෴Raz෴
෴Midnight෴
෴෴෴ ෴෴෴ ෴෴෴
Do or Die
෴෴෴ ෴෴෴ ෴෴෴
He left me!
Raz spun around, looking for the familiar black armor. In his frantic search, he forgot all efforts at stealth.
The lazy rhythm of the feasting lizard-rat’s long tail swishing back and forth went still. It froze for an instant, then things started happening much faster.
The lizard-rat leaped straight into the air and used its tail as a counterweight to whip around a near instant 180 degree turn. As he shifted into the slow time and felt it take effect, Raz saw the large lizard-rat quickly look him over and process a sort of fight or flight calculus, something he’d not seen any chimera do.
The lizard-rat must have been confident, it leaped again, this time straight at him. Raz stepped to the side and readied the knife to stab and slice as it went past him. For some reason, the creature’s head was slowly rotating away from him as it leaped in the slow motion world around him.
A half-formed thought about centrifugal inertial dynamics saved his life. He flicked his gaze to the left, away from the lizard-rat’s body in time to see the long spiked tail knob whipping around at him. By the time Raz spotted the threat, it was less than a foot from his head and closing fast even in the slow time. He quick stepped to his right while turning his body and leaning back. The spikes at the end of the tail cut stinging lines of fire across his chin and neck.
Then the corded muscular tail met the keen edged Seax in his right hand. He pushed at the scaly flesh on an angle, allowing the tail to slice itself along the edge, its own inertia forcing the severing cut through the muscle and tough connective tissues.
The lizard-rat landed awkwardly, facing away from him, making a strange distressed sound made even stranger by the odd perceptual acoustics of the slow time. Raz slashed at the bloody tail stump to move it out of his way and used his leap attack. The combat reflex landed him squarely on its back. He plunged the knife deep into its back, again and again, wriggling and twisting the blade back and forth to maximize the damage it did inside the creature. The lizard-rat screeched, the sound still low and distorted to his perceptions, and leaped into the air again, rolling to try to land on him and crush him underneath. Raz had no choice but to abandon the embedded knife and shove himself away from the crushing fall.
He managed to right himself in the slow-motion fall and land on his feet, and whirled to face it. The lizard-rat got to its feet slowly, movements unsteady. Blood squirted in a fast rhythm from one of the stab wounds. Raz noticed his low energy level and allowed the slow time to drop. He watched the incursion beast cautiously.
Energy regen chain.
He felt a faint throbbing in his arms as his energy level surged, but it was all but lost in the adrenaline soaked heat of the battle. The lizard-rat scream-hissed at him, dark red froth bubbling out of its mouth and what Raz assumed was its nose. It crouched to leap at him, its motion jerky and unbalanced. As it moved, it abruptly changed its mind, and turned to flee. Raz was about to give pursuit when it collapsed. It took a few more shuddering breaths and then went still, dark-red frothy blood drooling out of its mouth.
Raz stood there panting for several seconds, watching it closely for any signs it was faking it. He noticed the blood dripping from his face. The stinging lines where the lizard-rat’s tail spikes had cut shallow lines across his face and neck. While he remained focused on the animal, he activated Somatic Recovery targeted on himself. The sensation perception feedback loop kicked in as he felt the cuts close up and then fade away.
Weird. It didn’t seem as hard to move in the slow time as it usually is.
[As fast as the body can deliver it, Adrenalin still takes time to get into your system. This time it was already present in abundance when you engaged.]
Oh, well, that makes way too much sense, since I was already terrified well before that.
The clanking sound of metal clad hands clapping came from above. “Nice work! I really thought I might have to step in when you panicked at the start and blew your approach, but you handled that fight like a boss!”
Raz looked up at Doktor Midnight, hovering above, seated on a chair that wasn’t there. “That’s a real jerk move. I might have actually been able to sneak up on it if I wasn't suddenly worried you’d bailed on me.”
Midnight shrugged. “I said I’d back you up. To me, that means being close enough to actually help if something goes wrong.”
Raz sighed and looked around on the ground for the knife. “No, you’re right. I just freaked out because I wasn’t expecting it.”
