Track 015: Advice
It turns out the mall has been having a bit of a mimic situation. Kohl couldn’t tell because apparently until they decide to reveal themselves, they literally don’t exist. Thankfully, this place isn’t a dungeon. We just have to watch out for Mimics. Good news is we all leveled up. Bad news is we barely get a minute to catch our breath before we’re in the gym standing there opposite Dr. Omni. I pick a chip of ceramic out of Gabrielle’s hair. The fucking dishwasher was Mimic.
Leveling up might have felt amazing if we weren’t all wet. Turns out switching loadouts doesn’t do your dry cleaning.
“Y’all ready for this?” I call.
“As ready as we’ll ever be,” Neon says.
“Let’s get this over with.” Firewall says.
Doctor Omni gets in a fighting stance. “Are you ready? You better give me your all.” He charges at us. With each footfall, his hands become claws, thick hair grows all over his body, and his face lengthens into a snout. Doctor Omni becomes a werewolf in front of us. Werewolf in London, eat your heart out. He starts out on two legs and moves quickly on all fours. All our HUD’s words flash.
Duel
Rules: Last Blood
To knock out or as close as possible before Damaged condition.
Wager: Rights to Voltage Mall as Haven and Level 1 Security Card
“Scatter!” I order. I flip backwards behind Firewall and Neon takes off to right. I toss two disks out, going for his front legs. He pushed off with his forelimbs and grabbing the two disks and sending them at Neon. With a burst of speed, Neon gets out of the way and makes a beeline for the good doctor. Neon slide tackles him with their legs and arms glowing, using their Kinetic Fighting ability. It makes contact but barely slows him down. Omni then grabs Neon’s legs and throws them into the air.
“That’s rude!” Neon says flying away, already twisting in the air to face the target. Neon moving like a cat, already ready to hit the ground running. “Take a Dazzle straight to the face, asshole.” Out of their fingers strobing and sparkling light blooms. Omni stumbles around, as his bestial charge stopped in its tracks.
Dazzle
Ability Type: Mirage/ Distraction/ Sabotage
Dream Cost: 4
Level 1: Create a blinding and garish display of light that renders your foe blind and confused.
Requirement: Mirage
When the debuffs Blind and Confused appear over Omni’s head, I knew Neon found a winner ability. The Mirage tree was unlocked for them at Level 3because of the earring and they said since they have mostly been put on distraction detail, leveraging that more into their fighting style would be good. I was a little hesitant at first because it seemed like they’d be giving up more of the skirmisher position, but they said that adding to their versatility was their most important strength. With their ability to attack from mid to close range, they can take advantage of any opening. Kohl and Gabrielle agreed. Kohl suggested that we might not always fulfill the same roles we did when we started, and he emphasized the importance of being able to branch out and not be confined by one thing. I wonder if it’s a failure on my part for not allowing them to stay in the forward attack position.
Taking advantage of his debuff, Firewall and I move forward. Sending beat after beat the first one bites deep into his shoulder and even without the blind debuff getting removed, he stumbles away from the others. I prime one with a Shot and a Dark Blade. Rubbing his eyes, must have cleared, and that’s when he gets hit my attack hard in the chest. Following my echo and blood runs clear down his chest.
“That was pretty good, kid.” He laughs. “Now it’s time to get a bit more serious.” He lets out a howl. Horns burst out from the side of his head, blood spattering from where it came from. The back claws fuse to make hooves. I hear the sounds of the cracking and dislocation of bones. The laceration across his chest slowly, with new healthy flesh taking its place.
“This is about medium effort. I was hoping you’d push me this far. Do you like my regeneration ability?”
While he’s talking shit, I teleport behind him and slashing down with my sound sword. I trail the slash down his back, scoring another hit. The blade sputters. Flashing the power bucking with in it straining integrity of the tuning fork. I’m forced to shut it off.
Just as he pivots to capitalize on my distraction, Neon comes with a stab to the kidneys. I can even see the blade glow from inside Omni. He snarls, eyes flashing wide. He doesn’t turn to fight Neon because Neon, of course, is already gone. It’s the smart move, but while he strikes me knocking my HP down 5 points and me tumbling into the wall. He didn’t see Firewall charging in, using Pierce and hitting the other. This did, however, get his attention and turn him around.
