Sophia and the other girls on Travis's team agreed to at least come by and see the place before deciding if they were interested or not, though Narita, the last woman, was already fully on board. Greg wasn't sure why all of them weren't fully on board, but apparently living with a bunch of strangers made some people nervous. It was like they'd never been to college or something. Still, even being nervous, the idea of living in an actual building with bathrooms and showers was significantly more appealing than trying to find a cave to camp out in somewhere. Roughing it in the wilderness was getting old fast. So, after letting the rest of the squad know what was going on, they all returned to the headquarters and Greg and Tessa gave the four of them a tour.
“This is entrapment.” Georgia grumbled, practically melting into a couch and refusing to get up. “How am I supposed to go back to sitting on rocks after this?”
“Hey, I can make couches anywhere.” Greg pointed out. “If you want, I can build you a place to stay somewhere else.”
Georgia rolled her eyes. “We've seen what your smoke can do. Living in a place you've built out of it would be worse than living here.”
“I don't have to build it out of smoke.” Greg replied. “I can use my smoke to transform other materials, so I wouldn't have to leave any around. Though honestly, if I actually was going to try anything, it wouldn't actually matter if I made it out of smoke, since all I'd really need to know is where you are.”
“Which means that if we want a couch, we have to deal with you, and if we have to deal with you, we might as well just live here.” Georgia summed up. “Therefore, entrapment.”
“This place is ridiculously nice.” Jen muttered. “Though you probably could have won me over with a shower, and not even a hot one. I haven't felt clean in weeks.”
Sophia nodded in agreement. “I'm looking forward to having an actual bed for a change. The only question is, what's the cost?” She asked, turning to Greg and Tessa.
Greg cocked his head. “Nothing? I mean, I guess we could charge you challenge points or something for rent if that makes you more comfortable, but honestly I just want to help. Particularly since I kinda pushed things along, you know? It seems rude to cause a mess and not help clean up after.”
Georgia frowned at him. “You didn't cause anything. The mess was already there, Travis and Sophia were just ignoring it. And they needed a push. If anything they should be thanking you! You don't need to feel obligated to help us out because you finally did what none of us had the guts to do and sat the two of them down so they could finally talk.”
Greg scratched his head. “I suppose that's fair… I don't know, I guess I just don't see a reason not to help you guys out. Plus, that's kind of the point of what we're trying to do here, isn't it?” He asked, turning to Tessa. “Creating a place where people can feel safe? That's what we're doing, right? There's not much point to it if the only people we ever protect are our friends.”
Tessa nodded slowly. “True… though I think we should transition this building into more of an advanced training complex, filling it with more training aids like that illusion device, then create our own complex elsewhere for people to live. Because as nice as this building is, there's no way it can house the amount of people we're going to need it to as we grow. Plus, it would allow us to protect the things that are actually valuable, while still being able to let in random strangers.”
Greg paused. “Is that something I should start working on?”
Tessa shook her head. “No, we're still working on establishing relationships with the other groups, and it's going to take us time to build up a significant amount of training aids anyway, so there's no reason not to live here for now. It shouldn't be that complicated a project for you anyway, since it's all going to be above ground.”
“Ah, gotcha.” Greg nodded, turning back to Sophia. “So yeah, don't worry about the cost. You're just the first people our faction is going to help.”
Georgia eyed him cautiously. “Your faction?”
“Yeah, see, my teacher made a really good point about the fact that we're going to need a faction at some point, since trying to tame a wild planet on our own wouldn't work out too well, and since I have the resources available to me, why not work to make a faction I can actually be proud to be a part of?” Greg explained. “We're not planning on getting involved with all the fighting over resources the other factions are doing, we just want to make a place where people can feel safe and work together peacefully.”
Georgia stared at him for a moment, before turning to Narita. “Is he serious?”
“He hasn't spoken a single lie as far as I can tell.” Narita replied.
Georgia shook her head. “Unbelievable.”
“Literally.” Jen muttered. “I feel like a kid being offered candy to get in a van.”
Tessa sighed. “I get that, I really do. If I was in your position, I probably wouldn't have even come here. But I swear, all we're trying to do is help. I know everything that happened back on Earth has made trusting people… difficult, particularly people with power, but Greg's one of the good ones, and he's done more than enough to prove it.”
Jen glanced at Narita, who nodded, and let out a sigh. “Sorry. I guess I've heard a few too many horror stories about factions luring pretty young girls into their base only to lock them up and use them as ‘rewards’ for their men.”
Greg's eyes hardened. “Is that so. You wouldn't happen to know anyone who's actually doing that, would you?”
