Rest was something that I needed in abundance, even under normal work pressure. But for this last day, it didn’t come easily. I awoke in the night several times, shuffling on my mattress in the dark. Only once or twice due to pain, the other times were… just an overactive brain. Now it was midmorning and my desire to do something won out and I agreed to stay awake. The glow of my STAR device illuminated my aching eyes.
Let the League take credit, but killing a villain might have brought more heat your way. Stay vigilant and I’ll notify you if anything pings on my system. With that kind of effort, you definitely need a few extra days of holiday. Finally, Agent W, I am not your parent, so go to the party if you feel there is a valid reason to. Just don’t lose sight of your role or compromise either of us. I trust you. Boss.
Probably the longest missive I’d received from Boss since that time that I derailed an emptied electro-tram off its rails and over the skyway to hit a target in a sixth-floor office building.
Holiday was a misnomer. What that truly meant was that I wouldn’t be getting any contracts until this all blew over. A punishment. I’m sure my physical form would appreciate the added rest, but the part of me who wanted to strive to stay on course felt antsy about sitting idle. Self aware enough to know I was mostly used as a tool, I just wanted to fulfill my purpose. Otherwise, what was I?
The barb about the party stung a little, too.
Not to say I saw him as anything further than my employer, but given that I had taken to a life of misery and solitude for the job… well, having him say in no uncertain terms that I had self-inflicted this unnecessary lifestyle was perhaps a wake-up call.
So now the question was - what did I want?
Could easily continue as I was. There was a peace to being alone and focused on my work that couldn’t be denied. It was what made me the efficient agent that I was today. A life more well-rounded might soften my edges or allow weaknesses to develop. But, I didn’t have to be only a tool.
I shifted up to a sitting position and tried to shake the fog clouding my head. The feeling of being untethered from the norm was exhausting, and I’d only just gotten up. Best to busy myself with things that didn’t involve so much drab introspection. Boss had also sent the coordinates for my reward package pick up.
Point F with keycode 392. I’d go later in the evening when the city had cooled off and people who weren’t looking for trouble were nestled away in their homes.
For now, it was breakfast time.
Muscles were sore but functional. Just felt like I’d recovered from a jog I wasn’t used to doing. I felt around my stomach as I stepped over to the workbench. Skin was fresh and sensitive, but my organs were on the inside still. A medical miracle, paid for with a few days of insanity.
Fresh cannister in. I’d have to tell Boss that these newer ones were the best so far. Actually gave me an energy boost rather than the brief lethargy. Replaced my stim pack too, and was glad that it didn’t immediately flood me with the stuff my body was sick of.
[Now, what should I put on the agenda for today?]
I spoke out loud in hopes that I could avoid the elephant in the corner of the room. It worked, and my mind eagerly turned towards my crates. Lots of things I could busy myself with so that I could avoid making any sort of decisions.
First up, gun-arm maintenance. It had taken a lot of hits during my factory contract. Small ammunitions fire and empowered sword strikes. The damage was… surprisingly negligible. A few lighter lines along it as it bore its own scars from the battle with Skyblade, but functionally in one piece. If Boss had replaced my whole body with this material, my life would be a lot easier.
Maybe I should look into body armor.
I oiled the working parts and buffed out most of the scratches. Allowed my V-Force drive to charge back up and power down a few times. Cleaning rod down the barrel to ensure there was no debris or damage after cycling the working parts so much when I was out cold. Good as new.
Flipped a blue Blank shell up into the air and caught it in the open chamber, closed it smoothly before popping it back open and catching the cartridge in my hand once more. A neat trick, but not something to do when my life was on the line. I didn’t have the ego or safety that supers had to be flourishing my equipment or spouting one-liners.
Next up was my outfit. Too many of my layers of drab green required patching, so I settled for just swaddling myself in a whole new layer of fabric. Perhaps I should be removing the old ones at some point… but part of me was afraid to see what remained beneath.
