In some ways, it warmed me to know that Boss was sweating bullets over an Agent leaving his control. Certainly, he must have known what I was before this. His knee-jerk reaction to kill me off if he couldn’t keep me could only mean that I was something uncontrollable at my normal strength. He’d been foolhardy in thinking he could keep me barking to his tune, but after Clara had opened the cage, I was gone.
My fist lashed out just in front of the target dummy, before the spinning blade popped out the front for a few rotations, zipping back into the mechanism on the back of my hand. I stopped and relaxed, humid in my new gear and running out of steam.
“Fantastic work, Gunquake.” Clara smiled at me, her chin in her palms as she sat and watched. “What do you think?”
It was definitely an upgrade to my previous gauntlet. Even ignoring the pop-blade, the metal was higher grade, lighter, and affixed to my arm better. The whole thing fit under my trench-coat fine and could apparently take quite a beating if what she said was to be believed.
[It is a joy to use. I only wish I had more energy to practice with.]
Roxy had joined us a little while ago, back in her super suit, but relaxing on her deckchair and seemingly enjoying the show more than the techie. “Can’t you just pour a little water in the side of your neck?”
“If you are intending on assassinating him, sure.” Clara turned around to scowl at the super. “And I can’t let you do that.”
[It goes straight into my bloodstream, pretty much, so needs to be a certain mixture.]
I shrugged and took a couple of steps over to where the techie was sitting.
[You want custody of my corpse if I die so you can try to resurrect me or something?]
“Or something,” she said with a nod.
“Did I not warn you, Clara? And you shouldn’t be encouraging her, Dubs.” Roxy scowled at us and put her arm over her eyes to block the sunlight. “Beats me why I am sitting out here getting third-wheeled by a dry-docked ship instead of working out like I should be.”
[Is it because you are half expecting another assassin to drop out of the sky to kill me?]
“Half, yeah.”
[Is the other half because you just want to spend time with me?]
“Oh, fuck off. There’s no need to make my life miserable.”
[Is it then unfair of me to ask for your assistance in getting ready for a bath? Or I could ask Clara…]
Roxy sat up and scowled at me. “Get your ass upstairs already, Dubs.”
As the techie gave me a grin, I walked up into the house behind the super, all the way to the bathroom.
She put my hood down and removed my creaking trench-coat to hang on the back of the door, a scowl still on her face as she worked on the clips and buckles of my tactical gear.
[I can probably handle my lower half. I know I’m asking a lot of you.]
She placed my vest on the counter before helping with my undershirt. It rolled off over my head to reveal my bandaged torso.
“It’s just very conflicting, Dubs. I’m attracted to the danger, but you never seem to stop getting into trouble. I don’t want my heart broken, but I also want to be the one by your side through all the shit.”
[You always will be, as the leader of the group.]
She unraveled the bandages, revealing the sensitive pink skin that was still healing over.
“More than just the group leader, Dubs don’t be dense.”
I stood in silence as she removed the last of the wrappings, my torso fully exposed and looking rather beaten up - yet great considering the circumstances. Her finger ran around the fresh skin covering where the holes in my chest used to be, before her eyes went up to mine.
Roxy paused for a moment before moving her hand up at the side of my face. “You’re a popular guy, Dubs. If it’s not me you want then-”
She stopped as I placed a finger to her lips.
[It is only you I want.]
As my hand brushed away from her mouth and along her cheek, she bit her lip. “Two days, huh? I don’t mind Clara, it just makes me feel like I’m… further back in the queue when you two talk like that. Maybe horny innuendo isn’t my style, but I want us and I don’t want to share.”
[Two days. I promise you it is worth the wait. Here.]
I stepped forward and put my arm around her. She leaned in close against me and placed her hands on my back. Her head rested against my chest, and I gently placed the side of mine atop her hair. The super sighed, and we just embraced for a little while.
Eventually, she moved away and shot me a coy smile. “Is that a synapse-controlled cybernetic shotgun-arm in your pants, or are you just pleased to see me?”
I stared at her blankly and watched as the color already in her cheeks went from a soft blush all the way to a beet red.
“Oh, gods, I can’t believe I really said that.” She let go of me and waved her way out of the room. “Enjoy your bath.”
Well, she was right about that not being her style, at least. Points for effect. I held my gun-arm up. Perhaps bonus points for being flattering as well.
Hit the taps so the bath could fill while I got out of the rest of my clothes. I’d need to practice getting in and out of my gear so that I wasn’t relying on one of them every day. Bubble juice went in and started to create the white clouds of pure bliss. Oh, how I’d missed a good bath.
