After Guidry’s conversation with the Shenlong, the family decided to continue exploring the lower sections of the base so they could complete the quest. It was sad that the Shenlong rejected a chance at freedom, but in a way, Death was a form of Freedom.
“Where should we go next?” Matia asked as she stood near the doorway.
“The documents mentioned using Storm Soul Steel in its construction. If we go by the designs on the map we will likely find it in the lower left section, the area with the beaker and gear.” Guidry explained.
“No time to waste. The faster we get this done, the faster we can give it freedom.” Lith said as he put a hand on Guidry’s shoulder. “We’re doing the right thing here bud.”
Guidry nodded solemnly. “I know.”
“What do we do about the power? All of the consoles here are dead. We can’t activate the project.” Enki questioned.
“The base was probably left in low power mode when everyone left. Not sure if it was the merciful thing or not, drawing out its suffering like that, but the power control room should be in the northern part of the map where the battery looking thing was.” Guidry continued.
“So do we knock them out one at a time or should we split up?” Matia asked.
Guidry looked up waiting to see that his grandmother and grandfather would decide. However, they were looking at him expectantly. Did they want him to decide? He didn’t answer immediately. He just looked to and from them both.
“It’s your choice little man.” His grandmother encouraged. “This is your quest.”
“My quest?” she asked. He looked at her with confusion on his face. What did that mean?
“The last level, you aunt got a skill. Sure, we were all involved and got the reward chests after, but the skill cores she absorbed and the skill she got at the end was practically custom made for her and her class.” Fayde explained. “Look around you. This floor is covered in an eternal storm. We’re in a research base floating in the middle of the ocean. There’s a literal storm dragon inside that tank behind you and it talked to you, not any of us. This is your quest.”
Guidry stammered for a moment as the thought set in. A quest custom tailored for him? Was that possible. Furthermore, why? The questions were maddening and did not make the emotional vice on his heart any better. He needed to make a decision, or rather several. Putting his emotions aside, Guidry steeled his resolve.
“We’ll split up. Mom, you and grandma come with me. We’re going to get the power turned back on. Grandpa, Uncle Enki, and Aunty Matia. You guys are going to head over to get the materials ready for the project, although you might have to wait for the power to get turned back on.” Guidry said with confidence.
They all nodded.
“Let’s go.” He said before making his way out of the observation room.
Lith, Enki, and Matia went the opposite way of them down the hallway at a light jog. Of course, the journey to the power control room was not an easy one. They were constantly beset by more crabs, eels, and blade fish. Having their fighting power cut in half did make the fighting more difficult and without their grandfather around to heal their wounds they did have to fight more defensively, but they made it through the waves of aquatic creatures with only a few scratches. It took them roughly an hour to painstakingly make their way to the power related section of the lower levels, and another hour and a half to find what they thought was the power control room.
Seven large tubes fed into seven cylindrical containers the reminded them of the singular tube back in the Shenlong observation room. However, instead of a snake like metal skeleton, a series of copper looking coils wrapped around a metal rod sat inside of each, lightning occasionally sparking down from the tubes. Were these connected to the spikes reaching into the sky on the surface of the base?
“Come on.” Fayde said as she put her hand on her grandson’s shoulder. “Let’s figure out how to turn this thing back on.”
Guidry nodded and they began inspecting the room. Each tube fed into a larger machine beneath the coils. Six of the machines had six cylindrical tubes, roughly three feet in length and a foot in width, extending vertically from a console. The seventh machine had no extended cylinders, but five risen points where the cylinders from the others would have been. There was space for two more, but they were open, exposing a hole into the machine. On the floor were two cylinders that looked like they had burst, exposing the insides.
“These canisters look like batteries.” Guidry said as he looked over the two broken cylinders on the floor.
They were made of a metal casing with layered metals, cloth and powder. There was also residue from a long dried fluid of some kind on the floor that had discolored it.
“Batteries? Why would a place like this operate on batteries?” his mother asked.
“They probably collected and stored the power from the storm in them. See the things in the tube?” He said pointing to the coils. “They are adjusting the flow of the storm that’s being fed into them before moving the energy into the machine. Each of these machines probably power a different part of the base.”
“What makes you come to that conclusion?” Asked his mom.
Guidry put his hand to chin as he took up a thinking posture. He knew there was electricity there, but how did he know? What gave him that sense and how could he explain it to his mother and grandmother. It really boiled down to a feeling.
“Mom, do you feel the shadows around you or the fire you unleash?” He asked.