Intent blazes around her like pink-tinged heat roiling off of her. When she goes to thrust in again, he catches her spearhead. It slashes into his palm with blood as he tries to disarm her. For a minute, I’m sure he’s going to take it from her. He’s so much stronger than she is. The servos on her harness spin up as she deepens her stance, ready to fight him for all he has. His arms flex bulging under his fur. She simply turns off her omni-tool and decks him with a Shield Blight. Slamming him hard into the same wall I was resting against just a second ago.
Shield Blight
Ability Type: Damage Reduction/ Shield
Dream Cost: 4
Level 1: Thrust your shield forward to push an enemy backward and ready for their next attack. Adds 1d4 bonus to the next round of Guard.
Requirements: Guard
“Okay, Okay not that bad. Focusing on my vital organs to force my regeneration to focus on my vitals. It’s how I’d do it. You’re really going to have to make me take you seriously.” Blood drips from out of his mouth as he rubs his palm across face, stemming the flow. He shoves his hand into empty air, grabbing nothing, but when his fingers curl around an unseen hilt, a large silver battle axe rests in his hand. The head is the size of his massively, enlarged chest. I could feel the malevolent energy coming off of it. And the inlaid design looks more and more like an edifice of tortured faces. “This is my pride and joy. The Axe of Anguish. Try not to reach Last Blood too quickly. I’m hoping you have enough strength to last!”
“I think he’s trying to kill us now.” Neon says.
“Yeah, I think we might have lost the plot.” Firewall says.
“Alright Rebellion, bring it together. We need to finish this up.” I say, picking a tune on my drop-down menu. “Neon, Lighting and Thunder.”
I play one of my mixes of Run The Jewels and The Crimson Cings. The rock and rap really pumping up the team and my spell takes effect. War Chant came from my Leadership Skill. Around their weapons a soft golden glow.
War Chant
Ability Type: Power up/ Focus
Dream Craft: 4
Level 1: You can call out a target and buff your party to take it down. +2 Power when attacking 1 specified target.
Requirements: Leadership
Neon goes in for another Dazzle blinding Omni again. And ran to the far end of the field. And runs as fast as they can, arms slice through the air like blades. Running full out, body extending, eating each meter. The air around them starts to sparkle with energy. When they reach Omni, they hit him hard with a Sonic Boom. The violent sound that comes with the crash of power was both deafening and amazing. Dust kicks up from the floor, obscuring our sight. Neon jogs out, but the light they usually generate is far less bright. Some of it flickering like it did when they passed out.
Sonic Boom
Ability Type: Kinetic/ Charge
Dream Craft: 4
Level 1: Slamming your target with a blast of brutal speed. Soundwaves at later levels may hurt surrounding enemies when you hit them.
Requirement: Super Speed
“That was a pretty good shot.” His eyes were bloodshot and bits of blood trickled from his ears. Low and behold, the debuff now reads, Deafened.
Neon catches their breath. Mouthing the words, “I can’t hear you.” I can’t help but laugh.
Omni makes a beeline for me, bringing the ax down on my head. Caught like a deer in the headlights, I barely move, or that’s what he thought. The cowering I did was just enough for me to get out of the way at the last minute. Touching the floor, activating Space Magic for the first time. The Portal is there, Dream swirling ringed with gold and black spirals twisted in braids. I am outside of it, but inside it is the axe. I remove my hand, ending the spell and leaving the axe half in and out of the floor. Omni grunts and grabs, trying to pull the axe from the floor.
Portal
Ability Type: Space/Magic
Dream Cost: 3
Level 1: Create a portal in a wall, ceiling, or floor. Lasts for a minute and it allows you to pass through that barrier.
Requirement: Space Magic
Space magic differs from enchanting while being far closer to summoning. Enchanting is all about vibes pouring emotion and desire into the object to have it hold on to your will. Summoning requires desire and want, however, to do it correctly requires prep. Space Magic requires so much knowledge being beamed into your brain that you begin to understand the fabric of space and how it moves when you make a tear or when you punch a hole. The hole I punched was placed in just such a way to disarm him.
Firewall closes the distance. Once she gets close, she clones the security level 1 permissions gets into the network. Opening up her psydeck on her wrist executing the hacking command, Blackout. Each set of lights shuts down with an audible clunk.
“You guys are rather annoying.” Dr. Omni growls.