Jen hesitated, giving him a weird look. “No? It's- just one of those rumors that goes around. The sort of thing you hear happened to the friend of a friend of a friend of a friend, which may be true or may just be the product of everyone's subconscious fear. A lot of people are worried about getting screwed over by the factions.”
Greg clicked his tongue. “Damn.”
“Damn? Really?” Georgia asked skeptically.
Greg shrugged. “A problem I know about is a problem I can fix. I can't do anything about a problem that may or may not even exist. So, damn.”
Georgia blinked. “You think you can fix factions kidnapping people?”
“Well, if I can't, I can at least make their lives incredibly inconvenient.” Greg chuckled. “Like maybe covering whatever development challenge they control in a solid block of steel, or turning any structures they've built into smoke.”
Georgia frowned. “And what about when they start targeting you? What if they go after your friends or your faction?”
Greg cocked his head. “Then we fight? Maybe we lose? Maybe things get bad for a bit? But the other option is letting assholes control our lives, and that isn't something I'm going to accept if there's anything I can do about it.”
Georgia eyed him strangely for a moment, before turning to Sophia. “Okay, I think we can stay here.”
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
*
After everyone got settled, Narita approached Greg. “Would you be interested in discussing your smoke now?”
Greg cocked his head. “That depends. How serious are you about wanting to study my smoke? Because if it's just a casual interest, we can talk about it now, but if you really want to get into it, I have dedicated lab time every day from one to three specifically for trying to figure out more about my smoke, and you're welcome to join if you like.”
Narita paused. “You have dedicated lab time specifically for studying your ability? How did you manage that?”
“Oh, I'm the Archmage's apprentice.” Greg explained. “She set it up so I can learn more about my natural mana, which is apparently pretty important if I want to become an archmage myself one day.”
“I see…” Narita muttered, giving him an odd look. “I must admit, I don't think I'd be very helpful in a lab setting. My ability isn't technical, it simply gives me hints of something's true nature, and the more complex the subject, the harder it is for me to see it clearly. The most I could do would be to provide potential avenues for improvement. For example, I helped Georgia discover that her ice doesn't necessarily need to be cold. Ice is simply solid water, after all, which in nature happens when water gets cold, but since she is producing it via magic, temperature shouldn't be a factor, should it? There are others who can produce liquid metal that isn't blazing hot, so why shouldn't she be able to produce ice that isn't freezing cold?”
Greg raised an eyebrow. “And you don't think that's helpful in a lab? We don't even have a direction for figuring out my smoke's true nature yet. Just giving us a hint would be immensely helpful.”
“I'm sure, but a lab is for collecting data, is it not?” Narita pointed out. “I don't provide any data, nor do I analyze it. All I can do is use my ability and tell you what I see, which I can do right here, then you can study it in the lab yourself.”
“Ah, gotcha, okay that makes sense.” Greg nodded. “Okay, so what do you need to get started?”
“First, I need to know more about your smoke, as the more information I have the better my ability works.” Narita replied, holding up a hand as Greg was about to retort. “I don't need any specific data, just knowledge of your smoke's nature. I don't need to know how much force your smoke can exert, I just need to know that it can exert force. Knowing specific values wouldn't do anything for my ability.”
“Gotcha. Well, then I guess we'll start from the basics.” Greg replied. “As far as I can tell, my smoke is indestructible. The biggest effect I've seen anything have on it is moving it. In fact, the past few sessions with Lapodala, that's the alien helping me study my smoke, don't tell Tessa I actually know her name, we've been working on trying everything we can to have some effect on it. We've tried acids, bases, lasers, disintegration beams, you name it, and all of it has turned up bupkis. That's only in its base form though. When it's simulating something, it takes damage just like that thing would, except that if that thing would be destroyed, it turns into smoke instead.
“Which brings us to the second feature, which is the fact that my smoke can simulate anything it's interacted with. Which basically just means anything it's disintegrated or connected to. It can disintegrate things by simulating something in the same space as something else, and it can connect to anything… it shares a space with. Honestly it might just be the same mechanism… Because once the smoke is connected to something, it can convert it to smoke, which is what I actually mean when I say disintegrate. It can also transform anything it's connected to into anything it can simulate, and if what it's connected to is alive, it can drain it of I don't know what, but it ends up turning it into basically a rock. And finally, it can exert force and get hotter or colder.” Greg finished, pausing as he realized he forgot something. “Oh, and living things resist it for some reason that seems to be tied to strength and intelligence, though the intelligence one is a bit iffy.”
