෴Raz෴

f෴Midnight෴

෴Hex෴

෴Brock෴

෴Nicolette Stilt-Ivaldison෴

෴෴෴ ෴෴෴ ෴෴෴

Regroup

෴෴෴ ෴෴෴ ෴෴෴

He woke to the sun in his eyes. It felt way too damn early to get up. The sparsely decorated pale blue room looked vaguely familiar, but not enough to tell him where he was. The three mismatched chairs alongside the bed gave the impression he might have visitors.

Damnit Bee! Where’d the clock go? What time is it?

[I lost accurate timekeeping function during an extended outage.]

The bed itself was quite comfortable, so he rolled over to eke out a little more rest. Or rather, he tried to roll over. The moment he tried, it felt like every bone, muscle, and joint in his body had been removed, ground up, and then shoved roughly back into place. He bit back the startled bark of pain that tried to erupt from his lips with a strong effort of will, and only by the barest margin of success.

[Warning: Multiple abilities unavailable. Do not attempt to use them.]

Raz activated Somatic Restoration. Reaching for his abilities had become simple, easy, and second nature. This time it was akin to taking a tight, firm grasp on a familiar implement before realizing the tool was red hot. He recoiled from his own abilities and felt shock waves of pain reverberate throughout his body.

[Yes, that. Don’t do that!]

What happened?

[I don’t know. The last coherent memory I have is everything in your body accelerating and then starting to spiral out of control.]

Yeah, I remember everything went red after he—Oh no.

The memory of Nona’s death, her blood making its way down her delicate throat. The blood. The red blood. It pooled there, mocking him with the dichotomously short but impossibly far gap between them. Re-living the sick powerless feeling of that moment again caused a vast serpent of enraged wrath to uncoil from somewhere deep within him.

His heart raced. Shards of pain detonated in his chest. The jagged edges of fire fed the growing red serpentine darkness inside him.

She’s gone. She was right there and I couldn’t save her!

[You need to calm down!]

His inner voice became a guttural roar.

Calm down? She’s gone! That maniac killed her for fun, and you want me to calm down!?

His skin flushed dark red, even as it felt like every inch of his flesh was being consumed by corrosive flames. Small droplets of blood oozed from his skin across his body, staining the sheets red. His chest heaved with an excruciating feeling of delicate flesh tearing under impossible strain.

[If you let yourself go berserk again right now, you’ll die!]

A flash of a naked female form flickered in his mind’s eye. A tactile memory accompanied it, the feel of her skin. He didn’t recognize her, even as he felt like he should. His thinking of someone else at a time like this infuriated him! The anger slithered inward, cycling higher, hotter.

What the hell is wrong with you?! You just saw her die and you’re already thinking about someone else? You never deserved her, and now you’re just proving it!

Muscles swelled and pulsed with power, even as they added a new voice to the chorus of ripping and tearing agony inside him. His bones throbbed and ached, the shattered feeling of thousands of partially healed fractures flaring in brittle agony across his frame. He grunted and groaned in pain, his expression twisting into a feral snarl.

[Shut up, you stupid frothing madman! Shut up and listen! Can’t you hear her?]

[Hearing to max sensitivity.]

Every little noise got louder. The sound of his racing heartbeat suddenly became a deafening thunder in his ears. Somewhere beyond the throbbing noise of his rage, the sound of her voice penetrated all.

He gasped. It was her–Sia. For a moment, Raz didn’t dare breathe, didn’t even blink. The nightmare image of her cooling dead body intruded and competed with the dream image of her sole aspect being crushed against the force field in front of him. The ongoing sound of her voice cleanly sliced through those horrific thoughts without resistance.

Unaware of his rage and distress, she kept talking, her tone calm, conversational even. He just listened to the sound of her voice, letting it soothe a gaping wound inside him so raw he’d felt like nothing could ever make it better.

His heart rate fell as his body returned to normal. Once the pulsing heat in him had slowed down enough to let him breathe normally again, he focused his attention on the words she was saying.

“—nyway, Wraith got a lot of useful information. The summary notes are in the data stick there.”

Someone else replied. A familiar voice, but he wasn’t listening to them, just her voice.

She continued speaking, the sound of her bright, optimistic tone bringing a smile to his aching, weary face. “No, the big news is I got a phone call that sounded like they routed it through half a dozen radio relays, a sat-link, and maybe a random noise generator thrown in for fun. The guy says he knows Raz, and wants to help.” she paused, “At least, I think that’s what he was saying. That Russian accent was strong enough to peel paint.”

Several voices replied this time. He vaguely recognized them, but remained nestled in the soothing warm blanket of hearing her voice.

