I’ll need something snappy though

A.K.A Chapter 8

Quake looked aimlessly around the courtyard. How was he supposed to find this vending machine? He didn’t even know what it looked like! Stupid Jeck, this was probably revenge for letting him get breakfast. He glanced down at the coins in his hand. What were these? They had numbers carved into them, a humans head was depicted on it as well. They smelled pretty good and probably tasted delicious- He shook his head.

‘No, no, no. These are for obtaining a ‘chocolate bar’. I can’t eat them…yet’

Standing here staring at the ground wasn’t going to get him anywhere. Wandering around the compound he tried to puzzle out where the vending machine might be. It was a machine, but it didn’t seem like the type of machine to be outside. Passing soldiers and scientists glanced warily at him as they passed but he ignored them in favor of the puzzle at hand.

‘Okay, Jeck wants a chocolate bar to eat right? So before that he was talking about that cafeteria thing. He was talking about that because he was hungry. He mentioned he was hungry after sniffing the air, so if I use my nose, I can work my way to this vending machine.’

He grinned triumphantly. ‘Quake, you’re a genius!’

Sticking his nose into the air, he took a deep breath in and quickly parsed through the different smells he took in. A lot of them were totally alien to him. They reminded of him of the old chemical smells that still lingered around the quarry in certain rooms. One stood out, a delicious smell.

Drool almost started to fall out of his mouth. Never before had such a heavenly aroma graced his nose. Almost instinctively, his feet started to carry him towards the source. He passed through the automatic doors of the middle building and down the hall. He ignored the weird box with little multicolor bags inside it. He walked through the double doors at the end of the hallway and was stopped in his tracks by a huge human. He looked up. The Human male was wearing a hairnet, even though he was bald, and an apron.

“You must be new soldier on base. Furry one aren’t you? Food is not ready now. Return later.”

This human had a funny way of talking. He kept speaking even as Quake peered around his enormous body to see if the food was there.

“ – and, are you listening to me?”

Quake shook himself out of his stupor.

“Hmm?”

The cook shook his head. Noticing the coins clutched in Quakes claws, he pointed back behind him.

“Vending machine is in hallway. Go get a snack and come back later.”

“It is? Thanks man.”

The cook watched him walk out of the room, drill swaying slightly as he walked.

“What an odd creature. What planet did they find him on?”

A shout from the kitchen caught his attention. Never mind that, there was cooking to be done.

Quake looked at the box sitting halfway down the hall. This was a vending machine? Weird. He walked down to it and sure enough, “Vending Machine” was written just above the glass. How did he miss that? Must have been distracted by the food. He’d have to keep his guard up at all times like Jeck suggested. Now to figure out how this machine worked.

The door down the hallway dinged as it opened. He looked over. It was the woman in the suit from earlier talking to another human, a blonde one. She noticed him standing in front of the machine and strode over.

“What’s wrong little guy? Can’t figure out how the machine works?”

“Gillian, what is this thing?” The blonde had a look of disgust on her face.

“It’s that traveler I was tell you abouts pet. I can’t believe they let it wander around by itself.”

A pet. An tamed animal kept for pleasure. He had never seen a pet before, yet he knew exactly what the implication of her words meant. That he belonged to someone else. That he wasn’t his own person. This outraged Quake.

“I am no one’s pet!” He spat.

The two women looked at him.

“You can talk?” The brown one, Gillian, asked excitedly.

“Of course I can.” He said heatedly.

“Gillian what should we do about it?” The blonde one whispered to her. Quakes sensitive ears heard her clear as day. Who was she calling an ‘it’?

Gillian hushed her and stuck her hand out. “Quake wasn’t it? sorry about that, We don’t get a lot of non-humans around here and we’ve never seen your species before.”

Quake stared at her hand. Was she being genuine? He couldn’t tell. Humans were sneaky creatures at the best of times, judging by how his acted. Maybe he was just being paranoid, maybe she wasn’t all that bad.

“Oh my.” she simpered. “Don’t tell me you’ve never seen a handshake before. You just grasp my hand and give it a firm shake. It’s a customary greeting for humans.”

Quake looked at the hand. It looked innocent enough. Jeck had given him a ‘high five’ when he learned how defend himself against attacks. This looked similar enough, it would probably be fine.

He reached out to her hand and grasped it.

“Oh, you were trying to use the vending machine right? You mustn’t have seen money before. Here, let me help you.” Her friendliness was off putting. Nevertheless, he’d use her to complete his objective, then leave.

She continued her prattling as she showed him how to use the coins and work the number pad.

“You’ve met James right? He’s certainly a character isn’t he. He’s a bit of an oddball, makes the other researchers and the like uncomfortable.” She put her hand on Quakes shoulder as the chocolate bar fell down from its rack. “Wouldn’t it be so much better if I was in charge?”