Eyes went to the door as I took my goggles off.
It was hard to recall if I’d loved before. There was a part of me that was sure I was built only for killing and combat… but I also seemed to have some natural charisma or magnetism. Or perhaps, unnatural.
But… then again, maybe not. Clara’s constant insinuations were just how she spoke to me, and it was clear she only had an interest in me as far as my cybernetics could take me. Belle seemed to be some deviant that ran a cult, so anyone with a spare ear to hear her ‘teachings’ would probably be a target. Roy just liked to talk shit, our shared banter from similar past experience making us closer friends.
Roxy, however…
I finished stripping down and stepped into the bath. The only thing stopping this from being a divine experience was the ache of dehydration threatening to turn my brain into dust. Using Reflex had sped up the process - and I could always take a canister from downstairs if I was desperate… but I wanted to know if Boss had also been suppressing me somehow with the juice he had been giving me.
Settled into the warmth and relaxed. Water felt extra hot on the parts of me still healing, but it softened up my muscles. I rubbed at my eyes and dabbed a bit of wetness around the part of my face that was still skin.
Taps off and I tried to circle back to my segmented thoughts.
Roxy was genuine. Became my friend in earnest even though she was just sent here to spy on me. Wanted to be more than neighbors despite my flaws. Let me use the magic liquid that made bubbles. Maybe after the League meeting tomorrow, we’d be spending more quality time together that didn’t revolve around patching me up. Or even the day after, with the duel done, maybe we could spend time doing things that made her blush that bright scarlet again. It was cute.
I sunk a little lower in the bath.
Best I consider some of the more important things going on in my life - fully aware that she was clearly number one.
Second of all was the super group itself. The duo downstairs had clued me in a little more on what to expect with Belle… but I was no closer to finding an angle on how to convince her to be a better support hero for the squad. Given my desire to break my normal body against every enemy who showed themselves, having someone who could prevent that would stop Roxy from glaring at me so often.
I blinked my eyes as an uncomfortable feeling ran through my neck. Like my brain had just defecated down my spinal column. My hand raised, and I flexed my fingers. Hmm. A dollop of warm ice cream to represent some of my past life sloughing from brain and landing somewhere meaningful? Maybe, but whatever knowledge it had granted didn’t put itself center stage.
Or it could have been a brain hemorrhage or something. I’d just have to see if I keeled over or had an eureka moment. Part of me knew that Clara would receive any warnings if my health was in critical danger, and Roxy would kick the door open in an attempt to rescue me.
So, with silence as my only companion, I assumed I was fine.
Put a pin in the thoughts of Belle. Some leads to chase up that wouldn’t get me seduced or evangelized at.
Wren was a different matter. Head stuck between a marriage of convenience and her money-focus, I wondered why she actually became a hero. Did she have super powers? She had mostly run recon on our team mission, so I didn’t see her in action. Might be hard to convince her to take the job seriously if her heart was elsewhere. I’d need more information from Roxy, perhaps.
Then there was the League. What they wanted from me and what they knew about me. Would they trust me more knowing I had betrayed Boss, or would I have run out of use for them? Boss and Romanov both wanted League roster and hero placements - but for what reason? General intel was my first guess, but it could be for a bigger plan.
Lastly, or as final as my dry brain could remember, was Boss himself. Who he was and where. What lengths would he go to silence me? It was too late, in a way. Roxy and Roy both knew things. After my meeting tomorrow, the League would know things. This could be his tightly wound ball of secrecy quickly unraveling, which would explain his panic.
Plenty for me to be worried about.
I stretched my hand out again and looked at my fingers. There was a time I had ten of them… I was sure.
Blinked away the fog and turned my mind like a heavy cannon to point at the duel.
As much as I wanted to lose, I had to try to win...
Raised my hand up again and watched the water slide down my arm. Why did I keep looking at it? Subconsciously, I was trying to tell myself something, but I wasn’t quite getting it yet.
Roxy understood why we had to fight, which was good. If I were truthful, sometimes I wanted to call it off. Allow the dam to open and reveal whatever force was ready to surge forth. But I needed to know she was strong enough to do what it took to beat me. Take her role as a leader seriously. Ensure that we both had a secure place in the group and that our relationship wouldn’t put into question our loyalties or agenda.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Part of me worried that she’d get annoyed with me trying to take charge of things, because…
Well, because I had been the leader of my own squad.
