෴Raz෴
෴Fidel෴
෴Ingrid෴
෴Fenny෴
෴෴෴ ෴෴෴ ෴෴෴
Overland
෴෴෴ ෴෴෴ ෴෴෴
Fidel led the way back to the outpost. Raz followed along beside him. The maintained physical distance, frequent glances, and tension in his body clearly spelled out Raz’s continued wariness of the burly Russian, but Fidel seemed oblivious to this tension.
For the third time, Raz verified that Fidel was again marked with Ground Control, and designated as an opponent again.
[There was nothing but honesty in all his biomarkers. It may be that he’s been looking for a way out of his prior life for some time now.]
Yeah, I know, and I even believe him. I also know that in broad daylight, one of my few advantages is gone, and he could kill me in one punch if he connects.
[And you could kill him with one strong release of White Fire. This is not me counseling you, but rather pointing out that you’re struggling with your own decisions.]
It feels like the right thing to do. I thought once I made the call and acted on it, I’d be able to let it go. I didn’t expect it to be so hard to stop seeing him beating me to death.
[Is your goal here mercy, or simply to gather allies?]
Yes, maybe both, I don’t know. Shut up already. I’m trying.
They reached the outpost without incident, or much conversation. Fidel’s apparent comfort with extended silences was starting to grate on Raz’s nerves.
“Why didn’t you go with that other guy?” Raz finally broke the silence as they approached the front gates.
“Worse than death,” was all Fidel had to say about it.
“What do you mean worse than death?” Raz replied.
Fidel shook his head, “Prostite, pardon, mind on mission until we safe,” he pointed at the looming empty outpost.
Raz stopped and opened his sensoria. A moment later he relaxed and shrugged, “There’s no one home. Loudest thing I can hear in there is someone’s headphones playing some dubstep.”
“Is sure?” Fidel pressed.
“Yep, but feel free to be careful, caution is all good with me. I’m going to head in, get my stuff, and see if they left the radio in a working condition.”
Fidel shook his head, “They will not. Radio destroyed first priority.”
Raz walked off toward the civilian housing, “I thought that might be the case, but a man can hope.”
In that case, I need to think about how to get out of here. Hey Midnight, now would be a great time to just drop in and be annoying.
Fidel looked around the outpost for useful items.
Raz retrieved his case from under the bed in the civilian quarters and returned to the courtyard. As soon as he got near the communications hut, he knew Fidel had been right. The electronics debris was strewn out the door onto the ground. A glance inside confirmed that no working communications gear would be found in there.
He found Fidel looking over the wrecked generator.
“Something on your mind?” Raz asked from a safe distance.
“Thinking about much can change in one night. Thinking how you so tough, then so… breakable later. Glad I not kill you.”
“Are you?” Raz asked, studying Fidel intently.
Fidel nodded vehemently, “Da. Want out long time, want new life, better. Want be more good,” he turned to Raz with a sorrowful penitent expression that transformed his entire face like he was someone else, “You heal me, but heal more than body. I feel it! First time, so long time, doing good, no, doing right, not feel so much hard choice,” he strode over to Raz and seized his hand, placing it on his chest, “You heal my heart, heart I not know broken,” he said, looking at Raz with an uncomfortable amount of earnest eye contact, “I cannot repay.”
[No signs of deception detected.]
Raz gently extracted his hand, “I’m–glad to hear that. I’ll be testing your resolve there. When I said I want everything you know about who’s behind that facility, I meant it.”
“Nichego, it’s nothing. I thought… I thought was no choice. I–we talk later?” he choked up and turned away.
If it’s an act, it’s the best I’ve ever seen. Such a hardass, then all emotional. Not even sure what to say to him. I thought I was being pretty demanding, but he jumped on it like it was a lifeline in a stormy sea.
[It does make one wonder what the terms of his prior employment were.]
“You were right. The radio’s trashed,” Raz called out as he looked around at the outpost, hoping he’d have an idea.
“Da, we must go, soon. They will return, is no question.”
“Right, then I guess we need to find the keys to one of those vehicles,” Raz pointed to the pair of European looking trucks and a group of three smaller, squat vehicles he recognized as Humvees, and another odd looking mutant utility-style armored vehicle. “You know how to drive a big truck?”
Fidel shook his head, “Can drive Humvee. I look for keys. Smell bad inside.”
Don’t I know it. It’s been smelling bad to me since a quarter mile back.
