It was just a blink, he would have sworn blind thats all it was. Myles had been fighting Cerulean Sweet. He had succeeded in… mostly he had succeeded in getting beaten and badly at that. But The spear slash glaive he held in his hand was proof he had not imagined slicing through the arms of that old bastard, there was even still a small amount of blood burning to ash on the blade. So where in the name of sweet baby cheeses had Cerulean Sweet gone? where had all of the bodies gone for that matter. They could have seen Myles through months of crafting experiments and upgrades.
“What the hell just happened here?“ said Myles to himself absolutely not expecting his question to be heard by anyone let alone answered.
“Well dude, it seems like you were put in some kind of emergency stasis, maybe two or three days from my calculations.”
Myles spun around in surprise swiping his weapons through there air, hitting nothing and no-one. The room was still empty. Very empty it looked like it had been stripped of any useful technology.
“It also looks like the area has suffered a turn, an artificial one from the looks of it”
“Who are you and what is a turn?” asked a still very shocked Myles who was suffering from fading levels of adrenaline and rising levels of pain.
“My name is Llex and I’m currently strapped to your wrist… He does this you know, buggers off to the other side any chance he gets. He’s looking for the ship.” said Llex.
“Who..what, buggered what now.” Myles was getting very confused.
“Okay it’s like that is it, I see. Myles, open your menu and make it show you the medical options.”
Myles was struggling to get a grip on what was going on, so for lack of a better plan, he followed the the instructions given by the voice… or Llex as it called itself. He pulled up the virtual screen only he could see and willed it to show him the medical options.
“Done that? Good. Now make it show you the healing overclock option.”
Myles found the option and selected it
Overclock healing by burning materials Y/N?
Myles selected yes. Familiar red sparks jumped all over the suit, it was not instant, but the pain started to recede and Myles did feel a lot better, not perfect but he would be able to move around more comfortably. His brain seemed less foggy, he was not going to turn down clearer thinking as a side benefit. Myles swiped his menu away. It took several tries. The armour also disengaged automatically.
“Thats much better. can you understand me now Myles?” Asked Llex.”And don’t worry about the suit, it just needs a rest after boosting your healing. Also you might want to treat yourself to a slap up meal and an early night… But its not like you have to listen to me, I’m not your Dad.”
“John gave you to me?” Asked Myles
“Yes, presumably I’m to look after you until he gets back from pissing about in fairy land” said Llex, who sounded like this was par the course in dealing with John Barrington.
“What is a turn? I get stasis, time stood still for me all science fiction like but I lack the context for the first bit.” “Asked Myles who was starting to feel more focused and was putting things back together.
“Imagine you have a sheet of cake with some lovely stripy icing, then you cut out a circle using a glass and you twist it. Now everything is out of line and/or Mum is complaining because she worked hard on that cake and you are an ungrateful little sod.” Said Llex who Myles felts going off track a bit. “Now do that for a massive big of land. It has been turned out of sync with normal reality and moved closer to the other side. Instead of the odd fae excursion to our little corner of reality they are going to be slipping in like sailors at a discount brothel.”
“Thank you for that beautiful imagery.” said Myles.
“Reality likes things the way thing are though so it will be moving back into place, only thing is reality only care if your atoms are properly obeying physics, it doesn’t care if they are just laying around or sitting up and watching the news at six. Anyone killed in a turn is just as dead.” Said Llex
“How many fae are likely to be in town?” Myles asked Llex
“Who’s to say, depends where this place got turned towards… Look at it this way, you are in for a very busy few weeks and don’t start any long books just in case.” said Alex helpfully. “Before I forget have a look at the note that fell off your armour when it disengaged.”
Myles looked around and indeed saw a note laying on the floor where it had fallen. He picked it up. It was probably too much to hope someone from Sweetbright had left clear and detailed instruction of all their plans including layouts of all their buildings and facilities.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
The note just read ‘Dear Mr. Endeavour, Fuck you, love Sandra Bright’. Myles hated that woman. The exist was found and Myles left the mini golf course. He explored what he could in the underground facility, though everything thats was useful or could have told him anything had been stripped out.
“Was the turn just an act of spite Llex?” He asked
“Going by the conversation you had I’d say partly that, but… well that palaver back there with all the gates, that was like them getting the big shop delivered to their front door. A town like this that spent a few weeks in a turn, well thats like going to be like a pick your own strawberries.
a big fun day out for all the family but still a lot of potential produce.” Explained Llex
“So why gut the place if they are coming back?”
“Ah… I was hoping I wouldn’t have to tell you this. Here is the bad news, there is a none zero chance that when trying to put things back to normal Mr. Reality says bugger this and then this place gets punted off into the either. So best take your valuables with you… But you should be fine… Probably.” said Llex.
Gathering himself Myles made his way closer to the surface, keeping his eye out for any pockets of breakfast preserves. But that Sandra Bright woman had likely stripped the place of all jam just to further rub salt in the wound. He wanted to have a more thorough examination of the harvest site, but if it really had been two to three days he had a very grumpy cat to get home to. He did not even want to imagine the state of the litter tray… or his shoes. Tired and aching Myles pushed open the big doors to the underground section to be greeted by a pack of bogglebears. The doors were pulled closed very quickly and the large bolts locked closed. The door rattled as the bogglebears bashed against it. However the facility had been built with dealing with fae in mind, so despite the pounding the door held firm. Myles noticed a glaring lack of armour covering him.
