Chapter 37
(So Sparkly)
Jarow stared up at the enormous skyscraper-sized machine trundling towards him. His throat was dry and his mouth tasted like he’d accidentally bit into the cardboard underneath a frozen pizza. He had a distinct idea of what that might taste like, yet lacked the understanding of why there would be such a thing in the first place.
At least his friends were safe now. But his mission of defeating this monstrously-huge metal monstrosity, was causing him mental anguish. (Say that ten times fast.)
To begin with, what even was this shiny ball-like object? Jarow zoomed in his vision and stared at it, but he couldn't see any moving parts, only a round object sparkling with multicolored reflections of light.
Yet another booming wave shook the ground, bringing Jarow’s senses back to the humongous building-like enemy. He knew it had been moving steadily towards his location, so therefore it had to have some sort of locomotion, yet that didn't help him figure out what the large thing actually was or what it could do.
There were no appendages visible, no face, or anything like the dark red glowing bulbs that the other killer-tomato robot things had. It was just a huge, towering contraption of metal from what Jarow could tell. He wasn't stupid enough to think that was all it had to offer, though. He had witnessed a number of these robots transform and become death-dealing contraptions and would be willing to bet that this thing had something similar in store.
His mind went back to the metal boxes at the top of the lift. They had been inconspicuous, looking like storage containers, until they opened up and turned into humanoid robot-like-knight-things with laser blasters. Jarow reflexively gulped at the thought of this thing opening up and pulling out similar weapons scaled up to its size.
Jarow once again stared up at the machine, trying to deduce its purpose, but his eyes were drawn to the sparkling item at the very top. It shone with a multitude of colored lights, its beams reflecting and sending shimmers of light out into the vast area of the underground world they occupied.
With the ball atop the monster obviously drawing his attention, he knew for sure: it was the item he was here to find. Now, he just had to figure out how to get to it without getting killed. Even though the machine hadn't shown any signs of being destructive, Jarow knew too well that it was far from just a mobile building.
"Well, Xinpo, any ideas on how to deal with this thing or how to get to the top?" Jarow mentally asked his sapient-sword.
"It appears that the quick teleport of Passe-partout has a limited range and cannot get you all the way to the top, suzerain," Xinpo explained. "There may be platforms or places where you can stop as you progress upward and prepare to teleport again."
"Yeah, that's probably the way we'll have to get up there," Jarow said. "But I'm sure it's not going to be that easy. That's got to be the boss of the killer-tomato robots we've been fighting on this world, and I'm sure it's going to have defenses."
"That is true, suzerain, although I am uncertain of your tomato reference.” Xinpo said, and Jarow could sense a quizzical tone in his words. He continued after a brief pause, "but I doubt our ascent will be easy. Have you identified the creature yet?"
Jarow shook his head and rolled his eyes. He had forgotten once again to use his Identify ability on the robot, even though he had just finished saying he was going to use it more often only a short while ago.
"No, but I will now," Jarow said with an exasperated sigh. He used his Identify ability, and a window of information appeared in his mind.
Z=K1-LLRT (0MAD0) Deific AI: ??? ??? ???
Good Luck
Jarow snorted in derision. “A whole lot of good that did," he said aloud, reading the description, or lack thereof. "'Good luck?' How condescending is that?" he asked himself internally.
A small voice in the back of his mind cackled with laughter. There was a small part of Jarow that found this all very humorous. It was the cynical, masochistic part of his consciousness. It laughed both because it looked forward to trying to defeat this thing while at the same time knowing it was impossible and would be hilarious to watch.
The ground shook several more times before Jarow could finally see the large apparatuses that were causing the building to move. Similar to the tunneller, this thing had large tracks that spun to propel the humongous contraption forward. However, unlike the tunneller's triangular tracks, the tracks on this machine moved in a rectangular pattern.
The loud booms that shook the ground were caused by a massive hydraulic shaft that drove the main body forward. It seemed that the sheer size and weight of the machine necessitated this additional propulsion method, as the tracks alone couldn't handle the load.
