Downtime and Death (Apocalypse Gates Author's Cut Book 5)

by Daniel Schinhofen

  “Smells delicious,” Alvin nodded.

  “Thank you, Hero,” Becky said as she took the plates from Kuro. “Take the first two to Hero and Jarvis, Mousie.”

  “Yes, Gothy.”

  Kuro brought in a tray loaded with potato toppings, then went to get her own plate after she had served Alvin and Jarvis. Becky and Megumin joined them at the table with their own plates. They all spent a few minutes adding garnishes to their baked potatoes.

  Alvin’s steak was a perfect medium rare, just the way he liked it. Popping the first bite into his mouth, he smiled as Becky looked at him. “Wonderful. Juicy and tasty, just like the chef.”

  Becky winked at him, her own mouth full of meat.

  “I think Justin will love it,” Alvin said to Megumin.

  Megumin smiled, “Thank you. I’m making it for him tomorrow.”

  “You going to have bacon, cheese, sour cream, and the rest of the toppings, too?” Alvin asked.

  “Yes,” Megumin nodded. “They don’t add anything to the difficulty of making this, and they do make it taste a lot better.”

  “Didn’t know you were such a big fan of bacon,” Alvin chuckled.

  “Bacon is one of the sacred foods,” Megumin replied primly as she covered her potato in sour cream. Pausing, she frowned at the table. “Jarvis, do you have A.1. in the fridge?”

  “Of course,” Jarvis replied, pushing his chair back.

  “I got it,” Megumin said, getting up before he could.

  “The steak doesn’t need it,” Becky said.

  “It’s not for the steak,” Megumin said as she came back with the sauce. “It’s for the spud.”

  “A.1. for the potato?” Alvin asked.

  “Yes, it makes it better,” Megumin said, pouring two lines of sauce. “Want to try it?” She held the bottle out to him.

  Shrugging, Alvin took it and put some onto half of his potato. Setting the bottle aside, he speared a piece of freshly sauced potato. Chewing, Alvin nodded and added more A.1. to his potato. “Nice addition.”

  “I want to try it,” Becky said.

  Alvin grinned as he put another piece onto his fork and held it out to her. “Ahhh?”

  Becky giggled and opened her mouth, “Ahh.” Nodding, Becky motioned at the bottle.

  “I would like to try it as well, Hero,” Kuro said.

  “Sure, Mousie,” Alvin said as he handed the bottle to Becky. His next bite went to Mousie, who made a face and shook her head when Becky offered her the bottle.

  “Not everyone is on board, it seems,” Alvin chuckled. “You want to give it a try, Jarvis?”

  “I’d rather not eat your meal, sir,” Jarvis replied dryly as he cut another bite of steak.

  Alvin rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t going to give you a bite. I was going to hand over the bottle.”

  “One can never be too sure, sir.”

  The women giggled at the banter. “What was it Gran said… ‘mangia?’”

  “We’re eating,” Alvin protested. “Some are even eating other people’s food.”

  “It is very good, miss,” Jarvis said.

  “Thank you, Jarvis.”

  “Thank you for helping me learn,” Megumin added. “I just want to surprise Justin and Joanna.”

  “I’m sure they will enjoy it,” Alvin said.

  “What did Bill say about the idiots?” Becky asked.

  “Not much, though I think he’d prefer it if we don’t start a fight with them. As long as they leave us alone, they’ll be fine.”

  “Low odds there,” Becky muttered.

  “Which reminds me, I’ll be collecting the keys tomorrow so I can bring some of the older kids in for the training room. I’m going to disillusion them about what the world is like.”

  Becky frowned, “Why bother?”

  “To help Green River,” Alvin replied. “They’re going to get killed otherwise, and if we can stop that, then they can help the settlement in other ways, instead.”

  Becky’s eyes darted to Megumin, who was busy cutting her steak. “Really?” she mouthed at Alvin.

  “Later,” Alvin mouthed back, going back to his food.

  When they were done eating, Jarvis was quick to collect the dishes. “Before you leave, Megumin, let me offer a dessert. It is something you can make easily.”

  “Okay,” Megumin said, settling back into her chair.

  A couple of minutes later, Jarvis had coffee for the table, along with small bowls of pudding. “This is twisted chocolate pudding.”

  Alvin dug into the pudding, which was a blend of white, milk, and dark chocolates. “Nice work, Jarvis.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  The women all agreed. “Can I get that recipe?” Megumin asked when she finished hers before anyone else.

  “Of course,” Jarvis smiled, holding out a sheet of paper to her.

  Megumin took the paper and glanced at it. The moment she pulled her eyes from it, the paper crumbled to dust, and the dust vanished. “Oh…”

  “That was a transfer of crafting skill,” Jarvis told her. “It costs the original person XP to make the recipe and when it’s read, the reader can craft it as long as they have the right skill level to do so. Any crafter can do much the same. The XP cost is based on the difficulty of the recipe and the original crafter’s skill.”

