෴Independent Media෴

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Man on the Street

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A tall brown-haired man smiled for the camera and waved goodnight to his audience as his producer signaled the final seconds of the live stream.

“Ok, we’re out. That was a good segment, folks.” He stood up from behind the folding table, revealing a fit frame dressed neatly in a business casual outfit. He looked over at a shorter man in glasses with large headphones on. “How’d that look Jared?”

His producer pulled off a pair of large headphones and hung it over his chair. “Yeah, it all looked great. Better if we’d got more response, but the recent stuff happening I think this is the best we could have hoped for.”

The taller man stretched his arms and started helping the small crew pack up the chairs and table they’d been filming the man on the street segment with. “At least that crazy guy that wanted to talk was entertaining. He sure had some weird ideas.” He said.

Jared started taking down the array of various cameras covering the table and surrounding area. "Oh yeah, that guy was a hoot. Be awesome if we could get more local color like that." He looked around and up into the darkening sky. "The daylight lasted longer than I expected. Either way, it's good they have this area so well lit." He glanced around and then pointed at a nearby sign. "Steve, stand over there. I’m going to get some shots of the buildings around, some nice shots to flesh out the scene and get some B roll."

Steven nodded as he handed off this folded chair to one of the crew. “This convention crowd is great. I wish we had more days like this while we’re here. As you said, the local color doesn't get much more colorful than during this kind of thing. Good call on the footage, we’ll want to get some good shots and get over to the parade route ASAP. I think local news vans will be there any minute.”

Steven noticed that Jared was being unusually still and quiet. He looked at his friend and saw him standing very still, aiming one of the high-end cameras up at the city skyline with his eye to the viewfinder eyepiece. “Yo, earth to Jared. You getting a good shot there?” he asked.

“Come here,” Jared said so quietly Steven could barely hear him. Steven put the next camera in a padded case and looked over at his friend. “What?”

Jared waved him over with one hand, keeping his eyes on the camera’s viewfinder. “Get over here!” he said louder.

Steven came over and looked at his friend. “Ok, what's going on?”

Jared held the camera very still and with his eye still pressed against the eyepiece, glanced at his friend and then back at the camera. “Look at the viewfinder screen.”

Steven hit the button to turn on the screen on the side of the camera. One of the nearby buildings was shown, its sides high in the air against the final rays of the setting sun. “Ok, what am I looking at?”

Jared refocused the camera, zooming in to the limits of his telephoto lens. ”Lower half of the view, right quadrant. It's a long way off, but I think that's a guy standing on the side of the building.”

“Hmm, I don’t see it. Is it near the thing sticking out of the building?” The taller man asked.

“No no, that is the guy. He isn't standing on a ledge or something. It’s someone standing on the side of the building like it’s level ground.” Jared answered. “I saw him land there. He flew right up the building and then rotated and stood on it like it’s solid ground. He’s been still since then. He looks like he’s waiting or watching for something.”

Steven pulled back from the small screen. “You’re sure you saw this thing moving? It looks like just some kind of black blob sticking out of the side of the building to me.”

The distant figure began walking down the side of the building.

“Holy crap. Tell me you’re getting this.” Steven blurted out.

Jared smiled, “Oh yeah. I’ve been recording the whole time.” He carefully tracked the figure, keeping it in frame and the image as stable as possible. “Oh, and by the way, I told you so.”

“Yeah alright, you got me.” Steven agreed.

The figure continued to walk down the side of the building at a leisurely pace. The two friends watched as it reached within fifty feet of the street. None of the outrageously costumed convention-goers appeared to have noticed the black figure standing on the wall above them.

Steven pulled himself away from the viewscreen and called out to the crew that was finishing the cleanup. “Guys, we gotta get over there!” He pointed at the parade route outside the hotel a block away.

The crew supervisor looked at where Steven was pointing and started giving directions to the rest of the crew. Steven and Jared began making their way down the street closer to the festive goings-on.

