෴Hex෴

෴Wilson෴

෴Raven෴

෴෴෴ ෴෴෴ ෴෴෴

Early the next morning, in response to a summons via text message, the Sia aspect of Hex appeared in her WD40 office landing space wearing a casual pair of sleep shorts and a loose nightshirt. Wilson and Raven were already in the room, standing by her desk.

She blinked in surprise. “Oh. I thought you said we were having a meeting in the big meeting room. I’m a little underdressed. I guess I should have changed before I came over.”

Wilson scowled. “Change of plans. I appreciate your prompt arrival. We’ll be in the small armory waiting for you.

They left without another word. Raven caught her eyes and gave an ominous little shake of her head and disapproving frown.

As soon as the door closed, Hex sprung into action. She rushed across the room to her desk, pulling out the clothing she thought of as ‘tactical casual’ they tended to wear around the office. Her pajamas landed on the desk as she pieced together an outfit from her many options. Halfway through pulling on a sports bra she noticed the state of the room.

Instantly another aspect popped into the room. She wore a casual pair of jeans and a blue cardigan. Her hair was cut short into a low maintenance bob. As the Sia aspect kept pulling on clothing, the new arrival picked up the discarded sleepwear, folded it neatly into a bag, and began to go over the office in painstaking detail.

Elsewhere in the building, another aspect appeared and knocked on Wraith’s office door.

“Yo!, come in.” he called out. She entered the room as he turned away from a bank of large monitors. When he saw her, his face fell. He instantly clamped one hand over his mouth, and held up his other hand to shush her.

“Sister, don’t say a word.” the large monitor above him printed out in big block letters.

She started to reply as he held up his hand to further forestall her while shaking his head.

The letters vanished, replaced by a new scrolling message. “I’m serious. Do not say a single word. Right now, you’ve dropped by to say hello to your buddy. And I can still honestly say you have not said a thing to me. I have not said a thing to you. You haven’t asked me for anything, ‘we’ have not spoken. Do you understand?”

She nodded.

He allowed himself a tight smile. The scrolling words were replaced by another scrolling message. “I don’t know WTF is going on right now, but Wilson and Raven are pissed about something, and you’re involved. I don’t know what the issue is. I don’t want to know what it is. So I need you to poof your hot little ass right back out of here, and not come back until whatever that shit is, gets resolved.”

He shrugged apologetically and ran his hand over his chocolate colored smooth shaven scalp while she read the message. She looked at him and nodded.

A final message appeared before he turned away from her and looked back at his work. “Sorry girl, hope you get this shit sorted.”

She smiled faintly through worried eyes and vanished.

Sia entered the small armory to find Wilson and Raven sitting down on the locker room style benches.

“Odd place for a meeting. Who are we waiting for?” she asked.

Wilson looked her in the eye, his expression cold. “Just you.”

Something subtle shifted in Sia’s countenance and posture. A sort of wary readiness more appropriate to a fight than a meeting. “I see. That rarely means a good thing.”

“Well, it’s not a parade in your honor, but there’s a lot of room for ups and downs from here.” he replied.

Raven spoke up. “Some recent actions on your part have us concerned.”

Hex looked her up and down. “What’s your role in all this?”

Raven started to speak, but Wilson cut her off. “She’s the one that noticed some unusual activity, and a senior member of the team.” Raven frowned at being cut off, but didn’t protest.

Wilson looked at Hex with a wary look of his own. “Have a seat. I—We—have some questions. I’m hoping we can get everything straightened out and then it’s all no big deal.”

Hex sat down on the far end of the bench. “Ok, ask away.”

Wilson steepled his fingers and glanced at Raven before proceeding. “I’m used to the idea that just because I see you one place, doesn't mean you're not somewhere else doing something else at that very moment.”

Hex nodded.

“What concerns me is when I see you at the funeral, but at that same time, you’re in this very room, picking up loads of guns and gear, and disappearing with them.”

She pursed her lips. “Considering how often people change clothes in here, I’m surprised you record video here.”

Wilson shook his head. “We don’t. A more discrete part of the lockdown protocol we use while everyone is offsite, involves deploying portable cameras. This is from one of them.”

