Track 016: Home

We sat in the employee lounge of the Pharm. The fact that it had a secret medtank in the back definitely brought some questions to mind. Is the person who ran this company working with the Dominance? If nanos are groundbreaking, then the tank is far and above what we had on earth. Nutrient rich solution to help regrow skin and promote bones fusion. The further I look into the new tech that has come out since Mind-link brought us the Psylink, the more I become disillusioned by the idea.

Dr. Omni was wearing a fresh lab coat, pristine white with no creases. Considering how worse for wear the rest of us look, it’s a bit comical. While our bodies are healed up right, we just look a little rough for recent level 3s.

Kohl lies on Neon’s lap. Instead of being the small cat he was originally, now he looks a bit more like a like something between a larger house cat and a big cat kit. There's the promise of something more. His paws and legs were wider, and his shoulders were fuller. Most curious of all is when we all reached level 3, he gained a golden collar with a star sapphire in it. If there were any doubts before, it’s plenty obvious that Kohl is no regular cat.

“I originally came to Electric City from Russia to do research at ECU on carcinization, the evolutionary quirk where a lot of sea creatures are evolving into crabs. It’s a wild thing. Because of the marine biology department, it seemed perfect for me.” He gets almost as excited about crabs as he does about fighting. He's animated and moving his arms and hands around. This being so different from the person he was when we met him. “Turns out when I got here, the invasion was in full swing. I could see how things were changing at ECU and I got clear. I was contacted by a mysterious benefactor from the mainland and it turned out they were looking for people with specific abilities and were willing to pay through the nose for me to join. That was my DreamCrafter and our team became the Cyborg Paramours.”

“So, what’s with the name?” Neon asks.

“Our leader said it gave us panache and I don’t disagree. He has vision and he’s a bit of a cyborg himself.”

“Cyborgs don’t exist, really. The tech hasn’t been successful.” Gabrielle says. She touches her prosthetic. “I am not a cyborg.”

“It hasn’t been successful yet.” The doctor says ominously. “I think now that the awakened are around with access to magic and the technology we will gain through our exploration of Dreamscape, it will only be a short time. There’s a new age of humanity coming. I, for one, want to welcome it.”

We all look at each other, conveying conversations in the widening of eyes, the direction of glances, and the quirks of lips. This man is a zealot. A strong zealot but a zealot none the less and we should be wary of him.

“Where was I?” He took a pause, as if rewinding his mind. “Ah, yes! I came back to Electric City because I tracked a group of corvid back to their roost here. They were bigger, stronger and more intelligent than their brethren and I saw it take out a hawk with a sharpened chopstick. It blew my mind!” He mushes up his hair, punctuating his exclamation. “I on my way back here I found rats, cats, dogs, and even seagulls have started to show signs of being tampered with and I wanted to understand why.”

“We got a quest for the same thing.” I say.

Gabrielle looks at me, surprised I let slip that information. There’s something else in that gaze, but I’m unsure.

“Interesting, I too have a quest.” He rubs his stubble in a contemplative gesture. “I wonder if you’d like to work on this together. Share information and what not. I don’t know how things will break down if we work together, but I don’t think the system would punish us for this.”

“I don’t mind.” Now I knew for sure not just G is giving me a look. Neon is looking at me out of the corner of their eye, and Kohl gave me a measuring gaze. “That is to say, I should talk it out with Rebellion before we make official alliances.”

“Understood. I will be outside if you need anything.” Omni says.

When Omni left, the group rounds on me. “What were you thinking?!” Gabrielle says. “We don’t know that crazy guy.”

“Yeah, why would we share the rewards with him? He’s already hella strong. I think he could give The Sea Bitch something to worry about. And if his entire team is anywhere near as powerful as he is, we’d be working with someone who could take us out pretty easily.”

I have to agree with the others. Showing our hands to a more powerful enemy is tantamount to suicide.

“I deserve to get chewed out. Almost made a decision without talking to you guys and getting a vote, so we will.” I say, holding each of their eye contact. “Omni’s an eccentric.” It’s an understatement I can’t quite not smile at. It’s still true. “He can be reckless and, at worst case, dangerous and while that’s not always the people I want to work with. He is human, and he’s got a degree in the exact science we need.”

“I get that, Mix, but we don’t know what this will do with the system. Will our quest rewards be diluted? I want to solve this as much as you do but, I think we should be careful about how we go about this.”

That part I can answer. Kohl says, eyes glinting. The system wants humanity to defeat The Dominance and while everyone has ways; they want to do it. It’s important to understand the network was built for community. I can’t imagine it would punish us from working together, making alliances and the like.

“Okay, so that qualm has been put to bed. Now for how powerful he is. I can’t imagine there’s anything we have that he wants. If he means attacks us, I will not roll over and take it. He still can’t touch Neon going full out and we never went for anything he needed. If we went for the kill last time, we probably would have taken him out. While I’m not really interested in killing him. If he makes that move, I will make him wish he never thought of that.”

