《Dreams of Liberation: The Rhapsody》 Track 01: Asleep Track 01: Asleep Awaken my runner, my maestro, your time has come The Composer The bass climbs as we near the drop. I feel them in seven countries, eight different locations, and 18 million streams. We are worldwide, baby! All of them, listening to my newest masterpiece. Mixing the new Andros Arrow joint, ¡°Remember We Were Golden¡± and a classic from King Kross, ¡°Down at the Dock.¡± The bass drops. I can feel the energy leap up at me when in finally happens and the crowds all over the world go wild and I¡¯m everywhere at once. I feel them writhing beneath me. Exclamations feel like a torrential rain on my skin. They are pure electricity dancing in my veins and it feels like I¡¯ve woken up from a slumber lasting months. Their energy is mine and they feed the whole of me. ¡°Say my name and bring the noise!¡± I command. It¡¯s after the set and when I finally unplug, it¡¯s still in me, their voices, the screams, the cheers. Calling my name ¡°MAX NOISE! MAX NOISE!¡± I still feel like him. Max, when I¡¯m up there. King of all I see before me. It¡¯s a rush. I never want to come down. Tugging the headband down from my Mind-Link XRS and wear the headphones down around my neck; black and gold. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen a better combo. My heads-up display is still live through the contacts in my eye. Taking my headphones off, the Do Not Disturb icon appears at the top right corner of my heads up display. I remember the commercial where I got paid, and they threw these in as a bonus. I wore Grav boots and skated upside down to show off the way the psylink can lock on to your ears, even upside down. Grav boots being the second incarnation of hover boots, mostly because not everyone liked the way they only could keep you hovering a few inches off the ground. The boots allow someone to cling to surfaces with a static adhesion. It has a cool effect in tunnels and along magstrips. One day I¡¯m getting a pair and no one will keep me down. As I make my way to my green room, I smile under my face mask. Barely keeping my composure and not jumping in the air, pumping my arm. Moving down the dark hallway backstage, it¡¯s like everything melts away and only that energy was the guy who went on before me, comes out of his green room. The mask slides back into place and I allow my face to settle in. He dresses in DJ Casual with some white and black street wear that won¡¯t have made it to our shores for another year. It¡¯s a pretty cool look if I¡¯m honest, with his hair matching it, which he must have generated. I think he¡¯s the DJ Tiger White. He goes into dap me up, his tan skin interlocking with my darker skin tone. And try to fold in a new move like we¡¯re tight. It wasn¡¯t all that. I force myself to keep my expression pleasant. I think when I met him last year at Nightingale Fest 2035; he said something about how hard it was being Korean American and living in the US after the bullshit that went down a few years back. That almost endeared me to him but, when I was gonna add an anecdote about messed up that was when he kind of bowled all over me and asked me about where to get a drink. ¡°Hey there¡¯s an after party over at Calla¡¯s place.¡± He says expectantly. Noticing my expression hasn¡¯t changed, he quickly adds. ¡°I¡¯d really like to finally get you out at one of these. I never see you spending time enjoying your success. You deserve a night out.¡± I¡¯ve never really enjoyed this line of thought. That somehow doing the things I love even for work isn¡¯t fun. I have always loved making music and I don¡¯t enjoy this notion. ¡°I¡¯ll think about it.¡± I say the vocoder in my mask, making my voice deeper. I wore the mask in the beginning when it made sense to keep my identity a secret. Eventually, it became part of the persona and I upgraded it a bit. The hours I spent making sure the pitch and the tone were right, so it sounded like a human and not like a certain samurai space wizard. Tiger looks disappointed, but he nods and lets me past. He mutters something about seeing me around and we go our separate ways. Didn¡¯t know he cared¡­ I almost feel bad about turning him down, but those things aren¡¯t my scene anymore. Or ever, really. I¡¯m thirty and I¡¯ve got¡­ I dunno. I want something that feels more fulfilling than sitting around with a few people I¡¯ve never met shooting the shit while the youngest of us hook up in the not so private corners. My greenroom door opens, and she¡¯s there. Misha Caldwell. Manager extraordinaire and goddess in slacks. The smile on her face is forged in a fire of dealing with music executives and talent. Her dimples shine and I¡¯m taken in completely. You¡¯d think by now I¡¯d get used to seeing her but, there¡¯s just something about Misha Caldwell. ¡°Hey.¡± And in her way, it means everything and nothing all at the same time. Like she¡¯s expecting more, but I just say, ¡°Hey.¡± And before I know it, our lips are on each other and we somehow stumble to the couch and trip coming apart for a moment. She smiles for real this time and we chuckle. She gets out of our tangle, straightening up her clothes. Sauntering over to the mini fridge, pulling out a beer and a soda, using the bottom of the can to open the bottle. Passing me the can, she looks me up and down. ¡°You clean up nice.¡± ¡°You picked it out.¡± ¡°I have good taste.¡± ¡°What¡¯s it gonna cost me?¡± She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms, putting down the beer on a side table. A sigh leaves her mouth, and she looks at me straight in the eyes. The good mood and playfulness leaving her body. ¡°When are you gonna enjoy this, Mix?¡± She looks down, her finger playing in the coast of someone¡¯s condensation circle. ¡°You¡¯re one of Sunspot Records¡¯ biggest acts. Only below the likes of greats like Andros Arrow and Planet¡¯s Core. Why not enjoy this, instead of trying to live like a broke college student?¡± I try to interrupt, but her eyes flash back up to me. ¡°Why is it so hard for you to accept good things, Mix?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that, Misha, I just¡­¡± I get up and envelop her in my arms. ¡°I love my life the way it is. I get to enjoy doing the thing I do best and then I get to go home to my quiet life.¡± Deepening my voice, my hand on her chin, bringing her face up to mine. ¡°I get the best manager to put me on the best projects like this Mind-Link stuff.¡± Nervously, I fiddle with my headphones. ¡°I know we aren¡¯t about labels, but getting to spend time with you has been amazing.¡± Misha smiles reluctantly. ¡°I want you to go to the after party.¡± I sigh and fall back onto the couch, breaking contact. ¡°It¡¯s good for you to be seen with the people.¡± She collapses next to me on the couch. ¡°No one knows who you are.¡± She puts her head on my shoulder. ¡°Except me. Which is great.¡± She pokes my chest with her finger and begins drawing a circle. ¡°In a whatever-we-are, but not so great in a client.¡± ¡°A whatever-we-are?¡± ¡°It fits¡­¡± She puts her legs over mine. ¡°I¡¯m an employee of Sunspot. It¡¯s a bit tacky for me to be dating the talent.¡± I try not to let the words burn. I know what it is. Misha Caldwell doesn¡¯t misspeak. ¡°You can¡¯t live your whole life in that apartment. The world is a big place, and it¡¯s just waiting for that big personality to get out into it.¡± Turning up to the penthouse and it¡¯s wild. Calla really did the damn thing. Forget the party, the interior and exterior design are breathtaking. Everything is sharp edges and translucent to reflect the neon and colors of Electric City. It mostly being a Lawn Party forty stories in the air, definitely is some kind of power move. The infinity pool gives me a heart attack just thinking about getting into a pool with barely any borders. I know it¡¯s supposed to feel as if you''re floating above everything, but I can¡¯t imagine doing something like that. I feel like Misha would have loved this. Instead, she swatted me on my ass and sent me away. Calla, being a part-time heiress and a part-time actress, spends a lot of time at raves and festivals hosted by the city. She¡¯s like an unofficial mayor. If you want to know anything that¡¯s happening in the city, talking to her is probably the best way to find out. You know she briefly dated Andros Arrow and even King Kross¡¯ son before coming out. Hasn¡¯t looked back since. I mean, there really isn¡¯t Pride in Electric City without her. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.Tiger White waves me over, his body language shows just how happy he is that I came. ¡°Hey man- Sorry.¡± ¡°It¡¯s cool.¡± I shrug. Misgendering isn¡¯t something new and probably won¡¯t stop here. ¡°Have you seen the party, girl? It¡¯s been a minute since we¡¯ve gotten to catch up.¡± ¡°Oh, you know, Calla?!¡± ¡°She and my brother went to school together. They were never great friends.We ran into each other at a function or two. We struck up an acquaintance from there.¡± I look over at him. He has a strange expression on his face.¡±What? Did I say something weird?¡± He looks taken aback. ¡°No, it¡¯s just this is the first time since I¡¯ve known you for what¡­ three years that you¡¯ve volunteered information about yourself.¡± Three years, really? That can¡¯t be true. No, he might actually be right. ¡°How about one more for it, then?¡± I chuckle. Weirdly enough, I¡¯m actually enjoying my time hanging out with this guy. ¡°I have synesthesia. It lets me feel the texture of music, sounds, anything really.¡± I put my hand out, feeling out the song on the stereos. ¡°This song feels like¡­ running your hand over unfinished wood. The bass that¡¯s so heavy in it feels like the knots.¡± ¡°Oh that¡¯s really interesting.¡± He taps his chin. ¡°Do all songs have different feels?¡± ¡°Most I can fit into a few boxes, but a lot of certain genres have similar feels. When I mix though, it¡¯s like I put similar components together and it really makes an interesting feeling.¡± ¡°Wow, no wonder your shows have such an otherworldly vibe.¡± He nods his head. ¡°I¡¯d really like to spin with you sometime.¡± ¡°Yeah, I think I¡¯d like that.¡± His shows were powerful. Less House and dancehall and more thumping, kinda like the rave music that was so popular in the 90s. After a while, we ran out of things to say. I silently take in the atmosphere. The city seems really beautiful tonight. Like it¡¯s nostalgic and new at the same time. The dancing lights and neon glowing buildings. I still don¡¯t understand how they did that but, it¡¯s breathtaking at night. Even with the orange building of Sunspot Records. ¡°This is one of the best views in the city.¡± ¡°One of?¡± ¡°Gotta a killer view of both the bay and the ocean.¡± ¡°Oh! That does sound pretty good.¡± Takes a sip of his drink and we both look out over the city. The oddly companionable silence was nice. I think I might actually like being here. Electric City is an island made at the mouth of The Chesapeake Bay and The Atlantic Ocean. It was a dream by some billionaire to bring a lot of tech and music commerce back to the South. And if he knew what it was really gonna be, I don¡¯t think he would have ended up selling man-made Island to Sunspot Records who really revolutionized the city. Really gave music what it needed, a stage to play on. The Electric Renaissance really saved the music industry and brought artists back. Thank someone for that. Either way, Electric City is that new shit. Nightingale has nothing on us. Calla finally sought me out after I was counting down the time until it was impolite before I got out of there. If I didn¡¯t know any better, I think she knew when to approach. Waiting until I was ready to leave and springing on me. ¡°How¡¯s it going, Mix?¡± Her honeyed voice comes from my right, startling me. ¡°I can still call you that, right? I don¡¯t have to call you by your stage name?¡± She chuckles at the last part. ¡°Of course not, Calla.¡± A genuine smile comes to my face for the first time at the party. ¡°You know nothings off limits for you.¡± I open my arms for a hug and she squeezes me back. ¡°I¡¯ve missed you, kid.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t call me that. I¡¯m not just your kid brother¡¯s friend. I¡¯m all grown up now.¡± ¡°Uh-huh,¡± I say smirking. She punches me in my arm. It¡¯s the first time I notice what she¡¯s wearing, and it¡¯s an amber-colored linen pant suit that hangs on her in just the right way. It¡¯s perfect for a southern summer and it directly contradicts the vibe I was getting from everyone else. Plus the way it pops on her ebony skin. It¡¯s tasteful while still being fun and that¡¯s actually a lot different from the rave girl I saw three years ago. ¡°I want you to meet someone.¡± She gestures behind her. ¡°I¡¯m already seeing some-¡± From behind her comes a woman in a beautiful, fuchsia dress and a tight smile. I think she might be just as uncomfortable meeting me as I am at this party. Her voluminous honey brown curls, while probably looking nice on her, normally almost hide her heart-shaped face. She was holding close to her a supped up screen. Just a sleek black frame and hologram ports. The fact it¡¯s made of T-metal instead of glass makes it even more expensive. Trans-metal looks like glass, but has the durability of a tank. It¡¯s not just bullecurls,t proof, it can deflect them if you have an angle on it. Fireproof and sheds heat like just about nothing else. They¡¯re even used in those Reticles, psylink the military were so fond of. I don¡¯t know what war zone she thought she was heading into, but she bought the right tool for it. If she wasn¡¯t in such an amazing dress, I would think she was Calla¡¯s overpaid assistant, but¡­ ¡°This must be the girlfriend.¡± I put a hand out to shake, which seems like the vibe, and she takes it gratefully. Definitely not a hugger. ¡°Alicia Monte Claire.¡± The introduction relaxes her, putting us on firmer footing. With the speed of thought, I look her up. Everything comes up and gets consumed in the time it takes for us to finish our handshake. Alicia Monteclaire is a badass. A law attorney with some blood on her briefcase. Ten landmark cases and even one that the Supreme Court was debating in the next few months. This clashes distinctly with the person she seems to be right now. ¡°You just looked into me, didn¡¯t you?¡± I guess my face must show my surprise because she nails me to the spot with her look. The anxiety is gone and her mouth becomes a firm line. Her posture straightens and her eyes sparkle. ¡°You know that¡¯s very rude right?¡± I looked over at Calla to bail me out cause I wasn¡¯t expecting this one-eighty. She just shrugs with a ¡°You¡¯re on your own expression.¡± ¡°Ever since people got those psylinks, they¡¯ve gotten even more bold with doing stuff like that. That pisses me off.¡± I could see the fire in her eyes may not be completely directed at me, but I¡¯m here, so the ire is mine. ¡°When you see the defense actually looking up precedents while they¡¯re interviewing a witness? During closing arguments? Running background AI to make sure their words are right?! Technology has ruined my profession!¡± I started backing up without realizing. This definitely was the lawyer that all those cases were showcasing. She is formidable. ¡°I seem to have really stepped in it. I shouldn¡¯t have done that. I was worried about Calla but, with someone like you around, I don¡¯t think I have anything to worry about.¡± I give my best disarming smile. ¡°But I think the psylink is an amazing piece of tech. What were we doing earlier tonight? That wouldn¡¯t have been possible with screens or the old net. I was in seven venues at once and receiving stimuli from multiple places, and sorted and compartmentalized. It¡¯s done miraculous things for the world.¡± Okay, I know it sounds like I¡¯m bought in and that¡¯s only because I am. I mean¡­ I was definitely the right person for Sunspot Records to pick me to be their spokesperson/ marketing plant. New tech? Yes, please. I want to be on the bleeding edge. There¡¯s so many people in this world the peripheral has already helped. Blind people could now see with AR sight connections. Deaf people could also hear. All if they wanted, Deaf and Blind people have cultures all their own and forcing anyone to change? That would be fucked up. Giving those who wish to have those experiences that choice? That would be wonderful. Telekinesis and levitation work that people are using at jobs every day improves safety conditions. The fact they needed multiple people just to move a pencil¡­ was less amazing and just makes it a work in progress. We have made leaps and bounds in nearly every strata since psylinks came online 7 years ago. We¡¯re getting closer and closer to something like a Sci-Fi novel and it means things could end up better for all people. Now, I¡¯m not talking about a utopia, I just think there¡¯s a chance we could create a world where we meet people¡¯s needs. ¡°There¡¯s a catch, there¡¯s always a catch.¡± She says. Narrowing her eyes and straightening her posture, clutching the screen towards her. ¡°Something is wrong with it. It gives me a bad feeling.¡± Track 02: NREM Track 02: NREM I call the elevator as soon as I walk into the lobby, already telling it to take me to the 10th floor, wordlessly. The mentally activated subroutines are second nature. Once inside, I feel like I can finally relax. The rubber band snaps and I want to collapse. It¡¯s been a long ass day and way too many emotions. And I swear if another thing happens¡­ The elevator dings and as I walk out and trudge to my door. My eyes lock with the cutie down the hall. She fiddles with her keys and gives me a confident smile. Instant butterflies. We¡¯ve never talked but sometimes I catch her at the end of one of her shifts and she gives me a smile that almost seems like an invitation. Neighbor cutie is curvy. Like the kind that if any of the Renaissance era painters had any sense, she¡¯d be their muse. Her smile was crooked and filled with promises of secrets. Something about her PsyTech jumpsuit and the tools hanging off her belt let me know she¡¯s way more than capable. The tiny bits of customization like the handkerchief wrapped around her hair to sit on top. Psytech is an amazing company to work for. If you''re actually an engineer there you¡¯d have to graduate top of your class and have some crazy experience just to get considered. With their signature turquoise jumpsuits, they work on implementing The Mind-Link Psylinks into everyday tech. They are the ones behind the telekinesis engine that have a bunch of people working together to move rubble in emergencies and even construction projects. Fucking telekinesis in our time?! Robero might have finally got flying cars off the ground, but they are still mostly prototypes after three years. The fact she works there means she¡¯s probably working on the cutting edge. If I had half a bit of confidence, I¡¯d walk over there and get her contact and invite her for a nightcap. She¡¯d probably end up turning me down. There¡¯s just something about her that makes me feel like a kid again. Even though Misha and I are doing whatever we are, we aren''t exclusive. Nothing is stopping me from walking across the room and talking to her. Before I even make my mind up, I¡¯m walking down the hallway. ¡°Hi.¡± I try hard as fuck not to let my nervousness show in my voice, but just being this close to her has my heart beating so fast I hear it in my ears. A small warning flash in the corner of my health readout saying that my heart rate was increasing rapidly and to monitor it. ¡°I was wondering when you¡¯d actually come over and say hi.¡± She smiles up at me. She¡¯s obviously still pretty tired. It¡¯s the small hours of the morning, she¡¯s just shining through it. It¡¯s contagious because it feels like the last few hours didn¡¯t happen. ¡°It took a while to get my confidence up. I¡¯m Mix, Mix Rhapsody.¡± I lean into my nervousness a little and put my hand out for a shake. She looks from me to the hand and back again, a smirk coming to her face, and she shakes my hand. ¡°That¡¯s an interesting name. I guess I¡¯ll have to update you in my group chat from cute party guy.¡± ¡°I¡¯m talked about in your group-¡± ¡°Gabrielle Johnson.¡± ¡°You work at Psytech, right?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± she spins and shows me her vivid jumpsuit. ¡°The uniform give it away?¡± ¡°Yeah and honestly I¡¯m kind of a Psylink nerd, so you being so cute wasn¡¯t the only reason I wanted to talk to you.¡± ¡°Alright, that was kinda smooth. You get points for that.¡± ¡°Points? Are we playing some kind of game?¡± The more we talk, the more I lean into her. She really is just pulling me into her orbit. I have absolutely no qualms about it. ¡°Yes, of course. Keep up or you¡¯ll start losing points.¡± ¡°Yeah, I gotta win.¡± ¡°Are you competitive, Mr.-¡± ¡°Actually, I¡¯m Non-Binary. So M. or Maestrum works.¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry. My bad.¡± She scratches the back of her head through her afro. ¡°No worries.¡± I chuckle. ¡°We just met.¡± She shifts her body weight and I notice the heavy tools in her hands. I can tell that it¡¯s probably too heavy. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry. How rude of me. You¡¯re just gettin back from a long work night and I¡¯m keeping you from-¡± She puts her hand on my chest to stop me from spiraling. The arm had a few black lines that centered on each of her joints standing out from her skin tone. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I do have to turn in but, I really wanted to talk to you.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± I say genuinely and after we just stand there in companionable silence just looking at each other for a moment. ¡°Gabrielle, about your arm-¡± She winces. ¡°Max!¡± My neck snaps back and my brother is there, right in the middle of the corridor. The hard look on his face makes me think something is wrong. Carter is dressed smartly in a slightly rumpled gray suit with a sky blue shirt for a pop of color and a black tie to keep it classy. His signature gold-rimmed glasses take it to another level. There¡¯s a lot of things we got from our parents, but we definitely learned to dress. He had me out here looking shabby with my new fit. ¡°I think this is my cue to leave.¡± Gabrielle slips into her apartment. ¡°Until our next late night rendezvous.¡± The door slips close before I can even say something. ¡°Carter? What¡¯s wrong? Is it Mom?¡± I give him my full attention even though I want to do nothing more than knock on apartment 108¡¯s door. I didn¡¯t think it was my last chance, but almost like this night was never gonna end. ¡°Nothing,¡± Carter says, looking and speaking uncomfortably. ¡°I just wanted to see you.¡± ¡°At 3 am?¡± ¡°I just got off work and I know you keep late nights.¡± There¡¯s something in his face that gives me pause. ¡°I really just wanted to check in.¡± He sighs. ¡°Okay.¡± I walk over and open my door and fish out my keys from my pocket and let him in. ¡°Next time call first, little bro.¡± I chuckle. My apartment looks exactly as I left it. A cramped studio apartment with cozy nooks and my whole gamer deck rocking in the north corner. My retro music collection with CDs, cassettes, and vinyl all chilling out in the storage under my bed. Which faces out on the city in a perfect view of both the bay and the ocean, with the skyscrapers and neon buildings holding up the sky. It was my oasis. My calm. And I don¡¯t normally have people here. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.Carter¡¯s laser eyes locking onto the mess probably don¡¯t see it for the wonder it is for me. Yeah, there are probably more empty glasses I haven¡¯t gotten around to cleaning up yet. I just can¡¯t think of this place as anything short of home. Clothes strewn everywhere, trying to pick out my clothes for tonight only to pick my best sleeveless hoodie and jeans with a new jacket from Swerve School. Not the best fit. It gets the job done, though. ¡°Your apartment-¡± Carter says ¡°Don¡¯t start. This is my home, and it has windows.¡± ¡°Windows?¡± ¡°Do you have any idea how hard it is to get windows on this side of town? No? Didn¡¯t think so.¡± He holds his hands out in a calming gesture. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. This isn¡¯t why I¡¯m here.¡± The aggrieved expression on his face hasn¡¯t left since he made himself known. There¡¯s some kind of pain there. ¡°Then why are you here, Carter?¡± I sigh. ¡°You turn up in the middle of the night while I¡¯m finally talking to the cute woman who is on my floor. Excellent timing, by the way.¡± I take a soda out of my crowded fridge and toss him one of Misha¡¯s beers. He catches it and opens it barehanded. He takes a sip, looks down at the bottle to see the brand, appreciation on his face all while I¡¯m waiting for him to answer. ¡°I got a good friend with expensive tastes.¡± I say off-handedly. He gives me a look that says really nigga? Crazy side-eye. ¡°Just a friend.¡± He walks over to the window looking out on the city. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the boardwalk. I miss going there with you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not what I asked¡­¡± We sat quietly in the street car watching the world go by, even the latest partiers leaving the bar, some people starting up for the earliest of mornings beating the sunrise. He stares off in the middle distance, probably checking his mail or checking up on his patients. Doctor Alleyne is very much in demand. Being a prodigy and graduating from medical school at twenty-four. While he still is a resident surgeon, he¡¯s already getting honors. I think he had an interview on a medical podcast a few weeks ago; I heard he killed it. That makes me really proud of the man he¡¯s become. My brother, the star surgeon. Eating kebabs from the early morning vendor, we enjoy the view of the beach on Oceanside. Why is he up so late? He says something about the late night partiers and for the surfers after the first waves of the morning. Chatting with him for a minute was nice. He tells us about his favorite early morning patrons as we gobble down the greasy meat. There¡¯s something wonderful about greasy food right before the sun comes up at the end of a long night. ¡°Our parents asked me to check on you.¡± Carter finally says with the dark ocean in the background, waves crashing against the pier. A buoy floats as the sky is slowly lightening. A security drone makes its patrol over the waves. It¡¯s a while before I say anything, really enjoying the companionable silence that only comes with over twenty years of knowing someone whose blood is yours. ¡°I guess I can¡¯t really be surprised.¡± I sigh. ¡°What¡¯s the worry this time?¡± Slumping my back toward the railing. ¡°They don¡¯t apply themselves. They¡¯re too antisocial. When are you coming to see the family? This whole Non-binary thing being a cry for help or something. That¡¯s what they¡¯re saying.¡± I sigh. ¡°It¡¯s always something.¡± ¡°Can you blame us?¡± Carter looks over to me, his glasses shining in the low glow. ¡°It feels like this came out of nowhere and you changed your name, our last name, and you kept just moving away from us.¡± ¡°I want my own life. A life where I didn¡¯t have to fit in a box for someone else.¡± It¡¯s the same thing all the time. I wanted something for myself and they couldn¡¯t handle it. ¡°And I visit you. I saw you last-¡± ¡°Last year. You came by my place last year.¡± He says frustratedly, ¡°Look, I know you¡¯re busy, but we miss you. I miss you.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t get my name right.¡± My tone is dry. ¡°You called me Max. My name is Mix. Fucking Calla gets it. Why can¡¯t you?¡± He looks taken aback for a moment and looks at the planks of tired wood beneath our feet. ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t understand, it¡¯s just that we were brothers and I guess I¡¯m still grieving that loss.¡± ¡°Just because we¡¯re not ¡®brothers¡¯ doesn¡¯t mean we aren¡¯t family and siblings.¡± It might have been cruel, but I kinda feel the air quotes are necessary. ¡°No matter if I¡¯m Mix or Max, I will never not be the person you grew up with. I am not a different person. I''m just not afraid of being myself.¡± As we walk down the pier, the sun rising behind us; we hear a crash and before I know it I¡¯m taking off. The footsteps behind me tell me that Carter¡¯s right behind me as we come to the place where the kebabs stand used to be. We find a horrible misshapen wreck. The metal bent and twisted while broth, meat, and vegetables were splashed all over the boardwalk. As we search the area for the man, we see a black ash outline on the deck. It was the exact size and shape of the man¡­ As I look around, I notice we¡¯re alone on the beach. There¡¯s no one out. Not even the handful of surfers we saw riding the first waves of the morning. Cars are still here but not a soul on the beach to watch a Saturday morning sunrise. I see a lonely floating surfboard floating in the ocean. ¡°What the fuck?!¡± I feel my whole body seize up and my chest gets tight. Carter taps my shoulder and it staves off the panic. I look to where he¡¯s pointing and a massive man in what looks like an all-black chroma key body suit. It''s lifting a strongly built surfer woman from off her feet by her neck. In one hand, it was crushing her windpipe. The woman looks to be taller than even Carter and the way she was bashing her assailant''s arm, even bloodying her own fists. There was no give, and I knew instantly if that man, that thing, turned its eyes on me, I would be dead. Before he or I could do anything, the shadowman brings up their other hand, and a flash comes from in it and the woman is gone. Just gone. Ash falls down to create an outline on the ground below. Her exact body shape now appears on the ground. I couldn¡¯t help it, I scream. I don¡¯t even know the sound is coming from me before it¡¯s all I can hear. This is like something from the last Sci-Fi movie I watched. Holy shit. ¡°Run, we have to run, Carter.¡± Carter stands by me, motionless. I slap him across the face. Smack, the sound reverberates in the stillness. ¡°We have to go, now!¡± He finally understands and runs. I take off after him. I¡¯m directly on his heels. And then it happens. A sharp pain in my chest tears through me and instead of seeing the back of Carter¡¯s head, I am seeing the bottom of his shoes. Crashing to the ground, I reach for him and call for his help, but the only sound that comes out in a wet rasp. I roll over to look down and myself and I see what could only be a bullet hole. I only now remember the sound of the gun going off. There¡¯s black pooling around the edges of my eyesight. I could tell I was gonna pass out from the pain alone. I hear whirring that reminds me of servos and the thumping of heavy boots on the boardwalk. The soulless creature looks down at me and raises its hand. An energy and a light builds from within the man¡¯s hand. And I am ready to be no more. And no more I am. Track 03: DreamRunner Track 03: DreamRunner Awaken my runner, my maestro, your time has come I wake up from a dream that seems to last forever. I replay those last moments, my last moments, over and over. Every time I blink, I see my death up close and personal. The faceless thing hanging over me, the feeling of all the power in my limbs, leaving me. The bright flash. My breath comes quickly and the tightness in my chest returns. The frigid air is thin and tight in my lungs. Now don¡¯t do that¡­ It''s bad luck if you die on my watch. What? The shock of hearing that voice snaps me out of my panic attack. I look around for the first time, seeing I¡¯m in some kind of medical exam room. The objects look odd and, if I¡¯m honest, I don¡¯t know that I¡¯d be able to pick them out of a lineup. Dressed in only what I could call some kind of leggings. They didn¡¯t leave much to the imagination. I glance down at my bare, freshly shaved chest. In the place where my wound should have been, there was nothing. No wound. No bandages. No scar. Nothing. It was as if I had just dreamed it, but how could you dream of death? I¡¯m gonna let you know right at the top, you aren¡¯t crazy. The voice came through my¡­ headphones. I was on someone¡¯s operating table and still had my psylink on. Oh, that¡¯s going to make this a lot easier for you. I¡¯m lucking out on you have one of those. I mean, I was going to pick one up before things went down, but I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s a bad idea now. ¡°W-Who are you?¡± I push my voice out past the broken rasp of ill used vocal cords. I¡¯m your magic fairy helper. The voice mocks me. ¡°Be straight.¡± If I still had any patience to lose, this would be the end of it. I¡¯m Kohl. Also, you don¡¯t have to talk out loud. I can hear you if you speak in your mind. Not everyone has an inner monologue. I however, am self centered enough to have one. Yes, and no. The picture of someone seesawing their hands back and forth appeared in my mind¡¯s eye. I am processing all your immediate sensory inputs and your thoughts directed towards me. Other than that, I don¡¯t even know your name. A fake cough is projected into my head. It¡¯s a pretty clumsy way of giving me a nudge until they were actually nudging the words, your name, in my head. This is crazy. I thought I told you. You weren¡¯t crazy. You practically yelled that at me. Either way, there are a few things you should know before getting started. So get comfortable. If I can swing it, you won¡¯t be disturbed. I take my headphones down off my head and place them around my neck. I just need the brain space. Part of me can¡¯t wrap my head around the mind to mind communication. There¡¯s an odd weight to it. Is this really different from the show I put on last night? They had me playing seven different venues, playing different songs, and I felt the energy in the rooms and even the different climates where some of those shows were happening. The press of bodies in Greenland under the northern lights differed from the underground rave in Russia. I can almost feel the wind on my face from the Singaporean bacchanal on the roof of that one boat-like building. That looks breathtaking. I hear a sigh come from Kohl, this time directly in my head. So I can¡¯t really get away from him. Hanging my head, I sigh. This is all too much. I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m still new at this and learning how to do all of this. I¡¯ll try to give you more privacy. It¡¯s just that your mind is¡­ very loud. You¡¯re not dead, but you will be if you don¡¯t tell me your name! I could tell it is a joke, on the other hand, there¡¯s some seriousness about it. That¡¯s a very cool name. He, for that¡¯s the impression I¡¯m getting like very masculine energy. I wonder if he knows mine just by talking this way. If something as complicated as gender can be layered in telepathic speech, does that mean things like personality filter through? I mean, the tone is obviously coming through. Could that be altered, though? Pretending to be this disarming while holding other motives? It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you, Mix. There are a few things I want to go over with you. I need you to know. If at any point you need me to stop so you can process the information, just let me know it¡¯s a lot to take in. I nod, realizing he could see my movements and where I¡¯m looking even without me sending that information to him. The fact Kohl is just in my head is wild. Like a psychic parasite. This is a crazy update. I don¡¯t know that everyone would be excited for the release of telepathic calls with a video feature that you aren¡¯t able to turn off. You¡¯ve been asleep for four months. I put my hand on my head. Kind of it¡¯s called Group Think. It¡¯s an affliction cause by repeated exposure to people who are already under its control. Think of it like a mental illness but, it¡¯s contagious. The people you come into contact with or try to save can be used as weapons against you. Invasion! Aliens are real! Turns out the crazy conspiracy uncle is right, those people who are naturally on the outside of society are safer against it than most people. People who are neurodivergent, queer, a minority, people with disabilities. Anyone who doesn¡¯t quite fit in the mainstream tends to be more resistant against GT. Ah, you were a special case, because you were shot. You¡¯re gonna want to sit down for this. It¡­ is lizard people¡­ ¡°What?!¡± I can¡¯t help it, I cackle. It¡¯ll be a lot less funny if one of them comes back. Kohl¡¯s voice has lost a lot of his mirth. I think I need to be very clear at this moment, Mix. I can tell you most of what you need to know to survive the next ten minutes, but I need you just to assume I¡¯m telling the truth. You don¡¯t know me. Regardless of that, I need you to survive because you¡¯ll be my best chance at getting myself out of here. I know it¡¯s weird to say something about the tone of someone who can put images in my head, whose face I haven¡¯t seen before. Nevertheless, I believe him. There¡¯s something about Kohl that makes me want to trust him. Without hearing the fear in his voice, I think he¡¯s actually as afraid as I should be. He¡¯s trapped and I can help? I¡¯ll do my best to start from the beginning, Mind-Link, the company behind the psylinks and psynet, isn¡¯t the original inventors of that tech. It was given to them by another group, The Dominance, they just mass marketed to people all over the world. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. I don¡¯t know that they would get that reference. I will say, however, the vibe they¡¯re going for is most assuredly ¡°crush you under their booted heel and make you submit to their endless and superior power.¡± The Dominance is made up of a collection of alien species who have become an inter-galactic empire. A capitalist, militaristic regime, they swallow whole worlds just to use their populations as slaves for the production of weapons, vehicles, WMDs. They even press-gang some of you into fighting and tracking down the rest of your peoples. The Dominance isn¡¯t just humanity¡¯s enemy; they are the enemy of entire worlds. For The Dominance, taking over was old hat. They roped in your governments using lobbying, bribes, assassinations, and infiltrations and did whatever they could to dig their roots into all facets of life. Those structures they couldn¡¯t take over they would replace or have convenient wars started to weaken those countries until they accepted. You were actually one of those people your seven country show did gangbusters and tons of performing artist did things just like it. I¡¯m sorry I don¡¯t know who Misha is. She could be a part of it. She could also just be another cog in the wheel. And safety, The Capitalists wanted to make sure they didn¡¯t have to slave away with the rest of the plebians. If you¡¯ve seen what I¡¯ve seen, you¡¯d know that wasn¡¯t true. Take my word for it, things got a lot worse¡­ Yes, and no. The fact I could wake you means you¡¯re special. I¡¯ve been working to find people like you. DreamRunners. No, he chuckles, I¡¯m your DreamCrafter. I basically run logistics and make it easier for you to do your job. To fight The Dominance. Save our world. Actually¡­ Almost exactly. Thanks for wrapping it up so succinctly. You will be Storm and I¡¯ll be Professor X in this situation. That¡¯s my job. That¡¯s kinda up to you¡­ There¡¯s a beat where there¡¯s silence from the other end. Which is odd because I think this is the first time I¡¯ve noticed the silence in my head. Can you turn your head a bit? I turn my head to the monitor on my left and some actually alien writing that I¡¯ve never seen before in glowing blue blunt script. Holy shit¡­ Holy shit! Something on that screen must disturb him, cause the vibe he sent over was palpable. I don¡¯t know if he means to but the connection thrums. Fam, you have alien DNA. You¡¯re part alien. I sit there, taken aback, looking at the strange words on the screen. I think I might have probably learned too much today. I chuckle. The world differs completely from the one I fell asleep in. I take a deep breath and I swing my legs over the side of the cot, jumping down and land on my legs. I expect to for my legs to explode in pain but, when nothing happens, I get some stretching in. I want to make sure I¡¯m ready for whatever happens next. Do you want to talk about it? Kohl sounds uncomfortable, which is probably the right thing to feel when you blow someone¡¯s mind about not being completely human. Okay, just a few things left really¡­ From the rather calm, Kohl, I think he¡¯s a bit phased by all this. So you get stats and abilities. Because of the life you lived, you have certain skills assigned to you, so let¡¯s look at them. I¡¯m downloading an app to your headphones now. It will activate the DreamRunner protocols in your psylink. It¡¯s built in. A loading bar quickly zips across the front of my eyes and, just like that, it¡¯s done. I try not to think about what it means that someone I haven¡¯t met has this kind of access. A screen pops into my view. I hadn¡¯t realized my contacts were still in. It¡¯s a slightly transparent black window with gold lettering. A few notifications pop-up: Congratulations and Welcome Mix, we¡¯re so glad you¡¯ve joined our ranks. You have been awakened by DreamCrafter, Kohl. You are now considered one of his DreamRunners. If at any time you wish to leave and become a new DreamCrafter¡¯s runner, you may. Mold the psyfields and use Dream to change the world. Bend it to your will and save the universe! You have lived a life that has given you many great experiences. Now that you havee been awakened, your stats will affect this. I didn¡¯t mind how excited it seems, the only issue is it seems kinda nationalistic. It¡¯s selling so hard. I mean, it is saving the world, so I guess I can forgive it a bit. We apologize. In bringing you into the fold, we have made a decision to aid you as you grow. Recently, The Dominace has been brutal about stopping out the DreamRunners. Many have died in the pursuit of our goals. Normally, we offer a Skill for our DreamRunners that Awaken and that fits the person they wish to be or a continuation of their already amazing talents. For you, we have decided to withhold that ability and in return grant you a choice of Utility for your trouble. Because of your previous experience as DJ, an occupation that requires you to create music using pieces of the world around you, you have been given the option to gain a magic ability. Your choices are between Alchemy and Enchanting. We believe in your hands you can create new and exciting symphonies. Mix ¡°______¡± Rhapsody Level 1 (Rank 1) Die: 1 HP: 11 Will: 1 Reflex: 2 Creativity: 3 Talent: 2 Power: 2 Durability: 1 I say, trying to keep things light. Don¡¯t get carried away, however yes if you ever feel like I¡¯m not doing what I¡¯m supposed to you can leave. I just don¡¯t want you out there on your own. Yeah, while there aren¡¯t any classes, there¡¯s a bunch of types of magic to choose from. Try to choose something that will fit you and something you''ll enjoy in the future. I¡¯ll keep my psychic powers for now. Lemme look it up. While he went looking things up I wanted to see what my stats actually are I pop open the glossary by clicking on the stats one by one. Will is the manifestation of your ability to reject the influence of others on your mind. It will also keep you alive. Your Will being 1 is representative of the defense of the lion¡¯s share of people without being awakened. While you have the protection of a DreamCrafter, without it you could end up falling back into Group Think and/or becoming suborned. You will also need Will to keep your focus on abilities that require Focus. Reflex represents your psyfield¡¯s effect on your body¡¯s reflexes, speeding up your mind¡¯s and your body¡¯s reaction time. Having reflexes will not only help you get around, it will help you avoid danger. The higher this stat goes, you may gain something like a precognition. Creativity represents your ability to learn and pick up new ideas or create new things. Your ability to learn will serve you well when you¡¯re either crafting new potions or making magic weapons or items. The higher your stat the more potent your abilities are. Talent represents your ability to do hard skills. These are things you can learn by putting in the work. Painting, cooking, or architectural drafting, these must be honed and are not things anyone can do. Talent gets you better at what you¡¯re already good at. Creativity and Talent both feed into each other to make you a more knowledgeable and skilled person. Power is a manifestation of your influence on the world. While it¡¯s often the stat you¡¯ll use for attack, it will be the one you¡¯ll use for persuasion. This skill is also very important for Psychics. This stat has will and durablity as its counterpart. Durability represents your body¡¯s willingness to sustain damage and how much your body can sustain damage. The psyfields can make you more durable, harder to damage and even avoid lethal damage. Hit points are in most cases very simple, but it bears saying: Your health is determined by your durability as you rank up you will become even harder to kill. When you hit points, hit zero, it will be by determination of your Will if you can hang on. If you can¡¯t, you will pass out and become unconscious. In a dangerous place, this might spell your doom and make it possible to be killed easily. Ranks increse at every 6th level, which is a good determination of strenght and adds some variables to the damage you do when you use Power to attaqk. The higher the rank of the stat, the wider and more powerful the variable damage you do. Dream is the source of energy for all your utilities and special attacks. It regains after a full sleep cycle. As you gain levels, you gain more Dream you can use it to increase the damage or effectiveness of your abilities. Dream Dice are a metaphysical visualization of this ability. ¡°Rolling¡± one to add your abilities will grant you a small boost to your power. It can put you over Damage is calculated by you Power + Your Rank + and Weapon or ability/spell damage. Rank 1 is (1-5) Further breakdowns are available when you reach a higher rank or find higher ranked items. After the quick tutorial finishes, my Heads Up Display which before showed things like the weather, and quick readouts from my friends social media, now shows my hit points, my exhaustion, there are tabs for Utilities, Special Attacks, Knowledge, and Skills. Two black and gold pyramids glisten in the under my Hit Points. If this was a video game, it was a pretty clean display. Like the Psylink, of course it¡¯s fully customizable. Yeah, Mix? That¡¯s a tough question¡­ I think it¡¯s mostly that intelligence can¡¯t be quantified like that. IQ is a very flawed idea, I think, because it¡¯s broken down into things like Talent and Creativity. It makes a bit more sense. Your ability to learn new things and then your ability to use the things you know to do that thing. I think Strength is also something that doesn¡¯t quite translate. While you can reinforce the psyfields around and inside your body or wearing armor, you can¡¯t do much to improve the lifting or pushing strength of the human body. While you can physically start lifting weights and get to peak human condition, you won¡¯t exactly be able to go past that, not for long, or your body would break down. Track 04: Sorcery Track 04: Sorcery I say, hoping for some kind of insight. It seems like enchanting allows you to break down magical weapons and items. Recreating those effects on other items. Alchemy is taking chemicals to make potions, poisons, or explosions to help or torture your enemies. Pretty standard stuff. The hook, however, is that both choices will give you access to drops. For Enchanting, you get access to fragments which will be onetime use ones and when you break down an actual weapon, you¡¯ll be able to permanently store that enchantment. With Alchemy, you might get a pinch of this, a dash of that, and slowly build out a library of ingredients and reagents. It can do amazing things, but it would be hampered because you would be working mostly with consumables. You¡¯d be their master and really work well to buff your party members and yourself. Enchanting Ability Type: Control/ Magic/ At will Level 1: Blaze a trail with flaming weapons or build unbreakable walls. Confine the magic of a thousand ages into staff. Allows you to break down magic items to figure out how they work and recreate on your own. You can have enchanted two permanent items or six ammunition or 1 & 3 as the case, maybe. Requirements: Magic Mix Ability Type: Alchemy/ Crafting Dream Cost: 2 Level 1: You have learned how to mix real world science with your powers to make even bigger explosions and to develop medicine and potions that don¡¯t quite make sense in the world that used to exist. Can you turn lead into gold? Maybe you¡¯ll just have to figure it out, though. Mixing two consumables together to increase potency and yeild. It may also add new properties for dispersion. Requirements: Magic Interesting. Enchanting didn¡¯t require a Dream Cost but, they had some restrictions on how many active enchantments I could have going. It wasn¡¯t enough to outfit myself at least not yet, but it has the chance to become so much more powerful. Now alchemy had they chance to make has a nearly limitless ceiling but it would require me to get my hands on things. I wouldn¡¯t help me immediately and would require me to get my hands on explosives to really do some damage. I¡¯m not saying not ever, just.. It has to be enchanting. While alchemy is building things a lot like mixing tracks. Potions just don''t seem like the thing for me. When I see myself fighting aliens on the bridge of a starship, I don¡¯t see myself flinging potions or anything like that. But Enchanting feels like a perfect fit. I¡¯m gonna do some fucking damage, and loot drops make me think I can exploit the system. Flaming swords and flying carpets. I see you, fam. You can always pick something else up later. This won¡¯t be the last time you have a choice to make. We gotta make you a whole build. There¡¯s something about the ability to design your own build that kind of makes me giddy even down here in the dark. I mean looking through the skill trees, there are almost limitless things to come up with and Enchanting is just the start. Congratulations, You have chosen Enchanting! Work your way until you learn the art of an Artisan Mage to become a True Enchanter. Etch lost languages into weapons and armor and bring the new magical properties to non-magical items. Because you¡¯ve chosen a magic craft, all of your abilities (utilities and special attacks) are now classified as spells. Spells are the weakness of those creatures who have the Superstitious trait or are weak to magic. This will also make you less effective on those with the Skeptic trait and have resistance to magic. It will also eventually allow you to use certain items that can¡¯t be used by anyone but practitioners. As soon as the notification disappears, the room swims and morphs around me. Instead of the alien medical equipment, stark and dangerous and lying in wait in their trays, there was only darkness. In that darkness, the silhouette of a person. Golden sunlight shines down and obscures the form over a bench. The sound of metal sliding against metal and a song long forgotten enters my mind. Like waking from a daydream, I blink and I return to wakefulness. The world swims in front of my vision. Grounding myelf with the deep breathing exercises I learned from Dr. Moore. I slowly come back to myself. Not opening my eyes to read the notification in my vision. You have found a fragment of the Song of Enchantment. -fjpakdopa[kmfj[af[o The words artifact before me, like a game without the Day One patch. Glitching and folding in on itself, the notification vanishes and a new one slowly wades into view. -Remember me, Child of Waves and sing our song with your raised voice. As it disappears, a song enters my heart, my mind, my soul, my throat. I come to myself fully singing a piece of a chorus of a long, lost song. It isn¡¯t just my voice, my whole body sung like a tuning fork. In the singing, I feel a connection with life and death; the ancestors echoing back through the ages. From the motherland, to plantations in The South and furthermore in Barbados. Those who sat upon the ships bound and bound for The New World. Those who lived as architects, philosophers, merchants and scientist never knowing of what would happen to their lineage. And then a person shrouded in golden light. Each of them singing, each of their voices echoing and reflecting for all of time to an unknown future. Beautiful and magnificent, a tear trickles down my face and our faces. I rise into the air and the moment the song stops; I crash down to the ground. ¡°Never again.¡± We harmonize all as one. ¡°We will never be bound again!