“It’s inside it.” Midnight commented.
“The catalyst reservoir? Yeah. But I’ll need to find where the knife went to check it.”
“No, look” Midnight pointed, his finger extending like a long thin pointer that reminded Raz of a wooden boy’s growing nose. The pointer rested against one of the bloody stab wounds on its back. “ Good call, leaving the blade behind. That rollover move drove the knife all the way in. Here.” Midnight made no gesture or movement, but the knife exploded out of the wound toward Midnight, then stopped and floated sedately over to Raz for him to pluck from the air.
Raz looked at the knife, covered in gore from point to pommel. “Well, I guess I got lucky.”
Midnight landed next to him. “Maybe. But for supposedly not having a combat skill you did really well. You avoided its tail trick attack, severed its big weapon, and then took advantage of the consequential positioning of its attack before it could spin around and try you with claws and teeth. You moved with a lot of speed and precision. I’m legitimately not sure I could match you there. Maybe you got lucky, but it seems to me the fight had already been decided, it was just a question of how long it was going to take before it died or ran away bleeding to death.”
Raz shrugged. “It could have gone another way.”
Midnight looked skeptical. “Could it though? I saw you fast you moved. It reminded me of someone I used to know. Sidebar advice, This guy who was fast like that. I told him to get some durability, and he didn't listen. He’s dead now. End of Sidebar, that was some damn good fighting, and I really think you did very well.”
Raz scanned the area around them and moved over to the body. He got the prompt and started analysing.
Midnight kept up his pep talk. “I bet you could fight five or ten more of them, and win in pretty close to the same way, each time.” He drifted closer and peered at Raz’s face. “That reminds me. I noticed you got cut, and the cut is already gone. Have you got regeneration too?”
“No, it's an active healing ability. I think I might technically also have some regeneration, but that one is very minor, just a bit better than baseline.”
[Analysis complete. Catalyst reservoir located in the upper thoracic region. Similar to where it is on you.]
Great. I get to butcher it. Hurray. Also, maybe don’t compare me to the monsters?
Raz shoved and lifted until he managed to half roll it over. Ten minutes of gory exploratory surgery he finally found it. Inside were a couple of small partially crystallized lumps. Aside from the solids, there was less of the brown liquid, in a much more runny form.
I just realized what this looks like. It looks exactly like the stuff Braithwaite first injected me with.
[Absorb some and I’ll tell you if it is.]
He enabled absorption, and refilled the catalyst spent on the slow time. Absorption ended quickly, but Bee confirmed his catalyst stores had filled.
[Very similar. It is of the same overall catalyst density and makeup, but not identical.]
Still kind of gross to think of this being injected. I almost hate to be full up with this much catalyst just sitting here going to waste. I’d activate something, but doing that out here just seems like a Big Stupid.
[Yes, it would be. And also yes, that's one more reason injecting it is so bad.]
Midnight watched him finish up with his messy task. “I almost hate to ask, but why are you doing that?”
Raz grimaced and shrugged. “It’s the catalyst reservoir, I’m curious to see what’s inside them.”
Midnight looked at the messy dissection and shook his head. “Well, as long as you never start getting curious what’s inside me, I guess I’ll just let it be your weird thing. So anyway, wanna see something interesting?”
Raz looked at him like he was out of his mind. “Oh yeah, totally. This has been so boring I almost nodded off a few times.”
Midnight laughed as he drew near and surrounded Raz’s lower body with a firm encasement of metal. They took to the air. Once they were several hundred feet above the highest peaks and ridges, Midnight pointed toward the northwest. “Do you see it?”
“How could I not?” Raz didn’t know what he was looking at, but the distant sight irritated, nagged at his senses even from so far away. Like an itching scab, he looked away intentionally, only to find his gaze drifting back toward it.
“Don’t stare at it for too long.”
That must be the incursion he’s talking about. How did you know we were near it in your weapon description?
[Elevated levels of free catalyst, energy, and most importantly, it’s letting out something like a ping that I’m constantly detecting since we got into range.]
