෴Raz෴

෴Hex෴

Today

Raz thought about her copying the suit and imagined two versions of Sia standing suddenly naked in a room as the light grey skin tight armor crumbled away. “Wow, so you managed to copy the suit, but then it, what? self destructed?”

She looked away. “I guess. In any case, then I’m standing in the work locker room naked, there’s two of me there, and of course someone else walks in.”

“Guys just walk into your locker room?!”

She pursed her lips and shook her head. “I do work with other women, you know.”

No. Sorry I don’t know more about your secret job. Obviously I don’t know!

Raz stretched. His limbs were starting to stiffen up. “I didn’t know that. It’s not surprising, but I haven’t exactly been to any of the company picnics.”

She didn’t answer, appearing lost in her own thoughts.

All this fist fighting is a lot harder than the occasional sparring match.

[She was right about the cardio, you know. You’ve let your overall fitness decline recently.]

Oh thanks, that is super helpful right now.

One of her aspects walked over and sat down on his other side. She checked her rifle, swapping out the magazine. She let the rifle hang in the sling while she checked her sidearm.

That's a good idea.

Raz took a moment to examine his gauntlets. He couldn’t find so much as a scratch on them. He drew and looked over the large pistol Hex had given him before they left.

“Mark 23. I guess that means there were at least 22 tries before this one?” he tried to joke and could tell immediately that it had fallen flat.

Hex shrugged, “I don’t know the history, but it has the biggest trigger guard of any pistol I own. It’s also one of the few I could easily set up as double-action-only for you. So it's as close to the Glocks you’ve trained with as I can give you and still be sure you can use them with those ridiculous gloves on. You might as well use it. With the suppressor on, it's an old handgun that’s just stupidly big for me. Hell, even the barrel threading on it is stupid, so that suppressor and pistol are effectively a mated pair.”

For what felt like a long time, he looked at her and realized just how much he didn’t know about his girlfriend’s past.

“Well, thanks. I would have used one of mine…” He trailed off, thinking back to the day before.

Hex looked at him and nodded slightly, but said nothing.

[Combat experience calculations complete]

[This room is the storage room you cowered in while evading your own rescue.]

Shut up. I was not cowering! I had no good reason to think that was a rescue, and you know it. Hindsight may be 20/20 but let's not overdo it.

[I am only articulating what you’ve been feeling since then.]

Fine. Maybe you’re right. Still not sure what the best call would have been. Too much second guessing myself. Wouldn’t hurt to get a good night’s sleep without nightmares.

[Designated opponent ‘Midnight’ talked about that.]

I know he did. But I don’t trust him, and whatever else he says, I think he’s got some angle for himself that he’s not talking about. Besides, I’m doing just fine without him. Right now, I’m more concerned with why I’m losing energy in these fights.

[Cause unknown. The energy loss coincided with attacking and being attacked.]

Could it be related to the creature itself?

[Unable to predict all possible abilities chimeras might have. However, if that is the case, then every creature we’ve fought here has had the same energy sapping ability.]

Yeah, I noticed that. Do what you can to monitor that and let’s see if we can figure out why it’s happening.

[Will do.]

So anyway, what did you calculate up?

[Good news. Together, the fight against those last two unlocked just over an entire capacity unit each.]

So these bigger ones are giving the same capacity gains each, as that entire group of rat sized things near the door? I mean, it's good that we’re getting something out of all this, but I’m going to want to know why later.

“That reminds me,” he muttered to himself and got to his feet.

How am I doing?

[Current conditions:]

[Flush of Victory level 5 +5 energy regen, ability efficacy, combat power.]

[Warrior's Spirit level 5 +5 capacity gains, aggression, damage resistance, -10 fear, pain sensitivity.]

[Fatigued (physical) level 20 (-2 stamina regen).]

[Overprovisioned (capacity breach) level 0 (+0% upgrade cost).]

Flush of Victory? Warrior’s Spirit? Sounds cheesy. What can you tell me about them?

[The names in my data do not translate well. I have chosen these names because they fit. They are short-term conditions that accrue as you fight. They will drop to level 4 in roughly 247 seconds, and 300 seconds after that they will both lose another level if you have not engaged in more combat within that time.]

[Also, we both know you actually like those names. I chose them as names you would find appealing.]

Ok fine, between you and me, I do kind of like them. What’s the maximum level for them?

[Unknown. You’ve only been to level five, and you accrued this by contributing to the death of six eligible opponents in rapid succession.]

Hold up. What makes an opponent eligible?

[I do not have that information.]

Interesting. I wonder…

Raz approached the two dead chimeras.

“You’re doing that thing again.” an aspect across the room spoke up.

“What thing?” he replied absently as he studied the layout of the pallets in the room.

“This! What you’re doing right now!” She hissed at him. “We’re in the middle of talking, then suddenly you go away somewhere inside yourself. Then you start muttering to yourself, and suddenly you’re doing something else and acting as though I’m not even here.”

She appeared next to him and pressed an accusing finger into his shoulder. “Real talk here, I’m starting to wonder if Midnight was right about you being unstable.”

