Kaleb and Farrah found some pens and paper in the office. They left Daivor to find a good place to set up the Mechanics Room. After he finished complaining about the heat. Kaleb wrote several letters to Abby, Jar-lock, Two-Gun and Claire, and he even wrote one for Roy. Mostly he warned Roy to not go by his house or look for him. He knew it was probably useless; the boy was head-strong. But he made sure not to tell Roy where he had gone.
For the others he explained what had happened and the fallout that from his choices. Kaleb explained that he wanted to create a super-group of vigilantes. His goal was for them to do so much good in Austin that City Hall would have to recognize them. He also warned that if they wanted to visit him, they would have to leave their HLO communicators behind.
Farrah looked through the hangar’s terminal. But it limited her access because she didn’t own the Lair. She could look through the Floor Plan though and she used it to plan out several rooms they would need. She wanted a Command Center, and she was adamant about having some separate living areas. Kaleb agreed, and the two kicked around ideas about where to get what they needed. Kaleb wanted to just buy second-hand from Under-Town but Farrah wasn’t having it. She refused to use a mattress from down there.
“Look,” Kaleb sighed from his seat at the desk. “Just buy what you want for your room and I’ll do the same. As long as we have the furniture we can create the room.”
“Fine. I suggest you tell the others the same. Maybe they can bring their own stuff from home and not have to deal with Under-Town’s sloppy seconds.” Said Farrah.
Kaleb just sighed again and added the information to each letter. “What will happen to our in-game homes if we don’t stay there for a while?”
Farrah shrugged. “As I understand it after a few days of not using the homes the game will suspend the property. That way Super-Groups can live together and not worry about paying twice for two properties.”
“That’s nice of the game designers.” Kaleb said finishing the letters and standing up.
“Well, they have to make the game fun. Too many property taxes isn’t fun.” Farrah shrugged as she stuck her hand out for the letters.
Kaleb handed them over as a sharp beep came from the hangar’s terminal. Looking over the screens he saw that he now had a 100% next to the Mechanics Room on the Floor Plan. Kaleb moved out to the Hangar floor and searched for Daivor finding him and the stuff from his garage in the Northeast corner. The Gnome had apparently unpacked.
Smiling Kaleb shouted. “I take it that’s where you want things?”
“Yeah. Now how about you bring those pointlessly long legs over here. My hover chariot is up on the workbench. Gods know why!” Daivor shouted back.
Kaleb groaned but before he took a step, Farrah spoke up behind him. “I’ll do it. Then I’ll run these letters to the others. Then I guess I’ll get a moving truck and move the bed from my apartment to here.”
Kaleb nodded his head as he went back to the office. Behind him he could just make out Daivor saying something inappropriate. Once he was in the office, he moved to the terminal to set up his Mechanics Room. He remembered that the price for the room was 2,000 credits but once he placed the room on the Floor Plan; he got a surprise. He could change the shape and size of the room for a price.
Kaleb could change not only the size of the room but also he could arrange all his stuff in the Planner. He could add walls, decide how much power the room used, place outlets on the walls. The system automatically set the room to draw 100% of the energy it needed from the Lair’s generators. As Kaleb was playing with the interface, he heard Daivor float into the room. Kaleb pointed to one of the terminal’s screens.
“Where do you want your house? I can place it anywhere from here.”
Daivor looked at the screen as Kaleb drug a tiny representation of Daivor’s house across the screen. “Four feet south of the northeast corner, along the eastern wall.”
Kaleb counted out the feet and set the Gnome Home down. Afterward he built another wall twenty feet away from the eastern wall. It gave him a rather large work area to start with and with only three walls he could look out onto the hangar floor as he worked. Moving things around so the suited him, Kaleb finished by linking his bank account to the terminal and then paid for the room.
*Congratulations*
You have added your first room to your lair.
You have added the Mechanics Room.
Cost of the Room: 3,000 (20 ft room) + 500 (10 ft steel wall) + 50 (Two outlets) = 3,550 credits
*Notice*
The System has detected a Gnome Home.
