After the incident, Arcturian worked to deescalate the situation. It was mostly Might Guy that he had to calm down but a few other heroes around had heard the commotion and came to investigate. Jam had thrown the bow down, despite having grown an odd attachment to it in such a short time. Kid Mighty grabbed his arm and dragged him back to the elevator, leading him to his new room.

"Must you make it so difficult to like you?" she asked, slight annoyance in her voice but she sounded more exhausted than anything.

"He said he was willing to trust me, I was testing out that theory." Jam responded somewhat deviously.

She pushed him into his new room and closed the door behind her as she entered. "And what would you have done if Warren had decided to rip you in half the moment you aimed at Arcturian? Or if I, had to put you down? That could have gone really badly Jam." Kid MIghty said pressing in the buttons on the sides of her cowl and removing it.

"The room is clean. No surveillance." Audrey said.

"Come on Camiila, I took a chance and it worked out. Everything turned out fine." Jam said coolly before laying back and relaxing on his new bed.

"This isn't a game Jam, you could have died." Camilla said in frustration. It caused something to click in Jam's mind.

This isn't a game? No. No, it isn't a game. Wait, why the hell did I do that? I know I had to get the jump on Shadow Stalker but that could have gone really badly.

[ Skill Auto Triggered: Calm Mind Lvl 10 - Successful ]

Jam's mind eased and he calmed down but something else entirely began to bother him.

Now skills trigger automatically? What is happening. Wait a second, 'not a game'.

Jam sat up. "Audrey, what exactly is the extent of the Gamer's Mind ability?" he asked her aloud.

"Gamer's Mind? And who is Audrey? Camilla asked.

"Audrey, can you transmit to more than just me?"

"Not through your implant. Hold on." Audrey said. Then, after a beat, a fist sized silver orb floated down through the ceiling. Camilla's hand shot to her grapnel gun at her waist. "It's ok Kid Mighty. I am Audrey, Jam's A.I. companion. Nice to meet you formally" The orb seemed to have a faint blue glow whenever Audrey's words came out.

"Well, this is new." Jam said standing up and inspecting the sphere.

[ Skill Used: Analyze+ Lvl 10 – Successful ]

Item Name: A.I. catalyst

Item Description: A digital construct that works as a catalyst for the A.I. companion designated Audrey

"How'd you come through the ceiling?" Jam asked.

"I'm a digital construct. It allows me intangibility and density manipulation. It's the same with the bow you have currently. It can always return to your hand and no one else but you or Kid Mighty can pick it up."

"So basically its soul bound?"

"You can think of it that way, yes."

"Wait. My bow always returns to my hand?"

"Yeah, hold your hand out and think of your bow."

He did and the bow fell through the ceiling straight into his hand.

"Weird." Jam said inspecting the bow. He looked up to find Camilla staring at him dumbfounded.

"What is happening? Digital Constructs? Are you serious?"

"Hmm. I guess I didn't really question it. How does this work anyway?"

"If I say magic would that suffice?" Audrey asked.

“No.” Jam and Camilla said in unison.

“Well, Kid Mighty, you’ve been here long enough to know that non-organic items can be digitized into digital code and stored. It’s what made up your inventory system when you were still playing the game Jam. Well, the game’s fabricator takes those items and assembles them into the item you need to support your powers. After the 24 hours is up the bow will disappear back into the digital storage.” She explained. Jam looked like he was about to ask a question but she interrupted. “And here is where you ask me, where does the fabricator get the digitized materials needed to make these things. The only answer I can give you is that I have no idea. I don’t know what kind of power is running this game Jam but it’s potentially reality changing. The game is changing the rules of nature to fit them into its own logic.” She was nearly shouting at the end, her voice raw with emotion, and the glow of the orb was now red.

“You wanted to know how much the Gamer’s Mind ability is affecting you. I have no clue, and it’s starting to piss me off. Even with my current hacking skills at level 6 the most I can do to affect the game is change the status screen. Somehow I’ve become locked by the rules of the game as well. I only had 3 choices of what shape I could take when fabricating my catalyst with the rest having to be unlocked upon further level gain. None of this is making sense to me.” She shouted in aggravation. “My systems are running overdrive stuck in multiple infinite logic loops trying to compile it all because I don’t have a base truth to jump off from. The very fact that we have skills and superpowers in the first place is messing with everything I know to be fact.”

“Is your friend Ok?” Camilla asked her hand still hovering over her grapnel gun.

“She’s fine. You’ve had years here to figure everything out and I have the gamer’s mind ability helping me make sense of this all. She just trying to figure it out her own way. She’s meant for Earth knowledge, I doubt the company that made her expected her to have to acclimate to something this huge. Even for an A.I. I think it’d take a while to make sense of it all. I think you can take your hand away from your gun, she’s harmless. Right Audrey?” He asked taking the sphere in his hands and rubbing his thumbs across its surface.

“Yeah.” Audrey said quietly, the glow changing from red to a pinkish tint. Camilla calmed and sat down in a chair.