The tracks would advance along the side of the monstrous structure, then a piston would thrust the entire contraption forward. While the tracks and attached hydraulics assisted in controlling the descent, the piston pushing up from the ground, and the consequent weight of the immense building size robot landing was what caused the ground to tremble upon impact.
It was indeed a cumbersome and slow mode of propulsion, leading Jarow to wonder why the machine would choose to maintain such a colossal form. He was about to find out though.
He hadn't needed to worry about the zombies, at least not while the colossal machine moved towards him. They couldn't maintain their balance long enough to advance. He faced similar challenges in keeping his footing, but his wings provided balance and a slight updraft, rendering him relatively unfazed.
The thudding ceased abruptly. The Deific AI, as Jarow now knew it was named, halted its forward movement. Jarow stared at it, wondering what would happen now. Plans had begun to take shape in his mind for initiating his upward progression, and he was on the verge of taking his first teleportation when he noticed multiple dark spots emerging across the surface of the machine.
These dark spots expanded rectangularly from bottom to top until they reached the size of large houses. Then, dark red lights flickered to life behind them, and Jarow realized that the spots were actually massive doors, concealing the troops within.
Large, dark flying machines began to swoop outward from the upper doors, while controllers and tunnelers emerged from the bottom. Long angular ramps extended from the upper doors, revealing areas where the smaller sentinels poured out, running along the ramps and descending."
"This isn't good," Jarow lamented to himself. The cackling laughter at the back of his mind grew louder as the already dire situation escalated further. He had been imagining himself fighting one colossal robot, dodging through and battling its appendages and weapons all the way up. But now, facing an army of robots and flying death machines? Jarow quickly felt a round of depression enveloping him.
He gazed at the gathering army of robots surrounding the Deific AI and it became clear to him that even with his team here with him, this challenge was insurmountable.
"How am I supposed to do this?" he asked Xinpo in his mind.
He felt the familiar itching of Xinpo thinking at the back of his neck. 'It is doubtful, suzerain,' Xinpo replied after a few seconds. 'I do not see a clear path to accomplishing our goal.'
Jarow had known that answer was coming already. But to hear it out loud made it feel even more real. It was like a large stone had dropped onto his chest, blocking the flow of blood to his body.
As the zombies finally managed to keep their balance and move forward towards Jarow again, he reflexively cut them down as they drew near. They could no longer offer any type of threat to him, being merely annoying and blocking his view of the imminent threat that loomed a quarter mile off.
'Well, there's no point in staying here. Might as well go die fighting against the robots,' Jarow spoke aloud. But before he could move, Xinpo spoke excitedly in his mind.
'Wait, suzerain! You leveled up earlier. You are now level twenty!' It took Jarow a brief moment to care, then another to realize why Xinpo had been excited about it. Finally, through the haze of his depression, a small twinkle of hope sparked. He got a new power at level twenty!
Jarow had dismissed the message when he leveled up, thinking he would read it later. But he had forgotten all about it due to his strong emotions while watching his friends depart. Now the message was no longer in his view, but he pulled up his character sheet and focused on the empty power slot.
Instead of a new power being shown, a small list opened up, showing Jarow three options. He had been automatically assigned his powers up until now, so being able to choose was rather exciting.
He began reading through the available options, but the stupid Naga-zombies kept scratching him and trying to bite him with their brittle teeth, which usually fell off as they impacted his skin. It was annoying more than anything, but he knew he had to deal with them or they would pile up and could become more than just a nuisance.
Jarow slid the window to the side, keeping it open, but placing it so that he could more easily see past it, and began swiping his sword through the rotten flesh surrounding him. “Xinpo, can you read me the options? I need to deal with these things.”
