The only times he felt like a normal human being, was when he was either eating or sleeping.
His precious lunch breaks felt far too short. Perhaps that had always been the case; he couldn’t be sure. The old routines and habits felt so far away by now, they might as well have been part of a previous life.
He always inspected his food closely these days, as if by gaping at it he’d somehow learn more about its mysterious origins. Chewing slowly, savouring the meal, he tried not to think about the upcoming Ability training, or his family, or the arduous journey ahead of him.
But inevitably, far too quickly, the time he allowed himself for lunch was over. Feeling hollow as he sat cross-legged on his carpet, he worked to move the wave-halting sphere in front of him from left to right. Although he preferred to focus on it completely and get lost in the exercise, it actually went better if he let his mind wander. Similar to how walking or breathing mysteriously became harder when you focused on it, he was learning that communicating with the PE Node worked better on an intuitive, subconscious level.
The training itself was actually quite relaxing, but that was not why he dreaded it. The problem was that accidents still occurred too often, though each one taught him a valuable lesson.
He’d blown out his eardrums or blinded himself during Light Manipulation training so often, that he’d simply started doing the exercises while hooked up to the Fixer Upper. At least then, he wouldn’t have to crawl to the device while blinded or deaf, or both.
Since it was highly likely that other predators would be present on the surface, despite the Roid-Bull’s poor eyesight, moving around in plain sight would be courting death. In order to cover for that critical weakness, he had to incorporate light-based Abilities into his training. Some basic cover was at least available; there was an Ability called [Blur Image] that did track your movements after you activated it, so he didn’t have to manipulate it himself like he did for [Halt Waves - Sphere].
He’d spent his final token on [Direct Manipulation - Light], which he now toggled on as well. With that decision, he’d basically committed to focusing mainly on sound and light based Abilities for the foreseeable future, which was necessary to survive the dangerous zones ahead. Learning to keep his attention on multiple Abilities at the same time was extremely hard, but as Pokka had tactfully noted, his life would depend on it.
Observing and manipulating lightwaves thankfully did not require him to develop some new type of imaginary tentacle. Instead, he had to focus on his vision, somehow allowing signals sent by the PE Node to expand it. It was a different type of mental exercise, and to work on it simultaneously with his sound-manipulating feelers felt like juggling with both hands and feet while reciting poetry. For now, all he managed to do was to observe what [Blur Image] did and how it moved along with him.
This morning, Pokka had confided in him that he was showing signs of grief and depression, as if that was some great revelation that could only be spotted by a high-powered AI. Obviously, he was depressed. How could he possibly be doing well, stuck in a cave, forced to go through grueling training every day, knowing that there was not even the comfort of civilization to return to?
More surprisingly, the AI had also claimed that in small, subtle ways, Barry was seeking death. With how fast things moved in the training environment, his life often depended on a split-second decision or reflex. Pokka was saying that in those moments, when he had a small chance of twisting to take a non-lethal hit to his shoulder, Barry would often fail to move or even tilt his head to take a fatal hit. Too often for it to be a coincidence.
He wasn’t sure what to make of that. Was he losing his survival instincts? If so, what could he do about it?
As he considered whether to reduce time spent in the virtual environment, and find a more relaxing activity that would take his mind off things, the soundproof bubble in front of him was moving smoothly from left to right. Absently, he was using [Cast Wave] to create soundwaves next to it, building an intuitive feeling for how it nullified them. Instead of absorbing them, it seemed to negatively mirror them somehow, producing a negating wave that matched the other one, so they would cancel each other out.
He let his mind wander as he sped up the movements of the bubble slightly. What did he used to do, when he was stressed and feeling down? Get some exercise in, perhaps. Read a good book. Eat comfort food while watching a feel good movie, maybe? Do some dancing.
He paused on that last one. How long had it been since he had last danced? He hadn’t even thought of it since being teleported here. It always used to cheer him up, though he hadn’t ever faced a situation like this. But as he remembered the feeling of going through the practiced motions, getting lost in the music, there was a small, pleasant flutter in his stomach. He’d have to give it a try.
An ominous sound caused his attention to snap back to the bubble and soundwaves. It had happened often enough that one look was enough to realize he’d lost control. His thoughts had wandered too far and he’d somehow put too much energy into it. Realizing the situation was beyond saving, he acted on reflex, quickly activating another instance of [Halt Wave - Sphere] to protect himself from the inevitable soundblast.
