"Ryan, we've got company!" Syd yelled.
I know, he replied. They're coming out of the portal –
Holy shit! They're coming out of the portal too!
...too?
Shouts from the opposite end of the rooftop drew his attention. Federal agents in tactical gear piled out of the door leading down to the ground floor, each of them armed to the teeth. Ryan saw one carrying a belt-fed machine gun, and another struggling with an unwieldy tube that looked like some sort of rocket launcher.
A plasma blast landed in the midst of the group, exploding with the force of a bomb and tossing men haphazardly in every direction. The few that hadn't been blown off their feet scattered, returning fire while scrambling for what little cover existed.
Marksman, he thought to himself, noting the attack's distinctive blazing-orange hue, as well as its increased effectiveness when compared to the weaker Abilities of the Blasters he'd fought earlier. Not good.
Ryan was once again standing in the middle of a gunfight. Crouching as low as his injury would permit, he hobbled out of the line of fire. While he moved, he considered their tactical situation.
Sending in another wave of troops? Their Forward-Commander is getting desperate, Ryan realized. Taking casualties was one thing, but there were already a lot of Changers that the enemy team had been forced to abandon down there. The longer the night went on, the harder it would become to recover them.
Hence the decision to deploy additional forces... doubling down, as the saying went.
His suspicion was confirmed by a familiar squeal from the nearby portal. Thin, translucent tentacles extended through the opening, waving furiously as the alien officer urged on the Enforcers below. The Zorvax Forward-Commander's attention seemed entirely focused on the engagement between his team and the government forces.
Ryan weighed his options and reached a decision. It was a risk, he knew, but also an opportunity. There would probably never be a better chance to strike a real blow in his war against the invaders.
Ryan, what are you doing? I thought we needed to leave.
One second, he replied. Got to do something first.
Ryan crept beneath the rift, ensuring he was far enough off to the side that he couldn't be seen from within. Taking a deep breath, he patiently waited for the tentacles to reappear. Then, with a sudden, convulsive motion, he reached inside. Grabbing hold of the slimy, amorphous creature, he heaved, dragging it through the portal.
As soon as it passed through the barrier, three things happened in quick succession. First, the Zorvax Forward-Commander screeched, a pained, nails-on-chalkboard sound that went higher and higher up the register. Second, the relentless pull of Earth's gravity took hold of the alien, flattening it into a pancake and ending the racket with a wet finality that left his ears ringing. Third, the abrupt disappearance of their team leader caused the Enforcers to go absolutely ballistic.
Okay, he sent to Syd, we have officially overstayed our welcome. Time to go.
She didn't need any further encouragement. With a last glance at one another, they jumped out into space. Right on their heels, the roof's edge disappeared in a wash of orange plasma fire.
As he fell, it occurred to him that a three-story plunge into a chilly river at night was probably the least dangerous thing he'd done since waking up this morning.
He dropped feet-first into the deep, slow-moving water, the sudden rush of cold doing nothing good for his plasma burn. A moment later, he heard a muffled splash as Syd came down nearby. There was the usual feeling of initial disorientation before he finally hit the soft bottom. With some difficulty, he kicked his way back up to the surface.
In her transformed state, Syd knifed effortlessly through the water, the enhanced Agility proving useful for more than just showing off with acrobatic tricks. Reaching his side, she helped him to clumsily paddle his way over to the opposite bank.
They made it across without incident, and it seemed that none of their enemies were quite crazy enough to jump in after them. Climbing out of the shallows, they shook themselves off, then pushed their way through the mud and tall grass until they were once again standing on relatively solid ground.
"I just got this shirt," he lamented, looking down at his tattered clothing.
"Hey, me too," she said, gesturing at her sleek purple suit. "I think mine's a little more fashionable, though."
"Har, har. We'll see who's laughing in –" he consulted his display "– one minute and thirteen seconds when it vanishes."
"Counting the seconds?" Syd spun, putting one hand on her hip, and smirked up at him. "You're looking forward to it. Admit it."