Raz stopped and straightened up. “You know, that's a fair assessment, and I’m being rude. I’ll try to keep you more in the loop. I’m still getting used to the new normal.” he stopped short. “Wait, he said that? When did he say that?”

She sighed. “We’re getting off topic. Yes, he said it. No, I don’t think he’s right,” she paused theatrically, “But, you’re making me wonder. That's all I’m saying.”

“I just had a thought about something I wanted to check on those little monsters. As a side note, I’m pretty sure this is the room I hid in while two of you and the other guy were looking for me.”

Hex looked around the room. “Eww, what would you want to check on them? But no, Blink checked that room. How the hell, I mean, where would you hide in here?”

Raz waved his hands to encompass the entire room. “That’s what’s concerning me. This room was full, packed with crates so heavy I could barely shift one by bracing myself and pushing with both legs against the wall.”

He pointed at the pallets on the floor. “Someone loaded up these crates and took them somewhere, and judging by the state of the room, it looks like they didn’t use a forklift or a pallet jack.”

“So someone or someones, possibly with enhanced strength, has been here already.” the four aspects tensed up a bit at this thought. Two of them brought their rifles to a low ready.

“In fact,” Raz bent down and picked up the pistol from where he’d tucked it into the pallet. “Now I’m sure of it. This was the room, and someone picked this crate up without moving this pallet. This is the pistol I took from the guard. The same one you and that guy, what did you say his name was, Blink? The same guard you found before you turned around, and then, well, you know.”

She chuckled slightly at the memory. “Well, at least we can laugh about it now.”

“It wasn’t much fun at the time, but it’s kind of funny in retrospect. What’s that formula, tragedy plus time and distance equals comedy?” He unloaded the pistol and gave the magazine and loose bullet to Hex. “This will fit your Glock 23 if you want it.”

She shrugged and accepted them. “So what’s next? Are we going to keep pressing on and see how many of those things it takes to kill us, or can we leave?”

“That hole we came in, where the back door used to be, is the same way I got out. Now that we opened that drop-down security shutter. There is nothing keeping those things in the building. Once they run out of corpses to eat, and tire of fighting each other, they’re going to be loose in downtown Atlanta.”

She shook her head. “It’s less likely than you think, but sure, you might be right, but that is not our problem!”

Raz shook his head, a sharp motion of negation. “It’s not about fault, or whose problem it is. Midnight said no cops, you agreed with him. Fine, no cops. But here and now, the choices are to tell the cops about this place, or deal with the problem. Seems to me there’s only one option left.”

He looked her in the eye. “The bottom line is, I’m not going to let that happen.”

She raised her hands as though pleading with the heavens and then looked at him. “Of course there are more options. For instance, we could just leave. Right now. This place,” she made an expansive gesture with both hands, ”is not your responsibility. I’m not saying we don’t close the security gate down. I just mean we don’t have to clear this place out by ourselves.”

“I agree, but no one else is dealing with it. Like I said before we left, I’m doing this. Your help is extremely welcome, I’m so glad you’re here. But, I’m doing it with or without help. I don’t know, maybe coming here wasn’t my best idea. But we are here, and we do know the situation, so leaving things as they are isn’t an option to me.”

She looked at him with an unreadable expression. Then a smile she tried to suppress emerged, “I kind of want to call your bluff on that. But you’ve changed, and overall I think I like it. So I’ll be your girl Friday, at least for now.”

Raz smiled for a moment then shook his head slowly, “Even if there weren't any chimeras out there, I couldn’t leave yet. There's something here I need to see.” he looked at the empty room and shrugged with a helpless frown. “I would have liked to have known what was in these crates, but there is something that whoever came and got this stuff might have missed, and I need to see it.”

She shook her heads, showing her disagreement across multiple aspects. “What could be so important that you had to come back here of all places? If it’s gear you need, I can get just about anything you might want.”

I really wish that were true. I wonder if I should have just told her what I’m really after.

He set the empty pistol on the pile of pallets and headed for the door. “Thanks again, I do appreciate all the help, and the gear. Let’s get going.”

She sighed and arranged herselves in a firing arc, then got ready to cover him when he opened the door.

Raz tentatively approached the door. Walking as softly as he could, he placed his hand on the door and opened his sensorium. Details from the hall outside flowed into him. Fast vibrations, heartbeat. Air movement, breathing. Rasping of claws on tile, quadruped. Slow vibrations, big. Scent of ammonia and sulfur, chimera.

Damnit.

He softly stepped back from the door until he was next to one of the Hex’s. “There’s something right outside the door. It feels bigger than the others. I hear a heartbeat, and breathing. I feel… something. It feels like a big chimera.” his voice just above a whisper.

He strained to feel the creature lying in wait. “I'm getting a sense of its power. That’s a heavy duty steel door, but I bet it could break the door down no problem if it put its mind to getting through. It feels like it wants to surprise us. I get a sense of, I don’t know, intention from it. It’s much different than the others we just killed.”