“No, I’ve got some of your–our people on the way to the site to meet him, and get a sense of what he’s about. They’ll interview him, get a sense of who he is, and how he knows Raz. That, and of course, if he’s on the level. Who knows, if we’re lucky, maybe he can bring us up to speed, give us a picture of what's been happening this last week. If it checks out, I was thinking of asking Brock to get him a ride here.”

The name and familiarity of the room snapped into focus.

Of course! This looks similar to the room Hex and I stayed in that night with Brock, on the way to that desert hellscape.

He focused his hearing back to the faint voices. Several other voices spoke.

“Nah, I don’t think it’ll be a problem. He gave me his name. And—” she paused, when she resumed her voice was less sure, more guarded. “Full disclosure, WD40 has a file on him, and a picture. You might have seen him yourself. As for finding him, a short, buff, Russian guy in the middle of a refugee camp near the border of Nigeria and Chad? I doubt he’ll be that hard to pick out. On that note, I know teleporters are a big ask, and I’m well aware of how useless I am for personnel transport, but at the very least you, or we, need more fliers in the roster. Logistics is killing us.”

Midnight’s voice cut in. “I don’t like to encourage that path. Flying is dangerous in too many ways. Good flight powers require too many supporting abilities. If you don’t have extremely high speed and maneuverability, along with the physical durability to survive it, then flight just makes you more visible and trackable to satellites and other cameras,” he fell silent, his brooding palpable even from where Raz lay, “You don’t know the kind of problems flying can bring down on the ones you care about.” He finished, his tone was dark.

Her skepticism was clearly audible. “More dangerous than teleportation? Also, you know, coming from a guy who gets around by flying, that comes across a bit hypocritical.”

“Exactly, that’s the problem,” Midnight’s sigh was filled with regret. “But no, it’s not worse than teleportation,” he sighed loudly, “I’m well aware of how it sounds, but if you’re not very fast and tough, it's just too damn easy to kill yourself with flight. Let’s not even get into hitting something at high speeds.” He paused, making Raz wish he could see whatever was happening in there before he continued, “You need to keep in mind that not everyone has the same cap. Too many people could fill out a solid flight power chain, and discover they’ve used most of their capacity for growth, or worse, they’re already capped out at that point.”

“Capped out? You know, I could use some air and a leg stretch. Tell me about it outside.”

Raz heard them get up and walk out the front door of the shop doors.

Wanting to join them, to stay close enough to hear Sia, Raz tried to get up, and reeled back at the fresh waves of sharp, burning pain flowing through every part of his body. He opened his eyes, noticing the red stained sheets for the first time.

Oh, that’s bad. How messed up am I?

He grimaced. No longer able to hear her voice, a small, paranoid voice inside him began to wonder if he’d imagined it all. Fearing that he was about to wake up, still in the silvered room, still cuffed to the wall. He wondered if maybe this was what happened when the implant took over. A brief false sense of freedom, then you spent the rest of your life in your own personal hell. Slowly going mad as every effort at escape failed, or was rewound. Raz suppressed that horrible thought with all his energy, all the while straining his hearing for any whisper of her voice in the air.

This is real. This is my reality. I’m really here, Bee is here, you’re not dreaming.

Another sudden red hot spike of agony pulsed through him.

[Apologies, that discomfort was my fault. I was testing an idea. Diagnose is also offline. Also yes, you are really here, and really awake.]

I mean, that is just what a hallucination would say. But assuming this is all real seems safer than driving myself crazy. So good job having an idea even if it didn’t work out. Sounds like everything in Somatic Restoration is a no-go right now. Can you tell me how messed up I am without that? Beyond ‘you’re all screwed up’, because I can feel that part myself just fine.

[Best I can say is that your body has suffered systemic widespread physical trauma. There don’t seem to be any acute injuries, which seems odd given the overall feel. I don—Oh. I think I know what happened.]

[Might rank 1 is now fully unlocked. The purchase was already made, but now the Berzerk and Guardian requirements have been met. I now have access to many more notes on the ability.]

Give me the bottom line.

[The bottom line is that your abilities will come back online.]

Well yeah, I kind of assumed it wasn’t perma—wait, was ‘never coming back’ possible? Is it possible to permanently lose abilities?

[Yes, it can happen in a number of ways. Based on the notes, the most common way this happens is when the ability activation is focused on one body part, and the user loses that body part. Aside from that method of ability removal, it is apparently somewhat rare.]

Are there abilities that can take away abilities?

A sound like a sort of chime rang in his mind.

[The answer is yes. More importantly, your question has prompted an interesting discovery! Being a Pinnacle ability, there are of course no notes specifically about HUD abilities, but judging by notes in similar abilities within other trees, your Drain and Clone abilities might be among the abilities capable of this temporary or permanent ability removal as a hostile action.]