Raz willed his sense of smell down a few more notches. He realized he’d have to brave the stench of day old bodies sitting in the heat himself if he wanted to look for useful gear. Inside the barracks the soldiers hadn’t died well. No longer in rigor mortis, he could still see the positions they’d fallen in, and all too easily imagine the agonized death that might have taken their lives.
He felt a little bad about it, but when he spotted a soldier about his size, he dug into the nearby lockers until he pierced together a new outfit. He was about to use the shower when he noticed the warning sign for shock hazard.
That sucks. What I wouldn't give to be clean again.
Carrying the clothing out, he spied an outdoor shower bay setup over near the stockade. Fidel was making a pile of rifles, magazines, and full water containers. Fidel seemed to have the task in hand, so Raz transferred his multitool and the catalyst crystals into the new pants and hopped in the shower. The area had a semi permanent feel to it. A concrete floor with a drain that directed the water into a catch tank, and had room and shower heads for three people, if they didn’t mind a snug fit.
The black painted water reservoir released blazing hot water. He fumbled for the mix valve while dancing around the stream of burning water. Finally he got it just right. Just as he started to wash the dried blood from his long mop of hair, Fidel entered the shower. The hairy, naked man was also covered in as much dried blood as Raz, if not more. He took the middle showerhead right next to Raz.
“Good idea. We need go overland, last chance get clean,” Fidel said amiably.
What the hell dude? We’re not shower buddies. Why are you using the middle when you could use the other side and at least give me some space?
Raz kept lathering his long hair, pulling out chunks of dried blood and sand, “You got enough room there?”
Fidel glanced over unselfconsciously, “Da, plenty room. Whole other stall here,” he waved at the unused shower stall.
Great, he’s that guy who just walks around naked in the locker room at the gym, and he doesn’t even take the hint.
Relaxation forgotten, Raz did his best to ignore the other man’s proximity and just enjoy the warm water sluicing away all the grit, dried blood and other fluids. With Fidel's very different idea of personal space, a truly comfortable shower no longer felt likely.
Once he was clean, Raz looked at himself in the mirror for a moment, stroking his beard.
What is the deal with my hair? I got a haircut less than a month ago, right before it all started, and shaved at Sia’s place the morning after getting out. It's been less than a week, and already I’m looking like a cast member of Truck Dynasty!
[I have noted this, it appears a side effect of using Somatic Restoration on yourself. Fidel’s beard and hair also grew longer as you healed him.]
I thought he looked a bit more mountain man, but he already had long hair and a beard, so it was hard to tell.
Raz pulled on the clothing, enjoying the sensation of clean fabric on his skin. Fidel emerged from the shower, wandering across the outpost naked, confirming Raz’s theory as he searched the camp naked, looking for clothing that would fit him.
Raz forced his attention away from Fidel’s antics and went looking for keys. Recalling the layout of Captain Davis’s office, the flat lockbox on the wall struck him as a likely place for keys. It was. Inside were a surprising number of keyrings for such a small outpost. He ended up grabbing five key rings with Humvee keys on them, and after looking at the other vehicle keyrings, he grabbed the keyring marked JLTV as well.
Might as well look over the vehicles. No point taking one that’s flagged for repairs or something.
A fast-moving white shape against the beige sand caught his eye. The small fox ran up to him, stopped, then cautiously approached and rubbed its jaw and body along his pant leg, almost like a cat. Raz looked down at the small animal with bemusement. “Uh, hi? Did you miss me or something?” The fox jumped, startled when he spoke to it. It hid behind his leg and looked back the way it had come with a wary gaze.
“Well, alright Fenny, that's what I’m going to call you, by the way. I guess you’re welcome to hang with me. I’m heading out of there, though,” Raz talked to the fox as he continued toward the corner of the outpost being used as a motor pool.
As he drew near the vehicles, the scent of diesel and blood grew stronger. Fenny sniffed the air inquisitively, and shifted his large ears around.
Up close, none of the vehicles looked especially promising. Both Humvees with crew served machine guns on top were flagged as out of service, leaving the third, more cargo oriented model as the only Humvee option, and it was flagged for maintenance. One of the big trucks had three flat tires. The other big truck had several bullet holes in one of the fuel tanks. The diesel was still slowly dripping into the sand. The armored truck had a single deep gouge in the armor along the roof. Looking at the size and location of the scarred metal, Raz suspected one of those large, mantid creatures as the culprit. As he drew near the armored vehicle, the scent of blood increased. Fenny became even more skittish, but stayed near his legs for some reason.