She nodded, her eyes tight. “I see. What seems to be the problem then? I signed out every item, and most of them I returned.”

Wilson looked to the ceiling briefly before continuing. “Yes, you did. The sheer number of weapons checked out, even briefly, seems excessive even for you. Would you care to explain why you wanted so many?”

Hex flicked a glance at Raven before answering. “I wanted to take someone shooting.” she shrugged.

He rubbed his fingers through his tight curly stubble growing atop his usually clean shaven head. “Ok. That would explain why the rest of them were returned without even being used.” He looked at Hex for a reaction. “Yeah, we checked.”

Hex looked mildly confused. “As I understand it, nothing I’ve done is against the rules, so again, what’s the problem?”

Wilson and Raven shared another look. “What about the ones you didn’t return?”

Hex raised an eyebrow. “Is that what this is about? Why all the bad cop silent cop routine? I signed them out, if I don't return them, you dock my pay the cost, just like always. So again,” she raised her voice “What’s the fucking problem?”

Wilson let out a breath in a loud gust. “Ok, look. What I’m about to tell you, is not for general knowledge. Normally, I wouldn’t be telling you at all, given your contract status. But it affects you directly, so you need to know.”

Hex leaned forward. “I’m listening.”

Wilson paused, as though looking for the words. “Well, you see, we’re—”

“Doktor Midnight stiffed us.” Raven cut him off. “It’s that simple. We lost a lot of people, and our client didn’t pay.”

Wilson nodded, “Our client, that due to his excellent history, we didn’t get more than the standard down payment from.”

Hex tilted her head to the side slightly. “Ok, that sucks. Did he say why? Also, what’s that got to do with me?”

Wilson clenched his jaw. “You know I can tell if someone I’m looking at is lying to me. Tell me to my face, that you hadn’t heard about this, and were trying to get paid another way.”

Hex visibly relaxed, “Wilson, this is the first I’m hearing of him not paying you. I did want to take my guy shooting, and he liked the ones he shot. I’d like to have the cost taken from my check.” her brows furrowed, “But even if I had kept every single gun I checked out, I’d have earned it back eventually, so what’s the problem?“

His eyes narrowed. “You liked that question, and didn’t lie. How about you tell me about what you took without checking out?”

She couldn't stop her gaze from flicking over at Darby’s locker.

He didn’t wait for her to answer. “I knew it! Why!, Why would you even want it? Do you have any idea how hard those are to get?”

She nodded, suddenly looking more anxious. “I wanted to try—she met his gaze for an instant. Well, I wanted to make sure my guy was as safe as possible. I saw a lot of people die recently, and since Darby never used it, I didn’t think you would care.”

Raven sat up straighter and looked more interested. “You know it takes a pretty strong ability to even wear it. Is this guy of yours a potential recruit?”

“I guess technically yes, I’m not sure though.”

Raven leaned in. “Last I heard, those suits only work for one person. How’d you get your guy to wear it, if it was Darb’s?”

Hex smiled with sad eyes. “He never really made it his. Darbs told me lots of times that he wished he could wear it, but it was just too much of a drain on his abilities.” she wiped her eyes.“ He told me once, that if there was someone else with his height and build, he would have passed it to them. As it was, he just figured one day he’d have some breakthroughs, and eventually enough oomph to run it. That’s why he didn't wear it.”

Raven waved her on. “So your guy was able to wear it without a problem? Did he make it his? And seriously, is he a potential recruit?”

Hex appeared to think about it. “Well, in some ways yes. I would say he is for sure a potential recruit. However, he has no military or law enforcement experience, and I am still not sure what his ability actually is.”

Raven looked at Wilson, who nodded. She looked back at Hex with a confused expression. “You don’t know what it is? How the hell can he have an ability strong enough to wear one of those suits and you don’t know what it is?”

She thought about how to phrase her answer.

Wilson smacked his fist into his palm. “Fine.You’re not lying, but if he’s not a solid potential recruit, I want it back. It cost me a lot, and it was his.”