Jared stopped for a moment, and Steven turned to him.

“Uh, how close to that thing do you think we should get?” Jared asked quietly.

Steven looked at his friend and then at the crowd ahead of them. “Well, I think we need to get close enough that we can see and hear whatever happens.” He started walking again with Jared followed close behind. He turned back toward Jared, “But not so close we’ll get sucked in if something bad goes down.”

Jared nodded and kept filming as they walked.

෴Raz෴

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TImetable

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[Expanding the scope of an already unknown escape plan is tactically unsound. You know this.]

Yes and no. On one hand, a mass of people is a mass of people. After the incident with Hutch, I thought I was the only one. I didn’t realize till now that there are more people being held here. I have to at least try. Even if I can't get them all moving, they represent chaos in what seems to be a fairly orderly place. It would be great if I could get everyone out, but you know what I’m thinking, so you know I’m going to prioritize my own escape. If I get away I can call the GBI or cops or the army or whoever. Whatever it takes, someone needs to get out and spread the word.

Bee didn’t respond for a long moment. The background buzz of his processing came and went.

[You plan to use them as a diversion?]

Plan. Right. I don’t have a plan. I have a goal, and if I manage some plans to help that goal, great. But yeah, if it comes down to it, any diversion is better than none.

He paced in the small cell. The sound of his own footsteps sounded like drums. Standing still didn't help. Everything felt too loud and close.

“Ok, so we have a problem.” His voice echoed in the room like nearby thunder.

Scratch that, we have two problems. Everything is way too loud. Lets dial my senses back down to normal so I can hear myself think.

The loud hum of the lights and roar of the HVAC systems receded to a normal level, his slow thumping heartbeat gradually faded until he could no longer hear it. Raz took a steadying breath.

“Ok that's better. This whole senses control is pretty cool, but I need a way to use it more effectively so it doesn't get so overwhelming. The bigger problem is Braithwaite. He’s clearly going to ramp things up even more, soon. We need options. On the upside we know how to open the door when we’re ready, on the downside, the guards are armed and at least some of them can probably crush my head with one hand. That's not even including the more super powered ones I’ve seen.”

Raz made up the bed and slid the gloves under the pillow. Out of things to do that could occupy his body, he paced around the cell.

[This behaviour will not help you. Current negative conditions:]

[Distress level 30 (-30% resilience)

Anxiety level 30 (-30% stability)

Recovery (physical) level 10 (-1 strength)

Sickness (Assimilation) level 10 (-20% ability upgrades effect)

Overprovisioned (capacity breach) level 30 (+60% upgrade cost)]

Oh great, I’m worried about something genuinely bad that's about to happen, and you’re telling me that my worrying about it is making things worse. You’re so helpful.

[You are troubled. This is a natural reaction. A natural reaction that will not help us.]

[You do not wish to die.]

There was a flicker of a pause and then new words formed pulsing urgently in his view.

[I do not wish to die.]

[Although I and you are false distinctions—We do not wish to die.]

Ok, I get it. Raz lay down on the bed and began to slow his breathing down. I was never very good at this, but I’ll try meditating and see if I can lower those mental effects. I know you’ve been managing this stuff for me, but I think I need to start seeing more details if anything changes that you can quantify.

[How verbose do you wish this information to be?]

Can you give me running numbers when things change off to the side?

[Yes]

How about trying that and we can tune things as we go.

First he tried breathing, and found that while he could easily reduce his physical stress in that moment, it was only partially effective for dealing with the mental stress of his impending visit. He thought back to the instructor’s words.

“Breathe in, and take in energy from the universe. Circulate that energy through you, filling everywhere that it’s needed, and then let that energy carry out all negativity and darkness.” The old instructor had said.

A younger Raz had rejected this advice as overly metaphysical at the time, but today he felt more willing to try new things. “Ok, let's do this.”