That’s kind of creepy. It also sounds like another rabbit hole we need to investigate at some point. Reminds me how I’ve been so lax about digging into my own abilities. Damnit! Why am I so lazy?! I need to shape up and do better. Why do I keep failing at everything? I’m so mad at myself right now! Why can’t I do better? I just need to stop wasting so much time and prioritize—

His angry self recriminations continued until a sudden stabbing pain across his torso got his attention long enough to break the train of thought.

Ok, that wasn't very constructive. So how long will I be out of commission?

[One of the notes implies that the time an ability is out of commission depends heavily on how and if it was used during the Berserker madness.]

Not really an answer. Have you at least got an estimate?

[Up to one hour per minute of Berzerk use.]

Right, but how long was I berzerk? And why don’t I remember any of it?

As he thought this, another flash of a woman’s voluptuous form crossed his mind, accompanied by her scent, and the feel of warm soft skin, and softer sounds. The memory was heavy with tactile sensations. The sensual memory was followed by equally visceral scenes that would have fit a horror movie. Bright blood fountained into the air, sprayed hot and sticky across his face. Bodies of his enemies cleaved in two. Flesh and blood, splattered on a concrete wall. So much blood. The coppery scent of blood, along with the odor of burned bacon, warring with ozone and the stink of released bowels and bladders. Feelings and images punctuated by flashes of blinding light and pulses of blazing heat.

[I have no way to know how long, or when the Berzerk period is considered to start and end.]

Oh, so that’s what you meant about the timekeeping being interrupted? I wondered about that. So, without trying to use them, can you tell me which abilities are available? Obviously you, since we’re talking.

[Yes. I suspect that most of the HUD ability tree is fundamentally incompatible with the Berzerk state. Give me a moment]

Raz passed the time by trying to lever himself out of the bed. This led to considerably more aches and pains, but he couldn't seem to even sit up. His muscles lacked the strength to lift themselves, let alone pull him up. Even trying filled his body with harsh stabbing pains. The thin layer of drying blood coating his skin began to itch.

My body feels so heavy.

For a second, he struggled to simply lift his arms off the bed, before surrendering to the burning aching in his shoulders.

I’m as weak as a newborn here. Feels like that time I tore a ligament back in high school, but now it’s like the tear is everywhere.

[We’ll know more when Diagnose becomes available.]

Raz noticed the empty Catalyst meter he’d set up along the edge of his view.

Is that right? Am I really bone dry on Catalyst?

[You really are. Even the normal fractional amounts and small amounts of free Catalyst in your body are nearly zeroed out. At the current Catalyst particle impact rate, you’ll gain a single unit of Catalyst in approximately 492 hours.]

I guess I should be happy you’re still here, or online, whatever. Why so damn long? That's what, almost 21 days?

[20.5 days. If you get closer to the local Incursion, that time will drop considerably.]

Raz tried to laugh, then grunted in irritated pain.

Bah. That’s pointless number cruncher advice. If my experiences so far have been any indication, approaching it will get me attacked by much better sources of Catalyst. That would be good. I could use a good fight right about now.

[Maybe not. Right now you’d be easy prey for a squirrel armed with a plastic spoon.]

You’re getting better at analogies and turns of phrase. And maybe you’re right. But you never know until you try. Am I right or what?! A fight would be a lot more fun than lying around.

[Thank you. On that note, while you recover, we should discuss the mental impacts of the Might ability tree.]

What do you mean? It hasn’t had any mental impact.

[Oh, well that’s good. I guess that was a short and easy discussion. Of course, going berserk was always a normal part of your life before, so I guess you’re all set then.]

Ooh, big man Bee’s got sarcasm now. Well ok, I mean aside from that. I’ll admit the whole berserk thing was pretty weird. But aside from being aware of occasional anger management issues in the future, I don’t feel any different. It sounds like you’re worried about nothing.

A small, distant part of him wondered why he suddenly felt so defensive. The rest of him went on the offense as a response to the questioning.

[That’s exactly the problem. You won’t feel different, and you’ll be less inclined, or even actively disinclined to self-examination. Do you recall that I said very few species have access to the Might tree?]

Yeah, what of it? What are you getting at?

[That nearly all of them have made an effort to document and note the denial and cognitive dissonance experienced when Might users face the changes in their own psychophysiology, speaks to it being a significant issue.]

Stop talking in circles and get to your point already!

[Exactly. You are in fact, making my point for me. Until you both regain your executive function and re-learn to master yourself, your temper will be much shorter. Your self-confidence will be higher. Your ability to moderate and control your impulses is impaired.]

I don’t care what some stupid alien species wrote about the ability a long time ago. I’m fine. Everything worked out more or less just like I planned! You said nearly all of them. I’m obviously just not affected the same way.