She drew an unsteady breath. “Yeah, I’ll figure out what his level of interest is, and get back to you.”

Wilson smiled. “Ok, now down to the real business. WD40 is stretched for cash. I’m going to be taking any work we can get until we either get paid, or we get our pound of flesh from Midnight.” He looked at both of them in turn. “I’ll be looking to the whole team for ideas, and ways to get the boat moving again. I’m—” he paused and blinked several times.

“I’m not sufficiently objective about things right now, so I’ll be looking for several someone’s to take on a bigger role, either interim, or permanently if they work out.”

He looked at the ladies in turn. “In Raven’s case, I’m looking for someone to repl—his voice broke.” he stopped and took a few breaths before he’d steadied himself enough to speak.

“No one can replace Darby. But I need a right hand. Someone that can complement me and temper some of the harsher aspects of my–personality. I’m hoping Raven can step into that role.”

He blinked a tear away and focused on Hex. “You, I’m looking to bring you on in a more official capacity. I can’t offer more money right now, but I can offer better ancillary benefits, and the benefit of being brought into the inner circle of the family here.”

She bit her lip, “I don’t know. A lot has happened lately. I really need some time to think about it.”

Wilson’s eyes went cold. “Just when I thought you might have figured out a way to beat my lie detection. Ok, so you don’t want to join us all the way, and you’re not really going to think about it. Care to tell me why?”

Hex took a deep breath, tension returning to her frame. “I—I guess the truth is I just don’t need the benefits you offer, and I like feeling like I’m not tied down.”

Wilson and Raven shared a look and a nod. Raven spoke up. “Ok, we can understand that.”

Wilson stood up. “I guess that’s about all there is to talk about.”

Hex stood up and relaxed. Raven stood up and they all walked toward the door.

Wilson spoke up. “Oh wait, there was one other thing. Raven wanted your opinion on something.”

“Oh yeah. So, I was just wondering.“ Raven pulled a small familiar black fob from her pocket. “What in the fuck is this thing?”

Hex shook her head in dismay. “Well shit. I’m sure that looks bad.”

“Oh yeah, do you fucking think so?” Raven spat at her. “I know exactly what this is!”

Wilson touched her shoulder and looked at her with his piercing gaze. “Tell me now. Who do you really work for?”

Hex felt a surge of weakness come over her and struggled to resist the compulsion to answer. “I–work–for you!”

His glowing eyes flashed brighter. “Who else do you work for?”

She reached for her ability to teleport away, and realized Wilson had used the other side of his boosting ability. She knew she’d be lucky to teleport this aspect out of the room, let alone out of the building. She grimaced as the rest of her distributed mind raced for a solution.

“I work for WD40!” she said with a pained moan.

Wilson clenched his jaw. “You’re only making this harder on yourself. If I hit you with any more power, you’ll tell me the truth, but I’m not sure if you’ll recover. We both know that I know, your weakness.” His tone was smooth, almost paternal.

She tried to close her eyes and managed to make her eyelids obey. Then she discovered that at this range, he didn’t need eye contact. The pressure on her mind was becoming intolerable. She could barely bring herself to act.

෴Raz෴

෴෴෴ ෴෴෴ ෴෴෴

Raz rolled over half asleep and found the bed beside him cool and empty. He grunted his dissatisfaction and pulled the sheet over his head.

A while later, he felt a little more ready to face the day. With a wide yawn he rolled over to snuggle up to Sia. His hand again found the empty bed. Searching around he found a slip of paper. He cracked a bleary eye open just enough to spot the handwritten note resting under his hand.

He wiped the sleep out of his eyes and got up. The note was short and to the point: ‘Got called into work, I’ll be back asap.” He glanced out the window. The day looked a little dreary, clear skies and sunny.

In the fridge he found a container of leftover scrambled eggs.

Not exactly my dream meal but it’s something. Too bad it’s so bland.

He washed the dishes while thinking about his situation.

I wonder how long ago she left?

[I cannot answer that.]

Didn’t figure you could. Seems a lot darker out today than usual. Kind of hazy out.

He turned on the bathroom light and grabbed a quick shower. Once dry, he changed into one of the sets of workout gear she’d brought him.