That’s human blood, some smells fresh, some smells like it’s been dry for the better part of a day. A survivor?
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Raz crept up to the all-terrain vehicle and flung the passenger doors open. The smell of vomit, blood, and sweat rolled over him. Inside the hot vehicle he found a young woman with braided blond hair wearing black fatigues and a plate carrier, her pants and shirt shimmery-slick with wet blood. Raz immediately realized this had to be one of the soldiers, wounded in the attack, hiding out here to try to wait it out to call for help when she could.
I’m not exactly the cavalry, but I should be able to help some.
Without hesitation, he leaned in and placed a hand on her sweaty forehead. Diagnostic information about her condition flowed into him. Single gunshot to the lower abdomen. Details about her lacerated intestines and severe peritonitis, muscle, soft tissue and nerve damage flooded in.
What does it say that she’s been gutshot, sitting in this hot car all morning, but she’s still way less hurt than Fidel or I were?
Then the now familiar error messages arrived.
[Malformed ability structure. Ability
Some missing support structures.
Missing foundation.
Three unsynergized partial tree unlocks detected.
The target system suffers minor instability. Risk of self-inflicted damage: negligible.
To partially alleviate these conditions, acquire one of the following known abilities: HUD: Repair, HUD: Respec, Somatic Restoration: Recode.
To fully resolve these conditions, acquire one or more of the following known abilities: HUD: Reforge, Somatic Restoration: Custom Ability]
More of these soldiers with abilities than I thought. Maybe being so close to the incursion increases cascade events?
He probed her catalyst stores. There was very little, but enough to work with.
Not a red yet, but she would have become one.
He made the same adjustment to her catalyst given trauma processing routines he’d done to Fidel and himself effortlessly.
Bee, I just had a thought. What happens if I try to heal someone who doesn't have any catalyst in them?
[That is less likely than you might think. Every soldier we got close to had some quantity of catalyst. Not enough to cause a catalyst cascade event, but more than you’re thinking. Since your perception reached the threshold to detect catalyst particles in the air, we haven’t been anywhere that lacked airborne catalyst. Wherever it came from, it’s everywhere now.]
Ok, but what I mean is what happens if someone needs more healing than they have catalyst to use?
[The ability does not say. I suspect we’ll find out together sooner or later.]
I liked it better when I thought you had all the answers.
Raz glanced around him, then began to repair the most critical damage. Within seconds, he could hear the sounds of far off screeching cries echoing in the nearby canyon, and from other directions as well. Something shifted in the distant sands around the ridge where he and Fidel had fought, a movement that felt more seismic than anything else. Fenny went crazy, yipping wildly as he ran around the vehicle, clearly upset at the sound and feel of moving earth.
Damnit. I should have thought of that. It’s like ringing a dinner bell.
He stopped her bleeding, then let Somatic Restoration fade, “You’re in a bad way, can you hear me?”
She didn't respond. Diagnose revealed dangerously low blood pressure, mounting fever, and a loss of peripheral circulation consistent with shock. He dove back in and dealt with her most acute injuries. After ensuring that she wasn’t about to drop dead in the next few minutes, Raz shut the door and looked back toward the outpost courtyard.
“Fidel!” he called out. The burly Russian jogged out to the motor pool in a tight t-shirt and nothing else.
“Dude! Seriously! Can you get dressed?” Raz groaned at him.
“Am looking! Nothing fit me. Nice fox,” Fidel protested.
“We’re out of time. I can hear more of those big bugs out there. They’re communicating. I don’t know how far they are, but we need to load up and get out of here,” Raz stood up on the running boards of the armored vehicle and saw a pair of waving antennas approaching over a far off dune, “I see one! Still far but coming this way. I hear more than one. Get some damn pants then load us up while I try and start this thing!”
To his credit, Fidel didn’t argue, just ran back into the barracks and started frantically searching for anything that fit.
Raz looked over the keys, set the Humvee keys aside and tried the JLTV keys. It fit the ignition.
“Ok, one problem down, now how do I drive this thing?” The dizzying array of screens and controls was nearly overwhelming. He glanced at the glove box.
Please be a manual with pictures and simple instructions.
He got part of his wish. A manual with a few simple diagrams and instructions, and many pages of dense technical data and operating procedures was what he found. With time a factor, Raz pushed deep into slow time and started reading. Fenny slipped into the shadow under the vehicle and hid behind a tire.