[Confidence that you’ll be the exception to the rule is a perfect example of the mental impacts described.]

Shut the hell up. I already have enough preaching from my dead dad.

[You’ll regret saying that later.]

Bite me!

Bee didn't reply, instead, an irritating buzzing, humming sensation took up residence in the back of his head.

Whatever the hell you’re up to, knock it off! I don’t need another condescending lecture from a voice in my head!

[Of course. You’re in charge.]

Everything hurt too much to keep talking, and Raz didn’t have anything to say to Bee anyway. A while later, despite the itching of his skin, and sticky dried blood covering his body, he drifted back to sleep.

Some time later when he woke from the fitful doze. The first thing he noticed was that someone had cleaned him up, and replaced his bedding. The itching, sticky dried blood had been cleaned up. Even so, he could still smell the heavy odor of his own blood in the room.

The second thing he realized was that he did indeed regret what he’d said earlier. Admitting Bee had been right, even tacitly, chafed at him.

Sorry dad, I didn’t mean it.

[That is a good sign. Earlier, you’d just been in the early stage of berserker rage. If the effects of nearly going berserk have fully faded, you’ll probably have an easier time with a rational conversation.]

Raz swallowed the instinctive snarl and sighed.

I’ve never liked talking to condescending pricks. Do us both a favor and try not to talk down to me right now. I get it, I believe you, there’s clearly something going on. Do you think you can tell me about it without pissing me off?

[That is a good point. I’ll think about how to convey this information in a less inciting manner.]

I know what I need to feel better.

He willed his hearing sensitivity back up and found her in conversation.

“—ake no mistake. Your timing with the door was exemplary. Without your door there, I’m not sure even Midnight’s swooping Archangel of Deliverance move would have been enough.”

Nicolette chuckled. “I’m glad we could help.”

Brock cut in. “Ja, verdammt richtig!”

Sia laughed. “You know I don’t speak German.”

“Entschuldigung! Ahh, Excuse me. I vas just agreeing mit mein Frau. I owe you a great deal. Opening a door hardly clears that debt.” Brock said.

Sia spoke up, “Hey you. Earth to Midnight, or old Raz, or whatever I should call you.”

What in the hell does she mean by that? Why would she call him my name?

Midnight grunted, “Eh? Sorry, just thinking about everyone I couldn’t save.”

She let out an exasperated sigh. “Only you would see a high rise collapsing and try to stop it!”

“Yeah, well—” Midnight started to respond.

She talked over him. “Shush, I’m not done. Like I said, only you would try to stop a collapsing building, and only you would actually manage to slow it down! You kept it from hitting the hospital, and if you’d watched the news, you’d know the building it did fall on was empty, scheduled for some kind of major internal renovation.”

A sliver of hope entered Midnight’s morose tone. “It was empty?” A faint hope rose in his voice, then faded, “No, you’re just trying to make me feel better.”

Brock jumped in. “Nein! is true! Vas on news.”

Sia let out a sharp, cynical laugh. “I mean, they were talking about you, so I wouldn't say the coverage was exactly fair or unbiased, but there was enough independent footage surfacing of you moving the fall toward the old industrial building and away from the hospital that even they had to admit you did a good thing,” Sia said with a satisfied tone.

Dr. Stilt joined the conversation. “Yes, they were quite complimentary. Honestly, they only brought up the suspicion that it was you who brought the building down in the first place a few times.”

Sia huffed in annoyance. “Really? You had to mention that?”

Midnight let out a heavy sigh along with a bitter chuckle. “Yeah, now that doesn't surprise me. That's the media I know and expect.”

Sia wouldn't let it go. “Well we know the truth, and so do a lot of individuals out there who were filming! There were a lot of cameras pointed at that crazy lightning display already.”

Uh oh. I hope that doesn’t turn out to be a problem. I wonder if I contributed to this collapse they’re talking about?

She continued. “The media sucks, agreed. But you saved that hospital and everyone in it. Enough people saw it that the truth there can’t be hidden. And to cap it off, you flew down like some kind of avatar of rescue, and scooped us up and flew through the door right as the building was coming down,” She paused and swallowed, “Honestly, I had given up on getting him to the door. I don’t know what happened, but my Raz was just way too heavy for me.”

‘My Raz’? I am way out of the loop here.

Midnight grunted a soft agreement. “Yeah, and even that almost went badly. Going through any door too fast, into a small area, is horribly dangerous for people on the other side. Brock knows, he was there the last time that happened.”

Brock’s tone went somber. “Jah, es ist true. That vas a bad night.”

A memory surfaced. It felt like so long ago, even though just over a week had passed. Brock’s sad voice speaking about his father Burke, “Yes. I know. I vas there the night Doktor Midnight killed him.”