"Of course, suzerain. The first option is called Atomic Diffusion. The description reads: 'This power causes the atoms of a solid substance to separate. The timing of said separation can be set to a later date and time, so you do not need to be in the area when the separation occurs. Warning: Atomic Diffusion causes a large blast and massive amounts of radiation to be expelled. It is best used at a great distance.'"
"Holy shit! That's basically turning something into an atomic bomb, isn't it?" Jarow asked after hearing the explanation.
"I am unsure what an atomic bomb is, suzerain, but from the sound of the name, it does seem like an adequate description. Shall I continue?"
Jarow continued to fend off the ever-growing circle of zombies around him as he asked Xinpo, "While an atomic bomb could definitely solve this problem, I don't think either of us would be around to collect the shiny ball up there if it managed to survive somehow. So yes, what's next?"
“Certainly, suzerain," Xinpo replied. "The next power listed is called Infinite Void. The description reads: 'This power creates a small but enormously dense microparticle of mass which creates a mid-size gravity well. Anything and everything within a large area will be drawn in and spaghettified, including photons, which will leave the affected area in a void-like darkness. Warning: there is no way to activate this power without also dying.'"
Jarow said to Xinpo while slowly moving backwards and fending off the zombies, "Well, that's ominous and not something we could really use in this situation; we'd lose the sparkly ball we need to collect. Also, how could anyone other than me even use that power? No one has heard of anyone else other than me that returns after dying in a new body. The power seems oddly specific, doesn’t it?”
“Indeed it does, suzerain,” Xinpo replied.
“Let's hope the third option is more useful and user-friendly, shall we?” Jarow remarked, signaling his desire for Xinpo to continue to the third option.
"Of course, suzerain," Xinpo replied. "I believe this option may be the most beneficial. The third option is called Dimensional Stream. The description reads: 'This power creates a bubble around the user, made up of compressed space-time. The bubble can be used as a protective shield against physical attacks. Anything that touches the outer surface of the bubble is lost to the Interdimensional Void. Dimensional Stream can also be used to move through space-time without constraints of gravity or distance. Warning: The bubble can either be stationary and used for defense, or it can be used mobily as a movement power. There is a two-hour cooldown to this ability and a thirty-second paralysis goes into effect after Dimensional Stream has been deactivated or its timer runs out.”
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Jarow had to ponder on this for a moment. The third option was undoubtedly the only one that would be beneficial now, but the paralysis afterward would render him completely vulnerable. He'd likely end up being killed by the robots while immobilized, unless removing the shiny ball somehow caused their deactivation. However, he highly doubted that would be the outcome.
"If I may interject, suzerain," Xinpo said, "the description says that you will be paralyzed, but it doesn't mention my status. In other words, if we are close enough, I believe I will be able to absorb the object into myself and complete your quest."
Jarow knew that Xinpo had been leveling up and no longer needed to touch something to absorb it. But was Xinpo absorbing the item really what the quest required? He had thought that he would have to keep the item in his inventory and give it to someone, but Xinpo had done almost the exact same thing with the staff, even though Jarow had used his powers to manipulate the staff into being absorbed.
“If that were the case, would Xinpo's absorbing power work correctly? Would I have to fuse them again like I did last time?” he wondered. Jarow's head was spinning. He didn't know the answer and wouldn't until he reached the sparkly ball. "I really wish I had a better name for that thing," he thought to himself as he attempted to focus once more.
Jarow brought the window in his user interface back into focus for a few seconds and selected Dimensional Stream for his new power. He also allocated his five available attribute points into willpower, hoping the boost would reduce the time of paralysis following the power’s activation.
His character sheet now displayed his updated powers and stats, which he quickly reviewed before closing the window and redirecting his attention to the zombies.
