“That’s… handy.” I frowned, opening my shop screen. If the area that allowed for purchasing from the obelisk really did expand so much, then it’d be much easier for people to have accessed it. No wonder why it didn’t matter if the Bulwark tried to quarantine it.

Wait, didn’t that mean that I went to talk to them for no reason? Crap… well, too late to bother with it now. I’m sure that gave them some prep time, anyways.

I thought carefully about what I needed. A weapon was certain, but I also needed to maximize the use of my class at this point. Fran aside, Daniel and myself had rare classes, and I hoped that meant they were quite good. Why others didn’t have access to it, I didn’t know, but I would make the most of it. It’d already saved my life, anyways.

[Accessing Weapons Database: Special Class ‘Reaper’]

A surprisingly lengthy list showed itself to me, nothing exceeding the cost of M.E. that I currently had. 105 M.E. was significant buying power, more - albeit barely - than what I’d started with. That got me a mini-nuke, so there had to be some good things here.

“Well, let’s not get too crazy.” I muttered to myself, knowing that I had plenty of other things that I still needed. After analyzing everything for a few minutes, I decided that a pretty balanced spread would be good. I purchased:

Reaper Modified Assault Rifle w/Bayonet 35 M.E.

‘Claymore’ Grenade (x 3) 15 M.E.

Reaper Ammo Storage Space (Level 1) 2 M.E.

Assault Rifle Ammo (x 10) 5 M.E.

Reaper Suit, Basic 10 M.E.

The cost totaled up to 68 M.E., which left me with 37 M.E. The scattered assortment were pretty good, and from what I could tell the Reaper gear synergized with the ‘Blood of the Reaper’ thing that was in my body. What that really meant as of yet, I couldn’t say, but it likely would help in battle. The fact that Smith said nothing about my supposition told me that I was probably right.

The modified assault rifle could belt out twelve rounds a second and had a pretty hefty clip. Fifty-six bullets, and they weren’t small. I couldn’t tell precisely, but it looked like the obelisk system handled ammo pretty flexibly, letting the same general type of weapon utilize ammo. In other words, any assault rifle could use the bullets of the ‘Assault Rifle Ammo’ rounds, and they would shift to fit the specific caliber of the weapon. That was something I couldn’t wrap my head around, considering many guns didn’t use the same caliber round whatsoever. The different sizes were because of the size of a barrel and loading chamber, a one size fits all solution shouldn’t work.

And yet, it did. The ammo, so long as it wasn’t unloaded from the magazine, was changeable. I imagined that the matter energy had somehow been kept from fully stabilizing, and it would change according to need. There wasn’t really anything more I could get on that, neither Sis nor Smith were willing to impart any knowledge on that front.

On another note, it was a solid weapon, and the bayonet was a lot more than I’d bargained for. It was covered in some kind of coating finish that gave it an incredibly keen edge and made it very sturdy. Suited for single fire, semi-auto, or fully automatic, the rifle would be my go to for the next long while.

The next item was a kind of grenade, I strapped them to my belt. They were pretty simple, press the button, think about the enemies I wanted dead, and the reaper sub-system would facilitate arming the grenade. Then, throw it and watch as the grenade selectively shifted what parts of its casing would weaken for the explosion, directing explosive force and shrapnel specifically in those directions. I’d see how well it did later, but I planned on using these to soften large groups. The steep-ish price of 5 M.E. made sure that I wouldn’t be using this on single targets anytime soon…

And the near freaking magical ‘Reaper Ammo Storage Space (Level 1)’ mystified the actual hell out of me. It literally held my ammunition in a separate permanent space, like a pocket dimension or something. There was a limit to what it could hold, but even at Level 1 it could hold a ridiculous amount of ammo, one hundred clips. Maybe if I was a bullet hog I’d need that much, thankfully I wasn’t. In any case, all I needed to do was think of holding a new clip and it would appear, and it would eat a previously used clip as it fell, throwing the empty and used shell into the space. Why? I don’t know, maybe there was a recycling function to reuse the case? It’d be nice if I could keep them intact and get three magazines for the price of 1 M.E. instead of the two I was getting now, though I didn’t think I’d be burning through that much ammo.