This time the rage spiked so fast and hard he couldn't get in front of it. For several minutes he was lost in the effort of staving off the berzerker madness. Only the long years since his father’s death, and his ongoing plan to find a way to cheat that death allowed him to cling to himself until the rage cooled. He sealed those thoughts away for the moment, hoping to keep them from bursting out at the worst of times. During the battle against his inner demons, he lost track of the conversation going on out in the shop.

That was too close. Next priority, I need to get out of this bed. Before I try, any reason the Recovery ability would be offline?

[I’ve used the time to inventory locked out abilities. Sadly, it appears that Recovery was used during your berserk period. However, I’ve managed to extrapolate some countdown timers until each ability should be usable again.]

Now we’re talking, that sounds useful!

[These countdowns are purely estimated, please do not do anything stupid and put yourself in harm’s way while depending on those timers to be accurate.]

Who the hell are you calling stupid? You’re a stupid vo—

He exhaled sharply, then drew in a slow breath.

Ok, that is kind of annoying, and feeling annoyed at my own reaction, just wants to loop into more anger. This pissed off positive feedback loop is going to be a problem.

[Yes, I agree with your assessment. Also, I misspoke, I simply meant, let us avoid hazardous situations until everything is working again.]

Yeah, that sounds reasonable. I still kind of want to go fight something, right now. If I can fight something and get some Catalyst from it, so much the better. Intellectually I know that's a stupid idea when I can't even get out of bed, but I still want it for some reason.

[An irrational drive toward combat is one of the symptoms.]

Shut it! It’s not irrational if I need to—

He calmed his rising ire with a fraying force of will.

This is going to get old fast.

[I meant that only as a technical term. You are correct, we do need Catalyst, as soon as possible.]

I’m going to meditate for a while and see if that helps. I can’t be flying into a rage every time you point out my mistakes. I make way too many mistakes for that, and thinking about those mistakes just infuriates me! We’ll never get anything done at that rate.

Meditation felt like it took forever to get nowhere. Every time he thought he was getting close to the state of mind that had once come so easily, an image or feeling would slide into his mind, and he’d struggle to dismiss the intrusive thought before resuming his efforts. The constant fragmentary images of a woman’s body, accompanied by the feel and scent of her were the most intrusive of thoughts. Even once those were dealt with, he found stray sounds and odors easily distracted him. He ended up pulling his senses in, then struggled with the feeling that he was deliberately blinding himself to outside threats, without any idea of what those threats might be.

Eventually, he gave up, and took a break. With a minor effort of will, he called up his White Fire tree.

Ok, no Catalyst on hand, so nothing can be—

The low hum of Bee thinking in the background started up. Today, something about the feel and sound of the buzzing in his head grated on his nerves and really pissed him off.

Oh, I swear, if you interrupt me to correct me, and tell me I actually have .000001 Catalyst on hand or some bullshit like that, I will punch myself as soon as I can move my arms, so help me.

[I was not going to say anything so pointless. I was attempting to anticipate your needs and have the information ready when you want it.]

Ok, ok. Alright Raz, get a grip man. No need to get mad at every little thing.

Some part of him disagreed, finding everything more abrasive and annoying than ever before. The comfortable bed and soft linens suddenly felt like steel wool and sandpaper.

Bee, is it always going to be this bad?

[Probably not, feeling trapped is turning into a bit of a hot button for you.]

You can say that again. Can you blame me?

[So feeling trapped by your own injuries is probably exacerbating the situation.]

Raz took a long calming breath. The idea that Sia was alive hardly felt real. The thought slid through his consciousness, soothing like a comfortable cool breeze on a hot day.

That's a good point. So anyway, I want to dig into these abilities a bit. Maybe focusing on something else will help me feel better.

[Your understanding of general current psychology theory would support this idea.]

I feel like I’ve developed a sort of almost instinctive understanding of these abilities, but I want to articulate it and feel free to correct me if I have it wrong. I’ll… Try not to fly off the handle about it.

[I will try to convey any corrections in a non-confrontational manner.]

Ok, so White Fire gives access to the energy itself. It's less about generating it, and more channeling and controlling it.

[Correct. White Fire, noted for being very powerful, but hard to control, hard to weaponize, and a terrible weapon. Whatever that may mean.]

[Additional detail. There is an implication that some abilities in the tree allow the user to generate White Fire. No detail about why this would be needed or desirable is listed.]

Good to know. Ok, it came with insulation, and I can buy more ranks of that if I want. So far, it looks like I’ll need to do that at some point. It’s at the bottom, so I’ll need it to access whatever comes next.

[Agreed. It appears that you already have access to quite a bit more power than you can safely wield.]

