Lair

by Carl Stubblefield

  “Let’s go somewhere open where you have a lot of room to move,” Nick suggested. They ended up in the atrium, and Gus’ eyes kept drifting to the large bulkhead and the now-muted blows that constantly pealed against it. Blinking and shaking his head, he focused on Nick’s explanations.

  Nick started to instruct him how pocket dimensions worked, but Gus was still frazzled and amped up on adrenaline from seeing the Dark Nth almost getting inside, and couldn’t concentrate. His mind kept returning to the ‘what ifs.’ What if the Dark Nth had made it into the manor while he was busy goofing around in the Foundry? What if his preparations took just enough time to allow them to break the door down? I need to focus and push worry out of my mind, he told himself.

  It was unproductive and he didn’t have the time. Gus closed his eyes, taking deep breaths and booting any thoughts from his mind that tried to rile him up or make him worry. After a concerted effort, he could feel the effects of his jittery, agitated state calm and fade. He stopped sweating and the slight tremor in his hands stilled. After five minutes, a chime sounded. Curious, Gus opened his eyes and saw a new skill had unlocked:

  Mindfulness (Level 1/42)

  You have greater ability to deal with stress and think rationally during a crisis by focusing on the now. Level this skill to better plan and see how to create the future you want.

  300 XP awarded

  100 FP awarded

  1400 XP to level 11

  That was a little odd, Gus hadn’t seen a skill with a level cap, he just assumed that it would get more and more difficult to increase in levels after a certain time. “Nick, why is the level capped for this skill?”

  “Well, from what I can tell, no one has reached the highest level of that particular skill in the history of the Nth. A lot of people guess that it means a type of transcendence or such a deep understanding of fundamental forces that you understand life, the universe, and everything.”

  That seems familiar for some reason, hmm. But nothing came to Gus. With his mind more centered, he asked Nick to restart his spiel.

  “Ok, let’s start off small. You know how to shape ether into strands that you weave, right? See if you can use a similar force, but instead of pulling, push using a slight pressure into a sheet of ether, causing it to bulge out. Just like a soap bubble; if you do it too quickly it will pop, too slowly it will collapse. Until you know how to tie off the edge it will collapse anyway, but get a feel for it.”

  Gus reached out with his hand and could feel something tingle at the very tips of his fingers. It felt like when trying to put two magnets with similar polarities together, and they repelled one another. Moving slowly, Gus could begin to visualize a virtual indentation he was making on his display. Gus had to not only hold his hand still and stable but mentally push MP out of his fingertips to maintain the slowly forming sphere around his hand.

  “What’s keeping— ” Gus started to ask.

  “No more questions until you answer that riddle. You’ve lost your thousand questions privileges. Don’t overthink it, most of this is nuance and feel.” Gus turned his attention back to the sphere, noticing that his MP gauge was draining at a moderate rate. When the sphere was the size of a beach ball, Gus had difficulty stretching the ether bubble any larger. Holding it in place, he heard a chime.

  Ether Warping (Level 1)

  Extend a portion of ether into another parallel dimension, creating varying effects depending on design and management of ether constructs.

  1000 XP awarded

  500 FP awarded

  400 XP to level 11

  “Whoa! That dropped a lot of XP! Noice!”

  “It’s a foundational skill for a lot of others, including teleportation, storage, shielding, and stealth. Frankly, I’m surprised you have made a pocket so large. Most supers take years to learn how to make one the size of an orange.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, you shouldn’t be able to do that as well as you do just yet.”

  “Maybe it’s because I really am that awesome…” Gus said, as he took his eyes off the virtual display for just a second. There was a loud pop as the ether bubble collapsed and air ran back into the pocket it had displaced.

  “Serves you right. Making the bubble is the easiest part. Then you have to stabilize the edge of the bubble which makes it resistant to collapse. You have to do this quickly, because it requires you to take your attention away from maintaining the bubble’s shape and size.

  “Kind of like trying to tie a knot in a balloon so the air doesn’t gush out. Since you are maintaining the opening, you have to go back and forth, stabilize what I’ll call the rim, or lip, of the pocket dimension and then refill the bubble to appropriate size, then stabilize more of the rim until it is fully sealed. Oh, did I mention while you are filling the bubble back up, your work on the rim is unraveling? And you also have to do it all in one shot. The entire thing will unravel if the rim isn’t totally tied off and sealed to itself. The tendency of the system is to equilibrate and without that rim locked, your bag will deflate.”

  “What’s the next job after I do the rim, then?” There was a pregnant pause and Gus could tell that Nick was on the verge of dropping a joke that involved the unfortunate combination of the words ‘rim’ and ‘job.’ Cutting off any reply, Gus hurriedly amended, “Just tell me what’s next…”

  “Remember those palm fronds; you are making a braid similar to that, only about a thousand times more complicated. There needs to be stress bearing knots every five weaves or so, like this.” Gus saw on his display a complicated movement of ether strands going over and under, then the knot. He’d been a Boy Scout, but this knot was something that would make a hardened sailor whimper. “I know it looks complicated, but the sooner you learn it, the more you can do. Let’s get to work.”

