G.U.N.s N' R.I.F.L.E.s

Frein held the meiyal-crafted pistol in his right hand. The way it rested on his palm felt oddly familiar. Even the weight was just right. In his left hand was the magazine filled with Meiyal Bullets, each with a concentrated dose of his own meiyal.

Jaylene looked at him curiously. “You look like you know how to use it.”

“Just to hold,” he replied. “They look oddly familiar to the weapons we have back where I came from.”

He loaded the magazine, which kicked in his muscle memory. But when his hand moved towards the barrel to reload the chamber, he quickly found the contraption didn’t exist. Rather, the barrel was tightly sealed.

“Alright, they are a bit different. How do I prep this?”

“Press the meiyal cartridge—those two on the side—into the barrel to start the Milling process,” Jaylene pointed out. “This is the G.U.N., short for General Use Neutralizer.”

He did as instructed, blinking at the pistol’s name at the same time.

“General use?” Frein asked. He observed as the device activated, its runic etchings bursting to life. His Mesiffera confirmed the Milling process was happening inside, mixing his meiyal in the bullets and the Gathered meiyal from the cartridges into a suppressed energy within the chamber. The G.U.N. was preparing to Draw by itself.

“It’s a neutralizer of sorts, nothing lethal. The plan is to provide the lower-end field guards and security personnel with one of these to expand their options during nonlethal operations or when they’re in the line of duty.”

Jaylene deftly navigated a panel on the assembly table, activating the training dummies on the field. They started moving horizontally and vertically, with various speeds and acceleration. Quite the advanced target practice.

“I’ll spare you the details,” she continued, “but I imbedded these G.U.N.s with a specific Meiyal Art which attempts to temporarily freeze the target’s ability to Draw.”

Frein blinked at that. “That sounds oddly powerful. Like a Nightmare’s Negating Roar?”

Jaylene nodded. “It’s a botched Meiyal Art at best. Since it’s inspired by a Nightmare’s ability, the pattern for it is too disturbing and indiscriminate. If you learn it and try to use it by yourself, you’ll just end up harming your own Drawing capability and possibly your meiyal system as well.”

“Oh.” It was a simple concept to grasp. “So you bypass that side-effect by letting the G.U.N. do it for us. That’s why you need my meiyal separated.”

“It also controls the weapon’s output, to ensure we only incapacitate the target.”

Frein found it odd to look at a pistol and consider it only capable of incapacitation. He quickly dismissed it since there was a more pressing question on the top of his head.

“How did you imbed the Art?” He turned the pistol around, admiring the fancy glow.

Jaylene’s eyes sparkled with interest. “Care to guess?”

“Well, I’m almost absolutely sure that it’s not a basic Meiyal Art at all. I did the same for a sword I brought with me, tried to envelop it with Siffera but it didn’t become any stronger. Is it Meiyal Weaving and Meiyal Arts combined?”

The guess was forced at best, in Frein’s opinion, but it was better than nothing. The light from the pistol dimmed to a subtle glow, indicating it was done preparing. It took about a minute since he activated the Milling process. Terribly slow for twelve measly shots, but he didn’t mention anything about it. The actual shots might just more than make up for the long wait.

“Would you believe me if I tell you it’s a combination of Meiyal Armaments and Meiyal Arts?” Jaylene pointed at the G.U.N. and whispered, “This is a Forged Weapon, Frein. Made through my design, yes, but Gumi did the heavy lifting. I had her skip the Signature Principle for the prototypes, though.”

“Gumi’s Vyndivalian?” Frein asked. Gumi Baker was the other receptionist. “She didn’t say anything about the Battle of the Vanguard?”

“We talked about it. After we read the reports. See, we didn’t know about it until a few days ago.” Jaylene revealed another layer from the G.U.N.’s container, showing a few more bullets and magazines. She filled this batch with her own meiyal this time—hers was a vibrant green. “It’s not like she doesn’t care, but our work here is more important. Same goes for the other Vyndivalians aboard.

“While we’re technically affiliated with Irista Nation, we also function as the main bridge for the Nightmare Lands and the Order of the Void. Though the latter part has been a bit of an issue lately since we’ve lost contact with the Western Sanctum.”

“I heard that’s been the issue for a few years now,” Frein said. “Since Katherine left,” he added, expressing his implications.

“You think it has something to do with that?” Jaylene asked.

“I think they deliberately waited.”

“Who’s they?”

“The… Cult’s the only thing that comes to my mind.” Frein had a more specific word in mind, but the felintine’s stare reminded him just in time to avoid anything deterministic enough for Destiny.

“Good.” Jaylene sighed, finishing the second magazine. “In any case, Gumi and the other Vyndivalians were relieved that the invasion stopped at Minaveil Province. At the very least, we can continue our work without issues.”

“What about their families?”

“They’re all with us, of course.”

“Oh, right. Big, floating, self-sustaining city.”

“Yeah.”