Ground Control is like a targeting mechanism. It seems to have a fairly short range, but I’m not sure I’ve really tried enough things with it. I keep trying to think of these arcs like they’re welding or taser arcs, and it’s close, but they don’t quite follow those rules. At least, I don’t think they do. I learned a lot playing with it out in the desert, but it feels like I barely scratched the surface of what I can do with it. Maybe I should talk to someone who specializes in the physics of lightning or other high-energy discharges.

[Correct, and more experimentation would probably help. Consulting an expert could be quite useful when time and opportunity align in our favor.]

Like that’s ever going to happen.

He took a cautious breath and risked talking. “Friendly Fire is like the opposite. It prot—” a fit of coughing overcame him, bringing a stinging metallic taste to his mouth and a deep wracking pain across his torso and in through his chest.

Ok, so that was a bad idea. Stop doing stupid things!

A few shuddering breaths later he’d calmed back down.

So yeah, Friendly Fire is like the opposite of Ground Control. It protects targets from White Fire. Stacking more than one of the markers increases the protection, at least some.

[It appears to provide as much protection as you have Insulation, per marker.]

That makes sens—Well, it doesn’t make sense, but there’s certainly a sort of internal consistency to it. Controlled Path, I don’t think I’ve done anything with that.

[It is a passive ability. It appears to simply support and enable the mechanics of Ground Control and Friendly Fire.]

Oh right, so it picks a path for the energy to travel. Speaking of path, I don’t understand Ionized Path, or its sub-abilities. Quantum Blade sounds cool, but what does it do? Spark Gap sounds like som—

A series of stop-motion memories flooded into his mind's eye. He saw through his own eyes as though he were a stranger. The stranger looked at a group of ENEMIES down a long hallway with an enraged snarl. In a blinding flash, he became as lightning, crossing the intervening space between in an instant, before killing them all with the bloody cable, and a blade of brilliant fire. His attacks sent blood and flesh flying and filled the air with the scent of cooked meat.

The vision ended. He dry heaved, sending new shooting pains through him.

All that blood! It was on me! It got in my mouth! So gross. I think I’m going to be sick.

He barely managed to avoid vomiting all over himself, breathing shaky shallow breaths for a long moment as he pushed the images away.

Never mind. I think I know what they do. Spark Gap is like, a teleport? But also not. I was aware of the travel, and it felt more like I became the energy, then crossed the space really fast.

[If it isn’t instantaneous, no matter how fast it is, it probably isn’t classed as teleportation. We should experiment with it in a non-combat situation.]

For sure. I guess Quantum Blade was the weapon? It looked like… I cut those people in half with the light.

[Quantum Blade is listed as a passive with trigger events. The description is as lacking as usual. I found a note that mentions something about it making White Fire omnipresent, immune to redirection, and undeterrable. It sounds like it imbues the energy with some kind of additional penetration in certain scenarios.]

I guess that’s good? So the lightning blade was something else. I was able to put an Ionized Path marker on Braithwaite so I’m guessing it’s not that either.

He tensed up at the thought of Braithwaite, briefly torn between fear and fury. Anger crushed anxiety with an almost contemptuous ease.

On that note, I need to figure out how to kill that guy and his damn stunt double.

With what felt like way too much effort, he worked his way back to his baseline calm.

Ok, so that’s all I have. The stuff I don’t have. Insulation 2 seems self-explanatory. Got any details about Shatter Strike?

[Unfortunately no. All I have is that it empowers strikes in some way.]

Ehh, sounds like one to wait on. What about Power Core?

[If there are notes beyond Ionized Path, I do not have the ability to see them.]

Figures. Damn system is always jerking us around.

[Good news. Recovery has just come off cooldown.]

Raz almost activated it, then paused to consider.

Status.

[Health: c͓͑a̪̝̣̙̔͛͂̂ͪ̂n̞̹̠̫̫̪͂̂̑ͤͩ̾ͥ͂n̠̻̰̬͓̝͎̺̭̂̍̄̉͂ͤó͍̝͖ͯ͊̓͗t̠̺̩͕̖̼̲͇̤̫ͩͬ d͇̱̭̟̠̗̦̗͈̳͍̝͙ͫe͇̲̩̪ͪṫ̟͍̉ě̜̺̖͕̰̯̥͎̘̘̱̞̲̗͙͂r͚̫͈̬͓̦͉̤̠̝̗̘̥͖̲̊ͩm̺̞̐͂ͦ̈̊͗̆͛ͬi̲̖̜̫̠͍̖̋̅ͩ͂̊͂͒ͯń̟͈͖̦̬̒ͤ̍͂e̺̹̯͈ͬͬ]

[Energy: 100%]

[Capacity: 77/77]

[Catalyst: 0*/39]

Cannot determine health seems... not great.