She gave him a small pat on the shoulder. “See you around.”

Turning, she and the blonde human walked through the cafeteria doors.

Quake looked down and reached for the bar of chocolate.

Wouldn’t it be so much better if I was in charge?

He grabbed it and walked back outside.

Wouldn’t it be so much better if I was in charge?

Reaching the edge of the sparring field where he knew Jeck would find him, he sat down.

Wouldn’t it be so much better if I was- No, no, no! Something wasn’t right. Something was wrong, he could tell. His Instincts were on red alert. He needed to find Jeck, tell him that it would be so much better Gillian was in charge.

He clutched his head. His thoughts felt as thick and viscous, like molten iron. He couldn’t concentrate. He…he needed to do…something. He just couldn’t remember what, he wasn’t being allowed to remember. All he had was the urge to tell someone, to propagate the thought that had been planted in him.

Growling in frustration – metal scraping across metal – he stood up. What did Jeck tell him to do when his thoughts weren’t his own? They had gone over this. He explained everything, but this damn thought wasn’t letting him even think about how to resist.

Dammit! He tilted his head back. His species had one ability he had never found a use for, except warding off concussions. Maybe this was its intended purpose. He had displayed the ability to manipulate the iron inside his body that comprised his skeleton. Melting the metal attached to his body, from the drill on his tail to the teeth in his mouth. Those were not the only metal things in his body.

He focused, felt the metallic circuitry in his brain, then in less than a microsecond, melted it and reformed it.

He gasped as he felt the foreign influence leave his brain, briefly. Knowing that he had less than a second to react, he hurriedly recalled what Jeck showed him.

“Now, remember Quake, the main method used to counter exotic effects, is to create your own.”

At Quakes questioning look he elaborated.

“I mean, I created a power that lets me ignore other powers as long as I’m about the same strength level of whoever’s attacking me. This essentially lets you flex your way out of a potentially lethal attack. There are some exceptions to this but it can wait. I’ll show you how to do it later.

“Goddammit Jeck you useless bastard.” He ground out through grit teeth. It wasn’t totally unhelpful, he knew what he had to do, in theory anyway, maybe a little more difficult when it came to the execution. He reached deep within him, into the well of power he only lately, realized that he had. He began molding it, shaping it to fit his desire. A power that not only let him resist the effects of others, but also warn him when they were used.

He had less than a millisecond before the foreign influence came back. He hastily applied his power and, purely instinctively, his drill began to spin, faster and faster, the memetic idea planted on him began to slowly work itself back into his brain. With a flex of his will, he dispersed it.

“Oh thank god that worked.” He threw himself down on the grass, panting heavily as the excitement wore off. Tired from all the new information being presented to him, he just gazed up at the sky through the honey comb forcefield covering the compound.

“Hey man, where’s my chocolate bar?”

He looked up. Oh hey, it was his human.

“What took you so long?”

Jeck grinned teasingly. “What? Had trouble with the vending machine?”

“Yeah, something like that.” He reached underneath him and pulled out the now melted chocolate bar.

Jecks face fell and he honestly looked like he might cry. It would have been effective had it been over anything more serious than candy. “Why did you sit on?!”

Quake looked up at him. “It was an accident.”

“Really? Well you still have the coins right?“ Quake popped the remaining change into his mouth and chewed. “Never mind then. I’ll just wait ‘till dinner.”

Jeck lay down on the grass beside him and put his arms behind his head.

“You wanted to know what I was doing? Well….

***

Jeck and James strolled down the hallway, both of them waiting for Quake to be out of earshot, which took a little bit longer than James expected. Coming to a stop in the middle of a hallway, James turned and gestured for him to speak.

“I have a few questions, some of them important, some of them just to sate my curiosity, you don’t mind answering?” He asked politely.

James regarded him cautiously. “I’ll answer what I can. I make no promises though.”

“That’s fine, so, what’s the catch?”

“The catch?” James asked.

“The catch.” Jeck confirmed. “You’re in an outpost that has nothing around it for several hundred miles. Your food stores aren’t infinite and I’m presuming you only get them at regular intervals. We’re going to be staying in your house, eating your food and we don’t have any money to pay for it. What are you getting out of this?”

James rubbed the stubble on his chin. “You’re right about the food thing, I do have ulterior motives for letting you guys in. They aren’t as bad as you probably think. Well, that depends on how you feel about risky expeditions.”

Jecks eyes lit up. Light from the window beside them reflecting off his purple eyes. Something risky? That sounded right up his alley. Flirting with death was all he’d been doing for the last three years. Good training for Quake too.

“And the goal of this expedition would be?”

James grinned, fully aware that he had Jecks interest. “You seen that great big mountain over yonder?”

“Kind of hard not too, you’re climbing it?”

