“Breath in. Hold it. Now, breath out.” Jar-lock said. “Again. Breath in. Through your nose, and then out.”
Kaleb held his position on the floor while staring daggers at the large Mage. He was flat on the floor with his legs straight out behind him. His palms were pushing down into the new plastic mat they had purchased, bending his hips and upper body upward in what Jar-lock had called the Cobra Pose. Although Kaleb was beginning to think of it as pain in the ass position #47.
“How did you talk me into yoga?” Kaleb asked through gritted teeth for what had to be the 7th time.
Jar-lock sighed from his position in front of the mat. “Everyone, release your positions and relax.”
Kaleb quickly rolled over and splayed his legs out in front of him. Around him, Abby, Two Gun, Claire, and Vivienne all came out of their positions. Some more gracefully than others. Kaleb was happy to hear some commiserating grumbling from the others. He wasn’t the only one that disliked Jar-lock’s spartan daily training. But the former soldier actually knew a fair amount about getting the most from their exercising. As Kaleb’s increased Endurance showed.
Over the past two days, Kaleb had spent most of his time building new equipment and a few gadgets. But Jar-lock had logged in and immediately latched onto the gains that could be had with the new Gym Area. He quickly convinced Kaleb and the others to schedule in a morning and afternoon workouts into their days. At first they had all been happy to do it, but now…
“I didn’t talk you into anything. Yoga is just a good workout. It stretches and warms up the body. But it’s also good for cooling down after a workout as well.” Jar-lock explained, moving some of the gym equipment back onto the mats.
Claire got up to help as she said. “You can’t argue with the results either.”
Kaleb gave a noncommittal shrug. “Sure. You’re right. I’m just not a fan.” He rubbed his aching thighs.
“It would probably help if you had some proper work-out gear like the rest of us,” Abby said, her eyes glancing up and down at his jeans and t-shirt covered body.
Kaleb stood up on unsure legs, grumbling. “I’ve been busy.”
Kaleb had dove headfirst into crafting. Replacing or upgrading a good deal of his arsenal and getting the others some armor upgrades as well. Two Gun glanced over to where he had leaned his new armor against a weightlifting bench.
“They are a hell of an upgrade, son. I’ll give you that.”
Abby snorted. “He didn’t even work on them that much.”
Kaleb winced. The young, dark-haired Mutant wasn’t wrong. He had stolen five sets of armor from the K-Tech guards down at the dump site near Under-Town. But he had quickly found that the armor was stubbornly resistant to most forms of modification. He had tried all sorts of things to either add to or shape the armor to fit someone his size. He even lost a chest piece when he and Daivor tried melting one down to make an alloy Kaleb could use to make new armor. The mixture had turned out more slag than anything useful.
In the end, he had to say ‘screw it’ and he gave the remaining pieces to the smaller members of their party. They could slightly bend the edges, but nothing too drastic. So he and Jar-lock had to find alternatives. Abby and Two Gun also had the good idea of respraying the armor to different colors. The glossy black armor may not have been immediately recognizable as K-Tech brand armor. But they all figured, better safe than sorry.
“Now that’s not fair,” Jar-lock cut in, passing Vivienne a water bottle. “He sewed a Kevlar lining into my robe and, don’t forget, he forged his own new armor.”
Claire grimaced as she jogged in place. The Alien woman always seemed more amped after a workout.
“We are unlikely to forget. With all that blasted hammering he was doing.”
Two Gun began walking toward the stairs leading down to the lower level as he said. “Oh, come on. How often do you get to see someone use an old fashion hammer and anvil to make armor?”
“Fantasy Apex Online.” Abby deadpanned.
Kaleb just grinned as he moved over to his own armor and put it on. Unfortunately, he had only gotten the chest piece done, but with the system and Daivor guiding him, he thought he did pretty well. Also netted himself two levels in the new Armorsmithing Skill. Along with a new rank in DIY Armorer.