I guess I’ve put this off long enough.

With a thought, he brought up his status conditions.

[Overload level 7 (energy costs increased ~70%, energy gain unavailable.)

[Energy: 35/?]

I lost a lot of energy just being alive. Is there more we can turn off?

[The functions still running are noted as critical.]

“Alright, I need to figure out a way to get this energy situation under control.”

He tried to build up the imaginary fuel cell to allow small fragments of energy into his body. Nothing happened.

[Your intention is unclear. Do you want to exit low power mode?]

Not sure we can spare the power.

He stood in the living room, and brought to mind the old meditation exercises. Something was wrong. The memory was cloudy, distant. Piecing them together as best as he could recall, he tried to match the breathing cadence he’d been taught.

Minutes passed, and nothing seemed to change. He tried adding the fuel cell imagery back into the mix. He struggled to keep it all straight but managed to keep the unfamiliar breathing and the vivid imagery active. His head developed a dull ache behind both ears that began migrating toward his eyes like a bad migraine.

[Energy 36/?]

The notification caused his mental balancing act to collapse. The shock made him stagger in place, but he managed to keep his feet. The ache in his head remained.

Ok, progress. Sort of.

[That is quite impressive.]

Hah. You’re funny.

[No sarcasm.]

[I did not think harvesting energy was even possible in low power mode.]

“Oh shit. That’s it!”

With a flicker of will, he brought his abilities online. The world snapped into focus. The room became brighter, the colors more vivid. The air carried an appetizing scent, the lingering traces of the scrambled eggs he’d warmed up in the microwave.

“Ok, that’s kind of fucked up. I hadn’t noticed how much was different till it was gone.”

[There is no need to address me verbally.]

Oh yeah. So will being all powered up help with the harvesting?

[I believe so.]

Raz resumed the breathing and imagery work. This time it all easily fell into place as though it was natural. Time felt as though it had slowed to a crawl. Harvesting the energy still wasn’t easy. He pressed against the imaginary wall with all his will. Raz was covered with a cold sheen of sweat when he finally saw his energy tick over to full.

How can doing something that’s not even real be so hard?!

[Energy: 100/?]

On a whim, he kept going.

[Energy: 101/?]

A new discomfort started in his body. It began in his chest and quickly moved outward in waves.

[Warning. Exceeding 100 percent may be hazardous.]

Raz was too busy to answer. The instant he’d exceeded 100% the effort required to maintain the structure had magnified. The fuel cell was there, but he could barely make the energy pass through the barrier into him. Where before it had taken effort, by comparison, the energy had flowed in easily, naturally. Now only his active will was forcing the energy in a tiny fraction at a time.

He grimaced with the effort, pushing harder against the energy within him to try and move it outward with the waves of pain.

[This is ill-advised.]

His left eyelid began to twitch. All his efforts were barely enough to keep his breathing on track.

[Please take all warnings seriously to reduce the risk of major harm to user and or death.]

“Little more!” Raz gasped out on an exhale.

[Energy: 102/?]

The discomfort had been replaced, leaving razor blade paths of pain in its wake. Each breath was drawing in icy air, and expelling a breath like fire. The fuel cell ground to a halt. Willpower alone was no longer moving any energy into it.

[Siphon has increased to level 1!]

What?!

As his entire mental apparatus imploded, and the rebounding pulse of energy slammed out then into him, he collapsed onto the floor.

He opened his eyes to a screaming headache. Every ray of light was a dull scalpel scraping at the back of his eyes and into his brain. “Oh this sucks.”

He fell silent when the very sound of his own voice dug into his eyes like drill bits of sound. For a long moment, he just laid there and tried to exist with as little pain as possible.

When he finally dared to take a full breath, he was relieved that breathing at least, didn’t seem to hurt.

He double checked his energy.

[Energy: 101/?]

He groaned and instantly regretted it.

Rapid rec— Hold up. No sense rushing into this. Earlier you mentioned that unlocking another ability might help my recovery?

[The notes listed for the Restoration tree indicate that it is primarily aimed at healing injury and more systemic damage in others.]