When Fidel returned wearing an ill-fitting pair of rolled up BDU pants, carrying cans of fuel in one hand and water in the other, he found Raz sitting in the driver seat, flipping page after page in the operations manual, his eyes scanning the pages fast enough to look more like a seizure than reading.
Fidel looked at the man who’d offered him a new lease on life, shrugged, and started loading the rear cargo area. By the time he’d returned with the second load of fuel and water, Raz was leaning forward, groaning softly as he massaged his temples.
I think I bruised my brain. My eye muscles are sore! I didn’t even know that was a thing that could happen.
[Compressing several hours of reading into the space of a few minutes is perhaps not something your body is adapted for.]
I swear you’re getting less helpful all the time.
Raz staggered to his feet, and started helping load the vehicle. He spotted his aluminum skinned case and made sure it got loaded.
Seeing those gloves I stole won't be awkward, nope, not at all.
The sounds of more inquisitive chittering were far too close now. At this point, Raz could also hear the repeated crunching sounds of wide, articulated, insectile-feet compressing and shifting dry sand, and the high-pitched rasping when they rubbed their sword arms against each other.
After loading the case containing his gloves and another five-gallon can of water, Raz hopped into the driver seat and followed the instructions to start up the vehicle. The engine came to life with a roar. Raz heard an answering screech that was far too close for comfort. Then he heard another pair of responses from somewhere directly beyond the incursion. He opened his door. “Fidel! We need to leave now!”
Fenny chose that moment to jump into the vehicle and wriggle past him into the back seat.
Raz twisted to look at the fox, “So you’re coming along now? I mean, I get it, this neighborhood is going downhill fast.” The fox chirped at him then hid under the back seat.
The first mantid came over the outpost wall. As fast as it cleared the wall, two more heads and pairs of sword arms popped up on other outer walls before it finished crossing the barrier.
Fidel came sprinting toward the JLTV with another pair of five gallon cans with long, rectangular, flat cases under each arm, “We need leave now!”
You think? What did I just say?
Fidel threw the cans in the back and slammed the door. Before he was even fully in the vehicle Raz hit the accelerator. Tires spun, throwing up plumes of sand behind them. The heavy JLTV dug in, found traction and jumped forward. Raz hung on and steered for the outpost exit. They crashed through the partially opened main gates with three mantids close behind. The moment the vehicle cleared the outpost gates, Raz spotted several more approaching mantids, some of them far too close.
Where’d they all come from? That cannot be all down to a small use of Somatic Restoration can it? It didn’t happen when I healed Higgs.
He spotted some truck tracks in the sand and started to follow them due north.
Fidel looked out the windows at the pursuing incursion beasts and then at the tracks leading north, “Nyet! No! Turn around. We cannot go that way.”
With only a few close calls and several new slashes across the side and roof armor, Raz managed to swing the JLTV around and head south.
The loose sandy dunes didn’t allow the JLTV to get much speed before it began to slide and fishtail around, but within a few miles they’d lost sight of the most persistent of the mantids.
Once he’d crested a few more big dunes and put a few more miles between them and the outpost, Raz slowed down and started picking the path more carefully.
“If we can find some shade, we should probably get under it and wait for the heat of the day to pass. I need to stop and take care of her wounds anyway.”
Fidel looked askance at him, “Her?”
At that moment the girl in the back seat let out a pained groan. Fidel whipped around at the sound, “Ingrid? Thought you dead!”
Seriously? She’s a bad guy too? So I’m saving the bad guys who just killed soldiers doing their duty. This isn’t the company I’m looking to keep. Am I a bad guy now? Is that how it happens?
“I take it you know each other,” he said in a dry tone.
Fidel nodded without taking his eyes off her, “Da, she success experiment.”
“Experiment? Is she going to be a problem—hold on,” Raz glanced back at the wounded woman, “Is her ability a stealth power?” Raz suddenly realized what the plate carrier and the lower abdomen bullet wound meant.
Fidel nodded, “Da, she have several abilities. One like… make her hard look at. Nyet, make her hard notice, hard see.”
Damnit. I just bet she’s carrying the same curved blade that took down Sgt. Higgs. I wonder what happened to him? Maybe I should just ditch them both in the desert.
He could almost hear the lecture he’d end up giving himself about keeping his word if he did that. He pushed those thoughts aside and focussed on keeping the vehicle pointed due south.
I guess this’ll be a test to see where he really stands.
Raz took a long pull from his canteen. “But is she going to be a problem? I’m getting the vibe that plenty of people working for your former employer aren’t there completely by choice, but I need to know now if she’s a knife in the back waiting to happen.”