Trevor was about to say that was a ridiculous notion before she actually took a moment to think about it. Whenever she used her fire skills she expended mental energy. She thought about the way she wanted the fire to move, where it would go, what it would burn. Calling it an extra limb was wrong. There was no physical sensation to it, no feedback when it touched something. And when it expired as the wisps of the flame left the main body, all that she felt was the expenditure of her mental energy. But wasn’t the process of controlling the fire with her mind and energy a form of feeling? And then there was her shadow related skills. She controlled which shadows unleashed the black fires and who they would burn. All she had to do was push mental energy into the shadows and the skill would take care of the rest. But how did she know where all the shadows were, which shadows to activate, when to turn the power off? Because she could feel where they were was the answer. All of a sudden, the implications of her son’s question made sense.
“I do.” She admitted. “And you can feel the energy inside the machines.”
“Yes.” He admitted, happy that his mother understood. “New we need to figure out what machines to power.” He looked around the barely lit room. “Mom, can you give us some light?”
Trevor ignited flames in her hand. “Sure thing baby.”
They took their time looking over the machines, finding that each one held a symbol. The central machine with the two broken batteries had a symbol that looked like what they imagined the overall structure of the base to be with two arrows pointing towards it. Figuring it was the main power for the entire structure, they made note of it and moved on. Identifying the other machines, they found three with symbols familiar to them. One was to Shen’s containment room. The second was to the section of the base that Lith, Enki, and Matia were headed to. The third, confusingly enough, was for the section they were currently in, power control. If the fourth machine to the power control, what was the first one to?
“Maybe the arrows are the key?” Fayde suggested.
“Maybe, but what do arrows mean in relation to the base as a whole?” Trevor continued.
Guidry sat down in thought. He was tired of standing and walking around, and a little sore from all the fighting. He wanted nothing more to relax his body and take a break. Normally sitting down would be relaxing enough, but his muscles strained as they continued to fight to keep him upright. The tilt on the surface of the base was barely noticeable, but here in the lower sections, it seemed almost exaggerated, although he was glad that the water wasn’t reaching their current location. Sitting in knee high water would be fairly uncomfortable. And then Guidry slapped himself in the forehead before coming to a stand.
“It’s a ballast system to keep the base balanced. The water was knee high in the center but there’s hardly any water on this side of the base.” He said walking to one of the three other unidentified machines.
He tried lifting one of the batteries out, but found it stuck. Trying another approach, he tried twisting the battery and found that it could do a quarter turn after which he was able to remove it.
“We need to get the base leveled out before we finish powering the base up. Based on the lean and lack of water here it’s likely that the side of the base the rest went to is submerged.” He continued before slotting the battery into one of the open slots and giving it a quarter turn the opposite way he had done to remove it.
“Can one of you grab another one from the three we haven’t figured out yet?” Guidry asked.
“On it.” Said his grandmother as she walked over to one of the machines that still had six batteries sticking out.
Guidry tried pushing the battery down, but found there was to much resistance. Looking around the base of the battery he found a button, which after pressing, lowered the battery fully into the machine. The room started shaking and he could feel the tilt of the base slowly lessen which made Fayde almost drop her battery. Thankfully their recent gains on the first level had also improved their dexterity and reaction, so she managed not to loose her grip. Within short order they managed to get the other battery slotted and sunk into the machine to fully balance out the base, after which they turned their attention to ensuring the three main facilities they needed were properly powered by pressing the buttons to have their machined accept the currently slotted batteries. All they needed to do now was head back to the room with Shen and wait for the others.
Meanwhile, Lith, Enki, and Matia were bracing themselves in doorways along one of the halls leading towards what they hoped was the manufacturing area. Water was rushing past them, threatening to pull them away with the current.
“What the fuck is happening?” Yelled Enki.
“And why is it happening again?” Matia continued, echoing her brother’s sentiment.
“No idea but hold on.” Lith yelled back.
After another minute, the water had finished running its course and was once again lower than it was previously now barely covering their toes.
“This is the weirdest sinking experience I have ever heard of. Isn’t water supposed to flood in when the ship sinks?” Asked Matia
“Agreed, the proverbial ship here seemed to be righting itself with that logic.” Enki continued.
“Either way, we should keep headed for the materials room. Should be easier now that the water has gone down.” Lith said trying to get the kids back on track.
