“Don’t think about it to hard” said Llex
“But how is it getting in? I mean we can’t leave, people can’t get in… How are the bloody taps still running?” Said a frustrated Myles Endevour
“Don’t think about it to hard” said Llex
“I have not showered in a week, I thought we would need to be conserving all the water we had!”
“Don’t think about it to hard” said Llex
“I smell like someone removed deodorising products from a high school!” Said Myles sniffing his pits.
“Look, I don’t make the rules… assuming there are rules, this isn’t some pocket dimension it’s… it’s like pulling off a bit of dough but stopping before its ripped from the main lump. it’s connected but mostly separate.” said Llex
“I think you are making this up as you go along.” Said a sceptical Myles.
Llex had been a great help the past week, especially against some of the newer fae he had encountered. He had been lucky so far and no named fae had appeared. Brute force was all well and good against things that could barely think, but once something was able to plan and scheme even making them a bit angry didn’t stop the difficulty from ratcheting up, especially if they come armed with some weapon or some such from the other side. Much like with Granny, it took John Barrington and Myles stealing her weapon like a sneak to bring her down.
The amount of fae getting through had increased. It was not unusual to see forty or so on any given run through the town. The good part of that was it did seem to have plateaued off. so the groups coming through at anyone time should get much bigger. What was most worrying was the lack of Whistlers. Myles had expected them to be making up large portions of the hordes that made it through. But not a one had been seen since he deliberately provoked them. He had been acting in anger and realised he put another bullseye on his mums back.
“Any more ideas on contacting the outside Llex? I could really do with dropping Rusty a line.” Said Myles
“I have had one, but you might not like it and it probably won’t work” Said Llex.
“I’m about to feel the elation of washing a weeks worth of stink of me. You might as well spit it out now” Said Myles
“You have shown that you store a wider range of stuff in your sub-space than a normal Trigger user, I watched you put a human forearm full of Trigger based tech in there. The special community phones, like the one you own have a small but significant bit of Trigger tech in them. I think if you popped it into your inventory and analysed it we could conjure up something strong enough to reach the outside.”
“Sounds like its worth a go, it isn’t doing me much good now” Agreed Myles, getting his phone out ready.
“They will make you pay ten thousand pounds for a new one.”
“Shitbags.” Said Myles. “This better bloody work”
Myles took out the phone and concentrated on bringing it inside his inventory. There was resistance, then there were sparks… The phone was registering as having some compatibility but it was very low. Myles focused his will, imagining it getting stored in the sub-space inventory. Red sparks flared up and Myles was blasted across the room. It worked, the phone had been stored. Though instinct told him his Trigger did not seem happy.
“Oh shut up, you ate a human hand.” Myles said to his Trigger.
Communication Tool reverse engineer Y/N
Myles selected yes. and watched the countdown begin
Communication Tool Extracting 49:59
So sometime Monday with any luck he would have a shot of calling for back up. Too early to feel reassured just yet but it was better than nothing. Something that was not reassuring was the forthcoming hole in Myles’ bank balance. He didn’t think social media officer would be in line for any overtime or Christmas bonuses.
Since the menu was open, Myles decided he needed to check on something he had been avoiding since getting out of his stasis lock on Tuesday. He was not quite sure how to feel about his suit eating a human hand. Adding long-pig to the suits diet of materials was a moral grey area he wanted to avoid entirely.
Human Hand [DAMAGED - UNREPAIRABLE] Extracting 00:00 - Complete
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It had just stalled at zero.. Myles tried selecting it with his mind since physical action was currently a load of old bollocks. He tried physical action anyway, nothing.
HuMAn Hand [DaMagED - uNREpaIRaBlw] EXtractTnG 00:000000000000000 - CoMplEte
That can’t be good Myles thought as the system crashed and rebooted. He searched through the menu. Then he searched through a second and third times. Absolutely no reference to the human hand. He did not know if he should be relived or worried. Still, the other parts of the forearm needed checking on too.
Heavily modified Trigger Component [DAMAGED - UNREPAIRABLE] Extracting 00:00 - Complete
Updating 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
Trigger - 10000:00
Jetpack 150:00
???? 4000:00 - UNAVAILABLE
“Llex, when will I be able to construct a Trigger and how long do they take.” Asked Myles
“Another couple of years give or take if you don’t die. Then it might set you back maybe five thousand hours why do you ask?”
Myles explained about how the devices implanted in Cerulean Sweet and how he was able to analyse them with the suit. Llex listened intently and thought hard before speaking.
“I’ve got no bloody clue.” said Llex
“Well, at least I’m, not alone.” said Myles.
“If I had to speculate then I’d say they were bastardising Triggers or making some sort of derivative, that was close enough or clever enough that analysing gave the Trigger you are bonded to the means to complete a spec of its own far too early.”
“Yea, currently if I were to make a trigger it would take me well over a year, I’ve already got some big projects hogging resources.” said Myles
“I would also hold off a good while… look at it this way, just because you managed to beam a full set of Kung-Fu skills into a baby does not mean you would then put that baby in a martial arts tournament. It would be adorable up until you are scraping baby off the arena floor.” Said Llex darkly.
“So this whole thing has been as pointless as an erection in a nunnery”
“It wouldn’t be pointless, how do you think they get new Mother superiors.”