Fidel looked at Ingrid where she lay there, moaning for a moment, then tilted his head to the side. He sat there in silent consideration for nearly a minute before answering. “Think not. Think she take same deal as me, but she new. She have less bad… less dirt need wash away.”
I do need allies, but this is not what I had in mind.
“Ok, well, I got her stabilized back there, but I need to finish the job or all this bouncing around will undo my work. Then I need to deal with her real problem. She has a septic infection that’ll kill her in a day or two at most,” Raz started looking for a good place to stop.
Yeah, yeah, don’t even say it.
[I was, of course, not about to say anything regarding the near continual utility of a healing ability.]
Raz sighed inside, and slowed the JLTV to a stop at the crest of a gently sloping hill, ensuring long lines of sight in every direction.
Raz turned off the engine and slipped the keys in his pocket. “Keep an eye on things. I’d love to think we’re clear of them, but they seem to sense it when I use my healing ability just like you did.”
With Fidel standing watch atop the vehicle, Raz got ready to work on the gunshot wound.
It almost seems too easy. I haven’t seen anything that shows he’s being less than sincere, but it’s like he just flipped a switch and now he’s on my team. I’m finding it hard to trust that.
[The part of you that you think of as ‘you’ is much better about interpersonal insights than the part of you that you consider ‘me’. So my only question would be whether you think something is amiss, or just expect it to be.]
I don’t even know.
He leaned over the young woman and got to work. He’d just finished sealing up the injuries in her abdominal cavity when Fidel called down. He allowed Somatic Restoration to fade.
“One bug come out of sand. I see it, 600 meter away. It not moving now. Still look this way.”
Raz sighed, “Let me know if it starts coming this way,” he glanced up and spotted the mantid and marked it with Ground Control.
Hmm, more like 804 meters.
Fidel patted the armored roof with a loud clang, “Dah, I tell you.”
Bee, we need to solve this. Can’t be putting everything for a half mile around us on alert every time I try to heal someone.
[I am looking for anything that might help with that.]
Before getting back to work, he made sure to get Fidel and Ingrid marked with Friendly Fire. The fox had jumped out of the vehicle when he did, and hidden in the shadow cast by the JLTV. It still bore the protective green chevron.
Diving into slow time, Raz gave up on getting all the bullet fragments out, and stimulated her body to encapsulate them in small masses of scar tissue.
That’ll have to do.
“It coming this way!” Fidel called out almost immediately when he started working on her.
With the fragments taken care of in the short term, Raz started in on the infection. The septic tissue masses were far more than he’d dealt with on Higgs. As quickly as he could, he balled up the noxious masses into several pustules and brought them through the entry wound toward the surface.
Fidel called out, concern in his voice, “It coming faster now!“
With the infected tissue barely held together by his own will, Raz didn’t dare stop now, “Can you hold it off?” He replied, his own voice low and weird to his ears.
He heard Fidel gulp, “I try,” followed by a thump and movement as he hopped down from the roof to engage the creature.
I hope he can handle it. I didn’t think to check his MHP. Gotta get this resolved fast, no point letting him get hurt, then just having more healing to do.
With as much care and speed as he could manage, Raz extracted the infectious pustules from the bullet hole. Only then did he trigger her rapid natural healing and allow himself to relax.
Raz glanced up and put another Ground Control mark on the approaching mantid as it closed in on them. Fidel stood like a sentinel between the bug and the vehicle. The creature tilted its head back and forth, apparently confused by the loss of whatever signal had raised its interest.
I wonder how this works.
Raz stepped a few feet away from the JLTV closer to the bug. “I want to try something, back me up.”
Fidel looked askance at him, “What you want do?”
Raz advanced on the mantid as he released a torrent of White Fire. The energy built up, raging around him. Willing it to jump to the mantid did nothing.
What am I doing wrong here?
Fidel took a sidestep away from Raz with a nervous glance.
The mantid looked at the two men and paused. When neither moved, it crept closer. Just when Raz was regretting this plan, it leaned forward and jabbed out with one of its sword arms.
In that instant, a brilliant blade of lightning coalesced around Raz and leaped into the tip of the sword arm. The arm exploded, and both front legs burst into flames. The giant insect-like creature staggered and fell to the ground.
Raz forced the portal to White Fire closed, and looked over at Fidel with a smug grin he couldn’t suppress. “Well, that happened.”