatigue by 27% every time. Previously, we both would eat and then make a big change, rather than focusing on individual stats, so we didn’t have a lot of experience eating, digesting, dumping points, and then starting the process all over without a nap involved.
I really shouldn’t have been surprised though. It was an easily predictable outcome, but I supposed I just had too many things competing for my attention.
As we neared our target location, I easily picked out the powerplant by the two massive smokes stacks looming above all the other buildings – of course, there was no smoke. However, I also realized the place was large enough that I could spend over an hour, if not two, just checking out all the separate buildings. Which meant, I needed to find out where they had last seen Tony in order to take care of that issue first.
Then, I could waste all the time I wanted tracking down the other enemies.
Once we were close enough a few minutes later, I flew ahead of them and then dropped my altitude in order to land in the street.
Randy drove right up to me with his window down.
“What’s wrong?” he asked simply as he pulled to a stop right next to me.
“I need you to show me where you last saw him,” I explained. “Ideally, I want to get him out first thing, so I don’t have to worry about babysitting anyone while I take care of your mess.”
Randy grimaced before nodding. “We’ll drive close enough to point – we don’t want the sound of the truck to wake them up.”
I nodded in agreement, likewise preferring to get in and out before a fight broke loose. I certainly didn’t care about anything stupid like fighting fair, because at the end of the day all that matter was that I survived. Which meant, if I could kill them all in their sleep, I would. I also briefly considered just biting some to see if they regained their senses, but that idea was extremely unappealing if they were all just going to become my responsibility. I’d rather they just be dead than another problem to deal with.
Rise of the Night Stalkers Page 19