He’d moved the compromised sphere all the way to the one side of the cave, right besides the entrance and there was first complete silence as it exploded, then a final whistling sound as his PE Capacity hit zero and the Ability deactivated.
“Bah. That was careless.”
The outburst came from Pokka, who’d suddenly popped into being next to the cave entrance, his face unusually expressive, carrying a deep frown.
The AI only ever said things deliberately, so Barry felt a prickle running over his body, giving him goosebumps as he got to his feet.
“What is it?”
“I’m skirting the rules here, but they’re my own rules and I abhor waste, so I will give you a hint. That blast exceeded the range of your Energy Shroud. The rest is up to you.” His tone was urgent and serious, and after that last sentence, the AI promptly disappeared.
Barry stiffened as he processed the words, knowing in his bones that this was not a prank. He may not have much time. That blast of sound had gone past his cloaking device. Why would that prompt a warning from Pokka?
It would almost certainly be picked up by a Roid-Bull, but they would have no way to reach him. But there might be other monsters out there. Some of them might have the means to reach this cave, though he struggled to imagine how.
He had to be prudent and assume something had heard and would come to investigate. Given the danger level of the zone he was in, if some beast did come to investigate, it would be extremely dangerous. He would have to get ready to either fight or flee.
Without further hesitation, he moved, making for his portable teleportation device. Reaching the Totem, he pressed the button that would change it to mobile mode. It promptly started packing itself up, the disc and feet sliding back into the central pole, which in turn collapsed on itself, different sections moving into each other until one thick rod was left, about the size of a water bottle. He put it into a kind of strap which he slung over his shoulders like a backpack.
Next, he started the deactivation of the Energy Shroud, which took a while but was necessary to take it out of its anchored position, making it moveable again.
Barry caught a flicker of movement from the corner of his vision. There had been a faint glow of sunlight coming in through the thin lip that formed the entrance to his cave, which was now gone. Then, there was a loud crash, strong enough to make him flinch back.
That could only be something smashing into the cave wall from outside. Something big - the impact had pieces of rock falling down from the rock wall.
He’d still been focused on vibrations traveling through rock, imagining some sort of subterranean creature that would burrow into his cave. But of course, any other animal could have simply heard the blast, though he couldn’t be sure how it might have reached this spot on the cliff side that fast.
His stomach dropped as he realized that it was blocking his only exit. There might not be any chance to escape. His only options might actually be to fight or hide.
Making the most of his increased Speed, it took only a short moment for Barry to reach the other end of the cave, pressing himself against the back wall before activating his Abilities.
[Camouflage] was a new, light-based Ability he’d picked up recently. It would take around a minute to activate completely, requiring you to hold still, but it would then effectively make you seamlessly blend into the surroundings. If he could eventually, through direct manipulation, get this Ability to remain active while in movement, it would be an amazing addition to his arsenal.
A flash of panic as he realized his PE Capacity was still close to empty. He suppressed a curse, knowing it would take hours for it to recharge again from the ambient energy here. Recalling something he’d seen in passing, he opened the system interface, searching for a solution.
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There were scratching sounds coming from outside, followed by something hammering into the wall. Barry clenched his jaw, cursing the overload of information and options that were available in the interface.
The cave wall trembled as it took another hit, and he thought he could see more light coming in as the entrance was being opened up. He was almost out of time, considering to stop the search and just re-activate the Energy Shroud, leaning on the cloaking abilities of the device instead of his own. But it had a wide range and anything that moved inside of it, would be able to see and hear everything. If he re-activated it here, the range would still run very close to the entrance, perhaps even exceeding it, so that would be too much of a gamble.
He finally found what he was looking for as another piece of the wall crumbled inwards. Not having any time for doubt, he purchased a PE Capacity upgrade for 400 Value, bringing his capacity to 1000 kJ. His bet paid off, the expansion coming with a fresh fill of energy, bringing his reserves back over eighty percent.
Without any further delay, he activated [Camouflage] as well as [Halt Waves - Sphere]. All sound disappeared as the bubble surrounded him and he was left to wait in silence, trying not to move. Looking out at the messy cave, he realized all of his things were still there. These creatures were not stupid - it would be better if it saw nothing at all.