“So, do you two just casually do your research while operating the reception area?” Frein asked, eager to move on quickly from the war subject.

“Oh, that.” Jaylene smiled. “We saw Katherine’s name on the boarding manifest. Naturally, I told my employees to inform me no matter what I’m doing as soon as she’s headed here. I was asleep, and you know the rest.”

“And Gumi?”

“She’s my secretary and research assistant. Of course she had to come along.” Jaylene finished a second magazine.

“What’s the spare for?” Frein asked.

“I’ll show you in a bit. Wanna start? You look like you know how to pull the trigger.”

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Frein nodded, cueing Jaylene to give him space. He held the pistol with both hands, ensuring his fingers wrapped tightly around the grip. He quickly noticed something was missing. The grip felt too smooth. A rougher texture would improve the hold, removing any risk of slipping. He made sure to let Jaylene know later.

He started to aim, bracing his arms, shoulders, and back to adjust to the expected recoil when he realized that this G.U.N. might have no such thing. It was still better to be safe than sorry.

Frein aimed down the pistol’s sight and tracked a slow moving lesser Nightmare’s head. He pulled the trigger.

It could have been because of his Siffera, but he barely felt any recoil. The Meiyal Bullet shot out of the barrel just as instantly as he made his shot, true to how a pistol would fire off a bullet. Again, it could have been his enhanced senses, but the shot—a concentrated beam of meiyal—moved across the field painfully slowly.

The sound of a round firing off a barrel was reduced to a loud hum, rather the satisfying bang he was expecting. It was a letdown but it made sense, given that the pistol wasn’t using any gunpowder in the first place.

As the Meiyal Bullet collided with the dummy’s head, Frein wished he could’ve seen if it was possible for him to trace bullets from Earth’s firearms now. He felt he would’ve had a field day dodging those. Still, there were eleven shots to go. He fired all of them, attributing his insane accuracy to his Siffera. It was truly worth it, mastering that one Meiyal Art. And apparently, he could raise it to the next level with the correct meiyal-charged materials.

But he was skipping ahead. The feeling was nostalgic. Every time he did his drills back on Earth, though occasional, his mind would always go floating somewhere else. He placed the G.U.N. down.

“Done already?” Jaylene asked, returning to the firing area.

“I fired all twelve shots.”

“Hmm?” The felintine pointed at the pistol. “Oh, those bullets aren’t one time use. Each Meiyal Bullet provides the G.U.N. five shots, provided you filled the bullets properly and the weapon Gathered enough meiyal for its cartridges.”

Frein blinked. “That’s sixty shots! That’s quite a lot.”

“Very efficient, I’d say. Since it takes about a minute to Mill the entire magazine, I wanted to make sure the wait was worth it.”

“But it takes a long while to Gather,” Frein rebutted. “Was it about five minutes?”

“It only needs one cartridge to Mill a magazine, since this has two, you’ll only need about a minute to reload the second one.”

“That’s a total of one-hundred and twenty shots.”

“You think it’s a lot?”

Frein only nodded.

“For practitioners, it could be,” Jaylene conceded. “But this could actually help with Nightmares, more on lesser ones than the actual ones, mind you.”

“This neutralizes them?” Frein started firing off a few more shots.

“For far longer compared to normal people. I imagine since it disrupts their meiyal system, the Nightmare couldn’t utilize it, and a lesser Nightmare’s recovery is extremely poor.”

“It doesn’t get rid of the Nightmarification completely, does it?”

Jaylene shook her head. “I was only able to test it on the field once. We were hopeful, but no.”

A realization came to Frein. “The Nightmare doesn’t disrupt this, like the rest of your inventions?”

“The first batch, yes. They were completely useless in the Nightmare Lands, but should be good enough for those in the safe zone. These ones have Vynore in them. A small pebble each, but enough to protect them from the Nightmare disruption. We don’t have a lot of those ores running around.”

“You can’t use those in your M.O.B.I.L.E.?”

Again, Jaylene shook her head. “Those utilize an obscene amount of preprogrammed meiyal. You can’t even consider those Meiyal Arts. I had to meticulously create each complex connection and combination of parts to make it work and viable for mass-production.

“Vynore’s main function is to disrupt meiyal flow, and that makes it completely incompatible for M.O.B.I.L.E.s. For the weapons, all I had to do was make sure they’re separate from the Gathering, Milling, and Drawing mechanisms.”

She made an inquisitive look, taking Sam out of her bag. “But maybe I should take another look and see if I missed something.”

The sentient device whirled to life. “As long as I don’t vanish or anything.”

“We’ll make your safety a top priority.”

“Thanks, mom.”

By the time Frein had fired all sixty shots, Jaylene had brought with her a larger container, presumably the R.I.F.L.E. Katherine and Kristel came along with her.

“That’s an awful lot of rounds for a pistol,” the Lady commented, which sparked another series of explanations from her adoptive mother.