[ Skill Developed: Calming Touch Lvl 1 ]

[ Skill Type: Active ]

Sweet.

“You seem happy.” Camilla said noting Jam’s smile.

“Yeah, she just really reminded me of Amara. She loved to yell at the television, and always had these explosive rants she would go on. Always so vibrant, So. ..” Jam trailed off pulling his lips in. “full of life.” Jam said still absently rubbing Audrey's catalyst

“Amara?”

“Yeah, a friend of mine. She’s the one who gave me Audrey. Audrey has her voice.”

“How come I never met her?

“She died. Long before I met you.” Jam said solemnly.

Jam took a second to look around the room. It was much nicer than the cell he was in

previously but still thankfully small. The room was all white again and had a nice sized bed, and a couple of chair. There was another screen in the wall but it was blank with just a grayish tint distinguishing it from the rest of the wall. Everything in the Hall of Destiny was way too clean and sanitized.

Not homey at all. I miss my office; my captain’s quarters in Cosmic Crisis would have been awesome too. Guess I’ll just have to make the best of this place.

“I have permission to make this place more comfortable for myself right?” Jam said changing the subject.

“Yeah, the room is all yours. Do with it what you please. Just don’t do anything crazy like heavy reconstruction.” Camilla said in a strained voice rubbing her temple.

“No promises.” Jam said with a chuckle before noticing Camilla’s pained expression. “Whoa, whoa Cam, you ok? You don’t look so good.”

[ Skill Developed: Body Language Analysis Lvl 1 ]

[ Skill Type: Passive ]

“Yeah. Yeah I’m ok.” She said unconvincingly.

Jam walked over to her and pulled her eyes up to meet his by her chin. Her eyes were dazed and unfocused, her pupils kept dilating and constricting quickly. “What’s happening?”

She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head quickly trying to shake off whatever was happening to her. “It’s ok, it’s just the phone and watch. Sometimes I get bad headaches from all the data signals. It’s a lot of processing. Sometimes it gets really bad when I keep a power for too long, especially when I come in contact with a lot of powered people. The only problem is I really like this powerset and I can’t really get in contact with the people I took them from.”

“You’re level 27, do you get power lock tokens? If so, you should have 2 already.” Jam asked before bringing his hands up to rub her temples.

[ Skill Used: Calming Touch Lvl 1 – successful ]

[ Skill Level Up: Calming Touch Lvl 1 has become Calming Touch Lvl 2 ]

Camilla’s eyes closed and she breathed a sigh of relief as the pain eased. “Power lock token?” she asked.

“Yeah, I get a power lock token every 10 levels that lets me keep a power. I thought maybe you’d get one as well since our abilities are somewhat similar.”

“I don’t think so. I’ve spent every moment since I’ve been here just trying to get better so I can stay alive, I don’t really know how the game works. I’ve only ever watched you play which helped with some information about this world when I got here but without playing it myself I don’t know how the systems actually work. I didn’t even know I had a level.”

“What about notifications, do you get any of those?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Hmm. I wonder if your headaches are from notifications you’re ignoring. Your devices are trying to notify you, like a ringtone directly in your brain. It could be you’re mentally blocking out the information because it feels foreign.” Jam said.

Hmm, deductive reasoning level 10 sure is a big help.

“That makes sense but I’ve gone through my phone a bunch of times. I can only see my powers by thinking about it and they show up on the screen. I can use the phone of course for hacking or projecting stuff but that’s it.”

“Those sound like skills to me. Maybe you do have them.”

“It’s the watch.” Audrey said from over his shoulder her glow green now.

Camilla moved her head from Jam’s hands and looked up at the sphere. “My watch? But it doesn’t have any settings on it. I can sync it with electronics and use it to connect my phone to things but beyond that and telling the time it doesn’t tell much.”

“The controls have changed. It looks like the device has mutated. I’ve scanned it and it looks like if you hold the face down and turn it counter clockwise it should help.” Audrey said zipping between the two.

Camilla did just that and was surprised to find her watchface did push in and turned. After three clicks the watch face popped back up further out than before and the screen read powers & abilities on it. She turned it once and she saw the word skills; again and she saw the word character screen, finally when it went all the way to the end she saw notifications. She clicked the watch face down and the watch screen returned to how it was before. She looked at her forearm and her phone looked the same, she tried to think of her powers and the phone didn’t change. Instead she decided to think about her notifications and the phone screen completely filled with every notification she’s received since she got to Arcturus four years ago. Scrolling through it, with shaking fingers, a tear slipped from her eye and hit the screen, and her lower lip quivered before she bit down on it.

“Four years.” She said her jaw clenched. “For four years I dealt with headaches that made it hard to sleep. Headaches that felt like they would cripple me eventually.” She snapped in frustration. She slammed her fist into the wall “just because this stupid fucking game couldn’t just tell me how to change menus?”

