I could feel the rumble of the van beneath me as I lay on the cold metal floor. Street lamps flashed repeated waves of light through the windshield as the vehicle continued through the night. Bruce's large silhouette loomed threateningly in the driver's seat.
With the paralysis gone, I had an opportunity to do something. But what? With that ring or device, could Bruce simply paralyze me again? I had to either get out of range (?), get it away from him, or prevent him from using it. And though now I was able to move, I was still zip-tied to the wall of the van. I had to deal with that first.
Did I still have my phone? I didn't see or feel my bag nearby. I bit my lip. Oh! I would have slapped my head in self-admonition if my hands weren't tied to the wall. Inventory, I thought.
Equipped:
T-shirt [Body] (capacity: 0)
Jeans [Legs] (capacity: 4)
Zip-tie [Arms] (attached)
Sneakers [Feet]
I was momentarily non-plussed by the idea that my jean pockets counted as 4 useful containers, when they were tiny and nothing fit in them. But my bag wasn't on me, so neither were my phone, keys or anything useful.
I looked at the inventory screen again. Could I remove or move the zip-ties? I tried to shift them to my pocket, but nothing happened. Was it because they weren't mine? But they showed up in my inventory. I was technically 'holding' them. I thought of the last time I had trouble at the closed door in the IHS office. The papers had been visible through the glass, but I wasn't able to take them until the janitor opened the door. Maybe this was something similar? As long as they were attached to the metal brace in the van, I didn't seem to be able to shift them away.
Well, this was getting me nowhere. Assuming Bruce cut me loose at some point when we got wherever we were going, I'd be able to do something then, but for now I was stuck.
We were still on a main road heading south, according to my Location map. But I had no idea how much time I had until we arrived at wherever Bruce was going. As we went over a bump, I heard a muffled thump on the other side of the van. Bushra must be having a worse time, still paralyzed and not understanding what was going on. Could I do anything for her? I tried to use my Focus on her in the same way as I had before. Nothing. Not even the familiar draining feeling of Focus being used. Trying anything, I flicked through her inventory. She was equally devoid of anything useful, as well. I made a promise to myself not to rely on my bag so much, and keep more useful things in my pockets. Though I needed clothes with better storage capabilities than women's jeans and slacks.
Breaking out of that weird train of thought, I went back to Status and scanned through my skills fruitlessly again. Ugh! Why did I think combat skills were a waste of time again? Even some stealth skills might have helped. But I'd used all my skill points. Grasping at straws, I checked through Bushra's status, too.
> Name: Bushra Patel
> Race: Human
> Class: Software Engineer (1 new class available)
> Level: 3
> Condition: Paralyzed
> Disposition: Trusting
>
> Core Attributes (20 attribute points available)
> Body: 40
> Spirit: 30
> Mind: 75
> Luck: 10
>
> Derived Attributes
> Health: 40
> Magic: 0 [max 30]
> Focus: 75
> Charm: 35
> Intuition: 57
> Will: 52
> Fate: ???
>
> Skills (3 skill points available)
> Divine Translation (Party), Inventory (Party)
'New class available'? And she has attribute and skill points! And more than I usually get when leveling – but I won't worry about that now. Let's level her up!
For class options, there was only one: Paladin. Hell yes. I selected it. Next, I took her skill points and put them all in Body. Hope you forgive me for making this choice for you, Bushra, but I need you as strong as possible to get out of this. Next, skills: what does she have available that would help? Ideally something to get rid of paralysis…
I was excited to see the combat skills I saw in my list before, but there were some I hadn't seen: Champion's Resolve, Guardian's Bulwark, Healing Touch, Righteous Resistance, Timely Counter, and Radiant Strike.
