Kaleb had plenty of time to think as he walked back home. He didn’t calm down, he still fumed over the whole conversation with Syth, but some things bothered him. Two things stuck out for him as weird: one was no matter how much he disliked what had happened, Syth had been technically correct. Second was that the “No contact with any other HLO member” was a weird rule.
The rule seemed designed to either make him either become a villain or take up the life of a civilian. But even if he became a civilian, he could still run into the odd member of the HLO. So he would actively have to avoid Supers working for the HLO that was crazy not to mention difficult. He couldn’t think of a way to make the rule work unless they were planning for him to fail.
Kaleb pondered the problem all the way to his home. As he turned the corner onto his block, he immediately noticed a few things. His block was way more active than it had been in the past. People were out and about in the street. Joggers running, couples pushing strollers, and people out working on their lawns. Next he noticed a large city van, with some electric company’s logo on the side, sitting almost across from his house.
The van was a couple of houses down from his home and didn’t seem like it was near anything electrical. Kaleb almost sighed at the obviousness of it all. Were they purposefully being overt? If so, why even use the van? Two black-suited agents in a sedan would still get the message across. We are watching you, so don’t fuck up. Kaleb nodded at a few people as he walked down the street to his house.
I wondered if they have a real baby in that stroller.? Kaleb thought as the couple walked on the opposite side of the street. A few of the people out and about he recognized, but most of them he assumed worked for the HLO. This is overkill. What am I going to do? Go on a rampage? Well, I guess after my talk with Syth, that’s a fair assumption. But, really, what am I going to do?
As Kaleb entered his home, he had a sudden flash of memory. He wanted to check out the Lair Obadiah Nova had gifted to him today. Could he still do it with his new HLO minders? Probably not. As he looked around his home, Kaleb was sure about one thing. He couldn’t stay here, But first he had to deal with his new watchers. Kaleb moved into his kitchen as he removed the HLO communicator from his wrist and threw it on his couch.
The HLO would track him through that and he didn’t want one of his friends to contact him and get him in trouble by mistake. Kaleb stuck his head into his garage as he reached for a wall-mounted phone line. He never thought he would use the archaic piece of equipment but right now it was all he had. In the garage he saw Daivor had woken up and was working on his floating chariot, probably working on the power distribution. Kaleb smiled at his lab and assistant as he dialed.
“Nine-One-One, what’s your emergency?” said the calm female voice over the phone.
Kaleb grinned as he tried to sound worried. “Yes. There’s a suspicious van in my neighborhood. It’s sitting across the street and not really doing anything. But the sign on the side of the van say’s that they are with the city.”
After a short amount of typing the voice spoke again. “Okay, sir, this line is specifically for emergencies. It sounds like you would like the police to do a drive-through of your neighbor…”
“Yes! Please, could you just send someone!” Kaleb said excitedly trying to sound like a concerned citizen.
“Sure, sir, I’ll see if I can arrange something. Could you give me your address?” The operator said sighing loudly.
Kaleb gave the nice lady his neighbor’s address and quickly hung up. He would prefer to remain as anonymous as possible. He wasn’t sure if they would do anything, really, But Kaleb had also wanted to check something. Moving into his living room, Kaleb looked through the blinds of his front window, staring at the van.
Sure enough, a few minutes after his call there was some movement from within the van. As he watched, Kaleb saw a person move into the driver seat from the back of the van. Soon after the van started up, honked twice, and then drove away. Wow, make it more obvious why don’t you. Kaleb smirked as he moved into his garage. His house and phones lines had definitely been compromised.
He needed to get out of here as quick as possible. But he also needed to take whatever he could. Daivor looked up from his work as Kaleb entered. Seeing Kaleb’s demeanor, Daivor set his miniature set of tools to the side. Where does he get those things? Kaleb wondered as he moved to the center of his garage and looked around. The green bins would be easy to move but he only had limited space in his car. He didn’t think he would get the chance to come back for more stuff.
Kaleb sighed loudly as he mentally prioritized the things in his garage.
“Boss?” Daivor asked curiously.
“We got to move, Daivor. Shits gone sideways.”
Daivor grinned. “Your fault?”
Kaleb snorted a laugh. “Yeah, probably. But I don’t know how much of this stuff I can take.”
Daivor closed the panel on the repulsor he was working on and activated his chariot. Moving to his house Daivor went inside. Kaleb ignored the Gnome as he moved to open his garage, maybe looking in his car would help. As the garage opened, Kaleb shifted some of his junk around. Daivor walked back out of his home carrying a tiny metal box.