[However, it notes that all abilities in this tree can be targeted via normal and enhanced targeting methods, which should include targeting yourself.]

Well, the more I think about this shit in the real world, healing is starting to sound not so bad.

[Yes, almost as though you have only the one life to lose.]

Once again Bee managed to convey an intense feeling of sarcasm without any specific indicator Raz could spot.

Yes, that’s a factor for sure. So this sounds good, what’s the downside?

[As discussed, once the Restoration tree is unlocked, no other trees can be unlocked until some amount of capacity and catalyst is spent there.]

Yeah, I remember that one. I take it you can't narrow down how much we’re talking about?

[Energy: 100/?+]

What just happened? Why did I lose that?

[Nothing was lost.]

[The concept of your energy capacity is hard to accurately convey, but somehow your capacity went up from whatever it was.]

[Before you ask, no, I still do not know what the total is, or how badly impacted it is by recent trauma.]

So it doesn’t really matter then. Do you know how much I’ll have to spend in the tree to be able to unlock another?

[No. I only know of the restriction because certain trees I have found have notes attached to them indicating roughly how much must be spent to unlock another one.]

Is there a lot of variance?

[Yes.]

Laying there on the floor, Raz’s eyes narrowed.

Is this about to become a twenty questions game?

[Only if you wish to gain the most capacity from learning.]

What's the lowest required ‘investment’ you’ve seen?

[1 unit of capacity and catalyst.]

And the highest?

[The entire tree, including something referred to as an Ultimate ability.]

How much did that cost.

[No cost was mentioned.]

[It is possible the being adding these notes did not survive long enough to unlock them all.]

Ultimate ability? Do you know more about that?

[I have seen many references but have no concrete knowledge.]

[I have inferred that it is a hidden ability in the tree, only accessible when enough of the tree has been unlocked, and the core of the tree has been filled in high enough.]

[It is worth repeating that the more I see of the notes and data available, the more holes and gaps in the knowledge I become aware of.]

Well, that s— I guess it is what it is. Can’t really change it.

[That may not be tr—PERMISSIONS BREACH]

[Apparently I am not able to convey this until you hav—PERMISSIONS BREACH]

Yeah, don’t sweat it. So I infer that you’re saying it might be open to user modification?

[I am, in fact, most specifically not saying that.]

[However, I would not disagree with this acceptably accurate statement on your part.]

[I am also not saying that certain recent error messages come with consequences if I run into them too often.]

Sounds like something to delve into much later. More immediate issues like dying are still at hand. The last thing we need right now is some kind of spanking from whatever makes those rules. So, before I jump on this new tree business, there was something in the HUD tree that was like this for healing, right?

[Correct.]

[Remedy is a second tier ability from the triage branch. It can, when fully unlocked, double all active recovery methods you are applying to a target.]

That sounds nice. How much energy does it cost to use?

[None. It is a passive ability that costs a small quantity of stamina regeneration.]

Cheery. Ok, so we’ve got a more or less known quantity, with Remedy, but that seems kind of weak over all. Upside, it doesn't use energy, which seems like a good deal right now.

On the other hand, the restoration suite is almost surely a solid bet functionally, but we might be locked into it for a while. That about the size of it, or is there more?

[Doubling the output of any ability for no additional energy cost is not weak.]

That’s a good point. Let’s say, it sounds weak right now.

Are you able to tell me anything about the Restoration tree right now?

[The Restoration tree contains abilities focused on—ACCESS DENIED—]

Raz could feel the silent sigh of exasperation from Bee.

I’m starting to see why there are so many notes.

[The notes indicate that it has abilities focused on, the best parallel is ‘healing’ but in the interest of full disclosure, that is not a very good translation of the word used, it’s just the closest single word in any known human languages.]

Hold up, do you know all the human languages?

[No, not even close.]

[However, you’ve seen enough of those signs in all the major languages that I can look at human written languages and make a reasonable guess.]

Too bad, that would be truly cool.

[My best guess is that multi lingual abilities are contained within the enhanced cognition or ‘grok’ tree.]

“That makes sense. Is there anything else interesting in the notes?”