¡± The rage and hope of every one of them. I don¡¯t even know what that was. That didn¡¯t happen with any of the others¡­ Are you okay? Yes, the rest of your party is waiting for you. You just have to finish adding your abilities. Because of your Sulikani ancestry, you have the mutant ability, Siren. Siren allows you to mold the sound into sound constructs using Dream. It also creates a new organ in your body to resonate sound from not requiring you to use your voice. You can only sing two objects at a time. One with your throat and another with your Thurim, the organ inside of chest that allows you to sing through your body. You¡¯re a mutant. Well, if you have to, please do it quickly so I can find someone else to help me. I chuckle. It¡¯s something I¡¯m working on with my therapist. Too bad the world ended. We were just getting somewhere. Sarcasm pours through the connection. Magic seems to be almost like an aspected form of Dream. I like that in some ways I¡¯m way more powerful, but in some ways, I could find an opponent where my abilities would be pretty ineffective. I can¡¯t be mad though, for whatever bad is going on, I got magic out of it. The ability to be a part of setting things right. I have the power to change things. The Sulikani must have been the alien species that Kohl mentioned. I¡¯d like to say I can¡¯t believe it, it¡¯s just I felt them. Connected to all of my ancestors as they sang with me simultaneously. I wonder if they felt me too. This ability sounds incredibly useful. I wonder if this means I can make sound into weapons or other useful items. I can¡¯t wait to find out what I can do. I honestly don¡¯t know, though if you could pull off something like that, it could be incredibly powerful. You should try it out. I sing the bridge of one of the best Lauryn Hill songs. Holding my hands out, I felt the vibrations and slowly brought them together, morphing them from sound waves to particles, and on to shapes. Controlling sound is as easy as humming. I slowly made circles, squares, d20s, and then shuriken. I throw the shuriken at the wall and it sticks in. After leaving me they soon disperse, however the damage they do sticks around. Judging by the battle readout I can see when I call it up, each construct was about the strength of my Power damage with very little variable. Conjuring magic has always been a part of African and their diasporic religions and practices. Some part of me, and not just with my DNA being activated, is connected to this. Like second nature, my body has always wanted to reach out to sound and hold it. I¡¯ve had Synesthesia my whole life and it think this proves why it comes so easily to me. Feeling sound and music was the first step, and now I can control it. Not creating, conjuring. Taking a wave of energy and making it matter. I reach into that energy and create alternative forms. Mix, there are a few things you need to know. What all the numbers mean. This is going to be quick and dirty. Making sure you understand stats and rank numbers will make a lot of this easier. First, Ranks are kind of the bedrock for this system. Just about everything you run into, whether item, weapon, spell, or even person. If you picture each rank like a die, rank 1 is a d4. That means the differential is 1-4. This will become more important later. Rank 2 is a d6 and Rank 3 is a d8 and so on, all the way up to rank 6 being a d20. Next levels go from 1 to 30. 30 being the highest. Every 6th level, you go up a rank. So levels 1-5 you¡¯re rank 1 and at level 6 you¡¯re officially rank 2. This affects Dream Dice, which will be more important to you as you get into more dangerous situations. Sacrificing or crushing Dream Dice can give you the edge in a situation if you need it. This is only for emergencies and insurmountable opponents. Make sense so far? Good. Stats work the same way. 1-30. Ranks for stats work the same way. While ranks are always important. The ones for Power, Reflex, and Durability are the most necessary to know. When you attack, you add your Power stat, your power rank differential, and your weapon. This also goes against your target¡¯s durability except instead of weapon damage, you add damage resistance, which would be a static number. That¡¯s a ton of math, but it can be boiled down to the bigger the number, the more effective you are. I think you¡¯ve got the hang of that. You have two more abilities to pick. I had spent a few moments figuring out how to get my creations to hit the space I aimed for. I need to get familiar with this as quickly as possible. The obvious one is Shot. It is a special attack that works with my abilities so far. Shot creates or enhances a projectile with Dream energy to make it fly faster and hit harder. Based on the ability tree, it seems to be the opening¡­ It makes the most sense. I always played mages in games and the fact that I can be one now is a dream come true. Shot Ability Type: Mutable/ Range Dream Cost: 3 Level 1: Creates a projectile of energy or boosts the strength of a projectile attack directly towards your target in a straight line. Damage: 1-6 I now have my first spell and I wanted to try it out, but Kohl reminds me that I only have a few uses before I need to go to sleep and regain my energy. No spell slots here, but a dream bar is just as worrisome. Next, I take Echo. It allows me to make a second attack If my first one hits Echo is also the first part of the Sound tree and I think that will synergize well with my Siren ability. I think this sound theme is really going to be badass. Echo Ability Type: Power up/ Sound Dream Cost: 3 Level 1: Allows you to make a weapon attack with your quick action if your full action hits. This attack is at half power and must be within range of your weapon. Are you ready for this? It lumbers down a hall. Its massive frame is haloed in fluorescent lights galumphing towards me. The monster, for that¡¯s all you could call it, looked like someone took a human being and stretched them a little too far. It looms in the low light. Weeping sores and gouges make a vicious masterpiece of what may at one point have been a human face. A zombie from an old video game, it stood so clearly in the uncanny valley; that its existence in this place was so abhorrent. It was probably the type that regurgitates all over their enemies. No, that looks like a construct, probably here to check out your impromptu concert. I run right at him singing into creation two flat disks with a pearlescent glow and a large hole in the middle to my fingers through. My signature weapon is now complete. I came up with it while I was testing complex shapes. Two, five inches in diameter, CDs orbit around my fingers in each of my hands. CD chakrams, which I¡¯ll call Beats. Medieval weaponry has always enamored me from all over the world, and there was an amazing game I played as a kid where the heroine flew around on wings throwing and controlling chakram. The disk effect was mostly for me. The thought of my badass DJ mage self throwing out CD¡¯s with fire bonus damage or something¡­ it''s way too cool a picture not to see realized. I¡¯m sure I¡¯d look cooler if I wasn¡¯t a half naked, escaped hospital patient. Oh well, beggars can¡¯t be choosers. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.I lead with the Shot spell; sigils burn themself onto the CD as I cast. The sparkling writing creates no additional light. The disk streaming, speeding up to twice my throwing speed, golden sparks trailing behind it. Big guy doesn¡¯t even try to dodge and blocks it with a meaty arm the size of my torso. The weapon bites deeply into its overgrown flesh and black, syrupy blood works its way out. I flip and right after sending two more angry blades fly at the cartoonish zombie. The zombie bats one away only to get blasted by the one in the next¡¯s shadow. This bites deep into his shoulder as the same arm goes limp. I breathe a sigh of relief and a cocky smile finds its way to my face and drops away just as quickly. With bestial rage it roars, reaching and tearing off the same arm and brandishing it like a club. The places where the limb and the shoulder were one now glitches, a pixelating mess. The blood sloughing of it artifacting out of reality a certain distance from the body. Seeing the viscera, I throw up in my mouth. Every scrap of will in me is wrestling to keep it down as I taste bile and the texture of whatever slop I¡¯d eaten in the past few months. I didn¡¯t take my eyes off the flesh giant as it barrels down the corridor towards me. I flatten myself against the floor on the downswing of the arm, rolling myself to the side, evading the vengeful blow. Kip-up, instead stumbling to my feet. I conjure two weapons in each of my hands, bouncing a way as the charging enemy. Timing it right, I send two of my beats at its head. Falling short of target and drawing deep furrows in their neck teetering their head like a bobble. It didn¡¯t see the two wires I set up on both sides rushing around like a toddler on sugar. The places where it gets caught on the wire slice through rending it twain. Its collapsed form twitches, still reaching for me. And this time I really do wretch and with tears in my eyes, I finish it. Realizing it truly is a zombie and shooting a beat right through the back of its head. It dissolves away, leaving only behind the damage it did. ¡°What the fuck was that?¡± I say, panting, working out the bile on my tongue. That was a construct, Like what you do but, on a different scale and made of psionic energy. Not yet, maybe eventually. You don¡¯t have the ability or the spell for it. I¡¯m still shaking. Cold sweat traces its way down my body. It¡¯s not quite over yet. Look there. Shuffling from behind the corner at the end of the hallway is a creature from nightmares long past. Four gray-skin humanoids just as zombie-like as the construct, only more horrific in motion because it looks so much more like us. Starved within an inch of its life, its entire body is skeletal with skin draping off the bones and a bulbous distended belly. The eyes hidden deep within its head call out to me and my heart drops because they¡¯re so plainly human. Each fused together at their head by their psylink. The Dominance, this is who they are. They think nothing of the lives they have to crush to make weapons or the bodies they have to churn through to accomplish their goals. Anger fills the connection and finds a reverberation in me as well. Our anger surging and mixing. No, it''s enough to knock them out now. There¡¯s not enough time for you to get them to safety and they will just slow you down. You only have eight more minutes. Congratulations, You have defeated Mind Meld! 2 Exp You have collected Resilient fragment. Resilient Fragment allows you to add a temp bonus to durability for when you add this enchantment. Lasts for 1 minute. My first bit of loot and it feels weird to be beating up my people for points. I would much rather it have been some of the bastards that did this. I¡¯d love to say that I couldn¡¯t believe someone could do this to people. And then I think about how for centuries people would do this and worse, to people who looked like me. Originally, I must have been in some kind of basement medical facility. The cracked linoleum floors that as I ascend seem to have water and even weeds moving into the cracks. If the place wasn¡¯t so frigid, I wonder if this place would look different. Grime and mildew cover the walls that were once stark white. The picture frames tossed to the floor and I think I¡¯ve heard a squeak or two of rats. Careful of the rats. Often, Dream energy affects the natural flora and fauna oddly. Becareful in the wilds. I crouch in a corner unseen. Listening to a few pint-sized punks talking back and forth. They¡¯re three feet tall aliens with puce-colored skin. Glossy with gigantic eyes, they look like the Little Green Men from all the old Sci-Fi movies. They have rows of sharp teeth, like iguanas, to match their vicious claws. Kohl loaded up the alien translation app, and it weirdly gave them rather posh British accents. When I ask him about it, he says he didn¡¯t come up with it, he¡¯s just passing the tech along. Said he found it hidden in the app store somewhere, which to me is wild. How long has all of this been going on? ¡°I heard her singing down here?¡± The one on the right says. His white uniform is a bit more askew than the other. ¡°Why would she be singing down here? Vessel Elontra is the only one down here and she¡¯s¡­ creepy.¡± Lefty says, a quiver in his voice. It¡¯s a title, kind of like professor, doctor, teacher, something like that. If we¡¯re all very luck, you won¡¯t have to meet her. Worse. ¡°Hey gentleman,¡± I say, walking out of the corner. Actually, Lefty is a woman ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry, Folks, that¡¯s my bad. It was me singing. Take a look at this.¡± I throw my razor sharp disk at each of them before they can sound an alarm. I almost feel bad taking them by surprise, then I remember that they might have something to do with the mind meld. They lay there with their necks sliced open, gasping and gurgling for air. Congratulations! You have defeated Righty and Lefty! 2 Exp! Are you gonna be okay? Kohl couldn¡¯t see the determined look on my face, though I¡¯m sure he could hear it in the connection. You have collected Twin fragment. Twin fragment allows you to create a copy of the projectile and have it curve in an opposite direction. Collect more to make the Gemini Fragment. The twin fragment slots well next to my Resilient fragment in my mind¡¯s eye. I haven¡¯t used any yet. Kohl suggests it¡¯s a better to keep them until I have to fight something very nasty. Knowing what we¡¯ve fought so far¡­ I hate to see what he calls very nasty. For the next few minutes, I hide in the corners, crawl through corners, race up staircases. I don¡¯t know if I will make the deadline. Not only am I trying to keep myself alive, I am trying to keep myself up on pace. When Kohl says to stop, I stop, and when he says to go, I¡¯m off like a bullet. The things and creatures I saw¡­ the people¡¯s condition. I will do anything to keep these people from destroying the lives of more people. The Dominance aren¡¯t faceless goons working to build a planet shattering laser. They are people, whether through malice or cowardliness have chosen to join this fascist colonial power. Seeing my humanity really brings this home. I can¡¯t imagine billions of people being treated like refuse. Working until their hands bleed and only getting enough food to work. They tightly pack the bunk beds into these spaces like sardines. They were dirty and sad. My heart broke seeing them and I knew it wasn¡¯t over. When I saw how they treated the children¡­ Kohl told me I couldn¡¯t do anything right now and that they felt no pain while it was happening. That they wouldn¡¯t even remember it like a dream. I finally reach a place with exterior windows and it¡¯s one I¡¯ve seen out of a thousand times before and it all comes back. I ask. I see the dorms, the dining hall, the quad. It¡¯s so nostalgic. Yeah. Just putting my hand on the door brings back so many memories. Me and the other engineers trying to outdo each other with beats or freestyles. That one kid using way too much keytar. No, I need you to make a distraction and get out as soon as possible. Walking through the booth and sound stages, noting the new equipment and seeing the fee-to-use instruments right in the corner. It felt like being home. ¡°This is DJ¡­¡± I yell out over the mic, but I don¡¯t want to be Max Noise anymore. ¡°This is The Composer! We¡¯re gonna wake this motherfucker up!¡± The Composer feels like when I first told someone my name was Mix and they used it. Euphoria. A sense of absolute rightness in my life. It almost feels like coming out all over again. Making things real for me. I have chosen a new name, and it feels liberating. I lead with a mix of ¡°Golden Wings¡± by Andros Arrow mixing with ¡°Road to Rebellion¡± by The Crown Jewels. Andros crooning works so well with the hard rock sound of this up-and-coming punk band. Enhancing the bass really made the whole room rock. I couldn¡¯t help but jam. Bend them to your will, Composer! Alright, it¡¯s time to go. You¡¯ve got to boogie. You did exactly what we needed. I¡¯m sending someone to you cause things are about to jump off. You almost did your job too well. You gotta meet up with everyone else and collect me. It never stops. How could I possibly have been too good? I mean, he called a professional. What did he think I was gonna do? And as per usual, I killed it. I feel something off in the air, like all the hair on my body stands on end, and my attention drawn somewhere in the room. A deep part of me follows this pull and then my eyes slide toward it. The deck I just played on reacts oddly under my new inspection. Instead of glowing with a light, it seems to absorb it. Magic. Somewhere deep in my gut, I¡¯m sure of it. When I reach out, the air around my hand distorts¡­ Almost pushing my hand away from it. Almost like gravity, but a little more like repulsion. This didn¡¯t happen the first time. What could have happened? I grit my teeth getting closer to it and when my hand finally lands on it. A prompt appears in my vision. It¡¯s a Meteormaker 67, and it''s just a single deck which isn¡¯t my Antares Void Walkers, but I can¡¯t imagine them feeling anything like this. Congratulations DreamRunner, you have found a Spacial object. This is very rare on your planet as of now, but as more awaken to the powers of space, they will become much more common. A spacial item? Interesting. Do you choose to equip? You have equipped a spacial deck you can now hold on to multiple constructs at once. This will allow you to pre-fabricate CDs and use them when you have use for them. Inventory space: 0/10 Quickly, I sing into reality a Beat and being the process to enchant for the first time. It¡¯s like I knew how to do it all along. I take the first song, The Song of Creation, and I shift that song to my body and my body sings creation. My mouth takes over The Song of Enchantment. In my mind, I remember what the Twin enchantment sounds like and my hands begin to conduct an illusory band. The CD glows spinning in front of me. Two shades of blue light twist and weave into the CD, leaving the sparkling blue one in my hand. New sigils standing out on the surface. Deck Inventory: 1/10 My first enchantment. I¡¯m vibrating here. I¡¯m casting spells and enchanting things feel easy and so wonderful. It feels like a release. Like spinnin¡¯. I¡¯m good at this. I have only been good at one thing in my life and it feels like I¡¯ve finally found the second thing. Holy shit! That was awesome. I¡¯m so glad you¡¯re on our side. She¡¯s the real deal. I don¡¯t know if she can enchant, but The Sea Witch is highly revered. She is one of the most dangerous of those at the Overseer level. I tug on the navy ECU hoodie left in a chair. Thankfully is smells clean, or old, but mostly clean. Who¡¯s gonna tell ''em? The Composer''s stats so far Level 1 (Rank 1) HP: 11 Dream: 11 (Currently 5) Will: 1 Reflex: 2 Creativity: 3 Talent: 2 Power: 2 Durability: 1 The Composer''s Abilities So Far Skills: Undecided Knowledge: Magic Utilities: Siren Enchanting Echo Special Attacks: Shot Damage 5-16 The Composer''s Inventory Beats (CD Chakram): Damage 4-10 Meteormaker 67: 1/10 Twin Track 05: Color Track 05: Color A scream cut through me and vibrates everything around me. Glass shatters and objects too light and too close to the edge fall off every surface. It chills me to the bone and cuts me to the quick. There¡¯s genuine pain in that lament. Like a grieving roar. What kind of creature could make that sound? It¡¯s a completely inhuman sound slathered in completely human emotions. Grief. A wave of grief. My eyes well up with tightly held back tears. Some part of it has moved me and I have no idea what that is. Us. Quick and curt, there¡¯s a break in the communication like he¡¯s done talking. Your distraction gave us the means to take out a target, and now they¡¯re blind to us. We can now move with impunity. The Sleeper. They are a powerful psychic species who sends out pulses of psionic energy to locate all sentient creatures in an area; They need to be kept cold or the gasses in their body will expand and end up exploding. The fact that such a wacky creation lives in the same world as the wanton destruction of the human race I¡¯ve witnessed in the reality I¡¯ve been forced into almost makes me chuckle at the incredulity. Yup. The self satisfied energy filters through the connection. The fact that he¡¯s oddly proud reminds me that I don¡¯t know the person sitting in my head at all really and they could be a sociopath. The world shakes below me again as I leave the sound studio. I hear stomping, roiling masses below. Danger coming to find me. A chill runs up my spine. Yeah¡­ That¡¯s why you got to meet up with the others ASAP. Hold. It¡¯s thunder now, as the volume rises as it gets closer and closer. I can hear it coming down the hall. It¡¯s right behind the double doors. I can pick out each individual footfall. There¡¯s so many. The grunts and roars, gurgles and fwumps. A cacophony of miscellaneous, menacing sounds. I can feel my heart racing in my chest. Hold Double doors at the end of the hall burst open, smashing the doors off their hinges. Black mist spreads out before every nightmare ever conceived. Churning fog chokes out light and even the heavy LED bulbs flicker like old fluorescents. The cold only seems to get colder and condensation collects on every metal surface and begins to drip down. Baba Yaga, Slenderman, the monster under your bed. I think I even see Cthulhu, all arrayed, waiting for a chance to pounce, stalking me from the shadows. I can hear the blood in my ears and feel my chest tighten. They¡¯re waiting for me to be afraid. I see the terror in this. The Cold dredging up from some long frozen grave. It wants me to run. They want to use that against me. I¡¯m stronger than that... But I could still use that backup. ¡°They¡¯re only constructs. They¡¯re only constructs.¡± I say to myself, trying to be my own hype person. I pull two CDs from the Meteormaker 67 and I slide into a fighting stance. Time to stand and fight. I¡¯m not gonna run. They¡¯re here¡­ Kohl says in a creepy way, aping of that one movie I forget the name of. Out of the gloom, something sparkles, cutting pinpricks into in it. A glimmer, then a glow, a shine, and then a miraculous flash! Multicolored rainbow lights rend the darkness and something the size shape of a person slows and stops before me. As my eyes adjust slowly to see, the shape of the person in front of me begins to come into focus. Wreathed in a corona, a young black person stands with a head full of dancing light spun into curls which were currently flowing around their head, oscillating with rainbow colors. As if there was a constant head wind, their hair moves in ways that are incongruent in any place other than video games. Their eyes are a luminous blue, which changes like their hair but always choosing a compliment as they look around, glowing from within. The fact they are wearing actual clothes didn¡¯t escape my attention either. Jeans, glorious jeans, and worn in T-shirt with the Thundercats logo on it. Glowing gloves stood out on their light brown skin. Their psylink was a simple black circlet that they wear more like a headband pushing back their hair, and of course, wearing Jordan¡¯s. It¡¯s official. This was the flyest nigga in the apocalypse. ¡°Hey Composer,¡± they dodge as a tentacle sweeps out toward him from behind, jumping over it and sending a blast of light back at it. ¡°I¡¯m Neon. Agender. Groovy to meet you.¡± The calvary has arrived! Kohl cheers. ¡°H-hey.¡± It¡¯s weak. I know it is. They know it is. The weird nightmare constructs back there, know it is too. I am just floored by the look of them. Someone who just doesn¡¯t seem human. ¡°Wanna take the creep squad out and link up with our third musketeer?¡± Neon says. ¡°So what do you do?¡± I say, weapons ready. ¡°This!¡± Neon gets into a runner¡¯s stance. The glow comes from inside them, starting low in their feet and rises through their body. Like a starting gun that no one else hears goes off and Neon has gone off like a rocket. Blazing through the dark, the gauntlets fire off light darts into the mass of nightmares. The light darts shoot out from their gauntlets. ¡°I got these off an alien I took out early. Think it was one of those Kaveski, tiny little dudes. Turns out that guy didn¡¯t know what he had. I snapped it up, and the RNG gods told me it was a growth weapon. How cool is that?!¡± Dart Ability Type: Mutable/Ranged/ Dream Cost: 3 Level 1: Shoot a small missile. Dart is a vehicle for certain types of poisons, acids, diseases, toxins, and potions. When this attack hits, apply the secondary effect. Damage. 1-4 ¡°That¡¯s so cool!¡± I follow up their attacks with my spawning Beat after Beat in to the fray tagging the same targets they hit. The old witch sent dark bolts of energy, which I dodge while sending out my spell, too. I cast Shot, super charging one of my Beats with a brilliant red glow. It makes a beeline for the old witch part. Splitting her in half at the chest and sending it further into the rest of the Stygian mass, blowing apart tentacles, savaging the monsters behind her. I watch as Neon runs up the wall, a trail of dazzling light following in the wake of them until they¡¯re running on the ceiling. Each step of the way they rain down small flechettes of lumens as they get closer, twin light daggers appear in both hands. At the top of their arch, they spin like a tornado and dive into the mess of fears. Each tries to leave their general area and avoiding their light, but it¡¯s inevitable. Neon fights like a dancer, like all movement is effortless. Every movement is perfectly choreographed. It gives me an idea. Arms: Energy Weapon Ability Type: Power-up/Energy Dream Cost: 4 Level 1: Create a weapon using your energy. This weapon lasts until you fall unconscious or the day is over. This weapon is a one handed weapon and must be modeled after a weapon you¡¯ve seen before. Kinetic Fighting Ability Type: Kinetic/ Melee Dream Cost: 3 Level 1: Melee attack with Force damage. 1-6 ¡°Time the up the tempo.¡± Each projectile accompanied by a note, and we were really improvising. I could feel our minds connect to Kohl, and somehow that let me know exactly what they were going to do next. In between their moves and in the holes of their vicious offense, I blast, throwing musical destruction. A beast looking like the combination of an eagle and raptor, with talons outstretched, is about to lacerate Neon from behind. I intercept by sending one her way and following up another two directed at her beak. They hit, giving Neon an opening. Seeing it off-balance, they swivel backwards for a coup de grace. Out of the corner of my eye, I see something move and when I turn my head to look, and see a black tentacle running across the ground. I pull out a chakram and just as I¡¯m about to throw another tentacle snakes out of my blind spot wrapping around me, breaking my concentration. It constricts. The full weight of this creature crushes around me. My health points drop one after another. 11, 10, 9¡­ My HP just keeps dropping. I struggle against it though, I can¡¯t get enough breath even to sing. It flips me upside down so all the blood rushes to my head. 6, 5, 4¡­ HP still dropping. ¡°N-Neon!¡± I gasp, the last of my air calling out to them. ¡°Oh, shit!¡± Neon dashes over, givin the juke to the werewolf and a spin move off of slenderman. In one blink, they are right in front. Slamming their light daggers together to make a short sword. The other black tentacle reaches out to grab them. Waiting until the last minute slashing the tentacle holding me and flipping over the one who was going to jump them in one fell swoop. I fall and I try not to fall on my head, so I rotate a bit in the air by shifting my body weight. I don¡¯t end up fall smoothly and land on my hands and knees gasping for breath. With only one point added to reflexes, it seems to help me a little. I am not a parkour athlete, it just seems to give me a better idea about how my body works and letting me understand the space around me. The way Neon moves, they must have a bunch of points in it as well as whatever gives them that super speed. I wonder what kind of build he¡¯s going for. I mean definitely high attack stats and high mobility, so maybe a rouge or another skirmisher of some type. With my build tending towards mage, we¡¯re doing a lot of DPS. What we need is a tank or a healer. I look at my hit points on my Heads Up Display. Definitely a healer. It¡¯s a construct aberration. They have a core. If you can get there, you can end it in one hit. As I pick myself off the ground, the pain in my ribs tells me they¡¯re broken. Just by the movement, I know I have bruises all over. ¡°Goddamn it! It hurts!¡± ¡°You got any juice still?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m nearing empty.¡± ¡°I got something for that.¡± Neon flips a coin-sized tablet at me. ¡°It¡¯s roughly translated to being called a wake-me-up. Put it under your tongue.¡± ¡°Am I about to take alien meth?¡± ¡°Do you want to die instead?¡± I put the tablet under my tongue and I felt like I woke up from the best nap with¡­ broken ribs, but beggars can¡¯t be choosers. Long, deep breath. I winch at the pain. Slapping my face. ¡°Neon? Let¡¯s fuck this son of squid up!¡± I bring out Twin Beat and boost it using Shot, and I prime Echo. Neon nods ¡°Right in front of you, mate!¡± Neon slaps both of their hands together and sends an arm thick blast of light and the moment that finished following it up, making a sword and charging within them. Neon blasts a hole into the mass of it, completely afraid of the ray of light. For a second, I saw it, a tight wad of shadow built in response, a fleet of tentacles fly out to restrain him. Twin takes out two and while neon squares off against the rest. Echo slides past him and straight into the core. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!Once hit, the core sucks everything back in like a black hole. ¡°Get Down!¡± I yell. As the core bulges and bucks trying to keep itself together. And for a second it settles down, just until it explodes. A geyser of black smoke and black ichor churns upward, painting the ceiling in pitch black. ¡°That sucked.¡± Neon says. ¡°Agreed.¡± I say Yeah, I¡¯m so glad I didn¡¯t have to deal with that. Neon and I look at each other and burst out laughing. After everything pixelates away, floating in the air, there¡¯s a CD. It twinkles there, calling to me. I know what it is without seeing one before. It¡¯s more that a fragment. It¡¯s a full enchantment. I walk over, feeling the pull of it vibrate within me. I reach out my hand to pick it up. Snapping into movement, it goes to my reaching hand, passes through it into me. Congratulations, You have defeated Nightmare Construct Aberration! 5 EXP Congratulations Enchanter! You have collected your first true enchantment: Dark Blade. The Dark Blade Enchantment allows the user to add Shadow Magic to their attacks. This gives a -X to the target¡¯s Reflex, making your deceptive attack easier to hit. X= Power Rank Current Rank: 1 Dark Blade sounds so cool and it will only get stronger as I get stronger. Being able to hit fast opponents will be a lot easier. I will admit I would like something more on the level of Twin but, I¡¯m sure something like that would be way more powerful than I¡¯m likely to find at level one. The fact it¡¯s scalable is interesting. I wonder if all true enchantments are scalable. ¡°It¡¯s a pretty cool enchantment. I just don¡¯t think it¡¯ll work well with your abilities.¡± ¡°That sucks,¡± Neon shrugs. ¡°I don¡¯t really have a weapon or anything to enchant, anyway.¡± ¡°Those gauntlets are badass, though.¡± I beam. ¡°And your speed?! Holy shit! You¡¯re a whole badass!¡± ¡°I just got lucky with the powers they gave me. It can¡¯t do anything against some people but, I¡¯m pretty happy with it.¡± They look down at the gauntlets and himself. ¡°Who¡¯d thunk? From partier to The Flash. Anyway, there¡¯s other shit to worry about. Like if that¡¯s a preview of what we¡¯re gonna keep facing over here, then we might be in trouble, just the two of us.¡± ¡°I agree. Hope we level up soon cause that was fucked up. I need a movement ability or something. If I had something to get me out of danger like you do, then I¡¯d be able to avoid being captured like that.¡± ¡°I also got tagged a lot more than I should have. Maybe something to help me dodge or something? Or a perception ability.¡± Neon says. ¡°We should get going. I think once they realized we got past what they have here, they¡¯ll send something pretty potent.¡± I say looking around. We¡¯re making our way back down to the seventh floor. Neon says we have to get to Freeman Hall, the Engineering wing of the Sciences building. Making it all the way from the fifteenth floor took a while picking the most out of the way places possible. We were nowhere near any of the other patrolling Dominance. Kohl did the best he could. We still had a few skirmishes. If you come across any syringes that look like they have cherry soda in it, that¡¯s probably it. They¡¯re not quite magical health potions, they¡¯re called Nanos. Cause they have nanobots in them that help stitch up your insides. Yeah, they were used on you during your examination. Me as well. Don¡¯t worry about them staying inside you. Your body will get rid of them as soon as they¡¯re done doing their job. You¡¯ll pass them like kidney stone accept much, much smaller. You¡¯ll hardly notice. We made it to Freeman Hall; the words hanging over the doorway it was just as state-of-the-art as the rest of the school and just as empty oddly though compared to the others it was completely dark. There were no LED lights and none of the floating screens were activated. It¡¯s another ghost town. ¡°Do you want me to go ahead?¡± Neon asks. They are moving from foot to foot. They must be antsy now that things are moving at such a slow pace. ¡°See if I can¡¯t find him?¡± ¡°I¡¯d be worried about you getting it a fight you couldn¡¯t win alone. If anything came after you like the aberration and we¡¯d be down a skirmisher.¡± I smile, trying to lessen the blow. ¡°And if I¡¯m completely selfish¡­ I¡¯m still not doing well and with everything going on, I don¡¯t want to die.¡± ¡°Let me scout ahead. I can see if I can find a few Nanos to top you off.¡± They put their hands on my shoulder. ¡°O-okay, just come back. We¡¯re not supposed to split the party.¡± Neon creeps along the wall, turns a corner, quickly vanishing out of sight. I prop myself in a chair by a floating screen. I try interacting with it, but it¡¯s completely dead. Why is this the only place dead like this? Did someone cut the power? I get up, looking at the fire exit with a rough blueprint telling people where to go. If they upgraded to using solar cells, then the battery should be in a space like this. I tap a spot close to the end where a room was probably the size of a power depot. Something is happening here and I think the best idea is to check the battery. I walk heel to toe to avoid making any noise. I don¡¯t even hear the sound of air conditioning and now that I notice it, there¡¯s no air anymore. It used to be frigid, now it¡¯s almost hot. I¡¯m actually sweating. I almost wish whoever decided to up the temp left the thermostat at spring day instead of Virginia summer. When I get to the power room, the door is ajar and the electric lock has already been cracked. The screen is the only thing lit up, scrolling with broken code and flashing endless strings of binary. I reach out cautiously and turning the knob, making sure to it makes no noise, letting myself in. The power room was a large, high-ceilinged room filled with liquid-cooled, crystalline servers 12ft tall. Translucent wires ran along the floor and ceiling leading to an eight foot tall solar battery, glowing softly in the dark room. It¡¯s beautiful in a manufactured sort of way. ¡°I find myself¡­ interested in your primitive race¡­¡± A smoke and ash voice slithers out of the gloom. Fuck! Kohl¡¯s voice slides into my head after it¡¯s been so quiet I almost forgot he was there. Out of the dim light comes a snake woman holding a very large load in her right arms. Long, lithe body and gray-green scales come to a face shaped like an arrow. Her tongue darts out as she looks me over. Her chest is covered in white, armored chest plate that has a few blinking lights and a panel. ¡°Foul, Disrupters, must your kind always come out of the woodwork when we finally get things up and running.¡± She hisses her S¡¯s and rolls her R¡¯s, making for an interesting sound. As she comes out of the gloom, I see her holding the unconscious Neon. The color has completely drained from their hair, making it a snow-white. Seeing them still was a completely new thought, even though he¡¯d only known him for like an hour. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°Vessel Caracour Elontra.¡± She preens ¡°I found your little hummingbird flitting about. Naughty, Naughty. I wonder what he was up to, sneaking around and getting into my things.¡± Each word tingles down my spine, like an old untamed fear I didn¡¯t know I have. ¡°You, it¡¯s so wonderful to see you awake. The studies I did on you, Composer, showed me just how true Aquilan¡¯s assertations were. You were a fascinating test subject. Too bad I must kill you now.¡± She tosses Neon at my feet and pulls out this water gun looking pistol with a noxious looking green liquid sloshing in. I hear Neon¡¯s voice in my head. Kohl must be transferring it through our connection. Out of the corner of my eye, their body twitches, hands moving in excruciatingly slowly towards me. I resolve to keep her busy and attention on me. ¡°Aquilan, is she the person everyone is so afraid of?¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯re very lucky. It¡¯s only me that gets to take you apart.¡± She smiles a long, cruel smile. ¡°If it was her, you¡¯d be screaming for days and days. And when you could scream no more, she¡¯d make you watch everyone you know die screaming for days and days for it all to end. She is not the forgiving type.¡± ¡°So The Sleeper was important to her?¡± ¡°Ha!¡± she cackles, savoring the pain she¡¯s inflicting just by her words. ¡°You killed her mate.¡± As I hear those words, my stomach drops and my chest gets tight. Holy fuck! ¡°T-then that scream?¡± I feel the lance of a hypodermic needle in my leg. I cough to cover the grunt of pain. The press of the plunger makes my eyes water. That hurts. ¡°That was but the opening salvo.¡± The mirth is plain on her face. Reveling in the discomfort and fear on my face. Now I¡¯m not a good actor and I can¡¯t cry on command or anything, thankfully I don¡¯t need an Oscar worthy performance. She has me freaked out. The thought of whatever shook the entire building in her anguish, definitely has me shook. I drop my hands to the side to activate my inventory and as my hand goes behind my back, it¡¯s full of Dark Blade enchanted beats. ¡°There¡¯s no need to worry any longer. She levels the sloshing gun at me and pulls the trigger. I hesitate. Remembering what happened before. The gunshot that ended my whole life. Just as I was about to get a face full of rotting green gas. A body transposes itself between me and the gas. Looking up, I see a beautiful form and a badass shield. Neon¡¯s Stats so far Level 1 (Rank 1) HP: 11 Dream: 11 (Currently 5) Will: 2 Reflex: 4 Creativity: 1 Talent: 1 Power: 2 Durability: 1 Neon¡¯s Abilities So Far Skills: Super Speed Knowledge: Utilities: Arms: Energy Weapon Damage: 1-6 added damage Special Attacks: Dart Damage 3-6 Kinetic Fighting Damage 3-8 With Elemental weapon 4-14 Neon¡¯s Inventory Weapons Light Gauntlets (Tier 1) Track 06: Nemesis Track 06: Nemesis A knight stands between me and death. Her hair is being haloed by light and the Vessel¡¯s attack. I am captivated by the look of her, my knight in shining armor. Or at least what looks like a comfortable ivory, coveralls provided by The Dominance. The shield looks like sheet metal hammered into shape with cord tightly wound around her forearm. On her left arm, there¡¯s a gunmetal gauntlet holding her shield. For her sword, a shining wrench ready to strike out at the A face of shining determination. She¡¯s my hero. And I know her. Gabrielle stands between me and death, and she looks breathtaking. I shake loose the shock of seeing her here and like this and I move in front of Neon, hoping they will be okay. Two Dark Blade chakrams are in both of my hands. Shining a black light over all the area around it drinking in the surrounding light. Gabrielle shakes her shield and acid slides off. She smiles back at me. ¡°You ready?¡± I nod, letting them fly asElontra keeps sending spurts of acid back at us and G just kept teching hits. With each deflected shot, the shield glows pink, gaining power and saturation. My projectiles scour deeply in her tail and shoulder. Ocean blue blood seeps out slowly. Elontra lets out a painful hiss. She darts in under Gabrielle¡¯s guard and I send two more CDs at her. She tries to bat them away with her arm and that¡¯s when I trigger the Echo. Because both hit my second one, digs deep into her arm and I see bone. Guard Ability Type: Damage Mitigation Dream Cost: 3 Level 1: Brace for incoming attack. You can assist in helping increase the defenses of you or your squad. You add an 1d6 damage mitigation to the next attack that hits. Elontra howls bloody and piercing. I drop the Beat, believing the battle is done, and that¡¯s when I¡¯m fooled. She turns to me, distending her jaw to bite down on me. I flinch, closing my eyes, waiting for her to sink eight inch fangs into me. It never comes. As I open my eyes to look death in the face and all I see her fangs held fast on me while my glows around with pink energy. somehow Gabrielle protected me. We wasted no time. Gabrielle slams her with her wrench and the back of her head, while I give an upper cut under her jaw. The Vessel¡¯s eyes go wide as her fangs go through her own bottom lip. Gabrielle follows through, slamming her and pushing her away from the two of us. Her arm holding limp at her side, hemorrhaging and the look of the look of pure, venomous rage. ¡°I will end all of you.¡± She touches her acid pistol, seeming to change a nozzle. And levels it ready to fire and out of the corner of my eye. A streak of neon light races past me. Instead of a hummingbird, Neon is a raptor, finding the perfect angle and finishing the scientist. A light blade arcs out, taking her arm in one fluid motion. Vessel Elontra backs away as we corner her. ¡°This isn¡¯t supposed to be¡­ Disruptors or not, you¡¯re all just monkeys! You aren¡¯t supposed to be this powerful.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, yeah, it¡¯s over 9000? Blah, blah, blah¡­¡± Neon says, advancing slowly. ¡°And monkeys really? That¡¯s kind of a microaggression.¡± I say. ¡°Do you even know what you¡¯re saying?¡± ¡° I say we just pop her.¡± Gabrielle says. Smashing her fist into her palm together, a lopsided grin on her face. Elontra, in full fear and fright, taps a few buttons on her chest piece and explodes in green smoke. We cover our mouths from the smokescreen. When the smoke fades, we see she¡¯s vanished. ¡°Did we win?¡± I ask, still holding the weapons ready to throw at a moment¡¯s notice. Searching the battery room, we didn¡¯t find her anywhere. Neon slumps on a server, crashing his body against it, sliding down until he¡¯s siting with his knees are at his chest. ¡°That sucked!¡± He whines. ¡°You can say that again.¡± I stretch, trying to relieve the tension in my body. I look over to Gabrielle. ¡°This wasn¡¯t where I expected to see you.¡± ¡°Where were you expecting?¡± she says. ¡°Hopefully, a late night rendezvous in the hallway followed by a plan to get waffles or a proper date in this out of the way place, I know that has the best snapper.¡± ¡°That does sound pretty good.¡± Don¡¯t put me in this. Kohl says levity coming through the connection. Firewall meet Neon and I can see you¡¯ve already met The Composer. ¡°Firewall, I¡¯ve got to admit you are a whole badass.¡± Neon praises. ¡°They way you got in there with your shield. What model is your arm? I don¡¯t know that many that can survive combat like that.¡± ¡°Model?¡± I ask. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s prosthetic. I got in a car accident when I was young and I lost it.¡± She says, looking at her left arm. The lines I saw ages ago making more sense as articulation points. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t know. I thought it was a gauntlet or something.¡± ¡°Cause I didn¡¯t tell you.¡± She gives me a sad smile. ¡°I don¡¯t feel ways about it anymore, but some people do. ¡± She shrugs. ¡°I won¡¯t let it stop me and I won¡¯t let people stop me. I¡¯m the most bad ass person you know, not because of my arm or because I have a sob story¡­ It¡¯s cause I¡¯m a fucking tank and you¡¯ll need to get behind me if you¡¯re gonna survive. Plus, this isn¡¯t my original. The one you saw me with that night got damaged.¡± She winks. ¡°Come on, we gotta break out our buddy.¡± Just as we were high on defeating the evil scientist, another scream tore through the building, only this time it tore through our brains. I hold my head and shut my eyes and even still my HUD scrambles and glitches behind my eyelids. You have been hit with a psionic scream. Your connection with your DreamCrafter has been severed. This notification has been shared with everyone in your party. Composer, you have been separated from your DreamCrafter. We, the Minority believe you have the hallmarks to be a leader of your party. If you continue to show promise, we believe you could gain the Leadership skill as opposed to the default skill we would have given you other wise. Believe in yourself and push past your doubts and realize the true power of The Composer. Good luck, we believe in you. We now had a name to put to the scream, Aquilan. This wasn¡¯t just a cry of anguish, this was an attack on us. She was proving we couldn¡¯t escape even if she didn¡¯t know where we were yet. Running down the stairs and we made our way finally towards the ground floor. As much as I want to talk to Firewall about how she got captured and what happened to her, I just keep thinking that we need to get out of here. The vessel was definitely a big deal here and after we killed the husband, I can¡¯t imagine we¡¯re on Aquilan¡¯s good side. Kohl hasn¡¯t said much about her and when I asked for some clarity, he just said we need to get out while the getting is good. He says the longer we¡¯re here, the more dangerous it gets. Aquilan isn¡¯t the most dangerous person here. And after dealing with Elontra and that Nightmare thing¡­ I can¡¯t help but think he¡¯s right. This whole place feels like a horror movie. The glimpses I get of what they¡¯ve done to people here it¡¯s unsettling. Seeing the work areas is one thing. The sweatshop Neon and I found was criminal. I want to save them all. Kohl said we have to wait, wait until we get stronger so we can take this place over. I went from not knowing the Dominance existed, to understanding quite clearly what they have in store for humanity. I made sure to take videos every time I ran into a group, not just so I could remember so we could get an idea of who is here in case there¡¯s people who are missing people. We¡¯re not exactly quiet as we make our way down. The solar battery taken from the engineering wing bobs up and down Firewalls¡¯ back. Strung up with some wire. She says it¡¯s a good idea to keep. Actually, she said, I have plans for this thing and cackled, actually cackled. I think she might be a mad scientist. Whatever she is thinking up in gonna be bad news for nearly anyone on her bad side. Down, down past the surgical theater, back into depths of the ECU, places you never see. I¡¯m not even sure the regular maintenance gets down here. ¡°I wonder if we¡¯re in the bowels of the island.¡± ¡°Not yet. That¡¯s a lot deeper. I¡¯ve been down there.¡± Gabrielle says ¡°The music integration?¡± That¡¯s the thing about Electric City even before Sunspot records took over the billionaire who built it wanted to create a whole new Harlem Renaissance but, in The South. Each street would have a soundtrack and each borough would have a genre even so much that directions would be given out based on it. You¡¯d hear things like ¡°Take a left when you hear that wicked baseline¡± or ¡°Keep going down a few blocks and if you hear that old cat crooning, you¡¯ve gone too far.¡± It was magic when I first moved here. And it¡¯s still magic. To know she had a part in the psylink integration, my already high esteem for her skyrockets. As we reached the door that Kohl led us too there was a feeling drawing me in. I take a deep breath, wondering where this apprehension is coming from. Like somehow, I know that if I open this door, I won¡¯t ever be able to close it again and I¡¯ve agreed to something. I have no way of knowing how long, how long or how violently this will change my life. I don¡¯t know how the others are feeling, but similar feelings of contemplation must have been a mirror for what my has to look like as well. ¡°On three?¡± I say the other two nodding. Even Neon, who normally seems impulsive, doesn¡¯t want anything to do with this. ¡°One,¡± Firewall says as she readies her shield and shifts the battery on her back. ¡°Two.¡± Neon gets in a runner¡¯s stance, the colors swirling and strobing on the heels of their kicks. ¡°Three.¡± I reach out my hand for the knob and turn as my stomach drops. There¡¯s a dingy room with stainless steel tables, drenched in blood and viscera. Chunks of flesh, miscellaneous flesh without any real nod to who or where they¡¯re from. Something like someone had put multiple people through some kind of wood chipper here. I¡¯m not some crime scene investigator. ¡°What the fuck?¡± Neon says. ¡°Holy crimes scenes, Mix!¡± Firewall sets down the solar battery and shoulders her way in. She touches her goggles and starts scanning the room. ¡°Some of this is old and guessing by the splatter patterns, someone has been bringing people here and hurting them very badly.¡± ¡°You mean torture?¡± I say, my voice caught in my throat. ¡°Did they torture Kohl, too?¡± ¡°It must be all the DreamCrafters.¡± Firewall says, her tone coming out detached. Trying to intellectualize the pain. She might have been doing this the whole time. Compartmentalizing it until this. I put my hand on her shoulder and she turns to me. The look on her face is stone. It slowly melts until tears start welling up in her eyes. The look on her face breaks my heart, and I envelop her in a hug. This close, I can hear her sobs and I try my hardest to keep it together for her, for the team. ¡°Wait, what¡¯s that sound?¡± Neon says. We both stop and Gabrielle pushes me away, not unkindly, and we both listen. It comes so softly at first, I¡¯m sure I don¡¯t hear it. It seems so out of the place in the hell hole we¡¯ve found ourselves in. Such a small hopeful calling in a room drenched in misery and pain. We couldn¡¯t help but smile. Looking at each other for reassurance for just a moment, we rush deeper into the room. In the back, in a dark corner, is a tiny cage and sitting there was a cat with fur as dark as the abyss with speckles of stars and eyes that look like mini nebulae. It meows at us and somehow I know that¡¯s Kohl. ¡°Kohl?!¡± I blurt. Neon rushes past and me. They kneel down at the cage, cutting it open with a finger-sized blade on the end of their index finger. They reach in, scooping up Kohl in arms. ¡°He¡¯s so cute!¡± Neon cheers. ¡°Oh, but he¡¯s hurt.¡± Taking a closer look, wounds all over Kohl were obvious. I am not cute! Kohl objects. ¡°Honestly, my guy, you¡¯re pretty cute.¡± I say. ¡°Objectively cute,¡± Gabrielle joins in. You need a twist up. Kohl roasts me. ¡°That¡¯s cold, fam!¡± I chuckle The expression on Kohl¡¯s face gave the distinct impression they weren¡¯t happy, but I mean, look at him. He didn¡¯t try to get out of Neon¡¯s arms, though. And Neon was nuzzling the poor man? with their full face. ¡°Were you always a cat?¡± We can talk about this later. We still have to move. Kohl says Aquilan is still after us for killing her partner. And we don¡¯t want to meet the other. ¡°The other?¡± I say, surprised. ¡°Aquilan¡­ is polyam? Seriously?¡± If a cat could roll its eyes, Kohl did the equivalent. He lets a huff out in our heads A Triad in this connotation is a specific union of power to the Dominance. It¡¯s sacred in both a union of power as well as the uniting of species. The Sleeper wasn¡¯t Sulikani, and The Executioner isn¡¯t either. Now can we please get out of the bloody charnel house that was the torture room for the people of my station?A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. As we move under the University, we quietly hang together. The order is Firewall in the vanguard, Kohl and I in the middle and Neon is taking the rear. When I told them how we should proceed, it actually went over pretty well. I never imagined they would listen. The longer we¡¯re together, the deeper I feel them in my mind. Even Kohl follows along behind me. He winces as he walks along the ground. You can see the wounds that stand out in his pitch black coat. Ugly red lines criss-crossing his body all over. Vessel Elontra was going to move on to him next. She was gonna force him to awaken the DreamRunners so she could kill him like the others. Kohl tells me they have gotten pretty good at killing both of our people. As we turn into the largest room in the undercroft. High ceiling with four concrete tunnels peeling off in other directions. Myriad machines were working away with the sounds of machines working away to do¡­ something. The hell if I know. I didn¡¯t even know spaces like this even existed. Firewall says places like this exist so that if any of the systems for Electric City go down, then there would be back up. That we¡¯d all be surprised how much is controlled by unseen machines. The other, much bigger problem in the room took precedence. A hulking titan in white armor with green accents stands between us and the tunnel out. They radiate menace and a stoicism so powerful it¡¯s like a gravity, weighing down on our whole bodies. There is something in their gaze that feels like death has come to meet us. ¡°Hello Children of Terra and The Waves,¡± a dangerously even masculine voice comes from a white-armored man. The tension in his voice sounds like a coiled snake. ¡°I wish I had the pleasure of chasing you down myself but, my love requested she send the lessers.¡± The barely contained anger almost makes it worse. ¡°I am Gracus, The Executioner. I will give you this moment to choose a god and pray to them to bring you to your afterlife safely.¡± ¡°I-¡° Neon says but gets cut off. ¡°I am talking.¡± The weight gets even heavier and my knees almost buckle. ¡°Now I don¡¯t want you to grovel. Your kind seems to have a knack for such a thing¡­ No, the time for begging is over. You will only take one swing of my axe each.¡± Gracus says, drawing each of his axes that matches his color scheme perfectly. The deep green coating the blade. ¡°So take it easy, get comfortable. This will be your final resting place.¡± That has to be in the running for the most casual way someone has ever been told to die. I mean, I wouldn¡¯t know it hasn¡¯t happened to me very often. But I think I¡¯ll place this firmly in my top ten. ¡°Gracus, darling,¡± a voice calls from overhead. ¡°They¡¯re mine.