Finally, there was the Reaper Suit. There weren’t too many things to say about it, but what could be said was mind boggling. It was a second skin and when it touched the biosteel, I didn’t notice the fabric in the way at all. There were several plates of metal over top of it, and I started looking much more the part of the whole reaper thing. It also came with headgear, a shiny, glossy faceplate that completely covered my face. It was a little… excessive, but I wore it anyways.

For one, it worked with my reaper eye, and my field of vision expanded. At this point, I really was wondering if I even needed both eyes. I flexed my hands, feeling the mesh suit flex with me, instead of resisting at all. Every move was its command, and it loved to move for me.

This was just the basic Reaper Suit? What the hell was going on with the others?

Well, I had one other thing I should get, now that my requirements were settled.

Reaper Bracer and Glove (Shield) 20 M.E.

My sweet M.E.! I had only 17 left after that purchase. The black steel, looking almost identical to the suit and to the biosteel in my shoulder, framed my left hand. There were accents of red streaking it, touching to my fingertips and making them look almost as if they were dipped in blood. A glowing skull showed on the back of my hand, extending up the bracer itself. What looked like lotus petals cast in brilliant ruby gleamed in the background, set beneath the all black skull.

“That’s pretty sick.” I murmured to myself, somewhat surprised with the flower design, but, then, it seemed somehow fitting. A beautiful lotus, at once imposing and dreadful with death at the forefront.

I kept the remaining 17 M.E., though I knew that if I died there wouldn’t be any point to having held onto it. I just couldn’t think of anything in particular to grab otherwise.

“Alright, what’d you guys get?... Whoa…” I looked first to Fran, silver streaking her body. Her wings protruded now from a full body suit that was much the same style as before, but far more complete. I could tell that energy pulsed around her body when her wings flared, carrying her off the ground a few inches. She didn’t even blink, enjoying the sensation as I realized that her wings had grown much larger. Where once twelve feathers rested altogether, she now bore thirty eight of them, and the wing frames themselves seemed dangerous. Along her waist were small packs, I couldn’t identify their use just from seeing them. The suit was more armoured than mine was, and I didn’t need to guess to know that she’d spent the bulk of her M.E. on her wings and that suit. The cases were probably an afterthought.

“Damn, and I thought I’d look cool. You freaking fly,” I touched the back of my helmeted head, besides myself, humbled.

She turned to me, her moment of peacefulness and floating came crashing down as she flitted a few feet away from me, moving as easily as breathing. “Whoa, that’s a scary helmet. It looks like you’re just a skull in there.”

“Eh? Really?” I tilted my head, to which she shuddered.

“Uh, it’s moving with you when you talk.” She pulled out one of the cases at her waist, a shiny metal flowed from it, she gestured and it formed a mirror, the gesture alone impressing me.

“That… that is definitely like a skull.” I touched the helmet face, the clear black material showing a pale echo of my face and the reaper eye beneath smoky wisps.

“Let me see,” Daniel called walking up, the ground shaking beneath my feet.

I looked up at him, seeing that his bulk had increased considerably. “Damn, dude, you kitted out! This is what we shoulda done in the first place!” He laughed.

“What, by all that is good in this world, did you buy?” I shook my head. His mech suit had added at least three hundred pounds, the pistons and pneumatic motors were bulkier, stronger, and the machine had an angular, meaner look to it. It was intimidating, especially when I could feel the air move around it, a tenseness of power ready to be unleashed.

The other object was what drew my consternation, however.

He had a two-handed bearded axe, one that definitely couldn’t be held by a human being. It stood just taller than he did, dwarfing me. It probably weighed more than me, too.

“I used most of my points on the mech, you can augment your stuff, did you know that? You should try it on your reaper things when you have points again.” He smiled, the head opened to reveal him, albeit it looked like he was in a monster’s throat and looking out of it.