While he’s distracted, Firewall delivers another Pierce, this time aiming for his liver. He roars angrily and backhands into her. She flies hard, skipping like a stone, and hits the wall hard, cracking it. I cry out, but it’s Neon who takes advantage. Slicing down at his Achilles’ tendons. He takes a knee. It might have been brutal. I didn’t think it would go like this, neither did he, I expect.
I send a barrage of Beats, spinning, dancing each rotation another is hitting him. It’s ripping him apart. Cuts are weeping from him all over. Pushing himself up with the handle of his ax and gives it one last big tug and wrenches it up from the floor. He uses it as a crutch and rises to his feet. His ankles must have healed enough to stand. He huffs hard, but there are no more words. Charging at me, the cuts close as he runs, the only thing completely clean, unmarred, oddly enough, is his lab coat. It must self heal as well.
Nothing stops him as he runs me down. Neon peppers him with Darts and not even a Shot slowed him down. With reckless abandon, he came after me. I did everything I could to stay ahead of him, but he ran me down like prey. I hear the huffing from him, feeling the hot breath on the back of my neck. The sound of it cutting through the air makes my stomach drop. I wait for it to fall and cut me. I get knocked out of the way.
I watch as Neon gets cut deep and falls to the floor. Splayed on the ground with blood pooling under them. I don’t get a chance to call out because he’s over me in half a second. The labored breathing is interspersed with the final words I hear as I lose consciousness.
“Good… night!”
I black out.
“That was a pretty good showing.” An unfamiliar feminine voice brings me back from the darkness. “You got the best of him for a minute. If you were of the same rank, you probably could have won your duel, Songbird.”
My eyes slowly open, and myself as if floating in a pool of water. It’s blurry at first and I blink slowly to bring the world into focus again. It’s that scene again from when I chose the Enchanting knowledge. A woman with light shining in from the ceiling is bent over a workbench. Seeing it clearer this time, I can tell it’s a ruin.
The sunbeam falling in from above is because the roof is torn up there. It oddly looked like a skylight, almost. The floor tiles are raised and cracked from the tree’s roots moving under. The ivy on the walls had taken over. Upon the tiny dais were the workbench and the lady. The sound of waves and the smell of sea air come from my left.
When she stood up, my breath caught. She is beautiful with warm brown skin, long black hair in micro braids. Tall and thin, yet shapely, wearing a long purple dress. She has high cheekbones that could cut glass and an angular face with that held a warmth. Her smile was beneficent, like a mother looking at a child. While her face was smooth, there was time in it, almost as if she was much older than me, like an auntie I didn’t know. In her face, I also saw Aquilan. She was most definitely Sulikani.
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“You are Sulikani?”
“Yes, I am,” she says magnanimously. “I know you might find it difficult to trust me, but you and I are connected.
“Do you know me?”
“I much of you, Mix. I’ve been here since the beginning.” Her voice is warm and her speech unhurried.
“Since I’ve been awakened-”
“No, before that.” She raises a delicate hand, bidding me to hold my next words. “I am your many greats grandmother. I am your Sulikani ancestor. You are part of an unbroken line to the present. And I have left you the thurim as my gift to your future. I knew the dragon’s eyes would look to Earth eventually, and I wanted your people to have a way to defend itself.”
“The Dragon’s eye?”
“The Dominance is the reach of the dragon. The Teeth and claws… Beware the might of the dragon, Songbird, or they will take you from this world.”
“So this dragon is the leader of the Dominance?”
“Yes, and no.” She says. “The Dragons are the species that started the war on T’lunak. Their actual name is Al Durgh. They are a reptilian species like the Putolu. You’ve met Vessel Elontra, very similar. They are a vastly long-lived species which has used that strength to meddle in the affairs of the many civilizations. It has resulted in The Dominance, their war engine.”
“So, The Dominance are the Al Durgh’s war arm?”
“It’s a bit more than that. It’s a multi-civilization spanning empire.”
“That makes sense.”
“Because of the rise of The Dominance, a few of our people came together to form The Minority.” A wistful smile comes to her face. “We had a plan. Knowing that their strength was too much for all of us to take on head to head. We chose to focus on creating a way to increase our strength.”
“The psylink.”
“Of course. We needed a repository of our skills and knowledge. I was actually an architect of the psylink.” She says proudly. “Not the only one, mind you, but I was the one who placed my knowledge of enchanting and our Siren ability together.”