“Are you waterproof?” asked Myles
“I am, but I get the message. Going back to the Kung-Fu skills metaphors. That baby then grows up with a greater instinct for fighting than the other babies. So while committing to constructing a Trigger now would be a waste of time and resources for a probable substandard Trigger, down the line you may be able to make a more efficient, faster or just better Trigger because of the early exposure.”
Myles considered this. It made sense, just because something did not have a benefit right here right now, did not preclude it from paying off on the long haul.
Heading upstairs, Myles was looking forward to the shower he had put off for a week, it might be cold, but it would be clean. He would be clean, instead of stinking up the place like a fetid gym sock. He was right in the middle of scrubbing and whining at the cold water when he heard the crashing of a window and red spark started to fly along his body.
“HARMLESS LITTLE BUNNY LEAPS FOR THE STARS, THAT'S NO ORDINARY RABBIT!”
He did not even stop to open the door, a cloud of cellulose splints left in his wake. Myles rushed downstairs to find a Whistler in his living room. It was looking around and then locked eyes with him. The whistler was wearing golden armour. Myles had a bad feeling about that, differentiating that far from the norm suggested a names fae.
The golden armoured fae swiped at Myles, he dodged but only barely, inside his ex council house lining room, he did not have the space to maneuverer he was used to. A spindly gold clad arm cause him and smashed him into the wall. dropping to the floor Myles marshalled himself in short order and went on the attack. A golden fist met Myles’ faceplate head on. Myles was back against the wall, despite the suit it felt like something had broken, it was difficult to breathe. The golden clan whistler stood over Myles Endeavour ready wit the killing blow.
The sound was high pitched, but with something below it, a threat of danger. A threat of what would happen if you did not back the fuck away right fucking now from its human. Myles, slumped against the wall, tried to move, he needed to move. Charlie fucking Murderpaws stood between him and the golden clad whistler. Heckles raised and hissing, Charlie did not move. The golden armoured fae did not move. Something deep inside the whistler recognised Charlie the way a human might recognise a three foot tall spider had it appeared in front of it.
The whistler started to turn from its insidious pink hue to an angry red. How dare this mortal creature treat a fae this way. Its hand slammed down. Myles would never forget the crunch. He would however forget the new thirty seconds.
Myles saw red, red lighting, red thunder and nothing. Myles body however stood up. The golden clad whistler, smug in its destruction of the small furry creature did not see the rabbit styled warrior move. Its jaw was lifted up, its ribs moved inwards, unnaturally so. The arms it had used to smash only seconds ago were bent at angles it was never supposed to bend. Knee joints wee popped backwards. Its perception caught up to see a fist clad in red thunder drive into its face. This was a very strong fae, a named fae. The golden clad whistler would not go down in a single punch. But a single punch was only a fraction of what it owed Charlie Murderpaws. It saw red again, and again, and again. The golden clad fae had lost track by the time the thunder clad fist shattered its skull. The Rabbit armour dematerialised now the threat was gone.
Myles came to holding the slumping body of the armoured fae. He had not been in control, but he had know what was going on. He dropped the dead bastard, it might be useful salvage later, but it was not worth his time now. He turned and picked up the broken Charlie Murderpaws in his arms. Worst of all, Charlie was still alive. Charlie alive, alive and suffering. Myles wold never forget the moment it occurred to him to snap Charlies neck and relive him of all the pain. But Myles had an idea. It was an idea born of pure desperation.
Heavily modified Trigger Component: Repair 14% Synchronisation 01%
Heavily modified Trigger Component: Repair - Overclock completing Y/N
Myles had willed the suit to comply to his need..no, his wants and he selected yes. The thing he had made by repairing the component… it was not a trigger, but it also was. He pushed it into Charlie's paw and activated it. His hail Mary to end all hail Mary’s… But it worked, something was happening. Te not quite a trigger was glowing. Charlie was glowing. Bright light engulfed the room. When regular man vision was available again, Myles looked around and saw what he old only describe as a cocoon. Charlie was now inside a metal shell. Myles placed his hand on the metal shell
Familiar bond - Completing Synchronising 02%
Well that was new…
“Llex what’s going on.” said yes keeping as much panic from his voice as he was able
“Well dude, it looks like young Charlie might be going through a few changes.’ Said Llex. “Look, you keep doing things that are not in the regular play book and I can’t keep up. But I think from the look of it the cat is fine, or will be. Maybe have something nice for him to eat when he gets out of that cocoon.”
Myles sat down by the metal cocoon containing Charlie Murderpaws Endeavour and he cried. Everything he had been holding back since that first night, his death, the revelation about his childhood, the attack on his Mother… the attack on Charlie. He wept and hugged the metal cocoon.
Myles did not like to admit it, but he knew why the Trigger has become a rabbit. He was the rabbit, a childhood spent feeling like prey, that learned behaviour carried over, keeping out of sight, out of the spotlight. Avoiding attention incase of potential danger. Maybe that was why Charlie had always been so protective of him. He had been prey. But that was then. They had come after his mother, they had hurt his cat. He was going to make good on his thread to the whistler Queen. He was going to make them regret ever hunting a single human, because they had failed to learn one thing…
Myles was no ordinary rabbit.