Armorsmithing Beginner Level 2
Chance to create higher grade armor increased to 2%
Chance to increase durability increased to 2%
His new armor wasn’t that complicated. It even counted as just an upgrade to his old armor. He had only added another layer of a slim steel sheet he had mixed with some of the Alien metal that had gotten from the K-Tech dump site. The new alloy had given his armor a bluish sheen and a small resistance to magical attacks. Kaleb opened the stat window on his new armor with a smile.
DIY Body Armor Mk. 2
Defense: +15 +3 (DIY Armorer)
Magical Resistance: 10%
Upgrades: 2/3
Durability: 90/90
Pieces: 3/3
Grade: C-
Description: Lightweight aluminum armor with a Kevlar lining and upgraded with steel sheeting. Light with good flexibility. This armor is nice when you want to keep on your feet. Doesn’t protect the legs, though. Stay frosty. Or walk around while crouching.
Kaleb grinned and closed the window as he re-equipped his armor. The others, except for Claire and Jar-lock, had gone below to shower and change as Kaleb had been looking at his window. Claire was jumping rope nearby as Jar-lock, having finished moving the gym equipment back into place, closer to the stairs. The armor had originally comprised a bodysuit and 4 pieces of armor, two bracers, two shin guards, and a chest piece. Kaleb had gotten rid of the matte black body suits and just passed the rest out to the others. Abby, Two Gun, Vivienne, and Claire all got a set.
Each had also sprayed painted their set a different color. Abby was dark blue, Two Gun and Claire’s were grey, and Vivienne had gone with a dull pink. She argued that since she was wearing it under her wizard robes, it really didn’t matter what she colored it. But each had also used a stencil of a star to paint a small white star on each of their chest armor. Two Gun and Jar-lock had said it would be like having a team uniform and reminded them of their Super Group name: The Lone Star Hounds.
Jar-lock caught Kaleb staring at the color sets of armors. “They are pretty useful. Regardless of where you got them.”
“True,” Claire huffed as she continued to jump rope. “Abby took some type of weird laser beam to the chest the other day. While we were out patrolling. The armor just seemed to absorb and then redirect it.”
“Straight into a little bodega’s glass window.” Abby griped as she reappeared from downstairs. Her hair was still slightly damp from the quick shower she had taken.
“Could have been worse.” Jar-lock said.
“It was good for the ants as well.” Came Vivienne’s voice shortly, followed by the tall blonde herself.
Vivienne, Abby, and Mass had all signed up to help the house of Ainsley with their large ant problem. But the small Sorcerer house had seen fit to try to profit from it, by sending in teams of Heroes and then buying the excess ant parts. Varlin had confirmed that the house was then reselling the parts back to the city. There was talk of the city recognizing it as an official dungeon if the Ainsley could box in the ant queen. While Kaleb worked, the others had all taken a dive into the large ant tunnels. All except Jar-lock, that is.
While the others discussed the ants and put on their armor, Kaleb sighed internally. He had spent the last two days crafting while everyone else was off kicking ass and taking names. Not to mention getting paid. The Super Group's contract allowed them to tackle the gangs and make a dent in the criminal activity. At least the way they put it.
“And here I sit. Building new toys and never playing with them.” Kaleb thought and sighed.
Abby slid a brand-new black hoodie over her armor. She apparently had a couple of them. “What are you sighing about?”
Kaleb snapped out of his reverie and grinned. “Just thinking I should go out and play. I’ve upgraded my weapons and armor, built some new gadgets, and I have a new Shocky to try out.”
“We do still have our excursion to the magical forest tomorrow.” Claire reminded him, appearing to be done with her workout.
“What better time to test things?” Kaleb said, summoning his new shield with a thought.
Shocky Mk. III
Defense: 15+7 (Shield Mastery)
Electric Damage: 30
Durability: 125/125
Chance to Stun: 15%
Magical Resistance: 5%
Failure rate: 7%
Research Point cost: 15
Upgrades: 0/2
A buckler built from scratch. Like previous versions, it can send electricity through the front of the shield to stun targets. Made of an alloy of various alien and human metals has made the shield slightly magically resistant. The spirit of Shocky lives on.