Of them all, Righteous Resistance seemed the most likely to do something about the paralysis condition. I selected it hoping it was a passive skill. Then I selected Unarmed Proficiency from the fighting skills. She had one more. I felt the van turn and slight bump as we turned off the street. I was running out of time. Unsure what else to pick, I chose Radiant Strike since it seemed to have combat potential. I loved me some smiting when I played paladin-like characters in games, so hopefully this was similar. I didn't see anything different, but the new Status showed the changes:
> Name: Bushra Patel
> Race: Human
> Class: Software Engineer, Paladin
> Level: 3
> Condition: Paralyzed
> Disposition: Trusting
>
> Core Attributes
>
> You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
>
> Body: 60
> Spirit: 30
> Mind: 75
> Luck: 10
>
> Derived Attributes
> Health: 60
> Magic: 0 [max 30]
> Focus: 75
> Charm: 45
> Intuition: 67
> Will: 52
> Fate: ???
>
> Skills
> Divine Translation (Party), Inventory (Party), Righteous Resistance, Unarmed Proficiency, Radiant Strike
The van came to an abrupt stop, and I heard Bruce put the car in park, turn off the engine, and exit the vehicle. I quickly checked Location. We were in a small industrial park in San Leandro, not too far south of Alameda. Not sure of what else to do, I quickly activated Aura of Inspiration, boosting the Body attribute. I felt a weird dual feeling of Focus leaving my body faster, but I was invigorated by a physical boost.
The rear doors opened. "Here we are ladies. It's show time." He was a darker shadow against the dim light of a nearby street lamp, but I could hear his lurid grin.
Laying as limp as possible, I hear Bruce come over and then my arms are suddenly free. I let them drop without resistance and they hit the metal floor. The pain in my wrists hits hard with the blood circulation returning, but I do my best to ignore it. It is short-lived anyway, as Bruce takes a moment to zip-tie my arms back together and then lifts me up over his shoulder. While he's carrying me I have a moment of panic from being separated from Bushra – what if he leaves Bushra tied up in the van while he does whatever he's planning?
After leaving a small loading dock area, Bruce carried me inside the building and dropped me unceremoniously to the ground. Trying to keep as still as possible I looked around. It was a cramped and mostly empty warehouse. There are large spools of cable about as big as my torso stacked against the wall, some cardboard boxes of unknown contents on metal shelves, a tall standing table with packing supplies, and a door in front of me to an interior space. While I'm taking it all in, Bruce kicks me hard in the gut. The air rushes out of my diaphragm and I can't hold back a groan of pain escaping from my throat. He chuckles, satisfied. "That's for earlier."
At that point, the interior door opens and Thorsten appears through the door. He looks down at me briefly, then throws a disgruntled glare in Bruce's direction. "What the fuck, you idiot, you brought the wrong one!"
Bruce sneers at Thorsten. "Relax. The other one's in the van. They were together, so I grabbed 'em both." With a nasty chuckle, Bruce makes to leave.
"What did you do to her?" Thorsten looks down at me with a confused and concerned stare. "She looks awake. Did you drug them?"
"Something like that," Bruce pauses, and squats down next to me with a smirk. "I thought you liked 'em docile." He smacked me twice on the cheek. Not hard, but enough to make a loud sound. Like a butcher checking the tenderness of meat. It was revolting, and it took all the self-control I had not to flinch at his touch.
Thorsten looked skeptical, but a dangerous light was growing in his eyes. "What if someone runs tests. Won't they find the drugs in their systems or something?" He licked his lips.
"Nah, they won't find anything. The other one's the same way. Wanna take a look?" Bruce looked up, goading Thorsten. I could see Thorsten quickly glance at the other man, his brows knitting in displeasure. But his mouth was an exercise in barely withheld desire. He finally pursed his lips, and nodded.
Chuckling, Bruce stood up. "I dunno what you see in that one," he said, shaking his head slowly. "Too scrawny for my taste."
"Shut up," Thorsten spat. "We need her to be a blackmailer and a temptress for this to fly. For that we need evidence of her caught in the act." His sneer was anticipatory. "It's not my fault we're in this position. You were the one who bungled the job with Jon." Bruce's eyes tightened at Thorsten's comment, but Thorsten was too busy now looking at me with a cruel, lascivious smile. "Maybe these two were in on it together?" His eyes narrowed in appraisal. "How long's your drug last?"