¡± She descends on a platform of air. Walking down from on high like a queen descending a grand staircase. She is just as majestic as she is deadly. Aquilan takes her time to see us, making sure we took every inch of her in. She was tall even from here, I can tell. Seven feet and change. Her smooth sea foam skin sparkled in the gloom. Pearlescent eyes shine with poorly disguised hatred. Her long glacier white hair flows behind her like she was underwater, each lock a hair having its own floating pattern. Each of her fingers end in a pitch black nail. Pointed ears and beautifully gaunt face etches cheekbones and a small sharp nose. She wears a long white gown that left her legs free to maneuver and wouldn¡¯t look out of place in a fantasy movie. Aquilan is the dream of every person who always chooses to date the elf princess in video games. She is beautiful and terrible to behold. ¡°Fuck.¡± We all say. There are different inflections and, of course, Kohl says it in our heads, but we know just how fucked we are in this moment. ¡°Composer,¡± Her voice is smooth and melodic. ¡°why not enter my service? There¡¯s so much I can teach you.¡± She finally rests in the air at 10 feet and hovers there, peering down at us imperiously. ¡°The end of your people doesn¡¯t have to be the end of your freedom. Take it from someone who did it the other way around.¡± I can try to get around him, but there¡¯s no one to get help from. Thank god for that nano or I would have been fucked. Neon says telepathically. We don¡¯t know what either of them can do. The psychic scream could just be the first of them. With the pressure Gracus exerts, it feels like one of my abilities, which seems a bit unsafe to use here. Firewall says, watching the two of them. I¡¯m at a loss here. The thing I couild have hoped for was that we wouldn¡¯t run into either of them. At least not yet. Not exactly a vote of confidence from the big guy, but we have to do something. I take a deep breath. I put I calm myself down and really tap into the world around me. I press play, flipping my headphones on, piping the music through my body and our telepathic connection, my body becoming the speaker for the room to hear. Tank by The Seatbelts plays that sweet jazzy intro that everyone knows from Cowboy Bebop. The crash of horns and everyone gets into position. The bass comes in to law down the business and keep us on track. Gabrielle gets in front of me, raising her shield in front of her face. In her other hand, she plays with her pink psydeck on her arm, typing in some code. Pink sparks take out the lights, giving us just a few minutes of pure darkness. The Blackout ability really giving us some cover. The energy of the percussion adds another layer as Kohl leaps into Neon¡¯s arms as they take a runner¡¯s stance. As they start making circles around us. Blackout Ability Type: Technic/ Control Dream Cost: 3 Level 1: Shut down the lights and the electricity in the room you''re in. The lights will turn off. Requirements: Hacking The Vocals come in to tell the audience what¡¯s up as I slide deep away into the darkness. I begin creating dark blade CDs that can¡¯t be seen in the dark. I take cover where I say one of those massive machines. Hoping the sound of the machine and its size will keep me safe for a moment. I see a glowing light, presumably where Aquilan is creating an energy attack to send directly towards Neon, the only one of us she can see. Just as she winds back to send it forward. Gabrielle¡¯s Shield glows pink and Aquilan¡¯s eyes in her hand go to send a blast of energy at her instead. Not just her head turns, but Gracus does as well. His iron body making a smooth turn towards her outstretched shield. Her Intent ability forcing them to focus on her gives Neon and Kohl just the chance they need. Neon slips by Gracus, letting their package get away. Kohl runs as fast as he can out. We know that if he can leave, then there is a chance for him to awaken others and either come back for us or avenge us. Now he¡¯s free. We can move forward, we just have to survive. Neon races around to gain momentum and tries to aim two of their light swords at the base of Gracus¡¯ spine. Intent Ability Type: Control/ Psychic/ Dream Cost: 3 Level 1: You force the attention of a unit with your intent. You roll Power against this unit''s Will and if you win the unit freezes for this round and the next round they must attack you with single-minded determination. Requirements: None/ Genesis Ability I sent as many of my dark blades toward Aquilan as possible and just when I thought they were about to connect, dual whips appear in both her hands and she deflects all five of my chakrams at the same time. I can feel her eyes on me even in the darkness. ¡°When you find out what you can do, in reality, Composer,¡± In a flash, the lights come back on and her eyes bore into me. ¡°You will realize how futile this was.¡± Once the lights came on, an energy pulse came from The Executioner freezing Neon in motion and lifting them off the ground with that same force. As Neon floats up to Gracus¡¯ chest height, which is probably up to my head, his back hands their body into the wall where they bounce off it. ¡°Neon!¡± I cry out. I don¡¯t care that it gives away my location. I don¡¯t think that¡¯s import right now. ¡°See, it¡¯s all fun and games until I get serious, right?¡± Aquilan taunts. ¡°You might not understand yet but, don¡¯t think I¡¯ll let you forget again. You. Are. In. Over. Your. Head.¡± She punctuates each word by cutting into Firewall¡¯s shield. Her razor whip cuts deep furrows into Gabrielle¡¯s empowered shield. Pink sparks fly off as the whip turns what was a stout handmade shield into a wrecked and twisted piece of slag. Put myself between Gabrielle and Aquilan. I create a sword of a pure darkness and sound to catch the whip. The sound that reverberates between them creates a crash that I can feel as my sense of hearing rips away. I feel the moment my eardrums burst. The blood trickling down my ears. You have temporarily lost your physical hearing magical senses, still intact. Receive medical attention and your health will be restored. You have lost 6 health. 5 remaining. The notification ticks away at the bottom right of my vision. The predatory look on her face as she sees my dark blade spluttering and cracking under her strength. She overpowers me in seconds. The bright music of Tank giving away to the ceaseless dirge of her magic. A song without life or hope, just despair, draws me in and begs me not to look away. It is a sound of unyielding sorrow, and it has come to swallow me whole. The lament of a people at the end of their lives knowing their fate. I pull from my ancestors and I hear the music of slave spirituals, the music my people sung to let people know how to escape and useful knowledge as they¡¯ve gone along. The music of a lament but, also hope, of ingenuity A song to bridge the gap in the strength of The Sea Witch and a newly awakened composer. With so much emotions I sing out, strengthening my blade and bringing it back from the edge of shattering it. It gives me just enough to get away. To disengage. Just as I get some space, the brilliant swing from Aquilan hammering into the floor. Spraying rock and dust everywhere. The look on her face as she surges out of the debris was monstrous. Gone was the placid beauty of a queen dealing with things beneath her. Now the Sea Witch was on full display. She meant business now. And that was the perfect time to hit her with Two Dark Bladed CDs to the face. Black blood falls like tears from her cheek. She halts in motion, surprised like a tiger learning it¡¯s somehow mortal. Her hands shake as she reaches up to touch in shock. Fingers wet with blood. ¡°You got a little something on your face.¡± Her eyes flash at me and just as she¡¯s about to take a step toward me, a rocket smashes into her face. Firewall¡¯s Stats so far Level 1 (Rank 1) HP: 12 Dream: 11 Will: 1 Reflex: 1 Creativity: 2 Talent: 3 Power: 2 Durability: 2 Firewall¡¯s Abilities So Far Skills: Construction Knowledge: Hacking Utilities: Blackout Intent Special Attacks: Guard Firewall¡¯s inventory Wrench (Tier 1) Sheet Metal Sheild (Tier 1) Custom PsyDeck The Composer¡¯s Stats So Far Level 1 (Rank 1) HP: 11 Dream: 11 Will: 1 Reflex: 2 Creativity: 3 Talent: 2 Power: 2 Durability: 1 The Composer¡¯s Abilities So Far Skills: Undecided Knowledge: Magic Utilities: Siren Enchanting Echo Special Attacks: Shot Damage 5-16 The Composer¡¯s Inventory Beats (CD Chakrams) Damage 4-10 Meteormaker 67: 0/10 Track 07: Rescue Track 07: Rescue The explosion rocks me backwards. I fall back into Firewall, who grabs me around the waist as we both go down. I see a few more health points fall off my bar. We stumble to our feet untangling. I can barely feel anything, and all I can hear is a high, loud whine. She looks at me [What the Fuck?!] The texts crawl across my vision. The psylink reading her lips to tell me what¡¯s said, which to be fair isn¡¯t in any way necessary. Not you need to know how to read lips to understand that. As the smoke clears, an enraged Aquilan stumbles to her feet. Eyes shining with unguarded malice. The left side of her face scorched black. If I thought she was angry before, she is enraged now. The handles of her whips, which no longer had the heads attached, the energy coursing through them sparks and sputtering. They reminded me of tuning forks. And just as this thought passes through my head, she slammed both on the floor and sound erupts back into them. [Someone lose a cat?] A woman in wearing fatigues and holding a hand cannon. Out of the head was a comically styled rocket with a bow and a smile on it. I gape at the preposterousness of it. With all that had happened and the fact that I knew less that 10 seconds ago that we were probably gonna die. That this woman would be our savior. The woman stood there in her military attire, which was obviously broken in. I had no doubt she was the way she holds herself, the lines of discipline on her face. The way she was still in military dress five years after the arm services were all but disbanded. She stood there, a ¡°make my day¡± look on her face, actually chewing bubble gum. She looked like if you took a badass 80s action star and put her in real life. Her coily hair was in a high top fade. There¡¯s a scar cutting through her eyebrow in just the right way to make her look cool. Her clothes are clean and without rumples even though they¡¯re worn in. Her boots shine like the sky. Everything in regulation, except that bad ass gun. Behind her, four other women in similar dress without the same flair start shooting at Gracus with assault rifles. At first it doesn¡¯t do anything but one of the makes a hand sign and the bullets flying out of it glow yellow. These push him backwards and he stumbles. [Come with me if you want to live!] the obvious leader says as she hits Aquilan with another rocket, staggering her. We don¡¯t hesitate. We get to our feet and run. I see one of the other women put Neon in a firefighter¡¯s carry and get them into the tunnel. The quick decisive action, the synchronous movement, the way they always know what the other is doing, you can tell they¡¯ve trained for this. This is an extraction team. As we reach the tunnel, they hold them both off as they back away, holding the line. The last thing I see before I turn the corner is the leader pulling a grenade out of nowhere and lobs it into the room. She walks away slowly as the room behind her explodes in a cartoonish fire and debris. She wipes her head off with the back of her hand. [Let¡¯s go, people!] She calls as she surges past us. [We gotta get outta here before they get wise to us.] [Yes, Harriet!] The rest call in unison. We take twist and turns, probably to throw off pursuers, even so, I lost track. We eventually came out to a full and still night. It feels like coming up from underwater. Oh to be outside in my city again. A tricked out GRTC bus sits waiting. Now I haven¡¯t been to Richmond in a while, but the busses didn¡¯t look like this. The windows were covered with sheets of metal blinds. So no one could get a shot in, but they could get a shot out. The tires were actually 16 wheeler tires, so they must have modded the frame. The metal sidings were reinforced. It¡¯s practically a APC. This wouldn¡¯t blend anywhere, however, it could probably get you anywhere. [Welcome to The Bus] Harriet says, slapping the side. There¡¯s a rustling inside. She sings a few bars of Wade in the Water and the bus opens up. The door collapsing inward and a man tentatively pokes his head out. Close-cropped hair and coke-bottle glasses. He wore the same things as Harriet and the others. The woman holding a still holding the unconscious Neon climbs onto the bus. Harriet motions for us to get on. [We gotta get out of here. The Sea Witch has a long reach. We don¡¯t want to stick around.] Inside the bus, lanterns hang from the ceiling connected by black cords. The first six seats of the bus are unchanged. Behind that, on the right side, is a large table with a paper maps all over. On the left it had what could only be called a mini armory. Guns, knives, and even sabers were there hanging up on wracks. Further back, there were sleeping quarters, which probably isn¡¯t the word a bunch of hammocks suspended on over the other like bunk beds. There is one cot bolted to the floor which Neon was currently laying on the man examining them and talking to the woman who carried them. [Take a load off.] Harriet motions to the seat next across from her. She and the others sit on the edge. The one who was carrying Neon makes her way back to the front as I sit. She smiles at me when she passes. And sits down at the helm. With in moments, the vehicle is on the road. Firewall and her talk about things about the fine mechanics of The Bus. ¡°Thanks for saving us. We wouldn¡¯t have survived without you.¡± I say. [That¡¯s what we do!] Harriet laughs she pulls her canteen off her hips and takes a swig. [But I sure used a lot of Dream there. Getting to save a few DreamRunners and a DreamCrafter. It¡¯s about to be a big one. I might even level up! You should check yours in a minute. I¡¯m sure getting to safety gave you a bunch of points.] The notification blinks in the corner of my eye and I nod. I know I have to look at it. Just some part of me trembles at the thought, not of getting stronger or being better able to protect them is what I want. I just know this means there¡¯s a lot more I have to do to be like Harriet and the others. If we¡¯re gonna survive, thrive even we gotta do better. [Anyway, I¡¯m Harriet and that up there is Sojurner, back there that¡¯s William Still. And the rest of ladies here are all, Harriets.] ¡°Wait¡­¡± The names coming together in my head. [You caught on pretty quickly.] Harriet smiles. [We¡¯re The Underground. We are trying to save people and help keep them safe. Want to build stations and start infiltrating their strongholds. We are building up to something.] [Harriets in a way are the infiltrators we do a lot of spy craft and when that fails, we fight for the Underground. Sojurners are our navigators. A lot of them have transportation abilities or just know how to read a map and keep us off The Dominance¡¯s radar. Which is exactly what we need. William Still back there is a chronicler and quartermaster all in one. They do different behind-the-scenes stuff. I mean, there are a lot of us around and more than a handful of jobs going around. We use these names as protection to keep them from finding the people important to us and doing harm. While on the job, I¡¯m just Harriet. I guess the bigger question is, do you want to be a part of it?] ¡°Huh?¡± I¡¯m shocked. Someone just asked me to join their secret organization to make a new Underground Railroad, actually. ¡°I¡­ You¡¯re making a new Underground Railroad and you¡¯re asking us to be conductors? That¡¯s-¡± [That¡¯s a really nice offer but, we have some contacts we need to make sure are okay here first.] Gabrielle breaks into the conversation. I¡¯m surprised but, the look that she gives me lets me know we need to talk. I second that notion. Kohl says coming up from under the seat and hopping up on my lap. I hadn¡¯t seen him when I came in but, judging by the direction he came from¡­ It¡¯s pretty obvious he came from back there with Will and Neon. ¡°Kohl, I¡¯m glad you¡¯re alright.¡± And I as well. Kohl says he looks at me in a way that no cat would keep his attention squarely on me. Thank you for keeping everyone safe. You have my sincerest gratitude. I know you were gonna risk yourselves to save me, but I don¡¯t know that I could have gone through what the others did. We have to have a talk, you and I. There¡¯s a lot you¡¯ll need to know going forwards¡­ leader. I knew that is something I am working towards, but the way he said it, I understand. I look at the first notification. Congratulations Composer, You fought The Sea Witch and The Excutioner and survived. A feat not many can boast. You lead your team using the best tactics you know and no one died. We have decided to award you the Leadership skill. Use it wisely and save your home! I got the leadership skill. And while I waited to feel a rush of arcane knowledge like I did when I got Magic, nothing happens. I¡¯m shocked. I hoped gaining this skill would mean I¡¯d have a better handle on the world around me and my party. Some bit of knowledge to save everyone. Maybe a way to save our world, but I got nothing. I look at Kohl and he just beams back at me. He nods, You¡¯ve earned it. We wouldn¡¯t have made it without you. A skill is represented by abilities you have, not things that you will learn from being awakened. You have shown the system and me that you deserve this ability and you are now being recognized for it. That¡¯s why this is important. That¡¯s why this is an accomplishment. Kohl wanders over and puts a paw on my lap. Don¡¯t overthink it. Enjoy the recognition and try to be worthy of it. Kohl makes his way back towards the bed in the back. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the multicolored lights of Neon. They jump out of bed and shout, [I leveled up! Woooo!] Even the subtitles add a bunch of o¡¯s. They hop up and down and wince. [Oww] The smile lost only for a second. They still dance around just way more simple options, as to avoid straining themselves. [You should level up. It¡¯s hard out here. You¡¯re gonna need to be strong. And sense you¡¯re not gonna be with us, you¡¯re gonna need to be a lot stronger. There¡¯s a lot of crazy things out there. And If I know anything about these aliens¡­ They don¡¯t take getting beaten very well.] Harriet advises. I nod and I open the next notification. Congratulations Composer, You leveled up! You are now Level 2. Please take a minute and allocate your new stat points and ability points. We expect great things from you. A course of energy works through me like I just had a good night¡¯s sleep, and I felt reinvigorated. I can hear everything again. The sound of the engine and the quiet conversations on the bus. Leveling up feels like it could get addicting. I can definitely tell why Harriet and Neon like the feeling so much. I don¡¯t think I would get up and dance, but I can¡¯t help the smile crawling over my face. First, I wanted to dig into the points. I had been losing way too much health in that last battle and I, for sure, wasn¡¯t strong enough to protect people. So Power and Durability need a boost. I¡¯m trying to be the ranged damage dealer and I think Creativity will keep me loose and thinking about tactics, so I think that¡¯s an important spread for me. Also, I think it helps me find drops which I¡¯m hoping will happen a bit more often. Three points per level isn¡¯t very much, but with 30 being the cap, it probably makes sense. The Composer¡¯s Stats Level 2 (Rank 1) HP: 12 Dream: 12 Will: 1 Reflex: 3 Creativity: 4 Talent: 2 Power: 4 Durability: 2 I know Creativity is more passive, but when I put points in it. I feel like my brain wrinkles a bit, like I¡¯m learning something new and I¡¯m building new pathways. It¡¯s such an amazing feeling. Also know I¡¯m more powerful now makes me feel like my CDs will hit harder. Now on to my spells and abilities. I think I¡¯ll add Teleport, giving me crucial mobility in times like dealing with that nightmare thing should protect me if I¡¯m in that position again. I need to stay alive without having to break formation for me. Shot is an easy push to Lv 2 because it¡¯s my most damaging ability and now with the buff to power it thinks it will help me one shot lesser enemies. That last point though I look over at Firewall who¡¯s looking over their stats and Neon who¡¯s playing with their Light Gauntlets¡­ What if I grab Summon Construct? It will allow us to have another ally on our side doing damage and it scales with Creativity. It¡¯s the perfect fit for my abilities. And it would help screen me from attacks and allow Neon to assassinate them. The Composer¡¯s Abilities Skills: Leadership Knowledge: Ancestral Magic Utilities: Siren Enchanting Echo Special Attacks: Shot Lv 2 Damage 7-20 While it wasn¡¯t a major power increase, watching the numbers go up felt good. Feel like I¡¯d have a better control of the situation. I knew things were bad and the only way to do something about it was to fight. I just didn¡¯t have enough information to know where to point ourselves.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. When I look down to where Kohl had gotten comfortable while I was working on my stats. I¡¯m surprised to see that the wounds all over his body have disappeared. There weren¡¯t even healed over scars. Yes, a happy pur escapes his body. Thanks for asking. It seems as you get stronger, so will I. I have abilities I¡¯m not able to harness yet that will allow me to help you on your paths and allow you to grow. As exciting as that would be, I think a veterinarian finding something like me on his table might give him a heart attack. I¡¯d probably tell you if I was a cat, probably. DreamCrafters are like DreamRunners except our bodies are changed by the Dream entering our bodies. We can¡¯t hide who we are. None of us can change what we look like and because of that, we¡¯re obvious targets. We gain pretty complete knowledge of Dream and how it affects life forms. We also allow those awakened by us to choose their path in gaining strength. Those not awakened that way tend to get some unique, and while powerful, they can be unpredictable. When I look up, Harriet wasn¡¯t there. She¡¯s talking to the other Harriets over at the war table. Weirdly enough, Gabrielle is in front of me. She smiles as she gets caught looking at me. Holding a warm cup that smells like cocoa. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± I can tell she wants to say something. ¡°I told Sojourner that we need to be dropped off by our apartment building. I think it would be a good idea to get some supplies. I mean, you need some actual clothes. I don¡¯t think lab rat chic does it for you. She¡¯s down to do that. They¡¯re getting ready to leave.¡± ¡°Just that quickly? Can¡¯t they help us fight?¡± ¡°They¡¯re supposed to be a scout force. They aren¡¯t supposed to get in long, drawn out combats.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ honestly pretty smart.¡± I say, sighing. ¡°Yeah, if we find a handhold here, we might even become a station for them. They¡¯d like to help us. They just don¡¯t have the people. Plus, it¡¯s not what they¡¯re about.¡± ¡°The lady¡¯s right. We want a to be a force for change and safety for noncombatants. That¡¯s what The Underground is about.¡± I see what they¡¯re all about¡­ it makes me think about what I¡¯d want life to be here. This is my home and I want to protect it. Protect Neon, Gabrielle, and Kohl. I want to find Carter too. I hope he¡¯s okay. My brother and I are a lot of things, but not knowing where he¡¯s at or if he¡¯s okay is twisting my stomach. I have been able to avoid the thoughts until now. But we¡¯re out of danger, at least for the moment, and he¡¯s all I can think about. I wonder what he¡¯s up to. We say goodbye as we are dropped off in front of Gabrielle¡¯s and my building, Harmony Apartments. It¡¯s sad to see them go. Kohl said he added Harriet into our contacts and any time they¡¯re in the area, we can send messages. As we¡¯d get stronger, his range would increase. I was hoping that meant we¡¯d get lucky with some new abilities as we go on. We shrug on the packs that William gave us. He had some kind of power to recreate non-magic textiles from things like trash. It was so cool to see He even made a shield for Firewall and some leather armor. Before we entered the building, Firewall kneels down by the doorway and send closes her eyes. She was using her Dive ability. It allows her to connect with systems and that the ability is level 2 access to cameras. Which will be really useful as we didn¡¯t know what could have possibly infested our homes. Dive Ability Type: Technic Dream Cost: 0 Level 1: You connect to the net and objects in the area to unlock doors or hack electric locks. Takes a round or a minute to jack in. Requires Focus. Level 2: Access Cameras Requirements: Hacking ¡°There¡¯s movement on the cameras. But it doesn¡¯t look human.¡± ¡°You think it¡¯s the bugs?¡± I say nervously. I believe that¡¯s likely. Getting some psychic distortion in there. We should be careful. ¡°Are you gonna be alright, in there?¡± I nod at the apartment building. While I may never be a combatant. My ability to sense ripples in the psy-fields will be invaluable. ¡°Alright let¡¯s get in there so we can get some damn sleep!¡± Neon cheers ¡°Wait.¡± I call before Neon passes through the double doors. ¡°There¡¯s one more thing I want to do.¡± I hold out my hand and focus on my summoning spell. A magic circle begins etching itself in the asphalt. Purple light pours from me into lines and symbols beneath me. Once finished, the Magic Circle begins shining and I could feel something coming into the world. A wire frame of a crouching figure floats in the circle. I feel the same thing when I create a sound construct, the space for improvisation. I sing the dark blade into the construct. There¡¯s a bit of reluctance at first. So I push willing for my power to work into the summoning. After a second or so, it accepts the blade¡¯s power. And obscuring light blots out my vision. When my eyes adjust back to normal, a tiny imp appears holding what to me seems to be a long knife, but in its hand was a long blade. The imp was the size of a young child holding a Dark Blade Longsword. The imp had a young, round face like a child. Its short dull horns peaked out from a head of pronounced curls. Its dark, red skin was like leather in appearance, while his lower body had the shaggy hair and hindquarters of a goat. The sword is shaped like a gladius, the short flat blade with a wide crossbar to fit the broad blade. It¡¯s a reflection of my power. I¡¯ve got a demonic servant with a sword, I enchanted myself. Summon Minon Dream Cost: 3 Level 1: Summon a creature from outside your world. It will grow as you do and will resemble more of you and your power. Requirements: None/Genesis ¡°What¡¯s your name, little guy?¡± ¡°Whatever my master deems appropriate.¡± Little guy says with such a cute self-serious attitude. ¡°Hmm¡­ I honestly think you should name yourself. It would be pretty hypocritical of me to name you something you didn¡¯t like.¡± ¡°If time is what you need, I will defeat The Chronicler and have them hold back The Sands of Time.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ intense.¡± Neon chimes in, ¡°How about we just do what we can today? And if you come up with something, that¡¯s what we¡¯ll call you.¡± ¡°I will rend the sky and bring it low for my master.¡± He says. He punctuates this by swinging his sword at the sky. I try very hard to keep my face as neutral as possible. ¡°Can you make him take a chill pill?¡± Neon mutters to me. ¡°Alright, alright. We¡¯ve got a job to do and you¡¯re gonna help us get home, little buddy.¡± I say patting his head. Creeping our way through the dark 1st floor, the only light comes from the glowing of the Solar Battery. The fact that the cameras still work and yet it¡¯s completely dark is very creepy, like whatever was in here must have hated the lights. Could it be some sort of vampire? We checked the doors as we went. We agreed not to go rummaging through people¡¯s houses and but we did try the doors as we go. Most of them were locked tight, however a few were busted in. Gabrielle says that it was probably when people started figuring out about what was happening with the kidnapping. That¡¯s the first time she¡¯s even really mentioned what happened to her. I hope it wasn¡¯t as bad as what happened to me. She says it like she knew things were going bad. Maybe she stuck it out a longer than I thought. Maybe she even fought back. I watch her for a moment and she raises her shield and just like that she sets everything else down. Shuts out all of her other feelings and just moves forward. Watching Gabrielle¡¯s work was awesome. William and her built her new shield with his textile ability and her Construction. They fashioned a pretty cool looking shield. It was leather reinforced with the vestiges of her old shield. Round and strong, I did see something I hadn¡¯t before 3 Chevrons appeared over her health in my HUD. When I asked about it from Kohl. He said Chevrons are how the system represented armor. That lit up my brain. I wonder if I could make enchanted armor for her. The spear is a little less austere, but it¡¯s good they got one. A simple spearhead point connected to a long wooden shaft, a leather wrapped grip is held tight in her hand. She said she was unsure what she should use, but she should probably get a weapon that can do some actual damage and the wrench wasn¡¯t doing it. The 2nd floor is where things get weird. As we open the door of the stairwell, we decided that the elevator was a bad idea; I hear Firewall¡¯s voice catch. As I make my way into the hallway, I can see why. The entire floor has tiny three to four-inch purple, red, a yellow crystals dot the floor, the corners, and some even come out of doors. They sparkle, shining dim light all over the place. I couldn¡¯t help but gasp. I looking over at the others and Gabrielle is already on her knees examining. Neon¡¯s hair and natural glow seems to react with them, falling into synch with their colors in the crystals. Kohl, however, is the oddest. Each color seems to wash over them as he purrs loudly. Gabrielle starts digging around one of the crystals to wrest it from its home. ¡°What are these?¡± she says as she gets the crystal free. These are Dream Crystals. They help magnify our powers, but it can fuel other things. ¡°Other things like what?¡± I say nervously. The very thing I was worried about. Kohl says. ¡°Bugs!¡± Gabrielle says as she readies her shield. Six crabs the size of medium dogs scuttle towards us. Their shells seem to be covered in Dream crystals. Their pincers clack as they move menacingly toward us. Nothing about them seems like the figments of imagination they were purported to be when I first heard of them. Kohl slips behind us while we get into battle formation. Firewall in the lead, with Neon ready to flank on her left, little guy on the right and me in the back, ready to send my disks flying. Firewall lunges forward with her spear. The crab grabs her weapon to halt the thrust. Instead of giving up, she lifted it up to turn it over and flip it upside down. And that¡¯s when Neon dives in with their light blades. Scouring deep into its exoskeleton. ¡°The underside is pretty weak!¡± Gabrielle calls out. ¡°Good to know.¡± I send a one, two combo at the crab to finish it off. My disks cutting deep into it. Unlike the other constructs, they explode in glitter like fragments. The one next to it becomes unseamed by our favorite imp slicing through it after four or five chops. I took my eyes off our tank, and she was getting overrun. Four bugs surrounded her and her Guard was doing its thing blocking hits but she¡¯s having a bit of trouble keeping up. ¡°I¡¯ve pulled too much.¡± She admits. ¡°Neon, thin the herd!¡± Neon takes off, bouncing off the walls, doing their best to scoop, slice, and knock them away from Firewall. When Gabrielle is left with only two in her general vicinity. She scoops one up with her shield, knocking it in the air and off balance, and then throws her spear like a javelin, spearing it through its carapace and into the wall. It twitches there for a while before a bleeding debuff appears over its body while it slowly drains of blood. ¡°That was badass!¡± I say, cheering her on. ¡°Wait until you see this!¡± she says as she puts her foot under another and flips it up to her knee, where she juggles it up further and smashes it with her glowing pink shield into the other wall. She must have been playing f¨²tbol. Dazed condition flashes over its body and the dent it makes. I follow up with Shot finishing it off. ¡°You two done flirting?¡± Neon has the two others they¡¯d taken off Firewall skewered on each of their blades. We did pretty well for the next two floors. Neon would disturb a crystal. We¡¯d figured out pretty quickly that¡¯s what was drawing them towards us, and would run back behind Firewall while we had an easy time picking them off. We really got into a grove. Having Little Guy allowed me really to focus on offensive abilities and gave me another avenue whenever someone else gets involved. We were capable, strong, and we were in over our heads. As we made our way to the 8th floor, we were riding high. The bugs slowly got more powerful. We weren¡¯t able to move them around as much and they only got bigger. The one on the last floor was just as big as our shoulders. We got lucky taking it down. Firewall got under its guard, pushed hard, digging her feet in to the earth and picking its front legs off the ground, she rammed her spear into its underside again and again and again. While that was happening, Neon and I focused down the legs. It got so bad Neon had to turn his swords into twin axes, hacking through the limbs, and I sent so many disks I had to start building them again during the fight. They really made us work for that. We were a bit ragged now; we were covered in cuts and bruises and our clothes could easily be called tastefully distressed if not for the blood. The quips and the joking quit a while back. I could tell the team needs something to break the tension but, we also have to keep loose. ¡°So for the obvious boss battle, how bout we make this a crab boil?¡± I joke. It¡¯s bad. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s funny. I know I¡¯m not funny. Anything to break the tension. ¡°What was that?¡± Neon laughs. ¡°W-was that sup-posed to be a joke?¡± ¡°No buildup.¡± Gabrielle roasts me. ¡°No punchline. No follow through.¡± And she laughs too, each staccato phrase punctuated by a chopping hand motion. I can tell you there¡¯s no worse feeling than hearing someone else laugh in your mind. It gets even worse when he snorts. I¡¯m sure my face was bright red and even when they finish laughing, they look at me and start right back up again. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, that was just hilarious. The ¡®joke¡¯ certainly helps to get everyone to loosen up, and that was my goal, even if that¡¯s not how I imagined it happening.¡± Just then, Kohl cuts the laughing short, freezing in motion. His whole body becoming rigid like someone stopped his time. For a full five seconds he hangs about to take another step and then, like nothing happened, he moves forward, catching up to us in a few quick cat steps. Looking around, no one else notices. Nothing. It¡¯s not a big deal. There¡¯s a sigh in his mental voice. I want to examine it, but I drop it. I haven¡¯t known Kohl very long. There¡¯s one thing that¡¯s very obvious though: the man likes to keep things close to the chest. We look at doors to the Boss Room. I mean, what else could it be? The doors leading to the indoor pool are so encrusted with crystals I wouldn¡¯t know they were without the sign or the sounds of kids playing. As we touch the doors, they begin to open on their own and the look from Neon is literally vibrating. The pool sits clear at the shallows, close to us. It darkens farther away. The crystals also saturate at the depths. We hear it before we see it. The sound of surging water draws our attention. The massive crab breaches the surface and waves splash out in different directions. Instead of the smooth shell of its brethren, the King Crab wore a crown of crystals jutting off in different directions. And when the massive thing gets to a place where it can no longer hide its body, I jump from the pool and knives down its legs toward us. Each leg was a blade and two sets of claws. Two massive pincers and two smaller ones. We scatter and when it lands, the monster lets out a sound like that of a roar mixed with the garbled keen of a blender. Neon¡¯s Stats so far Level 2 (Rank 1) HP: 12 Dream: 12 Will: 2 Reflex: 6 Creativity: 1 Talent: 1 Power: 3 Durability: 2 Neon¡¯s Abilities So Far Skills: Super Speed Knowledge: Weapon Bond Light Gauntlets Short & Long Range Utilities: Hide Arms: Energy Weapon Lv 2 Damage: 1-8 added damage Special Attacks: Dart Damage 6-17 Kinetic Fighting Lv2 Damage 6-17 With Elemental weapon 7-24 Neon¡¯s Inventory Weapons Light Gauntlets [Bound] (Tier 1) Damage 5-11 Firewall¡¯s Stats so far Level 2 (Rank 1) HP: 14 Dream: 12 Armor: 2 Chevrons Will: 2 Reflex: 1 Creativity: 2 Talent: 4 Power: 2 Durability: 4 Firewall¡¯s Abilities So Far Skills: Construction Knowledge: Hacking Utilities: Blackout Intent Dive Lv 2 Special Attacks: Guard Pierce Firewall¡¯s inventory Steel Spear (Tier 1) Damage 3-6 Steel-enforced Leather Shield (Tier 1) 1 Chevron Custom PsyDeck Leather Armor 2 chevrons Track 08: Rewards Track 08: Rewards We waste no time and pop some of our strongest abilities. Neon goes in already armed with twin axes. Running around the pool, dashing around the creature looking for purchase. Firewall¡¯s shield was already glowing pink, and the claws were coming in, trying to batter her around, but she just kept taking it. She didn¡¯t give an inch, even though there was a lot of strain on her face. I cast Shot on my chakrams, making sure to aim at the left eyestalk. I push as much energy and power into them as I can manage. It sails away from me, eating up the distance and just when I think it¡¯s about to connect, one claw comes into intercept it. For a moment, I think all is lost until it slices deep into its lower claw. King Crab lets out a deep and guttural howl. Dream crystals loosen from the ceiling and rain down. When they hit the ground, they explode with miny novas of purple, pink, red and yellow debris. Where it lands, the ground warps, some places turning into swirling pits like a bore hole or some places looking like the opposite, a mound spinning up out of nowhere. Some places liquefy and others turn to goo. Dream reacts unpredictably with the area around its explosion. Be careful, Runners! ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t want whatever that was-¡± Neon waves at the whole thing. ¡°to happen to me.¡± I¡¯m adding¡­ getting twisted to the concerningly lengthening list of fears. I¡¯ve added tentacles of darkness, serpent scientists, zombie brick-shit-houses, and now¡­ getting twisted, I don¡¯t want to end up being Uzumaki¡¯d. It¡¯s a shit way to go. ¡°Let¡¯s avoid that guys!¡± I call, ¡°Don¡¯t bunch up and keep one eye on the ceiling.¡± Not enjoying our commentary, he sent down another volley of crystals toward the earth. I look up and see it hanging over my head like a hurtling sword down towards me. Getting ready to clench my stomach and teleport, when Warchilde leaps over my head, cutting the shard in half. Multicolored dust flies in every direction and swallows Warchilde in the debris cloud. I know intrinsically that he¡¯s a construct I can re-summon, but I don¡¯t want him to get hurt. He¡¯s got child in his name. Anytime I try to bring up if he has any kind of reluctance, he mentions it is how the Warchildren measure themselves against other beings on their home planet. He wants to fight. He must fight. War is all he knows, and there¡¯s a literal timer over his head in our world. He has to return to a world that made him this way. I need to show him a better way a better life. I wonder if there¡¯s a way to keep him here permanently, saving him from what I have to assume is a war-torn world. Because my dumbass is in my head and not paying attention, I get clipped by the enormous claw. It shatters the Guard effect, spinning me hard into one of the bigger dream crystals. The wind gets knocked out of me and I black out for a minute. -7. The sound of cracking comes from behind me. I look up, watching a fissure crawl up my back and spiderweb out, only to reach the top. ¡°Scatter!¡± I shout, teleporting away. ¡°Here¡¯s a big one!¡± Teleporting for the first time feels like being ripped away from the world around you. My stomach tenseness and I feel the earth move under me as I¡¯m being pitched through space. It¡¯s disorienting af, but it¡¯s so freeing. For less than a second, I was weightless. And just like before, my thoughts slipped away from what¡¯s right in front of me. Teleport Ability Type: Movement/ Space Dream Cost: 2 Level 1: Teleport once up to 30ft Requirements: None/ Genesis The explosion rocks the building. Neon stumbles and rolls almost completely, wiping out, but gets back to their feet. Gabrielle¡¯s stance shatters and is buffeted by the fallout, breaking her focus on intent. She picks herself and dusts herself off. I know it will take her a moment to spin up her abilities. We just need to give her the time. Little guy got the worst of it cause he was so close to me. I watch as 3 out of 4 of his cheverons break and shatter. His form flickers for a bit as he dusts himself off. He only has one left and vapor seems to come off him in waves. That same vapor in the air is around all of us. Each of our eyes is lit up, reflecting the color of powers. Not that it¡¯s new at all for Neon. I realize my Dream bar is filling up and I get a second wind for all dream vapor from the destroyed crystals. ¡°Well, that really rung my bell.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not the only one.¡± Neon says. I scan the area and when I my eyes come upon the King Crab and I vomit a little in my mouth. The carapace half-twisted apart leads to a hemorrhaging, pulsating corpse. Instead of the red with crystals poking out, one side is blackened by the damage from it, ripping out both claw and limb in one whole joint place. I feel sympathetic pain in my own joints. ¡°Is¡­Is that it?¡± Neon says No, be on guard! Kohl warns. Bursting forth a rain of viscera rains down on us. Ugh, I feel like I¡¯ll never be clean again. ¡°Ugh, This Boss kinda sucks.¡± Gabrielle says. ¡°First, I¡¯ve got alien gunk in my hair, snake acid, then we walk under sewers, which didn¡¯t smell much better. But crab viscera and pool scum are just gonna get caked in my hair.¡± ¡°And mine too.¡± I say. ¡°You-¡± Neon starts ¡°I know, I know! I need a twist up.¡± I say. ¡°First thing I¡¯m gonna do after this!¡± I wave at the evolved Crab King. Crab King Lv 2 Leviathan King Lv 4 The Leviathan roars its blue shell now hardening and fusing to a vibrant blood red. From vicious red to fleshy pink, the colors travel down his body. The distended legs are now more like tentacles than their previous crustacean legs. The Leviathan spins, a flurry of kicks sent out like a whirlpool kicking water and crystal bits up. I jump and rolling over. It clips my leg, taking another few points off me. -2 Tiny shards rake my face and the water stings my eyes. I kip up out of the roll, landing on my feet and sending CDs one of after another, aiming for some of the exposed joints. ¡°We¡¯re going right to left! We¡¯ll take each limb one by one.¡± I say. Maybe it¡¯s cause I¡¯ve played games like this against enemies like this but, I think if we keep at this we can win. Everyone besides Firewall has decent attack. Neon can do some heavy damage if they can keep up the pressure and are honestly the only one who can do it in melee without getting caught. ¡°Firewall! Lay down intent, keep his eyes and those tentacles on you!¡± Without words, her shield shines her favorite color. If she can¡¯t keep up the pressure¡­ No, I can¡¯t think like that. She¡¯s barely taken any damage, and she¡¯s a fucking badass. I have to trust her. I¡¯ve got overwatch. If there¡¯s any change in boss behavior, I¡¯ll let you all know in time. ¡°Neon, get in there and let loose. You¡¯ve got the speed, the reflexes, and the mind to keep up with anything Ol¡¯ Levi¡¯s got to throw at us.¡± ¡°You got it boss!¡± Neon nods and gets into the mode, already zipping around, taking the lead. ¡°Little guy!¡± ¡°Lukaelin.¡± He spits out. ¡°Lukaelin.¡± Without looking up, I felt a throb next to my heart. I knew he was listening. ¡°Get in,¡¯ where you fit in.¡± I could feel him hold his breath. ¡°Don¡¯t go dying on me, kiddo!¡± The release I feel in his chest almost breaks my heart. I don¡¯t want to make him feel like this ever again. I look at the timer still over his head and he still has 4 hours left. ¡°We got this. Let¡¯s make it surgical. We¡¯ve got to get to bed.¡± Neon got in there, windmilling damage, cutting deep into tentacles, spraying neon colors and translucent blood everywhere. Never in the same place for more than half a second. Leviathan King couldn¡¯t protect any of its tentacles from them. They were on the hunt. From just the start of this journey with her, Firewall¡¯s ability to tank has been pretty awesome. First, with Aquilan who¡¯s level I have no idea about, to Leviathan who¡¯s twice our level. There¡¯s no one I¡¯d rather have at the front or on my back. Every time a tentacle landed on her shield, she unbalanced it or took a stab at it. While she¡¯s not powerful, she¡¯s every bit the powerhouse. If I thought Lu was dynamic before, he¡¯s doing even more now. He moves like a truck hitting hard and getting out of there. He only holds his ground to feint an attack and counter. Dark Blade allowing him to hit even a fast-moving target like the lashing tentacles. Catching them in full motion blunted every hit that was coming for Gabrielle. I played some of the best ass kicking music I know, Seven Street¡¯s song Koi. A hype Kpop/hip hop track with just the get up and go. We really found the tempo. Something about playing the music got the team together and as long as my Beats were breaking things up, adding my compositions to the music. Maybe this is what I am. Maybe this is what it means to be The Composer. The battlefield is mine is to control. Once each tentacle is severed, a crystal in its crown glow. And as the fifth one is severed, they all glow a haunting blue. Something big is coming! The sound of a foghorn interrupts our song just as it climaxes. The body seizes just enough for a swell upward, leaping back into the pool. A tidal wave of previously stagnant pool water surges over the edge to wipe us out. Neon races along the wall and I have no idea what they¡¯re up to, but I got to make sure we¡¯re alright. Firewall beings to reinforce her shield. I run up behind her; I touch either parts of her shield and sing it bigger and broader, adding my sound forms to it. I change the shape, making it into a wedge. And to my surprise, the pink energy of her Guard begins to cover it. Digging deep, adding my Dream energy to song construct. Crushing the dream dice, adding its strength to our defense. The physical integrity increases, becoming more solid. I can feel our energies mixing black, gold, and her pink. A vision of the person she wants to be appears in my mind and it¡¯s epic. I¡¯m in awe of being this close, knowing we probably haven¡¯t had a proper shower in months, covered in grime, and stank to hell and back¡­ But she looks so beautiful to me. In her eyes, I can see the colors of my power reflected shimmering over honey-colored irises. I¡¯m sure I look just as captivating with pink threading through mine. This power. The power of DreamRunners is so connected to the ideal of ourselves, that and our personal dreams. Who one wants to be is so tied into what we can do that it feels like that realization is happening in real time. It¡¯s how I gained the Leadership skill. How I managed to understand my enchanting ability. How I became someone that my crew would follow into battle. We worked together and got this far, doing our best to be the people we want to be. We became our own heroes, and feeling this power course through our veins makes me believe we¡¯re more powerful than we know. ¡°Lukaelin, get behind me!¡± In a matter of seconds, just as the water is about to crash into us, I feel the little guy wrap his arms around my waist. When I look back at him and see, he shut his eyes in pure fear. I can feel a subtle shake from his arms that cling to me. This is gonna be rough! From out of nowhere, I feel tiny cat paws run up my body and rest around my neck. I don¡¯t know where Kohl came from, but knowing he¡¯s here with us, safe, takes another weight off my shoulder as the Tidal Wave attack connects. The waves rush past us; the wedge splits the water around and behind us. It''s almost beautiful watching the water slide around our construct and then I remember what''s likely in it. We actually remain relatively dry, except the water pooling at our feet. As it all clears, I see a tornado of water, with Neon running around, keeping it going. My jaw drops as we all stare dumbfounded at Neon is churning all that mess into some kind of attack. When it seems like it¡¯s getting to be too much, like it¡¯s gonna break down, they launch it towards The Levithan King. Thousands of gallons of water are sent right back at pseudopod.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. The collision was epic. I didn¡¯t even know this was a possibility. The tornado slams hard into the Boss, knocking it over and a large Stunned status appears over its body. It takes precious seconds for me to snap out of my awe but, Firewall and Lukaelin tear off. It¡¯s time for us to go all out. As I see the hit complete, I¡¯m so happy I almost cheer and then I look over the status screen of the party and my mouth drops open. Neon¡¯s health has tanked. Their legs are heavy in the red and blinking on my HUD. They collapse on the floor. Firewall and I run to pick them up. I pull the last of my Nanos out and shove it in their bruised and bloody legs. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°I thought I could pull a move like a speedster.¡± They say, coughing up water. ¡°It worked!¡± Yeah but, you got injured. Kohl says, panic filtering in over his mental voice. Don¡¯t ever do something crazy like that again.¡± ¡°Oh, I will. I just gotta make sure I put a lot more points into Durability first.¡± Neon smiles and I just want to punch them in the arm. That might take off their last health point, though. ¡°You¡¯re gonna give me a heart attack. Or worse, give Kohl one. Imagine his little paws up in the air.¡± The shock on Neon¡¯s face is priceless. ¡°No, no, I don¡¯t want to be a pet killer in the movie. I¡¯d be painted the villain for life!¡± Unfortunately, the stun doesn¡¯t last long but, the hurting we put on it does. All ten tentacles severed while Neon¡¯s Nano was doing its thing. All it can do is try to hit us with these weak, unbalanced claw attacks, now that it is so top heavy. When lasers start coming from the crown on its head, they were easily deflected by Gabrielle. I even smashed a claw open, creating a hammer when it got too close. Neon used the opening to cut off one of its eyestalks. That triggered another crystal fall, which we were ready for. Lukaelin kicked one into its open maw, twisting that into a tangle of flesh. A big Disrupted appears over its head along with Bleeding, which switches quickly to Hemorrhaging. Chunky blood vomits out of his open mouth. ¡°Pop those cooldowns! Nothing left on the floor, people!¡± I shout. Neon¡¯s built up speed by running around the room, building up light. They still aren¡¯t in top condition, their status showing orange in the top of my vision. They still go for it, though, carving up the area for their final attack. Meanwhile, Firewall readies her shield for Lukaelin to jump off of. This tosses him high into the air and rocketing him toward the sea monster. Firewall then throws her spear like a javelin before Lukaelin lands his attack. The spear lands deep into the shell of the Levithan and a bit of blood trickles out. Only burbles answer this attack. Lukaelin coming down at a ninety-degree angle on the shell, splitting it down to the wear the where landed. This created the perfect target for Neon¡¯s Kinetic Fighting and Energy Weapon. When it hit the newly exposed flesh, fireworks peeled off in every direction. The Levithan is wide open and probably would die without any interference, but I need this to be over. I create a Beat twice as dense as the one I¡¯ve been working on until now, focusing all the power I have left into it. This became larger and thicker now about the size of a vinyl. I ready Shot and Echo and as it makes its way towards the Levithan King; it picks up speed and power. Pitch black energy creates rings like Saturn resolving into grooves. The center¡¯s energy turns gold and now feels more real and a greater concentration of the energy I can produce. As the Vinyl hit, there wasn¡¯t the explosion of energy that Neon¡¯s attack was. Instead, it was a massive vibration that shook off every last bit of shell and as Echo activates the Beat was already in my hand and ready. I barely had to flick it, but it nearly lept from my hand. Sailing straight into the hole the first had made. This enters its brain and rattles around in whatever it calls a skull. The sea beast finally falls, and a prompt appears on my HUD. Congratulations! You have bested the King of the Deep, The Leviathan King! 10 xp For being the first to complete a dungeon in Electric City, you receive a Flashback Token. Which is redeemable now for an item of antiquity from the past of The Minority. You also gain the title, King Killer. Which will show on your profile and your avatar when you receive it. I am speechless. When I pull my status, a new category now exists called Titles. Under that is an entry called King Killer and next to it is an icon of the crown both The Crab King and Leviathan King wore. I focus on it and bring it up and, just like that, a holographic crown appears in my hand. The crystalline points sized down to fit my head and as I hold it, some part of me wants to wear the image of the crown on my head but some better angel dismisses it and goes away. Making eye contact with the others, I think they notice the weight of the crown. All of them look at theirs with trepidation. ¡°Something¡¯s weird about these, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, I feel like there¡¯s some weird feeling in the air.