“Yep, that mountain has been the goal ever since this outposts inception. You see, on the other side of the mountain is the Drained Ocean, a giant black pit, no water flows there. It’s like its very existence repels it. A few light years beyond that, is where you’ll find our great country, United New Uvalt, or Nuvalt as it’s called colloquially. We- “

“Woah, slow down there buddy, light years?! Are you serious?”

At James’ confused nod Jeck pinched the bridge of his nose. “I knew this planet was big, I didn’t know it was that fucking big.”

“‘This planet?’ You’re not from the Plains? And you’re human, correct?”

“Yes to both, I fell through a portal or something and woke up on this continent. I used to be pure human before I fell through, then I merged with another species called ‘Ghosts’. That wasn’t their official name but it’s what they called themselves. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about ‘em do you?”

The head researcher frowned. “Can’t say I’ve ever heard of them but this world is a big place. Maybe back on the mainland there’s a book or record of some sort. We get a lot of different species passing through because of our continent is a tourist destination. As for you falling through a portal, well, it’s been known to happen. A lot more frequently nowadays too.”

Jeck hummed in contemplation. “The mainland, how do you get there, some kind of FTL?”

“Nope, teleporting. That other structure way off there? Houses the portal we use to travel. You were right about supplies coming in regularly. We actually have a shipment going to the mainland from here in a weeks time.”

Jeck smiled “Oh really? Any chance you could get me and Quake on it?”

James gave an exaggerated shrug. “Sorry man, that shipment is for military personnel only. The next soldier shipment goes out in a month. There’s nothing I can do, unless…”

Jeck tilted his head, smile turning into a grin. “Unless…?” He prompted.

“Unless you two both go on the expedition as part of the guard force AND, “ He quickly interjected, “You let me study you two. I’ve been dying to study your friend.”

“Really? You’re not curious that more humans have evolved independently of you guys? What kind of studies?”

James waved him off dismissively. “Humans have evolved independently over a thousand times. It’s almost more rare when we find a species that’s distinctly non-humanoid.”

“Huh, what are the odds of that?”

“Astronomically high apparently, for whatever reason, if an intelligent species evolves, it’s got a thirty percent chance to evolve into something roughly humanoid. That we all use the same date formatting and general concepts is a bigger mystery. You didn’t even question it when I said ‘week’”

“Damn, that’s…I don’t even know what that is.”

“Neither does anyone else, but anyway, nothing super invasive, I’d just ask for a few body scans and blood samples, maybe an example of your species abilities and ask a few questions about the past of your species.”

“Alright, that sounds good, what’s the goal of the expedition and why exactly do you need guards?”

“This is where the risk of this expedition comes in. That mountain is home to a certain species of bird that we call Avanos, otherwise known as the ‘Storm King’. It’s an apt name, whenever it flies around it generates category 12 hypercanes.”

“Sounds like fun.” A gleam had entered the Wraiths eye, one that told James that if he wasn’t required to take Jeck on this trip, he’d probably find him scaling it anyway.

“Depends on your definition of the word. Our scanners have picked up an enormous power source on top of that mountain and our task is to investigate it, and depending on the results, retrieve it.”

Jeck stuck out his hand. “Well then, I do believe we have a deal.”

“Excellent, we leave in two days.”

James clasped it and shook, no power plays from either side. Just a nice firm handshake. This guy was already endearing himself to Jeck. He grinned. “I guess, I’ll see you after dinner then, boss.” He laughed and enjoyed the look of shock on his face when he took a step backwards and walked straight through the window.

***

“That’s about the long and short of it. What about you lad, any craic?”*

Far too used to Jecks particular brand of slang for it to confuse him, Quake told him about what happened. How Gillian touched him and spoke to him, the idea she planted in her head and how he had to melt his brain down and rebuild it to escape and create his first power. By the end of it Jecks complacent expression had blossomed into a visage of fury. His entire body coiled like a spring and, although no bloodlust wafted off his body, Quake could tell that he was one wrong word away from marching over to Gillian and ripping her head off. Bare handed if the way his hands flexed open and closed was any indicator.

“As much as I’d like to go over and knock the stuffing out of her, We don’t have any evidence. Normally I’d do it anyway, evidence be damned, but we’re not going to endear ourselves to anyone throwing around baseless accusations. If she can do what I suspect she can do, then she’s got the whole base wrapped around her finger.”

Quake looked at him, curious as to what he thought her ability was. Already knowing what Quakes unvoiced question was he elaborated.

“Her power works on touch, and implants an idea for the victim to spread it. Sounds like a memetic hazard. That’s how ideas are spread. She just weaponized it. We’ll play it by ear. Don’t talk to her if you can help it. If she corners you, flare your aura a bit, I’ll come running. That work for you?”

“Yeah that works.” He looked away, embarrassed. “Thanks for looking out for me.”

Jeck waved a hand in his face. “Don’t mention it. We’re friends now.”