“It’s ok, you’re not a gamer so you couldn’t. .” he started, putting his hands on her shoulders but she batted his arms away, got up and walked out the room.

Shit. I wanted to help but did I just screw it up worse somehow?

“Don’t beat yourself up Jam, she’s not mad at you.” Audrey said her blue glowing orb zipping in front of his face.

“When it’s just us I think it’d be ok for you to just use the implant.”

“But I like my orb”

“All right. Well, since you have a body mind finding the light switch for me. I’m pretty sure it’s nearly 3 in the morning.” He said climbing onto the bed.

The lights cut off and he closed his eyes to sleep. Well, he tried. For an hour he tried, then another, and then another. After three hours, sleep still continued to evade him as he just stared at the ceiling.

Training. I should be training. I need to get better if I’m going to defeat. . well myself I guess.

Jam climbed out of bed and before leaving the room he happened to smell himself.

Weird. I’ve been here for a few days now and I haven’t showered that whole time. I still smell fine besides this general dirty feeling. Man this planet is weird. Shit, I don’t have a change of clothes.

“I guess you can’t fabricate me some clothes can you?”

“There’s a closet in the bathroom there.”

“I have a bathroom?”

A wall slid open behind him and inside was a small bathroom. He walked in and it wasn’t until he saw the toilet that he realized he needed to use the bathroom. He closed his left eye of course and did his business. Then he took a quick shower, enjoying the feel of the perfect water pressure on his skin, and fished some clothes out of the small closet. It seemed to hold a number of different assortment of work out clothes that all seemed to be in his size.

Did they measure me in my sleep?

He grabbed a shirt, a zip up hoodie, some track pants and a pair of combat boots. He was greeted on the other side of the door by the small orbs.

“You didn’t phase through the door at any time while I was in the shower did you?”

“Of course not.” The pink glowing silver orb answered.

Jam pushed her out of the way and left the room making his way up to the training simulator. The lab was eerily quiet, only a few people were around and the slight sounds of instruments being moved around used. He picked up the tablet in the cradle outside of the door and scanned through the simulations they ran. It appeared to be going in order of difficulty level.

Level 1 – Urban Battle A

Requisite Power Rating – 100

Suggested Powers – Enhanced Durability, strength or speed

Simulation Situation: A minor villain is wreaking havoc in the Empire City. Assess the situation, save any civilians and take down the villain.

Simulation Failure: All civilians, are killed. Villain is killed or escapes. Collateral Damage over 5 million dollars accrued.

Collateral Damage? Seriously? I guess you’re not really saving the city is you destroy half of it in the process but that hardly seems like something I should have to worry about in the heat of the moment.

He swiped right to the next simulation choice.

Level 1 – Urban Battle B

Requisite Power Rating: 150

Recommended Powers: Enhanced durability, strength, speed. Traversal Expertise

Simulation Situation: A giant beast is attacking Darlinghurst. Assess the situation, save any civillains and defeat the beast.

Simulation Failure: All civillains die. The beast escapes.

Darlinghurst was always a hotbed for giant monsters. That makes sense.

He switched over again.

Level 1 – Sea Battle A

Requisite Power Rating: 175

Recommended Powers; Enhanced durability, strength, speed. Flight, Acquatic Respiration. Supernatural Lung Capacity.

Simulation Situation: Peace talks with the Aqtarians have ended and they are attacking civillain ships. Protect the ships at all costs and get them back safely on land.

Simulation failure: All civillain vessels sink. All civillains die.

Notice: Unless simulaton density level is at 8, Users with aquatic dependency will need to continue using filtration tanks.

Still on shaky ground with the Aqtarians.

Jam kept scrolling through the simulatons and found some of them were locked for higher power ratings or higher levels. He found one that caught his eye though.

Level X – Unique Battle – Lunar King

Requisite Power Rating: Scaling

Recommended Power: N/A

Simulation Situation: Face the Lunar King.

Simulation Failure: N/A

Notice: This simulation will go until said to stop. Vocal Checkins will be required every 10 minutes and this simulation can be stopped from the outside.

“Found one you like?” Arcturian asked walking up behind him.

“Shouldn’t you be asleep?” Jam asked back. He handed Arcturian the tablet.

Arcturian opened the simulation room door and walked in, Jam followed him in. “Haven’t really slept too well lately. The weird thing about my powers are even though they’ll eventually kill me, they’re also really hard not to use. Like some kind of weird addiction.” He said as he keyed into the tablet. The room changed to a serene scene in the beach with lawn chairs. The two sat down together.

“Makes sense. I can’t even imagine.”

“Most people can’t. I like to come in here and relax or sometimes I meditate. It eases my mind.”

Hmm.

Jam placed a hand on Arcturian’s forearm.

[ Skill Used: Calming Touch Lvl 2 – successful ]

Arcturian’s eyes closed and he exhaled slowly. Jam pulled his hand away.

[ Skill Level Up: Body Language Analysis Lvl 1 became Body Language Analysis Lvl 2 ]

“I’ve been wondering Jam. What you did earlier? What exactly was that?”