Raz took in a breath, and imagined the inward flow of energy. It felt surprisingly real as he did it. The energy didn’t seem to want to move when he tried to push it into his body. He was surprised at first. Something metaphorical and in his imagination shouldn't be resisting him. He pushed harder and it seemed the energy resisted him even more.

How the hell do I let it flow through me if I can’t even move it?

He grunted in frustration. With his focus still on the ‘chunk’ of energy he’d pulled in when he inhaled, he let go and stopped trying to push it. The energy immediately began to shift and move seemingly on its own. As it passed through his left arm he tried again to push at it, the energy locked in place, available only to that exact spot on his body. He bent his entire concentration to it.

Suddenly he realized his arm was aching. The ache quickly shifted from an ache to a burn. He stopped what he was doing and opened his eyes. His left arm had a small red circle on it, that felt hot to the touch.

[-1 HP, energy damage.]

Well that was interesting. Adds credence to the idea that we’re dealing with a real energy. I wonder why it did that though.

[The Triage ability was active when you began pushing on the energy.]

But isn’t triage meant to heal?

[You do not yet have Recovery unlocked. Perhaps that is the result of trying to use an ability you do not have.]

Could be I guess. No permanent harm done I take it? Oh shit, I’m missing the obvious. If those HP are hit points, how many do I have?

[89/90(100) HP available.]

Break that down for me.

[You are still suffering from negative effects. Some negatively affect your body. Including reducing your maximum HP by approximately 10% ]

[You also slightly damaged yourself just now ]

[Please bear in mind that at this time, your HP is largely an approximation. A percentage based extrapolation.]

[Fully healthy or some degree less than fully healthy. Just as with your punch and kick outgoing combat damage is estimated.This may become more accurate if you survive some actual combat.]

If I survive is probably right, but thanks for the vote of confidence, and I hope you get sarcasm.

[If you understand it, I understand it.]

Good. Speaking of combat damage, you said my 14 point hit was potentially lethal? If I have 100 points, or 90 right now, and I assume I’m a normal person—at least in that way—how is 14 possibly lethal?

[You are now far from normal.]

[By your own estimation you have more activated ranks of abilities than well over 99% of all other humans.]

Yeah, but let's not dwell on my awesome set of abilities that don’t seem to do anything and focus on the question.

[Combat opportunities are designed to help you strike at vulnerable points ]

[Successful hits on vulnerable points of the body result in greater damage to the target. ]

[More importantly, my estimates of damage are just that, estimates. Until you punch real targets in real combat, we are largely making uneducated guesses.]

Yeah, that makes sense. So the potentially lethal thing is counting the possibility of critical hits then?

[That is a close enough approximation of the idea.]

That sounds cool. Probably going to need it if I have to fight my way out of here. Alrighty, so pushing energy seems to lock it in place and build its intensity. Might be a purpose for that later, but right now all I know for sure is that it can hurt me. Well, if pushing doesn't work.

Raz took in energy from around him in a deep breath and attempted mentally pulling at the flow of energy. With a pull he felt it flow easily into and through him. It felt good. Surprisingly good. A few breaths in he realized the process was making him feel energized and exhilarated.

This is surprisingly invigorating.

Verbalizing even in his mind broke the state, and he had to start over. He noticed immediately that the HUD that had been overlaid into his vision including his inner eye was missing.

[Please wait.]

Over the next few seconds the HUD slowly popped back into place.

[+20 energy.]

“What the hell was that?” He said to himself.

[The euphoric experience was surprisingly intense.]

[I experienced, a sort of reboot. ]

[Warning: I was partially offline for most of that meditative experience. Reassessing host and user condition.]

That sounds like a bad thing. We might want to look into what that really means. Make sure to tell me if something I do is damaging you. So anyway, is twenty energy a lot? Oh wait, let me guess. My max energy is either 100 or normally 100 but right now it's less. How close am I?