Jarow Holloman Catalystic Converger
Level [- 20 -]
Race [- Aasimar -][ Celestial Touched ]
XP [- 21,998 -]
HP [- 960 -]
MP [- 940 -]
SP [- 960 -]
Physical
Power 25 [ +1 ] Racial Bonus
Durability 23
Mobility 23 [ +5 ] Racial Bonus
Mental
Perception 22
Willpower 25
Judgment 20
Unquantifiable
Charisma 11
Luck 8
Powers
Molecular Fusion
Essence Transposition
Spatial Exchange
Temporal Inversion
Aural Armor
Dimensional Stream
(Species Specific) Cleansing Aura
Beyond the snake heads of the Naga-zombies, Jarow could see the robots forming squads and beginning to march his way. "I guess it's now or never," he thought to himself as he swung his sword in a large arc to clear some room for better visibility.
When Jarow had selected his new power, a new button appeared in his UI. His own powers were arranged similarly to how he had set up Xinpo's, with his own set of power buttons on the bottom row of the bank of buttons, and his companions' on the upper row. The button bank occupied the upper center of his vision.
The new button featured a distinctively multi-colored ring and displayed a small avatar of himself surrounded by a multi-hued glow. With a gulp of air, he closed his eyes and mentally pushed the new button to activate the power.
Instead of feeling a physical sensation, Jarow was surprised to see a small list appear beneath the button. It presented him with two options for the power: Stationary or Mobile?
Taking yet another deep breath in preparation, Jarow chose mobile. But before the power activated, a new image entered his vision. This new object was a semi-opaque ring of light with the familiar pentagon in its center. Jarow felt a small tingle in his brain and instantly knew what this circular creation in his vision was. It was basically a steering wheel to be used to direct his movement.
He mentally touched the ‘steering wheel,’ and the world around him shifted. Everything except a small window directly in front of him vanished, replaced by a swirling bubble of color. Through the window, he could still see the zombies he had been facing, but they were now seemingly frozen in time.
Jarow gently pulled up on the steering wheel, and he began to rise into the air. As he ascended, the world around him seemed to lower. The bubble remained around him, maintaining its protective barrier.
From his new vantage point, he could see the orderly rows of robots frozen in their march towards him in the distance. Reflexively, he glanced downward, and the small window moved with his eyes. Below him lay the lower halves of the zombies that had surrounded him, their upper halves apparently disintegrated by the touch of the bubble, leaving only their motionless lower halves behind.
"Wow," Jarow exclaimed in amazement as he looked back up, the open space moving with his eyes once more. "This is cool! Who needs a souped-up Sienna?" He froze as he said the last part, the words slipping out without him intending to say them.
"What the hell is a Sienna, and what does 'souped up' mean?" he thought to himself, feeling puzzled by the strange statement that had unintentionally come out of his mouth. The phrase seemed to hold some significance to him, but he couldn't quite grasp its meaning or why he would say it.
A small sense of loss accompanied his thoughts. Was what he had said been something from his original life? Lately, he hadn't spared much thought to his past, consumed as he was with first finding his party and now completing these strange quests.
Strangely, he found himself missing the moments he had in the Liminal Divide, where he could ponder and daydream about who he had been before losing his memory. Perhaps it was time to take a break and start reminiscing, meditating, or searching for ways to unlock those lost memories once again.
A familiar voice snapped Jarow out of his reverie. "Suzerain, it would be very unfortunate if the timer expired before you arrived at your destination," Xinpo said.
In this dimensional bubble, Xinpo's voice was more than just a thought; it seemed to emanate from all around, and Jarow could almost feel the words vibrate through him.
The resounding voice refocused Jarow and he glanced at the timer for the power. It appeared as a small red ring circling the button he had pressed to activate the power. The ring slowly spun counterclockwise around the button, leaving a white trail in its wake. There were no actual numerical countdown numbers visible, but the effect was reminiscent of waiting for a power’s cooldown to expire.
The timer's gradual movement infused Jarow with a new sense of urgency. He looked upward and, after a few seconds, spotted the top of the robot building. Jarow pressed the steering wheel forward, and the bubble shot off.