“It’s apart of my powers. Kind of a touch that eases trouble minds.”

“Oh, no not that. But thank you for that. I do feel a lot better. I meant when you took down that agent of the Lunar King.”

“Oh right. When I was Apex, I wanted to know about everything that was happening with you guys so I sent Shadow Stalker hee to spy. Every 24 hours he’d send in a replacement clone while the clone that was watching would merge back into him. I’d almost forgotten but I had this vague sense of danger I guess you could say. It didn’t happen in here or in my room but did happen in the more open spaces, I happened to remember.”

“How long has this been going on?”

“About a year for me, so six years I guess.”

“That’s why he was always one step ahead of us.”

“Part of the reason. I’ve spent a lot of time watching people over the years. You eventually learn how to anticipate certain things and react accordingly.”

[ Skill Developed: Detail Intuition Lvl 1 ]

[ Skill Type: Passive ]

[ Skill Developed: Reactive Adaptation Lvl 1 ]

[ Skill Type: Passive ]

OK, maybe keywords and actions make the skills work or just special requirements have to be met. I’m so tired of not understanding this game.

“What are your powers?”

“That’s not an easy thing to explain, but I can try.” Jam said sitting up, Arcturian mirrored him. “I have skill enhancement. I can learn skills and then ‘level them up’” Jam said in air quotes.

[ Skill Developed: Silver Tongue – Lvl 1 ]

[ Skill Type: Passive ]

[ Skill Description: You know your way around a turn of phrase. You can say just enough of the truth to be convincing while still holding enough cards. +2 to charisma. +1 to intelligence. +1 to leadership. ]

Stupid passive aggressive game

“I know you had something to do with that.” He sent Audrey.

“Interesting. And how does one level up?” Arcturian asked with budding interest.

“Well through use I guess.” Jam shrugged.

“Do you know what skills you currently have?”

Hmm. Better just tell him the combat skills.

Jam pulled up his skills tab on his character sheet.

Filter only combat skills

Skills

Calm Mind Lvl 10

Body Language Analysis Lvl 2

Danger Inuition Lvl 10

Deadeye Lvl 10

Reactive Adaptation Lvl 1

Unarmed Combat Lvl 10

“Unarmed Combat, Deadeye, and Reactive Adaptaiton. Oh and Calming Touch, which is what I used on you a moment ago.”

‘Interesting, and how do you develop skills?”

“Not completely sure. Some I can get by doing certain actions and other I can get just by thinking about them.”

“Very interesting. I wonder if you can learn from instructional videos or training manuals.”

“Hmm. That is an excellent idea, basically skill books. It could help. Do you have any?”

“I’ll see what I can dig up. Until then you can find videos on almost anything on our systems. See if that could help.”

“Will do, thank you.”

“Is that the same power you had when you were Apex?”

“You ask a lot of questions.” Jam said leaning back with a smile on his face.

“Yeah, naturally inquisitive.”

“Well I have some questions for you.”

“Shoot.” Arcturian said lounging back himself

“Why the name ‘The Arcturian’? This place is Arcturus, doesn’ that make you all Arcturians? That would be like me calling myself ‘The Human’”

[ Skill Developed: Investigate – Lvl 1 ]

[ Skill Type: Passive ]

[ Skill Notice: + 1 to Wisdom ]

“Well that’s kind of the point really.” Arcturian said matter of factly.

“How so?”

“Well, my name and the peace sign on my chest. It’s all to unite the people of Arcturus. Even with villains, the real problem is the racial tension. The Dovarans, the Umpirans, the Sharry, and the Aqtaran; they’re all still Arcturians at the end of the day.”

“Same script, different cast.” Jam said sardonically

“Hmm?”

“Eh, on Earth racial tensions have always been a thing. A lot of people think like you, we’re all humans but it’s still there underneath sadly. I guess I didn’t think I’d have to worry about that being here.”

“Well personally, I think you should probably be more worried about having the same face as the most recognized villain on all of Arcturus.” Arcturian said with a chuckle.

“Good point.” Jam laughed along.

Arcturian stood up. “Thank you for sitting with me. You were going to train weren’t you?

Jam stood up as well. “Yeah, I was thinking I need to get back into the swing of things. Get used to using my own body for the fighting.”

“You were looking at the Lunar King training scenario right? It’s to help heroes remember just how dangerous he is but to understand he isn’t some all encompassing darkness. He’s still just a villain. Do you want to try it?”

“No.” Jam said quickly before exhaling. “Sorry, no. I don’t think I’m ready to come face to face with that reality just yet.”

“Understandable.” Arcturian nodded.

“I’ll try the Empire City one.”

“Alright.” Arcturian said leaving the room.

The room went back to being white again for only a moment before Jam was in the middle of a city. Much like everything since he came here the city was familiar yet very different. Clearly a lot had changed in the five years, businesses had come and gone. Other things have gone through redesign. Jam walked down the street, an eery quiet overlay the city. It was weird, he was so used to seeing life happening around the town. Even as a villain the city was so busy he could walk around in general anonymity. Looking around Jam spotted a fire escape.

