We head to the library after I finish speaking with Mr. Morris. Yulia’s bizarre antics still trouble me, but I shake off the implications of our brief conversation as we head to the section on computer science.

“Is something the matter?” Chloe asks.

I lower my voice to a whisper. “Yulia implied that she’s also not from this world.”

Chloe stands speechless. “Are you going to–”

“You heard her. She has her own secrets, and we have to respect that just as she was respecting my privacy.”

“So, why are we here again?”

“Logic gates. Specifically, I want to see if any of the information about logic gates and electrical circuits is useful for Ethertech construction. At the very least, I think it’s worth taking a look over the basics and making sure I understand the principles completely before we leave.”

“You make it sound like you’re never coming back here.”

“This isn’t the place for me,” I say as I sit down at one of the tables in the back of the library. “Out there, fighting with the others. Well, I’m not going to say it was perfect or anything. Still love having electricity, good food, and hot baths. But even when our lives were in danger in the midst of battle, I felt a certain ease in my soul. That that was what I was made to do. And moreover, I enjoyed it.”

“You’re going back out there, no matter what I say.”

“I won’t make you come with me if you don’t want to. It seemed to me like you were happy being here, in class, spending lunchtime alongside Tabitha and Saffron and the others. I… I won’t say that I want you to stay behind. Part of that is that your abilities have saved my sorry, weak ass so many times and–” I choke on my words for a moment. “Selfishly, I like having your company. But it has to be your decision. No matter how much I might appreciate and value having you with me, it’s not my place to decide for you.”

Chloe smiles and places her hand on mine, stopping me as I flip through the book. “You’re half right. I’m not the same as you. I feel at home here at school, going back to live with my mother. If the System disappeared tomorrow, I’d enjoy this journey and the fond memories I still have of it. And were circumstances different, I’d be just fine spending the rest of my life doing whatever fate had in store before its arrival.

“But one thing stops me. It’s that I want to see what’s out there too. You’re talking about going to other planets and star systems and even new dimensions and universes. And–” she writes this next part down in my sketchbook. “–I learned my best friend is an alien reborn as a human. You want to know what happened to your original creators. And I want to be there and see it all for myself.”

“You’re curious about me?”

“How many people can truthfully say that their best friend is from another world, Sera? It’s all so hard for me to believe, myself. Like it’s the sort of thing you read about in books or watch in movies.”

“Well, there’s an entire cosmos out there. We should… Head back to the army base soon. I’d like to get to work on the next step in glyph arrays as soon as possible.”

“Knowing you, you just want to have an early dinner, knowing that they’re not going to get mad at you if you want seconds and thirds.”

“Hey! I’m not used to getting to eat this much! Or having to work this hard. It’s not like we didn’t run… fifteen miles this morning? And are about to run the same distance back?”

Chloe laughs. “So, time to get going?”

I nod.

----------------------------------------

I yawn and stretch as I sit at the desk in our room after dinner. Chloe is back on her phone, which I’m honestly half-surprised the army higher-ups weren’t trying to confiscate based on national-security grounds. I guess most of the stuff around here that’s classified just isn’t a big deal anymore. Given that Alexey can probably smash through most conventional tanks with nothing but his bare hands and Lindsey could shatter the cockpit of a fighter jet with the energy of one of her [Light Arrows], I agree with the assessment.

The information I gathered today should be quite useful for the next phase of my plan. And after thinking about it for some time, I have a general outline of how I want to re-create my [Lightning Blowgun].

First, I need to make some physical adjustments to the base design. After I procure a two-foot long, one-inch wide cylindrical piece of steel, I use my [Lightning-Sheathed Dagger] to slice off a three-inch long piece from the end. Next, I hollow out both pieces into a six-riveted rifling pattern, with the inner walls the appropriate width to handle the now pea-sized [Ether Bullets] I create.

The next step is the hardest. With my [Basic Ether Manipulation], I carve out a mechanism not unlike those used in ballpoint pens that allows them to move between being ‘open’ and ‘closed’ at the click of a button. I don’t bother with installing a clicking mechanism at the near end of my improved weapon, but this will still allow me to switch between the different ‘nozzles’, for lack of a better term, without too much difficulty.

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The intricate part comes next. I need to perfectly segment the top piece of my new weapon into six. This proves difficult, as there is no perfect trisection method. I do consider dividing it into eight instead, but that will shrink the space I have for each glyph. As it stands, because of the complexity of the individual glyphs, my ability to draw them with [Basic Ether Manipulation] and [Basic Glyph Manipulation] is already going to be taxed substantially. With better tools and higher-ranked skills, though, this would be the easier path.

I think about it and cut another slice off the main piece, this time about two inches thick. I create the same fastening fixture, but then reattach it soon after. I don’t plan to do anything with this piece just yet, but it’ll introduce modularity in the design and give me flexibility with future construction and alterations.