“That’s bloodthirsty, boss.” Neon says.

“I just want it to be said I’m not letting anyone get the drop on us.”

When Omni came back in, it was roughly another 20 minutes later where we talked through everything. He seemed like he probably already knew what we’d gone over. His super hearing seemed to allow him to pick up on anything in his vicinity. I wanted to make sure we were clear, though.

“Dr. Omni, we, Rebellion, would like a tentative alliance with you. We would let you in on any quests about evolution and fauna. We would also allow you to look at whatever we find on the other alien species we run into.” Omni nods, a smirk on his face and a cigarette in the upturned part of his mouth. “This valuable information will help us both complete our quest and teach us all more about the threat that challenges us all.”

“I’d like something else.” He pulls from the inside of his lab coat a crimson knife drips bloody energy down the blade and through his fingers. “I want to barter for your abilities. Next level you have a chance to increase your level in Enchanting. I want you to do that.”

This is such an odd request, I am taken aback. What is he getting at? Kohl said other people can gain the Enchanting ability. Why not pick the ability up for himself? Apparently, that wasn’t the only because Firewall asks it aloud.

“Why would you want to work with us and cut out the middleperson and do it for yourself?”

“Plainly, it doesn’t fit my build.” Dr. Omni says stretching. “You’ve seen me. I’m a bruiser my points are spread out between the transformation and mutation skill trees. More than two or three tracks and you’re going to lose out on a lot of power. That’s why I want you. Having an enchanter I could trade with would help me a lot more on the battlefield and none of my team would have to dip into the Enchanting skill tree to make it up. I’ve already got a crafter here. Especially if I push them along.” He gestures the knife toward me again.

“Okay,” I grab the dagger. “If you hold up to your end of the deal, I will hold up to mine.”

Congratulations, Rebellion!

You have made an alliance with the Cyborg Paramours!

Be good to each other and fight on DreamRunners!

Congratulations, Rebellion!

You have received Level 1 security access at Voltage Malls

You now have access to the Haven app.

Congratulations, Composer!

You have Bleeding Heart Dagger!

On hit this causes the Bleeding effect.

You’re making moves, Composer, keep up the good work.

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I don’t know if this is Quillica, but I’ve always found getting a notification pushes me forward. Like I can feel people’s hands on my back pushing me forward. Quillicia, if you’re out there, know we’re gonna do it. We’re gonna keep pushing.

“What can I say? You guys hit hard and you’re definitely good with the timing, but you’ll fight like you’re pulling trump cards.” Omni critiques. “You fight like you’ll win style points if you pull off the best maneuvers. Sometimes you just got to get your hands dirty and mix it up!” He’s sitting down in the back room of Pharm looking up at us every few minutes while he looks at the tracker chitin and fur under the microscope. He’s comparing it to the mimic flesh he saw and is writing down a few notes. “If you’re not gonna take my advice on this and there are some obvious reasons why not. You should get yourselves a fighter.” He blows out a smoke ring. “I’m obviously biased, but you need someone who can get in there and do some real damage up close. Also, besides Firewall here, you’re some glass cannons. Put some meat on those bones. Or make some damn good armor to take some blows. None of you are outfitted correctly for this kind of fight. If I did any more than tap you, you would have been a world of hurt.”

“Neon, no notes. You’re fast, you hit hard, and if you really push these Mirage abilities, you will become untouchable. How does that quote go? ‘Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.’ Well, you have that in spades. You certainly have what it takes to be a good dodge tank.” Neon pumps their fist in the air.

“Firewall, you’re doing the best you can. But you can’t be everywhere at once and you have either make it impossible for anyone to move past your guard or make it so you punish them proper when it does happen.”

“Finally, Composer, if you’re going to use those,” He says, pointing to my boots. “Please get some time working on your movement with those. You’re basically using them like you’re walking. I shouldn’t have been able to catch you. If you were any good on those, I wouldn’t have been able to. Also, you aren’t a spell blade. You’ve got to stop acting like one.” His words hit pretty hard and I wince. “That or actually use some magic to help you do it better. You aren’t a fighter. This isn’t a game where you can automatically learn how to fight right away. It’s going to take time and you’ve shown grit, which is nice… That’s just not enough, though. You showed four unique abilities there, which were game changers and could be a specialization all their own. This might not have classes like anything else and maybe I’m not seeing the whole of your build realized, however specialization is so important. That and your sword isn’t serving you. Fighting to keep that together during battle is taking focus away from some of your other abilities.” He levels his piercing gaze at me. “Anyway, I’ll transfer my findings to you in the morning. There’s really something here, something usable.”

“Good to know,” Gabrielle says evenly. She’s not a fan of our hirsute guest.

“You’re not wrong, but our first priority after this,” I wave at him and the general area. “Is to make contact with The Resistance.”

“Oh, those guys? Are they still around?” Doctor Omni looks like they’re actually interested in something other than fighting. “If you’re going somewhere, I’d like to accompany you.”

