Orange and green light flashed from the parked truck. In the middle of Stonebridge woods a tall brunette woman and a short stocky ginger man stared daggers at Myles.
“How in the name of greek buggery do you expect us to cover up this mess” Said the Brunette woman.
“Calm down Zara, we should just be glad that thing had finally been dealt with, you know as well as I do that thing have been on everyones shit list for decades”
“Look at it, there is a half a kilometre of bare soil where protected woodland used to be.” The woman named Zara put her head in here hands where if you listened closely a string of curse words was being uttered on a loop.
“It isn’t that bad, the kid hasn’t even gone bonkers yet.”
“I’m stood right here.” Said a now armour free Myles Endeavour.
The adventure into the half kilometre wooded area had indeed, as speculated, been a zone made of compressed time. So after murdering the everliving heck out of its core they had got out well in time for lunch. However, needing to report in and get chewed out for leaving a big bloody hole in nature. A hole that would be very difficult to explain away. The result was any time saved had been lost waiting for the clean up crew. Myles morned the loss of his cheese toasty. His Mum had a firm no getting the brevil toasty maker out after 4pm and it was already 4:45pm.
“It is bad enough you people can’t just use your sub-space storage like a normal person, you can’t stop yourself stuffing gross crap into it, and now one of you apparently broke one of the universal constants Fairy Triggers are supposed to operate by.”
“We can’t all power up with rainbows and the power of friendship Zara.” said John Barrington.
“Put them back in your pants guys, we are all professionals here.” Said the ginger man.
“Mines bigger anyway.” snarked Zara.
“Okay, since we need a solution that isn’t you lot doing the magic juju, it was a fire. It was a big bloody fire, some kids did it and now we need to replant the trees. Said Myles.
“That isn’t a half bad solution, it will be a little more costly, but we have signed off on worse.” Said the redhead, offering Myles a hand to shake.. “and please call me Rusty.”
“Thank you Rusty, also, quick question, how much time will I add to whatever watch list I’m on if I kill one of these guys or calling me kid or saying a sex thing.” Said Myles as he shook the mans hand,
“For the new guy, we’d just put you down, for Barrington we’d probably take a month off.”
“I’m stood right here.” Said John Barrington.
The details of the day were gone over several times. Myles was asked about the anomalous use of the Trigger storage ability and John Barrington was raked over the coals for irresponsible behaviour. Rusty gave Myles some kudos for actually having a plan while throwing a dirty look at a certain mentor. Zara scowled and complained about Fairy Triggers and their place in the community. The grilling was extensive due to the threat they had just taken down. Myles was made to try pulling various things into his inventory and failed most things. His ability seemed to include fae adjacent things, but there was no danger of him instant death attacking anyone by pulling them into sub-space. Zara looked almost disappointed in that. She made no effort to hide her dislike of Trigger users and Myles in particular. There was a story behind her attitude but Myles was not going to press the matter, at least not with the woman herself.
By the end of the debriefing session everyone was tired and grumpy so the boys slunk back to Betty Endeavours house and the clean up crew of Rusty and Zara did whatever it was they had to do at the newly minted mud patch. Presumably scattering soot and bits of charcoal around to help sell the ‘fire’ story. The difference in the Stonebridge atmosphere was already palpable, the town felt lighter and it no longer had the creepy vibe of being watched everywhere you went. Myles could not say for certain that the malignant genius loci had been what had devoured Tommy all those years ago, but it probably was, or at least one of its puppets. He hoped where ever Tommy was now, he could rest a little easier having been probably avenged.
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“Would you boys like to stop for dinner” offers Betty Endeavour. “It won’t be fancy, but when you didn’t come back for lunch I put a big pot of stew on so we have lobscouse and all the crusty bread you can manage.”
It was simple food, but hearty and comforting. The two Johns gave Myles a look. For all their teasing they knew where the boundaries were and would not overstep and agree without his approval.
“That would be lovely Mum, thank you.” said Myles accepting the invitation. He knew he had no excuses to not visit more now the thing keeping him away was gone.