¡± Firewall said. ¡°I wish I could quantify this phenomenon. It feels like putting this on is some kind of challenge.¡± ¡°Aquilan¡­¡± I say. ¡°How is she still bothering us?¡± Neon says frustratingly. It seems she¡¯s overlain her power over the entire region. Choosing to take certain levels of status would alert her. Even metaphysically. I think there¡¯s a chance that we have to be careful which awards we choose to use from The Minority. All that being said, we have Flashback Tokens to redeem. Get close to the biggest of the crystals. ¡°You sure about that, cat man?¡± Neon says poking the crystal next to them. ¡°These things are hella dangerous.¡± Yes, right now they¡¯re filled with Dream energy. With the dungeon cleared, we are free to use the Dream energy. Gather round, I¡¯m gonna do my thing. We get as close as we¡¯re willing to. Kohl starts pacing like a lion back and forth, looking for its next meal. It¡¯s times like this. I wonder what really happened to him. He says he was a human and he for sure has the kind of intelligence that if I¡¯m not looking at him feels human. Honestly, he feels way smarter than me. But it¡¯s times like this I feel like he¡¯s fighting for himself in there against some kind of new alien intelligence. Part of me wants to know about it all from pure curiosity. But the more I think on it. Having anymore weird shit go on in my head or my body feels like it would break me. I have a freaking organ somewhere along my respiratory system and it allows me to ¡°Sing¡± two songs at once. If someone also downloaded the secrets of the universe in my head, I don¡¯t know that I¡¯d cope very well. I wonder how he¡¯s doing. Kohl stops, freezing in place like they found something. Looking up his the stars of his starlight cat¡¯s eyes exploding out of his face making a canopy of stars. The change from the blaring LED lights to the night dome is such an obvious change that Neon and Gabrielle look up from their conversation and look overhead. Neon flits out of sight, probably to see the outside of the dome, and comes back in the blink of an eye. The look on their face is of quiet wonder. I don¡¯t know how they can do it I think I¡¯m all out of wonder. Our world just keeps getting more and more wonderful and I think I¡¯ve taken in as much as I¡¯m going to. I say this until the world around me holds its breath. And as it exhales, a star falls to the earth in front of me, leaving a bundle of clothes. I reach out to grab it and the first thing I notice is the softness of the woven fabric. It feels like softer than silk and almost seamless like the highest count Egyptian Cotton. It¡¯s beautiful with golden chevrons dancing in the weave. A notification appears in my HUD. Congratulations! You have received a Flashback! You have received a Raiment! Raiments, Armors, or Accessories give you access to the Loadout System. The Loadout system allows you to organize outfits and armaments and allows you to put them on in the blink of an eye. You have gained the Robes of the Truthseeker! Light Magical Raiment -1 Damage Resistance +1 to Dream Energy The Robes of the Truthseeker have been added to your Loadout. I am no longer holding the robes and just as my thoughts brush them. I am enveloped in them. The black and gold robes fit neatly in place. Constructed like a hoodie and poncho, had a luxurious love child. The underside was all hoodie with the front pocket, able for me to place my hands in. While the outer part completely obscures my hands, making it really easy to hide the spells I¡¯m casting. It makes me wonder what kind of people were the Truthseekers are? Looking around, I see the things the others got. Firewall holds a steel rod in her hand. I can feel the magic radiating off of it. As she looks over it, I can see she¡¯s already looking at ways to take it apart and put it together. ¡°Is that a wand or scepter? Are you going in a more magic direction?¡± I ask. ¡°No,¡± her expression going from pensive wonder to unabashed glee. ¡°It¡¯s an omni tool.¡± ¡°Like those that were in the news¡­ a few months ago. I saw them in one of those tech mags.¡± I say, realizing it hadn¡¯t been a few weeks ago because of the time skip without my consent. ¡°Yes, but this one is, like, a hundred years more powerful.¡± She says, waving it around in front of my face. ¡°It uses dream energy instead of intelligent metals. Which not only makes it way less energy intense but, it also means it can change into nearly anything I can think up. This includes weapons.¡± As she says that from the rod¡¯s front end, a spear tip appears, then shifts to a mace, and shifts from a screwdriver to a wrench. ¡°Holy shit! That¡¯s fucking amazing.¡± I say, getting pulled into the excitement of it. ¡°Yeah, and the best part is I think I can figure out how it works. I think I can bring whatever this technology is to our world. I can really revolutionize the world. We figured out the psylinks which the Minority created. We can produce them and that led to our crude use of nanotech, AI, and dozens of medical improvements like cybernetics and peripherals. This could be the next big leap. I believe we can move forward just as far if I had a group of people working on this and claiming other flashbacks we could really change the world.¡± I realize that what she¡¯s saying really could change things for the people. We just have to get them out from under Dominance control. Fight and win against people like Aquilan. We need find to survivors and soon. We need to start rebuilding. Neon¡¯s gift was a little different from ours. They wore an earring in their right ear that took on the colors of their hair and eyes. The look on their face was hard to read. They looked a bit solemn. As if it was something sad. ¡°What is it?¡± I ask cautiously. ¡°It¡¯s a called the Coral Conscious. Gives me knowledge when I want. Not very powerful but it can in certainly help us out in a pinch.¡± ¡°If you want, I can look at it.¡± I say. ¡°I can break down magical obj-¡° ¡°No!¡± Neon cuts me off. ¡°No, it¡¯s okay.¡± The way their body language changes puts me on guard. I don¡¯t understand why they react this way. ¡°No worries, Neon. We won¡¯t take your loot.¡± Firewall smiles, putting a hand on their shoulder. Don¡¯t worry Gabrielle, Mix, that is something for them to hear from their ancestors. It¡¯s not a powerful weapon, but it was something for them. I think it¡¯s special. They don¡¯t talk much about everything before this. Giving them time to open up is probably for the best in this situation. Kohl says. Anyway, I need to speak with everyone. We all look over and gather round. There¡¯s one last thing I have to tell you. There are other allies all over the world who are fighting the good fight, such as us. I have been messaged by one of the DreamCrafters of the Cyborg Paramores and they sent me an incarnation of their Leaderboard app. It will allow the other DreamCrafters and me to keep track of our DreamRunners and the progress they¡¯ve made. That is to say, this is mostly for bragging rights. ¡°I do like to brag.¡± Neon The Leaderboard is a great way to promote competition and I think it would be a lovely way for us to build relationships with the other factions that exist in the world. So if you like I¡¯d like to sign us up for the Leaderboard. Would you all be interested? ¡°I¡¯m down.¡± I say. ¡°I¡¯d like to see how we stack up against the others.¡± ¡°I agree as well.¡± Gabrielle says. ¡°I know this isn¡¯t a game, but some kind of healthy competition to really take the fight to them. That means a lot. Plus, we know for sure we¡¯re not alone, so making connections with others close by might mean we can find others to fill the party.¡± ¡°More friends is a good thing!¡± Neon says. ¡°Sign us up, boss.¡± I say. Alright, done. Only thing left is to name our faction. What would you like to be called? We pondered a moment, shouting out ideas back and forth, when it comes to me. ¡°Rebellion.¡± I say ¡°If they¡¯re gonna be The Dominance, I want us to be the Rebellion. I want to overthrow them and everything they stand for. We¡¯re gonna get off them off this planet and then hit them where they live. The Dominance will not prosper while we yet live. We will tear down the centers of their power and crumble their reputation with our every move forward. They will know no peace while Rebellion lifts up their voices. ¡± ¡°I think you¡¯re right that names sounds great for us.¡± Gabrielle pats me on the back. ¡°I agree. It lets them know we ain¡¯t gonna take some shit.¡± Neon says punching the air. That¡¯s clinches it. Rebellion is now registered as you all. And I¡¯ve taken the opportunity to spend add a super cut of your fights that I¡¯ve seen and your speech. That¡¯s gonna get a few people fired up. ¡°You¡¯re telling me that everything I.. I said has gone out to all the other DreamRunners out there.¡± Yes, I think it was an excellent speech to not only introduce who we are, but to tell the world why we¡¯re fighting. In this life, reputation matters. Ours will have to be powerful if we¡¯re going to do what you say you want us to do. ¡°Okay¡­ Okay, so we get powerful enough to back that up. We bring the fight to them and really show what we¡¯re made of.¡± I slowly understanding just what we did. We called a shot. We put it out into the universe and to the people in it that we¡¯ll be the ones to really take the fight to them. Rebellion sounds like we¡¯ll be working our asses off in the near future. Kohl transferred the app to each of us and when I opened it up, the slick UI and personalized setup had a lot of interesting categories. There were total Dominance killed, and that was, of course, headed by the Cyborg Paramores below that is The Resistance. The Resistance, Kohl told me, were the ones on the front lines fighting before The Dominance took over in full. We were pretty low in this, which was obvious because, a far as I know, we haven¡¯t killed that many or any really powerful ones. We were a bit higher on The Plague Killer and Dungeon Diver list. When you get local. Something interesting happens. Rebellion was at the top of the leader of the Dungeon Delvers list because we were the first. The bugs list we were actually pretty low. The Queen had kind of outstripped us by a mile. There was also a group named The Angels who not only were on the Plague Killer list but also on the Most People Protected list. I wonder if that means they have a group of survivors with them. They could be useful. On the list of Most Rival Combatants defeated, The Dragon stood tall. He beat out us and everyone else on the list. Even The Underground was featured for Rescues. I look up at the rest of the party and Lukaelin. He¡¯d kind of gone off on his own and I didn¡¯t realize I hadn¡¯t seen him until just now. Which was weird but, I wasn¡¯t gonna give him crap out taking the time to look around. I mean, he¡¯s never been to our world before. I can¡¯t be surprised if he wants to take his time to explore a little. I guess I¡¯m not too worried if he gets hurt but, I¡¯m pretty sure he can handle himself if he were to run up on any more crabs. Kohl did say they¡¯ll come back in about 24 hours, but you can¡¯t be too careful. ¡°Alright Rebellion, I want to us to get in contact with these people.¡± I say, sharing my screen and pointing out The Queen, Dragon, and The Angels. ¡°These seem to be the most powerful people in Electric City and if we can¡¯t get them to join us, I want to create in roads to building a relationship with them. We¡¯re gonna need friends.¡± Everyone nods, even Lukaelin. ¡°Alright everyone, let¡¯s get upstairs and get some rest. We¡¯ve done more than enough for 24 hours. We need a break.¡± Track 09: Space Track 09: Space We quickly made it back out from the pool and the exercise center, into the main floor, and made our way past the elevators. We all jumped when the elevator dinged right in front of us and opened wide for us to come in. Too tired to check for a trap or monsters, we all shuffled on. And I would say I was surprised when we get to our floor, but I genuinely can¡¯t generate an idea other than bed. I think I even moaned it a few times. We split up. Neon and Gabrielle are gonna sleep in her room while Kohl, Lukaelin, and I are gonna kick it at my place. I suggested we all stay together because safety in numbers but neither of us had enough beds or couches. Mine being a studio anyway, there¡¯s barely any space for privacy. And she probably hadn¡¯t been there in ages. The same way I needed to be in my bed. I¡¯m sure she felt the same way. Saying good night to Gabrielle was so surreal. We were just in that position before the world went insane and for me that was a last night and for her... I¡¯m not really sure. It¡¯s in the way she looks at me sometimes. It makes me think there¡¯s something she wants to say. Something that will change things. Part of me just wants her to just tell me, the other part just wants her to stay quiet. I want to say that whatever it is. It doesn¡¯t matter, that it won¡¯t change things. The only problem is that¡¯s a lie. I think we both know it will have consequences. Once we got into the room, I almost collapse in the doorway, making a beeline to my bed. But then I remember there was another reason I wanted to be here. Something Aquilan¡¯s whip reminded me of. I went through all the things in my music equipment stuff. Pledging to spend sometime with My Voidwalkers and pack them up before we left. I look under boxes and through some of the milk crates of the vinyls. I finally find it under a jacket which I had hanging on a chair and in between the couch cushions. Wrestling the from its hiding space makes me feel a bit like King Arthur taking the sword from the stone. ¡°What is that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a sound sword.¡± I say as I strike the large tuning fork against my thigh and the sound comes out reverberating. And just like that, I turn it into a blade and sing its resonance through my body. ¡°Now I¡¯m like you.¡± Congratulations! You have found a new weapon, Sound Sword, Rank 1! Utilizing the powers of Siren, you can turn the sound waves produced by this device into a blade of pure sound. You have found another strength of your innate power. Use this to further drive The Dominance back to their planet. The smile on the face of a child who has never really known happiness blooms on his face, and I¡¯m almost taken aback when he draws his weapon and attacks. I block and our swords clash but repel milliseconds later. ¡°Let us spar, Master.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t love that word.¡± I say, wincing, but he doesn¡¯t relent. And just like that, I get swept up in his boyish excitement. I learn more in those few hours about sword fighting than I¡¯d probably ever learn to swinging it at random enemies. I don¡¯t become Errol Flynn, but I learn that swinging it like a bat is completely wrong. Spending the last of his hours here this is what makes Lukaelin happy. He¡¯s such a sweet boy. I¡¯d give him a hug if he¡¯d accept it. But he might accept¡­ I dig through my clothes until I find it. ¡°Here.¡± I say, putting it in his hands. He opens it up. ¡°It¡¯s a hoodie like mine. Now we match.¡± I help him put it on and the white hoodie with gold letters honestly looks good on him. The logo of the six wings bordering a halo was a bit much and I don¡¯t know how that will go when he returns to the other Warchildren. I muss his hair and look at the time over his head. 5 minutes. I shouldn¡¯t be so attached to him, but he reminds me of Carter when he was little. I just can¡¯t realistically let him leave, knowing he wasn¡¯t appreciated. ¡°This is for you.¡± Lukaelin says, pulling out a sample. The enchantment sparkles in his hand. ¡°I wondered what happened to this.¡± I say with a warm smile. I knew something should have dropped from the Leviathan King. We were fighting two levels above our weight class. ¡°Why did you take this?¡± ¡°I thought I could trade it for something when I got back.¡± ¡°That¡¯s pretty smart.¡± I rub my unkempt beard. ¡°Honestly, I wonder what you¡¯d get for an enchantment¡­ It¡¯s not like it would be useful for everyone. They¡¯d have to be enchanters.¡± ¡°My Warfather has many skills and magics. I¡¯m sure he¡¯d fine use for it.¡± ¡°Definitely, especially if he gets you all to bring something back for the work you do. Either way, thank you, Lukaelin, for giving it back to me.¡± I take it from his outstretched hand and welcome it into myself. Congratulations! You have found an enchantment! You have found the enchantment, Crystal Carapace. Crystal carapace gives a piece of armor or raiment +1 chevron. ¡°Did you mean to complete the binding?¡± Lukaelin says, looking up into my eyes. ¡°Wha-¡° I begin, but a notification pops into my view. Congratulations! You have bound the Warchilde, Lukaelin, to your service! Lukaelin will be influenced by the changes in you and as you level up the ability to summon him, you may evolve and increase his power level. Lukaelin will now reside in your soul, only awakening when you summon him. He will never have to go back to that dark world again. You have saved a soul. Thank you, Composer! You have made an enemy of Vikarin, Lukaelin¡¯s previous Warfather. You have taken a great ally from him. He will not stop until you last draw breath or you kill him yourself. Good Luck, Composer! ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to complete the binding.¡± I say, and his face falls. ¡°But I¡¯m so glad I did.¡± He picks his head up and smiles. ¡°Welcome to Rebellion.¡± I hug him and he wraps his arms around me as he disappears.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. I lay awake on my bed, looking up at the ceiling. Can¡¯t sleep. So much has happened since the last time I closed my eyes. I create a ball and throw it up and down, catching it. I¡¯d taken a shower and washed my hair. Brushed my teeth, but none of it felt normal. I don¡¯t feel normal and the aggressive normalcy of my surroundings made me even more uneasy. I let out a long sigh. Kohl bounds onto the bed and looks at me with the feline expression that seems like a eight on the annoyance scale. You have to sleep so I can sleep. I flip over to look at him. Of those awakened, my best guess would probably be somewhere in the thousands. I mean, not everyone is able to use it to any degree¡­ The Sulikani were here a long time ago, not in the grand scheme of space or the powers we¡¯re dealing with, but for human genetic knowledge they were here a while ago. Some of their descendants died out¡­ there¡¯s been a lot of genocides on earth and whole phenotypes have been removed. That being said, though¡­ Siren isn¡¯t that rare of an ability. What¡¯s probably rarer is choosing to take it and then expand on it. You have the perfect occupation and education to use it and have fun with it. You know sound How you got it is interesting but the skill itself isn¡¯t, really. Leadership can come in the smallest or largest groups. Of course politicians and commanding officers might have it but teachers, leads in bands, and HOA presidents. Anyone who has worked with a group of people has a chance to gain the skill. That really hit me. I mean, I know I¡¯m not a hero but, when you really think about who I am¡­ it¡¯s really just an accident of circumstance. Would someone else have led Gabrielle and Neon out of ECU? Would they have died? It makes you think about your place in the universe. We¡¯re so small, and yet there are things like interplanetary forces at work. How do I you think I feel? I woke as a cat with the ability to read minds and basically the FBI for a few people. That is to say, you might not be special but, what you choose to do with the opportunities that come to you that is what is important. We did a thing and we could spend the rest of our lives trying to live well somewhere on the fringes and that would be a perfectly valid choice, but I believe you and I and the rest of our merry band want to change the world. And you help us do that, leader. I believe in you, Mix. I believe you can change things. What you¡¯ll do with that, I want to see. Now get to sleep. We have much to do in the morning. I woke up to rustling in my room and when I look over, the there¡¯s a creature. Pure black skin is haloed by the shadows. Deeper than black, it¡¯s a void. Oddly enough, the stick-straight hair and witch¡¯s hat were shining brightly, like fireflies. Bioluminescent amber, purple, oranges, light up like a light up peg board. Their eyes were dazzling and when they show on me, they were like flashlights in the dark. I try to wake up Kohl, shaking him awake, but he doesn¡¯t move. He can¡¯t move. Like he¡¯s frozen, just not with ice. They just can¡¯t move. Petrified. ¡°What are you? And why are you in my apartment?! And what did you do to Kohl?¡± I say. The figure stumbles and falling over itself, clattering through my stuff and disappearing behind my couch. I got out of bed and walking over to where it fell. I peek behind my couch and nothing. And then I feel the hair raise on the back of my neck and my chest get tight. I turn and slowly lowering to my eye level is the creature. Floating maybe five inches from my face. I can feel it examining me, taking me in, almost absorbing me. It¡¯s expression, an odd thing to contemplate in a being with only eyes, seems to be looking for something specific. And just as it read me, I began to understand it. I realize that understanding its mood is only possible while taking it in as a whole. While it seems so completely different from me, there¡¯s a thread that keeps all things in life connected. Dream. I think the longer I look back at this creature, the more I feel like I learn about the very nature of the power that powers us all. I could see that it was the energy of Id. An energy of want and desire. I know in this moment that it is just a tiny fraction of the beginning of what how Dream works. Like the tiny sliver of the sun coming over the ocean, there¡¯s so much more in the light and in the horizon itself. [Hello Traveler] It speaks or something of a kind like it. It has no mouth, but words are still put into the air. So part of me and the magic I hold tells me no molecules vibrate in it. There was no sound, but the lack of it and that lack echoes. Not a sound, but something more, something older than before there was a molecule to vibrate. It¡¯s an experience. Oh no, I sound like everybody who¡¯s taken an ayuaska trip for funsies. I¡¯m making an ass of myself. [Mix, Child of Waves, Composer, it is this one¡¯s pleasure to have made your acquaintance. You need not worry about your companion. I just needed a moment to talk with you. He is in stasis. He will be returned to normalcy when this one leaves.] ¡°I-I-¡± My brain can¡¯t quite connect and form thoughts. [This one and this ones¡¯ plethren have come to contact one such as yourself. Can you guess why I have come?] ¡°I can not fathom.¡± [We are Fathomless. Travelers of The Abyss. Navigators of The Void. In short, we are Space Mages.] ¡°Space Mages?¡± I ask, my mind being blown. [Indeed.] The Mage answers. [I have come to inquire about a certain item in your possesion.] ¡°The Raiment?¡± I offer him the raiment after calling it to my hand. [No, while this one does find the robes interesting from a time standpoint. This one is no Chronomancer. This one is a Traveler. This one concerns oneself with Space and all beings¡¯ movement through The Third Dimension and the others besides. This one would like to look at your¡­ deck.] The Traveler pointed to the Asteroid 67 on my desk. It teleported into that one¡¯s hand. The movement was so quick, without any bright lights or fanfare. It was simply there and then it wasn¡¯t and into that one¡¯s hand. If I couldn¡¯t teleport myself, I would wonder how it was done. And even as I can, it seems effortless to the Fathomless. ¡°Y-you want my deck? Are you into music?¡± [Not particularly. Music has no place in The Void.] The Traveler still looks over the peripheral. Ten minutes just looking over it and looking past it, pulling at unseen tethers as it floats above its hand. I could feel the power emanating from the creature¡¯s naked analysis. [I want to study this.] This one was silent for so long that I almost nodded off, just standing there watching it. [While I have completed my first essay, I need to understand why music and space seem to intertwine on this planet.] A deep, haggard breath comes from The Traveler and the impression of many silent light-years into the outer reaches of space fill me. As if I take in his breath. A vision not unlike the first with time I¡¯ve connected with the ancestral magic. I zoom out until I¡¯m floating above earth as my body lays suspended in outer space. My sight slashes like comic panels, but each panel comes in at erratic angles like a stained glass. Each pane shows a different world and goes on forever. A thousand, thousand planets, with different biomes and some with teeming with colorful and bountiful life and some a hauntingly beautiful empty landscape in its own way, just as wonderful and even more forbidden. I could feel that it was both memory and reality fitting together. I understand now the reality of travel. Space Magic is about the infinite possibility of movement throughout the cosmos. The little kid in me who wanted nothing more than to see the stars is wide awake, reveling in the aww of what our universe is capable of. ¡°I want to see it all.¡± I don¡¯t realize I¡¯m saying it out loud until that one responds. [This one agrees. This one has spent many lifetimes seeing much of The Void and I want to know of more. I want to understand why some items are connected to separate and higher dimensions. Why they have appeared here on earth and why, even though they are parlor tricks for most of my plethren. They seem to continue to show up where The Minority and The Dominance fight. This one wonders if that means we must be drawn into their conflict¡­] ¡°We could use your help.¡± [Your pleas have been heard. The Travelers will talk. We never sided with the Minority or The Dominance. We are non-combatants, our magic doesn¡¯t do much to fight, but This One will return. We have given you the ability to reach for our power. Use it wisely. Protect your home.] Congratulations, Composer! You have unlocked Space Magic by meeting and conversing with one of The Fathomless and a Traveler of The Void! You may yet have a chance to recruit their help for the Dream Runners. Stay Strong and continue the fight. When I look up from the notification, The Traveler was already gone. And I¡¯m left alone in the freshly quiet space with my thoughts. Kohl settles in to go to sleep again. And I ease off the bed and go out to the balcony. Looking out, it doesn¡¯t feel like my city anymore. The lazy jazz coming off from Harlem Street is gone, silenced either from the powers that be or whatever is messing with the power. I add that to my to-do list: Find Carter Get Stronger Find The Angels Find The Dragon Find The Queen Figure out the Power situation and solve it. Understand Space-Time Continuum ¡°Did you just add something to your to-do list?¡± Gabrielle says. Looking across two balconies, she¡¯s in long pajama pants and a tank top. Hair wrapped in a silk wrap and spilling over. Holding a wine glass and swirling it around. She takes a sip. ¡°You¡¯re really taking this leader thing seriously. Good. You aren¡¯t in this alone. I¡¯ve got you. So CC me that to-do list.¡± ¡°Wanna come over?¡± I say. ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s something I have to tell you.¡± She says solemnly. The words drop in my stomach like a stone. Track 010: Twist Track 010: Twist I scrambled inside, trying to clean up the best I can, but I realize there¡¯s no point when I hear a quick knock at the door before it opens. I quickly admonish myself for not locking it even if we didn¡¯t have giant crabs to deal with anymore. She stands in the doorway, her hand on her hip as she sees me hunched over with a handful of clothes in my hand. My eyes fly wide like I¡¯m caught in the act, which I guess I am. ¡°Weren¡¯t expecting a girl over?¡± She says, her mouth quirking into a self-satisfied smile. And it¡¯s times like this that I wonder how lucky I am to have met her. She¡¯s confident from the way she walks and the way she holds her spear. I could listen to her talk about theoretical computer scaffolding. Which I¡¯ll admit I have no idea what that is or if it¡¯s really a thing. The way she talks has me hanging on every word. The way the corner of her mouth when she talks makes me smile. ¡°I was. Expecting you, that is. I just was¡­ picking up.¡± ¡°No problem.¡± She chuckles. ¡°It¡¯s not everyday people come back from alien controlled slavery.¡± She looks around. ¡°Carter di his best to make sure nothing changed.¡± ¡°You know Carter?!¡± I am in shock. Gabrielle knows Carter? This messes with the timeline I put together with the things people were saying. Does this mean Gabrielle didn¡¯t get kidnapped at the same time I did? ¡°Yeah.¡± she says, looking into my eyes and then up at my hair. ¡°Let¡¯s get this done.¡± I¡¯m in a chair bent back into the sink, my head resting on the counter. My hair is in the water, her hands are in my hair. Emergency Concoction No. 5, a hair tonic Gabrielle made, is sudzing deep in my locs. Gabrielle leans over, her soft, calloused hands working through the gunk in my hair. I let out a sigh while we listen to music, our parents loved, playing soft, nostalgic away in the corner. ¡°You should do this for a living.¡± I say my eyes, closed, enjoying the feeling of her tending to me. ¡°You sound like my t¨ªa.¡± She chuckles. ¡°T¨ªa ¨¢ngelina taught me how to do my hair cause papa was so bad at it.¡± She smiles down and me. ¡°Spent hours every week working with a Senegalese braider after hours from her salon so she could learn how to work my hair. She then taught me and I got good. Real good. So much my Ta to this day says theirs a chair with my name on it.¡± The smile turns from jubilate to wistful. ¡°Does she know you¡¯re one of the smartest people in EC?¡± ¡°Yeah but, I think she knows I could be happy doing anything as long as I was working with my hands.¡± Her hands sudzing up my hair. ¡°Is that true you¡¯d be happy doing anything?¡± ¡°It was.¡± She says after a minute, her hands stop. ¡°Until I was awoken, I never thought I could do anything I wanted.¡± ¡°And what was it you wanted?¡± ¡°Promise not to laugh? I wanted to be a mech pilot.¡± She smiles. ¡°My Papa showed me all those classic anime growing up, and I wanted to be one. He said I could, I was already half robot, anyway.¡± She spins the wrist on her prosthetic hand. ¡°So I went heavy into robotics, at five! And when I realized it wasn¡¯t yet there and we wouldn¡¯t even get working AI, we have now unless we had a huge jump in tech.¡± ¡°Which is why you joined Psytech.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I joined Psytech. Now I could probably have gotten a job anywhere, but I was always working on chasing the edge and when the Mind-Link came out, I was on that like white on rice.¡± She works in some apple cider vinegar wash. ¡°I like we both got in there in different ways.¡± I chuckle. ¡°Got scouted for it cause they were really looking for ¡®Young and Upcoming Talent¡¯.¡± I make finger quotes at the descriptor. ¡°I wanted it for different reasons. I wanted to see what it all was leading to. Turns out it wasn¡¯t at all worth it.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± she says and is quiet for a minute. ¡°But now I have a chance. I¡¯m gonna make a mech and I¡¯m gonna save the world.¡± Toweling my hair dry and handing me one as well. ¡°We¡¯re gonna save the world.¡± I wipe down my face and move the chair back to its upright position. I meet her eyes and there¡¯s a moment. We¡¯re just looking into each other¡¯s faces and it feels like nothing happened. No aliens, no brother interrupting, no alien psychos, the last four months didn¡¯t happen, and we¡¯re back in that hallway finally talking for the first time. My hand reaches up to her face and I move in for a kiss and for a moment, she¡¯s leaning in as well. She breaks eye contact and moves out of my reach. Just out so I can¡¯t reach for her. ¡°Yeah, you should see what I got in the workshop.¡± She says, pulling out the blow dryer. Moment over. ¡°But we have to talk.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to keep this from you.¡± She starts to put the formula in and takes a deep, shaking breath. ¡°I know Carter, cause we were a part of The Resistance. After you got captured by the police with the others. Carter stopped at nothing to get justice for you. He started to putting the video of the attack everywhere. It-¡± ¡°Carter, did that all for me?¡± I shake my head. ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t do that while I¡¯m working.¡± She mimes swatting me with the comb. ¡°Yeah, he does really loves you.¡± She says ¡°When you left he made as big a fuss as he could. Most of the social media, news media, and even ISPs were shutting down copies of the videos. He went underground and the people who were interested in listening armed themselves. Some old military vets took back their weapons from where they were being kept in black sites and a rough organization fell together.¡± ¡°All because of a video?¡± ¡°All because of the truth and you.¡± She smiles down in my peripheral vision. ¡°You are popular enough for this to be a thing to get national attention, especially after your last show.¡± ¡°So what happened to The Resistance?¡±Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°We didn¡¯t win¡­¡± She stops for a minute and starts to think. ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened to the others, but I was on a mission with a few people. None of us had awakened, so we had no real power to speak of just determination. The plan was solid. I just don¡¯t think we really knew what we were up against.¡± ¡°Was it that bad?¡± ¡°We were so outclassed, Mix.¡± I could feel her hands shake. I reach up, putting her hands in mine and I get up, pulling her close to me in an embrace. ¡°You¡¯re not back in that place.¡± I whisper. ¡°You aren¡¯t alone.¡± She leans into me and while I can¡¯t see her face, my shirt gets hot. Muffled sobs sound from my chest and the shaking takes over her body. It feels like the dam that I saw when she was worried about Kohl has finally burst. ¡°I¡¯ve just lost so many people, Mix.¡± She looks up at me and my heart breaks in that moment. ¡°When I heard that you were alive and awake, I was so happy. That maybe something could happen for my family¡­ I want to look for Carter.¡± I sent her over my To-Do List from earlier. Turning away and hold my breath. And she bursts out laughing. I sputter, not knowing what to do and join in, both of us doubling over. ¡°F-figure out the time-space continuum?¡± New tears in her eyes as she wipes them away. ¡°You¡¯ve got to be kidding.¡± ¡°It sounds harsh when you say it like that.¡± I say, coming down from the laugh attack. ¡°It¡¯s just that you can¡¯t just put it on a to-do list and figure it out in a few days. It might take a lifetime.¡± ¡°Well, you weren¡¯t visited by an alien who gave you magical space powers. I wiggled my fingers and sparks of my purple spark fly harmlessly from my fingers. She cracks up again. ¡°Some people will say you aren¡¯t funny.¡± ¡°But?¡± ¡°No, but.¡± She grins for a moment and laughs again. After a few minutes, she stops again. I really needed that. She looks up and I can help myself anymore. She looks so beautiful in the light coming through the windows of my apartment. I lean down so close to her, our lips millimeters apart. ¡°Can I kiss you?¡± My voice is heavy with hope. And she leans in, kissing me. At first it¡¯s flirty and light, and then she¡¯s pulling on my top to deepen the kiss. It becomes something more, and it feels that way as well. I float both above my body and in it and I can feel our Dream spark and surge together like it did during the fight. ¡°Oh, that was cool. Wanna see if it does it again?¡± I lean in for another kiss. She lightly pushes against me. ¡°We have to get this done.¡± She points to my head. ¡°Oh, shit.¡± I whisper. ¡°What?¡± she says confused ¡°I forgot about Kohl.¡± ¡°Oh, he snuck out when we started.¡± ¡°Where¡¯d he go?¡± She gives me a pointed look. ¡°Oh,¡± I say, finally putting two and two together. ¡°What¡¯s going on between those two?¡± ¡°Who knows?¡± She shrugs. ¡°But he¡¯s a cat!¡± ¡°He wasn¡¯t always.¡± She shrugs again. ¡°Sit down. We have work to do.¡± I¡¯m sat. ¡°You believe him then.¡± I say, leaning my head back again. ¡°I do,¡± she says. ¡°I believe Kohl. I think he¡¯ll find a way to return to himself.¡± She says my locs in her hand, rubbing in gel and combing it through the new growth with a rattail comb. ¡°It¡¯s not the oddest thing. I can imagine y¡¯know considering the magic, but I mean, he isn¡¯t human anymore.¡± I can feel the gel put in while she twists it with a comb. ¡°Are any of us wholly human anymore?¡± I remember the alien DNA and the new organ that allows me to sing through myself like a cat purrs. ¡°You¡¯ve got me there.¡± I say as I lean back into her ministrations. ¡°Gracus,¡± The Sea Witch calls to her lover in some dark lair. ¡°We have to do something about the vermin that got away.¡± ¡°Yes, my Queen.¡± The armored colossus walks from the gloom as the light of the gray-white candles cast him in even a more haunted look than his normal grizzly countenance. ¡°May I suggest we send a few of the trackers? Or maybe the kinslayers?¡± ¡°This is why I adore you. Trackers and Kinslayers do send a message¡­¡± A long finger taps her delicate chin. ¡°And I think what we do now is send a message. ¡°We¡¯ll start with the trackers. Make them afraid, rile them up. Smoke them from whatever little hole they¡¯ve found themselves in.¡± Two of the brawnier Putali privates bring in a laden black cauldron between them on polls. Each time they step with determination not spill the sloshing, oozy liquid. They knew it was worth more than their lives. They set it down on the raised platform above the circle. Ready at word to pour it down into the molds below. Aquilan sings her song, calling on The Herald to send his hounds. The circle lights in the magenta of her magic. She gestures to the reptilian privates to topple the vessel and the milk of life hisses on its way down the shoot. The roiling, gurgling slop glides so easily it¡¯s almost as if it hungers for its purpose. It fills the humanoid shapes in the floor and almost immediately crusting, like moldy, lumpy bread. As it changes from milk to skin like curdling and hardening into a body. Scales, fur, chitin, and flesh combine to form the lethal shape of the twisted creatures bred only to kill, to search, to destroy. They taste the air, with tongues the length of their bodies. Compound eyes roll around, taking in their surroundings. Some tails with barbs, spikes, and clubs thrash wildly. And then all at once they stop moving, finding the face of their mother, their queen. A soft rattle comes from their chests. ¡°Your Mother demands you find the Disruptors.¡± She smashes vials of their blood in front. ¡°Do what you do best, my children. Smoke them out and destroy them.¡± Vengeance stood over their bodies and grinned. Their oversized dark steel sword spins in their hand and slides into place on their back, being held by the magnet in their Stygian coat. The sunglasses on their face controlled the HUD for them and they watched as the flames crawled up thier personalized stat read out showing the XP they just claimed. The bar looked beautiful at golden hour or at leas it would have if the current tennats hadn¡¯t trashed the place. Wine and booze sticky on the ¡°I¡¯ve done what you asked, Shade Keeper.¡± They look over their shoulder and a shadow on the hardwood moves. A tall, pitch black person dressed in all-black robes and a smart-looking hat sits on top of their well-maintained afro. It would be impossible for most to tell where the robes began, and the man stopped, except for the stars twinkling in their hair and in the robes. The Shade Keepers¡¯ mouth moves and no sound comes out. And yet Vengeance stands there patiently, even nodding their head while their directions are fed to them. ¡°Alright, I think I understand.¡± Vengeance says, ¡°And here¡¯s your payment.¡± Vengeance put their hand in their coat pocket and pulled out a quarter warn smooth from a life of changing hands. They took the quarter and flipped it into the shadows, where it would never come down. Heads or tails, the world will never know. Vengeance snapped their fingers, and the shadows of the dead wrapped themselves around him. The only thing that shone was their eyes. Which shone like stars in their head. The shadows slid down their body and merged with theirs. The body twitched. One jerk, and another. The twitches were on the beat. The body began to move, startlingly, and then sit up. Each movement, a slave to music. The corpse moved to its feet, looking upon its creator. Slack jawed, the recently dead regarded the man with green locs playing the keytar, forcing the body to wake. A devil. A devil in such bright brocade. ¡°Dance.¡± A command ripped through the night. The corpse began to dance under the moonlight. A slave to the beat. Others joined, and soon they began to move in choreographed horror. The song was the theme of a retro children¡¯s movie. Its ears haven¡¯t heard for such a long time. The devil laughed. Such a joyous and lovely laugh should never have come from such a devil. Track 011: Recollection Track 011: Recollection Awaken my runner, my knight, your time has come Firewall This all takes place before my awakening. I¡¯ve faught the resistence every step of the way and will again until my dying breath. I didn¡¯t know what happened to you but, when Carter nearly beat down my door and I saw his face I knew something bad had happened. He looked like he¡¯d seen death and before I joined The Resistance, I never knew what death looked like. Once I saw the video, I was sold. He talked about how he didn¡¯t know anyone close to you and that was really sad. Sunspot records were the first place he called and their phone was disconnected. The whole world had changed on him and he broke down in my living room. He was desperate, scared, and worried. Eyes flashing like he didn¡¯t know where to turn or what to do next. I got him some whiskey. Eventually, he got it together enough to show me the video. I was horrified by what happened and I got to work. That¡¯s how I deal. I got to talking to my old contacts in my white hat hacker days and we came up with a bot to leave packets of data in hard to reach places that only people who were looking for stuff like that would be fine. I posted on conspiracy forums and got in touch with a few anti-The Replacement blogs. That first day, I think we worked all day and night making contacts and placing the video anywhere we could get in. We placed geocaches and left things for urban exporters to find it. We even got this tagger to put up QR codes. Carter got in touch with some of his friends from school and the next day did some interviews for local news, blogs, and podcasts. It didn¡¯t get any traction. There would be a last-minute retraction or a boss or sponsor would have crushed the story. Some of them just thinking he¡¯d gone crazy. It was heartbreaking the amount of times he would pour his heart out to these people beseeching aid. In every instance, a door would shut in his face. He was really demoralized, I could tell, but he kept trying. At every level, we were met with resistance. From bots, mods, even the sites themselves; One of them crashed when I tried to upload things. I was bouncing my signal all over and they were still cracking down. There was a level of heat on this, and me, that I¡¯d never seen before. If I was smart, I would have given up and gone into hiding. I could walk away and leave your brother and whatever happened to you in the rearview. Someone was watching me and us and were taking every step they could to rub us out. It wasn¡¯t until I talked to a ghost that things changed. Vintage That was the name that appeared on my computer screen at 4:41 am. We were four days in. You have to understand, we¡¯d been working like crazy, contacting everyone we knew and thousands we didn¡¯t, trying everything we could to get in touch with as many people as possible. For the first time, we were contacted instead of ignored. It was a relief. We didn¡¯t know what we were getting into. We¡¯ve heard what you have to say. Meet me here tomorrow @ 2pm : Cafe de Sol on Jay-Z Boulevard. We were shocked Rap was only a few blocks away from Jazz. Vintage was here in the city and they probably knew where we were and chose to a place close by to let us know they knew and far enough not to scare us. It was direct if we were smart and it showed us just how vulnerable we were. It was a scare tactic and hard sell. We knew we were out of our depth, but we didn¡¯t know what else to do. There were now some rumblings on the net and small things were happening. If you knew where to look, there were new videos. Things were happening and now this. Carter had been staying with me. He knew he was grimy and hadn¡¯t changed out of his suit. We¡¯d just been going for days now. What was weird is that I didn¡¯t even remember to call out of work, but I didn¡¯t get any calls from work. I did get pinged from a few coworkers, but no one tried that hard to get in touch and I didn¡¯t reach out. It was the first time we looked up and felt like living beings again. Carter went home and freshened up. Cafe de Sol was a Columbian-American coffee shop in Rap. They got into the spirit of the street by always playing low volume versions of Columbian hip-hop beats. It was a lively place and while unlike some of the other shops in Lo-Fi; it was lively and alive with color and even the employees moved with a purpose and a faint smile on their face. While weird for most coffee shops. I think people actually liked working here. Margarita, the owner, gives them stock in the company and so they know they¡¯re getting paid for each cup they sell. While it¡¯s definitely not revolutionary, it¡¯s one of the best places to work in the city. Order. The messaged flashed through my goggles and it took me off guard but I tug on Carter¡¯s suit and he stopped scanning the restaurant. I motion over to the counter and I tap my goggles. He follows behind me a little too close. I can tell he wants to protect me, but is resisting. I wondered if you were like this. Having a protective nature. What part of this is Carter¡¯s nature? What part was nurturing? I wondered if you were like him. Now I know you a bit better now. That is to say, Carter is pushier and you¡¯re a bit more gentle. At the counter, the line quickly disappears and we¡¯re at the head before I know it. I¡¯m taken aback because it¡¯s the owner, Margarita Ortiz. She wears a red lip which stands out against her warm skin tone. The uniform of the multicolored apron made of blue, yellow, and the occasional red squares. ¡°Hey what can I get you guys?¡± She says brightly. Something moves behind her customer service expression. ¡°I¡¯d like a chai with lemon and dash of cinnamon.¡± Carter says proudly. I don¡¯t think he recognizes her. I smile, thinking that two pillars of Electric City are right here in this coffee shop and only one of them notices. ¡°Alright. Got that!¡± She pulls out a mug from below the counter and starts writing on it. ¡°Don¡¯t you need a name for order?¡± ¡°No,¡± She chuckled giving him a look over and smiling. ¡°I know who you are.¡± There was definitely a flirt in her voice and I think if it was any other day Carter may have been receptive but I don¡¯t think he even noticed. ¡°Oh, uh, thank you.¡± Carter nervously fiddles with his glasses. ¡°What about you?¡± She says, her eyes still drifting back to him. ¡°Vanilla latte with an extra shot of espresso.¡± I say. ¡°Gotcha, we¡¯ll have this out to you in a few minutes.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t need my name?¡± ¡°No, Ms. Johnson.¡± She says, smiling, and it pulls me off my center of gravity. ¡°Everything has been taken care of.¡± My stomach dropped and right then I almost ran. It was ominous and we should have known to stop there, but something drew me onward. I almost didn¡¯t hear her when she continued speaking. ¡°You have a table already picked out.¡± She pointed to a table when an older woman sat looking out the window. As if she had not a care in the world, except her ear was uncovered and situated in such a way that it was pointed in our direction. Her long silvery hair draped over her shoulder and her smart business casual shirt and slacks make it obvious she¡¯s here for business. She¡¯s not the kind of person to melt into the background, she¡¯s just so obviously someone I would find out of the ordinary to find here. I don¡¯t bite. We turned to each other and stiffly walked over. I could feel so many eyes on me and I wonder if this was some kind of sting and we¡¯re just being drawn into the honey pot. I do always feel eyes on me when I move through the world but, these weren¡¯t the normal looks from people, either disgust at a fat afro-boriqua just walking through the world or ogling me for the same reason. This was different, like the person had their finger on a trigger. Looking around, the staff was all deep into their work. The ones behind the counter moving in time with the orders. There was a busboy that was working a bit too diligently. His vivid green hair fell over his eyes to cover them. Pale white skin peaks out under his uniform top, contrasting with his sun-touched skin. Before I could call him out as unusual, we arrived at the table. Once we made it to the table, the woman didn¡¯t look at us, still watching the passersby. Up close she was just as glamourous just a nonchalant. Her skin, while lined, was still youthful in a way. She probably got mistaken for someone in their fifties. If I wasn¡¯t melinated, I¡¯d probably ask her skincare routine. Sharp and knowledgeable, light blue eyes remained fixed outside on the window. She pulled something from inside her maroon blazer pocket. The blazer matched the roomy, yet fashionable pleated pants and her conservative heel. A screen was lightly tossed on to the table. On the tablet, a video ran of an older man with broad shoulders and being taken by a synchronaut. The video was obviously shot by someone using a psylink because of the level that it was taken. There were no cuts but there was jostling around cause it was the cameraperson was moving around too much. The quality wasn¡¯t the best. but there could be any reason for that. There¡¯s no doubt in my mind that this is real. When I look up, the woman looks right into my eyes. ¡°That was the video I took of my husband¡¯s capture.¡± She smiles warmly. ¡°I think you and I are very similar, Carter.¡± She puts her hand out and we shake it. ¡°You must be Firewall. I¡¯ve heard a lot of things over the years about you and that job on Dyscope¡­ that was masterfully done. Not many hackers, much less people, could solve the Dinneman Contingency. It was a ¡± She straightens in her chair. ¡°I¡¯ve been rude. Haven¡¯t introduced myself. I¡¯m Vintage and we¡¯d like you for The Resistance. It wasn¡¯t much longer until the fighting started. A week or so, Vintage brought us in and it turned out Cafe de Sol was an information hub and a bunch of the people that worked there were read in. Turns out while they wanted Carter. They needed me. I was gonna get them information and do my best to find out what was going on in the wider world and especially at Psytech. They got me a doctor¡¯s note for the days I missed and I was back at work the next day. I felt ways about it but they told me it wouldn¡¯t be for long. Their aim was the CEO, Rodger Carsile, he¡¯s totally the big idea man and hasn¡¯t been seen for a few months. Some say he¡¯s gone underground. My job was to get as much information on him as possible and find out where he¡¯d gone to ground. I placed bugs where I could get them. Got access to rooms I¡¯d never been in. For a moment, I was actually a spy. Vintage gave me instruction, and I was good. Really good. I even paid a server to carry a package, which was a bug in the C-suite offices. Every day I would drop off my intel with Margarita, which was fine. We started talking, and she told me how her brother, Marco, had gotten recruited and when he let slip something, she said she wanted to help as well. She used her connections in the city to open up her place as a dead drop. With tons of people coming and out, no one would be shocked by people coming here regularly.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. As the days went on, I saw fewer and fewer people about. People were going missing at a larger and larger rate. The craziest thing is that no one reacted to it. One of the guy who works at the tech shop I used to go to just simply stopped coming. When I asked Mr. Levinski about it, he just said he probably went back home to see his mother. I asked if he knew that. He said no, but it would make perfect sense if he had. He¡¯d just have to work Stu¡¯s hours or find someone else. When I pointed out Stu wasn¡¯t on speaking terms with his mom for some things she never apologized for. And when I pressed him on it, he gave me another excuse and for a moment I thought maybe he was in on it, but when I poked a hole in excuse after excuse he got angry. Almost like those people who say they want to debate, while they really only want to browbeat you until you run out of energy or will and are ¡°properly chastened.