The speed of the bubble was incredible, and Jarow had to make several attempts to control it to avoid zooming into the rock of the planet surrounding them. If he weren't on such a time crunch, he would have greatly enjoyed exploring just how fast the bubble could actually go.
With only seconds remaining, the red line circling the bubble inching slowly down, Jarow was finally able to come to a halt just above the small platform on which the sparkly ball stood.
The ball itself was placed on top of a small pole, resembling a type of antenna poking out from the top of the building-like machine. The platform below the antennae was only a few feet wide, so Jarow was worried that when the bubble popped and he fell, he would slide off the platform and wind up falling for hundreds of stories down before splattering on the ground.
Jarow was tough, and even if he didn’t hit the floor before the paralysis ended and he could use his wings to slow his momentum, he doubted that he would be able to survive a fall from that height.
The red line around the powers’ button suddenly disappeared and so did the bubble from around him. Without preamble or even the ability to stop himself, Jarow’s body fell from the area of where the bubble had been parked, his body already limp with the paralysis.
He was directly beside the pole where the ball was attached, so his body alighted on the small platform with the slap of skin on metal. Luckily, his limp-noodle body assisted him by conforming to the metal, his arms and legs were left sticking out over each side, stabilizing and balancing him, while his torso layed sideways, but flat on the platform.
Jarow found that his mental abilities were still intact, but he couldn’t move his body at all, and a large error message sprang into his vision.
You are paralyzed:
30, 29, 28
The error message came with a timer below it, counting down the seconds, letting Jarow know just how long he had to lie there.
“Xinpo, can you absorb it from here?” Jarow asked as the seconds ticked away.
“No, suzerain, it seems the paralysis extends to my abilities as well. I am sorry, my presumptions were wrong.”
“No worries, at least we landed safely. Now we just have to hope that none of those flying robots spot us here,” Jarow mentally chuckled.
He moved his eyes as best he could to look up at the sparkly ball atop the pole and tried to identify it. To his surprise, his ability worked.
Discoball of Destiny: This item reflects and amplifies all incoming light. It also changes the modulation of the light which adds a layer of multiplicative changing colors. ??? ??? ???
Once again, Jarow read through the description and encountered the annoying question marks at the end. At least he got the basics of this thing, unlike the Deific AI on which he now rested, completely prone and unable to move.
The name though. "Discoball of Destiny? Really? Who came up with the names for these crazy items?" Jarow wondered and tried to roll his eyes. He couldn't get them to move properly at the moment though, and ended up cross-eyed for his attempt.
The timer slowly ticked away. So far, nothing had seen them. Jarow desperately wished he could at least look around better. All he could see was a lot of empty space beyond the pole holding the discoball.
12, 11, 10...
Jarow was starting to get hopeful. Could he have really gotten so lucky that none of the robots had spotted him?
8, 7, 6...
"Uhh... am I moving?" Slowly, pain registered in Jarow's mind as his body began sliding from the platform. "No, no, no, no, no!" he thought to himself as his eyes began to see the distant floor beyond the paralysis message.
2, 1 - Paralysis ended
Jarow was falling headfirst toward the ground as the message flashed out of existence. He wildly began flailing his arms and legs. He could feel a burning sensation behind his thighs, but luckily it wasn't his wings that were damaged.
"WINGS!" Jarow mentally screamed as he remembered the large things on his back.
He felt the muscles for his wings tighten within his back, these new muscles which he hadn't had much opportunity to work with, but he desperately needed now.
He ordered them, “Open up, spread wide!”
Jarow's wings did as he ordered. The celestially white appendages opened up and caught the air. Immediately, he could feel the air slow around him. He could feel the drafts of hot air moving upward, and his wings automatically shifted to catch the updraft.
"WOOOO!" Jarow shouted as he felt his mighty wings flap, propelling him forward. Despite still being angled downward, the ground was a long way off, momentarily alleviating his fear of splattering against it. He couldn't contain the elation of being able to soar for the first time.
