෴Raz෴
෴Hex෴
෴෴෴ ෴෴෴ ෴෴෴
A Little Too Well
෴෴෴ ෴෴෴ ෴෴෴
Raz and Hex huddled together in the cool winter night of what he suspected was the Australian wilderness. He was by now nearly certain they were somewhere in Western Australia, but also knew that this didn’t really help the situation or narrow down their location very much.
The couple sat close, as intertwined as they could be for warmth against the chill air. The view of the stars was phenomenal, but aside from keeping an eye out for danger, Raz only had eyes for her. The soft starlight vision gave her face a stark alien beauty that was simultaneously the same as she always looked, but somehow new and different. As though she’d been transformed into sculpted stone, if stone was living, warm, and yielded to the touch.
Drinking in the sight of her made him think back to the bevy of beauties waiting back at her place. This led to a certain self consciousness about his own situationally appropriate, but rough outfit. Raz rubbed at the stubble on his chin. “Uh, right. Distractions. What were we talking about indeed? Something about derailing conversations with sex talk?”
She laughed, a bright sound that made Raz feel happy to hear it. “Well, that might be what happened, but I feel better having talked about it.”
“Let’s see, something about getting yanked out of your web of spatial awareness?”
“Oh right. So anyway, as I was saying, I can make new aspects here. I could also release this one, but until I’ve been here long enough to establish the feel of the location, I can’t bring anyone here directly from somewhere else.” She paused in thought. “At least, not without using another of his doors, which brings its own problems.”
Bottom line, sounds like she could bail anytime. It’s really just me that might be stuck here.
They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before she broke the silence. “Oh right. I was going to ask you questions.”
“Ask away.”
“Sorry, I’m still trying to think of what exactly to ask, and how to say it. I think part of me expected you to say no. Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’ve been a bit hot and cold since you got back.”
“Ouch, ok, I probably deserve that. Trust issues are a pain, I’m trying to be better.”
He shrugged before remembering she couldn’t see it. “The worst thing is how I keep struggling to just talk to you. So many things I can, and probably should, just tell you straight up, something happens and upsets my groove or whatever, and then I end up doing a bad job of almost but not quite saying whatever it was I was trying to say.”
She nodded, “Ok, that kind of makes some sense, and fits into the last couple days…” she trailed off.
He could sense she was still reticent about something. “Just ask, whatever your question is, I can probably handle it.”
“Sorry, after that little heart to heart, this question feels so rude. But I’ll just ask. Are you actually being honest with me about your ability?” she blurted out.
“Uh, I’ve probably been more evasive about it than is helpful, and I might have left out some of the boring stuff, but I haven’t lied to you. Why do you ask?”
“Well, for starters, you say you have a perception ability, and I’m not arguing that, you clearly see and hear things I don't.” with her free hand she waved out at the darkness in the direction of the dead dingos. “If I had any doubts before, those are gone.”
She felt along his back to pat his behind. “But, you seem to be able to do things I’ve never heard of being part of a perception ability. You just…” She trailed off, apparently lost in thought.
A moment later he prompted her. “I just what?”
“You’re just doing so many things a little too well. You’re not as fast as Darb—a guy I used to work with. But you’re very quick at times. This morning in the kitchen with the plates. Just now, I saw you shoot two fast moving targets in what feels like total darkness, so fast it sounded like a two round burst on full auto.”
“You don’t seem to have a strength or durability enhancement, or even a touch based power,” she squeezed his ass again, “but, you were pounding chimera’s to death by hand like it was no big deal.”
“First off, it wasn’t ‘no big deal.’ It takes a lot out of me to fight them. Also, yeah—I, that's why I probably should have told you about Braithwaite’s games. He made people fight chimeras and each other. Usually the choices were a few random melee weapons, not a lot of time to think about your choice before the doors opened and the chimeras came out. There was always some kind of weapon that you could just clutch in your fist or strap onto your hand, so I got used to using that. Oh, and technically, I do have a touch based ability now.” He interjected.
“The energy drain thing? Yeah. That doesn't sound like what I mean. Now let me finish before I chicken out.”