They had spent way too long wandering back a fourth through the hallways looking from paths that weren’t submerged underwater. They were about to give up and head back and look for the others when the whole complex started shaking. Water began rushing past them and they barely had enough time to grab onto a few doorways before one of them could be dragged off. They did have to defend themselves from eels and razor fish that came rushing by in the water, but Lith was able to heal the wounds they accumulated from the encounters. Thankfully, now they water was gone, and the base seemed to have righted itself. Whether it was Guidry and the others, some sort of divine providence, or the place doing some sort of weird pre sinking adjustments was beyond them. Either way, it only took them another thirty minutes to find the materials room, with the lights coming to life after a few minutes of walking.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“Well, this has to be the place.” Lith said as they looked at a sign that read Materials Production Room in English.
“Do you think the tower is calling us stupid?” Matia asked.
“I’ve got a 4.0 GPA so there’s no way it’s calling me stupid.” Enki countered.
“Well, mine is 3.5, so I’m not that far behind.” Matia retorted as she stuck out her tongue.
“I’m so lucky that my children are so brilliant.” Lith said as he wiped a tear from his eye. There was no way he was going to tell them his high school GPA was 2.5.
Stepping into the room they were greeted by a large series of machines, conveyor belts, dispensers, and what they could only assume was raw or processed materials. Stepping over to a series of terminals with the strange keyboards from earlier, they tried to find one in English. If the pattern they had been seeing so far continued, the tower had already set one up to be in their native language. Thankfully, the twenty-ninth terminal and keyboard they looked at was in English as Enki sat down in front of us using the provided chair. It was surprisingly comfortable despite the strange design. It almost seemed to mold to him. Looking at the terminal there was a prompt to select a material to fabricate followed by a list of mostly unintelligible language. Scrolling down a bit with the keyboard, Enki eventually found the only item listed in English. Storm Soul Steel. Pressing the enter button, Enki was then prompted to choose a design, quantity, and destination. Thankfully, after choosing the metal needed for the project the other selections only had one option, essentially making their job idiot proof. There was a final option to add a mini forge accessory, and after a moment of contemplating, Enki decided to add it to the project as he remembered that Guidry Tech Forge skill required access to a forge to work.
“I’m really starting to think the tower is calling us stupid.” Matia said over he brother’s shoulder.
“Maybe it’s just that easy in the tower.” Lith offered. “It wouldn’t give us a quest we couldn’t complete and is only keeping the information given to what is necessary to complete the quest.”
“That’s a very long winded way of saying the tower calling us stupid.” Enki pointed out.
He and Matia were now staring at Lith suspiciously.
“Hey Dad?” Matia asked in a questioning tone.
“Yes baby girl?” Lith responded.
“What was your GPA?”
Lith was silent for a moment before hanging his head. “2.5”
“How?” Enki asked a bit shocked.
“I hated doing homework.” He admitted. “Plus, chemistry sucked. And social studies got really repetitive. I hate repetitive work.”
Enki and Matia let out a collective sigh before moving away from the terminal. Machines behind them had already started moving containers into what they assumed were furnaces.
“So, that’s it?” Lith asked.
“Yep. Process is automated, and it should deliver the materials to the Shenlong room once it’s done. It’s Lith proof.” Enki joked as he started walking towards the way they came in.
“I’m never gonna live this down am I?”
“The slacker father than was adamant about his daughter doing all of her homework since kindergarten? Not a chance.” Matia said as she joined her brother.
Lith let out an aggrieved sigh before jogging up to his children, wrapping an arm around each of their shoulders. “What parent doesn’t want their children to exceeded their legacy?”
The journey back took them roughly an hour, a drastic improvement on their time to get to the manufacturing room. When they arrived Fayde, Trevor, and Guidry were already there waiting for them.
“Are you guys why the base if floating level now?” Enki asked as he walked through the door.
“Yeah. We figured you guys would need get rid of the water to access the production area.” Guidry responded. “Where are the materials?”
“They’re on the way. You’re lucky they didn’t get washed away with the tide as the base righted itself. We nearly got pulled under ourselves.” Enki said with a playful smile.
“Oh shit. Sorry. I didn’t even think of that.”
“It’s okay bud. We all made it back safe. Now we just have to wait for the materials to arrive.”
“So how do we get this thing started?” Lith asked. “Is Shen still alright with carrying on with the project?”
“Yeah, Shen is still willing to go through with the project.” Guidry answered.
Just then, one of the previously dormant terminals beeped to life. Guidry and Enki walked over to inspect it. It displayed details for the final stage of the project as well as a check list. Power levels were optimum, materials were standing by, subject 5H3N-100N6 was verified. The only thing not checked off on the list was what the terminal called a Receiving Subject that was not present in the Convergence Container, which they assumed was the central tube with the metallic snake skeleton.