Fran likewise shook her head, “Well, simple isn’t bad.”

“You do have a ranged option, right?” I crossed my arms, glaring at Daniel.

“Hell no, I’m going to be ready to maul the next bear that comes around, not vice versa.” His gusto astounded me.

But I couldn’t refute that, the bears probably wouldn’t go down to ranged fire that easily. “Huh… okay, I guess you have a point.”

“Let’s go Hunting then!” Daniel grinned, his faceplate closing. I could swear I watched his visor flare purple and smile with him.

We made for the edge of the city. The three of us could see a general indicator in our sight, something like a head’s up display from a video game. It was specifically for those who entered the Bounty Hunt system which - while a good system - required a greater commitment of time and danger as we had well found out.

In spite of that, Fran had joined the Bounty Hunt system of her own accord. Daniel was going to have to be doing this anyways, and the M.E. flowing in from completing the tasks was quite good. Plus, we had fairly strong grasps of each other's combat abilities already, though we definitely needed to work on teamwork and comboing off of eachother.

“Hey, you guys feel that?” I spoke out, feeling the ground tremble under my feet.

Daniel paused, unmoving for a few moments. He shook his head, “No, what’s up?”

I looked to Fran first, who was currently floating a few inches above the ground, I shook my head. “The ground is trembling.”

“I am walking on it,” He shrugged, “I’m not light enough to fully diffuse my weight now.”

Fran chuckled, but then landed next to me. “Oh, I do feel the ground…” She paused, gesturing gently as a feather slid out from its sheath. They’d slimmed somewhat to only three inches in diameter, but somehow they looked stronger than before.

One pressed into the concrete, shearing through with a humming power as Fran’s pointed finger moved down.

I imagined that sliver of steel moving through a body as easily as through the stone. Fran’s kit might very well have been the most lethal of us.

The feather, a few feet long, began to vibrate. “There’s definitely something happening, maybe underground.”

“Biotics?” I looked around, “But why, it’s so close to the city.”

Daniel stiffened, “That might be exactly why.”

The three of us quieted, considering the implication. “They’re trying to move into the city? Digging under the wall, you think?”

Fran answered me, “I’d say so, the wall might not be great, but now that the old hive was destroyed, they might be desperate?”

“Whatever the reason, we shouldn’t leave them be.” I nodded to them, leaning low to the ground.

I focused my senses, feeling my helmet suddenly intake sound and amplify it.

“What are you doing?” Daniel asked, his voice sounding like it was coming through a loudspeaker to my ears.

I flinched, “Listening, please be quiet a moment.”

They waited, and after a few seconds I tuned in on the source of the sounds. I could hear scraping, crushing, the mad chittering of claws and panting wolves. Further, I could make out the scuffling of dirt. The entrance, just north-east of us, in the suburbs.

After shutting out the noise, I pointed, “They’re probably digging from over there, I think they’re in the city limits, probably the suburbs.”

“I’ll check,” Fran nodded, turning.

“Wait, we should go together, it’d be safer,” Daniel spoke hurriedly, not fond of the idea of Fran checking first.

She smiled, putting a hand on his armored chest as she floated over his head, “Remember, we’re working. I can do this, so I will. I highly doubt they fly, at least not yet.”

Daniel looked to me trying to garner support, but I agreed with her, she’d be the fastest and safest. He sighed, “Alright, I know, you’re right. We’ll be right behind you.”

She smiled, a helmet coming up from the back of her suit and guarding her features. Nearly soundlessly she sped forward, twenty feet off of the ground as her wings moved her. She sped off quicker than I expected, too.

“That’s handy.” I murmured, walking up with Daniel. “She’ll be fine. I’m more worried about us.”

“Why?” Daniel asked, somewhat disheartened.

“You’re a fat mech that makes a lot of noise. They’re already digging, could you imagine if they were smart enough to break the ground under you and pull us in the middle of a horde?”