The shield was made of his new steel and alien metal alloy. He had forged it himself with as little help from the system as he could manage. Although Daivor was still whispering in his ear, helping. Kaleb rubbed his hand over the shield as new footsteps sounded from the entrance to downstairs.
Two Gun appeared, hair wet and looking refreshed until he saw Kaleb gently caressing his shield.
“You know, if you keep playing with it, you’ll go blind.”
Kaleb glared at the older man. “Yeah? And how often are you fondling those new guns I made you?”
“All the time.” Claire said as she joined her husband in putting on their armor.
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“Back to the point,” Said Jar-lock. “What all do you need to test? You and two Gun have damn near obliterated our ‘shooting range’ outside with your new weapons. That egg launcher thing you built had the hangar smelling like ozone…”
“Also, your new wrist computer thingy needs your NPC girlfriend to finish coding it.” Abby teased.
A bright blue flash of electricity signaled the arrival of the so-called NPC. “I’m not his girlfriend. And I completed the coding for the Thermal Imager this morning. Although I still think you should wire it into a helmet or something. Checking your wrist every three minutes is a good way to get sniped.”
Etha-Farrah said from where she appeared behind Abby and the others. She was holding Kaleb’s new gadget in her hand and trying not to look too pleased with herself. Kaleb thought she was failing. Kaleb gingerly took the slim wrist-mounted computer from her hand and brought up its stats.
Wrist Mounted Thermal Imager
Scan Range: 25 Feet from device
Slot: Right Arm. Forearm.
Durability: 30/30
Grade: C+
Description: A K-Tech brand wrist computer modified to scan the immediate area for thermals. Slim, with a new Moldi-Screen that wraps and conforms to any forearm it is attached to. It is the go to device for K-Tech security in the field.
Kaleb grinned. “Thank you, Farrah. You’re right too. I want to get this hooked up to that helmet I found, but getting the wiring squared away is proving trickery than I imagined.”
“I imagine you’ll want me to code that too?” Farrah asked with a long-suffering sigh that Kaleb didn’t believe for a second.
Farrah had proven indispensable as their command center liaison. With the drones Roy and Daivor had built her, she could help coordinate when the team was in the field. She had also become a sort of den mother to the group, using her super speed to race around and help the group get squared away in the base. They had all collectively agreed that the first person who they could go to for help was Farrah.
Kaleb was sure most of it had been done by the Farrah AI that took over when the person playing as Farrah went offline, but he legally couldn’t spill that secret. He gave Farrah a toothy smile as he nodded.
“Of course. What would I do without you?”
“You’d be someone else’s problem.” Farrah smirked as she sauntered back to her little command center.
Abby gave a shudder. “Creepy lifelike NPCs.”
Claire helped her husband strap on a shin guard as she said. “I like them. Makes the world feel more real.”
“Plus, remember the old days? NPCs with only 15 to 20 lines of dialogue before they wrapped around to saying the same old things. It was annoying.” Two Gun added.
“I also like these new AI driven NPCs, but we are off-topic. The Professor wants to go out and finally pull his weight.” Jar-lock grinned at Kaleb. “So what do we have?”
Abby spoke up. “We were going to raid the Demon’s drug warehouse tonight!”
“Alleged drug warehouse.” Jar-lock rolled his eyes.
“Hey!” Abby yelped, indignant. “I did some digging and supposedly it’s a big public secret. Rumor is the Demons pay the cops to overlook it.”
“Sounds like a good chance to test this out.” Kaleb said, tapping his new thermal imager.
“We are always up for a night on the town,” Two Gun grinned up at his wife.
Jar-lock sighed. “Fine, we can all at least go check it out. If it is a drug warehouse, it will probably be well defended.”
“Umm…” Vivienne started.
“Except you, Viv. I know you have that thing, IRL.”
Vivienne gave the others an apologetic smile. “I might help around here before I log out? Get some of those books over to where we want to start the library.”
The others nodded except Jar-lock, who looked pensive.
“Not this again.” Kaleb said, seeing Jar-lock’s expression.
“I just think the library would be better off downstairs,” Jar-lock said.