Narita just stared at him for a moment as she processed all that. “Okay, I'm starting to see why you're having trouble making sense of it. I'm not sure I can even pin down the unifying theme behind it from all that.”
“Right?” Greg agreed. “I mean, it's definitely predominantly focused on the physical, since I can't connect to or simulate mana, but other than that it's all over the place. What we really can't figure out is why being strong matters. It doesn't even care whether you're magically strong or physically strong! As long as you have strength, the smoke will have trouble interacting with you.”
Narita frowned. “Very strange… Is that everything then?”
Greg cocked his head, then gave her a single nod. “Everything I can think of at least.”
“May I take your hand?” Narita asked, holding out her own. “It helps focus my ability.”
“Sure.” Greg agreed, giving her his hand.
Narita took a deep breath, closing her eyes and focusing, using her ability to feel for the true nature of his smoke. A few seconds passed, then a minute, then two, Narita grimacing as she pushed her ability to the limit, trying to find even a glimpse of the smoke's true nature. Finally, around the four minute mark, when she was just about to give up, her ability caught something, the barest hint of a trail. Eagerly Narita pursued it, following the trail as it became clearer and clearer until suddenly she wasn't, and the trail was drawing her along it. A feeling of panic welled up within her as she instinctively tried to cut off her ability, but she couldn't, her ability not even responding as she was dragged deeper down the trail, until she suddenly found herself in what she could only comprehend as a pitch black abyss, which only caused her panic to surge because that wasn't how her ability worked! A shudder passed through her as she felt something focus on her, something massive and ancient, yet also somehow young and… light? It gave her the impression of a tiger with the demeanor of a kitten. She hesitantly reached for her last resort, her ultimate failsafe, not planning on using it just yet but wanting to prepare just in case, only to freeze as she realized even that was cut off from her, going pale as she struggled to comprehend how that was even possible.
Narita flinched as the presence shifted, sending the softest breath at her, which even still caused her entire existence to shudder, and suddenly she was aware. She knew why her ability hadn't been working, because this wasn't an existence that could be described by words. Not fully. Not truly. But the existence wanted to be known. To be understood. And to understand. And so it drew her to the here that was not. Used her ability to show itself to her… and now she had to tell it what she learned.
Narita returned to herself with a gasp, stumbling backwards. “Whoa, hey, you okay?” Greg asked, going to help steady her.
“Don't!” Narita exclaimed, flinching away from him.
Greg paused. “Well… that's not a good sign, is it?” Narita took a few deep breaths, struggling to calm herself down from the existential threat she felt from the existence and the idea that Greg was somehow connected to it. Intimately. Thankfully the vast majority of its power was locked in whatever that place was, and hopefully Greg was its only connection to the outside. “Shit, how bad is it?” Greg asked, starting to get worried.
Narita shuddered. “I- I don't even know how to explain it. You- your smoke is- you are wielding the essence of- of- it's- it's the force that makes physical existence possible! The potential behind every action! The medium through which reality expresses itself! The vitality that makes life possible! It's- It's- everything! Everything that exists is made from it!”
Greg blinked. “Really?”
Narita scowled at him. “Do I look like I'm joking?!?”
“Well no, but… that seems a bit much?” Greg replied, scratching his head. “I mean, I guess I can see how my smoke would relate to physical stuff cause I can make pretty much anything. And then the telekinesis would be the potential, I guess? And I suppose you could call the crap I drain out of living things vitality… but how does that turn it into the basis for everything? It isn't like everyone is made of smoke, right?”
Narita gave him a serious look. “It is exactly like that.”
Greg paused. “Huh… so I'm sentient proto-matter?”
Narita frowned. “It isn't proto-” She froze. “What do you mean ‘I'm’!?!”
“Oh, I'm made of smoke. Well, I guess everyone is? But my base form is just a cloud of smoke. See?” Greg raised a finger, turning it to smoke then back again.
Narita gaped at him. “But- how?!?”
Greg shrugged. “No idea. I got knocked unconscious when the apocalypse hit, and two years later I woke up as a smoke person. Or more of a smoke person… shit, this whole idea is really fucking with my sense of self. How can I be the smoke guy if everyone is smoke?!?”
“But- no, if you're connected to it, then it should be-” Narita stammered, struggling to figure out how Greg could have a connection to that existence and still be his smoke. That existence should be his smoke! How else would it have been able to draw her to itself through it? Narita froze, going pale as that thought hit her. What if that existence was the smoke? What if- what if Greg was that existence? Or at least, a piece of it. A bit of consciousness thrown into this reality. The question was… what was she going to do about it?