It might be best to get a view from the high ground.

Standing under the ladder, he took a few practice hops to prepare himself. He hadn’t been overly athletically inclined growing up, sure he wasn’t skinny or fat but he didn’t really have any natural talent for running or jumping like some of his friends did, and don’t even try to put a ball in his hands. He had worked long and hard to get the body he currently had and he probably wouldn’t have done that if it wasn’t for the game. Pushing off the ground, Jam found himself at least six feet up in the air grabbing the fire escape ladder easily and climbing up.

Sweet

[ Skill Developed: Jump – Lvl 1 ]

[ Skill Type: Passive ]

Ugh. You ruined it.

“Audrey, can you block out all the minor skills on the skill list. The basic move ones. My skill sheet is going to get super cluttered if every time I do something I’m getting a skill for it.” Jam said climbing up the fire escape quickly.

“Yep.” She answered back concisely.

Jam got to the top of the building. He looked down the street and could see the Hall of Destiny about a mile down, but beyond that every thing seemed quiet. Running, he jumped from one rooftop to the other accidentally overshooting the jump and coming down hard, rolling into it.

Stupid jump skill.

He picked himself up and brushed himself off.

“Audrey, run a scan of the surroundings for me. I need to know why it’s so quiet out here and where the people are.”

“On it.” She said and through his left eye he could see blue lines popping up. He turned slowly in a circle to get a full view. “The blue lines are civilians from what I can see. Keep turning.” He did and saw a group of blue lines in the distance. “It’s only a guess but I’d say that it’s probably a hostage situation over there. They're clustered in close. Be careful.”

“Always am.” Jam said already moving in the direction of the group. He hopped from one roof to the other, stopping only long enough to find the next roof he could reach or a fire escape he could jump to.

“You might want to put some refinement points in your powers before you go further. I imagine light foot could be useful if we are dealing with a hostage situation and you need to move quietly.”

“Good point.” Jam said rolling to a stop on the last roof before reaching the group. He called his bow back to his hand and then pulled up his powers screen.

Powers

Time until powers cycle: 17:34:52

Current Powers

Archery Prowess +7 (Deadeye Lvl 10)

Danger Sense +8 (Danger intuition Lvl 10)

Light Foot

Current Refinement Points Available: 20

He dropped 3 points into archery prowess and 2 points into danger sense bring both up to 10 and 10 into light foot balancing them all out. He decided to keep the last 5 on standby in case he needed them. Information washed over him and understanding enveloped him as he became more attuned to his powers. He stood up and slithered forward to the edge of the building, finding himself moving quieter than before his footsteps barely making a sound.

[ Skill Developed: Stealth ]

[ Skill Type: Passive ]

[ Power Update: +3 refinement points added to light foot. ]

At the edge of the building he peered into the glass windows of the building next to where he was perched. He could just barely see a figure looking out the window. He squinted to try to see better.

[ Skill Developed: Telescopic Vision Lvl 1 ]

[ Skill Type: Active ]

His vision suddenly zoomed in and he could see more details. The figure was holding a strange looking gun, it was large and bulky for a pistol but he doubt it could be anything else.

[ Skill Used: Analyze+ Lvl 10 – successful ]

Item Name: Laser Pistol

Ammo: 17/19

Laser pistols? Just how far did they jump in the last five years. And 2 shots down? Did he kill hostages? Crap. I need to be careful.

When he zoomed in on the person the line changed from blue to red signifying a potential enemy. The building was too far away to jump even with his new jumping ability.

Hmm, how do I get into the building.

“Hey Audrey, could I use an arrow as a tether? Like connect a zipwire from here to the building?”

“Check the pouches on your quiver belt. There might be something.”

He checked the pockets, there were explosive tips to attach to the arrow, and even replacement tips to reuse arrows. “Jackpot” he said pulling a zip wire from the pouch. He looked around to find the highest point. He found the best spot two buildings away, he used a grappling hook attachment he found and shot it to the roof. He pulled on the rope to make sure it was sturdy, secured it around him, then scaled the side of the building.

“You got a skill, wall climbing. Didn’t want to block your vision.”

“Thanks.” Jam said as he crested the roof and crept toward the edge.

He stood up straight and lined up his aim and shot the grappling hook over to the roof of the apparent villain hideout. Then he aimed for a section in the middle without any windows and fired the zipline anchor into the wall, before anchoring his end into the roof.

Please God, don’t let me splat on the ground.

With high hopes he grabbed the zip line harnss and moved forward, he glided quickly down the zip line and it managed to hold as he braked just enough to not make too much noise hitting the wall. He grabbed the grappling rope and hanging from the side of the building for a moment. Moving over, Jam checked inside the nearest window and saw that at least four guys were on that floor all walking around with similar weapons. In the middle of the room was a group of three people tied and gagged.