They had had this conversation multiple times over the last two days. The group had come to an agreement to put the library alongside the other rooms in the hangar. Because they didn’t have to buy more room like they did on the second floor. Meanwhile, the main hangar was nearly 40 feet high, they could build some rooms upwards if they needed to. D34d-I had assured the team that was the cheaper option.
“You just don’t want to part with your precious books.” Abby joked.
Claire laughed. “He also doesn’t want to read up here where the Professor makes his racket.”
Kaleb shrugged. “Hey if y’all don’t want me to build stuff, I can go ahead and stop.”
“No, you can’t.” Two Gun chuckled.
Kaleb shrugged again, silently agreeing with the old cowboy. Sure, he had missed out on some fun, but he got to build some pretty neat stuff. Soon he would be able to put that stuff to good use. After tonight’s test run, he would make some alterations, then head into an enchanted forest full of magical creatures.
“Let me go grab my T.E.L and then we can head out.” Kaleb said.
“T.E.L?” Claire asked.
“I’m driving!” Abby said, eager to drive her new car some more.
Kaleb just smiled over his shoulder as he moved to his Mechanics Room. “My Taser Egg Launcher.”
He heard the others groan as he rounded the wall into his Mechanics Room. He saw Daivor perched on the workbench, filing an Ifrit bone down to a point. Roy had gone home for a little while. Tomorrow was his eighteenth birthday and his mom was adamant he spend it with his family. She had even roped Obadiah into coming.
Daivor noticed the shadow Kaleb cast over the workbench and glanced up. He pulled his new goggles off his face and smiled. The goggles had been another gift from the Gnome Workshop. They supposedly could see the confluence of magical energies in a material. Kaleb couldn't verify that claim cause they were too small for him, but he trusted his Gnome friend.
The Gnome Workshop had been a bit of a mixed bag so far. It had spat out another two rigging vests, which Daivor and Kaleb and disassembled for parts. The goggles, which the Gnome rarely took off now, and then it had spat out something called and Infinity Mug. Something Daivor said was essential for any Gnome. Kaleb had figured out it was just a mug that instantly replaced any drinkable liquid that was placed in it. The mug, too, barely ever left the Gnome’s sight.
“Last one’s done, boss.” Daivor said, holding up the slim piece of Ifrit bone.
Kaleb took the spike and smiled down at the gnome. He opened the housing on his left arms spike launcher and loaded the spike next to the other bone-white spikes in his arm. His spike launcher also got an upgrade over the past couple of days. He increased the pneumatics and rewired everything.
Spike Launcher Mk. II
Damage: 35
Pierce: 40%
Slot: Left arm. Embedded.
Durability: 155/155 (Arm: 100, Launcher: 55)
Ammo: 8
Ammo type: Ifrit Bone Spikes
Research point cost: 20
Upgrades: 2/3
Description: A pneumatic spike launcher installed in your arm. Spikes are launched from the underside of the arm with enough force to pierce some armor. Upgraded pneumatics and wiring have made this once decent back-up weapon into its own powerhouse. Still large and clunky, though.
“Where did I put the egg launcher?” Kaleb asked, still smiling.
Daivor shook his head and waved downward. “The boy put it down there once he was done playing with it. Everything’s reloaded and ready.”
Kaleb ducked under the workbench and grabbed for his newest gadget. He had built a small wrist-mounted egg launcher that could hold and launch his taser eggs. A few of the others had not been amused thinking the eggs more a gag than anything. But Roy and Kaleb knew how useful they could be.
Getting the amount of pressure needed to launch the plastic eggs without breaking them in the launcher had taken some testing. He and Roy had dialed it in, though. Also, the thing wasn’t really much to look at. A small box strapped to his wrist with Velcro.
He pulled the device from the shelf and strapped it to his left wrist.
Taser Egg Wrist Launcher
Damage: 10
Stun Chance: 85%
Chance to Entangle 70%
Slot: Left Arm. Wrist.
Durability: 25/25
Ammo: 3
Grade: C
Description: A small blocky wrist mounted egg launcher. It uses a powerful blast of compressed air to launch taser eggs, breaking their casing and causing minor bruising to the target. Another weird gadget invented by Professor Pack Rat.