  A while later, Gus had to take a break. The ‘simple’ knot was just the first step in an elaborate series of knots that, once completed, would tighten and secure the entire structure, each section supporting the next. His head hurt with the intricate lace-like threading of ether, with its complicated patterns. He made his way to one of the long couches in the atrium and crashed. There were so many new terms as Nick explained the complicated process. He did gain two levels to Ether Weaving though, bringing it to three.

  “Nick, I need a break…” Gus dropped his focus and watched the small section of his weave unravel, each strand of ether flapping and writhing like an unmanned fire-hose. In a disappointingly short period of time, the entire weave was gone and the bubble deflated back into nothing. A growling stomach urged him to visit the cafeteria, get some more training to finish up the morning, then finish the weaving.

  Entering the cafeteria, he was greeted by the Claptrap-esque waiter who acknowledged his presence with a wave of a tiny appendage and disappeared back into the kitchen. Instead of the small robot returning, a large hulking creature with multiple appendages exited the kitchen. Its serial designation of K4-Z was written in blue along its torso, much more noticeable than the other robots.

  “Bienvenue to zee master of zee manor!” K4-Z belted out in an exaggerated French accent. “I see zat you now have Energy Absorption, zis is good! I can now prepare infused dishes zat will increase your stats. Instead of only preparing simple food, I can add specialized energy zat your Nth can use.”

  “Whoa, I was not expecting that. Can you make potions that will raise health or stamina?”

  “But of course! You will need to upgrade zee cafeteria with facility points to level two, zough. Zis will also increase zee effects added to meals and zey will last longer. Because zeese drinks all are refined energy, you can only use zem so often, however. You can add more effects in zee lab once you have zat unlocked.”

  That would be a great addition to his repertoire. Gus had put many of the manor’s facilities on the back burner because he wasn’t a scientist, and he didn’t think he could get anyone to the island that would have the skills to use it to its full potential. Who knew
what he could pick up by trial and error? Maybe he could slowly gain skills like experimentation and research and development, then build upon them. It hadn’t occurred to him until just now.

  “Let me get you some food.” The large robot rotated and returned to the kitchen. While he waited, Gus checked the large backlog of messages that he had neglected since his huge battle in the jungle. He had leveled Polearms to six, Spear Mastery to six, Wreck-luse to level three, increasing the range to fifteen feet. Sweep the Leg had leveled to two, and the stun time increased to ten seconds. Chained Attack had leveled twice to four. He was just 200 XP away from level eleven, which he could easily make after training. His review was cut short by the waiter bringing a steaming plate of fish with some side that looked like cubed potatoes.

  Gus was in heaven after the first bite. It was his first real meal with protein that wasn’t cooked over a crude fire and singed at the edges. After savoring the first couple bites, a buff indicator flashed across the display and a countdown timer next to a flexing bicep appeared in the upper left of his display.

  +2 strength for 2 hours.

  He ate everything, trying not to devour the meal too quickly. Despite it being only one plate, he felt stuffed after eating. Gus wondered if the energy infusion process made the food more filling as well as giving stat increases. Another notice popped as Gus pushed away from the table and reveled in post-feast bliss.

  You are Well Fed, increased HP regeneration for 2 hours.

  Perfect! He’d have to make sure he ate before training and before fighting the Dark Nth again. He was close enough to another level that he wanted to take out some aggression on some unfortunate pillowbots. His energy had been flagging after the battle and climb, along with the stress of how to protect the manor. After eating, he felt invigorated and his headache had begun to ebb. He was glad for the relief; it was going to be a long day and he had to hurry to get everything done.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends

  Day 9 2:01 PM

  1:09:09 remaining

  Gus excitedly returned to the Foundry and retrieved his finished spear with anticipation. Checking the queue, he noted there was still a little over two hours until the Nth hybrids would be ready. Taking the naginata to the training arena, he stood in the scanner and waited for the computer to analyze him. A ding finally sounded:

  Quest Granted: Freak on a Leash

  Quest Conditions:

  1) Show competence in hitting a target with a spear from over 50 feet

  2) Learn the skill Ether Leash

  Quest Rewards: 500 XP, 300 FP

  Time Requirements: 3 hours

  Quest Failure Penalties: Ether Leash skill locked

  Do you want to accept this quest? (Y/N)

  Gus accepted the quest and instead of seeing Chop Chop, he saw himself on the virtual display. Gus’ previous battle footage of throwing his spear was replayed and Chop Chop shook his head and grunted in disapproval.

  A target popped up in the distance. The display showed him where to grasp the spear for ideal balance and control when throwing. The spear had a tiny bit of flex in it, and it took a lot of trial and error to improve his aim. Too high and to the left. A slight shift here down and to the right. Too much. And so it went for a while. As the practice became more automatic, Gus started to see improvement.

  ###!###

  The closest Gus had come to target practice, at least with thrown objects, was playing darts with his buddies after they went to the local pub quiz.

  A chime sounded and brought Gus’ attention to his practice.

  You have leveled up the skill: Polearms to Level 7!