Gabrielle just rolls her eyes where Omni can’t see. She doesn’t need to say anything more. I already know she’s not happy we have to deal with him more.

We ate that night and had the first hot meal, we had in days. Getting to have a Mineburger Deluxe and Ice Palace shake was the height of luxury. It was an amazing night; I played a set, and we danced like it wasn’t the apocalypse around us. And we only had to deal with a few mimics.

“Alright, folks. We’ve got to think about rooms.”

“I call dibs on the Sneaker Store!” Neon rockets up, waving their hand in the air.

“There’s an auto parts shop on the 1st floor right next to the car garage. When I expand the workshop, that’s gonna be the first place I want to put my stuff. The fact that we need to find the next security card to get access to the garage is a bit infuriating.”

That was true, the whole complex was on some version of a lockdown. Security level 1 card would allow us to get into any shop. Which we more or less had, but those keys allowed us to take the haven over. The security level 2 card would allow us to get into the guard’s armory and the locked car garage. Gabrielle hates it almost as much as I do. Guards in a swanky place like this are bound to have good armor and maybe even a gun or two.

“Alright then, I’m gonna choose the library on the top floor.”

“That’s too big!” Neon says. “How are you gonna fill up all that space?”

“I mostly want the reading nook on the top floor.” I chuckle. “The solarium there would be perfect for me.” Oh, the windows! The view would be magnificent.

So that’s what we did the last few hours of the night. We made our rooms our own. We each grabbed new beds from the mattress and furniture stores. Taking the things we wanted from each of the stores. I helped the others with the move. My Personal Space ability allowed me to transport small things under 20 pounds.

Personal Space

Ability Type: Inventory Space

Dream Cost: 0

Level 1: You have an extra-dimensional inventory that can be upgraded. The amount of space is directly proportional to how heavy the object is that’s inside. The dimensional space has air and time moves the same as it does in the surrounding space.

Currently, this holds:

- 10 objects under Weight Counter 1 (25 lbs.)

-5 objects under WC2 (50lbs.)

- 2 objects under WC3 (100 lbs.)

-1 object under WC4 (200 lbs.)

Requirement: Space Magic

Everyone was jealous when I got this ability and quickly made me a cargo liner going this way and that moving things around. I pretended to gripe about it, but it was fun popping things away only to bring them back somewhere else. Gabrielle still moved the heaviest things because the harness was stronger than any of us, even with my Power is a rank higher than hers. Neon was better at setup. Their design and painting skills made every room look even cooler than anyone thought to themselves. We definitely gushed over the finished products.

Walking for the first time into Neon’s Palace, labeled so by the neon sign high on the back wall over the back door leading into the former breakroom, felt like walking into those made-for-movie impossible clubs. It was cool and dark blue, which just showed off the pops of color throughout. A massive smart couch was on the left wall and a big projector was playing Moon Rigger 4, the best one, of course. Glow-in-the-dark neon graffiti lined the walls and ceiling. He made a loft in the upper parts of where they put a futon and a big screen up there with three different game systems. I didn’t know what he did with the inventory, but his new shoe collection was in cases under the loft. It really felt like Neon, like their interior was all out for us to see.

I didn’t know what to think when Gabrielle said she wanted to take over the garage, but I do like what she did with the place. First, she got the cleaning bots to make the place look halfway decent, which is weird if you ask me. Cleaning up all the oil stains so she could put her own oil stains on it? Said she wanted to season it herself, like a cast-iron pot. Either way, she put a four poster on top of a car lift so it kept the flammable stuff out of the way of the sparks and shit. She displayed her new armor in a frame for a person and was already working on it. The room design wasn’t as thorough as Neon’s. It was a work station first and a room second.

I brought a bunch of the CDs, cassettes, vinyl, the entire music collection of the library. A stereo from the retro music store and its entire collection. Being surrounded by music as I lay up and watch the night roll by. The bed was situated under the solarium roof. I got the biggest one I could find, but there were speakers built in and the bed would allow me to sleep bathed in sound.

Neon made a place to entertain. Gabrielle made a place to work and live. I made a place to relax. And Kohl said he’d stay with whoever he felt like when he did. We all decided to put a pet bed in our rooms for him. It says a lot about who we are and what we want. I know not only would I not be anywhere without these people but, I’m sure I’d be in dead somewhere else.

I look over the railing on the top floor. Past the raised beds of dead weed warn flowers. And the trees who all needed the water I’d given them. They already seem to react to my small tending. But they need more. We need a gardener or someone with a green thumb to keep things together.

I already imagine a world where this all becomes a bustling community and everyone can eek out a life for themselves. I want this place to be a bastion for the people of Rebellion. People running to and fro, eating our food, and spending the day relaxing or working.

I hover my hand over the cursor over the edit line in the Haven app. I have no idea yet, but soon, very soon. Kohl says names are important in Dreamsphere and I don’t want to get this wrong. We will leave tomorrow and I want more than anything to bring Carter here and have him see what could be with me. Carter, my brother, I love you.