Why was it now I that had chosen to come to terms with the fact that I had been rejecting my humanity?
I shook my head again and focused. Getting the fabric around me and fastened took a lot longer than it should due to my arm. Utilizing a few clamps affixed to the workbench, I performed the necessary movements to get it done. Some practiced precision, as this was far from the first time. It also gave my stiff muscles time to limber up.
Far from peak, but if I landed in any hot water, I’d at least be able to hold my own.
Speaking of that… next up was an alarm system. Something Boss gave to me a couple of years back, but I saw no need to install. Nobody came out this way. Until now, at least. Some digging through long forgotten tech in one of the back crates and I’d found it. Enough connectors to put a perimeter around my house, and have a few left over for the road to the city.
Rubbed the dirt from the screen and booted it up. A blinking green light thought about it for a few seconds before asking me to pair it with my STAR. Interestingly, it also knew I had the lense tech installed and requested to have access to that.
I accepted.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Hoisted up the satchel of detecting sensors and sighed, before heading out the door. The day out here on the borders of the wastes was… pleasant. Barely a breeze, and only a few clouds in an otherwise bright sky. I risked a look over to Roxy’s house, but she wasn’t out front. Might even be sleeping in if she had been working late.
The sensors had some decent range on them, and with some quick head-math, I guessed I could circle our two houses at a distance of around 250 feet, while leaving a pair at 350 feet further down the road. Not the best early warning system, but it could make all the difference if we were sleeping or otherwise engaged. Roxy shouldn’t trip it often as she leaped into the area.
And so I spent the next few hours slowly walking around, occasionally placing down one of the small cubes of tech - pressing their spikes into the ground - and flicking their switch on. Only had to backtrack three times to get a switch I had somehow forgotten to activate.
Tiring and sweaty work, but once it was done I told the main device to sync and connect the grid. A circle of light dotted around the screen as it processed my request, before green text replaced it. All done. First try, too - I’d have to admit I felt a little pride for my efforts.
Returned to my house and put the empty satchel back away, placing the main device for the active security system on the workbench. Now, if only I could have stolen away those Sentries from the factory offices. My fingers drummed on the workbench. Plus... why were they called Pythons and not Constrictors? Life certainly was perplexing sometimes...
I should probably let the super know.
Hadn’t used my STAR to communicate with anyone who wasn’t Boss before, so I had to dig around the menus to find the option. Grunting, I tried to get my head around the words.
[Message Roxy. Have set up security sensors in a 250ft perimeter. Will send you a request so that you also receive notifications. W. Send.]
That about covered it. I sat down and prodded at the security device until I could find where to add her number. Job done. Been a productive one so far… and I still had plenty of daylight to burn before I could go get my package.
A small envelope appeared at the top right corner of my lense. That was new. I brought up my left arm to see that the super had replied already.
Amazing, thanks Dubs! X
I hated it already. Was pretty sure a sole cross was a terrible way to shorthand her name for sign offs. Still, my fate was sealed, and I’d started the neighborhood watch myself, so had nobody else to blame for my situation. I moved over to my ammo crate to ignore the swirling vortex of the decision that needed to be made.
Filled up my drum but unloaded the ten-mags. Under half my stock for Tazer cartridges now.
[Message Boss. Inventory request. Tazer shot. Sanguine stakes. Send.]
As much as I had been wary of accepting the gift of a vocalizer, it had been such a benefit to my day-to-day life that I wasn’t sure why I had chosen to suffer without it. Certainly, there were still times where going without was beneficial… but at least now I had the choice.
Roxy’s tech knowledge could now be explained due to her having that friend in the League, but that wasn’t entirely sufficient. It wasn’t exactly knowledge you could just pick up with casual conversation or a glance. Maybe I was being too suspicious? It was likely Clara knew of me, so I assumed Roxy had been blabbing about my existence enough for them to choose the right vocalizer connections - or perhaps it had been a lucky guess.