“What does that mean?” Trevor asked as they read off the checklist.
“I guess it’s supposed to bond with someone during the process.” Guidry explained. “I didn’t mention it before, but the documents from the office mentioned the project requiring the someone to act as a focus for Shen and the final product.”
“Why did you leave that information out?” his mother asked,
“Because it means that I have to step into that central chamber before the process can begin. The armor will be built around me before infusing it with Shen’s abilities and their innate spirituality, at least that’s according to the documents.”
“Why would you keep that information from us?” his mother asked as she grabbed his shoulders. “Is it dangerous?”
“There’s a seventy-five percent chance of success according to the documents.”
“And the other twenty-five percent?”
“If the project fails, both Shen and I will probably die. Shen certainly will either way, but I have a seventy-five percent chance of survival.”
The room was quiet for a moment. They had all already agreed to complete the project to finish the quest and move on, but as Fayde had said, the survival of their family was the most important. But now, to complete the quest and move on they would have to risk the life of the youngest member of their family.
“Storm-child.” Shen called quietly from their tank.
Guidry walked over to the viewport as Shen’s massive head came into view.
“Hey Shen.” He said with a sad smile. “You ready to get started.”
“Shen, Death. Storm-child, Freedom. Shen, Storm-Child, Freedom.” It said before nodding its head.
As Shen nodded its head, Guidry felt a slight pressure in his chest. At first he thought it was the vice of emotions around his heart tightening, but on further inspection he recognized it as the place where his companion pact skill sat inside his soul.
“You want to bond with me before the end?” Guidry asked.
“Shen, Storm-child, Freedom.” Shen said as it nodded again.
Guidry’s sad smile grew a little deeper as his eyes started to well. “Sure Shen. I won’t let you go through this alone.”
Enki pushed mental energy into the skill he had yet to use. With Shen’s mental push already knocking at the door of the skill, the bond was immediately formed. A faint mental connection formed between the two and Guidry’s smile grew a little less sad as he turned around.
“Let’s get started.” Guidry sad as he walked over to the central glass container.
Enki pressed a button on the console and the cylinder split open to allow Guidry inside. With confidence, he stepped in and turned around and faced his family. No words were said in fear that they would jinx their chances and turn into someone’s final words. Guidry nodded at Enki, and he pressed a button on the console. The glass closed around Enki before the snake like skeleton moved to align itself with his back.
“Initiating phase one.” Enki announced as he read from the screen.
The serpentine backbone aligned with Guidry’s own as the incomplete arms and legs wrapped around his shoulders and thighs. As soon as the metal parts stopped moving, several small mechanical arms released themselves from above Guidry. They began removing small metal scales from a dispenser above his head before placing them over his body staring around his neck where the metal frame adhered to him. The process started slowly at first, but once enough scales were placed more arms joined the process. Eventually Guidry’s neck, shoulders, back, chest, arms, torso, and legs were covered in a thin layer of metal scales. They didn’t look cumbersome, and were fitted neatly to his smaller, still growing figure. Most of the arms pulled away before two copper looking rings were added around his wrists and ankles. They stood out against the blue silver metal that made the rest of his armor. Guidry was about to ask what they were because he didn’t remember seeing them in the schematics from the proposal, but Enki continued to read from the screen. No time for second guesses, they needed to complete the project before Guidry lost his resolve.
“Phase one complete. Ready for phase two?” Enki asked.
Guidry didn’t say anything but nodded in his uncle’s direction. Enki pressed the butting to continue prompting them to hear a pop and whir from inside Shen’s container. Guidry turned around to see what was happening and watches as several massive rings with metal rods were deposited into the tank. Shen swam around the tank, their blue eyes glowing in the water before looking once more towards Guidry in his own container. Several sensations passed through their mental connection. Sorrow. Joy. Hesitation. Resolve. There was more, but once resolve hit, it remained the strongest. Guidry put his hand to the glass around him towards Shen, who nodded before swimming towards the rings. They acted as if they had a mind of their own as they moved towards Shen, adjusting themselves into some weird sequence without crossing the lines that connected them to something above.
“Shen’s in place. Stage two complete.” Enki said before looking over to Guidry once more. “Final Stage is ready.”
“Start the final stage.” Guidry said softly as a tear ran down his face.
Enki hit the commend to start the third and final phase. Several things. First all the lights in the room went dark. Second, the metal rods protruding from the outside of the rings around Shen forcefully injected themselves into the rings causing Shen to roar out in pain as red began to taint the water. Lightning began arcing over Shen’s body which was seeming siphoned into the rings before traveling up the cables. Shortly after that, the container Guidry stood in was drenched in torrents of electricity. Guidry began yelling out in pain.