Ignoring the look of wonder on Quakes face, he took a deep breath and let out a long sigh.

“It’s been a long day hasn’t it?”

Quake hummed in agreement. Thankfully the rest of the day passed without incident. Jeck introduced Quake to the wonders of modern cooking, after which he had to physically grab him and stop him from running to the kitchen and swan-diving into the pot of soup. They bantered around with the soldiers who were curious about Jecks travels on the plains and what Quakes life was like before he met Jeck.

Jeck regaled them with tales of terrible injuries and epic triumphs and flirted terribly with the women while Quake amused everyone with his blunt way of presenting things. The only thing of note that happened during dinner was when they started competing over who had the worst scars. One of the soldiers had a wicked looking scar that ran down the length of his spine. Jeck bested that by throwing off his cloak and shirt to reveal more of the same white paste that made up his jaw.

“Got that one in the same fight as the one that took my jaw. Bastard could control stone you see, what I didn’t know was that there were streams of lava spread underground close to the surface. He got me with a pressurized jet of the stuff at the same time I ripped his heart out.”

The crowd gasped in amazement while some of them rolled their eyes at what they thought was a fabrication to look impressive. Whatever, they could be wrong. After dinner, James met them and escorted them to the barracks where most of the rank and file soldiers slept. They took a quick shower which ended up being not quick because Quake refused to go anywhere near it and convincing him took the better part of an hour.

Jeck decided to take one first to show him that it wasn’t that bad. He stripped off, leaving his bandages on his right arm, and walked into shower and spent a few minutes basking under the hot water.

Technology, he decided, was bloody amazing, and damn anyone who said differently. It was only after soaking himself with the water that he realized something very important.

‘Oh yeah, I’m blind.’

Looking down at the two bottles in his hand, he remembered that he couldn’t actually read anymore. Oh well, no harm in asking someone right? He walked out of the showers and into the main barracks.

Everyone turned and stared. Quite a few women, and some of the men, blushed when they seen him. One particularly bold woman let out a wolf whistle. Being that Jeck did a lot of exercise, it made sense that he was quite built, this was compounded by the fact he didn’t actually need to eat, thus he also had a ridiculously low body fat percentage. This meant that Jeck was not only muscular, he was also incredibly shredded. Only Quake, who was hiding from Jeck behind one of the bunk beds, was unaffected, not that he would have cared if he seen, He was technically naked all the time.

He raised an eyebrow. Leaning down to the nearest soldier, a woman, who he sensed had a lot of energy rushing towards her face. He had an inkling of what they were looking at.

“Why are they staring at me?”

“I, um, you uh, f-forgot your towel.” She stuttered. Jeck slowly looked down and just as slowly looked back up again.

“I see.”

Turning back to the staring crowd, he decided that now was far too late to be feeling some sort of embarrassment. He puffed out his chest and gave his hips a small thrust.

“Glorious, isn’t it?”

Like a leaking dam, it started out small, one person giggled, then the next, then a few more, then the rest came crashing down. Laughter filled the room prompting Quake to poke his head up. Everyone was pointing and staring at the front of the room. He turned his head and looked directly at Jeck. Then slowly turned back around.

Humans, Quake decided, were strange as hell.

“I see you hiding back there, Quake, I’ll get you in this shower one way or another.”

Dammit!

***

In one of the few private rooms dedicated to only the highest ranking personnel, Gillian, the leader of the military side of things on base and second in command of the whole outpost, was fuming. Her girlfriend, the blonde woman Quake had seen, who’s name is Gelid, gave her a concerned look.

“What’s wrong babe?”

Gillian growled in frustration. “It’s that damned Rat. I don’t know how he did it but he managed to get rid of my idea. If he knows, then you can bet the damn thing told his friend.”

Gelid rubbed her shoulder sympathetically. “Well, it’s not like they have any proof of anything. Even if they try to accuse us of something, who’d take their word over ours? It’ll be fine for, relax.” She said soothingly.

“Ugh, I know, I just hate unknown variables. I’ve spent the last four years of my life planning for this, crafting the perfect power to do it and executing every step to perfection. Of course, life would throw me a curve ball, First Hiro’s sudden competence, now these two. I can’t have anything go smoothly around here with that buffoon James in charge.”

“Don’t worry about him. In two days, he’ll be gone, and you’ll be in charge.”

Groaning in relief as Gelid rubbed all the knots out of her shoulders, She decided to think happy thoughts. Once she got the Storm King to target and destroy the shield surrounding the portal, and the portal itself, they would all be left ‘stranded’ on this continent. Then the idea she planted in the populace’s minds would drift to the forefront. She had worked her way into second in command, her ability meant that no one would question her and all her orders would be heeded, once she took charge.

Took charge of her own personal kingdom.

With her and Gelid ruling it as they should.

She couldn’t wait.