Hex tensed but kept her rifles trained on the door. “Chimera’s get smarter as they grow. If it's the size of a person, it's already smarter and stronger than we want to mess with on our own.”

Raz looked to the other doors. “Well, I guess you get what you want. We can leave. That roll-up leads outside.”

“Shh,” she whispered. “We can’t assume anything. If it thinks we’re still going to walk into its trap it might be patient. If it hears us leaving, as you said, it can come through that door.”

Raz looked at the roll-up door and then backed away from the lurking presence he could sense behind the other door. “I’m not liking our odds here. This one feels a lot more powerful than those other two. I felt like my punches were working pretty well on those ones, surprisingly well even, but this thing feels stronger.”

Hex gave a single nod, her expression tight. A few seconds later another Hex aspect holding a black bag appeared. She carefully set it down and then vanished.

One of the four aspects picked up the bag and started handing the others olive drab bags from the larger satchel.

“Honey, I need you to go to the far side of the room and use the pallets to barricade and wall off that corner. Quick but quiet. This might be a bad time to mention it, but right now there is no way I could teleport you out with me, just in case that's on your list of backup plans.”

Raz nodded. “It’s not, I had the impression it was never even an option.” He resumed making stacks of pallets to brace against.

Right now, she says? Bee, let's do what we can to learn more about how her ability works.

[Shall I attempt to gain remote access to her ability interface?]

Raz stopped and stood there slack jawed. “You can do that?”

“I can do what?” Hex replied.

He looked at the aspects working and thought fast.

“I didn’t realize you also knew how to work with explosives.” he finally said.

One of the aspects that weren’t working directly with the explosives shrugged. “In some ways, you might say I’m kind of an ideal candidate for learning that skill set.”

“Damn, I’m really starting to wish I had your ability.”

She just smiled and kept working.

I’m not even sure if that was the truth or not. It seems like a ridiculously useful and powerful ability.

[Ability set.]

What?

[Ability set. There is no single ability in the data that would convey so much capability in one ability.]

[Without accessing her interface, I can only speculate, but she obviously has quite a few unlocked abilities.]

[I’m not sure how she managed it, if it wasn’t simply amazing luck.]

[She may have had help.]

Help? We’re going to have to talk about that later.

As he moved the pallets he watched all four aspects working on the bags they’d handed out. One of them was connecting wires to small rectangular boxes, the other was splicing wires together while another rolled out a length of wire to the shelter he was building.

By the time he finished his pallet fort, Hex was done. “This looks good.” she said, looking at the makeshift structure.

He shrugged. “If you’re doing what I think you’re doing, it’s not going to be enough. An explosion in here will be bad news for us, pallets or not.”

She nodded. “You’re right. The overpressure alone will be dangerous. That's where opening this door comes in.” she pointed at the large rollup.

He glanced at the broken latch. “The same door that if we open, it's probably going to break in here?”

She nodded somberly. “That's why I’m going to distract it long enough to get that door open. If the door is at least half open, the overpressure won't be so bad.”

Raz cocked his head to the side. “If we get the door that far open, why not just step outside and trigger the bomb from outside?”

She held up a small green device with a wire leading toward the door. “This isn’t a wireless remote. There should be enough wire to get out the door and out of the blast wave path, but it’s going to be close”

“What exactly have you got set up over there?” he zoomed in visually but all he could make out was light green thick curved rectangular shapes nestled among pallets on the floor.

“Four claymore antipersonnel mines daisy-chained in a dropkick configuration. All facing upward, slightly canted outward. They should make a pretty good expanding cone of destruction when I use the clacker. It’s a shaped explosive with a lot of built in projectiles, the pallets are to protect us from shrapnel and ricochets more than the blast wave.”

He nodded. “Well, if that doesn’t kill it, I’m not sure what we can do about it, anyway. How are you planning to distract it?”

“I’ll go out there and get it to chase me.” She saw his expression. “Don’t worry, I won't let it get close.”

“Ok, but be care—”

A loud screech erupted from right outside the door. The sound of fighting, the chimera screeching mixed with the walls and floor shaking from fast heavy impacts and a wet tearing sound. The screeching trailed off into wheezing gurgling, then silence.

A long moment passed while they remained silent and still, hoping whatever had done that wasn’t coming in. Raz heard steps moving away from the door and released the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

“Ok, I don’t know what just happened out there, but whatever it was, I hope we don’t meet it.”

“Did I mention I’d really prefer we leave?” One of her aspects swallowed audibly.

“Whatever we do, what do we do about that?” Raz pointed to the array of mines on the floor.

Hex furrowed her brow and suddenly looked confused. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever deployed an explosive I didn’t end up detonating. I suppose I could defuse it. You should stay back though.”

Raz looked at the mines thoughtfully. “Actually, let’s not. I have an idea. Do you think you can get me a few more things?” He pulled out his combat knife and scratched out the plan on one of the pallet boards.

She looked at the sketch, then at the room, and smiled. “I think we can do that. I mean, you’re crazy, but think it would work.”