He started to chuckle, but it was cut short by a groan. A flash of concern crossed her features, quickly hidden as she turned away.
"Where do we go now?" she asked. A helicopter passed by overhead, heard rather than seen, making them both crouch reflexively. "We can't stay here. This whole place is going to be flooded with cops soon."
"Let me see." He brought up his area map, zooming it out and rotating it. "Looks like we can either head north, and eventually we'll hit the highway, or else we keep going in this direction and stick to the riverbank for about a mile until we reach a bridge."
Peering in the direction he'd pointed, Syd frowned.
"As much as I'd like to leave this shit behind," she said, lifting a booted foot out of the muck with a damp squelch to demonstrate, "north is all open fields. There's nowhere to hide at all. If they came after us, we'd be fucked."
"Yeah, that was my biggest concern too. So... you ready to get swampy?"
She gingerly poked his good arm.
"Don't say that."
"Say what?"
"Swampy." She shuddered theatrically. "It's such a gross-sounding word. And I don't even think you're using it right."
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"Geniuses are rarely appreciated in their own time," Ryan mused.
Taking the lead, he pressed on ahead, willing his legs to keep moving despite the steady, throbbing pain from the wound. Even under the best circumstances, slogging through the... marshy terrain would have been an awful, slow, cumbersome experience.
Syd didn't like the word marshy any better than swampy.
They hadn't made it very far before her transformation finally ran out. She made an outraged little cry of alarm, but otherwise bore up better than he might have expected, given they were wading through ankle-deep mud at the time.
Ryan kept his back to her throughout the process. Don't think about the naked woman behind you, he repeated forcefully to himself as they continued onward. Don't think about the cute, naked woman behind you. Don't think about the cute, wet, naked –
Thunder crashed angrily above as a light drizzle began.
"This fucking sucks," she remarked.
Wordlessly, Ryan took off the remains of his scorched t-shirt, keeping his eyes averted as he held it out toward her. He politely chose not to remind her of his previous offer to hold onto her clothes, so that they wouldn't be vaporized when she transformed.
"Are you sure you don't need it?"
He shook his head. In profile, he saw her pull the shirt on. It was long enough to reach her knees, resembling a loose-fitting, shapeless dress on her petite frame. Still, despite the gaping hole in the side, it preserved her modesty.
Mostly.
It was hard to ignore the way the thin, damp material clung to her slender body. Catching an unintentional eyeful, he hurriedly turned away again.
"Um, thanks."
"No, I should have offered sooner." He gave her a sheepish grin. "Sorry."
"Wanted a chance to admire the view first?"
She didn't sound too upset by the prospect.
"Maybe," he allowed. Ryan wouldn't call himself an expert when it came to understanding women, but the signals Syd was sending him weren't exactly subtle, either. He wasn't sure how he should feel about that prospect. Clearing his throat, he quickly changed the subject. "We'd better keep moving."
On the other side of the river, the fighting seemed to have wrapped up. The glaring blue eye of the portal had winked shut minutes before, and while his display still showed a scattering of white dots present, none of the Changer icons were moving. Still attached to Blasters that had been knocked out in the fighting, he figured, suppressing a twinge of regret that they'd been forced to leave so many of the valuable devices behind.
It had been the right decision, though. The warehouse they'd narrowly escaped from was now surrounded by a wall of flashing red and blue lights. A pall of smoke hung over the scene, rising from several of the nearby buildings and the handful of burning cars littering the street.
He hoped that Amy had managed to escape in time.
"At least we got a Changer out of it." Ryan said to himself as they trudged along. After a few more steps, he realized that he wasn't actually sure if that was true. They'd done a whole lot of fighting and running and jumping and swimming since Syd had taken the Changer from that Blaster. What if, in all the confusion, she'd dropped it somewhere? "Uh, we did get a Changer, didn't we?"
Instead of replying, she raised her arm, twisting it back and forth to show off the segmented silver band that she was wearing like an oversized wristwatch.