The metal encasing him rose up and covered everywhere but his face.
“Why the sarcophagus treatment?” He asked.
“I’m going to swoop down closer to the event horizon. If there’s anything big and nasty, I don’t want to snap your neck if I dodge too fast.”
Raz didn’t have a good reply to that, so he just watched the area around the disc of horrible wrongness as they drifted closer to it. Then he spotted them, the patches of slightly blurry terrain.
I wonder if that caution means he’s snapped someone’s neck that way.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“There’s a bunch of those snakes here. Do you want to see them?”
“Are they doing anything?”
“No. But we’re still pretty high. If you get lower then who knows.”
Midnight sighed. “Nah, no need to put you at risk. I’ll come back and deal with this later. Just another item on my growing todo list. We’d better get going. We’re running late as it is.”
He paused, and looked Raz in the eye. “I’ve been thinking about what you told me, the night you got your ability.”
“I told you everything I remember, which is pretty much everything.” Raz replied, keeping his eyes on the nearest hidden serpents.
“Well, I think you might just be the ultimate confirmation of a theory I’ve had for a while. Belief matters.”
“Uh, ok. I wasn’t praying. I was just hoping for a perception power that would help me.”
Midnight smiled like a lawyer going in for the kill. “And why did you want that, instead of that teleportation ability you told him you wanted?”
Raz clenched his fists in frustration and almost shouted the answer. “I told you. He gave me a perception tuned catalyst!”
Midnight shook his head. “I guess that’s one we owe him then. Odd as it seems.”
Raz narrowed his eyes. “You’re not making sense. Just say what you’re talking around.”
Midnight shrugged and put his hands out in an expansive gesture. “Well, it's just that there’s no such thing.”
Raz thought about this for a moment, his gaze seeking the horizon. “You said it affects us from the subatomic level up.”
“I sure did.” The older man nodded.
“Does this have something to do with the quantum theory of observation and intent affecting reality?” Raz ventured.
Midnight looked surprised. “Very good. So you’ve read some science. Tell me what it means.”
Raz sighed, thinking about what might have been. “It means I got a perception ability because I believed it was only possible to get a perception ability.”
“And?” Midnight prompted.
“Well, possibly this was also affected by Braithwaite also believing it. Assuming he did.” Raz finished.
Midnight cocked his head to the side and thought about it for a moment. “Yeah, that's possible. We’ll never know what he really thought. We know you believed it. What I was getting at is that your vague ‘looking for something that would help you’ probably allowed you to get exactly what you needed. A foundation ability.”
Raz nodded. “Yeah. I have to admit it’s been a pretty handy tool.”
Midnight grinned. “Honestly, it seems to come with more tricks than mine does. If I could get more, I’d try for the HUD tree myself. It sounds like it would work really well with what I have. Chains that share abilities or strengthen other chains are very nice.” He glanced at the sun, then a small screen as it emerged from the metal on his forearm. “Aw crap. We’re running late now.”
Not a word about that. I can smell your smugness already.
[I'll let him speak for me.]
“So I guess we’re heading back?”
“Yep, plug your ears.”
The metal flowed away from his head and arms. He plugged his ears and waited for the unpleasant flight to end.
A short while later, Midnight let him down at the same underpass they’d left from. The Atlanta heat and thick, humid, heavy, air hit him like a hammer on his skin and lungs. “Taking a break from this weather was nice, but now it feels even worse to come back to it.”
“Yeah, that’ll happen.” Midnight seemed occupied creating the car shaped object.
Let’s get that sports car image back.
A different model, one that Raz thought might be a Lotus, appeared in his vision. “Hey, mind trying something?” He called out.
Midnight glanced at him and nodded, “What do you have in mind?”
Send the image to him, and all the specs we have for it.
Midnight startled a bit. “Sorry, before today, I’ve never had visual prompts just pop up. That’s wild.”
He waved his fingers in the air experimentally, trying to press a button that didn't exist in the real world.
Raz made sure not to laugh, recalling his early flailing around in the interface. “Just think yes.”
Midnight’s gaze locked with his, “Is this anything other than a vision sharing like before?”
