Casa2 stood back as she put the finishing touches on the new house’s decoration. She has chosen a unique blend of architecture, mixing and matching styles from a rustic wilderness cabin with a Japanese tea house. She had finally settled on using Max’s daemon choices as her theme, hoping that they at least might find it appealing, as Max simply wouldn’t give his opinion.
The property was still lined with her mimic trees, flowers, and insects that would enable her to closely watch for visitors and also aided in maintaining the property. Her latest addition of robotic mimic koi were swimming in patterns through the newly fabricated maze of connecting ponds, around and inside the new house.
Casa2, despite the limitations of her new commercial neural core, still had the habit of multitasking. Despite being able to assess her latest fabrication in the matter compiler remotely, she found it novel to use her new android body to walk through the house and manually open the compiler chamber to view her creation. The pile of fabric shimmered as the last nano-scale scaffolding detached from the work.
She delicately removed the cloth and shook it out. With a swirl that would have played well in a holo-drama, she donned the new cloak. Its fabric was pixelated with shades of color until it settled in place. From most points of view, Casa2 disappeared, as her multiple points of view adjusted the chameleon fabric to paint itself into a perfect image of its surroundings. As long as she had her swarm near, helping to calibrate her deception and also staying still, she could effectively be invisible. The cloak was considered a toy on the MakerIndex, used by children for hide and seek. However, Casa knew that if she wanted to help Max, she might find it useful indeed.
Casa was interrupted as she “heard” an automated alert she had set for herself. Max’s tracker had gone dark.
Not a second too soon. She thought. Max only knows two speeds, fast and recklessly fast.
She replayed his position history. He had indeed gone to the diner, as he had promised, and then spent some time at his academy. However, he had quickly moved from there to travel all the way to the Grand Oaks. His velocity was far too fast for a commercial autopod and his track was very direct until she lost him in the Oak’s disruptive EM presence.
What could have prompted that? An emergency? Or maybe his search for the Tesseract again? I was right not to delay my preparations for this, Casa2 thought, I should have been firmer in warning him away from those woods. I need to check on him. I can’t allow myself to ever lose him again. I’m surprised Bill didn’t disown me for letting his best boy to be in danger.
Casa2’s mech body exited the house, activating the home’s autonomous security systems as she quickly strode outside. She raised the edges of her cloak wide and scores of bee and hornet symbots flew inside and latched onto the folds of the fabric. As the last bug was quickly tucked away, she broke into a run. She leaned forward so far that she was almost horizontal, her incredible speed the only thing preventing the expected fall. Her mechanical legs churned the ground as she tore into the woods, making as straight a line as possible to intercept Max’s point of entry in the reservation without crossing private property or roads.
Good thing most of these woods are public land and underdeveloped. My cloak will keep me hidden if I stumble upon any Utopians. I hope. Casa thought. She maxed her active sensors to see the territory through the trees as she blazed through the woods.
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Charlie raced towards the bear. The damn thing was using a tree as a back scratcher and was growling either in pleasure or pain, he couldn’t tell. Charlie slid to a stop five yards away wondering if he was close enough or far too close. The monstrous beast had its eyes closed as it worked its back up and down on the rough bark. Charlie grabbed a sizable branch and launched it towards the bear.
The chunk of wood sailed through the air, and thanks to Charlie’s Ballistics skill hit the animal right across its snout. With a roar that shook the forest, the bear stood on its hind legs looking for what had hit it. Its dark eyes quickly found and bore into Charlie from the distance. Seeing the bear, as it rose to its full height, he realized that five meters was most definitely far too close.
The bear charged with an angry bellow, barreling toward its red-colored target with all the unstoppable power of a locomotive. With a gulp, Charlie engaged all his agility skills and took off, steering clear of Max and his search, and angling back towards the river and the falls.
Maybe the red-colored chameleon shift was a mistake! he thought It was only supposed to get its attention not enrage it. Also, I think I may have just peed a little.
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Leah trailed behind both Charlie and the bear, using her skills to keep up. She could tell Charlie wasn’t maxing out his speed, kiting the bear away. She grimaced as she ran, holding her slingshot ready.
That showoff is going to get himself killed. He’s letting it get far too close. Leah thought.
Leah pounded after them both, her daemon Athena guided her to a high-rise hill, avoiding the brambles that the others were tearing and being torn in turn by passing through them. She paralleled their path. Leah soon understood Charlie’s intent with Athena’s help. Charlie was tiring the bear out by forcing it to chase him through the worst path. Whenever it got too tight, he would leap out and over the hedges, keeping the bear in sight.
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What the ever-loving fuck! Charlie thought. This bear just doesn’t get tired. Now I’m almost at the river!
Charlie hoped that Max’s search was fruitful. As he crested the last rise, he heard the river. It was loud, an indication that the falls weren’t far off. Charlie saw an old decrepit maple tree at the very edge of the riverbank. There was little to no foliage growth and it stood precariously near the very edge of the riverbank. A plan formed in his head, and Charlie made for it as quickly as he could.
Scrambling up the tree was child’s play. He had advanced his leap skill almost as far as Max and his prodigious strength enabled a quick ascent. Charlie knew that the bear could and would climb, from Max’s earlier stories, but that was just fine. Charlie had something Max didn’t, Stunning and Strobing distance attacks. If he got lucky, maybe the bear would fall right into the river.