Please be advised: All benefits will be limited to the (Mechanics Room.)
Increase the range by leveling up the Gnome Home and it’s resident.
Kaleb exhaled loudly and smiled at Daivor. “Well, that’s one thing done.”
Daivor leaned on his chariot’s control console. “What else we need to do?”
Kaleb pointed back to the terminal and brought up the Floor Plan. Kaleb tapped a finger on a spot just outside the hangar. The two turrets appeared to be underground and were on either side of the main hangar doors. The one to the right of the door had a red circle with a dash through it on top of the image.
“That turret outside has something obstructing it. I also want to know what kind of ammo it takes.”
Daivor rubbed his beard. “Why not just change them to energy weapons?”
Kaleb shook his head. “The one generator that is working isn’t going at full capacity. The other two need repairs.”
“Geez. Shouldn’t that be our priority?” Daivor asked.
Kaleb just shook his head and switched the Floor Plan to the second floor. The second floor comprised a hallway with sixteen rooms, eight to either side. They clearly meant it to be the main living area. Kaleb found it interesting that the Floor Plan was much bigger than the current amount of space taken up by the rooms. He figured it meant that he could expand the second floor as he wanted.
Kaleb tapped on another ‘No Symbol.’ at the entrance to the second floor. “Both the second and third floors have obstructions stopping us from getting down there. I figure we deal with the turret first then see what we need to get down to the second floor. If we can build something we do if not we wait until we go to Under-Town tonight and get something then.”
Daivor nodded and turned for the door. “Sound good, boss. Let’s get to it.”
Kaleb nodded and followed the floating Gnome out. On the way he grabbed a set of keys that were hanging just inside the office door. Looking through them as he walked he noticed they were for the various doors around the hangar. Two of the keys differed completely from the others though. One was a black plastic key with a computer chip built into the tip. The other had four sets of teeth sticking out of the key’s shank.
When they arrived at the number one turrets emplacement Kaleb discovered what the second key was for. There was a locked panel with a keyhole. Guessing that the panel was for just this occasion, Kaleb used the key and opened the panel revealing a switch. Turning the handle opened a dark square recess into the ground. Using a ladder built into the wall of the hole Kaleb climbed down as Daivor floated nearby. They both kept their eyes on the tracks the turret used to raise itself to ground level.
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“Well, there’s your problem.” Daivor said with a smile in his voice.
Looking to where Daivor was pointing, Kaleb grimaced. “How they hell did that even get down here?”
Stuck between the large tracks and the platform the turret was the corpse of a large rodent Kaleb couldn’t identify. Kaleb blew out a breath in exasperation and, ignoring the chuckling Gnome, reached for the creature with his metal hand. It took a few good tugs and some careful shimmying but eventual he managed to… make everything worse.
“Oh by Dalvenor, boss.” Daivor said as the decaying body of the rodent split in half.
It filled the tunnel with the scent of decaying organs which Kaleb tried hard not to breathe. Throwing the carcass in his hands up and out, Kaleb continued cleaning the tracks of the remaining body parts. Once he finished, Kaleb climbed out of turret hole and locked up. As soon as they were out they pair rushed back into the hangar. Daivor to escape the smell and Kaleb to find something to wipe off his metal arm.
Moving to his Mechanics Room Kaleb found an old lab coat which he used along with a small water spell to clean his arm. He had to be careful not to use too much water or he would short out his hand. As the pair took a break Kaleb suddenly slapped his forehead.
“Damn it! I didn’t check the ammo caliber.”
Daivor had grabbed a flask of something from inside his house. When he finished drinking, he answered Kaleb. “It was a twin barrel belt-fed fifty-caliber machine gun. Enough power to make many people think twice.”
Kaleb nodded his thanks and made a mental note to raise both turrets at some point. To at least air them out. Once they pair were done resting and toweling off Kaleb jerked his head to the far west of the hangar. The access to the second floor was in the hangar’s floor, a little north of the exact center of the western wall. Once they walked to where the Floor Plan had showed the stairs to the second floor were, they both looked around.