Kaleb couldn't help smiling as he stood back up. The sound of metal scrapping against metal drew his eyes back up to the workbench. Daivor was pushing his Cybar Pistol across the bench toward Kaleb. The Gnome was grinning again.
“Of course, we can’t forget the pièce de résistance.”
Kaleb nodded as he picked up the gun.
New Cybar Mk. I Pistol Variant.
Damage: 50 Energy Damage
Shots till vent: 12
Vent speed: 10 seconds
Upgrades: 2/2
Durability: 90/90
Grade: C
Description: A heavily modified Cybar Mark I Pistol. It has been repaired and upgraded to near factory conditions. The power supply has been replaced with an unnamed Alien Power Unit. The new power supply makes the gun run a little hotter, which may increase wear and tear, but it sure packs a punch.
Both Kaleb and Daivor were proud of this one. They had taken the old misshapen Cybar pistol and damn near restored it to perfection. Then they had added the new power supply they had developed for Two Gun’s weapons. It had taken a good chunk of time that first day, and Kaleb was glad the Gnome took on the job of drilling new vent holes into the thing.
“You gonna take the Sun Gun.” Daivor asked, looking over at Kaleb’s other go-to weapon.
Unfortunately, Kaleb hadn’t gotten around to upgrading that one. No ideas had sprung to his mind, and he had busied himself with other things. But it was another ranged non-lethal option. Kaleb nodded as he reached for the gun. Daivor looked up at him and produced a pipe from thin air.
“Maybe we could upgrade the casing? Or maybe rewire the solar panels for a better energy transfer.” Daivor puffed on his pipe before adding. “Maybe use some of the &%^$ metal.”
Harsh screeching assaulted Kaleb’s ears as the Gnome said the alien word. Kaleb grimaced down at his Gnome friend, seeing him smiling widely.
“You’re doing that on purpose now.” Kaleb stated.
“Maaaaaybe.”
Kaleb shook his head. With all the work they had been doing the past couple of days, the Gnome had leveled up. Kaleb had quickly gotten the Alien Knowledge skill for his diminutive friend, hoping he could help identify the various metals they had. Some he could, but others proved to be K-Tech prototypes with no names. The bad part was that the Gnome seemed to delight in using the true alien words for the metals. Words Kaleb could never make sense out of.
“You can take the night off, Master Gnome. I will be out saving the city.”
Daivor nodded, taking another puff on his pipe. “Think you could set-up your laptop for me. I want to dig back through the Kersait file.”
“Sure. But seriously, dude, get some sleep. We will always have more work. Remember, I also want to bring a gift to the Brute Clan again.”
“I know.” Daivor nodded. “It will be something to read before I pass out.”
Kaleb shrugged his shoulders and got the laptop set up on the workbench before he waved goodbye to the Gnome.
“Just one last thing.” Kaleb thought as he brought up his Research Point total.
Research Points: 55
After all the upgrading and building, he had just enough to unlock both slots on his legs. He considered the pros and cons of unlocking the slots over the past two days. Ultimately, he had decided if he had enough points, he would do it. Sure, the three days weren’t up yet, but he figured he was just putting off the inevitable. Toward the late game, he would want all his slots unlocked just to use various amounts of gadgets.
“You coming!?” Shouted Abby from the front of the hangar.
She and the others had gathered their gear and were looking back at Kaleb. Kaleb gave them a wave as he clicked through his menus and found what he was looking for.
“20 points for the first one and the 30 for the second.” Kaleb thought as he unlocked both his legs gadget slots. “Just need to think of something cool now.”
Kaleb joined his friends outside the hangar. Two Gun passed him a small ear-comm unit which immediately came to life with Farrah’s voice once Kaleb placed it in his ear.
“Hey Noob! Don’t forget your comms.” She said good-naturedly.
The others laughed as they all had heard the jibe. Kaleb just shook his head and said. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
They all piled into Abby’s small black hover-sedan and set off into the setting sun. As they did, Kaleb had one other thought as he checked his gear.
“Man, I sure hope nothing blows up.”