The meal was eaten in a comfortable silence, with several helpings meticulously devoured. Dumping fae bodies into the storage system helped maintain the armour, but it did little for the host body. The suit did help heal and maintain the user. But for all its enhancements food, drink and rest were still required. The three were tired, it was late and Berry Endeavour had offered them a roof for the night rather than drive back. Charlie Murderpaws was inside, so everything outside was safe for the time being and he had an auto-feeder. The decision was made to crash and leave early rather than attempt the two plus hours drive in the dark.
John Barrington washed the dishes, pots and plates, John Marquis dried the dishes and assorted kitchenware. Myles did his part by popping down the rod to the little shop to pick up a few essential bits for his mother, some pastries for the morning road trip and a selection of beers for the evening. Betty Endeavour sat with them for a beer before heading off to bed. Myles looked at the selection of local brews he had broth back with him. He debated if picking the hoppy beer would cause any comment related to his suits rabbit like elements. He went for it and was not impressed by the sniggering coming from two alleged grown ups.
“I should have stuck with the amber” he muttered.
“Hops… Like a little bunny.” Said John Barrington.
“On that delightful note John, what is with Zara and her attitude, I get she doesn’t like Fairy Triggers, but… and I may be reading into this, I got the feeling she dislikes me a level more than that.”
John Barrington took a sip of his beer.
Her father was a Trigger user. Not one of the greatest of us, but certainly not the worst. Solid, reliable, but he had ambitions, so he worked hard.”
“That does not sound so bad, I mean unless he was neglecting his family?”
“Great dad all round… Myles as we advance in power there is a chance we will unlock a form that is just pure frenzy. The automated latte assistant you experienced before, that kicks into high gear, only this time everything is a target not just fae…” John trailed off.
He took another drink beer before he continued.
“Part of us growing is learning to control that stage and move forward, but Zara’s Dad couldn’t pull himself out of it. There was a Whistler attack and all of a sudden it clicked and he blazed with light, took down seven of the things by himself. But he didn’t stop, he started attacking his allies among whom was his wife. it took a team of us to put him down. during that time he badly injured his wife and didn’t survive the subjugation. That is the other reason Fairy Triggers are treated the way they are in the community. We are like big guard dogs, useful when they are on your side, but there is always that worry they will turn on you.”
Myles mulled that over, at some point he may become a danger to the people around him. He suspected if he was put down then, there would not be another do-over.
After a while longer of taking time digesting the story and deliberately not thinking about the days events, Myles decided to knock the distraction up a notch and opened the box of his Grandfathers things his Mother wanted him to look through. There were some medals he didn’t recognise. though that wasn’t saying much given how little he knew about military matters. a few old books, battered and well loved. One journal that Myles earmarked to look through later. there was a selection of bric-à-brac Myles was able discard. One item however, a small gold ball with a cross on the top, drew Myles attention. He didn’t know what had drawn him to the object when he saw john Barringtons eyes go wide.
“That is an Augment, Myles, why did your Grandfather have an Augment?”
“I don’t know, I was only little when he passed away. Most of this stuff is new to me.”
John Barrington picked up the Augment and inspected it. looking at it from different angles, holding it up to the light willing it to reveal its secrets.
“I can’t identify this… It doesn’t belong to any of the Triggers I know. It seems to be broken, but is perhaps reparable. I have no idea what it will do though.” said John Barrington as he handed the surprise Augment back to Myles.
“How would I even go about repairing it? I’ve had the suit all of five minutes and I can’t use a lot of the features until the language syncs up.”
“Just put it in your storage, the suit will repair and attune it automatically, assuming it can be they are not always compatible, it depends on the Triggers. There will be a bit of a wait as well these things are never quick.”
Myles held the golden Augment in his hand and willed it into his storage system. He expected something to happen, maybe even for it not to work, but everything went smoothly. So much had happened lately he was getting paranoid.
“Augments are what they sound like right, the gear Adaptive types skew towards?” asked Myles
“Exactly” said John “Actually guys, I’ve been holding back a terrible secret I…”
Green, Red and Black sparks were given off from their respective trigger user.
“THE SCYTHE IS REMORSELESS”
“I’M LOOKING BETTER THAN NICE. I’M LOOKING… DANGEROUS.”
“HARMLESS LITTLE BUNNY LEAPS FOR THE STARS, THAT'S NO ORDINARY RABBIT!”
The three were now stood in Betty Endeavour’s living room fully equipped in their suits. Only one thing caused this reaction to take place.
“Well… Shit.” said Myles.