Raz shook his head, “There’s more data, but it's just an image and some information.”
Midnight’s eyes widened. “Wow, that is so cool!”
The partially formed car in front of him suddenly shifted and flowed. In a few seconds, the car was a jet black replica of the car projected into Raz’s vision. A moment later, pinstripes and detailing appeared.
They got in. Even the seats were comfortable, especially considering they were made completely of metal.
Midnight sighed. “I don’t think I’ll ever be satisfied with the cars I can make after this.”
Raz looked askance at him. “Can’t you, I don’t know, save this configuration somehow?”
Midnight grinned. “Oh yeah! I don’t see why not!” His gaze turned inward for a beat. “Yes! These are my new wheels! I might have to have you help me make a few different ones.”
“I’ve been wondering since we left. I don’t see an engine, or hear one. How does it drive?
Midnight laughed, still clearly gleeful for the new design. “I just push it, same as how I fly.”
I wonder if he meant to tell me that much about his ability.
They pulled out onto the road, heading back toward Sia’s apartment.
Well, he’s in a good mood, no better time to drop a question like this.
“Glad you like it, I’ll be happy to help you set up some more models. But I had a question I was about to ask when you suggested this little field trip. How do you know my mom?”
They nearly crashed into the concrete divider when Midnight whipped his head around to look at Raz, then snapped back to looking ahead.
“I’m not ready to have that conversation with you.” His voice wavered, revealing a hidden stress..
“Well, can you tell me what your relationship is with her?” Raz probed.
Midnight sighed. “What a buzzkill you are. Your mom was very dear to me. She was probably the one person I could always trust, I could always rely on.”
Raz noticed the old man’s eyes had become wet. He thought about what he’d said earlier, and a dark sinking feeling started forming in his gut. “Why are you talking about her in the past tense?”
Midnight pulled off the road and parked alongside the busy street. They were only half a block from Sia’s place, but he seemed unable to drive any further in that moment. He closed his eyes and leaned his head on the steering wheel.
“Tell me!” Raz shouted at the top of his lungs, surprising both of them.
Midnight spoke, his voice low, grating with pain and grief. “She—” he swallowed and wiped his eyes. “She was one of the ones I lost. I—I was too caught up in dealing with losing her myself, I didn’t think about you. I should have told you. I’m so sorry.”
Rage flared hot and then cold in him. “When. Where. How. Spare. No. Detail.” Raz forced out past his clenched jaw.
Midnight told him about his headquarters near Barcelona, and the bombing attack on it.
Raz let him talk, thinking back to seeing Midnight at the bombing site, digging through the rubble. “You didn’t find her there.” he said, his tone confident.
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I couldn’t even—”
“No.” Raz cut him off. “You didn’t find her. Because she wasn't there.”
Midnight wiped his eyes again. “I so wish that were true. I’d do anything to make that true. But we can’t afford to indulge in denial. I wasn’t able to identify a lot of people I know were onsite. She wouldn't have been anywhere else, and—”
“Shut up and listen. I have a voicemail from her, that she left after I saw you there digging through the rubble on the news.”
Midnight’s eyes blazed with a frightening intensity. “Are you sure? I know you want it to be true, I want that too. But be very sure of this series of events before you dangle such a hope.”
Raz met his gaze with an intensity of his own. “What is wrong with you!? She’s my mother! Do you think I feel any different? I know when the voicemail was from.”
His brow furrowed as he looked at Midnight with some confusion. “Wait a second. Are you saying you think she would have been in that–business park where you were digging? Why would she even be there? She’s usually gallivanting around Western Europe this time of year.”
Midnight opened and then closed his mouth several times, as though unsure what or how to say whatever was on his mind. His expression relaxed ever so slightly, becoming more open and hopeful. He drove them the last half block and transformed the car back into parking bumpers.
Another question you’re just going to ignore. Great.
They walked up the steps, Midnight seemed far more easygoing and relaxed, as though a vast burden had been lifted.
Raz got thinking about the voicemail. “So where's the Marcador anyway? That’s where she was going.”