He continued to flap his large wings, spreading his arms in jubilation. Tilting his right wing slightly lower, he felt his entire body turn in mid-air. He was actually flying!
Up until this point, Jarow had held his young elven body as his favorite. It offered such ease of movement and beauty along with amazing vision and an incredible voice. But now, as he flapped his wings and circled around, this body he now occupied became his new number one.
Unfortunately, his elation and feeling of freedom was short lived, because he was not alone in the airspace. Before he could complete a circle in an attempt to spiral upward, a machine that looked like a large bat with rocket boosters and two dark red eyes quickly rocketed around to meet him. In fact it was heading directly at him at a high rate of speed.
The thin front end of the machine looked extremely sharp as it aimed directly for Jarow’s midsection. 'Shit!' Jarow thought and mentally touched the Passe-partout button, selecting open air as the target.
He immediately teleported in the direction which he was looking. He had been parallel to the top of the Deific AI monster-building and had aimed too far away, reappearing on the opposite side.
There was a moment of disorientation as he reappeared, his wings seemingly unknowing how to function, but the quick falling sensation brought his wings back into flight mode and Jarow flapped again, catching his stride once more. This side had similar updrafts and he quickly began to flap his wings and rise and he circled around to gain sight of the discoball again.
Another of the bat-like ships swooped around the side of the Deific AI as Jarow ascended. Its ominous eyes glowed brighter, signaling imminent danger. "Shit, shit, shit," Jarow's mind raced as he recognized the telltale signs of the lasers that had previously singed his backside and knocked him off the platform.
With Passe-partout's quick cooldown still in effect, Jarow couldn’t rely on teleportation to escape. So, with limited options, he ceased his flapping and folded his wings tightly above his head, causing him to plummet like a stone. As he fell, he watched two crimson beams narrowly miss grazing the tips of his wings.
Once the immediate danger had passed, Jarow swiftly unfurled his wings, bringing their large wingspan out to catch the air and slow his descent.
He flapped his wings hard to maintain altitude, but apparently since the ship had missed with its eye lasers, it was now aiming to slice him in half. It angled downward directly at him, its sharp beak leading the charge.
Jarow knew he wouldn’t be able to move out of the way in time, so desperately mashed the Passe-partout button in his mind hoping against hope that the cooldown timer would end before he was skewered. Through slitted eyes he watched the sharp edge of the ship drawing closer with each passing moment.
Bracing for impact, Jarow felt the ship's blade pierce his thighs, but simultaneously experienced the familiar pull of Passe-partout. As he realized the power had activated, Jarow opened his eyes to find himself miraculously hovering next to the disco ball. He arrived with a small pop and a shout of fear.
His wings continued to flap reflexively, but Jarow quickly realized that he was ascending much faster than expected. Waves of pain and realization hit him simultaneously as he slowly tilted his head downward, witnessing the blood gushing from his freshly severed legs falling onto the platform holding the discoball.
"Suzerain! Touch me to the disco ball!" Xinpo's mental scream jolted Jarow back to awareness. He glanced around, his wings still flapping, his blood staining the small platform below.
Realizing the urgency of the situation, Jarow fought against his weakening body. With immense effort, he managed to draw his sword from his belt and extend it towards the sparkly ball.
His grip faltered as he extended his arm and the sword almost slipped from his grasp. He grabbed again, tightening his grip while his wings flapped erratically, causing the swipe he was attempting to make, miss.
Jarow summoned every ounce of strength left in him, bringing Xinpo up once again and swiping as best he could at the shiny object.
Luckily, this time he connected, feeling Xinpo touch the object just before his vision darkened. Jarow fought to stay conscious, his grip on the sword loosening as his wings ceased their movement. Yet, he didn't feel himself falling.
His thoughts sluggishly processed the appearance of a window before him – his inventory window. Some instinct urged him to stow his sword there. With his last semblance of awareness, he selected the next available slot and watched as a black and white sword with a sparkly pommel materialized in his inventory.
Then, the world went black.