She clearly had a lot of thoughts to articulate, Raz kept his eyes on the slowly brightening surroundings as she got it out of her system.
She shivered, though whether it was cold or something else that bothered her he couldn't tell. “Babe, the whole reason I had us go in so heavy is because chimeras are tough. Stupidly tough. We’ve—WD40, have dissected some to try and figure it out, and they have weird decentralized nervous systems that mean they can, and do, keep fighting long after they've taken lethal injuries. Honestly, I figured if we ran into one or two small ones, you’d see how much firepower they can soak up before they die, and we’d bail.”
He leaned over and planted a kiss on her dusty hair. “Sorry to mess up your plan.”
She laughed, an abrupt, sharp sound. “No, instead you just kept on going, and figured out in a couple fights, the one weakness they have. The same thing it took us some experimentation, and dissecting a bunch of dead ones to figure out.”
Raz was confused. “You’re giving me too much credit. I’d fought a few of them before that.”
“Yeah, you mastered taking them out by destroying the atlas pouch so fast I wondered if you already knew something about it.”
“Atlas pouch? Any chance you can explain that like I’m a five year old?”
“Not actually that much to tell, but sure. Every chimera has a little fleshy pouch along their spine at the base of their skull th—”
“Oh that spot. Yeah. I opened some of those up while I was with Midnight. They weren’t both in that same spot though. That does remind me of something I wanted to ask you. Are all chimeras chordates?”
“Corewhat?”
“Do they all have a central nerve core, or spine?”
“Yes, but it’s not much of a vulnerability if that’s what you’re thinking. Only blowing their brains out, or doing enough damage to the atlas pouch is a quick kill. Now let me finish.”
Raz sat quietly and listened.
“So anyway, they have this pouch, and sometimes there are little growths and crystalline structures inside them. It’s all floating in this sort of yellowy orange pus-like stuff. Super gross. Makes you glad to be wearing full hazmat for the dissection. Anyway, long story short, a solid hit on the exact spot, will stun any chimera we’ve seen. A rupture of the pouch is nearly an instant kill on them.”
Starting to wonder if I need some kind of armor or reinforcement for mine.
“Well that makes it sound like they should be pretty easy to kill.” he replied when it became clear she was waiting for him to say something.
“Well, yes, but actually no. The pouch is right behind their head. Great for ambush hits, not much use other times. They almost never retreat, and if you have a weapon and shooter that can punch through their skull in one shot, then the damage to the pouch is irrelevant. Also, it’s not like they sit still, and the pouch is tiny in comparison to their overall body mass. Not to mention, hits anywhere else on the spine barely slow them down. That weird segmented nervous system they have means you have to almost cut them in half before the lower half stops moving.”
Raz made a soft humming sound to himself while he thought about the fights in the facility in a new light. “Well, I hate to break it to you, but while I will admit I had already figured out that they seemed to have a weakness around the neck, and they protected the back of their heads, at the time, I just figured that to be something that would be true of most things with a spine.”
“Well, you picked up on it very quickly. So however it happened, it wasn’t a minor thing in my eyes. But that’s not my point—or maybe it is. You just seem too good at a lot of general things all of a sudden.”
“I think—I think that is just how having my HUD and perception upgrades looks from the outside.”
“Then there was your ankle. It looked bad, but it looked bad like it was a bad wound from a couple weeks ago. None of this even addresses the whole pushing energy into me thing. But back to you pounding chimeras. If you had some physical abilities, like some of the heavies on my team at work, then it wouldn't be so weird. I guess what I’m wonde—Tell me, flat out, do you have other abilities you haven't mentioned?”
He nodded.
“I actually kind of saw that. I guess it's not my imagination, it really is getting lighter.” she exclaimed.
“To answer your question, yes. I do—now. I’ll tell you about them, but prepare to be underwhelmed. Also, based on the last time we talked about it, prepare to not believe me.”
She shook her head vehemently. “Nope, I’m prying my brain so wide open you could drive a truck through it. I’m as ready to believe you as I can be.”
Raz chuckled at the mental image. “Ok, so it all started with the HUD appearing while I was locked in those damn restraints.”