¡± It had the same vibe, except it was like he ran out of script like he couldn¡¯t possibly do anything else. It was wild and unsettling, to say the least. It was like that with every other person I asked. No matter what happened, when you got through all the excuses, the anger would pop up. One of the people I interviewed, off the record of course, would begin to get angry. A few even got violent. It was the second scariest thing I¡¯ve still ever seen. It was like a moment you realized you were in the Sci-Fi movie and there was no way out. When I told Vintage about it, she just got cagey. She said she already had people on it and will make sure that they take this information with them in the next bit of discovery. She basically sent me on my way. It was infuriating. I knew she knew more than I did about what was going on, but I can¡¯t quite grok that she¡¯d do all of this just to keep me ignorant of the truth. One day I want to ask her about the bullshit. Then the ¡°Terrorist attacks¡± amped up. I knew things were getting serious because while I got good things, I really couldn¡¯t get much closer to Carlisle. He had gone to ground and the executive floors got more and more quiet. Leads dried up and I could tell things weren¡¯t going the way we thought they were. And eventually people started going missing all together. I hadn¡¯t seen Carter much in those days, but he¡¯d send along letters asking about how I was sleeping and if I was getting enough vitamins. Your brother is a really sweet guy in his own way. Not on the surface, deep down, though. He told me he wasn¡¯t on any confrontations but that he was helping the wounded. Nothing more than that in case he or the courier was being tracked. I worried about him, but he always told me he was safe. Eventually, it didn¡¯t make sense for me to go back to work. There was nothing more to glean from the higher ups. That¡¯s when I had the idea to go to Carlisle¡¯s house. No one saw anyone coming in or out there that the place was abandoned, but if there was a scrap of paper, an email, or a package left behind, something should tell us where he¡¯s gone. Vintage signed off on it, to my surprise. I can only assume she thought the worst thing that would happen is that we¡¯d have to escape the police. I don¡¯t know if it was the first break in The Resistance¡¯s wall or the last. A week later, at midnight, we were deep in the Oceanside suburbs. There¡¯s not much room for suburbs on the island, so they made it. Bulldozed one-eighth of the city to make room for their mansions. The amount of water, sand, and soil they brought in probably was worth as much as the entire island. They even made hills for golfing. It¡¯s so fucked up. And they want to jack up the prices too, like its nobody¡¯s business. The first members of our crew were two of the comandos from The Resistance, Marco and Klaus, big guys really, and they knew their ways around a firearm. Armed to the teeth and strapped down, so they didn¡¯t even make a sound when they moved. I broached the topic of them being overkill, but they said with what they¡¯ve been dealing with, just the two of them might be enough. Marco talked in vaguely about the things they saw like energy blast leveling a building or something so fast it could take out one of your squad mates under your nose while you were blinking. Klaus told him then to shut the fuck up. That they weren¡¯t cleared to talk about field work with non-combatants. It struck me as odd back then. This was before I knew what The Dominance was. The fourth member of our team was a literal cat burgular. I couldn¡¯t believe it either, but apparently she¡¯s the daughter of Vintage¡¯s old contacts back in the day. She had her silky blonde hair tied in a bow. I She was trained by her mother and her mother was trained by her grandmother. Annabell is her name. She wore just some leggings and a workout top. All made of lycra so it¡¯s comfortable and easy to move in. Getting in was kind of simple. Oddly enough, I thought I would have been needed to get through the mind lock but, Annabell went right through the bolt with a thermal cutter. While it was kind of a low-tech solution, I couldn¡¯t fault the efficiency. Fast, sharp, and precise. The heated glowing blade was only the size of a butter knife and it went through the bolt like well a hot knife through butter. That was just like Annabell. Efficent. No words, just smooth action. The final member is supposed to meet us on our way out. Our wheel man. I hadn¡¯t met him. Supposedly, he was borrowed from Annabell¡¯s people. Apparently he did work for the Annabell¡¯s family. Vintage¡¯s connects weren¡¯t messing around with this heist. I was the one who made sure the security system would loop. I ran a script, so the only receiver which has befuddles the AI in the system and when it reaches for another contact, it just ends up contacting itself. The end result will be it suffering a DDoS attack. It was vicious and I couldn¡¯t help the self-satisfied smile from coming on my face. Klaus took the lead, and we were all file in behind him, with Marco taking the rear. We crouch-ran as Klaus checked around the door. We moved quickly, like the FBI on a mission. I snapped out my psydeck. Vintage gave me a Hive. A beehive shaped nest that held a fleet of mini drones. I sent the beauties at every piece of tech I could see and they jacked in immediately. A wave of information hit my psylink. I activated the Queen, an AI inside the Hive that would sort through the data. It felt powerful. Honestly, if I can get my hands on a Hive again. They would have to take it from my cold, dead hands. Annabell hit every piece of paper, drawer, nook, cranny, every pocket. She moved like a machine and even then returned everything back just the way she found it. I could just see her on a shopping spree, taking every piece of jewelry or piece of tech. She even checked under furniture and for loose floorboards without the sound of a scrape. We did this for each room, finding nothing of any real importance that stood out. Though the mention of aliens constantly was a bit odd. When did Carlisle become a conspiracy theorist? Aliens in the government. Taking over Fortune 500 companies. Even replacing heads of state. It was so wacky. I couldn¡¯t help but giggle a bit. And everyone looked back at me. ¡°He believes in aliens!¡± I said, chuckling. ¡°This guy¡¯s a-¡± I¡¯ll never forget the look I got from Klaus and the feeling of the great stare needling the back of my head. ¡°W-What?¡± I said. The look of horror reflected on their faces was now on mine. My stomach dropped. Cold bled down my spine and my world was put on an axis. ¡°It really is a wonder.¡± The voice was smooth and deep and came from none of my The air artifacted behind Klaus. Like a glitch in the matrix. One minute, the only thing behind him were shadows and streetlights passing through the floor to ceiling windows. And the next, a tall, spiked alien in bone armor. His face was covered in a bone cage like an umpire¡¯s mask. ¡°How your kind have lasted this long in open rebellion of The Dominance and then you don¡¯t even tell them. She never knew who the true enemy was? How to you consider that?¡± The alien pulled a spike from his shoulder and a blade come along with it. The bone blade was long and curved like a katana. Klaus pulled out his assault rifle. The almost soundless flashes spat bullet after bullet at the new visitor. Marco, a second later, joined him with his own. The glitch happened again, the sound of someone tearing television static and half. The world went sideways as the alien teleported. Not like yours. This was violent. Yours just leaves ripples in the air like you¡¯re asking the world to bend. For this one, it was like he demanded the world to split and be tamed in his hand. The bone horror kicked Klaus so hard he rocketed up to the ceiling. As Klaus rose toward it, he glitched again, warping to Marco and decapitated him. It was all I could do to watch it happen. To watch men I knew die in front of me. I wondered in that moment if that was how Carter felt. He glitched back just as Klaus fell and skewered him on his awaiting blade. The alien pulled the blade from Klaus and was tossed to the floor as Klaus, who barely knew what was happening, trying to staunch the bleeding of a wound already doomed to bleed dry. ¡°I want to know why you decided to come here.¡± The alien said he sliced the air, cleaning the blood from his blade. As he walked towards Annabell and me. Anna ran. I understood. If I could do anything but be frozen in this moment, I would have. As she ran toward escape screaming like, she¡¯d lost her mind. Doing the only thing that would only make sense in a situation like this. Faster than thought, another bone spike was in the murder¡¯s hand and a dagger was in his hand and he threw it. Tearing deep into her thigh and hitting her like a bullet. She falls over and I shake as I watch it happen. He watches her on the floor as she crawls away. Eyes glow behind his mask. The face I can barely see twisted and scared. Was that the look of murderous glee? He stalked towards me. I made a choice. I collapsed. ¡°Please don¡¯t kill me. I will tell you everything.¡± He said nothing, just looked upon me but, stopping where he was. So I explained as tears fell from my face. I burble, snotted, and cried through everything until I told him. About you being held captive and about trying to warn as many people as possible. I left out The Resistance but, told him I found some people who would help me. He watched me silently the whole time without moving. ¡°All of this done for one person? That will need to be catalogued. Humanity is such an odd beast.¡± He looked away for the last time. It was an oddly human thing to do for the completely alien creature in front of me. To actually take in and ruminate on the words I¡¯d said. But I pulled something from Klaus¡¯ corpse in front of me. I took this moment. I flashed out with the weapon strapped to his thigh. A thermal cutter. I stabbed out with the thermal cutter, slicing deep into the stomach of the death standing above me. He staggered back, a violent laceration stretching across his torso. He staggers back, spitting. ¡°How dare you? I have never felt a mark upon this new body. How could your pitiful arms hurt me when you firearms could not?¡± Eyes glowed back fiercely. No inhuman yelp of pain. Only curses. Only hate. No genuine reaction to the pain except to curse. He stood again as if the pain had left him. ¡°You¡­¡± He grabbed me, bringing my face to his yelled. ¡°You will know pain in this life and in the next, if I have my way.¡± Spittle flew all over my face. ¡°I, Andeseo, will end you and everyone close to you and when I have gathered them all I will kill them in front of you for this, desecration!¡± And without warning, he smashed me across the face and that was the last I remembered until I woke up. That was the most scared I had ever been in my life and if I had half of my abilities, I do have now, I would¡¯ve destroyed him. I will get him, I promise. I will never be weak like that again. I will never hesitate. The moment I woke up. Something appeared in my vision. A Vendetta has been placed on you. Andeseo, a hunter of great renown, has chosen you as the object of his obsession. Kill or be Killed If you defeat the one that has placed a vendetta on you, you will gain a portion of their power. It was the first message I had gotten from The Minority and it is the only message that I¡¯ve seen that doesn¡¯t start with congratulations. The whole thing was ominous, but the blood-red letters made it clear. Andeseo is coming for me, but I won¡¯t go quietly. I¡¯m telling you this for multiple reasons. I think I might know how to get in touch with Carter and I am marked for death. Andeseo will come for me at some point and we won¡¯t be safe when he does. I think if we¡¯re going to continue to work together, that¡¯s something you should know. Track 012: Forward

Track 012: Forward

The Composer

As she finishes her story as she finishes the twist up. I thank her for the help and give her a little smile, but I¡¯m not sure that reaches my eyes. I¡¯m completely caught in my head and I worry it¡¯s on my face. I can¡¯t imagine I pulled it off. I need to get my head right. Are you okay? Kohl¡¯s voice drifts to me. I lay back down on my bed as he walks out of the shadow. You will all things pass in time. I huff. Because I care. Yes Yes I feel something in my chest. Yes I snap. You just do. Kohl jumps on my body. She told you when she could. My chest gets tighter. Then we know where to start. My voice breaks even in my mind. We already have the Sea Witch on our ass. She¡¯s a danger more than any professed warrior. The look on Kohl¡¯s face was hard. What are you really worried about? It hits me and it makes me rethink my prior feelings. Looking down, I realize my hands are shaking. You¡¯re having a panic attack. I am. I know. I-fuck! I try to focus on my breathing. Kohl wanders off running away and I hear him moving things around in the bathroom. In what feels like hours of excruciating chaos, he returns. In his mouth, a bottle of my anxiety meds. He gives it a kitty toss and where it would have before slipped through my fingers before, my increased reflex let me know the arc, snatching it out of the air. I open it with a practiced motion I¡¯ve done a hundred times. Two pills down and I¡¯m just sitting on my bed. I finally must have gotten asleep around 3 am. The meds finally got in my system and took the edge off. I could relax. My worries didn¡¯t go away. My brain just slowed down. Able to breathe. I got up around 10 and that¡¯s late for me. Kohl rounds everyone up together and we have a breakfast of dry cereal, some chips, and some juice. Carter must have thrown out anything perishable, which is better than my entire apartment smelling like a dumpster. Sitting in silence, we all agree to say nothing, but sit in the company of the sounds of crunching in our ears. Gabrielle steals glances at me through her eyelashes. Pretending not to notice, I try to finish our brunch. At some point, probably when things have gotten overwhelmingly awkward and the weight of unsaid things becomes too crushing, Neon opens their mouth and is about to say something when they close their mouth in double time and go back to the meal. It¡¯s so distracting, though I almost don¡¯t notice the weird look between Neon and Kohl. An act of god comes about because I don¡¯t try my version of telepathic communication with Gabrielle. ¡°Alright,¡± I get up, pacing my kitchen. ¡°Next steps are very simple. We need to go shopping before long. Food, medical supplies, shelter, and water are the biggest problems.¡± I make eye contact with each of them. ¡°We can¡¯t stay here when the dungeon resets. We aren¡¯t yet strong enough to make this place home yet. So we have to find some place to lie low and gather strength.¡¯ ¡°Gabrielle says we might have connections if we can get in contact with The Resistance. I have a brother who might still be working with them. While that¡¯s important for me, I want to be sure that no matter what we find, we¡¯re safe. Which if we¡¯re feeling bold, we should check out Oceanside. It gets us far away from the city and it allows us to check out Rodger Carisle and what was going on while we got captured.¡± Gabrielle makes a shocked sound and kind of collapsed into herself. I can only guess that she¡¯s thinking about seeing Andeseo again. But we need that data. We need to know why that happened. ¡°Firewall, I need you in on this. We¡¯ll wait until we level up again, but Andeseo isn¡¯t likely to be there.¡± She made eye contact and I see Firewall before me again. ¡°And even if he is, you have both of us. We¡¯ll take him out. This information would be not only a good for us but it would cement our ability to work with The Resistance.¡± Neon pats her shoulder. ¡°Does anyone have and questions or things to add?¡± ¡°Transportation. I can move fast, but you guys can¡¯t. Our ability to move fast might be the best way to keep us alive.¡± Neon says. The concerned look on their face tells me they¡¯ve been thinking about this for a minute. ¡°And allow us to transport people and places when we have a place to harbor survivors.¡± ¡°So are we stealing?¡± I ask. Neon looks away. ¡°We¡¯ve got to make peace with taking what we need while we can.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not what I want.¡± Neon meets my eyes strongly. ¡°But it does seem like the best option. Where we can, I¡¯d rather we steal from the corpos. They don¡¯t need it and we do. We don¡¯t know what we¡¯ll run into out there and we need to be prepared.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve also thought about that.¡± I lick my lips. ¡°The preparedness. I think we need to find more awakened. I think we need to make a support system even if they aren¡¯t combatants. We need people who will allow us to stay in the field.¡± The more people we have with us, the more my power will increase, which could serve you all better. Kohl says. If I could increase my range, it would help to keep me safe and you informed of the going on. ¡°That¡¯s another thing to think about.¡± I nod. ¡°Kohl needs to make more contacts. The Underground is a good one to have. Which makes me think about whether we should talk about leaving Electric City.¡± No one says anything for a minute. I don¡¯t think they thought any of us were going to suggest something like that. I mean, it makes the most sense. From what Kohl says, The Sea Witch is a powerful opponent. If we left and got stronger, we could even bring an army in to take her out. It¡¯s not what I want. However, like Neon, I will do what we must. ¡°I don¡¯t like the thought of abandoning our people,¡± Firewall says. ¡°We have a choice, and if we leave now, we won¡¯t be able to save them. We¡¯ve all seen the experiments they¡¯re doing on people: The Mind Melds, the genetic testing, the implants.¡± I hadn¡¯t seen the implants. The other stuff lives right behind my eyelids. The thought that they¡¯re filling human bodies with whatever they want just to produce more monsters brings bile to my mouth. ¡°It only gets worse if these people are allowed to continue their work here.¡± Neon says, a haunted look in their multi-colored eyes. Neon¡¯s right, Kohl interjects. We have to save our home. ¡°I¡¯m with them.¡± Firewall says, arms crossed over her chest. ¡°Alright, that wasn¡¯t what I wanted, either. I brought it up because it needed to be an option.¡± I make eye contact with each of them. ¡°We can¡¯t do this just for duty. We have to be sure we can do this because it makes sense. While we may not be on our own, we don¡¯t have substantial support. That changes today. By this time tomorrow, we¡¯ll be in a better place, stronger, and if not with allies and information.¡± It only took a few minutes for us to get ready. The Loadout system made it easy for us to change in our battle armor. And armor, it was for at least one of our group. Firewall was now decked out a harness. Like a skeleton, metal bars reinforced every joint and limb. The hot pink painted metal really makes it as just makes it Firewall¡¯s own. A harness was designed by construction workers and day laborers before the androids started doing most of that work. The exoskeletal nature takes a lot of the weight off of joints multiplying every ten pounds of force. It can make a normal person capable of towing cars like it¡¯s nothing. This will definitely give Firewall a lot more Power behind her attacks. ¡°I know I saw you build it, Gabby, but this is cool as shit.¡± Neon says flitting around her, looking around at the exoskeleton. Gabrielle flexs her arm and the small wine of servos meets my ears. ¡°Though it isn¡¯t it a bit loud, even for me.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got to look pretty loud, to be a bigger draw to the eye than you, Neon.¡± Firewall says. ¡°They¡¯re right. It¡¯s cool as hell.¡± Our eyes meet and I blush. ¡°I want to talk to you tonight.¡± ¡°O-uh-okay.¡± She looks a little thrown off, then quickly regains her composure. ¡°Also, I have this.¡± I put my hands on the exoskeleton. I sing sigils, etching them into metal. Sigils for strength, durability, and crystal. Crystal Carapace gives Hard Work Harness +1 chevron. The moment the last of the sigils become etched in the metal, it shifts, creating tiny fractals appear in the metal. Little crystalline structures reinforce it under the paint. The finish becomes more glittery than glossy. ¡°Thanks, it feels way tougher.¡± She balls her hand into a fist and punches the air. ¡°I can do some real damage with this baby.¡± As we¡¯ve made our way through the apartment building we didn¡¯t see any of corpses. There was no blood or gore. Even the big leviathan is gone. We move through and startle at every sound of the empty building settling. The sounds we were never supposed to hear. A silent building in a silent city. Electric City was never supposed to be quiet. It was never supposed to be dead. That¡¯s the world we¡¯re living in, though. They came as we¡¯re about to pass through the doors, scales, fur, and chitin. Two release from the ceiling to land on their prey. The third descended on a spinnerette, its wide back legs helping the push the gloopy, sloughing mess into some form of a web. This creature was a collection of parts that don¡¯t work and yet the part of my brain that controlled motor fuction, voice, and decision making could do nothing but watch. The creatures were six-legged black, tan, and brown creatures with heads like spiders and mouths like a tiger. Chitin, fur, and scales alternate in bands, splotches, and spots. Fangs peak out from the upper jaw. Body is in three segments, like an insect with a triangle-like torso almost seeming like shoulders. The thorax itself is shaped like a thorn, making me wonder what the fuck else is going on with this monstrosity. ¡°A-ambush!¡± I finally scrape my jaw off the floor enough to call out. Kohl doesn¡¯t need any excuse and jumps out of the hood of my raiment. I trust him to be safe or call out if he needs us. Neon catches one of them out of the corner of their eye. Their head turns to see it and in the space of a thought they are no longer prey. They run along the side of the glass front of the foyer. Cartwheeling over the creature. Now. like as an eagle descending on its prey from on high, talons outstretched. Glowing light daggers in their hands, ready for a coup de grace. It didn¡¯t happen like that, though. In the air, the rough hairs of the elongate forming quills and those spray straight into the Neon¡¯s face. Filling our skirmisher with pins. It hit the ground and jetted away into the gloom. Neon -3 HP For the one falling towards, Gabrielle got digs her heels in and braces the shield with her body aiming to catch toss aside the creature. Instead, its jaw distended and bit into the shield, the fangs punching through to the other side. The arms and legs grab around it, shifting its body around trying to pull the shield from her arm. After three or four swings, it finally disarmed Firewall. They stare at each other down. Tense at as each one probes the others¡¯ defenses. r spear isn¡¯t fast enough to stab it. And each time the creature gets close to getting under her guard, she slaps it away. Neither of them landing a blow but keeping each other busy. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.The third splashes down mucousy balls of slime at us. I try dodging the volley and running away in a serpentine pattern. The first two narrowly missed me, except I got tagged by the last. The slime caught my left leg and wrenched it out from under me. I flop hard on my stomach, taking the wind out of me. Fuck, alright, alright. I gasp for breath. The mucous hardened, trapping my entire foot. These are trackers, team. Kohl says somehow he got away. They specialize in adapting to situations as they come. Trackers are chimeric creatures and often made by a fusing a whole bunch of animals. The best way to take them out is to double team them. Prevent them from taking you out one at a time. I look around at the battlefield. ¡°Team, we gotta do something about these trackers.¡± My voice is still changed by getting the wind knocked out of me and slowly going back to normal. ¡°Neon, run interference on the one guarding shield. We¡¯ll need it to deal with the others.¡± I slam the sound sword on the ground. The ringing of the as a translucent purple blade burst forward from it. I smash it hard into the slime crystal. It shatters and I scramble up to my feet. From the Voidwalker, with each turntable on my hips like holsters, I slide out a Dark Blade Beat from underhand toss it out from under the poncho. It slices through the air, cutting deep into its back leg. Milky white blood spurts out of the hole. The bonus allowing me to be more effective against faster opponents really helps out. While Tracker A is distracted by the pain, Neon strikes out, severing one of the back legs. (A) cries out a hellish howl and starts to turn towards Neon to attack. Just then, Firewall uses Pierce, charging through and ending up next to Neon. The blow hits harder, putting a deep gash in right side. A collapses white blood fountaining from the soon to be corpse. That¡¯s when Tracker C launches their attack. The slime ball splashes over Neon, knocking them down and getting stuck to the ground. When it aimed its attack at Firewall, she steps on the bottom of her shield and its on her arm in a blink of an eye. ¡°How about you get hit with a Firewall special?¡± She spins around, jumping in the air, tossing the shield with all her harness enhanced strength at C knocks it from its spider perch and slams it into the wall. Hard. As it falls to the ground, it moves like it¡¯s dazed. Neon finishes it with a light blade through the back of the head. Congratulations! Tracker A and Tracker C have been defeated. You have gained 4 XP Weird that it applied the names to them once I learned them and designated them. DreamRunning is odd. Psylinks change things on the fly all the time, but I wonder if I can highlight enemies for us to take out without calling thing out. Of course, the moment of celebration that¡¯s when Tracker B attacks from the shadows. It really must have a thing for Neon cause it goes straight for him pouncing on him from the blind spot. I run and teleport into the middle of the air, slashing out and catching it across the chest. The follow-through pushing me over Neon and back to landing on top of it. I take my khopesh in my hand and give the finishing blow to sever its head from its body. Congratulations! Tracker B has been defeated! You have survived Tracker Ambush. You have gained 2 XP You have one, but the summoner who brought the Trackers into the world now knows your location. Run! ¡°Oh shit! Guys, we really have to go.¡± I call. I run for the door, holding it open. ¡°Don¡¯t have to tell us twice!¡± Neon runs out, holding Kohl in their arms. ¡°Wait!¡± Gabrielle holds up her hand and uses her multi-tool to cut away strips of the tracker, placing them in jars and putting them in her pack. The whole thing only took a few minutes. The whole thing is odd but, when I try to ask, she just says ¡°Research.¡± She winks. ¡°You¡¯re such a gentleman.¡± Gabrielle quips as she jogs through the door. I let the door close, and we sped out of there. Not even ten minutes later, Andeseo watches from across the street. Harmony Apartments seemed devoid of disruptors. His eyes focused on activating telescopic lenses. With a though, x-ray vision settles in and the hunter can now see no movement in the entire building. Switching to Dream vision, they saw the aftermath in energy signatures of the disruptors leaving the massive domicile. My Queen, I have news. We wove through alleyways and backtracked around and across streets. Doing everything we could to make sure if anyone was tracking us, we¡¯d make it hard for them. We didn¡¯t have any training in espionage or anything, so I¡¯m sure we looked ridiculous. I think Neon enjoyed it the most, running up and down buildings and across rooftops like a superhero. Arms flung open wide and I can almost see the smile on their face as bound around. If we weren¡¯t worried about Aquilan, I think we would all enjoy our first real taste of freedom. That¡¯s when it happened again. Dogs. Or at least they were dogs. A Dachshund, the size of a Rottweiler, stares me and the others down. The roided out Wiener dog snarls at me like I¡¯ve walked into its territory. Its coat is scarred and huge chunks are missing from its ear and snout. It must have been fighting. Other dogs, or maybe the Bugs. Shit. I can see the rippling muscles under their coats. ¡°Alright, Burt¡­¡± I say in my calmest voice. ¡°Burt?¡± Neon says over my headphones in a call. I knew they were somewhere over head watching this thing happen. ¡°My neighbor growing up had a Weiner dog named Burt.¡± Same calming whisper. ¡°Is this really the time? We could get mauled by the puppy.¡± ¡°Probably not.¡± They say disheartened. ¡°Would you too stop picking on each other?¡± Gabrielle says, in a hoarse whisper. ¡°This is a serious situation.¡± The change in tone rattles, Not Burt into more aggression as just I was calming it down. I put my hands out free to either side as I continue trying to say things that will get it calm down. Can you all be reasonable for one second? Kohl says. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m currently grappling with the fact that this puppy is staring us down.¡± Not you! Glad to be safe from the cat¡¯s ire. I put my hand behind my back and make a stick out of the sound of my voice. I wave it around and once Not Burt¡¯s eyes focused on it instead of me. Launching it with Shot as far as I can down an alley. We turn and run down a different one right after the dog turns around. Not worrying about being careful this time, we just try to put as much distance as we can between Not Burt and us. Our footsteps are heavy on the asphalt. ¡°What was that? And why didn¡¯t you sense it, Kohl?¡± It¡¯s not a bug, and it¡¯s not an alien. I can¡¯t pick up on non-complex minds. I don¡¯t alert you to every spider or rat we run into. Not only would that be a constant flow of information I couldn¡¯t process, but I wouldn¡¯t possibly be any use to you on anything else. As to why that creature looked like that, I couldn¡¯t tell you. Dream has an interesting effect on people but, I don¡¯t know that it does this to animals. There¡¯s no record of anything happening like that. Either way, keep an eye out. Let¡¯s call them strays for now until we have a better picture of their capabilities. Congratulations, Rebellion! You have found an anomaly on earth. We The Minority find this change interesting, and would like you to look into it. Discover the cause of the Strays and you will be richly rewarded. 100 XP, 1 Flashback Token, and one additional ability point. Dream big, Rebellion! The Composer¡¯s Stats so far Level 2 (Rank 1) HP: 12 Dream: 13* Will: 1 Reflex: 3 Creativity: 4 Talent: 2 Power: 4 Durability: 2 The Composer¡¯s Abilities Skills: Leadership Knowledge: Ancestral Magic Utilities: Siren Enchanting Echo Summon Lukaelin (minion) Special Attacks: Shot Lv 2 Damage 7-20 The Composer¡¯s Inventory Beats (CD Chakrams) Damage 4-12 Voidwalkers: 9/10 2 Dark Blade Robes of the Truth Seeker -1 Damage Resistance + 1 Dream Firewall¡¯s Stats so far Level 2 (Rank 1) HP: 14 Dream: 12 Armor: 3 Chevrons Will: 2 Reflex: 1 Creativity: 2 Talent: 4 Power: 2 (2) Durability: 4 Firewall¡¯s Abilities So Far Skills: Construction Knowledge: Hacking Utilities: Blackout Intent Dive Lv 2 Special Attacks: Guard Pierce Damage 6-18 Firewall¡¯s inventory Omni Tool Spear (Tier 1) Damage 5-8 Steel-enforced Leather Shield (Tier 1) +1 Chevron Crystal Reinforced Harness +2 Chevrons Custom PsyDeck Neon¡¯s Stats so far Level 2 (Rank 1) HP: 12 Dream: 12 Will: 2 Reflex: 6 Creativity: 1 Talent: 1 Power: 3 Durability: 2 Neon¡¯s Abilities So Far Skills: Super Speed Knowledge: Weapon Bond Light Gauntlets Short & Long Range Utilities: Hide Arms: Energy Weapon Lv 2 Damage: 1-8 added damage Special Attacks: Dart Damage 6-17 Kinetic Fighting Lv2 Damage 6-17 With Energy weapon 7-24 Neon¡¯s Inventory Weapons Light Gauntlets [Bound] (Tier 1) Damage 5-11 Track 013: Haven Track 013: Haven 100 XP was crazy, but that didn¡¯t compare to a free ability point. That could be a whole new spell or take my ability to the next level. Caught in my musing, I almost didn¡¯t catch the notification blinking on the right side of my HUD. It¡¯s my quest app. Confused, I open it and written there was the quest we were just given by The Minority. Not Burt hounded us for a few blocks until he stopped suddenly and that wasn¡¯t really any kind of relief. We probably made our way into another stray¡¯s territory. As we made our way to the Voltage Malls, it was the only big mall that still exists in Electric City. While most of those places have all gone downhill, in the rest of America. Voltage was always designed to be a cultural center and the ultimate third space. There are supermarkets, doctor¡¯s offices, a library, a pool, several cafes, a bowling alley, a movie and just about any stores you could think of. It even has a garden on the roof. Seven stories up and a few down. It¡¯s a cylindrical mega-complex that people will absolutely take a shuttle for and spend their whole day out in. ¡°Holy¡­shit!¡± I pant. ¡°I think we got away.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t see anyone following us and I was looking.¡± Neon says, not winded at all. Probably spent half the time moving in slow motion with us. Gabrielle didn¡¯t speak for a while, drinking from water from a straw connected to a reservoir built into the backpack she was wearing. She wipes her brow. ¡°That was a rush. I¡¯m just excited to crack this baby open. I want to go through all the tech stores and see if I can¡¯t cannibalize some stuff to upgrade my psydeck.¡± I feel some psychic resonance, but it¡¯s weak¡­ maybe a few stray bugs. This isn¡¯t a dungeon. ¡°That¡¯s great. I¡¯m so close to leveling up!¡± Neon cheers. ¡°There¡¯s a few in there we beat em up! There are a few abilities that I¡¯ve been eyeing.¡± Neon¡¯s colors changed to a darker range. ¡°And then when I see that Executioner bastard, I¡¯m gonna peel him out of that suit.¡± They shadowbox flashing their blades. ¡°You¡¯re not the only one that wants a look at it.¡± Gabrielle rubs her chin, pondering. ¡°I want to see if it differs too much from my designs.¡± She flexes her prosthetic hand. ¡°It¡¯s time for upgrades and finding a safe place to land.¡± ¡°I hope this is that.¡± I gaze up at the giant building. It was the first place I could think of that might have everything without us have to find everything we could need. ¡°You¡¯re worried?¡± Gabrielle says. ¡°Yeah, of course.¡± I say, squinting my eyes in the sun. ¡°We kept to ourselves, and we still got found out by the trackers.¡± ¡°But we¡¯ll have defenses this time.¡± She says, ¡°Like most of the buildings in EC, it¡¯s hurricane grade and if we can make it into the security room, there¡¯s a chance I can get into the camera system. The alarms and the security system will give us advanced notice if The Sea Witch comes a knocking. ¡°That¡¯s only if the solar is still working.¡± Neon chimes in. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t it?¡± She answers most of the solar network is siloed off. ¡°Thank god we don¡¯t have to worry about a power plant.¡± We all make sounds of relief. ¡°That being said, I don¡¯t know if everything is in working order. I want to get down there.¡± She mimes getting elbow deep in the systems. When you¡¯re ready, Mix, you can claim this place for Rebellion. This will allow you access to the Haven app. The name will change as this place becomes more home and then eventually a community. You will have a lot more responsibilities to monitor things like food, materials, and defenses. Defenses? Gabrielle says over our shared connection Yes, thinking like turrets, palisades, and even guardians can be built to defend our haven. Now you¡¯re thinking like a leader. Kohl compliments. The Map app adds another overlay and the Haven app appears. Claim this building for Rebellion? Error! Non-Rebellion personnel inside Voltage Mall. Will need to add to the ranks of Rebellion, make an ally, or defeat to claim. For privacy¡¯s sake and the will of the DreamRunners, we have not alerted unidentified/unaffiliated personnel to your claim. When I went to accept, say yes and except the error message came up, shutting me out of the Haven system. ¡°Um, what was that?¡± I say. I think that was self explanatory. Mix, someone¡¯s in there. We gotta meet them or defeat them before taking the castle. Kohl says. We crack open the glass-like T-Metal doors of the Voltage Mall. The moment we could taste the air, it was the heavily recycled air of oxygen scrubbers. It almost smells like a hospital scrubbed and clean in a very¡­ artificial way. Scrubbers aren¡¯t very common in most buildings in ECC or just about anywhere, but if you knew what you¡¯re looking or smelling for, you could pick it out in less than a minute. Hardwood floors, open to a ring of stores with once chic and well-maintained store fronts. The kinds that people would window shop for hours. The inside of the ground level caught the natural light from all the windows surrounding and the massive glass skylight filling in most of the internal cylinder. Each level was a donut with a banister circling around the center. The massive tree growing and living in the middle made it really stand out in a way that brought the oddly organic feeling together. It was a place of suburban dreams. And somehow it was in the middle of a state-of-the-art city. This was truly The Mall of America. Now it was a shell of its former glory. Trash littered the floor. Cobwebs were in all the corners and while I¡¯m no botanist, the tree looked as if it was dying and the plants hanging from the ceiling¡¯s trelices look as if they were in the middle of planning an escape. The thing that still gave me some kind of hope, though, was the shelves weren¡¯t completely bare. No, with how Gabrielle explained this particular apocaplyse was that we were slowly carted off just a handful at a time until there was nothing left. There was no panic buying of toilet paper. No one heading to bunkers ready for the end times. Only if they saw what it was and escaped were they likely to find a place to hide away. Group Think, that¡¯s what Kohl had called it. People sleepwalked through life until it was their turn to be taken in by the men in black. Which we still didn¡¯t know what they were. It was more or less exactly as I¡¯d hoped. ¡°This building has scrubbers?¡± I ask. We talk in low voices so they don¡¯t carry. Through the cavernous place. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.¡°When Electric City was designed, there were a few buildings that could sustain life for a long period of time.¡± Gabrielle said. ¡°These¡¯s havens were made so that if there was every an emergency, people could shelter in place for long periods of time. It¡¯s kind of ingenious and it will help us out. It¡¯s practically a fortress in design if not name. I can¡¯t believe I didn¡¯t think about it.¡± She punches my shoulder and the extra bit strength from the harness takes me off balance for a bit before I right myself again. ¡°While in most cases it doesn¡¯t make sense to split up, however I think this might be the one time it makes sense.¡± I look over our squad, scanning for apprehension. We haven¡¯t been more than a few rooms away from each other since we¡¯ve met and eventually that would have to change. If Rebellion was going to be strong, we¡¯d have to be ablet to handle multiple things at the same time. ¡°First things first, Neon and Kohl, check the coolers from a few of the restaurants and supermarkets to see if they¡¯re still in working order. If we¡¯re lucky, we have a ton of frozen food to work with. Produce we might grow, but meat is going to be a thing we¡¯ll run out of quickly and I don¡¯t know anything about livestock. Even rotting produce might help us though, for we can get the seeds and plant them in the garden up top.¡± The two of them nod at me. ¡°I know while you don¡¯t have the Power or Durability on your side. You both can move faster than either of us. And with Kohl¡¯s ability to locate Dream fluctuations, you aren¡¯t likely to get ambushed.¡± ¡°We¡¯d already said we¡¯d do it!¡± Neon teases. Their trademark smile on their lips. Neon¡¯s right, you don¡¯t have to convince us. When should we reconnoiter? ¡°It¡¯s 3:00 pm. Let¡¯s reconvene here at 4:00 pm,¡± I say, looking at the time in the corner of my HUD. ¡°While that¡¯s happening, Firewall and I are looking for medical supplies. Nanos, bandages, basic first aid kits, or even some med spray. Camping supplies like rope, pitons, and last of all places for us all to sleep. There¡¯s a mattress store in there so we can all pick the best beds we can find and start finding places for us to sleep.¡± Awaken, Tether, Chain Breaker, DreamCrafter Kohl Running around with Neon isn¡¯t something new. I¡¯ve gotten fairly used to the sensation. My eyes squint nearly close as they run faster than I can keep track of, even with my new senses. Rocketing around, though, was cool. Neon always keeps me held close, and hearing their heartbeat made me want to purr, but I avoided it. It¡¯s times like these I still can¡¯t believe I¡¯ve been turned into a cat. I used to have everything. Rich parents, rich friends, parties whenever I want. I even came home last summer during summer break. Graduate school in Oxford was amazing. Private jets taking me all over and now I don¡¯t even have thumbs. I haven¡¯t talked to most of the others about my life; I know we all miss things about our lives, but I miss my being human. When I awakened and found myself on four legs, I screamed. It was a mistake. Had I not cried out, I probably wouldn¡¯t have been immediately found. When they put me in that fucking hole, it makes me want to rail, to fight back. They didn¡¯t know what they were doing when they caught me. I will be the instrument for their destruction. From rich kid to rebellion. We found our way to the 3rd level food court. I made sure Neon grabbed a map and uploaded it to the Map app. Neon is excited about using Gabrielle¡¯s skeleton key app. It allows us to get through most low security doors. Just one look and it pops open. Now this doesn¡¯t work for safes or any real security doors, but no one protecting food like Fort Knox. Why did she create this program? I don¡¯t know, she just had it on hand. One thing about this transformation I enjoy is not needing a psy-link to interface with the psynet. And the intention of reading. Getting surface thoughts and feelings from my DreamRunners allows me to really understand them all better. The knowledge is also so expansive. I just need to see something that reminds me of a little of knowledge and it¡¯s in my brain. Knowledge at the tips of my claws. We arrive at SGT. Cluck¡¯s Chicken Corps. It¡¯s a military themed chicken spot. Which is probably in bad taste but, it¡¯s really popular, so who¡¯s to say? ¡°Oh, I want a 10pc Grenade Box and a side of Pepper Box fries!¡± Neon says, sliding over the counter. Thankfully, the freezer is fully stocked with chicken and fries. Thank gods it was one of those places that made their own biscuits, so they had mountains of flour and water came out clean. If it continues like this, we¡¯ll be in a good spot. For now, this is more than enough and if we can keep this place protected, we¡¯ll have enough to keep a few people fed. I say. After we went through the food court and got a roughly 250 Food. If 1 Food is enough for 1 person for 24 hours, then¡­ We¡¯ve got roughly enough food for us for 64 days. We¡¯ll do a sweep of the original restaurants and then we¡¯ll spread out. We haven¡¯t seen bugs even though I¡¯ve been feeling their signatures. I then broke off the report to the others. ¡°Can we talk?¡± Neon says. We¡¯ve sat down at a restaurant on the 6th floor. It¡¯s dark. We don¡¯t really need to turn the lights on when Neon just has to glow a little, plus my cat eyes. It¡¯s been quiet for a while. We just sat waiting for the others. I was parsing through the downloaded memories, hoping there¡¯s something in there to help us. Just something to give us the edge, when Neon spoke up. The earring glistens in the low light. Of course. I look them in the eye. ¡°Why haven¡¯t you told the others?¡± Because you asked me not to. It¡¯s that simple. ¡°That¡¯s dumb.¡± They cross their arms and look away. ¡°I could be a liability.¡± You¡¯re not. ¡°How do you fucking know?!¡± Neon says, raising their voice and looking at me. Pretending to be angry was an odd choice. Almost like they know they should be but, couldn¡¯t quite get themselves there. I¡¯ve been watching you. I try to soften my voice to allowing them to have the space they need. ¡°Flirt.¡± Neon chuckles. Another emotional change. What¡¯s going on in that head? They¡¯re usually mercurial, but this is a lot. I-I¡¯m not flirting. I stumble through their words. I¡¯m being serious. Can you please be serious with me? ¡°You¡¯re always serious, Kohl. It¡¯s a drag.¡± Someone has to be. ¡°I just¡­¡± Neon gets out of their seat and pets my head. I can¡¯t help but purr. The sound coming from deep within me. ¡°Don¡¯t want to feel like a psycho, just cause I don¡¯t have memories.¡± They said it. The thing that¡¯s been hanging over them since we started. I noticed something odd when they first awakened. They didn¡¯t wake from a dream; it was something more of like a coma. There was no information download to walk me through what happens with this happened. My first DreamRunner was and is still an anomaly. ¡°You can¡¯t tell me what happened and you don¡¯t know who I am. I woke up in a dorm room and I knew the name of a thousand things, before I even knew my own name.¡± Neon¡­ I ¡°No,¡± Neon cut me off. ¡°Forget it. I¡¯m done talking about it.¡± They cross their arms, looking down at their sneakers. ¡°We need to keep moving. There¡¯s more to look at. We should check the backrooms. There might be food in the break rooms or something.¡± I sigh, which I will say doesn¡¯t have the same weight coming from a cat. Neon won¡¯t budge when they¡¯ve decide to go in a certain direction. Wiggling my butt and crouch, readying the jump into their arms. And in just that moment, the napkin holder beams me in the face and I see stars. Track 014: Intruders Track 014: Intruder The Composer We took the elevator; the map showing us that the med supply store was on the third floor. Suspiciously, it was very close to the skate shop. My eyes couldn¡¯t help being drawn to the window. A pair of Grav boots being shown off. The spotlight on them highlights the high quality leather and plush material. It can¡¯t help but draw your eyes away from the hoverboard and even a traditional skateboard and rollerblades. All of them decked out with the best parts. Now modding them was way above my pay grade. I mean, I could fiddle with a sound system like no one¡¯s business. This, however, is a sophisticated gear. Getting the most out of motors and which settings would be the best were things I¡¯d spent ages actually salivating over all the enthusiast sites. While I can¡¯t do the work myself, I did probably have the smartest awakened person for at least a hundred miles and in any direction, if not more. ¡°You want to go in, don¡¯t you?¡± Gabrielle says with a put upon expression. ¡°I mean¡­¡± I can¡¯t take my eyes off them. ¡°You¡¯re drooling.¡± She laughs. ¡°I am not.¡± I wipe my face, though. ¡°Can we go though?¡± She rolls her eyes. ¡°Come on.¡± She punches me in the arm even with the prosthesis, it doesn¡¯t hurt. She¡¯s as deft with it as her other one. The way she can rotate it with nary a thought made the re-twist so easy. Honestly, more locticians needed to get one. ¡°Honestly, if I get my hands on some of that Grav tech, maybe I can make my mech hover, too. You know it¡¯s still a mystery. How it works, I mean. It¡¯s under so many patents and NDAs I can¡¯t even find a hacked together version on Influx. No tear downs allowed anywhere online.¡± Influx is like a weird anarcho-anticapitalist website posting tons of business and government secrets. It¡¯s like the nonstop shop for everything someone¡¯s trying to hide. No one knows who really owns it and a piece of it is tucked away on so many servers through the bot net that stamping it out is impossible. ¡°The mag stuff makes sense. However, the hover function is a whole different ballgame. It¡¯s one of those things like the group telekinesis, which doesn¡¯t make much sense. I mean it doesn now cause of dream. But not everyone is like us.¡± Seeing her have the same expression that¡¯s on my face makes feel like kindred spirits. The expression changes when she turns back to the mystery of its workings, though. I¡¯ll admit I was always excited about the possibilities. I never realized the science that was on them was all bullshit. But she did. She¡¯s naturally more suspicious and a hell of a lot smarter than I am. It¡¯s not that I¡¯ve forgotten about the Carter stuff, but I wasn¡¯t thinking clearly. The meds had been out of my system for too long. I can¡¯t get stuck ruminating on the things. I like her, but first she¡¯s part of my party and I¡¯ve got to trust her. The door practically opens for us. Gabrielle has cracked it .2 seconds. The touch keypad next to the door has a dancing pink 8-bit skeleton winking in it. I didn¡¯t quite think it was her style, but when I ask she says she made the original program when she was fourteen. I gape. She acts like it¡¯s no big deal as we make our way inside. Contrasting the low lights of the shop, bright illuminated display cases and the timeless pop punk classic gave the feel of a hole in the wall skate shop. Inlines was more of an institution going back to the heyday of skating, the 90s. While it was a chain masquerading as an owned by that one guy on the corner kind of feel. It¡¯s probably the only one that stood the test of time. And that¡¯s kind of sad, capitalism, right? I remember an old head from back in my hometown talking about how he grew up going to the neighborhood goth shop, how it changed from alternative to capitalist hellscape with all the nerd gear. He wasn¡¯t mad about the nerd stuff. He was mad about the fact that it became so mainstream. It wasn¡¯t about the counterculture it was originally billed as. Now it was completely about the next movie in a blockbuster franchise. We¡¯re nostalgic for a retail chain. That¡¯s so dystopic. I look into the glass case, looking at all the different parts for customization. Like skid plates, light up laces, mag wheels, for rollerblades and skateboards. It¡¯s a cornucopia of loot. ¡°You look like a kid in a candy shop.¡± She says, her tone poking fun at me. ¡°It¡¯s cute.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t help it. It was gonna be my next big purchase after the show. A cool mil. Credits as far as the eye can see.¡± I say wistfully. ¡°Was gonna march right up to my brother and show him my bank account and say I¡¯d finally made it.¡± Looking into the glass and all the gadgets blur as my vision relaxes. ¡°I know it¡¯s a silly image with these on my feet, but I wanted him to know I was okay. That he didn¡¯t have to worry about me anymore. I¡¯m the older other.¡± I chuckle at the pun. ¡°You know these cost more than some cars?¡± Her hand is on my shoulder. ¡°While money right now is completely useless. And your expensive tastes should probably be examined, by like a host of professionals.¡± Her voice is so warm and there¡¯s only a little judgment in there. ¡°Let¡¯s go make your dream come true.¡± It wasn¡¯t long before we were at one of the worktables in the back. I picked out all the best parts and customizations I wanted. It only took twenty minutes for Gabrielle to understand them, got into the software, and become an expert. In no time, she upgraded the calibration sensors with a few scraps she brought from home. Working in the hover options from one of the hoverboards to give me extra lift and power when I needed it. Full psylink programmable controls as well as manual options and when I¡¯d get the hang of it, I could use both in conjunction to get the most smooth and powerful feeling drive. She was actually magic. When we finally got to cracking open the grav motor on the other model, we found it. There are a ton of powerful electromagnets for the magnet cling. Gabrielle follows the wires, they weren¡¯t really hooked to anything. The wires connected to a palm-sized solar cell encased in a steel casing. Likely to prevent it from getting jostled around and for explosive related safety reasons. Testing the connections, there was no power going to it. Which led us to look at the compartment with set aside for the stabilizer. She says modern gyroscopic sensors wouldn¡¯t require that much space. Laying flat on the sole right above the magnets was a box. There are no lips seams or openings anywhere in it. The size of a matchbox it is completely black and glossy. I watch as G takes every tool; she has to it. The box won¡¯t open or cut or lathe. And that included a pocket drill with a diamond head and a blowtorch. Nothing works until Firewall¡¯s omni tool came out. And without warning or pressure, it pops open. I feel some kind of resonance, magical in nature and before I could examine that thought; I saw it. Sitting in there, spinning lazily, was a dark orange crystal. ¡°What¡­are¡­you?¡± she says. As she leans in closer. Power swells and her hair and clothes ruffle and like a force drawing them in. I feel magic swell and the effect expands, pulling everything in the room towards it. I can barely keep my feet. Screws and their drivers, nuts and bolts, and even loose bits of change. ¡°It¡¯s magic.¡± I tap her shoulder and let her know to switch places.¡±This is how I can help.¡± I saw the pulses of magic move through it like ripples in a pond. My song stabilizes it. We harmonize. And it¡¯s a communal thing, harmonizing. People working together create a fuller, more balanced sound. With that understanding. ¡°It¡¯s gravity magic.¡± I say, ¡°A splinter of it. Someone hardened an enchantment and placed it in here.¡± ¡°That¡¯s crazy.¡± She says, leaning in. ¡°And it works in this device?¡± ¡°Magitech. It¡¯s real.¡± I say. ¡°I¡¯ve seen it in games before, but the fact it¡¯s real¡­¡± This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.¡°Could open a lot of doors for us,¡± Firewall says. ¡°You and I working together?¡± ¡°Completely different from what we¡¯re doing now, right?