“Are you telling me your actual knowledge is in the psylink?” That would make so much sense. With the download of new information when you gain a new ability. Hundreds of skills and abilities from masters from the past.
“Kind of.” She furrows her brow as she thinks. “A bit of me is in the Dreamsphere. My consciousness was elevated when I died and stitched into the fabric that allows you to use your abilities. You unlock it as you level up, and you will see more of me when you sleep.”
“You’re a guide. Like in the myths, Orisha.”
“Yes, in many ways.” She walks closer to me, her hair floats in the air behind her as if she’s underwater. “I will help lead you higher and farther than me. The Dominace can’t be made to carry on as they have.”
“I agree.”
“You’ve made excellent decisions so far. Space Magic is powerful and allows you not to be captured. You should focus more on your sound shapes and if you can, please get a stronger frame. While ingenious, the sound sword isn’t made of stern enough stuff for your rising power. It can’t keep up with you.”
“A resonator?” I ask.
She walks backwards, grabbing the massive tuning fork weapon. She hums and it came alight to a massive greatsword. “Our people have had many a weapons and tools, staff, and wand made for use with our abilities. I will give you the knowledge to make your own. You should have seen our people.” She says, reminiscing. She reaches out, touching my forehead, and I see a sea of beautiful people doing every kind of task, using sound to help them in their daily lives. From weaving a basket or making a ladder. It is a view I couldn’t imagine. And then it was gone.
“Thank you.” I say breathlessly, as I can feel where the memory still lingers in my mind.
“Your ability as an enchanter allows you to destroy and learn from magical weapons and constructs. You could become a Spellbreaker. There are a few magical disciplines that will eventually help you break spells. All of this to say you’ve broadened yourself quite a bit. You should focus on leveling your abilities as you move forward. You don’t really have a one shot kill ability and that’s what you should be looking for next.”
“Thank you.” This is all given me something to think about. Spellbreaking sounds really cool and if it could protect me from one of Aquilan’s screams. I could really become a problem for a magic enemy. Not that I’ve found many so far. “I realize I never caught your name.”
“Quillica. Mother Quillica of the Sonata Coven.” Quillica said. “You must return and get stronger. The Sea Witch will stop at nothing to kill you. Be smart.”
I woke up. My body suspended in a translucent fluid. I could feel the astringent feel of something like a minty soap scrub. It was more viscous fluid, like I was floating in a pool of mouthwash. I can see the surrounding room, a dim lounge with big comfy chairs and even a chez lounge. Inside the tank, there was a solid red light and an inch in diameter. I was in nothing but the pair of boxers I put on this morning. As I looked down at my body, I saw none of the wounds I expected to see. A breathing mask trails from my mouth like a scuba tank. A cool clean air is pumping through it. It smells like a petrichor, the good stuff.
My psylink is gone. I’ve been wearing it every waking hour since I woke up on that surgery table. It feels off not having it on my head. Not even having my AR contacts in either means no HUD, and I sleep in those. They self-clean using tear ducts, cleaning themselves at night. Or with a disinfecting solution once every two weeks.
I realized that just hanging on to one thought for too long is really hard. I was just taking in thoughts and breathing them back out. Like my mind is trying to hold water in my hands and just passes through my fingers, leaving them wet. I hope to actually pick them up again later.
My body is a lot more toned than it was when I awakened. Nothing ground breaking, but I had changed quite a bit since this all started. It had only been 3 days, and I have the ability of some of the best marksmen on the planet. Or the planet, before alien contact. I wonder how many of them have gotten awakened.
My abilities aren’t gone without my psylink. Between Kohl and Gabrielle, I understand thatt a lot of the abilities aren’t controlled by psylinks, but many of the way I did things were set up that way. Things like using specific sounds for each beat, when I could instead just use snaps or hum it. I could, and I should, learn to freehand a lot of things, especially the magic.
The Dreamsphere. I could feel the energy around and in myself, actively. I don’t know how I didn’t notice it before. Like a river moving around me and a whirlpool moving within me. Maybe I should spend more time just letting myself be. I feel like maybe moving from one thing to another has been hampering my ability to cast.