[Imagine a book the size of all the books you’ve ever owned.]

[Now imagine that total bulk of text, multiplied by all the books you’ve ever seen or even heard of.]

[That would be a small fraction, of just the notes.]

Well, that sucks. I guess better more info than less?

[In theory, yes.]

Holy shit, where is it even all stored?

[The only answer I am able to get to questions like that is ‘—ACCESS DENIED—’]

That sucks. What can you tell me then?

[Many notes appear to be written for other species, or make assumptions that could not possibly apply to humans.]

[Others appear to be entered by the hopelessly insane.]

Sounds like there should be lots of interesting things then.

[This might count as interesting, is that there are entries in ancient languages, and I have found at least one case of modern English, being used to add notation to an ability tree before someone else notated it in a broken mixture of middle English and old Germanic.]

Not especially useful, but yeah, that's weird. Is searching through these notes and finding good stuff something that the ‘grok’ tree could help with?

[Even level 1 of Enhanced Cognition would help immensely.]

[The two trees both have notes that imply they synergize very well together.]

That reminds me. Any progress on that resistances question?

[No, it is a big job. I am handling it in manageable chunks to avoid being unavailable when needed.]

[Regarding the Enhanced Cognition tree, unfortunately it has no more combat power or general utility than the HUD tree, and possibly less.]

Yeah, that’s gonna have to wait. Ok, let's make a decision then. I think I’ll go with the passi—

A soft pulse of air rushed over his face. He felt rather than saw a Hex aspect pop into being somewhere out of sight in the apartment.

“Raz! Raz! Where are you? Oh god, please be here!” she called out.

“Front room.” He’d barely finished sitting up when she ran into the living room with a duffel bag in her hands.

She was clearly a Hex aspect, but one he’d never seen before. Her short hair pulled into a dirty ponytail was familiar, but her entire outfit was something he’d never imagine Sia or the others wearing. She tossed him the bag. “That bag and everything in it is yours now. For real. Now pull out some cash, give it to me, and tell me what I can spend it on!”

He blinked, “You want me to do what?”

“Just do what I said! I don’t have”—she fell to her knees with a pained expression—”I don’t have much time, just give me some money and tell me what I can use it for!”

Raz ripped open the zipper and pulled out a large saran wrapped brick of cash. He threw it to her. “Pay your rent, buy ammo, get sexy clothes, maybe some lingerie. Buy food, get whatever your want.”

She nodded, “That’s good. Now tell me something I need to do for the money. Something personal.” she emphasised the last word heavily.

He couldn't help but think of highly inappropriate responses. He opened his mouth and then closed it.

She saw his hesitation. “Yes! Even that kind of stuff. Especially that kind of stuff! Just do it! Don’t worry about offending me! Just hurry!”

He looked around the room, desperate for an idea. “Uh, bring multiple aspects to bed whenever I want.”

She relaxed as though shedding a massive weight. “Whew. Ok. I can work with that."

He looked at her with confusion. “So, care to tell me what that was all about?”

She smiled, though she suddenly looked tired. “I’ll explain it all later.”

“Which aspect are—” He trailed off as she vanished.

‘Well, that happened. I guess I’ll learn more about it later. But it doesn't really change anything. I guess I still need to make a choice. Last chance, is there anything at all you can tell me that would tilt my decision one way or another?”

[No. There are entire books worth of notes on these two trees alone, but much of those notes are useless, or at least, I cannot see how they would apply to anything, and you’d be here for another month reading them.

He glanced at the duffel bag stuffed full of wrapped cash bundles. “Huh, I guess I have money now?”

Is it weird that a huge bundle of cash just doesn’t excite me like it might have before all this?

[Perhaps it is just your growing realization that the things you need are no longer things one can easily exchange currency for.]

Sometimes I hate it when you’re right. Ok, no more delays, unlock Somatic Restoration.

[Unlocking.]

[You should lay back down now.]

“Why? I’m already sitting on the flo—” his voice trailed off as weariness hit him like a hammer from behind. With what felt like a great effort, he'd just managed to lower himself to the floor before sleep claimed him.