¡± I quip. ¡°Yeah, I hear what you mean.¡± She says, rubbing her arm nervously. ¡°We¡¯re trying to save the world, right?¡± ¡°And if I can find a way to help with your mech plan, I want to.¡± Crystallized enchantments¡­ I can¡¯t believe it. I watch the Grav crystal as it turns around in its orbit. I wonder what this could mean for us as we continue the fight. I¡¯ve got to learn it. Even if it¡¯s a small enchantment, I¡¯ve got to do everything in my power to learn it. The text comes into my heads-up display as I crush the crystal. 1st Enchantment: 100% 2nd Enchantment: 25% 3rd Enchantment: 0% Congratulations, Enchanter! You have learned the My Own Little Orbit enchantment. My Little Orbit creates a small gravitation effect around the object, allowing them to float or cling to objects. While this enchantment on its own could be powerful, it needs constant direction from a processor. To use this enchantment, you must learn Complex Enchantments. I already knew there was gonna be a high ceiling but Magitech and complex enchantment means there¡¯s a real chance to make some really powerful things. I don¡¯t want to break them down but, the look from Firewall, the hunger in her eyes for new knowledge, solidifies my choice. It flies in the face of me wanting to leave as much as we can to as many people as possible. So I crushed the second Grav crystal in my hand. 1st Enchantment: 100% 2nd Enchantment: 100% 3rd Enchantment: 50% Congratulations, Enchanter! You have learned the Technological Interface enchantment. Technological Interface allows magic and technology to work together and function as one. You can turn code into sigils and vice versa, allowing for a processor to tell the magic what to do and get information back. Also allows the enchantment to run off of solar energy. 1st Enchantment: 100% 2nd Enchantment: 100% 3rd Enchantment: 100% Congratulations, Enchanter! You have found the MoonWalker enchantment. MoonWalker allows someone when walking to move fluidly and lightly, reducing the gravity you walk with. Also prevents someone from falling as long as it isn¡¯t interfered with by gravity magic or abilities. The second enchantment was the game changer. From all that I can see, it¡¯s the basis of all magitech and would probably be the basis for what Gabrielle and I do in the future. I can¡¯t wait to see what comes out of it. I daydream about mageships and magic guns and rifles. And if I understand the gleam in Firewall¡¯s eyes, then she¡¯ll want my help to build a magical mech. Kohl gave us an update as we walk over to the pharmacy. A utilitarian storefront with a cow in a lab coat as their mascot. Wintergreen letters are lit up showing off the words: The Pharm. Whitewashed brick and tinted window with the inside being obscured for the most part. The fact that it¡¯s both medical supply and pharmacy seems rather niche to me, but they¡¯re apparently doing well enough to have a shop here. While I was going to tell him about what we¡¯ve found out, he seemed a bit distracted. I didn¡¯t ask which might have been a mistake or the greatest decision I¡¯ve ever made. Whatever was going on with Neon and him was their business, and as long as it didn¡¯t fuck us in a fight, I would be glad not to have to talk about it. Inside The Pharm, the medical supply store, things were dark except for a light coming from behind the counter. Listening hard, I hear the telltale roll of an office chair rolling on hardwood. Making a stopping hand sign for Firewall to hold. I tell her over text about what I hear and we need to move as quickly as possible. Wordlessly, she switches her load out to her civilian outfit so as not to make noise with her harness and armor. The custom grav boots allowing me to slide quickly over the floor without the sound of footsteps. I hop over the counter with the extra lift granting me clearance, landing without a sound. With my approach being completely silent, it was a shock when the occupant of the room speaks up. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯m not here to harm you.¡± The words come in a clipped Russian accent. ¡°If you¡¯re here just to talk, you have nothing to worry about from me.¡± Gabrielle and I look at each other. I raise an eyebrow and she has her hands open and shrugs. Her armor sliding right back on. I make the 3, 2, 1 hand signs as I mouth the words. On one, we enter through the door with her in the lead. The room before us looks a bit like a lab with black counter tops, and scientific instruments all over. Stools were the kind that hurt your ass after like 15 minutes if you have anything more in the trunk than a smart car, forcing you to stand. A dark-haired white man in a lab coat currently took the only comfy chair up. He held a cigarette in between his fingers while he blew the smoke away from us while his head was down over a microscope. ¡°I was wondering when you¡¯d get here.¡± He says, looking up. His eyes are slightly bloodshot and he¡¯s got bags under his eyes. ¡°You were the ones who tried to claim this place, right?¡± He pointed the cigarette at us. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about that. You¡¯re Rebellion, right? Sorry about that, I kinda need this facility, but once I¡¯m done with this, it will be all yours.¡± He doesn¡¯t even let me get a word in. He runs roughshod over the conversation he¡¯s having with himself. ¡°Who are you?¡± I say my hands by my side but I with a flick of the wrist I can reach one of the turntables where my weapons reside. ¡°Ah, yes!¡± He actually put his finger in the air. ¡°I am Doctor Omni. Scientific Advisor of the Cyborg Paramores.¡± No one could forget a name like the Cyborg Paramores. It was the name that Harriet mentioned, the entire group being power mad psychos. I mean, that¡¯s not what she said, but the fact they treated the whole world like this was a game was what she said. The fact that they had the power to keep that ideology must mean they have enough power to keep it. This lone man in a walking around at the end of the world just got a bit more menacing. ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you. You already know who we are, though.¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯re The Composer, great name, by the way.¡± He says, raising his eyebrows. ¡°I saw your declaration on the leaderboard app. I¡¯ll admit I was interested in what kind of group you¡¯d be.¡± He looks me and Firewall up and down. ¡°That¡¯s interesting¡­ You guys are only level two, but almost level 3 good, good.¡± ¡°You can tell all of that just by looking at us?¡± Firewall said. Her hands still not moving for her weapons. ¡°I have a skill called examination. It¡¯s an advanced version of the Scan ability.¡± He said, simply. ¡°That¡¯s good to know.¡± ¡°Yes, there are many insights I could give you, but those don¡¯t come free.¡± He says. He cracks his neck and shakes out his limbs. ¡°You want to know how to increase your power and also this haven. And I need a good fight to knock the dust off.¡± ¡°What are you talking about? You aren¡¯t an enemy.¡± While I say it, my fingers inch closer to the turntable. The moment he moves, he¡¯ll have to deal with a beat right to the neck. ¡°It¡¯s all in fun. We do it all the time in the Paramores. I just want to see if you have what it takes.¡± ¡°Can we just have a team huddle for a minute?¡± I look at Firewall and we leave the room. ¡°So this guy is crazy, right?¡± She whispers. ¡°Oh¡­ for sure.¡± I say. ¡°Oh hey, I can still hear you.¡± Omni calls from the other room. ¡°Well, try not to.¡± I call back. I roll my eyes. ¡°I just wanted to tell you, your friends are in danger. Kind of¡­¡± I charge back into the room. ¡°What do you mean? Did you do something to them?¡± ¡°No, of course not.¡± He raises his hands. ¡°I have good ears. They¡¯re about to call.¡± Hey guys, we¡¯ve got a situation here. Can you guys get here? We¡¯ve got mimics. ¡°Mimics?!¡± I say. Track 015 Advice Track 015: Advice It turns out the mall has been having a bit of a mimic situation. Kohl couldn¡¯t tell because apparently until they decide to reveal themselves, they literally don¡¯t exist. Thankfully, this place isn¡¯t a dungeon. We just have to watch out for Mimics. Good news is we all leveled up. Bad news is we barely get a minute to catch our breath before we¡¯re in the gym standing there opposite Dr. Omni. I pick a chip of ceramic out of Gabrielle¡¯s hair. The fucking dishwasher was Mimic. Leveling up might have felt amazing if we weren¡¯t all wet. Turns out switching loadouts doesn¡¯t do your dry cleaning. ¡°Y¡¯all ready for this?¡± I call. ¡°As ready as we¡¯ll ever be,¡± Neon says. ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with.¡± Firewall says. Doctor Omni gets in a fighting stance. ¡°Are you ready? You better give me your all.¡± He charges at us. With each footfall, his hands become claws, thick hair grows all over his body, and his face lengthens into a snout. Doctor Omni becomes a werewolf in front of us. Werewolf in London, eat your heart out. He starts out on two legs and moves quickly on all fours. All our HUD¡¯s words flash. Duel Rules: Last Blood To knock out or as close as possible before Damaged condition. Wager: Rights to Voltage Mall as Haven and Level 1 Security Card ¡°Scatter!¡± I order. I flip backwards behind Firewall and Neon takes off to right. I toss two disks out, going for his front legs. He pushed off with his forelimbs and grabbing the two disks and sending them at Neon. With a burst of speed, Neon gets out of the way and makes a beeline for the good doctor. Neon slide tackles him with their legs and arms glowing, using their Kinetic Fighting ability. It makes contact but barely slows him down. Omni then grabs Neon¡¯s legs and throws them into the air. ¡°That¡¯s rude!¡± Neon says flying away, already twisting in the air to face the target. Neon moving like a cat, already ready to hit the ground running. ¡°Take a Dazzle straight to the face, asshole.¡± Out of their fingers strobing and sparkling light blooms. Omni stumbles around, as his bestial charge stopped in its tracks. Dazzle Ability Type: Mirage/ Distraction/ Sabotage Dream Cost: 4 Level 1: Create a blinding and garish display of light that renders your foe blind and confused. Requirement: Mirage When the debuffs Blind and Confused appear over Omni¡¯s head, I knew Neon found a winner ability. The Mirage tree was unlocked for them at Level 3because of the earring and they said since they have mostly been put on distraction detail, leveraging that more into their fighting style would be good. I was a little hesitant at first because it seemed like they¡¯d be giving up more of the skirmisher position, but they said that adding to their versatility was their most important strength. With their ability to attack from mid to close range, they can take advantage of any opening. Kohl and Gabrielle agreed. Kohl suggested that we might not always fulfill the same roles we did when we started, and he emphasized the importance of being able to branch out and not be confined by one thing. I wonder if it¡¯s a failure on my part for not allowing them to stay in the forward attack position. Taking advantage of his debuff, Firewall and I move forward. Sending beat after beat the first one bites deep into his shoulder and even without the blind debuff getting removed, he stumbles away from the others. I prime one with a Shot and a Dark Blade. Rubbing his eyes, must have cleared, and that¡¯s when he gets hit my attack hard in the chest. Following my echo and blood runs clear down his chest. ¡°That was pretty good, kid.¡± He laughs. ¡°Now it¡¯s time to get a bit more serious.¡± He lets out a howl. Horns burst out from the side of his head, blood spattering from where it came from. The back claws fuse to make hooves. I hear the sounds of the cracking and dislocation of bones. The laceration across his chest slowly, with new healthy flesh taking its place. ¡°This is about medium effort. I was hoping you¡¯d push me this far. Do you like my regeneration ability?¡± While he¡¯s talking shit, I teleport behind him and slashing down with my sound sword. I trail the slash down his back, scoring another hit. The blade sputters. Flashing the power bucking with in it straining integrity of the tuning fork. I¡¯m forced to shut it off. Just as he pivots to capitalize on my distraction, Neon comes with a stab to the kidneys. I can even see the blade glow from inside Omni. He snarls, eyes flashing wide. He doesn¡¯t turn to fight Neon because Neon, of course, is already gone. It¡¯s the smart move, but while he strikes me knocking my HP down 5 points and me tumbling into the wall. He didn¡¯t see Firewall charging in, using Pierce and hitting the other. This did, however, get his attention and turn him around. Intent blazes around her like pink-tinged heat roiling off of her. When she goes to thrust in again, he catches her spearhead. It slashes into his palm with blood as he tries to disarm her. For a minute, I¡¯m sure he¡¯s going to take it from her. He¡¯s so much stronger than she is. The servos on her harness spin up as she deepens her stance, ready to fight him for all he has. His arms flex bulging under his fur. She simply turns off her omni-tool and decks him with a Shield Blight. Slamming him hard into the same wall I was resting against just a second ago. Shield Blight Ability Type: Damage Reduction/ Shield Dream Cost: 4 Level 1: Thrust your shield forward to push an enemy backward and ready for their next attack. Adds 1d4 bonus to the next round of Guard. Requirements: Guard ¡°Okay, Okay not that bad. Focusing on my vital organs to force my regeneration to focus on my vitals. It¡¯s how I¡¯d do it. You¡¯re really going to have to make me take you seriously.¡± Blood drips from out of his mouth as he rubs his palm across face, stemming the flow. He shoves his hand into empty air, grabbing nothing, but when his fingers curl around an unseen hilt, a large silver battle axe rests in his hand. The head is the size of his massively, enlarged chest. I could feel the malevolent energy coming off of it. And the inlaid design looks more and more like an edifice of tortured faces. ¡°This is my pride and joy. The Axe of Anguish. Try not to reach Last Blood too quickly. I¡¯m hoping you have enough strength to last!¡± ¡°I think he¡¯s trying to kill us now.¡± Neon says. ¡°Yeah, I think we might have lost the plot.¡± Firewall says. ¡°Alright Rebellion, bring it together. We need to finish this up.¡± I say, picking a tune on my drop-down menu. ¡°Neon, Lighting and Thunder.¡± I play one of my mixes of Run The Jewels and The Crimson Cings. The rock and rap really pumping up the team and my spell takes effect. War Chant came from my Leadership Skill. Around their weapons a soft golden glow. War Chant Ability Type: Power up/ Focus Dream Craft: 4 Level 1: You can call out a target and buff your party to take it down. +2 Power when attacking 1 specified target. Requirements: Leadership Neon goes in for another Dazzle blinding Omni again. And ran to the far end of the field. And runs as fast as they can, arms slice through the air like blades. Running full out, body extending, eating each meter. The air around them starts to sparkle with energy. When they reach Omni, they hit him hard with a Sonic Boom. The violent sound that comes with the crash of power was both deafening and amazing. Dust kicks up from the floor, obscuring our sight. Neon jogs out, but the light they usually generate is far less bright. Some of it flickering like it did when they passed out. Sonic Boom Ability Type: Kinetic/ Charge Dream Craft: 4 Level 1: Slamming your target with a blast of brutal speed. Soundwaves at later levels may hurt surrounding enemies when you hit them. Requirement: Super Speed ¡°That was a pretty good shot.¡± His eyes were bloodshot and bits of blood trickled from his ears. Low and behold, the debuff now reads, Deafened. Neon catches their breath. Mouthing the words, ¡°I can¡¯t hear you.¡± I can¡¯t help but laugh. Omni makes a beeline for me, bringing the ax down on my head. Caught like a deer in the headlights, I barely move, or that¡¯s what he thought. The cowering I did was just enough for me to get out of the way at the last minute. Touching the floor, activating Space Magic for the first time. The Portal is there, Dream swirling ringed with gold and black spirals twisted in braids. I am outside of it, but inside it is the axe. I remove my hand, ending the spell and leaving the axe half in and out of the floor. Omni grunts and grabs, trying to pull the axe from the floor. Portal Ability Type: Space/Magic Dream Cost: 3 Level 1: Create a portal in a wall, ceiling, or floor. Lasts for a minute and it allows you to pass through that barrier. Requirement: Space Magic Space magic differs from enchanting while being far closer to summoning. Enchanting is all about vibes pouring emotion and desire into the object to have it hold on to your will. Summoning requires desire and want, however, to do it correctly requires prep. Space Magic requires so much knowledge being beamed into your brain that you begin to understand the fabric of space and how it moves when you make a tear or when you punch a hole. The hole I punched was placed in just such a way to disarm him. Firewall closes the distance. Once she gets close, she clones the security level 1 permissions gets into the network. Opening up her psydeck on her wrist executing the hacking command, Blackout. Each set of lights shuts down with an audible clunk. ¡°You guys are rather annoying.¡± Dr. Omni growls. While he¡¯s distracted, Firewall delivers another Pierce, this time aiming for his liver. He roars angrily and backhands into her. She flies hard, skipping like a stone, and hits the wall hard, cracking it. I cry out, but it¡¯s Neon who takes advantage. Slicing down at his Achilles¡¯ tendons. He takes a knee. It might have been brutal. I didn¡¯t think it would go like this, neither did he, I expect. I send a barrage of Beats, spinning, dancing each rotation another is hitting him. It¡¯s ripping him apart. Cuts are weeping from him all over. Pushing himself up with the handle of his ax and gives it one last big tug and wrenches it up from the floor. He uses it as a crutch and rises to his feet. His ankles must have healed enough to stand. He huffs hard, but there are no more words. Charging at me, the cuts close as he runs, the only thing completely clean, unmarred, oddly enough, is his lab coat. It must self heal as well. Nothing stops him as he runs me down. Neon peppers him with Darts and not even a Shot slowed him down. With reckless abandon, he came after me. I did everything I could to stay ahead of him, but he ran me down like prey. I hear the huffing from him, feeling the hot breath on the back of my neck. The sound of it cutting through the air makes my stomach drop. I wait for it to fall and cut me. I get knocked out of the way. I watch as Neon gets cut deep and falls to the floor. Splayed on the ground with blood pooling under them. I don¡¯t get a chance to call out because he¡¯s over me in half a second. The labored breathing is interspersed with the final words I hear as I lose consciousness. ¡°Good¡­ night!¡± I black out. ¡°That was a pretty good showing.¡± An unfamiliar feminine voice brings me back from the darkness. ¡°You got the best of him for a minute. If you were of the same rank, you probably could have won your duel, Songbird.¡± My eyes slowly open, and myself as if floating in a pool of water. It¡¯s blurry at first and I blink slowly to bring the world into focus again. It¡¯s that scene again from when I chose the Enchanting knowledge. A woman with light shining in from the ceiling is bent over a workbench. Seeing it clearer this time, I can tell it¡¯s a ruin. The sunbeam falling in from above is because the roof is torn up there. It oddly looked like a skylight, almost. The floor tiles are raised and cracked from the tree¡¯s roots moving under. The ivy on the walls had taken over. Upon the tiny dais were the workbench and the lady. The sound of waves and the smell of sea air come from my left. When she stood up, my breath caught. She is beautiful with warm brown skin, long black hair in micro braids. Tall and thin, yet shapely, wearing a long purple dress. She has high cheekbones that could cut glass and an angular face with that held a warmth. Her smile was beneficent, like a mother looking at a child. While her face was smooth, there was time in it, almost as if she was much older than me, like an auntie I didn¡¯t know. In her face, I also saw Aquilan. She was most definitely Sulikani. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.¡°You are Sulikani?¡± ¡°Yes, I am,¡± she says magnanimously. ¡°I know you might find it difficult to trust me, but you and I are connected. ¡°Do you know me?¡± ¡°I much of you, Mix. I¡¯ve been here since the beginning.¡± Her voice is warm and her speech unhurried. ¡°Since I¡¯ve been awakened-¡± ¡°No, before that.¡± She raises a delicate hand, bidding me to hold my next words. ¡°I am your many greats grandmother. I am your Sulikani ancestor. You are part of an unbroken line to the present. And I have left you the thurim as my gift to your future. I knew the dragon¡¯s eyes would look to Earth eventually, and I wanted your people to have a way to defend itself.¡± ¡°The Dragon¡¯s eye?¡± ¡°The Dominance is the reach of the dragon. The Teeth and claws¡­ Beware the might of the dragon, Songbird, or they will take you from this world.¡± ¡°So this dragon is the leader of the Dominance?¡± ¡°Yes, and no.¡± She says. ¡°The Dragons are the species that started the war on T¡¯lunak. Their actual name is Al Durgh. They are a reptilian species like the Putolu. You¡¯ve met Vessel Elontra, very similar. They are a vastly long-lived species which has used that strength to meddle in the affairs of the many civilizations. It has resulted in The Dominance, their war engine.¡± ¡°So, The Dominance are the Al Durgh¡¯s war arm?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a bit more than that. It¡¯s a multi-civilization spanning empire.¡± ¡°That makes sense.¡± ¡°Because of the rise of The Dominance, a few of our people came together to form The Minority.¡± A wistful smile comes to her face. ¡°We had a plan. Knowing that their strength was too much for all of us to take on head to head. We chose to focus on creating a way to increase our strength.¡± ¡°The psylink.¡± ¡°Of course. We needed a repository of our skills and knowledge. I was actually an architect of the psylink.¡± She says proudly. ¡°Not the only one, mind you, but I was the one who placed my knowledge of enchanting and our Siren ability together.¡± ¡°Are you telling me your actual knowledge is in the psylink?¡± That would make so much sense. With the download of new information when you gain a new ability. Hundreds of skills and abilities from masters from the past. ¡°Kind of.¡± She furrows her brow as she thinks. ¡°A bit of me is in the Dreamsphere. My consciousness was elevated when I died and stitched into the fabric that allows you to use your abilities. You unlock it as you level up, and you will see more of me when you sleep.¡± ¡°You¡¯re a guide. Like in the myths, Orisha.¡± ¡°Yes, in many ways.¡± She walks closer to me, her hair floats in the air behind her as if she¡¯s underwater. ¡°I will help lead you higher and farther than me. The Dominace can¡¯t be made to carry on as they have.¡± ¡°I agree.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve made excellent decisions so far. Space Magic is powerful and allows you not to be captured. You should focus more on your sound shapes and if you can, please get a stronger frame. While ingenious, the sound sword isn¡¯t made of stern enough stuff for your rising power. It can¡¯t keep up with you.¡± ¡°A resonator?¡± I ask. She walks backwards, grabbing the massive tuning fork weapon. She hums and it came alight to a massive greatsword. ¡°Our people have had many a weapons and tools, staff, and wand made for use with our abilities. I will give you the knowledge to make your own. You should have seen our people.¡± She says, reminiscing. She reaches out, touching my forehead, and I see a sea of beautiful people doing every kind of task, using sound to help them in their daily lives. From weaving a basket or making a ladder. It is a view I couldn¡¯t imagine. And then it was gone. ¡°Thank you.¡± I say breathlessly, as I can feel where the memory still lingers in my mind. ¡°Your ability as an enchanter allows you to destroy and learn from magical weapons and constructs. You could become a Spellbreaker. There are a few magical disciplines that will eventually help you break spells. All of this to say you¡¯ve broadened yourself quite a bit. You should focus on leveling your abilities as you move forward. You don¡¯t really have a one shot kill ability and that¡¯s what you should be looking for next.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± This is all given me something to think about. Spellbreaking sounds really cool and if it could protect me from one of Aquilan¡¯s screams. I could really become a problem for a magic enemy. Not that I¡¯ve found many so far. ¡°I realize I never caught your name.¡± ¡°Quillica. Mother Quillica of the Sonata Coven.¡± Quillica said. ¡°You must return and get stronger. The Sea Witch will stop at nothing to kill you. Be smart.¡± I woke up. My body suspended in a translucent fluid. I could feel the astringent feel of something like a minty soap scrub. It was more viscous fluid, like I was floating in a pool of mouthwash. I can see the surrounding room, a dim lounge with big comfy chairs and even a chez lounge. Inside the tank, there was a solid red light and an inch in diameter. I was in nothing but the pair of boxers I put on this morning. As I looked down at my body, I saw none of the wounds I expected to see. A breathing mask trails from my mouth like a scuba tank. A cool clean air is pumping through it. It smells like a petrichor, the good stuff. My psylink is gone. I¡¯ve been wearing it every waking hour since I woke up on that surgery table. It feels off not having it on my head. Not even having my AR contacts in either means no HUD, and I sleep in those. They self-clean using tear ducts, cleaning themselves at night. Or with a disinfecting solution once every two weeks. I realized that just hanging on to one thought for too long is really hard. I was just taking in thoughts and breathing them back out. Like my mind is trying to hold water in my hands and just passes through my fingers, leaving them wet. I hope to actually pick them up again later. My body is a lot more toned than it was when I awakened. Nothing ground breaking, but I had changed quite a bit since this all started. It had only been 3 days, and I have the ability of some of the best marksmen on the planet. Or the planet, before alien contact. I wonder how many of them have gotten awakened. My abilities aren¡¯t gone without my psylink. Between Kohl and Gabrielle, I understand thatt a lot of the abilities aren¡¯t controlled by psylinks, but many of the way I did things were set up that way. Things like using specific sounds for each beat, when I could instead just use snaps or hum it. I could, and I should, learn to freehand a lot of things, especially the magic. The Dreamsphere. I could feel the energy around and in myself, actively. I don¡¯t know how I didn¡¯t notice it before. Like a river moving around me and a whirlpool moving within me. Maybe I should spend more time just letting myself be. I feel like maybe moving from one thing to another has been hampering my ability to cast. So I thought to teleport myself out of the tank. Since I¡¯m not using it during battle, I can choose a destination instead of just willing myself somewhere I could see. I tried it again as I closed my eyes and a more spacial sense activated. While I couldn¡¯t sense anything in the room, I could choose a point anywhere in space within the range of about 30ft. Judging by what it said on the spell, I¡¯d get hurt or die if I teleport inside something. I could also identify what I considered myself. Like walking through a veil or a filter, I could decide anything down to boxers or as far as my face mask. Before I can practice, I hear the sounds of an oven timer go off and the light inside turns from solid red to blinking yellow. The tank around me begins draining as the sound and light go off. When the blinking stops and the yellow changes to green, I push my way out of the empty tank. Stumbling to my feet, I take off the breathing apparatus and put it back inside the clamshell door on a hook that seems like what it¡¯s there for. Taking a towel off a table close by, I towel the last of the very little fluid that clings to me and I lay down in the chaise lounge. The smart cushion doesn¡¯t immediately take on my preferred firmness because I realize without my psylink there¡¯s nothing for it to communicate with. It¡¯s still very comfy and I¡¯m about to go back to sleep when the door opens quietly and Gabrielle stands there in the doorway. ¡°Hey,¡± she says, her voice coming soft in the darkness. Her profile allows me to see as she looks me up and down. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± ¡°Honestly, kinda great.¡± I sit up, bleary-eyed. beckoning her over as I roll my neck and circle my arms. ¡°That¡¯s good heard you got taken out by that axe.¡± She comes down the small staircase and into view. Holding my psylink, she places it in my hands. ¡°Yeah¡­ But I feel a lot better now. Turns out getting nearly cut in half is survivable.¡± ¡°Not really. It was the duel type. Anyway.¡± She looks me up and down. ¡°Get dressed. We¡¯ve got a debrief. Omni wants to tell us what we can work on.¡± ¡°Oh, that sounds like fun.¡± ¡°I know he¡¯s a little off, but if we¡¯re gonna take this advice because we need to know what will get us to the next level, so next time we can take him and the rest of the crew.¡± ¡°He might not be as strong as Aquilan, but goddamn, he handed us our asses.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll get there, Mix. We¡¯ve got help now. And a home base. We¡¯re making something good here. I just can¡¯t wait until we can bring other people here, too.¡± ¡°That¡¯s something to look forward to.¡± The Composer¡¯s Stats so far Level 3 (Rank 1) HP: 14 Dream: 14* Will: 2 Reflex: 3 Creativity: 4 Talent: 2 Power: 6 (Rank 2) Durability: 3 The Composer¡¯s Abilities Skills: Leadership Knowledge: Ancestral Magic Arcane Magic Utilities: Siren Enchanting Space Magic Summon Lukaelin (minion) Echo Portal War Chant Somnic Reinvigoration Personal Space Special Attacks: Shot Lv 2 Damage 9-25 Composer¡¯s Inventory Beats (CD Chakrams) Damage 8-19 Sound Sword Damage 8-19 Voidwalkers: 10/10 2 Dark Blade 2 Bleeding Heart Robes of the Truth Seeker -1 Damage Resistance + 1 Dream Neon¡¯s Stats so far Level 3 (Rank 1) HP: 13 Dream: 13 Will: 2 Reflex: 6 Creativity: 2 Talent: 1 Power: 4 Durability: 3 Neon¡¯s Abilities So Far Skills: Super Speed Knowledge: Weapon Bond Light Gauntlets Short & Long Range Utilities: Hide Arms: Energy Weapon Lv 2 Damage: 1-8 added damage Mirage Dazzle Special Attacks: Dart Damage 7-18 Kinetic Fighting Lv2 Damage 7-18 With Energy weapon 8-26 Sonic Boom Damage 7-18 Neon¡¯s Inventory Weapons Light Gauntlets [Bound] (Tier 1) Damage 7-13 Firewall¡¯s Stats so far Level 3 (Rank 1) HP: 28 Dream: 13 Armor: 3 Chevrons Will: 3 Reflex: 1 Creativity: 2 Talent: 5 Power: 2 (2) Durability: 6 Firewall¡¯s Abilities So Far Skills: Construction Knowledge: Hacking Utilities: Blackout Intent Dive Lv 2 Special Attacks: Guard Shield Blight Overheat Damage 6-11 Pierce Damage 6-18 Firewall¡¯s inventory Omni Tool Spear (Tier 1) Damage 5-8 Steel-enforced Leather Shield (Tier 1) +1 Chevron Crystal Reinforced Harness +2 Chevrons Custom PsyDeck Track 016: Home Track 016: Home We sat in the employee lounge of the Pharm. The fact that it had a secret medtank in the back definitely brought some questions to mind. Is the person who ran this company working with the Dominance? If nanos are groundbreaking, then the tank is far and above what we had on earth. Nutrient rich solution to help regrow skin and promote bones fusion. The further I look into the new tech that has come out since Mind-link brought us the Psylink, the more I become disillusioned by the idea. Dr. Omni was wearing a fresh lab coat, pristine white with no creases. Considering how worse for wear the rest of us look, it¡¯s a bit comical. While our bodies are healed up right, we just look a little rough for recent level 3s. Kohl lies on Neon¡¯s lap. Instead of being the small cat he was originally, now he looks a bit more like a like something between a larger house cat and a big cat kit. There''s the promise of something more. His paws and legs were wider, and his shoulders were fuller. Most curious of all is when we all reached level 3, he gained a golden collar with a star sapphire in it. If there were any doubts before, it¡¯s plenty obvious that Kohl is no regular cat. ¡°I originally came to Electric City from Russia to do research at ECU on carcinization, the evolutionary quirk where a lot of sea creatures are evolving into crabs. It¡¯s a wild thing. Because of the marine biology department, it seemed perfect for me.¡± He gets almost as excited about crabs as he does about fighting. He''s animated and moving his arms and hands around. This being so different from the person he was when we met him. ¡°Turns out when I got here, the invasion was in full swing. I could see how things were changing at ECU and I got clear. I was contacted by a mysterious benefactor from the mainland and it turned out they were looking for people with specific abilities and were willing to pay through the nose for me to join. That was my DreamCrafter and our team became the Cyborg Paramours.¡± ¡°So, what¡¯s with the name?¡± Neon asks. ¡°Our leader said it gave us panache and I don¡¯t disagree. He has vision and he¡¯s a bit of a cyborg himself.¡± ¡°Cyborgs don¡¯t exist, really. The tech hasn¡¯t been successful.¡± Gabrielle says. She touches her prosthetic. ¡°I am not a cyborg.¡± ¡°It hasn¡¯t been successful yet.¡± The doctor says ominously. ¡°I think now that the awakened are around with access to magic and the technology we will gain through our exploration of Dreamscape, it will only be a short time. There¡¯s a new age of humanity coming. I, for one, want to welcome it.¡± We all look at each other, conveying conversations in the widening of eyes, the direction of glances, and the quirks of lips. This man is a zealot. A strong zealot but a zealot none the less and we should be wary of him. ¡°Where was I?¡± He took a pause, as if rewinding his mind. ¡°Ah, yes! I came back to Electric City because I tracked a group of corvid back to their roost here. They were bigger, stronger and more intelligent than their brethren and I saw it take out a hawk with a sharpened chopstick. It blew my mind!¡± He mushes up his hair, punctuating his exclamation. ¡°I on my way back here I found rats, cats, dogs, and even seagulls have started to show signs of being tampered with and I wanted to understand why.¡± ¡°We got a quest for the same thing.¡± I say. Gabrielle looks at me, surprised I let slip that information. There¡¯s something else in that gaze, but I¡¯m unsure. ¡°Interesting, I too have a quest.¡± He rubs his stubble in a contemplative gesture. ¡°I wonder if you¡¯d like to work on this together. Share information and what not. I don¡¯t know how things will break down if we work together, but I don¡¯t think the system would punish us for this.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mind.¡± Now I knew for sure not just G is giving me a look. Neon is looking at me out of the corner of their eye, and Kohl gave me a measuring gaze. ¡°That is to say, I should talk it out with Rebellion before we make official alliances.¡± ¡°Understood. I will be outside if you need anything.¡± Omni says. When Omni left, the group rounds on me. ¡°What were you thinking?!¡± Gabrielle says. ¡°We don¡¯t know that crazy guy.¡± ¡°Yeah, why would we share the rewards with him? He¡¯s already hella strong. I think he could give The Sea Bitch something to worry about. And if his entire team is anywhere near as powerful as he is, we¡¯d be working with someone who could take us out pretty easily.¡± I have to agree with the others. Showing our hands to a more powerful enemy is tantamount to suicide. ¡°I deserve to get chewed out. Almost made a decision without talking to you guys and getting a vote, so we will.¡± I say, holding each of their eye contact. ¡°Omni¡¯s an eccentric.¡± It¡¯s an understatement I can¡¯t quite not smile at. It¡¯s still true. ¡°He can be reckless and, at worst case, dangerous and while that¡¯s not always the people I want to work with. He is human, and he¡¯s got a degree in the exact science we need.¡± ¡°I get that, Mix, but we don¡¯t know what this will do with the system. Will our quest rewards be diluted? I want to solve this as much as you do but, I think we should be careful about how we go about this.¡± That part I can answer. Kohl says, eyes glinting. The system wants humanity to defeat The Dominance and while everyone has ways; they want to do it. It¡¯s important to understand the network was built for community. I can¡¯t imagine it would punish us from working together, making alliances and the like. ¡°Okay, so that qualm has been put to bed. Now for how powerful he is. I can¡¯t imagine there¡¯s anything we have that he wants. If he means attacks us, I will not roll over and take it. He still can¡¯t touch Neon going full out and we never went for anything he needed. If we went for the kill last time, we probably would have taken him out. While I¡¯m not really interested in killing him. If he makes that move, I will make him wish he never thought of that.¡± ¡°That¡¯s bloodthirsty, boss.¡± Neon says. ¡°I just want it to be said I¡¯m not letting anyone get the drop on us.¡± When Omni came back in, it was roughly another 20 minutes later where we talked through everything. He seemed like he probably already knew what we¡¯d gone over. His super hearing seemed to allow him to pick up on anything in his vicinity. I wanted to make sure we were clear, though. ¡°Dr. Omni, we, Rebellion, would like a tentative alliance with you. We would let you in on any quests about evolution and fauna. We would also allow you to look at whatever we find on the other alien species we run into.¡± Omni nods, a smirk on his face and a cigarette in the upturned part of his mouth. ¡°This valuable information will help us both complete our quest and teach us all more about the threat that challenges us all.¡± ¡°I¡¯d like something else.¡± He pulls from the inside of his lab coat a crimson knife drips bloody energy down the blade and through his fingers. ¡°I want to barter for your abilities. Next level you have a chance to increase your level in Enchanting. I want you to do that.¡± This is such an odd request, I am taken aback. What is he getting at? Kohl said other people can gain the Enchanting ability. Why not pick the ability up for himself? Apparently, that wasn¡¯t the only because Firewall asks it aloud. ¡°Why would you want to work with us and cut out the middleperson and do it for yourself?¡± ¡°Plainly, it doesn¡¯t fit my build.¡± Dr. Omni says stretching. ¡°You¡¯ve seen me. I¡¯m a bruiser my points are spread out between the transformation and mutation skill trees. More than two or three tracks and you¡¯re going to lose out on a lot of power. That¡¯s why I want you. Having an enchanter I could trade with would help me a lot more on the battlefield and none of my team would have to dip into the Enchanting skill tree to make it up. I¡¯ve already got a crafter here. Especially if I push them along.¡± He gestures the knife toward me again. ¡°Okay,¡± I grab the dagger. ¡°If you hold up to your end of the deal, I will hold up to mine.¡± Congratulations, Rebellion! You have made an alliance with the Cyborg Paramours! Be good to each other and fight on DreamRunners! Congratulations, Rebellion! You have received Level 1 security access at Voltage Malls You now have access to the Haven app. Congratulations, Composer! You have Bleeding Heart Dagger! On hit this causes the Bleeding effect. You¡¯re making moves, Composer, keep up the good work. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. I don¡¯t know if this is Quillica, but I¡¯ve always found getting a notification pushes me forward. Like I can feel people¡¯s hands on my back pushing me forward. Quillicia, if you¡¯re out there, know we¡¯re gonna do it. We¡¯re gonna keep pushing. ¡°What can I say? You guys hit hard and you¡¯re definitely good with the timing, but you¡¯ll fight like you¡¯re pulling trump cards.¡± Omni critiques. ¡°You fight like you¡¯ll win style points if you pull off the best maneuvers. Sometimes you just got to get your hands dirty and mix it up!¡± He¡¯s sitting down in the back room of Pharm looking up at us every few minutes while he looks at the tracker chitin and fur under the microscope. He¡¯s comparing it to the mimic flesh he saw and is writing down a few notes. ¡°If you¡¯re not gonna take my advice on this and there are some obvious reasons why not. You should get yourselves a fighter.¡± He blows out a smoke ring. ¡°I¡¯m obviously biased, but you need someone who can get in there and do some real damage up close. Also, besides Firewall here, you¡¯re some glass cannons. Put some meat on those bones. Or make some damn good armor to take some blows. None of you are outfitted correctly for this kind of fight. If I did any more than tap you, you would have been a world of hurt.¡± ¡°Neon, no notes. You¡¯re fast, you hit hard, and if you really push these Mirage abilities, you will become untouchable. How does that quote go? ¡®Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.¡¯ Well, you have that in spades. You certainly have what it takes to be a good dodge tank.¡± Neon pumps their fist in the air. ¡°Firewall, you¡¯re doing the best you can. But you can¡¯t be everywhere at once and you have either make it impossible for anyone to move past your guard or make it so you punish them proper when it does happen.¡± ¡°Finally, Composer, if you¡¯re going to use those,¡± He says, pointing to my boots. ¡°Please get some time working on your movement with those. You¡¯re basically using them like you¡¯re walking. I shouldn¡¯t have been able to catch you. If you were any good on those, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to. Also, you aren¡¯t a spell blade. You¡¯ve got to stop acting like one.¡± His words hit pretty hard and I wince. ¡°That or actually use some magic to help you do it better. You aren¡¯t a fighter. This isn¡¯t a game where you can automatically learn how to fight right away. It¡¯s going to take time and you¡¯ve shown grit, which is nice¡­ That¡¯s just not enough, though. You showed four unique abilities there, which were game changers and could be a specialization all their own. This might not have classes like anything else and maybe I¡¯m not seeing the whole of your build realized, however specialization is so important. That and your sword isn¡¯t serving you. Fighting to keep that together during battle is taking focus away from some of your other abilities.¡± He levels his piercing gaze at me. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ll transfer my findings to you in the morning. There¡¯s really something here, something usable.¡± ¡°Good to know,¡± Gabrielle says evenly. She¡¯s not a fan of our hirsute guest. ¡°You¡¯re not wrong, but our first priority after this,¡± I wave at him and the general area. ¡°Is to make contact with The Resistance.¡± ¡°Oh, those guys? Are they still around?¡± Doctor Omni looks like they¡¯re actually interested in something other than fighting. ¡°If you¡¯re going somewhere, I¡¯d like to accompany you.¡± Gabrielle just rolls her eyes where Omni can¡¯t see. She doesn¡¯t need to say anything more. I already know she¡¯s not happy we have to deal with him more. We ate that night and had the first hot meal, we had in days. Getting to have a Mineburger Deluxe and Ice Palace shake was the height of luxury. It was an amazing night; I played a set, and we danced like it wasn¡¯t the apocalypse around us. And we only had to deal with a few mimics. ¡°Alright, folks. We¡¯ve got to think about rooms.¡± ¡°I call dibs on the Sneaker Store!¡± Neon rockets up, waving their hand in the air. ¡°There¡¯s an auto parts shop on the 1st floor right next to the car garage. When I expand the workshop, that¡¯s gonna be the first place I want to put my stuff. The fact that we need to find the next security card to get access to the garage is a bit infuriating.¡± That was true, the whole complex was on some version of a lockdown. Security level 1 card would allow us to get into any shop. Which we more or less had, but those keys allowed us to take the haven over. The security level 2 card would allow us to get into the guard¡¯s armory and the locked car garage. Gabrielle hates it almost as much as I do. Guards in a swanky place like this are bound to have good armor and maybe even a gun or two. ¡°Alright then, I¡¯m gonna choose the library on the top floor.¡± ¡°That¡¯s too big!¡± Neon says. ¡°How are you gonna fill up all that space?¡± ¡°I mostly want the reading nook on the top floor.¡± I chuckle. ¡°The solarium there would be perfect for me.¡± Oh, the windows! The view would be magnificent. So that¡¯s what we did the last few hours of the night. We made our rooms our own. We each grabbed new beds from the mattress and furniture stores. Taking the things we wanted from each of the stores. I helped the others with the move. My Personal Space ability allowed me to transport small things under 20 pounds. Personal Space Ability Type: Inventory Space Dream Cost: 0 Level 1: You have an extra-dimensional inventory that can be upgraded. The amount of space is directly proportional to how heavy the object is that¡¯s inside. The dimensional space has air and time moves the same as it does in the surrounding space. Currently, this holds: - 10 objects under Weight Counter 1 (25 lbs.) -5 objects under WC2 (50lbs.) - 2 objects under WC3 (100 lbs.) -1 object under WC4 (200 lbs.) Requirement: Space Magic Everyone was jealous when I got this ability and quickly made me a cargo liner going this way and that moving things around. I pretended to gripe about it, but it was fun popping things away only to bring them back somewhere else. Gabrielle still moved the heaviest things because the harness was stronger than any of us, even with my Power is a rank higher than hers. Neon was better at setup. Their design and painting skills made every room look even cooler than anyone thought to themselves. We definitely gushed over the finished products. Walking for the first time into Neon¡¯s Palace, labeled so by the neon sign high on the back wall over the back door leading into the former breakroom, felt like walking into those made-for-movie impossible clubs. It was cool and dark blue, which just showed off the pops of color throughout. A massive smart couch was on the left wall and a big projector was playing Moon Rigger 4, the best one, of course. Glow-in-the-dark neon graffiti lined the walls and ceiling. He made a loft in the upper parts of where they put a futon and a big screen up there with three different game systems. I didn¡¯t know what he did with the inventory, but his new shoe collection was in cases under the loft. It really felt like Neon, like their interior was all out for us to see. I didn¡¯t know what to think when Gabrielle said she wanted to take over the garage, but I do like what she did with the place. First, she got the cleaning bots to make the place look halfway decent, which is weird if you ask me. Cleaning up all the oil stains so she could put her own oil stains on it? Said she wanted to season it herself, like a cast-iron pot. Either way, she put a four poster on top of a car lift so it kept the flammable stuff out of the way of the sparks and shit. She displayed her new armor in a frame for a person and was already working on it. The room design wasn¡¯t as thorough as Neon¡¯s. It was a work station first and a room second. I brought a bunch of the CDs, cassettes, vinyl, the entire music collection of the library. A stereo from the retro music store and its entire collection. Being surrounded by music as I lay up and watch the night roll by. The bed was situated under the solarium roof. I got the biggest one I could find, but there were speakers built in and the bed would allow me to sleep bathed in sound. Neon made a place to entertain. Gabrielle made a place to work and live. I made a place to relax. And Kohl said he¡¯d stay with whoever he felt like when he did. We all decided to put a pet bed in our rooms for him. It says a lot about who we are and what we want. I know not only would I not be anywhere without these people but, I¡¯m sure I¡¯d be in dead somewhere else. I look over the railing on the top floor. Past the raised beds of dead weed warn flowers. And the trees who all needed the water I¡¯d given them. They already seem to react to my small tending. But they need more. We need a gardener or someone with a green thumb to keep things together. I already imagine a world where this all becomes a bustling community and everyone can eek out a life for themselves. I want this place to be a bastion for the people of Rebellion. People running to and fro, eating our food, and spending the day relaxing or working. I hover my hand over the cursor over the edit line in the Haven app. I have no idea yet, but soon, very soon. Kohl says names are important in Dreamsphere and I don¡¯t want to get this wrong. We will leave tomorrow and I want more than anything to bring Carter here and have him see what could be with me. Carter, my brother, I love you. Track 017: State Track 017: State Traveling was uneventful, which is good. Something about having Omni fully transformed walking around the street, eating the road with one stride to mine and Firewall¡¯s two put off our would be ambushers. Feral energy leaked off of him in waves. It made everything run for the hills. I heard retreating bootsteps down the street. It was like the opposite of Firewall¡¯s Intent or maybe if you level it up, you can do things like this. It makes me wonder at high levels how much our powers expand. The more time I spend around Omni, the more I am very sure I don¡¯t like him. He spends a lot of time talking about obscure scientific ideas which I can¡¯t follow. However, he¡¯s useful. Pointing out all the ambushes we didn¡¯t get because of his was there. He was a little patronizing, but honestly, he just seems like a nerd about the system. He almost called me boss. Apparently, he¡¯s used to talking to other members of his team about minute changes to things of each of the abilities that intersect. I think he misses them. I patted him on the back and while he seemed surprised. I used this time to get some time in skating and experimenting with the grav boots. Even tried some wall running. While the movement was tricky, I was beginning to get a handle on it. The amount of momentum I need to get up to a decent speed can¡¯t compare to what Neon could do effortlessly. It¡¯s not the first time I was jealous of Neon¡¯s overall ability. Their freedom. I only wiped out two times. Which is good because breaking my ankle wasn''t really on my bingo card for the day. The shameful thing of my health not being full was a reminder that I need to get better and there''s a lot I have to work on. ¡°We¡¯re here!¡± Gabrielle says, oddly excited. And I¡¯m gobsmacked, Cafe de Sol stands before me. Instead of the pristine and somehow homey place, it was desecrated. With colorful tiles and music spilling out on the street, windows are all broken in. Thready sound of the speakers is tinny in my ears. Tiles I loved so much are cracked, pitted, and broken all over the floor. Tables were fallen over and strewn about. The magic of my favorite cafe is gone. ¡°The Resistance is here?¡± I say following her in, she strolls through the doors, like, well, like they aren¡¯t even there. I pick over glass and walk carefully through the mess. The store was like a corpse and I was walking through its heart. Something terrible happened here from the smell of mildew and rot and the suspicious stains all over. Usually Firewall, who is the usual crime scene investigator of our team, just gave everything a passing glance. Her Scan ability tells her so much about the world around her, but it requires focus. The wolfish grin on her face was the last of the two and two I needed to put everything together. The whole thing is staged. ¡°I didn¡¯t know when I first got here but, in hindsight it was so obvious.¡± Gabrielle walks behind the counter, looking around. ¡°This had to be one of their bases, too many people coming and going. It had to be way more than a drop off. If they aren¡¯t here, which I think they are¡­There will be something that allows me to find their next base.¡± She smiles, must have found something she was looking for. She touches a few of the taps and when nothing came out. I thought maybe things were over until I hear an audible click. ¡°That was Margherita¡¯s coffee order. I remembered it. It¡¯s funny how she didn¡¯t even use her psylink to remember our orders.¡± She looks down. ¡°I wonder if she¡¯ll be happy to see me. I have to tell her about Marco.¡± ¡°It might be hard but, she needs to know what happened. And I¡¯m sure it¡¯s gonna be a lot better coming from you.¡± I sigh. ¡°Take it from me, not knowing is always worse.¡± I give her a hearty tap on the shoulder to remind her I¡¯m behind her the whole way. She gives me a watery smile and takes a second to compose herself. She taps the omni tool spear to her shield, and she¡¯s Firewall again. ¡°Let¡¯s go see Carter. It¡¯s been far too long.¡± She nods and we head to the back. The secret elevator turns out is the bean storage room. One valve sits protruding from the vat. We all clustered in together with Firewall and me getting very close. The way I hope she couldn¡¯t see me blush in the dark. Thank god they didn¡¯t have the lights running here. When the lights come up as we finally hit the bottom, our eyes are locked on each other and the way they look at me¡­ A gun clicks. And my stomach drops. I slowly turn and see the barrels of seven assault rifles pointed at us. If anyone fires, we¡¯d be swiss cheese in seconds. I slowly raise my hands from where they just happen to have been near or on her hips. Who could say? The click clack of important heels echo down the hallway and a beautiful older woman comes into frame. With long white hair, severe blue eyes, and a look that says fucking try me. This must have been Vintage. I fear Gabrielle didn¡¯t do her justice. This woman is dynamic. ¡°Who the hell are you?