I shivered, despite the warmth. Another nugget of truth. Made some sense why I had started this warpath in getting Roxy’s group ship-shape. She still held the reins. I wasn’t about to take that away from her - but I’d assist her to whatever level she required.
Brought up my hand again and winced.
Maybe I was letting Boss off too easily by thinking he had thrown a strop and ran off. He was surely smarter than that, and any plan to kill me off would have more steps than just throwing inept assassins my way. His initial reaction might even be part of the plot to catch me off-guard, as he surely had contingencies in place for when his Agents went rogue. The more I thought about that, the more like reality it seemed.
In that case, was he forcing my hand to fall into a trap he had planned?
I gazed at said hand for a moment, before my eyes went a little lower to the STAR device implanted just beneath my wrist.
Strange. It was as if something was trying to get me to ignore it.
Heartbeat thudded in my chest as mild panic swirled around. What if he had set a secondary kill switch within that device? He could be tracking me right now, potentially with a way of killing me with ease, and I was just sitting and enjoying bubbles.
Left the water and stood on the bath mat. Pulled up my compression shorts and stepped out of the bathroom, dripping water everywhere. Left arm out so I could keep an eye on my wrist so it didn’t escape.
“Gunquake?” Clara stood in the doorway of the kitchen. “Random fugue state or temporary exhibitionist?”
[Dining room.]
She nodded and stepped through as I made it to the bottom of the stairs without my feet slipping on the wooden boards. As soon as I saw those green lights come on, I turned to the techie.
[STAR device. Might be compromised.]
“Shit. Table.”
An odd request, but I assumed she meant for me to lie down. I did so, the leather of the surgical table squeaking as I tried to get my damp body into position.
Cases opened, and she came back over, clamped something circled tightly just before my left elbow, and then another on my forearm before the device. They both started to hum with some kind of energy.
“I did say STAR devices weren’t my jam, but for you, Gunquake… I’ll do anything.”
Footsteps by the door that I couldn’t see, and Roxy gasped. “What’s happening? You’re not taking his arm off, are you?”
I watched Clara turn her eyes to the super. “If you have an axe handy, that would be nice. We do not know yet.” She vanished again.
Roxy appeared at my right side and put her hand on my gun-arm. “Seriously, Dubs? Can’t even have a bath without being mutilated now?”
[Apologies. I realized that Boss may have a manner of controlling me in this device, and that he might be playing me for a fool.]
“How so?”
The techie appeared on my left again, a couple of electronic gadgets in her hand that she propped up on my stomach and leg.
[He was acting too calm in allowing me to cozy up with you and the League, only to lose his marbles when I made my inevitable betrayal. Too convenient. My contracts had always been about killing criminals and villains. Roy may have had his issues, but he was still a superhero. Boss would have known I wouldn’t kill him.]
“Oh.” Roxy’s brow furrowed. “So he isn’t mad and trying to kill you?”
[Too soon to say. My primary assumption is that he would want to reel me back in to being his faithful tool.]
Clara connected the two tight hoops with a couple of wires, which plugged into a square box of black plastic. A red light bloomed and then, with the flick of a switch, fresh pain ran up and down my forearm between the two clamps gripping me. I winced and exhaled through my nose.
“You’ll get used to the pain, Gunquake.” Her green eyes looked down at me. “I have digitally severed the synapse connection temporarily between your STAR and the rest of you. You may find you are unable to use your cybernetics, but please trust the process.”
I nodded briefly, as my vocalizer didn’t seem to want to allow me to talk.
The super drummed her fingers on my weapon and looked across at the wall. Brain was soaking in what I had told her… and rather than spark into more questions, she was swirling it around and getting a feel for the next step. Acting as more of a leader.
While Clara fiddled with part of my arm that I couldn’t see while laying down, I stared at the ceiling and felt annoyed at myself. Too fired up with my new friends and passion for living, I had allowed my tired mind to accept the front Boss had put on. Nevermind being too tough to kill, I was too valuable an asset to lose.
“So,” Roxy looked back down at me, “he isn’t going to target you directly. You were the most complacent and willing to do his bidding when you were all depressed and shit, right? Thought you couldn’t have anything more. So he will try to take all your new things away. Grind you back down to being worthless and reliant on him.”
I nodded.
“Asshole.” She shook her head and moved away. Sounded like she left the room.
“I’m currently reformatting your STAR device with what I use. It’s not quite equivalent, but the tech is smart enough to pick and choose what works. I also have diagnostic scans running on the physical aspect of it, Gunquake.” Her face briefly turned to me. “If it is compromised, we might have to take the hand, as the position in your wrist is… there is a reason we have less invasive options these days.”