Midnight stopped cold. “What? What did she say?”
“She said she was going to, or going to see, I forget which, the Marcador.”
Midnight swallowed and went pale. “I need to hear that voice mail!”
“Sure, we can login to my phone account through Sia’s VPN.”
[I can replay it from memory and send it to him.]
I thought you probably could. He seems a bit keyed up, I’ll just play it for him from the source..
They found Sia and the other aspects in the apartment. Sia looked at Raz’s stained clothing and sniffed. “You, shower.”
He nodded. “I need to use your VPN for a minute first.”
She shook her head. “Compromise. It takes me a few minutes to get it all going. How about you shower while I do that?”
Midnight was fairly vibrating with barely suppressed tension. Raz saw this, and spoke up before he could.
“Yeah, that will work. Midnight here needs to hear that voicemail from my mom. I’ll take a super fast shower and be in there to login.”
He jogged into the bedroom to grab a new change of clothes. Nona was already there. She held her hands out for his gloves. “Gloves off. I’ll clean them and take them down to the van for you so we don’t forget them later. We still have things to do today.”
He nodded his thanks. “I appreciate it.”
She smiled, “No problem, I appreciate you taking the time to write me a note, I would have been worried.”
Raz hurried into the bathroom and took the fastest shower he could.
By the time he was out, Sia was logged in, and Midnight was visibly restraining himself from trying to login to the voicemail himself.
Raz loaded up and played the voicemail.
At the end of the message, Midnight steepled his fingers and put his hands together as if in prayer. “Nononono, how could you be so stupid! Why would you do it!? Damn damn damn.” he muttered under his breath.
Mom, what have you gotten yourself into?
The old man continued to mutter and moan expletives, angry, confused, and occasionally sad words for several minutes before he abruptly stood up.
“Well, I need to go now.”
Raz tried to talk to him. “Hey, what’s wrong? If it’s about my mom I want to come with you!”
Raz jumped into Midnight’s path, blocking the door. “Stop ignoring me!”
Midnight looked at him. In the moment of eye contact, something passed between them. A weary sense of time, and age, futility, wisdom and sadness so intense Raz didn’t know how to process it. The moment passed, and the old man’s gaze blazed with an implacable fire and determination once more. “Step aside. This is not a threat, but if you value your mother’s life, and your own, step aside. I have business to take care of, and you cannot help.”
He extended a metal clad arm and pushed Raz aside with a gentle but inexorable force. At the door, he stopped and looked at Raz and Hex. “Don’t worry. I’ll get her back. Raz, it’s been good seeing your progress. You’re doing great. Serena,” his face creased into a smile that spoke of regret and something else they couldn’t quite define. “Thanks for all your help over the years. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
Raz glanced at Sia, who looked as confused as he felt.
She forced a smile and nodded. “Thanks for everything you’ve done for me.”
Midnight nodded, “Goodbye you two.”
Raz and Sia both tried to further engage him in conversation, but he wouldn’t reply, just left the apartment, and soon after, Raz felt the use of his metal shaping power engage. A few moments later he was out of range.
Sia looked at him with questions in her eyes. “Well, that was pretty weird. I’ve got the heebie jeebies now.”
Raz nodded. “I wish I had any idea what that was about. I don’t like how he said that at all. That sounded–final.”
Nona came into the room. “Well, do you think there's anything we can actually do about it?”
He shook his head.
Both aspects shrugged. “Well, in that case, as far as I’m concerned, our afternoon and evening plans are still on.”
He looked at both of the aspects with an appalled expression. “He just said goodbye like he’s going to his own execution! We can’t just ignore that!”
Hex looked at him with a sad smile. Nona swallowed while Sia smiled hesitantly. “Honey, there’s always something. He does dangerous things all the time. At work, my teammates risk their lives in every job. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that you take your fun, enjoyment, relaxation, even sleep, when and where you can. You never know when you might not get another chance.”
He smiled, trying his best to push his worries into a box and hide them away for now. “Well, I guess let’s get that shopping done so we can go dancing.”
Let’s not think too hard about the way this advice is coming from someone who’s practically immortal.