So I thought to teleport myself out of the tank. Since I’m not using it during battle, I can choose a destination instead of just willing myself somewhere I could see. I tried it again as I closed my eyes and a more spacial sense activated. While I couldn’t sense anything in the room, I could choose a point anywhere in space within the range of about 30ft. Judging by what it said on the spell, I’d get hurt or die if I teleport inside something. I could also identify what I considered myself. Like walking through a veil or a filter, I could decide anything down to boxers or as far as my face mask.
Before I can practice, I hear the sounds of an oven timer go off and the light inside turns from solid red to blinking yellow. The tank around me begins draining as the sound and light go off.
When the blinking stops and the yellow changes to green, I push my way out of the empty tank. Stumbling to my feet, I take off the breathing apparatus and put it back inside the clamshell door on a hook that seems like what it’s there for. Taking a towel off a table close by, I towel the last of the very little fluid that clings to me and I lay down in the chaise lounge.
The smart cushion doesn’t immediately take on my preferred firmness because I realize without my psylink there’s nothing for it to communicate with. It’s still very comfy and I’m about to go back to sleep when the door opens quietly and Gabrielle stands there in the doorway.
“Hey,” she says, her voice coming soft in the darkness. Her profile allows me to see as she looks me up and down. “How are you feeling?”
“Honestly, kinda great.” I sit up, bleary-eyed. beckoning her over as I roll my neck and circle my arms.
“That’s good heard you got taken out by that axe.” She comes down the small staircase and into view. Holding my psylink, she places it in my hands.
“Yeah… But I feel a lot better now. Turns out getting nearly cut in half is survivable.”
“Not really. It was the duel type. Anyway.” She looks me up and down. “Get dressed. We’ve got a debrief. Omni wants to tell us what we can work on.”
“Oh, that sounds like fun.”
“I know he’s a little off, but if we’re gonna take this advice because we need to know what will get us to the next level, so next time we can take him and the rest of the crew.”
“He might not be as strong as Aquilan, but goddamn, he handed us our asses.”
“We’ll get there, Mix. We’ve got help now. And a home base. We’re making something good here. I just can’t wait until we can bring other people here, too.”
“That’s something to look forward to.”
The Composer’s Stats so far
Level 3 (Rank 1)
HP: 14
Dream: 14*
Will: 2
Reflex: 3
Creativity: 4
Talent: 2
Power: 6 (Rank 2)
Durability: 3
The Composer’s Abilities
Skills:
Leadership
Knowledge:
Ancestral Magic
Arcane Magic
Utilities:
Siren
Enchanting
Space Magic
Summon Lukaelin (minion)
Echo
Portal
War Chant
Somnic Reinvigoration
Personal Space
Special Attacks:
Shot Lv 2
Damage 9-25
Composer’s Inventory
Beats (CD Chakrams)
Damage 8-19
Sound Sword
Damage 8-19
Voidwalkers: 10/10
2 Dark Blade
2 Bleeding Heart
Robes of the Truth Seeker
-1 Damage Resistance
+ 1 Dream
Neon’s Stats so far
Level 3 (Rank 1)
HP: 13
Dream: 13
Will: 2
Reflex: 6
Creativity: 2
Talent: 1
Power: 4
Durability: 3
Neon’s Abilities So Far
Skills:
Super Speed
Knowledge:
Weapon Bond
Light Gauntlets
Short & Long Range
Utilities:
Hide
Arms: Energy Weapon Lv 2
Damage: 1-8 added damage
Mirage
Dazzle
Special Attacks:
Dart
Damage 7-18
Kinetic Fighting Lv2
Damage 7-18
With Energy weapon 8-26
Sonic Boom
Damage 7-18
Neon’s Inventory
Weapons
Light Gauntlets [Bound] (Tier 1)
Damage 7-13
Firewall’s Stats so far
Level 3 (Rank 1)
HP: 28
Dream: 13
Armor: 3 Chevrons
Will: 3
Reflex: 1
Creativity: 2
Talent: 5
Power: 2 (2)
Durability: 6
Firewall’s Abilities So Far
Skills:
Construction
Knowledge:
Hacking
Utilities:
Blackout
Intent
Dive Lv 2
Special Attacks:
Guard
Shield Blight
Overheat
Damage 6-11
Pierce
Damage 6-18
Firewall’s inventory
Omni Tool Spear (Tier 1)
Damage 5-8
Steel-enforced Leather Shield (Tier 1)
+1 Chevron
Crystal Reinforced Harness
+2 Chevrons
Custom PsyDeck