A lot of me was non-standard. Gas-mask instead of functional mouth. Solid gun-arm instead of something detachable. Embedded old STAR device in my wrist. I felt like a joke of a puppet. Put together wrong. The bare minimum to complete the task I had been saved for.
I would never go back to him.
He knew I was smart and capable, especially if he had reason to believe I was getting my old memories back. He had tried the kill-switch, but did he know we had broken it? Otherwise, why three attempts?
Roxy entered the room with a towel in her hand, which she used to pat down my legs, skipping up toward my chest after. “Can’t have you catching a cold, can we?” She gave me a glum smile.
“Good news, Gunquake. Nothing out of the ordinary with the hardware, so your hand is safe.”
The super seemed less enthused. “I am half surprised you didn’t take it anyway.”
Clara shrugged. “I would never force cybernetics on anyone. My preferences are my own, and even the League doesn’t allow elective surgery for that purpose.” She tilted her glance at me. “Fifteen rejected applications. I believe they just filter anything from me straight into the trash now.”
I tried to speak, but my vocalizer still wasn’t working. Breathing wasn’t an issue, but I couldn’t raise my arm either. Despite living like this for five years, I hadn’t considered that the STAR was an important part of my… internal circuitry? It connected with things, but I was under the impression the important parts were stored in my brain. Maybe they were, and this was an ancillary disconnect the techie had enacted. Either way, I wasn’t sure I even cared to know exactly.
As long as Clara did, then I’d delegate that stress to her.
Roxy looked up at her invisible screens before pulling a face. “They want me on shift an hour early tonight, so I have about an hour more here before I’ll shoot off.”
“And leave us to our own devices, Rockslide?” Clara paused her prodding. “Literally, for a change.”
“I dunno. Maybe you can break him in for me?” Roxy gave the woman a wink, clearly opting to change track with the current dynamic.
It seemed to have an effect, as the techie paused again and looked over at the super. After trying to read her face for a couple of seconds, she returned to my arm. “Very clever, sister. You are betting that my loyalty to you is greater than my desire to actually bed with Gunquake.”
“Ugh, why phrase it like that?” She shook her head, regret all over her face. “And it is, isn’t it?”
“Hmm? Sorry, I’m trying to focus here. I’m giving my all to this man.”
Roxy relinquished her grip of my weapon and threw her hands up in resignation. “Always find a way, don’t you? I don’t have the brainpower for this. I’m off to the gym to warm up.”
And with that, she vanished.
Clara worked on my arm for a good handful of seconds before looking over at the door. After a moment, she turned her eyes back to me and leaned a little closer.
“My loyalty to her is above all else. She isn’t wrong.” She moved back away. “But if she ever dies, then I have first dibs on you, okay?”
I… nodded slowly, if only because it was the most nuanced and polite response I could give at present. Although I could not imagine Roxy ever meeting such a fate, it stood to reason I’d still be close to the techie after such a situation. Whether that would lead into anything more wasn’t something I could promise or cared to think about.
Of course, she could just be trying to wind me up. More mind games than Boss…
I narrowed my eyes at her. No, couldn’t be.
“I’ve been thinking more about us actually, Gunquake. About our roles, I mean.” She didn’t turn around, but held up a small tweezer-like tool in her hand and spun it. “You need some way of getting around that isn’t a beat-up bike or these two gross flesh-legs. V-Force jump packs are a possibility, but they don’t help you on the way back down.”
The technology to prevent gravity from breaking my legs would be too weighty and cumbersome for constant use, as fun as being able to jump onto buildings would be. Only took one miss.
Tech supers had a lower life expectancy and active duty. Usually just not built well enough for what the other actual supers could handle. Injuries were career defining, if not ending. Certain villains could end an unprepared tech super just the same as if they were a civilian off the streets. Still, I lived for that kind of risk.
“Grappling hook is a possibility, but you are short on functional arms. If it’s on your left you can’t climb, and on your right you wouldn’t be able to shoot. Anything that hovers or flies is… beyond our financial budget, even with the League setting you up. Oh, you should be able to speak now.”
[Test? Ah, excellent. What about an empowered artefact?]
Clara looked over her shoulder so that I could see her eyes roll. “Unless you have one hidden under your dirty mattress, Gunquake, it is unlikely we could find one out in the wider world without years of travel.”
[Any we could steal?]