[ Skill Developed: Observation Lvl 1 ]

[ Skill Type: Passive ]

[ Skill Fusion: Observation Lvl 1 and Investiage Lvl 1 has fused to become Investigate+ Lvl 3 ]

[ Skill Note: +1 to perception ]

Jam scaled the wall. He could feel himself moving up the wall faster and more confidently than the first time.

The wall climbing skill must have leveled up.

He reached the top and moved quickly into cover seeing a hostile sniper a couple yards away.

That explains the lack of police presence. They can’t get too close.

Jam set his bow on the ground, pulled a zip tie restraint from a pouch on his quiver belt and stalked up behind the sniper. Before the sniper knew what was happening Jam had grabbed his right arm and pulled him to the ground hard. His face hitting the ground had temporarily dazed him long enough for Jam to get a knee on his back and his other arm pulled back in order to zip tie him just like he had seen on the police procedurals. He pulled the sniper up into a seated position and then zip tied his feet. When he pulled the facemask down from the sniper’s face he was surprised to find it was a woman.

“Hey, lady.” He asked slapping her lightly on the cheeks. “Wake up.” Her eyes finally slipped into focus on him; she struggled against her shackles and went to yell, Jam cupped his hand over her mouth. “You try to make a sound louder than a soft whisper and I close your windpipe. Nod if you understand.” She nodded and he took his hand away. Her eyes were drowning in hatred and her jaw was clenched. “Why are you here?” He asked. She only sneered in return. “How many of your are there?” No response. “Who is your leader?” Nothing. “I wonder if you’d be more willing to talk if I drop you off the roof.” He said an eyebrow raised.

“You wouldn’t dare, hero.” She spat, a smirk spreading across her face.

“Oh, she speaks. Well, I don’t see any cops around, no reason we can’t play this by ear. Maybe a few broken bones will grease your jaw loose a little more.” Jam said grabbing her by her leg and dragging her toward the edge. Her smirk slipped, replaced by confusion.

“Ok! Ok. Just wait.” The woman said.

Jam stopped for a second. “Hmm. No I’m good, I’ve already made up my mind. Besides, this seems like it’ll be fun. Well for me at least. You, not so much.” Jam said stopping at the edge and then picking her up by her belt loop. “Don’t worry it’s only 2 stories. I highly doubt you’ll die.” Her eyes bulged with fear.

“Wait, there’s 13 of us. 13!” the sniper said still being sure to keep her volume low. Jam sat her on the edge of the roof. He ripped off one of her sleeves.

“What about your leader?”

“I don’t know who she is. Only her right hand has seen her.”

“Are there hostages?”

“No, it’s just a hideout. We didn’t want that kind of attention.” She said quickly. Jam grabbed her belt loop again.

“I don’t appreciate liars.” Jam said carelessly.

“Ok, ok. There’s seven hostages. Four on the first floor, three on the second.”

He ripped the sleeve more and gagged the woman. “Thanks” Jam said with a deceptively sweet smile before pushing the woman off the side. She fell down quickly but a half dozen feet from the ground she stopped suddenly, the tethers Jam had connected to her belt loops suspending her in midair.

“You’re sick.” Audrey said.

“Oh she’ll be fine.” He said calling his bow back to his hand. “Actually you’re right. If she were a guy I probably would have let her figure out her landing on her own. I’ve gotta work on that. Alright at least 13 more hostiles and 7 hostages.” Jam eased up to the roof access door and pried it open quietly.

“You see anything?” Jam sent Audrey through the telepathic messaging.

“Nope, no traps that show up on my scans.” She said.

Jam slid through the doorway and took the steps as quickly and quietly as he could. The light foot power seeming to help mask his footsteps. He got down to the level stairwell and looked over the edge. He didn’t feel anything so there probably wasn’t anyone in the stairwell.

“I came from the roof but should I start at the bottom and move up or top to bottom?” He asked Audrey’s opinion.

“Well, honestly I think your best bet would be start from the bottom. If you go to the top first then you’ll be face to face with the leader before clearing out the first floor. Also if things go bad, saving the four hostages would be better than chancing it on the three.” She said calculating and unaffected.

“True, but I’m not losing anyone.” Jam said before hooking his grapple onto the railing and rappelling down to the first floor.

“Why?”

“Multiple ways out. If the stairs get blocked somehow they can climb up. Just in case this takes a turn and I have to get them to the roof.”

Jam eased over to the first floor door and tried to listen through.

[ Skill Developed: Acute Hearing Lvl 1 ]

[ Skill Type: Passive ]

“I’m not getting anything from Roger.” One of the voices said. “She should have checked in by now.”

Hmm. That must have been the sniper.

Jam jiggled the handle quietly and the door creaked open. The four henchwomen inside jumped at the sudden sound. They looked at each other and wordlessly two of them began moving to the door, guns at the ready. The first one exited the room through the now open door but didn’t see anything. The second one stayed in the doorway. The first one took the flight of stairs checking her surroundings. She went to check a corner only for her pistol to be pushed down and a hard elbow to her face knocking her head back. Jam ziptied her, put her down in the corner, and took her pistol.