  Auto-assist enabled. Can be toggled off/on in the interface.

  300 XP awarded

  100 FP awarded

  LEVEL UP! Congratulations, Level 11 reached!

  500 FP awarded

  You have (5) additional stat points to assign.

  6900 XP to level 12

  Taking a break to allocate his points, Gus looked at his stats. He didn’t feel a big deficiency anywhere except charisma, and he doubted that would make any difference with the zombies, so he ignored it. He decided on adding two to constitution, two to strength and one to intelligence. He checked his new stat layout.

  Gus Vannett

  Level 11

  Agility: 25

  Constitution: 28 (27+1)

  Charisma: 18

  Strength: 27

  Perception: 26

  Intelligence: 27

  Luck: 27

  Fractal core: Level 1

  HP: 540

  MP: 440

  Stamina: 540

  Wary of getting hit while fooling around with stat points, Gus focused on the arena again. With the auto-assist enabled, Gus began to see trajectories and angles visible on the display. It was much simpler to consistently hit the center of the target with the assist to help him.

  The training had updated at some time and now showed his avatar throwing the spear at the target but always keeping an ether leash threaded to the butt of the spear. After hitting the target, virtual Gus pulled the spear back into his grasp. After three playbacks at different speeds, the virtual display cleared and Gus saw his current position.

  Looking at the spear, Gus noticed a small knob at the butt end. Getting ready, he mentally tied an ether weave onto the end of his knob there, and aimed. He threw the spear, but missed the target completely, attention too fixed on the tether. After losing the spear, the tether winked out. Gus tried again, this time weaving three threads into a cord, then attached it to his spear. This tether seemed much more stable. Gus tried again and could focus more on his aim, now that less focus was needed to maintain the tether. The spear hit the outer rim of the target, and Gus was surprised that the tether added no noticeable weight or drag to the spear when thrown. Ether was flipping weird. But he kind of loved it.

  Pulling the spear, it plopped out of the target a mere ten feet, due to his hesitation. Gus was afraid of launching his spear toward himself so he pulled with a half-hearted effort. Dragging it back to his grasp he tried again. After pulling a couple times with varying levels of tension, he found the sweet spot so the spear wouldn’t fly past him, or approach so fast he was worried of grabbing the blade by mistake.

  In no time, the skill became almost second nature, and just like that, Gus had another ranged attack. In addition, he had a way of retrieving his spear if he ever lost it. He had already developed a bad habit of throwing his weapon away; now he could keep it as long as it didn’t get stuck into anything. If he had this ability in the last battle, things would have been less dire. He still wouldn’t have won, but that was too close a shave after he got separated from his main weapon.

  For some reason, the session did not end after a chime and notice indicated he received the Ether Leash skill. He finished the three-hour practice and the system awarded him his XP and FP rewards. He had hoped to finish early as with other days, but every time one was in a hurry, things seemed to take forever.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Paranoimia

  Day 9 6:14 PM

  1:04:56 remaining

  The moment of truth with the new hybrid Nth was here. Gus headed back to the Foundry, more eager than scared. If this worked out, there could be some big changes ahead. Following the indicator lights to the conveyor where finished products were delivered, he saw a long flat plastic tray covered with grayish-black dust.

  “Big moment Nick, have any final words?” Gus asked.

  “No, but my common sense is tingling…” Nick replied.

  “That’s never stopped us before!” Gus grinned and hit activate on his display controls.

  The black and gray grains coalesced together, briefly forming a face contorting in a silent scream. The figure exploded outward, then froze, the jagged edges compressing back into a solid sphere, six inches in diameter. A single string of text froze on the display, with everything else becoming non
-responsive.

  Uploading…

  Gus froze, wondering what had happened. He felt an emptiness and knew that Nick was gone, at least for now. It was like a noise you didn’t notice on a conscious level that became apparent when it abruptly stopped.

  The silence stretched into an uncomfortable length, and Gus began to pace, cracking his knuckles in worry. Was it supposed to take this long? He doubted he could progress very quickly at all without Nick’s assistance. If he had somehow fried his circuits, Gus would have seriously stunted his future possible growth. He regretted being so flippant about Nick’s assimilation with the hybrid Nth.

  Gus was never very patient at anything, and he would have pushed a reload or reset button if there had been one. He wanted to pick up the ball but worried that it would interfere with the uploading process and really ruin things. Finally, to avoid nervous pacing, he sat down on the metal gangway and waited. He tapped his heel nervously against the metal gangplank, making a *bumpbumpbump.* The metal ridges made the gangway uncomfortable to sit on, but the dread that was building in Gus’ core drowned out the physical discomfort. He simultaneously wanted to leave and do something, anything, but didn’t want to miss it if Nick suddenly came back online. It was maddening.

  Nick had kept Gus going, and given him so much information that helped him level skills, and understand his new reality. Besides that, he had been a totally supportive companion. If he admitted it, he was probably one of the best friends he had ever had. One of his dad’s old maxims came back to him: ‘Good friends make you grow into your best self.’ Tempest usually said it disparagingly, wanting Gus to evaluate his life and see how his current friends were not pushing him to be better.