Barry had never used the storage function of the MAFT, so it took him a moment to find the right tab in his interface. As he activated it, there was a visual overlay that let him select objects to put into storage. One by one, he marked the items, starting with the mattress and the carpet and ending with the Energy Shroud, which had supposedly been keeping him from being detected by predators all this time.
He let out a sigh of relief as the items simply disappeared, having been teleported away to be put into ‘stasis’ somewhere. The cave was empty now, and Barry could only watch in tense silence as the wall shook, ever larger pieces of rocks falling to the ground and letting in more sunlight.
Counting down the seconds for [Camouflage] to be complete, he focused inwards. One benefit of his grueling training was the ability to somehow distance himself from his own body, minimizing the impact of his emotions. He noticed the usual symptoms of fear, but of a different kind than he had when first facing the Roid-Bull. That feeling had been deep and primal, making him feel sick, nearly paralyzing him. What he felt now was more subdued and controlled, closer to caution than fear.
But there was something else too; excitement and curiosity. On the other side of that wall, there was something new and dangerous, something that might break the depressing training cycle he was trapped in. Thinking back to Pokka’s warnings about him seeking death, he focused on his goals. No matter what, he could not die here.
He noticed his finger tapping quickly on his thigh, and forced himself to keep it still. Contrary to the paralyzing fear, this feeling was electrifying, jolting through his body, making him focused and antsy. Maintaining his emotional distance as he noticed those symptoms, he cleared his mind, eyes trained on the wall to the outside.
There was a pause in the strikes to the outside wall, followed by a different kind of attack. The whole cave trembled and Barry felt alarmed as he noticed how quickly his PE Capacity was draining, already down by a third. Was that an earthquake? No, that didn’t make sense. Some type of sound-based attack?
Whatever it was, the outside wall was crumbling now, large holes opening up and letting sunlight in. When Barry saw something moving to peek in, he quickly fed some additional energy to [Camouflage] to ensure he was well covered.
It took his eyes a moment to adjust, but even then he had trouble making sense of the unnatural shape. Large claws were closing around the remaining ridges of rock and tearing them loose, but still the massive creature was too large to fit inside, blocking most of the light with what he thought were colossal wings. That would explain how it had got here so quickly; it could have simply flown down.
The huge monster was covered in beautiful feathers in light shades of white and blue, but the rest of it looked nothing like a bird. There were two strange openings in the middle of its torso, which took Barry a moment to identify as eyes.
Instead of a head, it had three long, swan-like necks, two of which ended into a kind of sphincter, reminding him of a worm’s mouth. The middle one was the longest of the three and it ended in what he thought was either cartilage or bone, shaped in a thin cone.
It was clearly an airborne predator. Its feathers would make it hard to spot against the sky. With its three, worm-like appendages, it looked like a monstrously large three-headed bird that had been beheaded. Would it use those appendages to feed? It didn’t have a beak, nor were there any teeth as far as he could see.
A shiver went down Barry’s spine as a membrane closed over the large eyes in its torso and opened again. He remained as still as he could, barely breathing, fear welling up from his stomach as he stared at its dark pupils.
Should he bring his spear out from storage? If he was fast enough, he might be able to get a surprise hit in, and if he skewered it straight through one of those eyes. But as soon as he took it out, his [Camouflage] would expire, and he still had to cross the cave..
The monster seemed frustrated, moving in short bursts as it tilted its torso to scan the cave with its eyes, oversized claws scratching angrily at the rock. He kept still, taking this as a sign that his Abilities were working and it couldn’t see him at all.
After a moment it stopped scanning the room, keeping its body still. Its immense chest inflated, growing even larger, then it stretched its cone-shaped appendage away from its body, pointing it into the cave.
As its chest deflated, Barry’s PE capacity rapidly decreased, already nearing sixty percent. What was that? He hadn’t seen anything, except that the cave had seemed to quiver. It had to be some kind of sound-based attack, then. A way to stun its prey? Would it be enough to kill him, if he didn’t have the protection of his bubble? If so, that would decidedly not be a good death.
The cave shook as his capacity took another dive, larger pieces of rock crumbling from the wall and now also the ceiling. The shaking intensified until it reached a critical point, when a visible blast exploded out from the cone. Barry could only watch in horrified silence as the shockwave traveled through the air, slamming into the rock surrounding him, then into his barrier.