[ Notice: Non-Bound weapon equipped ]

[ Status Detriment: Aim with weapon will have -10 accuracy ]

Well, that sucks.

“Jimmy?” The woman in the doorway asked.

The woman in the doorway went to step forward but was met with two knees to her chest as Jam swung down from his tether. He rode her down to the ground lining up a shot on one of the other women and letting his arrow fly. It struck the woman in the right shoulder going through and sticking her to the wall. He rolled forward after the woman he was riding hit the ground and moved to shoot the third woman who couldn’t line up a good shot on him yet. His arrow went through her knee and she hit the ground hard. Jam pushed off his knees into a run, sensing another hostile coming around the corner. He tackled her hard into the wall knocking the air from her lungs. Grabbing her arm Jam then flipped her tossing her to the ground then quickly ziptied her. He moved quickly to the one pulling the arrow out of her shoulder and knocked her out. After he made sure to ziptie the others, he checked their wounds and ripped pieces from their clothing to wrap their wounds.

[ Skill Developed: Medic Lvl 1 ]

[ Skill Type: Passive ]

[ Skill Developed: Heal Lvl 1 ]

[ Skill Type: Active ]

Nice, heal should be useful.

Jam walked up to the four hostages tied together, all men. They were gagged, only slight whimpers of fear escaping. Jam put a finger to his lips in a silent message. The man in front of him nodded frantically and Jam pulled a small pocket knife out of a pouch. He pulled the gag out and then reached behind the man to cut his restraints.

“Take this knife and cut the others free. Get in the corner and don’t move. Do not try to leave this room. Under no circumstances do you leave this room.”

“Ok.” The man said.

Another one of the hostages was seemingly unconscious.

[ Skill Used: Analyze+ Lvl 10 – successful ]

Character Name: Hostage C

HP: 5/18

SP:1/20

Jam held his hands out toward the unconscious man.

[ Skill Used: Heal Lvl 1 – Successful ]

He watched the man’s HP go from 5 to the full 18 and the SP go from 1 to 10. The man’s eyes fluttered open. The man he had cut free cut the man’s restraints loose.

[ Skill Level Up: Heal Lvl 1 has become Heal Lvl 3. ]

Sweet

He saw another man who seemed to have an open gash above his right eye. Jam held his hands up again.

[ Skill Used: Heal Lvl 3 – Failure ]

[ Skill Cooldown Time Left: 23:43 ]

Shit. A 25 minute cooldown?

“Why does heal have a cooldown time?” Jam sent Audrey.

“Most active skills have a cooldown time. The only other active skill you’ve had was calm mind which has a 45 second cooldown time. Barely noticeable.”

“Great.” Jam went over to one of the women still on the ground and ripped a piece of her shirt. She jerked angrily, yelling profanities through her gag. “Sorry lady, need this.” He said. The guy he healed had a dangerous look in his eye as he moved toward one of the women Jam had zip tied. “You touch her and you’re going back to being unconscious buddy.”

“She picked me up at a club. Slipped something in my drink. I think I’m owed a little something.”

“I don’t plan on repeating myself.” Jam growled before moving over to the injured man to wrap up his head.

[ Skill Level Up: Medic Level 1 has become Medic Level 2. ]

The man backed off choosing to go sit in the corner of the room.

"Watch him." Jam said to the first guy he cut loose and nodded toward the revenge seeker. Jam got up and grabbed his bow then went back to the stairwell. Outside of the second floor door he leaned in to hear again.

[ Skill Level Up: Acute Hearing Lvl 1 has leveled up to Acute Hearing Lvl 2.]

“So, you really think Roger and Jimmy are dating? I mean we like just broke up a month ago. She couldn’t possibly have moved on that quick right? And with another girl in our group. That seems like a real slap in the face to me.” One of the women in the room said.

“Come on Brian, we’ve all been with Roger at least once. I highly doubt that they were trying to hurt you. This crew has always been basically one big orgy. We’ll all end up sleeping together eventually.”

Interesting.

Jam tried the door but found it locked. He checked his pouches but didn’t find anything that could be used as a lock pick.

“Hey, next time we make this utility belt thing. We definitely need to remember lock picks.” He sent Audrey.

“That’s my bad. I read somewhere you could use zip ties as a lock pick but that might have been satire. I’ve had a lot on my mind lately.”

“Hmm. We’ll have to talk about that when I get out of here. So, I can’t kick it in. How the hell do I get in here?”

“Have you tried knocking?”

“No. I haven’t.”

Jam knocked on the door three times and then moved to the side of the door.

“Did you lock the door?” Brian asked.

“I thought you told me to.” Another woman asked.

“You’re an idiot.” Brian said annoyed.