“Guidry!” Trevor called out as she tried to run forward, only to be held back by Fayde and Lith. “Let go! I have to go to him.”
“You don’t have a lightning ability.” Lith pointed out. “He does. He has a high chance of making it through this. If you try and interfere, you might kill both of yourselves.”
She continued to struggle for a moment as her son and the Shenlong yelled before she eventually let in to her restraints turning them into a hug from her parents. Lightning continued to arc from Shen and down onto Guidry. Each arc seemed to strike one of the scales that made up Enki’s new armor. Once a scale was struck it began to glow slightly, and Guidry could feel the charge remain inside of the metal instead of running a course to try and ground itself out. Yet the pain was unrelenting. The lighting wasn’t hurting Guidry, it was the pain from the scales being struck as they became superheated. Guidry felt like his skin was going to be burnt off. Trying to think of some way to cool it off, Guidry remembered that he don’t just control lighting, she also controlled water. He quickly poured mental energy into his Aquakinesis skill which began filling the tank he was in with water. As the water rose, the scales of his armor began to cool, causing the burning sensation on his skin to lessen. However, as the metals cooled, the temperature of the water began to rise. If this process kept goin, he was soon to turn himself into a crab boil. Thankfully, his aunt Matia was already running a form of damage control. He could see the glass around him slowly beginning to frost over, which only lasted a moment before the constantly changing temperature of water began melting the frost away. Guidry continued to fill the container he was in with water until every part of his body covered in mental was fully submerged, even the parts of the metallic spine that sat on the back of his neck. This of course made him tilt his head to keep it above water, but his skin was saved from blistering and burning off completely.
Since he was taken care of, Guidry chose to check his companion bond with Shen. It was not going well. Not that he expected it to since Shen would die from this, but he was not doing well. They had been kept here too long. He was old and tired. Guidry could also feel that some of the charge in his armor was starting to dwindle and ground into the water around him. His mind was racing to figure out a solution. He first had to figure out how to keep a charge in his armor. That would take some pressure off of Shen. And what better way to charge the scales than with his own electricity. Guidry activated his Electrokinesis skill, once more covering his body with crackling lightning. The metal on his body greedily absorbed his and Shen’s lightning both. He could almost feel the metal changing to a state where it would retain the charge, so he kept the skill going while thinking of how he could help Shen more directly.
Thinking to his recent skill bonding with Shen, Guidry though of the other skill that came from the taming class that made his Storm Dragon Tamer, Enhance. He knew the skill could empower certain aspects of his companion, and that the skill was relatively flexible. He just didn’t know exactly what he needed to do to help Shen through this. Providing Shen with a boost to their health might help, but it would also prolong their suffering. There was no point in boosting their defense, as the metal rods had already pierced their skin. What did Shen need to finish this? He send the impression of the question to Shen through their connection and Shen responded. The response came with a multitude of other impressions, but what Shen needed from him was clear. Determination and will. Shen was willing to complete this, to give up its life for a chance at freedom in another from, they just needed a helping hand from Guidry to finish their transition. What Shen meant by transition was kind of hazy in meaning, but Guidry immediately gave Shen what they needed.
Activating his Enhance skill on Shen, Guidry boosted their ability to influence the world around them with their will. Guidry’s eyes were still focused on Shen, who was barely visible through the haze of red dyed water, but he could see several blue green lights flare to life on the rings holding Shen. They steadily grew brighter as Guidry continued to infuse Shen with their chosen enhancement. The lights kept growing brighter and brighter as a new series of components emerged from the top of Guidry’s tank. Looking up he could see what appeared to be a crown with a metal antler like wreath. They looked nearly identical to Shen’s antlers. The crown itself was simple save for the blue green gem in the center and two long pieces that emerged from the back. They joined at their end, and gaging from their length, Guidry could tell they were meant to meet with the top of the spine of his armor.
Guidry sent an impulse for strong determination and finality to Shen through their link. Shen’s response was immediate and mirrored Guidry’s own sentiments. They both flared their power, unleashing the rest of their mental and physical energies as quickly as their skills would allow. Both of them began yelling from the exertion and pain. Guidry could feel energy gathering in the crown that floated above his head. He was waiting for it to descend but felt like time was running out. He grabbed the crown, pulling it onto his head. He felt the back of it join with the top spinal portion of his armor just before the world went dark.