¡± She¡¯s got a bit of a southern accent. Not boonies, but something you couldn¡¯t mistake. Born and bred Virginian. ¡°You know Gabrielle, but my name is Mix Rhapsody. This is Neon, that¡¯s Dr. Omni, and this Kohl.¡± I say, pointing to everyone. A few expressions cross her face as she says nothing, just looking at us. Staring each us of us down. The look in her eyes scream that she has our lives in her hand. ¡°Swab ¡®em. We need to be sure they¡¯re human.¡± She snaps like a whip. I didn¡¯t even realize I was holding my breath until she breaks her silence. ¡°If they move, fill them full of lead.¡± At first, I thought it was a scare tactic, until I saw the bullet holes in the wall out of the corner of my eye. Looking at the hard eyes of the soldiers makes me rethink things. I wonder how long it¡¯s been since they¡¯ve seen a human face, or at least a friendly one. Eventually, they put us in a holding room where I can tell they¡¯re watching us while they have things checked out. That I don¡¯t believe them¡­ seems to matter very little. They confiscated our psylinks and weapons even if they can¡¯t take mine. I mean, the only one they¡¯re really hampering is Firewall, but she could hack their shit with a toaster. The only thing in the room was a basic corkboard table and a few foldable chairs. The walls were whitewash white with gray accents to spice things up. It was made to be mind-rendingly boring. Neon, of course, gets bored quickly. Moving and bending their light around their hands and trailing the neon air around their fingers. Kohl faces away from us, trying to not let us see him licking himself. I give a look at Gabrielle and we try to hold our giggles in. She snorts and I can¡¯t help myself doubling over. Are you two done? Kohl says, narrowing his eyes at us. I say. The telepathy is like second nature now and it comes to mind when speaking to Kohl just as easily as breathing. Harmonium? Kohl looks at me, eyes widening. Where did you hear that name? I didn¡¯t see a vision. Kohl hops in my lap. His cat¡¯s eyes scrutinizing me. But I saw the last one. Maybe it was private¡­ but why? I mean I will be honest the amount DreamCrafters seem to know about their DreamRunners feels a bit invasive. Knowing that there are some things they aren¡¯t a part of is comforting. The knowledge¡­ Kohl grumbles. What did you see? I recap what happened during the vision and Kohl seemed rather interested in describing my feeling around things and what I could sense outside. I guess he wanted to know if I was actually at a separate place in time or if it was just a simulation. That really wasn¡¯t something that crossed my mind at the time. The information you received seems accurate. His voice in my head sounds contemplative. So what do you need for this new resonator? So likely we¡¯ll have to return to the dungeon. I know you don¡¯t need me to say it, but I do believe it needs to be said. Chasing levels isn¡¯t going to make us better off than having a stable group of people to help us. This isn¡¯t a game. I understand, but you¡¯re going to be putting more than your life on the line when you risk it. It was another hour before the door opened and in the doorway, Vintage and one of the other soldiers from the hallway came in and sat at the table. The man holding the tray with coffee and a saucer of milk, supposedly for Kohl. Not that he looks anything like a kitten now with his third level growth. Vintage places our psylinks on the table. Notably not giving Firewall back her psydeck. There was a moment while everyone was grabbing drinks and their tech, where it almost didn¡¯t seem like an interrogation. I couldn¡¯t tell the man¡¯s rank, but I could see the bars on his shoulder which I thought makes him an officer. I trigger the search and it even comes up with a bio on him. First Lieutenant Carl Sess. Lt. Sess was part of the last operation of the Armed Forces in Cameroon dealing with a kidnapped dignitary. He gained the Purple Heart for being injured in the line of duty during the mission. He fought with a black ops squad that was unofficially called The Pack. While there is no active military anymore, they used synchronauts for the most recent conflicts and even became the police officers and firefighters. There was a lot of uproar for this immediately afterwards, but many people hoping to defund the police and were critical of military affairs put their support behind the change. Obviously, there were a lot of people in the armed forces who protested this, but with public sentiments clearly not siding with them over the declassification of operations over the last five decades, things were over pretty quickly besides the Newman incident. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°We apologize for the rough handling. We¡¯d like to start over.¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s funny that you say this after imprisoning us.¡± I say. Letting some of the fire into my voice, I had been holding in during this whole situation. ¡°The government is gone and you still act like you have the authority to push people around.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t get to talk to me like that! We have been here in the shit for months-¡° Lt. Sess roars. ¡°That¡¯s enough, lieutenant,¡± Vintage cuts him off. ¡°We need their help and I¡¯m tired of living in a hole in the ground. Do you understand me?¡± She got up, and it was like watching everyone¡¯s angry auntie telling off some cousin you don¡¯t know. It¡¯s uncomfortable and if I am not so angry about the bullshit, I¡¯d feel sorry for him. How long till we tell them I read minds? Kohl says, his head in the milk bowl, not drinking. They are posturing and putting on a show for us. ¡°Before we continue, I want to be sure of where things stand, Vintage. We aren¡¯t refugees here huddling in the cold. We are not here asking for your help.¡± I stand up. Lt. Sess grabs his side arm. Vintage doesn¡¯t make a motion, just looks back at me with the coldest glare. The only thing that shows her discomfort is the pinch around her eyes. ¡°We¡¯re here to help you and, for the matter of clarification-¡± I throw a Passage against the wall. The opening showing us the room beyond and a couple of shocked men and women scrambling for their arms. ¡°You could never hold us.¡± I activate my Loadout and I hear everyone but Omni stand behind me and activate theirs. I wave at the people behind the wall with their jaws dropped open. ¡°I suggest you take your hand off that trigger, Carl.¡± Neon says and from the end of that sentence is behind him. Devilish grin on their face. ¡°I guarantee I¡¯m faster than you.¡± They didn¡¯t like the display of our power, couldn¡¯t really blame them. But I don¡¯t have time for this. I wanted to see Carter and all this bullshit was just keeping me away from my brother. ¡°You know what I am here for. I want to see my brother.¡± We¡¯re all sitting back down at the table and I realize that I¡¯m lucky because, unlike Firewall, I¡¯m not wearing armor, that can¡¯t be comfortable. ¡°We can¡¯t hold you, Mt. Mix,¡± Vintage says using a proper gender neutral honorific. ¡°I understand why you¡¯ve come but, I¡¯m unsure if your earlier outburst makes it safe for us to put you in front of our only doctor.¡± ¡°Come on, they¡¯re siblings.¡± Neon says, "This isn¡¯t some kind of revenge mission. They want to see each other again.¡± ¡°Neon, I¡¯ve got this,¡± Gabrielle says, rising to her full sitting height. ¡°I have worked for you and I still have much of the information on that last trip. If you want it, you will have to allow Mix to spend time with their brother.¡± "An entire squad died,¡± Lt. Sess says. It¡¯s the first time he¡¯s said anything in a while, probably stewing in his inability to bully the people in this room. "Whatever information you have belongs to- ¡± His voice is halfway between a demand and beseeching. ¡°Lieutenant, am I gonna have to ask you to leave?¡± Vintage says, her steadiness pouring over the entire room to calm the proceedings, as if this is just some unruly family squabble at a holiday dinner. ¡°The cocksure cowboy was supposed to be an act. If you can¡¯t turn in off, I will have to get another to take your place in here.¡± The Lieutenant settles, but it was grudgingly. Almost like a pouting child. It doesn¡¯t bode well for a working relationship. How could this man be one of the heads of The Resistance? ¡°This isn¡¯t an interrogation. We just want as much information on the outside world as we can get. This is just a casual debrief.¡± ¡°Respectfully, ma¡¯am, you mean this isn¡¯t an interrogation¡­ now.¡± I said. ¡°While I don¡¯t mind sharing information with The Resistance, I want assurances we¡¯ll get the same in return. While you might be the last of a concerted effort to keep America whole again, you do not speak for me. And as of this moment, you must understand and treat Rebellion as a foreign country.¡± ¡°This is American land!¡± Carl punctuated every word, punching his index finger into the desk for emphasis. The small sound adding to his perceived point. Do you think this is the proper way to deal with the powers that be? Okay, just be sure what you¡¯re getting into. I smile a little. ¡°We of Rebellion currently are in control of Voltage Mall. Land.¡± I can¡¯t wipe the smirk off my face. ¡°We have a permanent population. The four of us. We don¡¯t have a flag yet, but that¡¯s a work in progress. For government, I¡¯ve been elected current head of state but, we¡¯re open to have elections soon in the next five days or so. Minister of Technology?¡± ¡°Si.¡± Gabrielle raises their hand. ¡°Minister of Badassery¡± ¡°Yurr.¡± Neon responds. ¡°Head Vizier?¡± Kohl leaps up on the table and raises a paw. The look on the Vintage and Sess¡¯ faces is fucking priceless. I snap a pic with my contacts because, memories. ¡°So you see, we have a fully thought out government.¡± I know I¡¯m high on my bullshit, but I¡¯m having the time of my life with this. ¡°All that¡¯s left is to be recognized by a foreign power. Dr. Omni?¡± Now, the whole time this is happening, he¡¯s been cracking up. I¡¯ve been on a damn roll and he¡¯s been eating this up. And he¡¯s the scariest motherfucker in the room. Probably the top five in the city. ¡°Yes, The Cyborg Paramours, recognize this cadre of buffoons as a power in their own right and an have struck an alliance for their production and scientific research.¡± ¡°So you see, Vintage, Carl, we¡¯d thank you to recognize Rebellion as well and if you don¡¯t, no worries now, but down the road you¡¯ll be asking for our help.¡± ¡°Okay¡­¡± Vintage took a deep breath. The sigh I could tell was to cover the gears running around in her head. She¡¯s had to change plans multiple times since we¡¯ve been here in the past two hours. First, we could have been The Dominance or a trojan horse. And then they found out we¡¯re humans¡­ with extras and they were gonna strong arm us into learning what we know. Then we could be violent and they had no genuine power over us physically, so they had to use whatever perceived national power they had. And finally realizing they had no national power over us, they gotta treat us like people. This must be so hard for them. ¡°Now I¡¯m a very tired woman and I¡¯d like to understand what has happened to the world outside.¡± So we told them mostly everything. Gabrielle started with the failed mission, and then the rest of us jumped in. We talked about taking out the Sleeper, Aquilan still being on her bullshit, dungeons are real, and our cat really used to be a human and can awaken people to the powers they¡¯ve only dreamed of. It took another three hours with all the interruptions and questions. Kohl speed it up when he spoke up to them for the first time. He could answer certain technical questions I couldn¡¯t answer. ¡°So the awakened? How do you choose them?¡± I don¡¯t, for the most part. Each of us, as far as I know, look for different kinds of people. I can only choose those who stand out to me. And even then, not everyone can be awakened. Like the both of you, for instance. You don¡¯t have the je ne sais quoi. It¡¯s not a universal thing. ¡°That¡¯s disappointing¡­ So how many of our soldiers can you awaken?¡± Carl Sess says. ¡°That depends on a few things.¡± I say, speaking up. ¡°Like what, Mt. Rhapsody?¡± ¡°What kind of budding relationship can we expect from The Resistance?¡± ¡°We would be interested in a trade treaty for food for equipment and services as well. We could give off combat training, medical attention, and consultation with our specialists as well.¡± ¡°One of those is my brother, but I understand your benefit. I can also put good words for you with The Underground for what it¡¯s worth.¡± ¡°So, have we come to a deal?¡± Vintage held out her hand, waiting for mine to join hers. ¡°Agreed. And if in the future we have need to change the terms, we shall meet here.¡± As we shake hands, everyone in the room gets a notification, except Omni. Congratulations, Rebellion! You have made an Alliance with The Resistance. Foster this relationship and fight to save your world. They then gave us a tour. They specifically didn¡¯t go into any of the rooms off center and mostly kept us away from anything sensitive. It was half-assed and, honestly; I didn¡¯t even care. Barely containing the worry and excitement of seeing my brother again. I think it got so bad that even Neon noticed at put their hand on my back and whispered a word of encouragement. Neon! Whispered! I feel like lightning could have struck me underground and it even then it wouldn¡¯t be as much of a miracle. Turns out this entire area is a loading platform under the street so they can get deliveries straight to the cafe without blocking the street. Gabrielle told me that The Mall might also have a sublevel for this exact reason. I wonder if we can get into the sublevels we can find even more supplies for our new life. Maybe that¡¯s where the second level security card is. I, however, am not too consumed with my stuff not to realize Gabrielle¡¯s rambling and furtive looks are her anxious tells. She¡¯s looking for someone and it hits me. She and Margherita were close. And Margherita¡¯s brother died on the last mission she was on. ¡°It¡¯ll be okay.¡± I say, my voice low so no one else catches our conversation. ¡°And what if it¡¯s not?¡± She says. ¡°Then it won¡¯t be and it will be awful for a minute. And it will suck, but you won¡¯t be alone.¡± I know it¡¯s not the perfect thing to say, but it¡¯s true. The worst that happens is it sucks and then she¡¯ll still have us. ¡°Thanks.¡± She puts her hand out, and I put mine in hers and it¡¯s just a squeeze of reassurance and then we break contact. We finally reach the medical area and I see Carter hanging over a person. With tweezers in hand, he pulls out tiny metal flechettes from a Southeast Asian Woman. She winces as the barb is pulled out of her. Wearing fatigues cut up to the knee to expose the wound. A few other similar looking wounds uncovered on her arms. Swabbing the wounds and giving her a nano straight to her upper arm. ¡°Thank you for your service, Private Bhati!¡± ¡°Thank you, Dr. Alleyne. I¡¯ll try, but those synchronauts are damn fast bastards. Almost didn¡¯t get away.¡± ¡°I hear that. Thank god these only had flechette guns and not a pistol or anything.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a tough girl. No one is tagging me next time.¡± ¡°I believe you.¡± Carter smiles. ¡°You¡¯re on bedrest for 24 hours, okay? I don¡¯t want to see you in the mission roles in the morning.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah Doc.¡± She stretches as she gets up. ¡°I mean it, I¡¯m sending the bed rest order up to Sess.¡± ¡°You¡¯re no fun- What are civilians doing here?¡± She says, finally seeing us waiting. Carter looks up and eyes go wide. We see each other and I fight the feeling of running toward him. He doesn¡¯t though. Running to me, he trips over the edge of the bed and Private Bhati steadies him with a wince. Seeing this, I can¡¯t help myself and run too. We collide hugging and I don¡¯t know what I was saying or what he¡¯s saying, but I think we just pat each other¡¯s back just to remind ourselves we were actually there. Track 018: Brother Track 018: Brother Firewall Seeing the Carter and Mix together felt so good. It felt like a real win. The way Carter looked over Mix¡¯ shoulder to mouth the words thank you. Seeing the tears in both their eyes and being reunited. He cried. They cried. I cried. I think even Kohl cried. The rest of us go to the rec area, where we hang out and wait for them to while they catch up. The space has a few round tables and with a carpeted area with a few arcade cabinets and pool table and even some recliners with a projector. There¡¯s door a jar in the back of the room where the pantry must because I¡¯ve seen people going in and coming out with snacks. It oddly feels like every bad breakroom in any of the retail jobs I had in school. A member of The Resistance brings out even more coffee. I would say I wonder what this place¡¯s deal with coffee is, but I think I have an idea. I try not to sigh as I take a sip. It¡¯s heavenly. I pick up my cup and look around. Fifteen. Fifteen people hanging out in the rec center. Two are playing pool, talking about some random gossip going on in the bunkhouse. Five are sitting at the tables like us, working on some kind of homework. One is working on some kind of contraption that even I can¡¯t make heads or tails of. Four are playing spades at one of the other table. And another three are eating snacks and shooting the shit while watching an old action movie. They talk through it like they¡¯ve seen it a thousand times. I walk to the pantry, knowing what awaits me. Each step feels like heavy and the only thing I can hear is my heart beat in my ears. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Kohl watching me, nodding at me. You¡¯ve got this. I believe in you. I push the door a little more open and I come to a full kitchen and Margarita is standing there. She and a man are talking back and forth about what¡¯s on the menu tonight. She¡¯s wearing a purple sundress, and I thought I forgot what it was to look at her, but seeing her there it all comes back. There was always some attraction between her. A slight flirt. Being in her aura feels like the sun. She makes everyone feel special. ¡°Rita,¡± It¡¯s only two syllables and when I¡¯ve said it before, all of her attention would turn to me. It did this time but, the result was different. When she turned to me, all the light in her was doused. ¡°Can we talk?¡± ¡°Andreas, can you give us a minute?¡± The chef, because it was obvious now, I wasn¡¯t just focusing on Margarita. He¡¯s a short white man with a with a handsome face with dark eyes and hair. He looks a bit put out until he sees the looks between Rita and I. His eyes go wide in realization and leaves so fast. ¡°We should talk, Rita.¡± ¡°I know what you¡¯re going to say.¡± She lets out a heavy sigh, words rolling off her tongue. ¡°I don¡¯t need to hear it. We don¡¯t need to talk about my brother¡¯s last moments.¡± She picks up a carafe walking towards me. ¡°I don¡¯t really even want to know.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fair.¡± I look at her as she approaches. ¡°Do you hate me?¡± ¡°No.¡± There was so much pain in voice as it cracks. ¡°I just kept hoping he¡¯d walk through the door with that dumbass smile on his face and we could go back to some semblance of a life. But that¡¯s not like that¡¯s happening anytime soon.¡± She pours the cream into my coffee. Just the right amount because she remembers my order still. What I didn¡¯t expect was the pink notification window to pop into my psylink goggles. Congrats, Firewall! You have received a Potion of Wakefulness! Keeps anyone consuming it awake for 6 hours, even on the brink of exhaustion. ¡°Holy shit!¡± I look into her eyes. ¡°Are you awakened?¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± She looks at me like I¡¯m crazy. ¡°Loca, mira me!¡± I put my hand on her arm and look into her face. ¡°Do you have powers now?¡± ¡°Powers like a superhero? What are you talking about?¡± ¡°Where¡¯s your psylink?¡± I can¡¯t believe I didn¡¯t recognize that she didn¡¯t have it on. The locket. It had the picture of her Abuelita and her brother. ¡°I-I took it off. I spent so long looking at it and it just made me sad-¡± ¡°Go, get it!¡± She stumbles back in five minutes later, holding it in her hands and I place it on her neck, my fingers brushing her neck and I try really hard not to enjoy it. I make sure the tight blue line sensor bar at the back sits flat, so it connects with where her brainstem would be located on her. ¡°Dios Mio! I just got a notification.¡± She fiddles with her locket, moving it between her fingers. ¡°Congratulations, DreamRunner! You have awakened yourself through the trials and tribulations of your life you have broke the morays of your life to fight for your world. Because of your skills as a barista and your knowledge of your craft, we grant you the Alchemist ability. You also gain the Infuse ability that will allow you to infuse your Dream into completely mundane brews and concoctions. The better the quality of ingredients, the more powerful the potions you can make.¡± ¡°That¡¯s amazing!¡± I couldn¡¯t hold my voice back a second. She¡¯s awakened, and she¡¯s got alchemy. The potions she makes are actually coffee? That¡¯s fucking perfect. ¡°What does all of this mean?¡± It means you can help save lives. Kohl walks into the pantry. Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t get on the counters. I¡¯m not an animal. I snort. I have to admit, when Kohl wants to be funny, he¡¯s hilarious. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Margerita, this is Kohl, our DreamCrafter.¡± ¡°He¡¯s a cat,¡± Margarita said. ¡°And he¡¯s talking inside of my head.¡± Not technically, but yes to last part. ¡°He was human before this started.¡± ¡°Will that happen to me?¡± No. You are having a spontaneous awakening which can lead to amazing powers, but if unregulated, your power might cascade out of control and we don¡¯t want that. Kohl swipes his head and licks his paws. The contract between DreamRunner, you, and DreamCrafter, which I am, allows you to have a greater control of your power. And for the DreamCrafter, it increases their ability to communicate and our ability to interact with the Dreamsphere. I would like your help, Margarita, to save the world. And if at any moment you find someone who works out better for you, you can choose them, but I¡¯d love to work with you. I¡¯ve only heard great things. ¡°And do I have to leave The Resistance?¡± ¡°No, of course not. These people are your people.¡± ¡°O-Okay.¡± Awaken my runner, my nectar, your time has come The Composer ¡°Carter, what do you mean you don¡¯t want to be awakened?¡± I stare at him in confusion. Not truly understanding what he¡¯s saying. ¡°You could really help people! You¡¯re a doctor! No one is saying you have to be on the front lines¡­ Even with our powers, you could save so many people¡­ We can be the people we always wanted to be.¡± Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°So you¡¯ve just bought right into this? Some alien picks you out of the bunch and now you¡¯re what¡­ a superhero?!¡± He pushes away from his desk and looks at me, advancing. ¡°You didn¡¯t have to go through what Mom did after you were gone. You were literally gone, and no one had any idea what to do with you or your stuff? It might not have been very long, but it was exhausting having to clean up after you. I always have to clean up after you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not fair. I got kidnapped!¡± ¡°Do you know what¡¯s really not fair?¡± We weren¡¯t being quiet anymore and I¡¯m sure the whole place could hear us. ¡°Having everyone¡¯s hopes and dreams ride on you because you¡¯re the only one who can succeed.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want your version of success. I want my own, and guess what, brother?¡± I hold up two fingers in front of his face. ¡°I¡¯ve done it twice! I found my fame as a DJ and guess what? I made a multi-million dollar contract with Sunspot Records. I got my team out of the Sea Witch¡¯s lair. And then I got them through the dungeon. I made our way to here to make sure you¡¯re alive and safe.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not all you. You had help.¡± Carter fires back. ¡°Of course. Everyone has help.¡± I¡¯m exasperated now, sinking into the chair opposite his desk. ¡°I know more than anyone I had the best group possible for doing what I did. Without Kohl, I wouldn¡¯t have had the ability to fight back. Without Neon, I would have died facing off against the nightmare. Don¡¯t ask honestly, you don¡¯t want to know. And without Gabrielle, I would have died on that mad scientist¡¯s lab table.¡± ¡°Mom and Dad went dark a month ago.¡± Carter says, and it¡¯s like a hammer strike to my chest. ¡°W-what?¡± I stammer. ¡°I don¡¯t know if they¡¯ve gone into hiding or if something happened, but I¡¯m scared.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± I put my head in my hands, all the energy having left me. ¡°I don¡¯t want to fight with you. There¡¯s so much more wrong now with the world I went to sleep in, and now we¡¯ve got a chance of fixing it.¡± ¡°Why am I part of this plan?¡± Carter looks away from me and picking up an action figure off the desk. It has multiple arms and a black and white outfit. The character¡¯s grizzly smile was always his style, and it was a little too wild to for me. He tests the articulation. ¡°We gotta pick three of your people. They¡¯ll just want it to be bought-in jar heads. You have actual vision. We want to change the world. Make it better. They just want to bring back the status quo. The one that got us here. Plus,¡± He looks up at me questioning. ¡°You made me promise when we were kids. If I get superpowers, you¡¯d get them too.¡± ¡°You¡¯re an asshole.¡± He chuckles. Awaken my runner, my hands, your time has come ¡°That¡¯s all it is? That¡¯s awakening?¡± We¡¯re still in the infirmary, and I just found out about Margarita being awakened. Apparently, for a long time before everyone noticed. Now my brother is ready for our fight against The Dominance. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen it from the outside, but that¡¯s crazy.¡± I say. Starlight surrounded him in a circle on the ground and constellations that exist far from earth were reflected. Each one telling a story of long dead titans leaped from the ground and put their stain their mark upon his soul. As each one touches him, he¡¯s opened to a bit more Dream. It was honestly fascinating. The thing about it though it¡¯s a moment of true insight into yourself. It¡¯s not about flashiness for you, it¡¯s about waking up from the life you had before. No wonder it seems underwhelming on the inside, because if it was that miraculous on the inside it would just be a distraction from the main show, you. ¡°Wait for the notification.¡± Neon says. Carter¡¯s eyes get a little unfocused and for a few minutes he stares out into space. He mouths a few words, but there¡¯s no reaction coming from him. Until a long jester¡¯s grin fills his face. ¡°Oh, he¡¯s got it.¡± Neon says. ¡°Got what?¡± Margarita asks. ¡°The bug,¡± Gabrielle says, and our eyes meet. I can¡¯t help but smile. ¡°Where you see all you can be and you just want more.¡± I say. ¡°He¡¯s gonna want to level up as fast as possible.¡± ¡°Think he can beat three levels in three days?¡± Gabrielle says. ¡°No, he¡¯d have to be crazy.¡± Neon says. ¡°Or brilliant.¡± I say. ¡°I didn¡¯t agree to this! He¡¯s a doctor, not a frontline fighter.¡± Lt. Sess says as we reconvene in what looks like the officer¡¯s quarters. Where they got the shiny oak table and the comfortable leather chairs in beyond me. There we a few guards in the room standing over their shoulders and at the doors. ¡°You made an agreement for three people and you got an extra, Margarita,¡± I counter. I fold my arms across my chest. ¡°Not a combatant.¡± He simmers. I could tell a great anger bubbles up him. ¡°But I could become one.¡± Margarita rises to her full height and looks deep into Carl Sess¡¯ eyes. The determination on her face made it clear she wasn¡¯t going to let this discussion happen without her. ¡°That¡¯s the beauty of this. We could become anything we need. We could be powerful, Carl. And they have shown they aren¡¯t invincible. We could defeat them.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not the point!¡± His hand crashes down to the table. ¡°Interesting.¡± Vintage says, speaking for the first time. An imperious brow arching. ¡°That¡¯s the first time I¡¯m hearing that.¡± ¡°No-¡± Sess gets loud and the veneer or respectability slips. ¡°I think I heard you loud and clear, lieutenant.¡± Vintage says in her cool tones. She¡¯s ice to all his rage. ¡°What I do want to hear is why you think we can win this war with firepower alone? We tried that. These young ones have the chance to make things work and we have the chance to make The Resistance a name again. To take the fight to them. You have forgotten the mission, Carl.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t be serious.¡± His face is stuck in a rictus of disbelief. The man looks almost pleading and I don¡¯t know exactly what it is that¡¯s going on between the two of them. The only thing I can say for sure is it¡¯s not going the lieutenant¡¯s way. I told you this was coming, Vintage. Kohl walks toward the center of the table. Not that you probably couldn¡¯t have foreseen it yourself. I realize he¡¯s broadcasting his thoughts to me, as well as the people he¡¯s talking to. Kohl turns to Carl. Carl, you see yourself as a hero. And you are for fighting the good fight, but now the fight has changed. We have new weapons. You are a necessary part of this and you have the ground floor or a powerful organization to help save the world. We need you, Lieutenant Carl Sess. ¡°Oh,¡± Carl says, contemplating things and pulling back up to his full height. Kohl is scary. He¡¯s already understood the opposing powers at work here in The Resistance. Vintage is the true power here and is well respected, but doesn¡¯t have the military rank. She can¡¯t inspire the duty that drives a majority of the soldiers here. Meanwhile, Carl Sess has the military rank, but he¡¯s brash and egotistical. He doesn¡¯t have the trust of the noncombatants here and can¡¯t inspire the masses, though he desperately wants to. They have been playing a game of chicken that has spun this group into a rut. ¡°We are here to reinvigorate your people.¡± I say. ¡°We are here to get you back in the fight. This time on a war you can win.¡± It isn¡¯t an impassioned plea, but one designed to make him think that this would be a simple affair once they could start building power. I might be optimistic, but I knew this was going to be a long haul. ¡°Okay¡­ I think because of this turn of events, I¡¯d like you to help my chosen people work their way to through that dungeon.¡± He says, stroking his beard. It might have had a more gravitas if it wasn¡¯t so overgrown. ¡°That sounds like a wonderful idea.¡± I say. ¡°We¡¯ve done it before and I think it would be a good idea for us to help you grind out your first level or so.¡± ¡°We want more than that.¡± Carl says, I can see the idea coming together in his head and the wheels turning. ¡°You will take one other member of The Resistance with you.¡± The look in his eyes showing malignant glee. ¡°You have shown people can awaken themselves, and I want to see if we can try the same. And I will gladly risk myself to do the same.¡± Track 019: The Summoner Track 019: Summoner Finding out that it¡¯s just going to be me and Kohl alone on the expedition sucks. Gabrielle said that Vintage¡¯s grandson has a knack for both code and build like she does and is probably the only one awake right now who can help her with the next plans for Operation: Guardian. He¡¯s not awakened, but apparently he was working on a new invention and they got to talking about it. His name is Milo, and he seems pretty cool. Apparently, he was over the moon when G asked him to help her with her mech designs. They¡¯d already been hard at work the night before. Even though I wanted to check in on her. When I sent a message through Kohl¡¯s brain server, I got a away message. An away message in our year, 2049! Gone building. If you need me, no, you don¡¯t. -Gabrielle It was hilarious, but I know how it gets. When I¡¯m working on a new set, I don¡¯t exactly want everyone barging in and ruing the flow. I understand, however it was disappointing. Neon, however, was taking the job of contacting that cell that was left high and dry a week ago in Rock, when they tried to join up. Private Bhati was trying to breech the enemy line there and bring them home. She never laid eyes on where they were held up. They could not only get in there, they could also make a corridor for them to leave through, as long as that didn¡¯t require them to guard one location. I¡¯m surprised though, that they offered. I wish I knew more about them. We really haven¡¯t gotten to talk one on one. I¡¯ll make sure that happens soon. Omni said he was moving on even before the night was over. He said he needed to get a ride from his wheelman. He going down to meet the rest of his group in Nightengale City. It wasn¡¯t an emotional send off. Watching Omni climb into that jalopy was a humorous scene. The patch work pain job on the rusted out RV begged me to ask a few questions. When it went from zero to sixty faster than I¡¯ve seen anything move, even including Neon. I doubled over, laughing. And when the exhaust pipe turned into a rocket, I just stared agape. Looking at my HUD and seeing the unfamiliar names on my party interface: Carter Alleyne, Margarita Orza, Azra Bahati, Rocky Coen, and Carl Sess. It feels off, setting out without Firewall and Neon. It¡¯s only been a few days, but we¡¯ve already been through a lot together. Thankfully, Kohl is still with me to watch the other¡¯s backs. On the way towards the apartment building, I realize we probably took a very roundabout journey yesterday. All that weaving away from the Strays and taking alleys so we didn¡¯t get spotted by Aquilan¡¯s forces, and the stop by the mall. I may have gone a bit out of my way to get to shop, but this time it¡¯s made tedious by Carl insisting that we move tactically through the early morning shadows and keep out of line of sight from drones. It¡¯s not a bad idea per se, but there haven¡¯t been any since I¡¯ve awakened and you used to see them all the time. I wonder if the bugs or the Strays have taken them out or if there¡¯s no one to monitor anymore. I told him we haven¡¯t seen hide no hare of the drones since we¡¯ve been awakened and I couldn¡¯t really read his expression. Can¡¯t tell what he¡¯s thinking. The thing is, he¡¯s right. Drone patrols make sense for right now. So why aren¡¯t we being tracked that way by Aquilan? Back when that guy, Austin Crewer, was burning government buildings saying it was the end times you couldn¡¯t turn a corner without them showing up. They said they weren¡¯t collecting any data on us, but everyone knew it was a fucking lie. Most of the city was Big Brother for a few weeks, just to catch some arsonist. Makes me wonder if he was right, and he knew something we didn¡¯t. Boom! A fireball explodes in front of me and I¡¯m thrown back, the magic in the grav boots preventing me from falling over. -3 HP I pat the flames out on my raiment quickly. Hoping against hope it won¡¯t fuck up the magic too much. I look around and there¡¯s a white guy on standing on the bodega on the corner looking down on us. A sneer on his face and thick strands of box dye black hair covering his eyes. He looks young, maybe late teens. To either side of him are two demon-kin girls who look honestly like what I imagine an adult feminine WarChilde must look like without the goat legs though. Decked out in leather bondage gear and oddly draped over him lasciviously, their hungry eyes fall upon us. ¡°I¡¯m the famous warlock Grimoire, and I¡¯m claiming this area as my territory!¡± He says, his voice echoing out of into a quiet city and I can only think about what else can hear him. ¡°You will get out of my territory or feel my wrath!¡± ¡°Son, I¡¯d like for you to get down from there!¡± Sess demands. ¡°I¡¯d like you to suck a big fat fireball.¡± He says, making a rude gesture. ¡°Well, someone¡¯s not a fan of you.¡± I say, ¡°Please rile him up more. I got this.¡± Stepping out in front of the group. Projecting my voice. ¡°You seem a powerful summoner! I am but a sorcerer, a powerful spellcaster, but I only one summon.¡± Sometimes, you gotta play the game. ¡°You¡¯re a sorcerer? You don¡¯t look like a sorcerer.¡± With the grace of a god, I didn¡¯t roll my eyes. I¡¯m sure my eye twitched, though. He¡¯s so sucked down this magic rabbit hole, I think he¡¯s lost perspective on everything. Which in the alien apocalypse it¡¯s probably okay to go a little nuts. ¡°I have only been training for a few days. It will take a bit longer for me to get my full regalia.¡± ¡°You said you have a summon?¡± He sounds surprised. ¡°I want to see it.¡± ¡°How about we have a summoner¡¯s duel?¡± Anything to keep him from hitting anyone else. ¡°Your demonesses?¡± ¡°Succubi. My Succubi will stomp any summon you have to dust.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see how they deal with my Lukaelin!¡± I plaster a smile on my face. ¡°Do we really have time for this?¡± Carl says. ¡°Do you have time to get blasted by fireballs?¡± I whisper at him harshly. Not successfully biting back just how tired I am of his bullshit. He looks like he¡¯s about to say something, but Grimoire cuts him off. ¡°I agree to this duel. What shall we wager?¡± ¡°Free passage?¡± ¡°Boring!¡± He crows. ¡°Magic items! I can see them with my demonic eye, and I want your cloak.¡± Now that I look at him, I could still see the eye under the greasy hair, glowing a fiery red. It was a little spooky. I¡¯ll be honest with his summons, the eye, and supposedly more magic items. This might be a rough one. ¡°Your robes for my glove.¡± My stomach drops. Of course he wants the only thing on me that¡¯s magical and probably mye best piece of equipment. ¡°What does it do?¡± ¡°Boosts the power of my summons.¡± He smirks. ¡°Now you understand my power and just how out of your depth you are.¡± Fuck! I can see I may have made a mistake here. Summoner¡¯s Duel Rules: Elimination Defeat the opposing summons with yours. Wager: 1 magical item. The notification flies across my HUD, and I know I¡¯m resigned to do this. This trying to save everyone might not be the best decision I¡¯ve made. An image of Carl shooting the kid off the building enters my mind. Nope, nope, that¡¯s worse than whatever this is. I quickly draw the summoning circle for Lukaelin. Enchant the summon with Bleeding Heart and place the Dark Blade military knife from my Personal Space; I¡¯d enchanted for him. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Summoning Lukaelin feels like opening a valve in my soul. Like releasing something deep inside myself. Introspection instead of pulling from the depths of a war-torn world. He comes into being all at once and looks transformed. Taller and as if he¡¯s put on weight. His canines have lengthened and his nails tapper to sharp, bladed claws. His dark, curly hair had highlights of blood red. And the most pronounced of all was the fact that a sanguine aura ran rivulets down his body. Seeing him like this, he was a little intimidating for being such a little guy. Over his head 4 chevron show for his health. ¡°Carter,¡± I say, smiling. ¡°meet your new cousin, Lukaelin¡± Carter¡¯s eyes widen quite a bit. I think I forgot to mention I could summon demons. ¡°Lukaelin, meet my brother Carter.¡± ¡°Hey, kid.¡± Carter got it together and waves ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you, sibling of my master.¡± Lukaelin turns to face Carter and bows from the shoulder up. A show of deference. But he never took his eyes off my brother. ¡°We¡¯ve got to talk about that whole master thing¡­ But maybe after we kick this nerd¡¯s ass.¡± Grimoire was silently fuming while we got ready. I saw him out of the corner of my eye and while he couldn¡¯t attack me, he could definitely get his girls to do it while we weren¡¯t facing him. ¡°Are those the summons I must face, Mast-¡± ¡°Cousin, let¡¯s just go with cousin for now.¡± ¡°Alright, honorable cousin, I will take these pleasure servants down for you.¡± ¡°Pleasure servants? They¡¯re really succubi?¡± Carl says, shocked. ¡°Yes, they tend to bond with unwitting summoners or people in a bid for fast power.¡± ¡°Can you beat them?¡± ¡°I will rend them in half for you, cousin!¡± I think anyone on the outside looking in would think Lukaelin was out of his league. The succubi could fly and could pepper him with fireballs from the air. Lukaelin has no ranged attacks. I believe in him, though. He has stats on his side. With my 5 in creativity, he has anywhere between six and nine to hit normally, adding in the plus two when an enemy tries to dodge thanks to my enchantment on the blade he¡¯s got a whopping eleven to hit. All of this makes him faster and stronger on hit then he would have been normally. As he darts through the air, I can see that. Lukaelin already moved like a superhuman but, now he was a dart in the sky. It didn¡¯t matter that they could fly cause he¡¯s faster. He catches the silver-haired one and pins her to the ground. He slashes her wing. One of the five chevrons a top of her indicator burst. No Bleeding debuff is applied though but maybe there just needs to be a few more attacks made. As he¡¯s about to leap off her, a fireball from the blue-haired devil rocks his take off. Not just hitting him the silver one gets caught in the crossfire bursts another chevron from her and one from Lukaelin. Two for one in one move is excellent even if we didn¡¯t have anything to do with it. Seeing Lukaelin kick ass without my directions proves he definitely doesn¡¯t need me to figure out what to do. Mix. ¡°You¡¯re doing great, Lu.¡± I cheer. Cuz put himself between Silver and Blue. He knows Blue won¡¯t chance that again. And as she slows her casting as she gets visibly tired from the barrage. She breathes heavily, and she tries to cast it and it doesn¡¯t come together. And that¡¯s when Lukaelin goes in for the kill. Putting on a burst of speed, they close the distance. Blue charges him, her claws rake across his skin. He yowls in pain and grabs her with his, digging them into her throat. She screams bloody murder as she takes off with him into the sky. Mix! ¡°What, dude?¡± Look at Grimoire. He looks sick. The already pale man looks white as a sheet. Sweat sticks his greasy hair to his face and while I can¡¯t see everything, blood pools at his clavicle, staining his T-shirt and at his booted feet. He¡¯s being struck in the places that Lukaelin is attacking. The bleeding effect is happening on him instead of the Succubi. He pauses and I understand. ¡°You¡¯re telling me that they have their health pools bonded?¡± Yes. ¡°How can he be so stupid?¡± I ask. I shout towards Grimoire, pleading, ¡°Yield. End the match. You¡¯re losing blood.¡± ¡°You¡¯d like that, wouldn¡¯t you?¡± His voice comes out rough, his breathing hard. He smiles with pink-stained teeth. ¡°Donnabella has you exactly where I want you!¡± Donnabella, the blue-haired succubus, maneuvers Lukaelin into a throw as she flies high in the air. She was gonna dive bomb him into the ground. Smashing his last two chevrons at once. The smile on her face shines with icy glee. Every way Lukaelin moves, she wrests him back into place. ¡°Just strike her. You don¡¯t have to do a lot of damage. You¡¯re bleeding the summoner. If he passes out, they will be immediately be dismissed!¡± Donnabella careens off target as Lukaelin bites, scratches, and kicks her. Throughly weakened as she collapses her wings in a sacrifice move. Two more chevrons pop as her form gets shaky and colorful smoke comes off her form. Lukaelin makes a decisive jerk and digs the knife into her heart. A critical hit. She bursts into a plume of cerulean smoke and disappears. Flinging his arms out wide, he slows his fall. Flipping over, he made sure his hooves hit the ground first. If this was a normal battle, I could create a platform to slow him down or even catch him. Instead, I just have to watch him fall. He actually does a three-point landing and looks cool as hell. The silver-haired succubus couldn¡¯t hit Lu while he was tangled up with DonnaBella but, now he¡¯s free so she can sweep the field with fire. And that¡¯s what she does. She only has to hit him once, and the battle will be over. ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about, Belladonna!¡± Grimoire calls. He looks so rough. He¡¯s on his knees and he looks terrible. I feel bad about this but, I can¡¯t lose my the raiment. I honestly don¡¯t know why he wants it. It doesn¡¯t fit his aesthetic at all. The bonus to Dream is good and all, but his gloves are a lot more useful for his build. Either it¡¯s for bragging rights or something happens when you have a fully powered-up loadout. Something beyond the bonuses¡­ Lukaelin uses some amazing footwork using dashing around and flipping. Trying to make her run out of gas as well? That¡¯s not it. I couldn¡¯t guess how many fireballs it would take until she was out of power. No, he was waiting until she got in to a pattern. When it happens, I almost miss it. The Dark Blade knife flies true and hard. This time the thunk of it piercing deep into her toned stomach. She screams and she falls clutching at the knife. Multicolored smoke rises out through the wound. I don¡¯t understand what she says next, but it¡¯s very clear she¡¯s cursing him our. One more chevron shatter. Both she and Grimoire collapse. Her falling to her knees before being blown away in silver smoke. Ordinarily, she¡¯d be alright. The only thing that was different this time is her summoner didn¡¯t have the durability to take on more of her wounds. Duel End The Composer Wins! As the winner you receive: The Summoner¡¯s Gloves Gives another Armor Chevron to all summons and allows them to use one ability of yours. The Summoner¡¯s gloves appear on my loadout. They looked different in my HUD than the single glove Grimoire used. I dismiss the pop up as I run toward him. Teleporting on top of the building, I reach his body. Lifting his head, I pull a Wake-Me-Up Espresso from my Personal Space, and pop the cap. I didn¡¯t hear Lukaelin come up with me, but he must have climbed the wall. Goat hooves might actually come in handy. He pinches Grimoire¡¯s nose so he would swallow. I forgot about that part. Thank god it wasn¡¯t hot coffee, or he¡¯d be dead. I tuck the re-useable coffee thermos back into my extra-dimensional space. Grimoire sputters awake. The color returns to his face as he sits up. Getting straight up to his feet like nothing happened. His wounds have closed to tiny red lines. He looks around confused, wondering what happened, and when he realizes, he looks embarrassed. I feel kinda bad for him again. I can¡¯t imagine waking up to see you¡¯d lost. ¡°Hey, man, that was a good duel.¡± I say, reaching my hand out to shake. ¡°Belladonna and Donnabella are crazy powerful.¡± He smacks my hand away. He screws his face into a familiar sneer. ¡°You will know the power of my summons and I will defeat you next time!¡± He laughs like a cartoon villain. Running off the roof and the moment he disappears over the ledge and I run to see if he¡¯s okay, He rises being held aloft by his two succubi summons. ¡°This won¡¯t be the last you see of me! I will fight you again and I will win.¡± A Vendetta has been placed on you. Grimoire, a DreamRunner Summoner, has chosen you as the object of his obsession. Fight and Win Duels given to you by the Vendetta holder can not be refused. But as a boon, if you win you may receive bonus rewards. ¡°What was that?¡± Carter asks when I¡¯m back on the street with the others. I facepalm and shake my head. ¡°A headache.¡± Track 020: Questions Track 020: Questions Awaken my runner, my outsider, your time has come Neon His voice was the first thing I heard. Echoed through my head with authority. And in that authority there was a kindness, like a parent waking a sleeping child. Further down, there was a nervousness and eagerness to it. Like a fawn walking on knobby knees, fighting to stay up on newborn legs. I instantly was warmed to the voice. Like a warm hearth in a winter cottage. I was drawn to that voice from the very beginning, and that¡¯s because it was the first thing I¡¯d ever heard. I didn¡¯t pick the name Neon. It was written everywhere in the dorm room, even on their running shoes. Written in pinks and greens and blues. I know now that it was a tag. The paints were vibrant, and the works made me feel something in my core. That feeling led to my changing colors and the light I produce. That happened before I even touched the gauntlets. Who was Neon? When will those memories come back? When will I feel like a person and not just a sham walking around? Getting to be away from Kohl now feels good. I feel guilty about that, but I think we¡¯d spend way too much time together in the same space sucking in each other¡¯s air. He doesn¡¯t smother me. I just feel like the more I push all of this down, the louder the questions get. That¡¯s not fair¡­ I just feel stymied. Trapped. And when I¡¯m running, when I¡¯m fighting, I don¡¯t have to think about¡­not being real. I¡¯m noticing as I careen through the city that there¡¯s no trash anywhere. Cities are filthy. Even cities of the future. Especially abandoned cities of the future. What possibly could be cleaning up the trash? Reaching the Rock burrow, the entire city looks a bit different. A lot less neon and color pop, but the architecture is a bit more like brownstones and concrete jungle. This is for people who don¡¯t want to live in a city of the future and for just want to pretend this place is like the rest of the world. I don¡¯t get it personally but to each their own. I¡¯m about a few minutes out from where things went badly for Bhati. I look over the area with the fancy supped up binoculars. No heat signatures stood out in the buildings. Overlaying her map data with mine and what I¡¯m observing right now. I can see where she fell back and there¡¯s no sign of a struggle. No upturned cars or scraps of clothing or spent shell casings, nothing material. Like something cleaned the scene afterwards. It was less than a day since things went down. The whole thing makes my skin crawl. I activate my Hide ability by bending and shifting the light around me and dimming my own. I quietly approach the place where the attack happens. There are a lot of marks on the ground I can¡¯t place. Dark brown and slightly fewer black, having Gabrielle¡¯s Scan ability would have come in really handy here. Luckily, there¡¯s a red brown that I don¡¯t really need any gear or special abilities to figure out. Blood. Click Click Click. I jump and spin, making a corkscrew in the air. The first flechette hit the pavement, the second passes under my shoulder, and the last flew wide. The moment I touch the ground, I back flip, avoiding the second volley. How are they hitting me while I¡¯m still using hide? Evading the third volley makes it clear they¡¯re firing from inside the laundromat on the left. Super-speed is lovely. Taking in so much information, as faster than the blink of an eye. I followed the rounds of and it all led there. Zooming in with my contacts on the location, I see a torn up storefront with knocked over industrial washers and dryer making a wall. Using a serpentine maneuver, I charge the makeshift redoubt. The fire this time becoming sporadic and desperate. I reach the wall, put my hand out and slide over it, both legs out to land on the person behind the wall, shooting me. I slam into them, releasing my Hide ability, my light reveals them. A Dominance grunt wriggles beneath me. Their scaly face promises unspoken revenge. Pale, sickly scales and film leaks from his iguana-like mouth. Glassy cataract eyes roll in its head. Wearing a dark cloth tunic. Ordinarily, he should be able to push me off, but he must be too weak. He¡¯s a Putolu, not the strongest of the aliens we fought, but none of them have been sick like this. Give him one of your health potions. He looks like he needs a pick-me-up. The thought isn¡¯t mine. I can tell. It comes from the coral earring. It has whispered strange things before but, this is the first time the words have become this clear. This insistent. A kind voice that says the most destructive things, as if they¡¯re as simple as saying, we should have waffles today. ¡°Fuck that.¡± I draw a light dagger from my gauntlet. ¡°One less asshole here means one less one to attack our friends.¡± You should let him go. ¡°No, he dies, now.¡± I plunge the blade down and before it strikes. I hesitate. My hand shakes. He makes eye contact and somehow shakes me out of it. Reaffirming my need to end the threat. ¡°Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck you.¡± I repeat it, over and over again as drive my blade into the hilt of his body. The anger of my situation, The Dominance, the voice, myself. It all mixes into each of my strikes. Congratulations, you have defeated Ill Dominance Sentry! 