It just barely held on, sitting at ten percent. A part of the ceiling near the entrance was collapsing, but it didn’t seem to bother the creature, which was again scanning the room. Smaller pieces of rock were now falling all over and Barry let out a soft grunt of pain as a rock hit him on the shoulder and another on his foot.
At this rate, he’d be buried alive. Unless his head was crushed by a large boulder, that would not be a good way to die, suffocating slowly under the crushing weight of tons of rock. His PE Capacity was still ticking down, but he didn’t panic, instead once again turning to the infinite toolbox that was the System Interface.
Quickly scanning through it, he first decided to purchase 200kJ of additional capacity to expand his reserves. Then, not having any time for a more thorough search, he got the first Ability that seemed like it would be useful.
[Reflect Momentum]
When activating this Ability, you will be able to designate a six by six foot square pane within a twenty foot radius from your body. For as long as the Ability remains active, any solid objects entering the pane will be immediately subject to a reflecting force which contains the exact opposite of its current direction and energy.
As he was trying to activate the Ability, messing with the targeting system, he noticed that the creature seemed to be losing interest with the cave, withdrawing its appendages and stepping back.
It began flapping its wings outside the cave entrance while it held on with its claws, letting out a final, angry blast of sound which cost him another five percent, and then, just like that, it was gone.
It left behind a gaping hole where there used to be a solid cave wall. Barry blinked at the sunlight that was streaming in, feeling like he was in a different place than the cave he’d come to know so intimately over the last weeks.
There was rubble all over the floor by now, parts of the right wall and a large section of the ceiling near the entrance having collapsed. As he watched, unsure whether it was safe to release his Abilities yet, the front right part of the cave came down, covering nearly half of the entrance. That decided it; he needed to get out, right now.
With his PE Capacity back up to twenty three percent, he activated [Reflect Momentum]. The familiar overlay appeared, with a targeting system that allowed him to move the invisible pane of force. He positioned it so that it would cover the area where most of the ceiling was starting to come down, large slabs of stone crashing onto the floor.
Dropping his Abilities, he darted across the cave, leaping and spinning between pieces of falling rock until he reached the area protected by [Reflect Momentum]. As he dodged rocks without even having to look at them, he finally had a reason not to hate his marble training.
The rocks that landed on the invisible pane of force were coming to a stop, staying in place for a fraction of a second before continuing their fall. It was a strange and magical sight, as if time came to a stop in just that small area, but he didn’t have time to enjoy it, instead breaking into a final sprint.
He skidded to a stop by the cave entrance, which was now just a pile of rubble followed by a steep drop. There was a moment of vertigo and then hesitation as he looked over the edge and down the black depths of the canyon. The memory had felt distant and surreal, like it might have just been a nightmare, but there it was again, that deep, dark abyss. He forced himself to pull away and then turned around, facing with his back to the canyon, taking a final look at his cave. He sneered, spitting forcefully onto the cave floor, then pulled himself up and began scaling the outside wall.
Slowly but steadily he made his way up, moving his sound-proof bubble along while keeping [Blur Image] active as well. He took his time, scanning the sky for movement, every now and then pausing and activating [Camouflage] when he thought he spotted something.
Although it was a safe place, every time he heaved himself up and moved further away from the cave, it felt like a heavy weight came off his shoulders. He breathed in, closing his eyes as a light breeze blew across his skin, cooling him down. There hadn’t ever been even the slightest breeze down there.
Finally, his hands touched sand again as he pulled himself over the edge, looking out across the desert where it had all started. Pokka appeared by his side again, having remained out of sight which was apparently standard procedure for an encounter.
“That careless blast has significantly reduced your chances of survival.”
Barry did not react. Pokka let out a sigh.
“Now that we are here, far too soon, you will have to move with the utmost caution. It would be foolish to continue with so much Value in the bank, so you should at least increase your Stats. I would recommend you continue your focus on Speed, but don’t forget the recommended ratios for…”
There was a pause.
“What is happening with your face? Yet another sign of trauma?”
Barry had been staring out at the sunset, taking long, deep breaths through his nose as a pearl of sweat rolled down his temple. Only when he touched his cheeks, did he realize what Pokka meant.
For the first time in what felt like forever, he had a smile on his face.