“Well… you are meant to be more on the straight and narrow, are you not? Vigilante justice against villains would not go over well at the League once you are officiated, and bounties wouldn’t point to anyone with such an item.”
[We’ll put a pin in that for now, then. What else do you have for me?]
“Once Rockslide has left, we’ll get nice and comfortable on the couch and go through the Public Defender catalogue again and make a bigger order. I’m sure you are aware that if you’re to stand beside superheros, you need every trick up your sleeve.”
[Two brains are better than one.]
“As long as you do the thinking with the right head.” Clara prodded my forearm with the tool. “Which is yours, because although I will offer you all the advice I can, you will be the one in the firing line of whatever the League wants.”
[Understood.]
“Good.” She moved away and clicked at the box, the light on it going dull.
The humming power died off, and she set about unclipping the wires before loosening and removing the two metal bands from my arm. I shuffled my gun-arm, now able to move it as normal.
“You shouldn’t feel any different. I’ve just replaced the software and chip in your STAR device with something not provided by your Boss. All good to sit, Gunquake.”
I grunted as I pushed myself up before turning to sit at the edge. Brought up my arm to take a look and other than indents in my skin where the bands had sat, there was nothing different. Screen was the same color, and the primary functions were no different. On the side of the bed was the upgrade chip Boss had gotten me a little while back.
[One thing we won’t be able to get is more Sanguine stakes.]
She looked up from the cases she was putting things away in. “At present, that is true. Unfortunately, the core of the ammunition is something kept secret. Once I crack that… well, I’ll find a way to fabricate things.”
[Hmm. Hopefully I won’t have such a dire need for them. Oh, I should probably go get dressed.]
“Please, there’s only so much overstimulation I can take.” She smiled. “Go get suited up, Gunquake, and we’ll go test out your Quake shot.”
I didn’t need asking twice. Was already back in the bathroom before my brain could consider… well, anything else. Partially because of the dehydration, but I only needed to survive a few more hours.
Base layers were easy enough to put on. Belt, manageable. Tactical vest… required I pressed the side of my body against the edge of the door frame to get the clips closed. Awkward, but now with the plates and pouches already in position, it wasn’t as dire as I had imagined. Boots on, and then goggles, balaclava, and finally trench-coat.
Took a little while longer with only one hand, but I had completed the task.
Stood and looked in the mirror, the first time I had fully seen my Gunquake setup. This was… me. Unequivocally. The wasteland loner look with the coat and goggles. The tactical gear of my past. The aura of functional professionalism that would fit a superhero.
Gunquake.
I’d said and heard it enough times now for it to stick. In a way, it had helped set me away from Boss. Being able to rename myself, and draw a line in the sand for where my new life started. He still wavered in the background, keen to either poach me back or kill me off - but I fancied my chances.
Gave a bit more time for literal reflection before I tidied up the bathroom and left. Clara was already waiting by the front door with the case of shells and something smaller on top.
“Ear protection. About time we looked after your hearing before you get some tinnitus you can’t regenerate over, Gunquake.” She waved two buds in the air. “They are smart tech, and repress loud or sharp bursts of noise, but will leave your normal range of hearing unaffected.”
[Should have started with these first time we met.]
“Didn’t know how much I’d like you when we first met.” She smiled and gestured outside. “Best we do this somewhere private that won’t damage the house. Rockslide is only a single step away from tossing me toward the city to get rid of me.”
[Perhaps you should invest in a parachute.]
“Sounds like a side-hustle in the making, as I’m sure you won’t be entirely satiated with a League salary. Assuming you make the cut, Gunquake.”
I rolled my eyes at her teasing and followed her around the house. We walked past my shooting range and further out into the wastes. A good few minutes before stopping near a dried-out cluster of jutting rocks.
With little fanfare, she gestured me to lean forward - and she affixed the two protective buds to my ears. Other than the initial feeling of pressure, their presence was totally unnoticeable. I’d really been missing out.
Case opened, and she held out a Quake shell.
My gun chamber clacked to receive the cartridge, and she inserted it, a little slower than necessary. Chamber closed, and she started to back away.
[Should I be worried?]
“No, I just don’t have your degree of apparent plot armor. There is a non-zero chance it either doesn’t work, or works too well - and despite my predeliction for machined parts, I do not wish to go through the trauma of you inadvertently destroying my legs.”
[Joy.]
I exhaled through my re-breather, the filters spinning gently as I raised my gun-arm to point at the rocks.
[To Quakeshot, then.]
Trigger clicked.