“Uh… yikes. That’s a fun thought.” He suddenly started trying to step more gingerly.

I laughed, “Relax, I don’t think they’re that smart yet. Besides, close quarters combat where they can only come from two directions might be pretty good for us.”

“S-sure, yeah.” He coughed, “I knew that.”

We talked a little as we made our way forward. Empty, dilapidated houses with broken windows and collecting dust greeted us. The mood went more somber when we saw blood stains, or recognized where a wolf must have busted down a door to get at someone. It was the reminder that, while we had the means to fight back, we were in no way in the clear just yet. A part of me thought that we should go back to the city and warn people of the possible incoming threat. But, I believed that we could handle the threat if the conditions were right. And there was the chance that by the time any forces were reasonably mobilized, the biotics would have already come up under the city. It’d be better to hit them while they didn’t expect company.

I snapped my reaper rifle up ready to fire when a blue diamond icon moved over a building. A moment later, I chastised myself, realizing that the friendly fire system was telling me where Fran was coming from so I didn’t do exactly what I nearly had.

Fran landed near us, “They’re definitely there. It looks like they’ve knocked down an old house, probably used the basement to dig down further. Five wolves are guarding the hole, and it looks like the only cover we’ll have is neighboring houses and the park across the street.”

I paused, trying to bring up the mental map in my head of the city. I matched where she was referring too, Friedman Park, a small playground kind of deal that of course hadn’t been used since the biotics came around. I could figure out two pretty decent plans, given the area.

“Okay, I’ve got two ideas. One, we pinch them in at the exit and kill them as they leave to come after us.” I offered.

“Sounds good,” Daniel nodded, “I can sit at the entrance and keep them from overwhelming us.”

Fran nodded, “Well, I could set up a control zone, anything that moves out from Daniel would be an easy shot then.”

Nodding, I figured I’d offer up the second strategy, “The second idea is only really important if they have anything other than wolves down there.”

Daniel’s suit seemed to cringe, “Ah, you mean if there’s more of those crazy bear things… right?”

They looked to each other, “In that case, having more room to work with might be good, but if there are too many wolves, we’d just be throwing away that advantage.”

That bear was just too damn strong. If it was just one more, we could take it down with our current set up reasonably well, I think. The problem was that we had no idea if there were might be several. We’d need to have room to maneuver in order not to get bogged down, and pound for pound, I didn’t know if Daniel would be able to take on one or two bears at the entrance at the same time.

“It’s just a possibility,” I shrugged, “The bounty seemed to suggest it was one of a kind, so I’m thinking if there are other bears, they’d be weaker. Not sure by how much, though. Just in case, if it comes up there there are several bears coming out at once, we’ll retreat to the park where we’ll have extra space to work with. Since Fran can float out of reach, she’ll be able to give you direct support and keep them from hitting you all at once. Then, if there aren’t any more wolves coming from the tunnel, I’ll sneak in and take out the hive core while you distract them. Sound good?”

Daniel put a metal hand to where his chin might be otherwise, “I’m not too keen on that, actually.”

“Neither am I, it’s incredibly risky for you.” Fran shook her head, “What if there are more in the tunnel at that point? You aren’t even as tanky as I am, and then how would you get out? I didn’t see any sign of there being another exit point.”

Thoughtful, I pondered that, “You’re right, but I wouldn’t be going after the core if it looked like they weren’t fully committed to attacking you. In any case, I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve. So long as there aren’t a whole slew of them down there, I’ll be fine.”

The two of them looked to each other and back to me, it was hard to tell what their expressions were with their helmets on. “I don’t like it. We can just play it slow and get rid of the other biotics and then clear the tunnel.”

“I’m not against that, per se, but I’m concerned that there might actually be another way out. That pseudo-hive is moving, so if there is another exit…”

Fran sighed, “Then it might slip away and back into the wilderness. And without any biotics, it might be hard to track it down before it starts a new hive.”