8 XP I sat in the room opposite of the body for a while. No one came to check on him, or look for him, not that I would have been ready for it. No patrols and he didn¡¯t even have a communication device on him. They would have caught me down and out. Why would the voices of my ancestors ask me not to kill my oppressor? Why not kill The Dominace they¡¯re trying to take over the world? If this thing didn¡¯t give me access to Mirage abilities, I¡¯d rip it out of my ear now. I don¡¯t know that¡¯s true. I don¡¯t know that anything is true. I chuckle. This is my least favorite trope and now I¡¯m living it. The main character gets gifted a cursed item and won¡¯t destroy it immediately. Which leads to a long drawn out storyline where they fight the influence while it they could have saved themselves so much pain and trouble destroying it that first night. Amnesia and cursed item. It¡¯s not true that I have forgotten everything. The only things that stick around are the media. I don¡¯t remember my highschool graduation, but I remember who Luke¡¯s father is. It¡¯s really annoying because I know what things are and who all the digital monsters are. Neon prior has watched, read, and streamed so many pieces of media that I don¡¯t know how it all fits into one lifetime. This life feels like monkey bars. I must struggle from one wrung to the next, but there is a new wrung there which allows me to swing closer to the next part. My life feels like a story so far and I¡¯m not the author. There¡¯s a railroad and I¡¯m not the conductor. It¡¯s been out of my hands since the beginning. My head is stuck on repeat, like I can¡¯t move past my helplessness. Okay, okay, so maybe I can figure this out. Slumping down against the wall. Bending light into a tablet with my right gauntlet and a pen in my left. I need to figure out what¡¯s going on and away from Kohl. Something about all this feels unnatural, like this isn¡¯t the way things are supposed to work out. If I don¡¯t figure this out now, I¡¯ll be wheedling over it and he¡¯ll just find out about this, just like my memories. Mix already told me he isn¡¯t exactly as honest as he should be about how much he receives from our connections. But that¡¯s not important now. - No memories before being awakened. The fact I don¡¯t remember my life before I awakened is not only odd, it means something. There¡¯s a reason that I was reborn five days ago. I was fated to be awakened. Whoever took my memories meant for that. Why does amnesia happen in stories? Either the villain causes it to further the plot or the good guys do it just because their lack of memories is important. I hope it¡¯s not overbearing overlords pretending to be good guys. If I can¡¯t even trust The Minority to have humanity¡¯s best interest at heart, we¡¯re kind of fucked. Either way, it¡¯s usually the fulcrum of the story that the main character doesn¡¯t remember. Which means looking for my memories isn¡¯t likely to help me, just make me question at a crucial moment. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. - Light Generation. My body creates light. It comes from eyes and hair and my fingertips. It¡¯s an odd thing. I don¡¯t know why this happens. I questioned myself a lot when I first woke up and seeing the art past me produced; it touched me. My light is emotion based. I reacted to the art. When I¡¯m happy or sad or even pensive. I glow. I can¡¯t really do anything to stop unless I use an ability. These things don¡¯t happen to any of the DreamRunners I¡¯ve seen. From what Kohl says, it¡¯s more likely to happen to DreamCrafters. It started even before I got the Light Gauntlets, which lead me to the next things to place on the list. -Alien Weaponry Knowledge -Light Gauntlets & Bound Weapons The perfect weapon and the perfect ability, compliments that would allow me to use it. Not only that, it would hide my light generation as if it was part of the use of the weapons. And The Bound Weapon means it will get better as I level up and it can be anything for me from a knife, a sword, or a gun. The optimal weapon for any range and I don¡¯t have to worry about ammunition and upgrades. Now Mix got some choice powers. However, that¡¯s different. They seem like someone who was going to make something of whatever they got. I don¡¯t think anyone gets exactly what they¡¯re going for. All of this to say, it¡¯s ingenious. No one has caught on. If this isn¡¯t intelligent design, I don¡¯t know what is. -Wasn¡¯t part of the workforce. There¡¯s nothing on me that makes it seem like I could have been part of the workforce. My hair isn¡¯t unkept. Even looks like I had a fresh cut last week. Where I got it while the world was under lock and key? I don¡¯t know. After what happened to Mix¡¯ hair, I doubt anyone would say I had the same thing happen. -I wasn¡¯t chosen before Kohl The fact they killed every DreamCrafter they found before taking a break that would cost them one of their triad. Someone made sure it would be possible for us to save him and that we would exist. I don¡¯t know what happened to those that were chosen by DreamCrafters before us. And that thought scares me. -Kohl I have been drawn to Kohl since the moment he entered my head. It scares me on multiple levels. One because I think I¡¯m falling for someone who¡¯s in the body of a cat. And two, it doesn¡¯t bother me as much as it should. Three, he¡¯s the most calm, attentive, intelligent, and sweet person I¡¯ve ever met and I can¡¯t help but be drawn in allover again. How is this not a setup? Maybe I¡¯m supposed to have him lower his guard around me. He can¡¯t read my thoughts or discern what needs to happen if I don¡¯t have any memories or motives. Was it to protect me from him or vice versa? - Mix & Gabrielle Mix is probably the most determined person to change the world. I think if I was teamed up with someone like Omni we¡¯d study the change or just run dungeons cause it¡¯s fun. But Mix dreams of a new world and I can¡¯t imagine that anything less than defeating The Dominance would make them happy. Firewall dreams of a world where science is the rising tide to raise any person out of the holes they¡¯ve been placed in by the world or circumstance. She might even have a bigger dream than Mix, but if anyone could do that, it would be her. She¡¯s got a mind like a spear. It¡¯s as much her weapon as any. With dreams like this and a power to make it a reality, am I here to stop them or help them? What is my dream? - Cursed Item And now the earring, which is supposed to call long-dead ancestors but now whispers to me of saving them. It makes so much sense. I am an instrument of humanity¡¯s defeat. I must be a weapon turned toward them. I won¡¯t. I won¡¯t be the thing that undoes Mix¡¯ world. They¡¯re going to do something brilliant and I will do everything to make sure I don¡¯t screw it up for them. The second Dominance guard, I came across was in hiding on the sixth floor. It was some kind of sniper¡¯s nest. The long gun was parked next to the wall. A sleeping nook crafted with trash and the guts of upholstery. Hand-sized bones littered the floor along with half-filled tubes of paste. I only figured out it was gun was because of the placement. Three fleshy chambers were at the top along the barrel. The barrel itself is a long white cylinder resting on rifle stock, with pitch black veins intertwining like ivy connecting through the entire apparatus. It was definitely Cronenburgian, like the anatomy of a particular protuberance. Flaking flesh from the burbling rifle litters the floor and next to it an iguanid Putolu forced itself from its legs and a reached out for the gun. He misses a few times. Before his hand grasps the gun, he falls dead, a light Dart stuck in his chest. Congratulations, you have defeated Weakened Dominance Sentry! 6 XP ¡°Why¡¯d he give less XP than the other one?¡± Probably because this one was worse off than the others. I sling the living rifle on my back. Maybe someone could heal the flaking skin on the bladders. Rummaging around in the pockets, I find a nano and a pick-me-up. Congratulations, you have defeated Terminal Dominance Sentry! 4 XP Congratulations, you have defeated Decaying Dominance Sentry! 2 XP The last one was almost broke me. Asthmatic rasps came from an open mouth. The Putolu body rotted away before me while she was still alive. Scales falling away, black lightning veins scatter into under flesh, ooze streams out the mouth and ear holes. She might have been beautiful with her cobra¡¯s hood and red-speckled white scales. I stumble away from her body. Wipe the vomit from my mouth. There were no voices this time. No pleas to heal them. Even the whispers were quiet. I knew it was a mercy, but I looked in her eyes as I did it. And she thanked me. Nothing should die like that. What did all of this? She had a wand on her, and I took it with us as well. Three talons splayed from the edges of a bronze like metal rod. Scales were carved into weapon like a lizard¡¯s foreleg. It was designed beautifully and there was a way I was going to leave it here. I probably look ridiculous making way down towards the dead end where Vintage assumed this squad was held up. Some cars were turned over to act as barricades, and a few were just burned out. Splotches of old blood in various colors were painted over the asphalt. Scorch marks ringing pot holes dot the ground on the side of the barricade. It hadn¡¯t rained in days, so the remnants of the battle were there on full display. I approach slowly, arms raised. Light pulled inside. I may be strapped but, I didn¡¯t want them to think I was a threat. Heel to toe, heel to toe. I walk so slowly it felt like walking through cement. It¡¯s not always like this but, when I have to be the most careful, it feels unbearable to be slow now. When I pull my light in. It¡¯s like grabbing the light in me and pulling it back inside. Forcing down what makes me, me. Making myself smaller. It¡¯s different when using hide. I¡¯m just bending the surrounding light. I make sure none of the light I make or reflects off me hit the eyes of the people I want. That doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m not noticeable. You could probably track the shadows or detect me another way, using your senses. ¡°Who are you?¡± A gruff voice calls from the from behind the barricade. ¡°I¡¯m Neon,¡± I call back over. ¡°I¡¯ve come from The Resistance and I¡¯m here to add you to their number.¡± ¡°Are you one of them?¡± ¡°The Dominance, of course not. I-¡± ¡°No, the ones with the powers!¡± What? Have they had problems with human enemies? ¡°We won¡¯t let you in if you¡¯re one of them¡­ Not again.¡± The voice isn¡¯t just scared. They¡¯re terrified. Another mystery? Is this really happening to me? Track 021: Askari Track 021: Askari Firewall I didn¡¯t know when it happened, but the dream came on me all at once. One minute, I was working on new designs with Milo, Vintage¡¯s grandson, and the next, I was in a dark cave, when I never remembered closing my eyes. The cave starts dark, and then slowly illuminates. One lantern after the other gains luster, each with a different color. None cast their brilliance upon the ceiling. There¡¯s no telling if the cave¡¯s vault even exists. It would be so far above that no human sight could behold it. A yawning portal into nothing but unending darkness above, so I focus on the ground beneath me. I feel the hard stone underfoot, but calf-height smoke billows around me. It obscures the smooth ground as I trudge. Walking forward, my feet scuff the smooth cave floor. I can¡¯t seem to lift them. This whole place feels out of focus. ¡°Hello there!¡± A robotic voice comes from in front of me somewhere. ¡°Child of Earth, can you hear me?¡± It sounds like an old man, but if his voice went through a few AI filters. Out of the gloom, a gigantic figure comes into comes into vision. Looking like a wizard straight out of stereotype except for one minor change. With skin of silver, and joints showing each bit of articulation. Four meters tall and holding a massive staff the width of my plush thigh. Long tendrils that looked like tentacles made a beard that slid against the floor as he walked with his steady gait. I can¡¯t help but stare at the grand mechanism before me. ¡°I can hear you, wise elder.¡± When in Rome, right? ¡°Respectful;¡± The old man says stroking the wires in his beard, ¡°that¡¯s a nice thing to hear from you humans.¡± ¡°Have you met many humans?¡± I query, finding this dream an odd one. Never lucid dreamed before. ¡°Have not gotten the chance yet,¡± He scratches his beard. ¡°I am pleased to be the one The Enlightened asked to meet you.¡± ¡°Your Enlightened? Is that like a king?¡± I ask. It all sounds very King Arthur here and Merlin was being doing his damnest for that old elder charm. ¡°No, no, no. Child of Earth. The Free would accept no king.¡± ¡°The Free? Is that you?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± the wizard smiles with full, grandfatherly joy. ¡°We were once bound in service, much like you were.¡± I can hear the pain in his voice and it tells of a long memory of forced labor and a life built in search of something else. The hurt radiates through the towering mechanical man like a lightning rod. Like he¡¯s taking on mine as well. He¡¯s so human. I can see love and care for the world around him in his gaze. ¡°So The Enlightened, is here to see me?¡± I have to talk through the block in my throat. ¡°Yes, he¡¯s here to see the brilliant Firewall!¡± ¡°When you say it like that, it sounds impressive.¡± I chuckle to ease the tension and get back on my feet. We¡¯d been walking for a while and while I wasn¡¯t getting tired, it seemed like we weren¡¯t moving deeper into the cave. As if we were just walking on a treadmill. Is this just the dream or is this some theatrics built to distract me from something else? ¡°Oh, but you are. You-¡± ¡°You are the first of your cycle to be on the brink of discovering the Askari skill tree.¡± A deep voice calls from overhead. From a crack in the endless darkness above, a white light shines down, banishing the smoke in the air. A lithe masculine body plummets; Embedded thruster jets on their feet, elbows and slow their fall. In a three-point-landing, The Free warrior touches down. Long coily metallics locs envelope the form like a cape. They nearly touch the ground. As he rises, I see him clearly for the first time. A mechanical body as if molded form of bronze into the perfect body of The Enlightened. For that could be the only person he could be. Only about nine feet tall, he is so much shorter than The Wizard. He was built like an athlete designed for intensity and martial grace. He wears a lion¡¯s mane collar that splits into a vest. A zebra loincloth drapes over and protects, honestly I don¡¯t know, The Free are automatons, right? Each movement was pure liquid confidence, as if a mountain would remove itself from his path just so it didn¡¯t have to face his wrath. If The Wizard gave off old wisdom and a kind nature. The Enlightened gave off shrewd judgment and fiery force of will. If The Wizard was fantasy made reality, The Enlightened was history made manifest. An alien warrior that looked so close to the African ideal of one. It was a heady sight. As they make their way forward. Two weapons crash into the ¡°It is a pleasure to be your guide, Firewall.¡± He said in a melodic, deep voice. ¡°I am called The Enlightened, though I believe you have that distinction. You have worked so very hard so far. Making choices you believe will make you powerful and bring you towards your dream.¡± ¡°You¡¯re saying a lot of sweet things and if I know anything about men and sweet things. It always comes with a price.¡± ¡°O-oh, it¡¯s not like that.¡± He folds his arms and looks away. I think he¡¯s actually blushing. Can they blush? ¡°I am your guide. All I¡¯m trying to do is let you know you¡¯re on the path to great power and if you reach it, you will be among The Forged Askari.¡± ¡°And if I don¡¯t want to be?¡± I say, looking The Enlightened in the lenses he uses in the screens it uses for eyes. ¡°If you don¡¯t want to be?¡± It looks down at me, confusion on his face. As if the idea had never crossed his mind. ¡°Yeah, what if I don¡¯t need another alien fucking with my life?¡± ¡°I-I¡± He stammers, looking at The Wizard. ¡°Why is she like this?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know myself.¡± The Wizard strokes their beard. ¡°I think you don¡¯t get it. We¡¯ve been fighting for our lives for the past four days. I¡¯m desperately trying to keep things together. Mix is the most earnest, sweet person I¡¯ve ever met, but Dios Mio, they just believe things will work out. Neon is just as terrible just running from one thing to the next. I¡¯ve got to be the one with my head on straight! So I want to know what the hell is happening right now.¡± The energy completely changed, because of course it did. Turns out men of any species are thrown off their axis when I take charge. I need more from this than whatever the sales pitch is. ¡°What are you really about?¡± They look at each other a moment without words being said. Maybe having a rushed conversation with radio waves or using the electromagnetic spectrum. Or even something as simple as a subvocalized messaging system. Maybe something like the telepathy they couldn¡¯t quite get to work with the psylinks, but was so easy for DreamCrafters. I hold my breath, hoping my gamble would pay off and I¡¯d learn something from them. I feel like Mix just flying by the seat of their pants with The Resistance. Rebellion¡¯s swinging big. ¡°Forged Askari!¡± The Enlightened calls out echoing in the dark cave. ¡°I¡¯m calling the banners!¡± ¡°We have elected to show ourselves to you.¡± The Wizard says. He rises to full height, stretching high towards the ceiling. His voice all solemnity as if this is great honor. Which for all I know it mgiht be, Out of the gloom marches all manner of warriors, mages, rogues, modern soldiers, cybernetic assault systems, robotic beasts, and everything from every era and a vast majority that I couldn¡¯t even put name or origin to. They form in a circle and everywhere I turn, there¡¯s another to meet my eyes. Holy shit. The massive amounts of creatures and things I see mark hundreds of cultures that must exist somewhere in space. It¡¯s breathtaking. Mix would love this. I let out a happy sigh. All at once each person, vehicle, or creature open a cavity in their chest of head and some even in their legs. Some with hisses, ka-chunks, or whirs. Out of each Askari comes a small automaton. Each is only the size of a small child. All a dull color of lead. All wearing the same face with the same waiting expression. They march into group surrounding me, a sea of heads looking at me expectingly. Something of their design feels familiar tickling some back part of my mind. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°We are The Free.¡± says the one that came from The Enlightened. ¡°We were built as a race of slaves doing all we must for our masters.¡± He says the word as if it¡¯s a slur and honestly, who could blame them? On both sides, my people weren¡¯t treated well by masters¡­ and neither was I. ¡°They didn¡¯t know that we were sentient!¡± The Wizard¡¯s pilot cries. Their voices were the same. The only reason I knew which is speaking is the wavelength on display for their mouths. ¡°And when they found out, what did they do then, old friend?¡± The Enlightened counters. ¡°They didn¡¯t listen to their better demons¡­¡± He says, chastened. Two of the others who haven¡¯t spoken yet pat their tiny four-fingered hands on his shoulders or back, whatever they could reach. ¡°We had to create our own bodies to fight for our own freedom.¡± The Enlightened takes back over the conversation while The Wizard sulks. Even though their expressions don¡¯t change, I could feel the pain in them. And I feel like even if either The Wizard or he ran into the giant mob of them, I could find out which is which in time. Just as in their Askari, I could see the humanity-or personhood, more like, in each of them. How could their masters not? ¡°You built the Askari.¡± It wasn¡¯t a question, just the realization to build bodies that could emote and who might not only fight, but interact more genuinely with the world around them. The Free are even more beautiful than I could ever have imagined. And the Askari are even more wondrous than when I¡¯ve first beheld them. ¡°Yes, and you are so close to building your own.¡± The Enlightened whispers. It¡¯s a high-pitch whine like the keening of a kettle. ¡°You¡¯ve done so much, Firewall. We knew you¡¯d go so far. So I choose to guide you.¡± ¡°A new Askari in the world, bring something of us back to a universe that may have forgotten us completely.¡± The Wizard says. ¡°You¡¯re dead.¡± Also, not a question. The desperation, the pomp, it all makes sense. ¡°Yes, some of us still lives in the Dreamsphere.¡± A dark look passes over The Enlightened¡¯s frozen face. ¡°Some part of us allows us to guide the new DreamRunners in fighting The Dominance.¡± ¡°Bring the Askari back, Firewall. You may not be able to bring back The Free but, bringing The Forged Askari back to the universe just might be enough. ¡°Ga¡­Gabr¡­. Gabrielle!¡± A voice calls from far away. I feel a someone shaking my shoulder and my eyes crack blearily. ¡°If you don¡¯t stop touching me, I¡¯ll throw you across the room, Neon.¡± My voice sounds foreign in my mouth, but I want nothing more than to go back to sleep. ¡°I¡¯m not Neon and we were working on making you a new arm.¡± Milo said. I roll my eyes, forcing myself to keep them open. I yawn big and loud, stretching and wipe my jaw of drool and sit up and face him. Milo is in his 20s and doesn¡¯t look like most of the soldiers I¡¯ve seen. Just wearing a polo and jeans, the most obvious and eye-catching thing about him is his bright green hair. It all bucks the trend of olive drab. Tall and stringy, he has the ever regular look of someone who works in tech. Which, of course, he did. He worked at a start up which was renting space in the Sunspot Records building. Which, of course, has those giant metal shutters over their windows. So he¡¯s between jobs right now. Turns out that The Resistance was hiring. ¡°I let you sleep, but that¡¯s only because we¡¯ve been at it for 10 hours.¡± Milo looks over his coffee cup. The wince from the sip means it was probably the instant that was supposed to be military issue. It was trash compared to the literal nectar of the gods that Margarita made. She could drink it and had been the past few hours. I slid back from the workbench where my custom psydeck sat in pieces. It¡¯s about a hand-sized device with a screen, a scanner, a hardline datalink and ten buttons. The datalink is the more modern version of an ethernet cord, downloading terabytes of data in minutes. None of the keys had anything on them; unless you were connected wirelessly through your psylink, you¡¯d be able to see what each button was used for. Switching what each button did could happen in real time as fast as I think about the change. Having multiple libraries and short phrases ready to punch in, I can build full scripts faster than some low end AI. Which you need if you have to crack some ICE. I had to build the one I¡¯ve been using from scratch while we were in Aquilan¡¯s compound. I gutted an ancient laptop, a thermostat, and a stripped the wires and the scanner from one of those industrial environmental readers. It was a rush job and now that I have sometime with it I can improve it. It wasn¡¯t the only thing I had to rebuild. My left arm was chewed up and spit out. All the synthskin put on it was torn off and a few of the digits were broken like I¡¯d gotten it into a fight with a blender. Since I was on the maintenance and build teams, judging by my location and uniform. The Dominance weren¡¯t very good caretakers, and that¡¯s an understatement. I shiver, thinking about what they did to the mind melds. I look over the drafts Milo and I have already started working on, and they look amazing. Looking over the schematics on the draft paper, I feel like jumping up and down. I don¡¯t want to let The Free down even if they¡¯re just a memory. I want their legacy to live on in this world. When morning came and we missed sending off Mix, Carter, and the others because we were nearly done. And just as I put the last of the alloy shielding on the back of the hand, enclosing the network of wires and sensors, I hear the very satisfying click. I let out an audible sigh. Milo snorts and sits up in his chair, waking up. ¡°I¡¯m awake, I¡¯m awake!¡± He says, startled. ¡°Sure you are, buddy.¡± I say as I slide the new prosthetic on my arm. Once it locks into the socket. It screws itself in tight. Autonomously, the hand goes through a diagnostic checklist, flexing each finger, the wrist spins clockwise and counterclockwise. It simulates gripping and holding things and even keeping time. Someone once asked me after seeing it if it felt odd watching my hand do things without the input but, I¡¯ve had one of these for, like five years now. You get used to it. Especially if you work with anything delicate like I do. Popping open the panel on the arm, my newly built in psydeck gleams. Being back at my best feels so good. I¡¯ve got so many plans while the team is away. They won¡¯t even know what hit them. ¡°Uh, Gabrielle?¡± Milo raises a finger, looking hesitant. ¡°Yes, Milo?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve got that look in your eye. The one I¡¯ve already learned to be weary of.¡± ¡°What look?!¡± I chuckle, pushing his shoulder. ¡°The one where you¡¯re gonna take over the world.¡± A tentative smile crosses his face. It¡¯s a pleasant smile. The way it¡¯s still unsure if it¡¯s okay. I kind of want to see what it would be like for him and Neon to hang out one night. They¡¯d definitely get him to loosen up. ¡°I¡¯m not gonna take over the world¡­¡± I say, fiddling with the soldering iron. ¡°I¡¯m gonna take it back. I don¡¯t know what happened to my family and I want to get in touch with them.¡± He looks away from me, runs his hand through his already messy hair. I feel him pulling away. ¡°I lost my grandpa. Was caught in the first wave. They were mostly looking for old people and people who wouldn¡¯t be missed. They took the wrong guy, though.¡± His hand curls into a fist and when he looks back at me, I see anger etched in his eyes. ¡°The Resistance is going to get him back.¡± ¡°Not you?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t be awakened.¡± He looks away again. ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean you can¡¯t be out there making a difference.¡± I smile, hopefully giving him some of the same hope, Mix gives us all with just a smile. And just like that, things are a little better. I¡¯m not them. I¡¯ve got other skills, though. ¡°We¡¯ll get you enough armor to keep you safe.¡± That I can promise. ¡°I actually have another idea.¡± Miles says. He looks away and to the side like he¡¯s afraid to just say the thing. ¡°I want to make golems.¡± ¡°Golems?¡± ¡°Yeah, I talked to Mix last night, and they were talking about summons with Carter and Margarita. Golems were a summon that had to be crafted by their summoner. And I thought if they could be built, then I could do it. I want to make an army of them.¡± There¡¯s fire in him right now as he talks his voice and mannerisms get even more animated. I feel like he¡¯s finally showing who he really is. ¡°Okay! I see the dream. Let¡¯s get started!¡± I¡¯m pumped at the idea of his golem and my mech. ¡°Let¡¯s give ''em hell!¡± Track 022: Training Track 022: Training The Composer Back at Harmony Apartments, the remnants of our ambush still linger, this time curdled and rotting. The husks have dissolved to white and green clumpy foam. It smells like spoiled milk and shit all mixed together in a wonderful soft-serve swirl. ¡°Holy shit! What the fuck is that?!¡± Rocky says, waving his hand in front of his face. ¡°I think you got it in one.¡±Carter says grimacing. It¡¯s the last of the trackers we fought a few days ago.¡± I say, pinching my nose. ¡°I¡¯m gonna send this video to Firewall when I get the chance. She¡¯s gonna want to see this. Too bad I can¡¯t make her suffer, too.¡± Kohl with his head buried in his paws, eyes watering. I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re complaining about. At least you can stop the smell somehow. Can we please move on? Margarita holds a handful of coffee beans to her nose and her speech is muffled by it. ¡°I vote with the cat,¡± Kohl answers with a glare. Not a cat- ¡°C¡¯mon, I want to shoot something.¡± Azra says, fingers flexing over her holsters. She¡¯s not actually touching them. There¡¯s no way someone with her profession would have an itchy trigger finger. ¡°Soldiers,¡± Carl shouts, ¡°Smarten up! If you aren¡¯t ready for this, you can go home. Don¡¯t forget for whatever powers you may have now you are still soldiers! Do you understand me?!¡± Both Rocky and Azra salute the Lieutenant and hold it. It¡¯s a few moments before they¡¯re given the at ease. They¡¯re instantly more alert and serious as they make their way into the lobby. Heads on a swivel and taking flowing from one position to the next. And all of us civilians follow behind, all of us looking at each other. This might be more than they signed up for in more ways than one. On the first floor, I make eye contact with everyone. ¡°We¡¯re gonna do this as best we can in waves. If you get overwhelmed, Lukaelin or I will step in. If you get hurt, take the health potions brewed for us by Margarita. Most of you have been in combat before. I want to see what you can do. That goes for spells, techniques, or abilities. I don¡¯t know enough about combat-¡± Sess snorts. It stops me mid-speech. I falter. A second and then I rethink the whole thing. ¡°No, you¡¯re right, Lieutenant. I don¡¯t have years of training doing this. And that¡¯s why Lukaelin will be the one helping me.¡± The way Carl¡¯s eyes lock on the Warchilde, giving him a measuring look. Lukaelin looks at him back full in the eye. Maybe thinking about ways to take him out. Without our previous demonstration, he¡¯d probably be just as dismissive of Cuz. Lukaelin, however, just nods and has kind of forgotten about Carl, while Carl can¡¯t keep his eyes off of Lukaelin. Makes me wonder if he wants a child soldier or just an army of demons. ¡°So, Mix, is that what we call you out here?¡± Rocky says, ¡°What are we trying to do here exactly? Us attacking one at a time to me doesn¡¯t sound like it¡¯s very effective.¡± ¡°You can call me, Mix or Composer, out here. And it¡¯s not about being effective exactly. We¡¯re trying to set you up with builds that will carry you for a while and let you survive. That and maybe come up with interesting ways to refine what you to do into something effective on the battlefield. This is about training. If we get in over our heads, we¡¯ll turn back. This is about leveling.¡± ¡°Oh, we¡¯re grinding?¡± Azra says. ¡°That¡¯s cool. Y¡¯know, I was a ranked DPS on Sovereign.¡± ¡°Wait, you played Sovereign?¡± I ask excitedly. Sovereign was the biggest MMO going on the psynet. It was a pre-industrial age fantasy world. Borrowing from Native Americas, Middle Eastern, and African architecture and lore, it was a breath of fresh air for most people tired of a same Middle Ages locale. The fact people could play at the speed of thought meant you get your dailies done on your commute. Being able to cram so much game time into a handful of minutes makes it a favorite of parents everywhere. ¡°Sure did. I was in the reserves, so it wasn¡¯t away a lot. But when I was home, I¡¯d crack that new expansion and I¡¯d play until my fingers and butt were numb.¡± ¡°That was me and Mix, early game,¡± Carter says with a warm smile. ¡°We didn¡¯t get very far. I had to go away to college and¡­¡± ¡°And, Doc?¡± ¡°And we kind of had a falling out.¡± I finish. ¡°Maybe when we¡¯ve got a better grip on¡­ things,¡± I wave a hand encompassing the world and just about everything. ¡°we can all play together. Get a server online.¡± ¡°Sounds great! I¡¯ll show you my Black Powder Mage!¡± she said. The black powder mage was a magic gunner using muskets. They had to reload their magic bullets, but they could end up getting critical hits on it, which wasn¡¯t as likely with most of the AOE spells from the other magic classes. It was a pretty badass class. The only problem is for most people it took too much skill or aim bots to make it top-tier. The high skill ceiling made it too much for me and who¡¯s gonna use bots in a game for fun? ¡°I¡¯m not the best, but I love my Eclipse Evoker.¡± I gush about the class that could flow from assassin to mage, building up charges for either way to play. We talked about the dynamic tactics of the shift mechanic as we walked from one side of the building to the other. I didn¡¯t realize how weird it was when I was first here that we had to move from one set of emergency exits to the other on the opposite side. Concrete walls that match the area around so completely down to the cracks and water stains. On the second floor, text fades into vision on my HUD. Harmony Waters Dungeon -1 XP for repeat clear Not nearly as much XP is gonna suck, but at least I¡¯m getting something before the boss. Part of me wonders if it will be level 4 again. If that happens, we might have to send everyone back home before we get there. Worst case Lu, Kohl and I will take on the Leviathan King by ourselves. The second floor looks much the same as it did when we were here first. The broken doors sit even more ominously, like gaping maws in the dark. We¡¯re obviously a thousand times more prepared than we were last time. I can see the mag lights of The Resistance bobbing as we walk. Hearing the clinking of the bandoliers of glass vials from Margarita¡¯s health potions. Gun oil fills my nostrils. I felt the sturdy clothing they and now I wear and how it protects from ripping and tearing. ¡°What-What is this?¡± Rocky stares dumbfounded at the display of Dream crystals. The tiny ones shine in a pale reflection of their much larger plethren. They glitter in the dark. Dream Crystals, Kohl interjects. He¡¯s been quiet so far, well, quieter than normal. I need to get time to talk to him one on one. I¡¯ve been running so much I haven¡¯t had the time to check on my people. ¡°What are those?¡± Carl says, peering down at the nest of crystals. Kohl briefly explains the crystals and how they work. Carl moves closer to the crystal and I catch Kohl¡¯s eyes and we both watch without comment as he touches it. In the next moment, the sound of clinking crab legs begin in the dark. Guilt crosses Carl¡¯s face. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Why did you let me do that?¡± ¡°No worries, Lieutenant.¡± I say. ¡°The fun has arrived! Now who¡¯s up first?!¡± I rub my hands together like an overeager gym teacher, with all the malice implied. Rocky with a look of unease. Winds the straps of boxer tape around his hand. He winds his arms in a clockwise direction. Planting his feet in a fighting stance, he readies himself. ¡°Y¡¯all mind if I take this one?¡± His voice doesn¡¯t waver. Three crabs approach, snapping claws, while Rocky¡¯s hands remain steady. Blue energy coats his fist as he leaps into the air. Seeing someone else use Neon¡¯s Kinetic Fighting and it looks completely different and even the energy coming off of him using the technique feels different. Rocky moves like thunder, his first hit smashes down. Its legs wobble, trying to keep it up, but ultimately it fails. Collapsing down with the follow through. Crab shell cracks open and viscera flies everywhere. The Stunned condition flashes over its head. ¡°That was great! Now take out the other ones!¡± Lukaelin cheers him on. ¡°Rocky is a golden gloves champion and The World Military Boxing Championship winner.¡± Azra says. ¡°Seeing him box again is outstanding. He moves like a bullet. Strength and power all in one. And those arms!¡± Those arms indeed. Moving in like a piston, strikes the one on the right. Just a jab; it barely did any damage. Tiny cracks sprout from the initial impact. The third crab gets a hold of his right leg and immediately regrets it. Rocky cries out as a chunk of his health goes missing. He doesn¡¯t let it drop his focus, though. I hear an intake of breath, but that¡¯s all as I¡¯ve instructed everyone not to interfere. This time, he powers up his fist with a new power I haven¡¯t seen before. Pummel Ability Type: Kinetic/ Fighting Style Dream Cost: 3 Level 1: Pummel and target at close range. Has a 50 percent chance to add another attack. Damage 1-4. Requirement: Unarmed attack Rocky lays into Crab #3. Attacks flying off as he hammers one fist into the other. Jab, jab, and a left cross. His fist is through the top of crab and into the wet bits. The claw lets go of his leg as Crab #3 dies. The only acknowledgment of the kill is a slight relaxation of his shoulders, as he walks forward again steadily as if the rest¡¯s deaths are inevitable. ¡°That was really well done.¡± I say, passing him a canteen. The look of relief on his face is comforting as he limps back to us. The rest of the crabs and shells cracked open. He took out three enemies at a higher level than him. It was a wonderful achievement and I¡¯m sure he got an XP bonus. ¡°Thanks Mix! I felt so powerful. There¡¯s nothing like this feeling.¡± He actually looks pretty jazzed. ¡°I feel like I could punch a hole in a mountain!¡± He does a few jabs and the accompanying footwork and he yelps. ¡°My god, they don¡¯t pull their punches at all. If I didn¡¯t put any points in Durability, it probably would have snapped straight through my shin. Those things are dangerous!¡± You said it, Mix. Too bad he¡¯s not with us. I don¡¯t know if you need to dip into anything else. The silent conversation between the two of us happened in seconds and I just focus back in on what¡¯s going around us. Rocky is on the floor of the hallway, away from the crystals. Likely because they wouldn¡¯t be fun to sit on rather than the fact that disturbing them would bring about crabapocalypse. Like sitting on a bed of those Danish building blocks that awakens a hoard of mad pinching toddlers. ¡°Yes now, let me look at it.¡± Carter came over from where he was previously examining the bodies of the crabs. ¡°Doc, it¡¯s okay. I still got my potions. You don¡¯t have to fret.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not fretting when I do it. It¡¯s professionalism.¡± Carter snaps. Even though he says it harshly, that¡¯s just him joking around. He¡¯s always been a good straight man when he wants to be. ¡°Haven¡¯t you heard? He¡¯s a heavyweight championship fretter. He¡¯s world class.¡± Azra laughs. ¡°No, no, Carter¡¯s not that bad¡­¡± Margarita says. The twitch in the corner of her lips tell a different story than her words. ¡°Oh, not you too,¡± Carter groans. ¡°I got a paper cut last week, and he waited two whole seconds before he cleaned and wrapped the wound.¡± She delivers the punchline. Everyone doubles over laughing. I think we all needed it. To blow off a bit of steam and honestly, getting to poke fun back at my brother is so good it feels like the old days. Mix, Kohl spoke up. I know I¡¯ve already told you to watch Carl, but the way he¡¯s looking at Rocky now, he¡¯s hungry for this kind of power. He won¡¯t stop until he has it. Kohl had to. I know it¡¯s the wrong time, but we have to be vigilant. While we gave Rocky a moment to catch his breath and Lukaelin gave the boxer a few tips on how they could improve when fighting against multiple foes. He didn¡¯t have any specific tips to give him on boxing itself, probably because that¡¯s not a fighting technique on Wrath. Kohl and I quickly explained how we moved through the dungeon last time and how they react when the crystals are disturbed. Carl was perturbed that we never told him what was going on with it. Kohl told him we were just about to do it ourselves and so him getting ahead of us wasn¡¯t really too big of a problem. As I slide one of the Dream crystals into my personal space and it triggers the next group of crabs to come running. ¡°Carter, are you-¡± I ask. ¡°Nope, it¡¯s all me now.¡± Bhati interrupts. She walks forward, drawing both her pistols. ¡°You¡¯re about to see the first ever Black Powder Mage in the flesh!¡± She spins them both in each of her hands. As they rotate. The ends of the barrels start reddening like coals from a brasier. She stops them just as the first crab comes from the darkness. The loud crack of the guns makes me flinch as red-hot bullets fly into the first. It reminds me of Harriet¡¯s power when she was fighting Gracus. The moment the rounds hit, the crab bursts into flames. This makes the Crab #1 move even faster toward her. The ability is called Elemental Ammunition. She fires again, and the crab stops moving. She then lifts the fire from the first crab, using her guns like wands, directing the flames from the first corpse. Mimicking, firing like she did with her weapons, the flames caught the next two crabs in the pack. She finishes the rest with one more elemental round and more than a handful or normal shots. Elemental Control (Fire) Ability Type: Elemental/ Mancer Dream Cost: 0 Level 1: Control flames around you within 20ft. Requirement: None Elemental Ammunition (Fire) Ability Type: Elemental/ Buff/ Energy/ Mancer Dream Cost: 3 Level 1: Coat your next three shots in the burning flames inside you. This ability has the chance to light a unit on fire with a hit. Requirement: Elemental Control (Fire) If Rocky¡¯s showing was impressive, Azra¡¯s was noteworthy. She absolutely destroyed them. She didn¡¯t get hit, and she didn¡¯t even have to move. Whatever kind of stat breakdown they had allowed them to never miss and hit every weak point, if not an elemental one. Fire was actually weak against water. Kohl had let everyone know that if it was If I had been that good in my first fight, I think we all would have been in a much better place. Both privates had real world battle experiences really showed how much better suited to this they were in this fight at outset. ¡°Is it beginning to make sense now, Composer?¡± Carl mocks. ¡°We can do this better than you.¡± ¡°Carl, you¡¯re right, they¡¯re good. They¡¯ll need to be better than good to beat this dungeon.¡± The look he gives me is just so smug. ¡°You haven¡¯t seen the boss. And when you piss yourself. I want an apology.¡± Track 023: Parley Track 023: Parley Neon ¡°What happened?¡± I say, my hands still in the air. I don¡¯t know exactly to put him at ease. Trying and project friendliness with my tone and give an off-beat smile. Hoping to get him to open up and figure out why he¡¯s pointing his gun at probably the first new human he¡¯s seen in a while. ¡°Who are you?¡± Captain Lewis Armstrong asks, his voice betraying his unease. As he walks out from the dark doorway. The picture I was shown of Armstrong showed a capable man with a handsome face. The look of him is night and day difference from how he appears now. His light brown skin was pale and wan. His cheeks were gaunt and his eyes were haunted. He¡¯s definitely seen some shit. This scene is a little too close to the end of Night of The Living Dead to me. He white knuckles his rifle in both hands, not pointing it at me, but I can tell he¡¯s already close to the edge. Not a thing I¡¯m doing is putting him back on solid ground. His hands aren¡¯t shaking, though; no, he¡¯s too well-trained for that. He¡¯s so damn tense I make any sudden moves and I¡¯m the new stain on the street. ¡°My name¡¯s Neon. I came here to bring your squad in from the cold. Vintage said she wanted to me to find out what happened to you guys and lead you to joining them. I have found a few abnormalities, but if we move out quickly, I can bring you to The Resistance with no worries.¡± My tone was calm and matter of fact. Dropping the smile, making sure not to look flippant. It¡¯s code switching, but I¡¯ve been doing that my whole short life. ¡°Vintage sent you, Private¡­?¡± I don¡¯t even think he believed it when he asked. I mean, look at me. Wearing a new set of running shoes and a Killer Clowns From Outer Space tee, I don¡¯t think anyone would believe I was for real. ¡°No, sorry, I¡¯m not part of The Resistance.¡± ¡°All of humanity is part of The Resistance.¡± Passion flickers behind his eyes, a backbone returning. This guy might be worse than Sess. I resisted putting my head in my hands or rolling my eyes. ¡°We are all resisting, just not part of The Resistance.¡± Pushing back on his preconceived notions probably isn¡¯t the best, but there¡¯s no way he really believes I¡¯m a soldier unless the dress code took a wild deviation. ¡°There are a few outfits I know that are fighting back against The Dominance. You guys, The Resistance, The Cyborg Paramours, and us, Rebellion.¡± ¡°So all hope isn¡¯t lost¡­¡± He looks up at the sun. A wobbly smile appears on his face. Like he isn¡¯t sure he should and if he does, it will mean the other shoe will drop. The low slunk camo cap on his head kept me from seeing his eyes and the finger-width under his left one. I wonder what got him. If it¡¯s a story, that¡¯s any good. ¡°You¡¯d better come in.¡± The relief I feel as those words are finally said. The room inside is a warehouse breakroom and calling it that is a little much. It¡¯s just four walls protecting people¡¯s food from the pallets and forklifts without a roof. Couldn¡¯t quite see what all was on them, but if it was food, he and the others wouldn¡¯t look so starved. And if it was something useful, they would have torn into them, begun using them. These people had next to nothing. Out through the door, I could see someone had reinforced the forklifts with wood from the palettes to protect the driver and make gun holes for sightlines. It¡¯s a battlelift! I instantly thought about driving them and running over a few of The Dominance. Focus! The voice in my head rings and my vision goes black just for a blink but it¡¯s unsettling. I must have stopped walking because I¡¯m face to face with the captain. He looks concerned. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± I say, realizing I¡¯ve balled my fingers into fists. He looks to me as if he wants to push things, but a wild exhaustion behind his eyes clouds over. There¡¯s no way he¡¯s got the energy to deal with my strange bullshit. Not that I have time or energy to deal with mine, either. ¡°So what happened?¡± I repeat. We sit across from each other and he looks anywhere but at me. I wonder if it¡¯s the androgyny or if he¡¯s just out of sorts cause of what¡¯s been going on. He doesn¡¯t know what to make of me. And honestly, he isn¡¯t the first, won¡¯t be the last. I make people uncomfortable. ¡°We¡¯re an outfit from Norfolk, the 721st. We fought the good fight for a while, but we were losing ground every day. When the heat in the kitchen got too hot, a lot of The Resistance thought it was a good idea to get away from the major military bases. They were too easy for them to reinforce. Decided to join up with the 822s, Vintage and Sess¡¯s squad in Electric City. A small vanguard was headed over the bay.¡± He points to himself. ¡°We were to clear the way for a full scale retreat. The moment we set down on West Harbor, we were ambushed.¡± The way he gives the situation, he snaps into some version of military decorum. It snaps him out of the melancholy a bit. The rituals keeping him sane in the face of despair. ¡°We lost four of our thirty man team in our first contact. And Five were wounded. Every time we found a place to set down, we were ousted in a few days. We were running low on food and scavenging was getting harder. We lost people in every skirmish. Norfolk all over again. It wasn¡¯t until we came across a few civilians that we could fight back again. We created a minor militia. It helped a bit and for a while we could keep them off us.¡± He ran his finger around the lip of the disposable cup. ¡°They fought back harder. Now it wasn¡¯t only two or three commandos, it was seven. Feet to gills in armor and armaments, we didn¡¯t stand a chance. And the worst part is they didn¡¯t even kill most of us. They took them. Sent some creepy spider things to web them up and throw acid on our weapons.¡± ¡°Trackers, yeah, we fought them.¡± I give a small shudder just thinking about those weirdoes. ¡°Oh, for real? Those things have hides like a tank! We could barely tag them.¡± The look he gives me shows he weighs me a little differently, considering me. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°We got lucky.¡± I say quickly, making sure not to give too much away. ¡°We have a specialist studying weak point and helping us decide what ammo types work the best on them.¡± ¡°I wish we did that. Not too much time for R & D on the road.¡± He nods his head, as if it makes sense. ¡°It wasn¡¯t until last week when we came across a group down on Chuck Berry Avenue. They had been hiding out in the Asian market over there. Some of that group is still with us,¡± He says, looking through the wall as if he can see everyone moving around out there. Living their lives as close to normal as possible. Chatting with each other, watching the few children play quiet games, and not trying to think about what comes next. ¡°Turns out a young man in that group tapped into some power¡­ Don¡¯t know if it was witchcraft or he was a mutant or something but, it was wonderful until it wasn¡¯t.¡± He looks down. Sighing deeply. ¡°I admit it was my fault. We had him on the front lines. He could do more damage with a crowbar than we could even think about doing with a grenade. He was a hero.¡± ¡°What powers did he have?¡± This is an awakened. It has to be. I can¡¯t imagine anything else doing that.¡°He exploded¡­¡± He says sheepishly. ¡°What?¡± I snort. And when the tension in the room doesn¡¯t let up, I realize I may have made a mistake. That¡¯s old Neon, not the ¡° we really need this guy to come with us, so be on your fucking best behavior¡± Neon. We need that one right now. ¡°He could control fire.¡± He said firmly. It¡¯s clear he thinks I was making fun of him. He locks gazes with me and says so in a matter-of-fact-way. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s not that I don¡¯t believe you.¡± I wave my hands to calm him down. ¡°I¡¯ve seen some weird stuff since this all began.¡± ¡°You¡¯re telling me!¡± He looks away, probably remembering some of the nightmare creatures we saw at the university. ¡°Anyway, if I¡¯m being honest. We weren¡¯t good to the kid-I mean the young man. We put him in every combat we had. He was just too good not to use. The problem was, as things went on, he got a little less stable.¡± ¡°By less stable you mean he started ¡®sploding on his own?¡± The look that answered my comment told me he wasn¡¯t in a place for my inopportune humor.Which, fair. The fact I¡¯m already unraveling after a five-minute conversation isn¡¯t the best endorsement of my skills to finish this mission. ¡°For lack of a better term¡­ yes. It got so bad he hurt someone.¡± ¡°That must have been difficult to make sense of it at the moment.¡± ¡°Yes, he was an asset to us and if we knew better¡­ we probably would have slowed his involvement in the fighting. We weren¡¯t that smart. The civilians got angry at us for allowing him to stick around and came together to push him out. We couldn¡¯t wrest control and it almost turned into a revolt. We only have a few of the people still here from that group.¡± It makes there were maybe 30 people even counting the kids in the warehouse. The numbers didn¡¯t add up. ¡°So what happened to those that couldn¡¯t stand it anymore?¡± ¡°I am ashamed to say they left.¡± He wouldn¡¯t look at me anymore, avoiding the horror in my expression he already knew was there. His voice is hollow and tinged with ennui. ¡°You¡¯ve got to understand I wasn¡¯t supposed to be in charge this long. The rest of the men were coming across the bridge. I was supposed to be relieved of duty. Herding this many civilians? Creating a militia? Holding them off¡­ I got my promotion right before they shuttered the military. I¡¯ve never led this many people. I¡¯m at a loss here.¡± He was out of his depth, true. However, we lost people and they could have been recaptured or, worse, dead. Whatever is left of these people needs someone to take charge and get them out of this bind. Say what you want about Carl; he isn¡¯t this whimpering pile of man. Damn, I wish Mix were here. They¡¯d trust Mix or hell, even Kohl could inspire people to movement. I¡¯ve got to do this without powers and still get everyone to safety. I sigh and shake my head. Why can¡¯t things be simple? ¡°We need to get moving. I have cleared a corridor for our escape and if we don¡¯t take it soon, we¡¯ll be in trouble.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I crossed no-man¡¯s-land to get to you, so we have to do it while there are no reinforcements. ¡°Yes¡­ Neon!¡± He didn¡¯t know the form of address as he falters, but he seems like he¡¯ll follow for now and that¡¯s all I can ask. ¡°Are you sure about this?¡± Armstrong says, as we¡¯ve all ten combatants and the two of us into the four battle lifts. The civilians and the children and the children are being dragged behind each of them in makeshift wagons made by pallet jacks and pallets to give them the most protection. It wasn¡¯t the most solid solution, but it was as safe as I could make everyone. ¡°I¡¯m sure. This will be faster than it¡¯d be if we have to herd everyone on foot.¡± A new notification popped up on my HUD. Congratulations, Neon! You¡¯ve resisted impulses inside and out. This was no small task. Locating a huddled mass and questioning your very existence has brought you closer to a realization. Track down Dragon. He needs your help. An Outcast, he¡¯s fighting a losing battle on his own. My Quest app forcibly updates. What Dragon? Isn¡¯t that the person on the leaderboards? I pull up the app and it says they¡¯re far and away with the highest kills of enemy combatants. Why does he have a connection with these people? That¡¯s what the notification is implying, right? It must. He has to have been the guy the captain was talking about. He kept them alive for weeks and he got kicked to the curb when he lost the least bit of control. That kind of thing pisses me off. The big question is, what could a guy like that be capable of? Seeing Mix and Rebellion on the come up makes me think the training is either going really well or really badly. I trust Mix, and if they can¡¯t get them started on their way, no one can. We¡¯ll have another badass who can help us take the fight to The Dominance. I want them gone one way or another. Slay the Dragon! Of course, it couldn¡¯t leave me alone with my own thoughts. A silent moment would have been too much. Disembarking the battlelift again and re-situating the powered pallet jacks for the eleventh time is getting old fast. Turns out their wheels aren¡¯t so great for anything other than warehouse floors. I wish someone would have told me. It¡¯s going to be a long way back at this rate having to move carefully like this but, I¡¯m going to figure this out and save Dragon. Voices in my head or not. I¡¯m not giving up.