[Correct. Health percentages are always just a best estimate anyway, but right now, even that estimate is too unreliable. Your enhanced perceptions allow both of us to be aware that your body is in very rough shape. However, it is difficult to see how bad it actually is.]

Recovery and Scan don’t use Catalyst, right?

[Originally, I would have said that most abilities do not use Catalyst. The more we see of them, the more I’ve had to re-evaluate this idea. I will now say that many abilities use vanishingly small amounts, and some consume Catalyst rather quickly.]

I didn’t ask for a bloody lecture! Just give me the damn answer!

[Of course, the answer is that neither of these abilities consumes Catalyst.]

Raz started to shake his head, disappointed at his own short fuse, then thought better of it when he felt the slivers of burning and aching in the back of his neck. His neck reminded him of the implant.

Oh crap. Gotta do something about that implant. Make sure I’m protected if someone figures out how to detonate it. Maybe just figure out how to get rid of it.

[As per your prior instructions, I will remind you of that goal and task as soon as we possess both the ability and opportunity to accomplish it.]

Good. So, I have a weird thought, is it possible to have more than one Catalyst reservoir?

A throbbing, humming buzz enveloped his senses for a moment.

[I cannot see any reason why not. However, it is worth noting that reservoirs become more efficient as you empty and refill them. Eventually, they should form a sort of core, a solid physical structure that can hold incredibly large amounts of Catalyst in a sort of cold storage, while allowing you to hold some in a more quickly usable form. The solid core is also somewhat less vulnerable to damage.]

Would these cores happen to look a little like a rock, or a pearl?

[Yes, early versions of the core look like small irregular stone-like structures, and later versions become symmetrical lustrous gem-like forms. How did you know about—Oh of course. Too bad we don’t have those with us here.]

Well, if I didn’t misjudge Fidel as badly as...the other one, we should get it all back eventually. That, and the armor. I miss those gloves. They just feel right on me. In any case, as soon as we have resources for it, and I’m back on my feet, I want to have a second Catalyst reservoir started.

[I’ll make it happen. From your intention, should I also automatically alternate which reservoir you draw from?]

Yep, you get me. I want to always have a full reserve tank.

[Consider it on my to-do list. Do you wish to be informed of the ongoing status?]

Nah, just get it done when possible. Second weird thought. Can I help other people develop Catalyst reservoirs? I’ve noticed that most people don’t have them, and that seems like a barrier to them ever getting more abilities. Actually, I bet lacking a Catalyst store makes it harder to use the ones they have.

[This is probably not the best time to figure that out, but perhaps something in Somatic Restoration or the medical side of HUD will allow that.]

Good deal. The new priority is getting Sia more powered up. I can’t live with the feeling that she’s so vulnerable.

[I’ll get you an answer as soon as possible.]

Before we get Recovery going, can you tell me exactly how effective it is now?

[I am sorry to say it would be an estimate at best. Synergistic Interfacing continues to yield significant improvements to all abilities with each unlock.]

Damnit! Why can’t I just get a straight answer once in a while!?

[I am indeed very sorry I cannot easily tell you how much more powerful your self-healing has become due to unprecedented synergy with a completely undocumented ability that may only be possessed by you.]

He let out a long ragged breath, trying to imagine he was pushing the senseless anger and irritation out with the air.

Ok, sarcasm aside, that's a good point. A high quality problem even. Let’s see if I recall how it went.

He pulled up the HUD tree.

So, Triage adds a bonus to all healing I do, right?

[Correct, the bonus is 100%]

Recovery was another bonus but only for me, and Remedy was the same, but for others?

[Correct, also a 100% bonus, and yes, they stack.]

So does that mean I’m always healing at roughly four times normal? I don’t feel like I heal all that fast.

[You are, and four times the normal human baseline is still not all that fast in the moment. However, it means you get over a week’s worth of recovery in two days. Not minor at all. It also means that any other abilities that improve your healing are affected. This is probably why Somatic Restoration is so potent for you.]

Hold up, is Recovery a passive, and an active?

[Yes. As is Remedy. However, it will consume the patient’s energy rather than your own, and most of the recipients of your healing have not had any Catalyst energy.]

Right, that makes sense. So let’s see, Recovery was 50-100-200% at each rank if I recall. So at 200%, that should mean I can heal at eight times the baseline as long as I maintain energy and run the ability, right?

[Everything you’ve said is correct, and nothing has changed in this regard recently.]

Raz clamped down on his instinctive rush of anger at the response.

Yeah, I get it, but it feels like every time I make an assumption, it comes back to bite me. How does 8x speed compare to working with Somatic Restoration I wonder? Or whatever that 8x turns into with Synergistic Interfacing.