Either way, I was certain she was hiding a secret from me. Just because I’d let my guard down and accepted that some change in my life wasn’t as terrible as I thought, it didn’t mean I couldn’t suss out a situation that didn’t make sense. Sometimes, to dig deeper, you had to stand in the hole.
My shovel was feeling a little blunt right now, however. My eyes looked around the room to see if there was much else I could busy myself with. Maybe I could just… rest?
The sight of my mattress wasn’t really appealing, however. As I painfully slid from my shell, I had started to grow to realize that my house was perhaps in need of some better organization. Or… just demolishing and starting anew.
A curse that lingered in my head, as I realized that Roxy was right about it being a kill room. Only problem was the one that it was killing was me. Or... my human spirit?
I rolled my eyes and left the sour thoughts behind in the room as I exited back into the fresh air. If I had to waste away for a few hours, then the outside world wasn’t the worst. Especially since I had apparently been gifted a deckchair just for such a purpose. I placed myself on it and leaned back.
Holiday, Boss had said. Maybe I did deserve something more.
----------------------------------------
“Evening, Dubs!”
I opened my eyes, briefly confused to see the sun had suddenly moved quite a distance in the sky, as if it had been running away from me in secret. Clearly, a nap had been needed. My head turned to the side to see the super walking from her house. Suited up with a steaming cup of coffee in hand.
“I’m about to head out again. It’s good to see you in one piece for a change.”
[Another night shift? More punishment, I assume.]
“Nah.” She stopped by her chair and grinned. “Some top secret shit I can’t talk to you about. They're trusting me with something not entirely bullshit, so I’m trying my best not to fuck it up.”
[Verdict so far?]
“Touch and go.” She pulled a face and looked beyond me to the city. “I’m pulling my weight, but lots of cogs in the clock, or whatever the metaphor is.”
I nodded. Found myself hoping that things did work out for her. Trying to will her to leave so that the imminent question wasn’t asked. Her attention left to city and came back to me. I held my breath.
“Thanks again for setting up the security.” She leaned forward to place her mug on her chair, before righting herself and stretching her back out. I wondered if she had to work out a lot to maintain her muscle mass, or if she had it innately just from being a strength super. “Will rest a lot easier tonight. You tested it?”
[No, not yet.]
“I’ll hop out that way then - just wave at me if it pings on your system, okay?”
[Certainly. Good luck at work.]
She paused, halfway in getting ready to leap out of her garden. “Oh, thanks.” For whatever reason, my well-wishes seemed to either confuse or unsettle her. Not for long though, as she then leaped away through the air.
Turned my head to watch her land a few hundred feet, and then she started walking.
Detection.
A quick notification popped into my vision before a faint overlay of the sensor layout appeared, a red dot over by the road area. I held my gun arm up and waved to her. She waved back. Joy. Envelope icon.
I got a notification. Sensor 63 seems to be the road one. Cya! X
The orange figure once again leaped an impossible distance into the air and was off toward the city.
She clearly didn’t have the same sort of tech to see the map layout, but it was handy to know that sensor number just in case I lost my eye or something.
I sat in silence for a few minutes. Somewhat glad she didn’t ask about the party tomorrow, but then again, also somewhat annoyed. She was acting under the assumption that I would agree to turn up, which was unfair…
As she was right.
But... not to fulfill my duty as a neighbor or start bonding as friends. Putting aside my disdain for both heroes and social situations, it would be beneficial for my work if I could make contact with Clara. There just weren’t many other opportunities for me to network with people who could work with my cybernetics. Not anyone I could trust with my safety. League assholes might be jerks, but they were supposed to have morals at the least.
The fight against Skyblade just hammered home that I was in an arms race to keep up with trouble that had now started circling me like hungry sharks. I had gotten off easy the last few years in being able to avoid them all… but that ship had now sailed, and it was taking on water.
I sighed and stood from the deckchair, my eyes going over to the large motorbike still where I had left it a few days back.
It was time to go get my reward, and hope the city didn’t try to grind me between its sharp teeth this time.