Bruce grunted and stood up. "Long enough," he replied, then headed for the loading dock.
Thorsten gave me one lingering, vulgar smile that made the hair on my neck rise, before he turned and followed Bruce outside.
The various pains had slowly ebbed as Swift Regeneration did its thing. But it couldn't get rid of the disgusting feeling I felt all over from Thorsten's vile gaze. I forced away any thoughts about their plans and focused on how to get away.
Alone, I quickly tried out my inventory to move the zip-tie around my wrists to the ground. Anticlimactically, the zip-tie disappears and reappears on the floor. I moved hastily to get up, suddenly terrified by the thought of them leaving me here and taking Bushra somewhere else. I checked Location in concern, and saw a dot I assumed was Bruce at the rear of the vehicle near Bushra, with Thorsten just outside the loading dock. I could hear Thorsten's petulant voice continuing to complain from the doorway. Without warning, I hear a commotion. There's thumping, yelling, and a sharp metal bang. Hoping Bushra had broken free, I tried to peer into the shadows past the doorway to see what was happening.
I saw Bushra clinging to Bruce's back, trying to claw at his face and arm, while Bruce was scrabbling for a handhold to tear her off. I saw Thorsten's back as he was standing away from the fight on the dock, a drawn gun in his hand but held to one side as if he wasn't sure what to do with it. No one had noticed me. Glancing quickly around for any kind of weapon, I grabbed one of the heavy looking spools from the warehouse. Whether it was the adrenaline or the skill boost, I hefted it easily by the handhold in the wooden end and rushed toward the fray.
Rounding toward Thorsten from behind, I swing the other end of the spool as hard as I could at the side of his head. He literally goes flying a few feet to the side of the loading dock before crumpling to the ground. I saw the gun fall from his hand, and quickly used Inventory to put it in my back pocket for safe-keeping.
The adrenaline is pumping through my system, and a detached part of my brain is wondering if this is the effect of my Aura of Inspiration, or just a natural survival instinct. I'm hardly breathing hard, but my pulse is pounding in my ears. Raising my impromptu weapon, I turn to where Bushra and Bruce are fighting, planning to circle round to catch Bruce from behind. As I do, I see Bruce roll his shoulder forward and Bushra go tumbling over him into some pallets. "Still got fight in you, bitch?" He rubs his face, and his hand comes away wet with blood. "You're going to wish I let Thorsten have you. Cutting Jon was nothing – I'll peel the skin from your face while you watch. Hell, maybe that freak'll still want you, after." He clenched his hand into a fist and pointed it her way, droplets of crimson falling from between his fingers.
Then Bruce turns suddenly, somehow sensing my approach. Multiple scratches were dripping trails of smeared blood down his face, granting him a gruesome visage. He changes aim, pivoting to point his arm my direction. Knowing he's bringing up his weird weapon, I quickly use Inventory to bring the gun to my hand. I try to aim it before he can use whatever he did before, but the sudden loss of the heavy spool actually throws me off balance and I have to correct for it. Everything slows down, Bruce's arm is rising in slow motion, but it's faster than I can bring the gun into position. My vision is drawn to a dull golden band on his hand, inset with a red gem. A brilliance is growing deep within the jewel, gleaming through the crimson wetness between his fingers. He points it at me, and a victorious smile spreads over his face. He's got me beat and he knows it.
Suddenly, I'm blinded by a bright golden flash, and my hearing is rocked by a crack of thunder. I feel a buffet of wind push me back, and I stumble slightly before I catch my footing. When my vision returns, I see Bushra standing where Bruce once was in a some kind of martial arts pose. Bruce is on the ground, unmoving. Bushra's eyes are wide, and she turns and looks at me, at Thorsten groaning on the dock, and at Bruce's still form crumpled several feet away. I can see the whites around her irises as she looks back at me breathing hard.
"What the actual fuck?"