“Llex, how long until my suit has finished its nap?”
“About an hour and a half maybe”
That was a time frame he could live with, so Myles backtracked to see if there was anything left over to eat or drink in the abandoned facility.
Half a pack of oat biscuits and a cup of own brand decaf coffee with UHT milk later Myles sat in a small canteen munching on the biscuits and drinking his substandard coffee. He was taking this opportunity to look through his crafting options and general suit progress.
Generating Recommendations 100%
Fist Weapon 06:00
Neon First 25:00
Thunder Knuckle 25:00
Neon Thunder Knuckle 45:00
Spear 30:00
Neon Blade Spear 45:00
Thunder Spear 45:00
Neon Thunder Spear 60:00
Sword 30:00
Neon Blade Sword 40:00
Thunder Sword 40:00
Neon Thunder Sword 60:00
Utility Tool Set: 10:00
Jetpack 150:00
???? 4000:00
By the dead Queens nipples he had his damned tool set! He really could take a more direct hand in what the suit could generate for him. Myles selected his new tool set to begin manufacture. He looked at the ????. Four thousand hours was a bit steep but the roughly six months time cost would need to be paid now or in future. Hw had some decent weapons and learning more new things right now might be spreading himself thin. What the heck, he selected ???? as a gift to the future Myles Endeavour. Who knows, maybe he could level up his production speed or something by making as much of the big or unknown things as he could. Myles checked next section, items the Trigger had set aside as ‘special’ rather than as simple building blocks.
Objects of Interest:
Genius Loci Core 01
Human Hand 01
Heavily modified Trigger Component 01
Heavily modified Trigger Component [DAMAGED - UNREPAIRABLE] 01
Now that was a big surprise. But perhaps maybe it should not have been… Cerulean Sweet kept referring to the fae as materials. Other things he said about making ‘your kind’ obsolete… Myles could not see the full picture but he felt like a big piece of the puzzle had fallen into his lap. Whatever the answer was, Cerulean Sweet was somehow enhancing himself with bastardised Trigger parts. There was one way Myles could get more answers. He directed his thought and tried to select the modified trigger parts
Human Hand [DAMAGED - UNREPAIRABLE] reverse engineer Y/N
Nope, Myles was not willing to be dealing with man body parts, he would select no and ditch it as soon as he possibly could. He selected no.
Human Hand [DAMAGED - UNREPAIRABLE] Extracting 59:59
Bugger thought Myles. He was sure that would all be fine. If not, he just wouldn’t tell anyone.
Heavily modified Trigger Component [DAMAGED - UNREPAIRABLE] reverse engineer Y/N
Stolen enemy technology made for a resounding yes. But a very carefully this time yes. Myles made the selection.
Heavily modified Trigger Component [DAMAGED - UNREPAIRABLE] Extracting 79:59
Myles thought he might as well chuck the remaining component in for breaking down. it may potentially tell him more about how Sweetbright were kitting itself out.
Heavily modified Trigger Component - Attempt Restoration Y/N
Now that was interesting. John had been saying how more boots on the ground were needed. Myles’ suit was a long way from making its own Triggers, but perhaps it could repair this one. Even If it couldn’t then I guess it was good experience for his Trigger to learn and grow from. He had just selected a four thousand hour time sink so what’s one more crazy decision. Myles selected yes.
Heavily modified Trigger Component: Repair 14% Synchronisation 01%
This one looked like it might be a bit of a long term project as well. But from what Llex had been telling him his next few weeks would be likely to be taken up with a lot of fighting. That actually raised a very important question.
“Llex, will people in town remember everything during the turn?”
“Nah, for the most part people will be putting the time in the turn into a little box in their heads and never opening them again… However there will be a lot of people obsessively locking doors and avoiding dark alleys.” answered Llex.
That sounded very familiar to Myles. He should ask more about it later on. For now though he gave one last glance at his queue.
Heavily modified Trigger Component: Repair 14% Synchronisation 01%
??????: Repair 67% Synchronisation 90%
Neon Thunder Knuckle 89%
Jetpack 60:02
Jetpack 111:23
Jetpack 220:27
Utility Tool Set: 09:52
???? 3999:51
Happy with his choices, Myles drank his horrible coffee and ate biscuits. the quiet of this tingly little canteen might the only peace he gets for the next few weeks. It stuck him that this was yet another obstacle stopping him from learning to fight properly. He was still making it up as he went along and he hated that. But right now, he something very important he needed to get done.
The bogglebears were crowded outside of the big doors the led to the underground part of the facility. They knew a human was down there. Whats more, they could hear movement, footsteps were coming closer… and faster. Without a hose and its brain to process information a boggebear was quite limited. relying heavily on instincts but even in these limited minds something felt strange. Humans did not normally run towards them.
“HARMLESS LITTLE BUNNY LEAPS FOR THE STARS, THAT'S NO ORDINARY RABBIT!”
The doors flew off their hinges and into the densely crowded bogglebears, a few were crushed under the metal doors. Those fae unlucky enough to not die in that initial crush met their end in thunder and pain. Myles stood before the remaining bogglebears the weapon he had decided was a glaive was glowing bright red and he stood at the ready, lighting arcing from the blade. The fae stunned by his sudden attack stood motionless for a fraction of a second before the rage a Trigger caused them to feel took over and they charged.
They would fall before Myles, he had something very important he needed to get done. Myles Endevour needed to get home and feed his cat.
…and save his town.