Kaleb found it this time, and it was also the where the other weird key came in handy. There was a small pad on the wall with a slit for the plastic key. Once Kaleb held the key in place for a few seconds, the floor shook and shifted back. A wide section of the hangar floor slid back to reveal stairs leading to the second floor. Kaleb pocketed the key then started down the stairs.
They didn’t have to go far however as the obstruction made itself immediately apparent. At the base of the stairs, almost from nowhere, was a large pile of rubble. Kaleb didn’t understand it, the walls of the second floor looked fine and nothing around the rubble looked damage or disturbed. Turning to Daivor, Kaleb saw the Gnome scratching his beard in thought.
“What the hell!? Where did all this come from?! Nothing else down here has been damaged!” Kaleb complained loudly.
“Hmm, yeah.” Daivor said, almost uninterested.
Kaleb sighed, familiar with that tone of voice from an NPC. The System had gated off the second floor. He hated when games did that, it just had to make him work for the lower floors. He already had the base, damn it! Kaleb turned to Daivor and asked a different question, moving things along and hoping the third floor was, at least, believably blocked.
“So what do you think?”
Daivor seemed to snap out of his thoughts. “Oh, I’d say a sledgehammer or a pickaxe could take some of this stuff down easy enough. You could even move some smaller pieces with just your hands.”
“Says the Gnome who won’t be moving any of it.” Kaleb grinned at Daivor.
The Gnome made a rude gesture before he went on. “Problem is, you don’t have a sledgehammer or pickaxe.”
Kaleb nodded. “Well, I needed to go to Under-Town, anyway. So for now how about we fire up the old workbench and make some weapons.”
Daivor raised an eyebrow. “Not that I’m saying no, But why and what should we build?”
Kaleb shrugged. “We will need stuff to trade when we go to Under-Town. I would rather make and spend money down there then dip into my current funds.”
“Smart plan. Didn’t you get a bunch of blueprints for stuff recently?”
“Yeah. Let’s give them a look and build what looks quick and easy.” Kaleb said as they left the staircase and went back to the hangar’s main floor.
Kaleb left the door to the second floor open as he moved to his Mechanics Room. He figured it would need to remain open most of the time, anyway. Otherwise, once they got the Super-Group going, he would have to run back and forth to open and close the door. Kaleb laid all four Blueprints he had received from the Phreaks across his workbench.
Daivor parked his chariot on the table and moved to look at each one. Kaleb took stock of each as well. He had the Tiger’s Claw, which was a basic knuckle duster with knifes on it. He had the Horn-Tipped Spear, which was a spear with a rhino horn as the tip. The lion helmet, which Kaleb thought just looked cool. Finally, there was the Feathered Pants and for the life of him, Kaleb could not think of a use for them.
Even Daivor snorted when he walked over the blueprint. Eventually the small Gnome tapped his foot against two blueprints. The Tiger Claws and the Horn-Tipped Spear.
“These two will be the easiest to make. The Lion helmet is a little ostentatious and we really don’t have the tools for that level of detail. As for the chicken pants… I… no.” Daivor explained.
Picking up the Spear blueprint Kaleb raised a concern. “We don’t exactly have Rhino horns.”
Daivor snorted and pointed at the Ifirt boxes and then the lathe. “You have something way better: Claws of an Ifrit, not to mention teeth. And if it comes down to it, we can use the lathe to shape the metal into a horn.”
Kaleb nodded and looked over the Tiger Claw blueprint. It really was rather simple, all he had to do was screw four blades onto a set of brass knuckles. He would have to set a Resizing Rune on the brass knuckles and the knives, he would have to make one at a time. But Daivor was right, these two would be the easiest to make right now.