The two segmented silver bands that she was wearing like a pair of oversized wristwatches, he belatedly realized. One held a glittering, colorless gem at its center, while the other had a deep blue hue.
Which meant...
Ryan stopped in mid-step.
"Wait. Syd, that's – you managed to grab the Savant's Changer, too?"
"No duh," she said, rolling her eyes dismissively. "That was the plan, wasn't it? I told you I was paying attention. Besides, looting bodies right away is like, the first rule of gaming. Otherwise some jerk might come along and swipe your stuff –"
He pulled her into a tight hug, muffling the rest of her explanation.
"Huh? What was that for?"
Ryan held her out at arm's length, ignoring the momentary flare of pain that the motion triggered, and stared into her eyes.
"You did good, Syd." The simple words of praise, delivered in earnest, were enough to make her blush and glance away. "Seriously. Really good. This is going to make a huge difference for us."
"Okay, okay, I get it already." She playfully pushed him away. "Is it really that big a deal? That guy didn't seem too strong."
"A Savant is like..." Ryan paused, searching for the right words. "Let me put it this way. Say that you're our party's damage-dealer."
"Rogue."
"Sure, our rogue. That works even better. Amy would be our warrior. So, if we wanted to make a balanced raid group, what's the missing piece?"
"A priest?"
"Right." He smirked at her. "...nerd."
"Hey!"
Ignoring her objection, he continued, "Anyway, if we had a Savant on the team, they could fill that role for us. It's the most versatile War-Form. They get all sorts of different Abilities that can enhance and support their teammates. Once they get up to higher Levels, they can even heal injuries on the spot."
Syd stared at the Changer on her wrist with newfound respect.
"Should I switch to this one so I can heal you?"
"Nah. That guy you clobbered with the pipe was on his first mission, I'm pretty sure. Even after the fight, I bet his Changer is still going to be at Level 1." He extended a hand. "Do you mind if I take a look?"
"Sure," she said, pulling it off and allowing him to touch it.
Establishing direct connection with Change Matrix... connection established.
Change Matrix is not Attuned.
Change Matrix is not Bonded.
Type: Change Matrix Mark-II (Sapphire)
Class: Savant
Effective Level: 1
Combat Data Collected: 41%
Limited access granted to Change Matrix systems.
CAUTION: Advanced functions are unavailable until Change Matrix has been Attuned!
Attune Change Matrix?
He grunted, scanning through the readout provided by his display.
"Was that a good news grunt," Syd asked, "or a bad news grunt?"
"Bit of both," Ryan replied truthfully. "Good news is that the Forward-Commander it was Attuned to... isn't around anymore, so we can use it. Bad news is that it's nowhere close to reaching Level 2, and that's what it would take to get the most basic healing Ability. Even if we Salvaged the other Changer you found, we'd still come up short." He shrugged, doing his best to put on a brave face. "Guess I'll just have to put up with this for now."
A few minutes later, they reached the road he'd seen on his map. The bridge that would eventually take them back across the river and into the city was barely visible in the distance, a slightly-darker silhouette against the cloudy night sky.
And once we get there, he asked himself as he limped along, what then?
He had at least another hour of walking in the rain to look forward to. Maybe more than that. Being honest with himself, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to make it.
Headlights flashed in the distance. Ryan and Syd froze, searching in vain for somewhere they could take cover. They'd passed a culvert a few hundred feet back, but it may as well have been on the moon for all the good it did them. Were the roadside ditches deep enough for them to hide in?
More details gradually resolved as the car drew closer. The vehicle approaching them was a police cruiser. For the moment, it was alone, with its sirens off, but he knew that could quickly change.
Cursing under his breath, Ryan prepared himself for another desperate fight. He didn't like their chances, but between his own injuries and Syd's Changer on cooldown, their odds of escaping seemed even worse.
The headlights of the oncoming car brightened, then abruptly dimmed, revealing the driver's face. Amy leaned out of the window and gave them a tired-looking smile.
"You two look like you could use a ride," she said.