He spent the time until it was light, bringing her up to speed about his abilities.
*** *** ***
“—and so I didn’t tell you about siphon and transfuse, is that what you were thinking was one of these ‘breakthrough’ events, was just me being a dumbass and trying to activate multiple ability increases, that affected parts of me that were still kind of messed up, at the same time.” He shrugged. “Bee tried to warn me, I just wasn't listening.”
She elbowed him in the side without any real force. “So let me get this straight. You have a sort of computer in your mind, that knows things you know, but also knows things you don’t know about the abilities and how they work?”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
“Uh, I wouldn’t put it exactly like that, but sure, close enough.”
She shook her head. “And so you have this computer advising you on the best course of action, and you just ignore what it says? Do you do that a lot?”
“Well, when you put it like that it sounds pretty stupid.”
She laughed. “Yeah, it kinda does.”
“But, Bee doesn't know everything, and he’s been wrong about pretty key things before. I can think of a few times I’d have died if I took his advice.”
She seemed to consider this before eventually replying. “Well, I guess my advice would be to think about where his advice is historically good, and where it isn't. But don’t just ignore things like that! I was so worried when it happened! You had me totally freaking out!”
“For real? You seemed so calm, I assumed you’d seen it all before. If you hadn’t said so, I’d have thought you weren't even worried about it.”
She smiled, with a hint of some complex emotion behind it. “Well, I guess that means I still have some secrets. I was starting to think you were basically going to be reading my mind from here on out.”
“Hah, I definitely can't do that. Yet!”
“Yet?”
“Hey, I don’t know what the future holds. I’m just looking for enough into the future to deal with the tree I’m in now, and maybe think about what’s after.”
“The somatic one?”
“Yeah, I forgot to mention, I can’t unlock anything else until I spend enough points in this tree.”
“Points?”
“Well, catalyst units and capacity.”
She nodded. “Right, right. You mentioned that, it's just a lot to take in. To accept what you’re telling me, I have to also accept that my whole view on abilities is wrong. It’s not an easy switch to flip.”
She paused, clearly having something else to add. “So, that healing ability can target other people, right?”
“Yeah, I have to do something special to use it on myself.”
[Using correct targeting tools and methods is not special.]
Raz ignored that.
She suddenly looked shy in the faint morning light. “Could you, take a look at this for me?”
She carefully unlaced her boot, and pulled it down just enough to reveal a swollen ankle and ugly purple and red fresh bruising. “I twisted it when we landed, and it’s just getting more painful as time goes on.”
This is turning into a bad week for ankles. Bee, how is this going to work?
[Unless there is some deeper status effect we cannot see, this injury should be well within the capabilities of Somatic Restoration.]
Raz started to speak when another message popped up.
[However, unlocking the next level would offer faster recovery for her, and increased energy efficiency and diagnostic feedback for you.]
That's the next one up in the core tree, for the linear build, right?
[Correct.]
[Alternatively, for a solid build, there are Triage, and Restorative Efficiency.]
Could we tell which one is better if we did it?
[No.]
[Somatic Restoration is not the most common healing tree. Notes are scarce.]
So it’s a rare tree? How does that even work?
[I have some ideas, but nothing I could talk about without spending excessive time talking around them, if you know what I mean.]
Well can you at least answer if it's some kind of rare tree?
[Not exactly, it would be more accurate to reference Frost, and speak of a road less traveled.]
[I only see notes in this tree from humans, and they are many years old, if the measure of years is at all consistent.]
[This ability is listed as species locked, but does not provide a list or even count of species it is locked to.]
So much we need to talk about! Later though. Are you trying to say I should unlock another level or one of the side abilities?
[I am not saying that. However, your current stated desire is to complete this tree, graduate, as Midnight called it.]
That’s true.. Can you make even the slightest recommendation as to whether I should go linear or solid here?
[I can say that Somatic Restoration 2 includes the first level of the Diagnose ability.]
This is some kind of karma for not wanting to be the healer, I just know it. Level with me, what will happen if I unlock something right here? Am I going to pass out, or spend some time in agony, blood coming out of my ears, mess my pants, or what?