[34/60(100) Energy available.]

[You are very close in concept.]

[However, bear in mind that you have two mild physical negative effects. Together they remove roughly 10% of your total maximum health and energy. ]

[You have two additional more severe mental negative effects.]

[This has taken its toll on a number of mental capacities, including energy.]

Ouch, I guess anxiety and stress are real problems. I hope I can work on that a little with this meditation. On that topic, can those combat reflexes work with non fighting actions?

[Reminder: ‘Combat reflexes’ is your designation.]

[This ability is linked to all skills that employ procedural memory in the brain. ]

[The answer to what you are actually asking is yes. ]

[The energy manipulation you were just doing is very much a procedural function.

Thus it can be optimized in this way.]

Cool, and, wait, can you quantify that energy? Like, is there anything real to it?

[That energy is very much real. ]

[Whether it is truly ‘from the universe’ as your sensei described is beside the point.

Even that short exercise made a difference.]

[Significant progress toward refilling your energy reserves has occurred. ]

[That energy is real enough that we can make use of it.]

[That method was a much faster method of regenerating your internal energy than you have had so far.]

[There may be additional benefits to this mental exercise.]

But are we talking about a real quantifiable energy?

[It was real enough to cause a minor burn.]

That could be psychosomatic.

Raz looked at the red mark on his arm. “It did feel very real.”

Ok, let’s try it again, and if you can help me optimize that, you let me know.

He took another deep breath and pulled at the energy that he imagined to be surrounding him. With the trick of pulling instead of trying to push the energy, it seemed to move freely through his entire being. For an unknown period of time he simply lost himself in sensations and endless moment.

Wow, that feels great. Letting the energy flow through me like that is almost addictive.

[+50 energy.]

[This may be an addiction worth pursuing. You have made significant progress in an unidentified ability tree.]

Unidentified? I call bullshit. How can you even say that and expect me to take you seriously?

[I am able to track the progress as a value that was previously zero beings to rapidly increase, and then resets to zero, and then slightly less rapidly increases again.]

[It repeated this pattern several times during your meditative exercise. I… suspect, that this represents the base skill set for an ability you do not yet have.]

Suspect eh? That wouldn’t be some abstraction and synthesis on your part, would it?

[Yes.]

So +50? I’m not a mathmagician, but 34+ 50 sounds like more than 60 to me.

[It is. You should also know that the +50 is significant not just because of that.]

[Whatever skill you are working with the base of, we need to continue it.]

[Your natural energy regeneration is only around 20 an hour in the morning, declining down throughout the day.]

[Mealtimes and activity increase it, but none of it is on the level of energy regen this technique is accomplishing.]

[95/100(100) HP available.

80/80(100) Energy available.

Distress level 10 (-10% resilience)

Anxiety level 10 (-10% stability)

Overprovisioned (capacity breach) level 10 (+20% upgrade cost)]

“Nice, that's some good news.” He muttered.

[This is very good news. However, it does raise questions. I have made many queries into the fragmented database I currently hold.]

[Nothing I have found explains this level of recovery without associated abilities.]

[My ability to form these questions is far less developed than yours, so working together as one we may find more information.]

“I actually feel a lot better,” Raz said. This seems to be boosting my personal recovery. We’ll want to learn as much as we can about it. I guess for now I might as well get up and move around. I feel like I could use some stretching.

Raz stretched out on the cot, flexing his limbs and feeling what seemed to be the last of the residual ache in his chest clearing out like a muscle that just needed to be stretched out a bit. “Mhm, that’s much better.”

“Better than what?” Braithwaite asked.

Raz yelped in surprise and nearly jumped out of the cot when a voice replied in his ear. His eyes flew open. Crouching over him leering like some kind of gargoyle was the tall figure of Braithwaite with a malevolent gaze on his smiling face.

He bent down and got uncomfortably close to Raz. “And just who is it, that you’re talking to?”