[There is no comparison. Somatic Restoration can repair injuries that no amount of time will heal. Further, it can repair damage immensely faster than 8x* normal.]

That’s a good point. Sure wish it was available right now. So as for the rest of the HUD tree.

He stared at the image for several seconds.

Never mind. I forgot how big this tree is. We’ll go over it in detail, but let’s do that later. For now, activate Recovery, and give me a Scan.

[Scanning, results sorted by range.]

[[[Human standard consciousness detected, tagged as: ‘Brock Ivaldison’

Current status: Intense creative focus

Estimated HP: 100%

Energy: 63%

Energy Usage rate: 2 (per minute)

Energy Gain rate: 1 (per minute)]]]

[[[Human standard consciousness detected, tagged as: ‘Brings up trivial bullshit at the worst possible time’

Current status: Analytical focus

Estimated HP: 98%

Energy: 100%

Energy Gain rate: 1 (per minute)]]]

Fix that tag. I was irritated at her thinking that bringing up her exact surname was important enough to interrupt escaping from a literal firefight. Her name is her business, I just didn't think her sense of timing was very good. I don’t even remember exactly what her deal was about the married/professional name. Just leave the surname as provisional ‘till we hear the order she prefers again.

[Scan target retagged as ‘Dr. Nicollette Stilt/Ivaldison’]

[[[Enhanced Consciousness ‘Midnight’ detected.

Targeted scan mode shifted to low profile.

Current status: Fatalistic Despair.

Energy: 11%

Energy Gain rate: 5 (per minute)

Energy Usage rate: 4 (per minute)

Estimated HP: 100/100

MHP: 8/10]]]

[[[Distributed Consciousness ‘Hex’ detected.

Nodes: 1/?

Current status: Anger, worry, cautious optimism, intense focus.

Energy: 17%

Energy Gain rate: 1 (per minute)

Estimated HP: 100/100]]]

He let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

She’s here! She’s really here, and she’s ok. Now I just need to get out of this bed and go see her.

He thought about what he’d say. How to let her know how much he missed her, and how much he’d worried about her safety.

As he dwelled on those pleasant thoughts, he drifted back to sleep.

He woke up ravenous, but even before opening his eyes, he knew he wasn’t alone. The scents on the air were Hex and Midnight.

Status

[Health: ]

[Energy: 100%]

[Capacity: 77/77]

[Catalyst: 0*/39]

How long was I out?

[Elapsed time: 8.5 hours.]

I’m so hungry! Did leaving this running act like not eating for a week? It’d be good to know how much recovery I should expect. I think I feel a little better though.

He opened one eye a bare sliver to see them both sitting there in silence. Seeing Sia sitting next to Midnight ignited a flash of jealous anger. Even knowing the reaction was irrational didn’t help. He clenched his jaw against the words that tried to escape his impulsive mouth.

Why the hell are they sitting so close? What's their history? I don’t really know much about their relationship, do I?

[I don’t think the chairs have been moved from where they were.]

Raz closed his eyes and compared the positions of both chairs against where they had previously been.

Two images overlaid each other in his mind.

Hah! I knew it! You’re wrong! Look, his chair is 56mm… Oh. 56mm farther from hers than it was. Argh! Why does even being wrong about something that would make me angry, make me more angry? Wait a minute. You knew that didn't you?

[I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about.]

His rising pulse warred with his efforts to keep his breathing slow and steady. He’d just about managed to regain his equilibrium when the door creaked open.

Brock’s scent wafted into the room before he even spoke. “I’ve got dinner ready if you lot want some food.”

Yes please! I hope you made a lot.

Midnight popped to his feet and headed for the door. “Yes please. I could use some food,” he looked back at Hex, “You coming?”

She shook her head. “I’ll be there in a minute. Don’t eat it all.”

Midnight let out a short, bitter laugh. “No promises.”

A moment after the men left, she spoke. “You know, speaking as someone with some experience in this area, your breathing changes when you wake up.”

Busted.

He opened his eyes and tried for a playful grin. What he managed was more of a weak smile.

“Hey babe.”

Of all the reactions he’d imagined, a cool reception was not on the list. She pursed her lips and looked a little past him.

“Just going to go with ‘Hey babe’? You’ve got a lot of nerve.”

She’s gone past mad into cold. What is she so mad about?

Something in his expression must have given away his surprise. She looked him in the eye and shook her head.

“Maybe Midnight was right.” She got up and went to the door. “I’m really glad you’re awake. You seem to be recovering. I’ll be right back.”

She stepped into the hall and walked toward the main shop area. He followed her with his ears.

“He’s awake.” she announced to the group. A flurry of activity followed.