Kaleb almost laughed out loud. “Thanks, Daivor. But I don’t think that box will help.”
“Kid, do you think Builder Gnomes stay in one place? We move around to, you know. And when we do, we sometimes have to take a lot of stuff. So we have a little trick for moving. But know that this will put me out of commission for a while.” Daivor explained.
Kaleb was excited if Daivor could make moving things easier, he would take the help. But he wasn’t so sure about Daivor being out of commission.
“What’s it do to you and for how long?” Kaleb asked worried for his tiny friend.
Daivor shrugged. “It’s just Mana exhaustion. So it will knock me out and I won’t be able to retrieve your stuff until I wake up. But calling the stuff back is easier, so there’s that. Also, I might not get everything.”
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Kaleb bit his lip, a little torn about the decision. Daivor, however seemed to have no hesitation about the idea. Almost as soon as he gathered himself Daivor was muttering a spell. Kaleb couldn’t quite make out the words. It was like the Gnome was speaking just low enough to not be heard, but when Kaleb tried to make out a word they would slip away. He was trying to decipher what Daivor saying when a large window appeared in front of him.
*Your companion, Daivor, has begun Lab Relocation*
Accept?
[Yes] [No]
*WARNING!*
It can take only 70% of The Pit’s equipment and materials.
Kaleb swallowed as he stared at the screen. 70% was far more than he had expected taking, it was still at the cost of losing Daivor for a while though. Kaleb mentally clicked yes and stood back as a wave of magic pulsed through his garage. There was a sharp inhalation of air and then suddenly everything in his garage was sucked into the box held in Daivor’s hand. Kaleb scrambled to get out of the way as the garage was utter chaos for a few seconds.
Then as quickly as it began, it was over and Daivor collapsed backward. Kaleb stared around his garage in awe. It sucked his workbench, lathe, homemade smelter, anvil, and a bunch of other things into the box. He still had a few bins, a couple of tools and stacks of sheet metal left over but the spell had packed away a good deal of his lab.
Kaleb gently retrieved his companion and his box. Kaleb smiled down at the Gnome, he had been a hell of a find. The small Gnome looked like a tiny cherub to Kaleb as he cradled the small guy and moved to his car. When he had that thought Daivor snored loudly and farted in his hands. Oh damn it, Daivor! Oh god, it’s warm! Oh, now he’s drooling!
Kaleb quickly moved to his passenger side door and firmly set Daivor onto the passenger seat along with the box of goods. Wiping his hands on the roof of his car Kaleb moved to gather whatever else he could. He could fit a little more in the back seat of his car and he wanted to make sure that some of the more important items were taken. Such as his newly gained vials of the Phreak’s blood. Kaleb wasn’t sure how useful they would be, but for now he knew he wanted to keep them close.
As Kaleb finished packing up, he noticed a few eyes on him. While the van had left, there were still a few stragglers from the HLO. Kaleb smiled a wave at a few, making sure they knew that he knew they were there. Kaleb made a final run-through of his house, grabbing a few sets of clothes, some food, and the coffeemaker. Once he was done Kaleb got in and drove off. As he drove away, he watched the HLO stooges watch him until he turned the corner.
Kaleb made a beeline for downtown Austin. His new Lair was to the east, but first he wanted to lose whatever tail the HLO was sure to have put on him. Kaleb did a few laps around downtown Austin, occasionally he would stop his car at a hotel or a convenience store and look around. He checked the sky too; he didn’t need to be surprised by some drone. After a few hours of driving and backtracking, Kaleb made his way to the airfield in Imperial Valley.
The drive barely took him twenty minutes and, luckily, the roads were flat most of the way there. Kaleb kept one-eye on his rear-view mirror as he made his way to Imperial Valley. He remembered Farrah saying that the Airfield was just south of there. Once Kaleb spotted the area though, he couldn’t help but be underwhelmed.
He was moving alongside a gated airfield that was all dirt. The air control tower looked like it was boarded up and hadn’t been used in ages. The aircraft hangar on the property didn’t look better, really. The whole field was one great big dirt pit with one point of access. A dinky little gate and one guard shack that looked like it would fall over from a stiff breeze.