[Let me put it this way, if you had unlocked Somatic Restoration 2 instead of Siphon and Transfuse, Sia would probably not have even noticed.]
Oh nice trifecta there, an answer, and an ‘I told you so’ and a bit of a ‘screw you for not taking my advice’ at the same time. Thanks.
[Also, an additional rank will improve your ability at self repair.]
Raz realized she’d been looking at him as he debated in his head. “Sorry about that babe, just had to think about it for a minute. Mind keeping watch while I lay down for just a second?”
She looked confused for a moment, then shrugged. “Sure, now that it’s had time to swell up, I’m not sure how far I’m going to be able to get on this ankle, so take your time I guess.”
A thought struck Raz. “Can’t you just teleport a few feet, and be all good?”
She nodded. “Once it's fully light, that’s an option. In the dark I didn’t have enough of a sense of the space in this area. I’d still rather hold off on that until I have enough sense of the area. I know that sounds weird, but it’s just something I have to do. Not usually something I have to worry about.”
“So did that not happen the first time you visited him?”
“Yep. No fun that time either. That’s why I was upset to see it was another location. Once I get sorted here, I’d be able to port in within a few minutes of arriving for another visit. The first time takes a while though.”
I wonder if she has upgrades available that would help with that.
Raz lay down on the reddish dirt next to her. “Ok, I’m going to do one of those breakthroughs you were talking about. I think—Well, I’m told it will be no big deal.”
So hold up. I need an explanation. You’re saying it’s no big deal to unlock the next rank here, in a dangerous place, but when I asked you more or less the same question earlier today, you agreed that it would be a bad idea.
[You asked a general question about unlocking an ability in a hazardous situation. I answered the question you asked accurately. If you had asked about unlocking this specifically, I could have answered differently. There are rules about how I can answer when the host life is at stake.]
Raz thought back to the situation and the exact question he’d asked.
[Also, while Hex might struggle to take those dingos down, we both know she could have. Midnight could have allowed you to be killed without even knowing a snake was there if you’d elected to unlock an ability that includes downtime. Bottom line, if you want specific answers, ask specific questions.]
This whole ‘argue with myself and lose’ thing is getting old. Ok, fair enough, let’s do it.
Her eyes widened. She suddenly looked scared. “Wait, you’re going to do that again here? Now?”
He nodded to her and braced himself for what was next. “It’ll be ok.” he said, hoping it was true.
A dull ache started in his stomach. He laid a hand on his belly, praying it wouldn't get worse.
[That is not real. You’re just expecting it to hurt.]
[Rank two is an energy type unlock. The purchase is already done. It doesn’t always hurt or knock you out.]
[As always some features are available immediately, while full assimilation will take some time.]
The imaginary pain faded away.
Raz sat back up with a sheepish expression he was hoping she wouldn't catch.
She’d been watching the whole time, and didn’t seem to know what to make of his laying down, and then immediately sitting back up.
“Yeah, doing it later is a better idea.” she said.
“Oh no, I did it. It’s just apparently an easy one.”
“Huh, that actually explains some of the other breakthroughs I’ve seen before.” she mused to herself.
“So anyway, lets see if I can help with that eh?”
She arched a brow at him. “Now you’re saying ‘eh’? This is Australia, not Canada.”
He shrugged, a hint of a smile on his face. “What a-boot it? I’m trying to sound polite. In all seriousness, I am hoping this won't hurt, but it might.”
[Somatic Restoration rank 2 allows for a slower, gentler rate of recovery, should you choose to use it.]
Raz focussed on Diagnose. A pulse flowed through his body, showing him a multitude of bumps, bruises, and older injuries. The biggest current injury was the goose egg on the back of his head and accompanying minor intracranial trauma. The energy flowed through him, erasing small injuries as though they had never been, and making small changes and fixes to larger ones. After what felt like a few minutes, every injury was gone, and the energy appeared to be working at a cellular level to do—something. He could tell it had to do with old injuries, but that was all. The moment he realized he didn’t understand what it was going, the ability failed and shut down.