Kaleb fired up his smelter and lathe and went to work alongside Daivor. Daivor worked the lathe with telekinesis and made brass knuckles out of their available metal. Meanwhile Kaleb was happily using his anvil, pounding the knives into shape. The pair worked for a few hours, switching between spears or claws. As Kaleb was quenching a knife when he thought he heard a ringing.
“HEY! Daivor you hear that!” Kaleb shouted as he set his small tongs aside.
Daivor waved his hand, and the lathe slowed to a stop. Just as everything got quiet, Kaleb heard the phone in the office ring. Wiping the sweat from his face Kaleb hurried to the office and picked up the phone.
“Yeah, Bob?”
Bob’s voice came through the landline, all business. “Yes, sir. I have a cantankerous old cuss out here with a good looking green British lady...”
“I’ll show you Cantankerous, you jumped up Mall Santa!” Two Gun’s voice shouted in the background.
“Yeah, they say they are friends of yours? Should I let them through?” Bob asked.
“Yes, Bob, please do. And I am expecting a few more friends. One’s a short woman by the name of Abby and the other is a barrel-chested Warlock named Jar-lock.” Kaleb explained.
“All right, sir, I’ve got those names written here in front of me. I’ll send them on through if they stop by.”
“Thanks again, Bob. Bye.”
“It’s the job. Goodbye, Sir.” Bob responded, hanging up.
Kaleb rubbed his hands together after he set down the phone. Claire and Two Gun were good people and prolific gamers. They would definitely want in on what he was trying to do. He smiled to himself as he moved into the hangar. He explained to Daivor about the call and moved to wait for his guest outside the hangar. Daivor elected to keep working.
As Kaleb moved through the hangar, he glanced at the hole in the floor leading to the second floor. With Claire’s help the debris would be a piece of cake. They could probably get some rooms cleared out by the end of the day. Kaleb stood outside the hangar and watched as a red hover car drove down the runway toward him. Kaleb briefly wondered where they got the car, but they had been playing the game same as him. Why wouldn’t they have a car?
The red car drifted to a stop on the right-hand side of the hangar door and Kaleb moved to greet them. Two Gun jumped out of the passenger side with a big grin on his face while Claire fiddled with something on the steering wheel before exiting.
“Nice car.” Kaleb said.
Two Gun’s grin seemed to get even wider. “Yeah, she is a beauty. There was a hell of a price tag on her too.”
“Yes, but HE is well worth it.” Claire said emphasizing the ‘he’ as she walked up and gave Kaleb a hug.
Kaleb laughed as he nodded his head. “Well, it’s good to see you both out here. I was hoping more people would come out to join me.”
Two Gun and Claire’s faces went blank, and they glanced at each other awkwardly. Kaleb’s heart leaped to his throat as he thought that he had guessed wrong. He glanced at their wrists to see that neither was wearing the HLO communicator. So that was a good thing at least, but then why the awkward looks. It was Two Gun who broke the silence.
“Ahh, look kid, there’s something we need to talk about…” The old gunslinger drifted off awkwardly.
Kaleb stared at the pair worriedly until Claire gave a rather loud snort before she laughed. The sound seemed to break the awkward silence around them as Two Gun joined his wife in laughing. Kaleb stared at the pair confused until he realized they had duped him.
“Your face!” Two Gun cackled. “You looked like we just took away your puppy.”
“I am sorry, love, he convinced me it would be funny.” Claire chortled into her hand.
Kaleb sighed as he put his hands on his hips. Looking past the chuckling couple Kaleb could see boxes of clothes and other items in the back seat of their car. The pair had come to join up, but they obviously had to make Kaleb sweat a little before they did. He shook his head as his worry melted off of him. He wasn’t alone, most gamers would enjoy a challenge like this.
“Okay you two, wrap it up. We have work to do.” Kaleb said.
Two Gun wiped the corner of his eye with a finger while asking. “What kind of work?”
Kaleb stared into the hangar near where the hole to the second floor was. He grinned a wide smiled as he turned back to Claire and Two Gun.
“Just some light housecleaning.” Kaleb said through his wide grin.