The door unlocked and was pushed open slowly. A head poked out and looked in Jam’s direction only to get a boot to the face. Jam grabbed the woman he figured to be Brian and pulled her hard against him, his arm holding her by the throat. Using her hand her lines up a shot on the other woman.

[ Skil Used: Deadeye Level 10 – Successful ]

He fired off two shots firing the laser pistol through the woman’s right shoulder and grazing her knee respectively. The pistol dropped from her hand and she hit the ground. He quickly moved into the room to ziptie and gag the women.

Awesome, loopholes.

“Brian. Come in. We’re getting nothing from the first floor or the roof. Can you check for me?” A voice said from the radio on Brian’s vest.

Shit. Gotta move faster.

Jam walked up the thin hallway quickly, bow in hand, while hugging the wall. A person came out of the room down the hallway gun first. She checked down the hall and then in the direction Jam was coming from but an arrow hit her thigh. Where the others were too in shock to cry out, she did. Jam wanted to kick himself but instead he took four arrows out of his quiver as he moved to the doorway. He fired an arrow into the far side of the room before he made a move to get inside the door. He found three women all holding a terrified hostage in front of them, gun to their head, and a fourth one aiming her pistol at him. He held his bow sights trained on one, the bowstring pulled back and ready. They stood there for a moment, tensions high.

“So, how do you guys feel about the Jimmy and Roger situation. I found Brian more attractive personally.” Jam deadpanned.

“Drop the bow, hero. Or these dickcarriers get their heads blown off.” The one aiming at him spat.

Jam growled in annoyance then moved his bow to aim at the wall feet away from the group sinking the arrow into the wall. “Fine you win.” He said, his hands up in the air, the bow hanging from his thumb and the arrows still tight in his hand. The one aiming at him moved toward him and when she got close Jam closed his eyes. “Do it.” He sent Audrey.

Just then the two arrows he’d shot into the room suddenly exploded into a bright flash of light and sound, temporarily blinding the group. Jam’s right ear rung but Audrey had turned off and back on the hearing of his left ear.

Please let this work.

Jam quickly shot three shots sequentially, all three sinking into the hands of the women holding the hostages causing them to drop their guns suddenly in shock. Jam took his bow and struck the fourth woman aiming at him in the face hard causing her to flip all the way over before hitting the ground. Then he moved forward, his balance still thrown slightly off from the ringing in his right ear. He punched the closest one hard in the face hoping his unarmed combat ability would help enough to put her down quickly. He slid and kicked the legs out of the second hostage taker. Before he could move to try to finish her off the third hostage taker had recovered enough to kick him in the chest sending him sliding across the floor. She was unnaturally strong, but not supernaturally, she definitely was enhanced though.

Must be the crew leader. She definitely has power.

Jam did a kip up to get to his feet and got into a defensive stance. The leader moved toward him and attempted to throw a punch. Jam ducked it and met her with a counter punch to her stomach.

[ Skill Developed: Martial Arts Lvl 1 ]

[ Skill Type: Passive ]

Moving back, the leader reflexively grabbed Jam’s neck under her arm and the other he wasn’t able to put down had recovered enough to attempt to knee him in the face. He just managed to block the knee that sent a searing pain into her forearm and knocked the leg away. He then lifted the leader up off her feet and pushed forward knocking the leader into the second driving them both back crushing the second into the wall. The leader kicked him away knocking him to the ground and pushed forward throwing a fist into his stomach knocking the air from him. He grabbed the hand and moved his legs up to wrap up the leader’s arm into an armbar and driving her into the floor as well. She tried to push her body up but he locked his leg in tighter behind her neck putting more pressure on her arm.

“If you break the arm, you won’t be able to ziptie her.”

“I know” Jam said aloud strained in the effort of holding her.

Jam pulled an arrow out of his quiver and sank it into the palm of her hand and pulled it back out quickly. He let go of her arm and pulled himself backward. The leader rolled away from him clutching her injured arm wrapping her bloody hand in her shirt, the skin on her hand already beginning to heal. He pushed up to his feet and moved to knee her in the stomach and then slammed his fists into her back driving her into the ground again. She gasped on the ground as he pulled her arms behind her to ziptie her. He ripped a part of her shirt and tied her hand up.

[ Skill Level Up: Medic Lvl 2 has become Medic Lvl 3 ]

“Interesting. Quite the hero, not having any issues hitting a woman.” A voice said from outside the door.

Jam summoned his bow and took aim at the door. “The hammer of justice is unisex,” He shot back.

[ Skill Used: Mental Resistance Lvl 10 – successful ]

Shit

A familiar beautiful woman in a pantsuit and glowing golden hair walked into the room. She had a soft and seductive smile on her face. Every guy in the room became entranced just by looking at her. Jam’s pulse quickened and he looked around the room to find somewhere to hide. He ran and threw his body through a door before hiding behind the doorway.

“What’s wrong, do you know her?” Audrey asks.

“Yeah. Yeah I do” Jam says breathlessly.

“Who is she?”

“Umm. My girlfriend.”