Kaleb thought he would have to open the gate himself. But, when he approached the front gate it surprised him to see an older man with a long white beard and a beer gut step out from the guard shack. The man looked like Santa Claus in a security uniform as he sauntered over to Kaleb’s window. Kaleb lowered the window was about to speak when the guard interrupted him, speaking seemingly by rote.
“There is no treasure, hidden base, evil lair, or undiscovered mystical dimensions on this property. This is private land owned by a private citizen. No government or private entity may pass onto this property without prior authorization. Please vacate the premises within the next five minutes or I will be forced to move you, your vehicle, and all invisible individuals following you.”
Invisible?! Kaleb thought as he slapped himself in the head. They have invisible people working for them. Why wouldn’t they? And I lead them right here. Kaleb grimaced as he looked back to the security Santa that watched the property for Obadiah. Kaleb wasn’t sure the man would keep out the HLO, but…
“Excuse me…” Kaleb started.
“Four minutes, sir.” Said the guard.
Kaleb smiled a tooth-filled smile. “Yes, but you see Obadiah Nova gifted me this land. He should have transferred the deed to my name. Professor Pack Rat.”
The guard stared at Kaleb for a couple of seconds before leaning in his guard shack saying dubiously. “Oh really? Well, lets just see about that.”
Santa pulled a rectangular tablet from his guard shack and scrolled through something. It didn’t take him long to find what he was looking for. Once he did however Kaleb noticed a slight change in the way the man stood. He stood up straighter and brushed a hand down the front of his uniform, the old man seemed bursting with energy suddenly.
“Ha! Looks like you are correct, Sir. You are the new boss. Hot damn! It’s about time! My name is Robkronmus P. Bodillian, though most just call me Bob. It is great to meet you, sir!” said Bob.
Kaleb smiled at the jubilant security guard. “Thank you, Bob. It’s nice to be welcome. Now you said something about governments and private entities not being allowed onto the property. Does that include the HLO?”
Bob smiled as he looked from Kaleb to just behind Kaleb’s car. “Why yes sir, it does. Am I to take it that these here fellers are not with you?”
“No Bob, they are not.”
“All right then, sir” Said Bob grinning and moving behind Kaleb’s car excitedly.
Kaleb got out of his car quickly worried that the old man would hurt himself. As he did, he watched as Bob raised his foot and spread his arms wide. Kaleb almost laughed at the odd one-legged stance until Bob slammed his foot down and clapped. Then it was all Kaleb could do to remain standing let alone laugh.
The ground shook and Kaleb ears popped as a large change in air pressure occurred nearby. As Kaleb finally gave up on standing and fell on his ass, he watched as two black sedan’s appeared behind his car. The cars shook, their windows shattered and their tires all popped as the men inside bounced around. Soon the tremors stopped and Bob turned around smiling to see Kaleb on the ground, thunderstruck.
“Oh, I am sorry about that, sir. I got a little overzealous again. But you see I don’t like those HLO boys. I was a Hunter’s Association man, myself, But those bastards ran the association right out of town.” Bob said helping Kaleb to his feet.
Kaleb wasn’t sure if he was nodding or if his head was vibrating, but he patted bob on his arm. “It’s all right, Bob. I just didn’t want them following me inside.”
Bob smiled behind his large white beard. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that, sir. I will make sure no one crosses the fence. Although if you could get the perimeter defenses working again. That would help me a lot.”
“Perimeter defenses?” Kaleb asked moving to his car.
“Yes sir. They equipped the Hangar with force fields, turrets, AP mines, and many defense mechanisms. None of them have every been powered up before though. This place has gone unused for quite a while.”
Kaleb nodded again. “Okay, Bob. I’ll see about getting some of those systems up and running for you. Until then, is there a way you can contact me if anymore of our HLO friends turn up?”
“Oh, yes, sir. There is a direct line from guard house to the main office in the hangar. So if you need anything just give me a ring.” Bob said happily holding the car door open for Kaleb.
“Thank you, Bob.”
Kaleb got in the car and checked on Daivor. The Gnome was in danger of drowning in his own drool, but otherwise seemed fine. Kaleb gave Bob a final wave as the guard opened the gate and let him through. Kaleb could see the HLO suits wobbling out of their cars disoriented, a few even threw up as Bob laughed at their predicament.
Kaleb thought about what Bob had said as he drove down the dirt runway to the squat hangar. Hunter’s Association, huh? Didn’t Farrah mention something about not having to work with the HLO? Kaleb wondered as he glanced at his wrist where the HLO communicator had been.