  “I’ll have to let Justin know about that,” Megumin said.

  “Thanks for coming, Megs,” Becky said, getting to her feet when Megumin did.

  “Thank you for all the help, Gothy,” Megumin replied, giving Becky a hug and kiss on the cheek.

  “It was my pleasure,” Becky smirked. “If things don’t work out…”

  “I know, and I will consider it if that happens,” Megumin replied. Handing over the key to the base, Megumin gave Becky another kiss on the cheek before she headed for the door.

  Alvin sipped his coffee while the women said their goodbyes, waving at Megumin when she said goodbye to him. “Have a good night.”

  When Megumin left, Becky turned back to Alvin. “Hero? What’s bothering you?”

  “Obvious, was it?”

  “To me, it was,” Becky replied.

  “Come on, we’ll talk as we get cleaned up,” Alvin said. “See you in the morning, Jarvis.”

  “I shall have breakfast ready for you, sir.”

  Becky followed Alvin into the bedroom, nervous and worried that she had done something wrong. “Hero?”

  “Mousie, shut the door, please,” Alvin said, not replying to Becky. Walking over to the bed, Alvin took a seat on the edge of it and patted the spot next to him. “Come here, Gothy.”

  The rarely seen insecure teen was present instead of the brass, sexual woman that Becky normally was. “Hero, what is it? Did I do something?”

  “Not yet,” Alvin replied when she took a seat next to him. “Calm down, my insatiable goth. We just need to talk about permanently adding others to the base and our life.”

  “Oh,” Becky said, still looking insecure.

  “Nohel would never have worked out,” Alvin said gently as he pulled her into his side. “Even Megumin, as nice as she is, wouldn’t fit our dynamic at all.”

  “Megs was interested in us before, but I knew she wouldn’t work out after we talked and I knew she had her sights set on Justin. I didn’t want to just put her aside, so I figured I’d help her out.”

  “If she hadn’t picked Justin, she probably still wouldn’t have worked out for us,” Alvin replied. “Would she have been able to handle the shit we do?”

  Becky sighed, “No, probably not...”

  “Which would have left her in the base alone. What would she have done here while we were out?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I’m not saying we won’t add more people, and I’m not against the occasional short-term fling like we had with Wintersbreath. I’m just saying adding anyone for any real length of time has to be serious. Okay?”

  “I’m sorry, Hero,” Becky whispe
red. “I just want to smother you in love... mine and others.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with that, Gothy,” Alvin said, leaning in to kiss her cheek. “Sharing is caring, you’ve proven that point. Just be a bit more selective, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “After all, if you want one of every race, we can’t have another human,” Alvin said, trying to make her smile.

  Becky’s lips twitched, “Because you already have the best?”

  “Exactly,” Alvin whispered, tilting her face to him and kissing her gently. “I have the best in you.”

  “Does that mean I’m the best Queen’s Elf?” Kuro asked.

  Both Alvin and Becky snagged one of her hands and pulled her to them. “Best Elf period,” Becky said.

  “Agreed,” Alvin said, claiming a kiss from Kuro after Becky had.

  “Thank you, Hero, Gothy,” Kuro whispered. “There are moments I worry that I’m getting between you. Then you remind me like this that you both wish me to be here.”

  “Now that we’ve had our discussion,” Alvin said, his arm going around Kuro’s waist to match his other around Becky’s, “why don’t we shower? I think I could use some extra dessert.”

  “I think tonight, Kuro and I should pamper you,” Becky said, taking his hand in hers. “Will you give us free rein to shower you in our love?”

  “Please, Hero?”

  Alvin smiled at the two of them as they started to lead him to the shower. “I think I’m the luckiest man in the world… not just this one, every world. Okay, you can pamper me.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Stretching as he woke, Alvin smiled when his hands touched soft flesh to either side of him. Kuro was curled up to his left, her back to him, while Becky was on his right. Leaning to the side, he kissed Kuro’s neck, “Morning, Mousie.”

  “Mmm,” Kuro let out a pleased sound and inched back toward him.

  Leaning the other way, he kissed Becky’s neck, “Morning, Gothy.”

  Rolling over, Becky’s arm slipped over his waist, her hand resting on Kuro’s hip. “Morning,” Becky mumbled. “Sleep more.”

  There was a knock on the door, and Jarvis’ voice informed them that breakfast would be ready shortly. The noise made both women stir and Kuro rolled over. Her arm went across Alvin’s chest, her hand laying on Becky’s pliant flesh.

  Both women opened their eyes slowly, pushing sleep away, to find Alvin grinning at each of them in turn. “If I’m in the way here, I can make room,” Alvin chuckled.

  “Asshole,” Becky murmured, kissing his neck.

  “You are never in the way, Hero,” Kuro murmured, her own lips gently brushing against his chest.