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Leah watched the spectacle with equal measures of admiration and dismay. Charlie had climbed the old maple, which while large was a midget compared to the enormous Grand Oaks. The poor thing was struggling to survive in the shadows of the colossus trees and its lack of leaves was a clear indication of struggling health.
The bear had immediately started up the tree after Charlie had trapped himself, but halfway up he had blasted it with a strong Stun and Strobe attack. The beast had fallen over ten feet, pulling down dead branches in its tumble, to land in a heap.
Leah had approached stealthily while the bear was groggy, still utilizing her chameleon skin to blend into the brush. Charlie’s position seems unassailable, but she wanted to be close enough to be able to help with some ranged support if needed. The bear roused itself far too quickly after its stun and fall. The bear shook itself and roared, all the more furious. Charlie’s red tint and constant taunts didn’t allow for anything but action.
The bear howled and climbed, digging its enormous claws into the weak bark as it climbed up again. Leah readied a shot thinking that Charlie might be out of energy as the bear was entirely too close, but finally Charlie let loose his salvo attack again. The bear blinded and disoriented again fell, landing on the very edge of the riverbank.
“Come on!” Leah heard Charlie shout. He hadn’t seen her. He was just venting as the bear was sluggishly rolling on the ground. Leah dropped lower as the bear finally righted itself. It paced under the tree. Looking up at the taunting man in the treetop.
The bear circled and seemed to be leaving as it began to walk further and further away with its pacing. Charlie cursed and yelled at the bear, shaking the branch he was on. With a renewed roar, the bear charged yet again. But this time, it threw its body directly into the trunk of the aged maple tree.
Several of the upper branches fell to the ground and the tree listed ominously. Now Charlie was cursing again, but this time out of fear. Leah was frozen in her hiding space; she would have sworn that the bear had smiled! It retraced its steps, backing away from the tree, and charged it again.
The tree swayed under the impact, and a deep snap was heard. Charlie yelled in alarm as the whole tree fell into the river.
“NO!” Leah yelled and then covered her mouth. Both Charlie and the bear looked her way as Charlie and his tree crashed into the river a second later. She let out an involuntary squeak as the bear’s gaze landed on her. It let out a chuff and charged her.
Athena was screaming for her to run, but a whole second was lost as the bear charged directly for her. With a gasp, she finally unfroze, turned and ran, but the hedge was thick and prevented her from using her full speed. Her leg tangled in the hedge vines, she desperately turned with her slingshot and sent a volley into the bear’s head. The bear roared and dropped its nose down and closed the distance. Bullet after bullet impacted the bear’s head, but it ignored the shots until it smashed into her.
Leah was bleeding, disoriented, and gasping for breath, the bear was right on top of her. Again, that look of calculation passed over its features. It took its arm, bleeding from its earlier falls from the maple tree and worked its mouth over the wound until its muzzle and teeth were red with its blood. With a final roar, it lunged toward the dazed Leah!
Leah flinched and turned as those bloody teeth advanced and filled her vision, but the pain never came. She looked back and saw that the bear's jaws were clamped shut between two hands. The hands were a deep black metal, made of shiny plates and edged in gold. Leah gasped as a hidden figure emerged from a distorted patch of air, shedding a much better chameleon effect than her own.
A robot, a design both delicate and deadly, held the bear in its iron grip. Its outline twisted and solidified as its many-colored cloak was pushed back as it restrained the beast. The bear struggled and twisted, trying to roll over and roar. It succeeded in neither. The robot, clearly unconcerned about the bear, tisked and spoke.
“None of that roughhousing with my friends. Perhaps you need to cool down.” It said with a familiar feminine voice. Leah was stunned.
“Casa?” She asked.
The robot's blank face looked her way, its eye’s blazing sapphire behind its glare shield. It cocked its head and spoke.
“In the…ahem…in the metamaterial, I guess. Doesn’t roll off the vocoder as well as the human phrase, however. Hold on. I need to cool this beastie off before we can talk. Ok?” Casa said as she deftly kicked the bear’s claw as it tried to swing around her to swipe at Leah with a growl.
As Leah flinched and nodded, Casa tilted and shifted her body under the bear. Like lightning, she had repositioned her grip and her leverage. Before Leah could even blink, she had the bear hoisted above her head and with a spinning throw she launched it high into the air. It flew an impossible distance and fell yelping with a splash on the far side of the wide river.
Charlie soon came running, dripping, and sputtering, with his bo staff ready. He stumbled to a halt at the unexpected scene as Casa turned to face him.
“No need for that, Charlie. But we should be on our way before the bear decides to come back. Where’s Max?” She spoke imperiously. She literally had to count to a ten after returning to human speed of thought before he finally stopped gawping and responded.
“Thank God, Casa! It's surprising to see you. Thank you for the help. Right then! We could retrace our steps to get back to Max, but I expect he’s already found his device and will meet us at the top of the Falls.” Charlie said as he finally came to a full understanding of their situation.
“Good. Let’s be quick. Lead the way. I must make sure Max is ok.” Casa swirled her cloak as several insects swooped into the folds. Exchanging shell shocked looks, the pair took off downriver at a run to find Max, with Casa effortlessly pacing them.
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