“That, exactly.” I nodded, “I’m not saying that it’ll be my first choice. If it’s just wolves, then I don’t think it’ll take us that long to clear them out at a choke point.”

“Fine. But don’t get yourself in too deep. If it looks bad, back out. I’d rather take the penalty than have my best friend die.” Daniel pointed at me, “I’m serious. Don’t make me regret agreeing to this idea.”

A couldn’t rebuke that. I nodded, reaching out with a fist, “Deal. I won’t go in if it looks bad.”

He hesitated for a moment before letting out a sigh. Fran joined in, the three of us bumping fists.

“Let’s get this hunt over with.” I nodded to them.

We moved quickly, abandoning any pretense of stealth. The first phase relied on getting to the hole quickly. Fran darted ahead, floating inches over houses, vaulting off of rooftops. Daniel charged through alleyways, decimating fences that were in his way. I followed along, finding that I was much faster than I was before. I sprinted just behind Daniel, feeling my heart pump biosteel blood, rich oxygen enrichment kept my muscles from burning far longer than they should have.

There was no soreness, either. That surprised me considering how I’d exerted myself just yesterday. I wondered if parts of my muscles were converted too. Partially I thought the idea useful, but another part of me wasn’t so pleased about my body being changed.

Smith only changed what was damaged, but muscles being damaged was a normal part of life as a human.

I shook the sensation off, instead exhilarated at how quick I was. My agility was greater, and to test what I could do, I jumped upon a fence that wasn’t destroyed. A more distinct sensation of something helping to correct my body posture rang in my mind.

Alarm rang through me as I managed to continue at speed, balancing perfectly on the fence. Further corrections happened at once, reflexively, and I almost felt like some kind of auto-pilot system was working alongside me.

“Show off,” Daniel scoffed good humoredly.

“Says the guy annihilating every yard he touches?” I retorted with a smirk.

Ahead, we watched Fran set above the wolves, only just then did they notice our approach.

They rose their heads to howl, each of the five immediately perishing as Fran’s feathers pierced through their skulls. They pulled up, spinning as they went, throwing the dead hounds from them and at nearby buildings hard.

“Clear,” she declared, much to our amazement.

“It’s a bad day to be a biotic.” I blinked.

Daniel mocked a swoon, “Oh, I’m in love.”

She waved us over with amusement, “Anyways, lets, get into position.”

Daniel gave a thumbs up as he jumped to the gaping maw of the tunnel. Fran let a feather down low for me, probably intending on lifting it to a nearby rooftop. Instead, I jumped up to the feather five feet off the ground and then jumped again, hitting the edge of the building. Instead of falling, I kept momentum and ran a few steps up, leaping off just enough to hit the lip of the roof.

I pulled myself up the rest of the way easily.

“Since when did you know how to parkour?” Fran asked as she positioned her feathers, preparing to begin bombarding the entrance at a moments notice.

“Reaper stuff,” I chuckled with exhilaration, it felt great to move like that, “Anyways, I’m in position, ready when you guys are.”

I sat next to a chimney, just to the right of Daniel, Fran took up a position over him, ready to bombard anything even if it sat directly in front of him. She would focus on the left side, while I would focus the right, hopefully keeping them moving towards Daniel, where he could wreak havoc in melee.

“Alright,” Daniel nodded, taking another step forward towards the tunnel. He inhaled deeply, and in the next moment I felt my helmet instinctively muffle sound.

Daniel let out a bellow that still shook my bones, amplified by his suits external speakers. Fran had her hands covering slots over the sides of her head, and even so seemed to wince. I shut out the audio a second in, sparing myself.

After several seconds, he finally stopped, “Whew, think that they heard that?”

“I think the city heard you.” Fran shook her head.

I refocused my hearing, the scratching in the distance stopped.

All at once, it became louder, angrier, a frenzied cacophony.

“They definitely heard you, get ready,” I shut out sound, drew up the reaper rifle and felt it rest naturally in my hands. The killing field was set, all we had to do was wait for our quarry to slip into the noose.