  “Thank you both for last night,” Alvin said. “It was different than our normal romps, but it was nice.”

  “Hard for you to not take control,” Becky muttered as she kissed his neck again. Her hand slipped south, “And hard now too, it seems.”

  “With you two holding me like this and kissing me, that’s normal,” Alvin exhaled with an approving moan as her hand began to slowly stroke him.

  “We will help, Hero,” Kuro purred, beginning to trail kisses down his chest.

  “Yes. Yes, you will,” Alvin agreed and took Kuro by the hair. “Breakfast is served. Make sure to share with Gothy.”

  Becky’s eyes sparkled as his hand tangled in her hair, guiding them both to his pressing need. “Starting the day with my favorite treat? I must have been a very good girl.”

  “You were a very attentive one last night,” Alvin moaned as both women devoted their attention to his stiff shaft. “Now remember to share.”

  It was over an hour later when the three of them left the bedroom. Jarvis looked up from his seat at the table, a mug in hand. “Ah. I shall put the finishing touches on breakfast now. Three minutes.” He gestured at the pot on the table, “Coffee is ready for you.”

  “Thanks, man,” Alvin replied.

  “You are going to be having younger guests in the base today, sir?”

  “That is the plan, yeah.”

  “Obviously not all of them at once,” Becky added. “I’m thinking we should bring in any set groups first, then bring the rest in clumps of five. We going to be advisors while they run through a simulation?”

  “Yup. We’re not getting involved,” Alvin said as he poured himself a cup of coffee. “Drop them into Green River the day after the change. If they survive that, we’ll put them in a couple other scenarios and see how they do. If the group fails the first, they won’t see the other ones.”

  “Understood,” Kuro murmured. “I would suggest one of them be set in Darkhome. Maybe defending the towns against the necromancers?”

  “We’ll use that as the last one,” Alvin said. “It’ll help them understand that the world is still entirely unfair, though we might give them a Humvee for that.”

  “If Susan agrees,” Becky added.

  “There is that,” Alvin nodded. “I’m thinking we should leave in a couple of days. I’m getting bored here... well, outside of the base, I’m bored,” Alvin chuckled.

  Becky smirked, “Nice to know it’s not inside the base.”

  “Breakfast,” Jarvis said, interrupting them. “It took less time than I anticipated to finish.” He took his seat after refilling his mug of tea.

  “Just had to melt the cheese on?” Alvin asked as he picked up a chunk of cheese-covered egg and hash browns on his fork.

  “Correct.”

  “We weren’t too late, then,” Becky said after her first bite.

  “I had it set aside, ready to finish when you emerged from your bedroom,” Jarvis replied.

  “This is good, Jarvis,” Kuro replied. “I’m curious, and I wanted to ask... why are you not younger? As an elemental, it would have been easy to portray any age. I know now that you are an AI, but, still, why not have a younger body?”

  “An interesting question,” Jarvis smiled. “The answer is that I requested this one. I like to think of myself as the older, wiser gentleman who helps guide sir and miss through their lives. There was also the thought that anyone else who ended up in the base, such as yourself, would find me less threatening if I was older.”

  “I thought it was the devs just being dicks,” Alvin said around a mouthful of food.

  “Not this time, sir. This was indeed my own choice. It also frees me from some of the other concerns that might accompany a younger body.”

  “Like these two parading around in little to nothing?” Alvin asked.

  “Indeed, sir. While I still enjoy the sight, I am not rendered a drooling idiot…” Jarvis’ face was utterly deadpan while looking right at Alvin.

  “Hey, now, I rarely drool,” Alvin laughed.

  “Mostly makes us drool on him,” Becky added sotto voce.

  “I can make sure that stops,” Alvin replied with a raised eyebrow.

  “No, no, no, let’s not be hasty,” Becky backpedaled, holding up her hands in surrender.

  Jarvis went on, “If I was younger, being a butler in this base would be… frustrating.”

  “Fair,” Alvin nodded. “Would it have been a real problem?”

  “I believe so, sir,” Jarvis nodded. “I have other urges— food mostly, but I have no reason to believe I wouldn’t be as normal as miss or Mousie.”

  “Okay, no guys in the base outside of fuddy-duddy here.”

  “We don’t want any other men in the base except for tours and training anyway. Right, Mousie?”

  “Yes, Gothy.”

  “Glad we’re all agreed,” Alvin chuckled as he pushed his empty plate away. “I’ll go talk with Susan. Gothy, would you program the training room for four different scenarios, please?”

  “I’ll take care of it,” Becky smiled. “Green River and necromancers I know, but did you have requests for the other two?”

  “No, just use something we’ve encountered before so we can attest that it’s real.”

  “Got it, Hero,” Becky said as she fini
shed her coffee.

  “I’ll help, Gothy,” Kuro said.

  “I will prepare drinks and snacks for your guests,” Jarvis said as he collected the plates.