“How sure are we about the neutralizing effectiveness of these things?” Kristel asked. “And how far along are we from mass-production?”

“For mass-production, should be within the year or the next,” Jaylene replied before turning to Frein with an opened hand. “As for effectiveness. Frein, mind if I shoot you? Figured you might be interested in how it feels.”

“Sure,” he said, passing the weapon before any of the two girls could even complain.

The felintine switched the magazines with a practice motion, retrieving and loading either with a single hand. She pressed the cartridges again to begin the Milling process.

“A few things I want to improve,” she mentioned while they waited. “This thing can only Gather or Mill at any given time, not both. Would’ve been nice to save some time. I also can’t switch magazines without wasting the rest of the ammo, or Mill them with another G.U.N. ahead of time. For these, I’m not sure if I can work around them or not. Those would defy some Meiyal Arts principles.”

“Can’t you use it even if it’s still Milling?” Frein asked.

“Oh, that too. It can’t fire until it finishes Milling everything.”

“Can’t you stop it partway for emergencies?”

“I guess, I can explore that option…” Jaylene observed her weapon. Frein could see the calculations running in her head as she smiled with confidence. “I’ll put it on the list. Ready?”

Frein opened his arms wide while looking at a worried Katherine. “I saw the bullets. I can handle them.”

Jaylene took only a few steps back and opened fire, shooting Frein once with the G.U.N.

He kept eye contact with Katherine, making sure she didn’t move out of worry. Frein got hit, and he felt the Meiyal Bullet ripple through his protective film of Siffera, weakening it significantly, but not neutralizing the Art completely. The force pushed him back a few steps.

The felintine shot twice more.

Frein took the hits, emphasizing his Siffera with four-meiyal. He endured the damage, but again, the bullets reduced his Art to a mere flicker. Three more shots. He felt his world spin. Art fatigue was so close, and he was pretty much sizzling. His Art faded to nothing.

Frein breathed deep, pressing his hands on his knees to keep himself from falling. Jaylene stared at him with disbelief.

Katherine quickly rushed to his side. “You idiot.” She gave him a kiss, a deep and passionate kiss in front of the Princess and her adoptive mother. She didn’t care; it was meiyal resuscitation.

The Lady of the Void’s cool meiyal dripped into his throat, rejuvenating the channels of his meiyal system. His Art fatigue was gone as fast as it settled in, but their lips didn’t part. He responded in kind until she released a helpless moan.

“Hey, chill out,” Kristel intervened. “You guys are degenerates, you know that?”

He released Katherine, leaving her breathless.

“I can’t believe it,” said Jaylene, ignoring the entire commotion. She was busy staring at her weapon, as if to make sure it was working properly.

“Why?” Kristel asked.

“I’ve never seen anyone endure six bullets.”

“Usually how much?” Frein asked.

“One or two at most.”

“Oh, please no,” Katherine said without skipping a beat. Her face was flushed, and one of her hands still held his shoulder.

“It’s perfect!” Frein complained.

“Why?” Kristel asked.

“What’s the matter?” Jaylene added.

“He wants one so he can practice. He wants to endure the entire magazine.”

“That’s crazy!” Kristel and Jaylene both said at the same time.

“But you’ll still lend me one, right?” Frein smiled, masking the pleading in his voice. “For science, right?”

“No,” Jaylene said. “You’re not supposed to endure it, Frein.”

“But what if it’s possible? Not by us, but by something else,” he said, deliberately avoiding invoking anything that might hint their enemies through Destiny.

“This is just a neutralizer, Frein. It can’t solve that kind of problem,” Jaylene replied.

“What are we talking about?” Kristel asked.

“Destiny stuff,” Katherine answered. “You’ll get used to it.”

“Oh, yeah, I get it.”

“So, what’s in the other box?” Frein asked, sighing as moved on. “Is that the R.I.F.L.E.?”

“Yes.” Jaylene stored the G.U.N. inside its container and opened the bigger one. It looked, indeed, like a rifle. It had four cartridges and its magazine contained far more dangerous looking bullets. Each one looked like it had the cumulative strength of at least five pistol Meiyal Bullets. The felintine carried the massive firearm with both hands.

“This is the Really Impressive and Fast Lethal Emitter, also known as the R.I.F.L.E. As you can tell by the name, this one can kill a Nightmare through continuous fire. It has two-hundred rounds per magazine, but its reload and re-charge time comes to about ten minutes in total, in addition to the time it takes to fill up those bullets. Want to try it—?”

“No, I don’t think we have time for that, Jam,” Katherine interrupted. “We’re actually having dinner soon. Care to join us instead? We can bring Gumi along.”

Frein sent the felintine a subtle gesture of resignation.

“Fair enough, I guess. I’ll send Gumi a message.” Jaylene reluctantly returned the weapon to inside the box and turned off the training dummies.

“So,” she began, smiling. “Where do we go now?”

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