Well that was weird. Don’t tell me it only works on me.
[Try touching her. On, or at least near the injury.]
[Thinking of her as the specified target, and of the specific injury, would also help.]
Oh, right. I knew that.
She flinched slightly when he gently placed his hand on her discolored ankle.
He smiled up at her. “Sorry babe, just checking how bad it is.”
Information about her injury flowed into his mind. At first he thought there was something wrong. Diagnostic senses were insisting that She had virtually no long term injuries, and nothing older than what felt like a few hours. Further, his diagnostic readings were telling him she was only a few hours old.
Oh right. Completely rebuilding your body every time you teleport has its perks I guess.
Something nagged at the back of his mind. Something important. It was something to do with her.
Maybe I’ll think of it later.
“Good news, mild sprain with a pulled muscle. I don’t know exactly how powerful this healing is, but it should certainly be able to help with something like this.”
At least, it better be able to. Ok, lets hit this as hard as possible without causing her pain.
[Understood, please note that this will be using this ability at far less power than it has.]
Good. Power in reserve is never a bad thing.
Waves of warmth in the form of a series of pulses flowed down through his hands into her. Each pulse sent back a ping for Diagnose to update him. Raz felt the overstrained muscle and connective tissue gently moved into place. Once everything was aligned, he realized he could feel each microscopic tear, each tiny point of failure in the tissue where damage had occurred. Without having to think too much about any particular micro injury, each one neatly sealed. For what felt like hours, he felt more than saw the flesh knit back together, until it had completely restored the damaged tissue.
Does it always take so long?
When it was over, he sat back with a sigh.
“Is it too injured to help then?” she asked.
“What do you mean?” Raz looked at her, confused.
“Well, you just looked at it for a second then sat back down. I take it that means it’s too messed up for you to help.”
His brow furrowed in further confusion. “I don’t understand what you mean. You’re fine, you should be able to walk on it now.”
How long was I doing that?
[1.8 seconds.]
That was some weird perception of time then.
[Inter-tree synergy yields many benefits.]
Nice.
Her expression told him she was struggling to accept that she was ok now. The bruise looked noticeably faded, but was still visible. She gingerly pulled the sock back up and slid down her pant leg. “Well, the pressure from the sock doesn't hurt anymore. That was really fast. If you were able to do anything at all for it in that little time, that’s pretty damn cool.”
Raz got to his feet and offered his hand.
If that was the slow painless way, I wonder how fast the full-power heal would be.
[Her injury was simple, minor, and localized.]
[More power might not have a significant effect on restoration time.]
She took his hand and very cautiously stood up. A few careful steps and she broke into a wide smile. “Babe! This is game changing! Can you heal other kinds of injuries? Do you realize how important this is? Could you fix major trauma? Can you heal chronic stuff, old injuries? What about illnesses? Ooh, can you cure cancer? How many injuries could you heal before you need a rest? Oh my god, could you heal my dad’s arthritis?”
I love how she’s always so excited about things.
He raised his hands in mock surrender. “Whoa, slow down there. I don’t know the answers to most of those questions. I take it your ankle feels ok?”
She nodded with a big grin. “It does. I’ve got the tiniest little residual ache, more like a stiffness than pain, but it's nothing.” She did a small hop on her toes. “I think I could run on it right now.”
He shook his head. “Let’s not push our luck there. I have no idea how complete the repair is. On another topic, I have no idea if I could heal an old injury or chronic condition. Is this how you’re bringing up meeting your parents?”
Her cheeks flushed. “Uh, maybe?”
Looking around for anything to defuse the sudden intensity of the moment, Hex picked up her rifle and slung it. “Let’s go get our stuff and see where the hell we are!”
Raz hid a small smile and followed.
A few minutes later they’d recovered the gear. Raz climbed to the top of the rocky sandstone knoll. With his vision dialed up, he spotted a small building a few miles to the east past another large rock outcropping.
“Well, it’s the only thing in sight, so I reckon we’d best go check it out.” He tried his best down-under accent.
She smiled, “Now you’re sounding like a local, or at least, the movie version of a local. Let’s go.”