Now comes the hard part. I take the first and larger of the two slices, and begin the work of sculpting a glyph into each five of the six sections. One of [Lightning], two [Heat], and two of the [Barrier] glyph that I have now renamed [Repulsion] after my recent insights. The latter two I sculpt into two segments, one in the proper orientation, one in its reverse orientation. The task is trickier than it looks, as I have to be precise down to the millimeter with my construction and positioning. Even a tiny defect will throw off the positioning of the sluices and disrupt the flow of [Ether] into and through the glyphs.

It takes the better part of the evening, mostly because my hands are a bit shaky near the end of the crafting session. Twice I have to undo major portions of the glyphs, and another six times I’m forced to clear away a small number of runes and rebuild the structures due to an errant scratch or calculating the curvature of the cylinder a bit off. But, just as the sun is setting to signal the end of the last day of March, I feel I have everything in position.

Finally, I need only to draw in the remaining sluice lines that will channel my [Ether] into my weapon. Here, the precision from before is everything. Regardless of which ‘nozzle’ I rotate into the activated position, I need the sluices to be as accurately placed as possible. I’m already losing some of the connection because neither my [Lightning-Sheathed Dagger] nor the miniature [Ether] blade I can form through my maxed [Basic Ether Manipulation] skill can form a perfectly smooth cut and cause a contact bond to form. But it doesn’t need to be perfect. It just needs to be better than what I’ve made before, and good enough for my purposes.

The last step is to draw in the sluice that connects my mouthpiece to the far end of the blowgun, and draw in the [Motion] glyph as I have with the previous iteration of my weapon. I realize that I should probably rename this glyph as well. [Motion] is simply too broad of a concept. [Acceleration] might fit, but it might also be described as [Impulse] in the mechanics sense? It does seem to act in a similar manner.

I should also check how the [Impulse] glyph combines with the [Repulsion] glyph. The two working in tandem could complement one another in stopping projectile attacks. I might even be able to create some sort of particle accelerator if I construct it just right, though that will require a lot more engineering and far, far higher reserves of [Ether] to get it to work correctly.

I look over the completed project and give it a careful examination. It looks correct, but my [Tinkerer] skill flashes a warning as I look over it one last time. I furrow my brows. The skill isn’t perfect, and only gives vague insights, but the warnings it gives are rarely completely false positives. I check it over, adjusting each row of nozzles one at a time, listening for the satisfying click sound as they lock into place. Everything fits right.

I grab a magnifying glass that I’d taken earlier and examine more closely. I turn on the light nearest my desk and examine every connection as thoroughly and attentively as I can. And there I see the problem. A small chip on one of the sluice lines, which would cause leakages of Ether when the reversed [Heat] glyph was used. Best case scenario would be a weakening of the bullets when fired on that setting. Worst case, the siphoned energy would cause enough structural damage to the weapon to make it quite literally blow up in my face.

I scrunch every muscle in my body at the thought. Even if I have enough levels and [Vitality] to survive such a self-inflicted wound, the sheer embarrassment factor would surely do me in!

Once I correct the flaw, I do one final glance over my new weapon and make sure everything looks and, more importantly, feels right. Neither my eyes nor my Skills alert me to any flaws in the design, and a brief glance at the rifling confirms that the connection is smooth and ready for practice. I hand it over to Chloe, who predictably isn’t nearly as enthused about the craftsmanship as I am.

“So, did it go okay?” she asks. “It feels a little more solid than the last one, but I don’t really have an eye for this sort of thing.”

“Only one way to find out. Wanna watch?”

Chloe rolls her eyes at me, but slips on her socks and shoes and follows me out the door to the firing range. To my surprise, there are still a handful of people on the range, mostly testing out conventional weaponry, mostly handguns, but with a couple of rifles and shotguns in the mix. We quickly help ourselves to a pair of earmuffs as I take a stroll over to the far end of the range.

A few people look disdainfully upon me as I ready my blowgun for testing. A couple of sneers follow. I pay them no mind as I condense five [Ether Bullets] with my technique and slip four of them into my side pouch.

Now, what setting do I want to use? Not [Lightning], sadly. The flashiest of the settings, but I’m not looking to blow out the power grid if the strike is too powerful. And I’m not wanting to catch the entire range on fire either. Ultimately, I settle on the [Repulsion] setting.

I stand motionless, waiting for the onlookers to clear and the range to go hot. Once it does, I take one last breath and aim at the largest target in the range. No subtlety. Full power. I pour seventy-five units of [Ether] into my shot and let it fly.

The bullet moves silently downrange. Twenty yards, then thirty, all nearly instantaneous at the limit of my [Speed] and [Mind] stats’ perceptive capabilities. Once it comes within five yards of the target, I trigger an impulse within the back of my mind and allow the bullet to release its concussive payload.

The target is torn to shreds. Ballistics gel splatters in every direction. The paper bulls-eye is vaporized, and even the stand is violently bent off its hinges, loosening a metal screw a full inch and a half out of the ground in the process. The concussive blast is followed by an eerie silence as the half dozen shooters in the area turn toward me with jaws agape.

[Your [Ether Bullet (Rank IX)] has upgraded to [Ether Bullet (Rank X)]!]

[You have maximized your [Ether Bullet] skill. You are awarded +2 Free Stat Points.]

I smirk. Not a single hint of disdain follows as the two of us leave the range.