Wednesday, June 13, 2018, 8:30 PM Norfolk

Today was damn eventful. It started with me making my way downstairs after the standard morning of waking up, getting ready, and letting Rex out. He had developed a nice routine and was looking a little pudgy from the easy fish he was catching in the early morning Elizabeth River. I asked if he’d be willing to stay closer to Bob’s today, in case I had a need of him. Rex laughed in Draconic (a disturbing thing to hear, even if it is from a small creature), and said that he had taken to sleeping in the morning sun on their roof.

I smiled and let him head out, realizing that I needed something to help him stay disguised to make this easier. That would be added to the list of items I needed to make, especially since I needed to do something to up the security of the shop. Heading downstairs to the bar, I instantly noticed how there had been some kind of conflict late last night and noting that the innkeeper whom I had checked in with the first night was actually on duty this morning, I stopped by and asked her. Apparently, late last night, just as Black Tuna was slated to be shutting down for the night, a pack of thugs had come in demanding protection money for the Bar and the Hotel. I got a bit annoyed and asked if she knew anything else, but she didn’t, and I asked her to keep me updated on any information that she could provide, to which she agreed.

Nothing at the breakfast was that amazing or eventful, but it pushed me to get out of the hotel even faster, to get to that store called Target, that would likely have the items that I needed. When I got to the store, I locked my S.H.I.E.L.D. bicycle in the bike rack, and went inside. There was a sign at the door which indicated that bags had to be left with the Customer Service Desk. I went there and dropped my bag off, who put it in a locker and handed me the tag for the locker. I quickly went into the store and loaded up my cart with several sets of clothing, including a series of what could be termed work clothes, the pants were all black and all were called “cargo pants” and the shirts were light gray and were all termed “shirt jackets”.

Having gotten what I needed, I indulged in getting some treats and snacks, including something chocolate and cinnamon, and some drinks to ensure that I would be good throughout the day, and for the next few days to go. Getting through the cash register, I paid using some of the remaining cash that I had, my resources starting to run lower than I liked. I don’t like to consider it a primary benefit of getting these thugs and robbers, but the side effect of them having a fair amount of cash was something useful to me. After paying, I was still going to be heading to work, but it was a good thing, since I was going to have to do some reconnaissance around the building, to make sure that the Painkillers were not up to anything. The trip there from Target was fine, no issues with the drive, and there weren’t any signs of the gang at work, even if there were some scattered gang tags that were fairly fresh on the way there.

Once I got there, Bob was already there and let me in early. I thanked him and said that I was going to be getting the rifles finished as quickly as I could. Bob accepted that I was going to work on the rifles and just before I headed back to my workshop, I asked if it would be more important to find out about a security solution or to get the rifles finished first. Bob hemmed and hawed before noting that the rifles were more important. I nodded and said that while there were not any signs of the Painkillers around the shop, that they had started trying to run a protection racket in the area.

Bob listened intently and told me that he would keep his ears open as well, and that I might just need to continue my own nocturnal activities. I nodded but I noted that I would likely need to wait at least until I was done with the rifles, as most of my really effective spells were of the same level as those that I was using for the Masterwork Transformations. I got to work quickly and got the four rifles out of the way quickly. I left the workshop to get a snack and luckily, or unluckily for Steve, something chose just then for the bad luck to strike. Steve was up in the firing range, apparently with someone new, who had showed up to the range with their own ammunition, and had apparently tried to fire, hitting a squib round first, before compounding it by having an overcharged round directly after.

I ran immediately to the range, where Steve was lying with blood coming from a wound on his neck. The customer was also unconscious, but not injured, so I immediately knelt over our injured co-worker, and immediately channeled a Cure Light Wounds into him. The wound at his neck started to close, and I fired off a second Cure Light Wounds. Immediately behind me, I heard a female voice ask, supposedly to me, “what the hell was that?” I looked behind me, having noticed that Steve was going to be okay, and saw that it was Jessica and Bob, who were just showing up with the first aid kit.

Bob looked at Steve, and then back to me and I muttered that it shouldn’t be needed, that Steve would be fine. Jessica came over to check Steve and then looked at me, asking me what I did. Bob stopped her and said that I had dealt with Steve’s wounds, and that he should be okay. Jessica repeatedly muttered, “I saw the glow”, quietly, almost under her breath as Bob had him sit down. Steve came to, and I helped him up. Steve checked his neck and felt that there was no wound, only that his hand was slick with blood.

Bob looked at Steve, Jessica, and Me, and I stood up, looking at all three of them in turn, and said that we should probably have the discussion now. Bob nodded and looked at the customer, who was just coming to now. Bob asked Jessica to escort the man out, and tell him that he wouldn’t be charged range time for today, as no one ended up seriously hurt, but that he was banned from the store for at least thirty days, and that he would only be able to use the firing range with ammunition that was purchased from here, only after the firearm had been inspected by one of our technicians. Jessica did so, helping the dazed man out to his vehicle, giving me a heavy side-eye as she passed. Bob moved over to Steve and told him to go get cleaned up and shut the store down, and after that, to get Doug and Jessica and gather everyone up in the break room.

Steve went to clear out the rest of the building after hitting the restroom while Bob led me to his office. As Bob’s door closed, he asked me directly, how do we want to portray this. I thought for a minute, and asked if these kinds of things ever might just happen on their own. Bob shook his head with a laugh, not unless I wanted to start some kind of religion. I shook my head to that and laughed as well, saying that I didn’t need that kind of smoke.

I thought for a minute, and asked if it was better for it to have come from an item, or from me, adding that if it came from an item, it might be a target for theft, but if it came from me, I might be a target for kidnapping. Bob thought about it, and asked how important the belt was to me on a daily basis. I thought about it, and said that it wasn’t all that crucial, but if I needed the healing, I needed it, and it had a twenty-four-hour cooldown to be able to use it for the healing charges. I told Bob that I did not specifically NEED it currently, or even every day, but that I would not feel comfortable in any way letting someone else use it. Bob nodded and said that it would then probably be better if it was something that was limited to me, rather than the item, and that it was a much more limited number of times a day that I can actually do.

I thought about it, and offered up that I could do it twice a day, and that I had to do it twice to save Steve, and that it only worked to deal with punctures, cuts, and contusions, and not on more serious issues like diseases, poisons, broken bones, or any real internal injuries. Bob said that he would keep to that line, but that I might need to let them know more, and I offered that I could let them know that I was there with the police on the day of the Blip, and that I had taxed my abilities then, and they were only slowly coming back. Bob nodded and it sounded likely, and that he would make keeping my secret a prerequisite to anyone being employed here. I thanked him and we both headed to the break room, where the other three employees, Doug, Jessica, and Steve, were already waiting. I stepped away from Bob, and started out with announcing to the room that I wasn’t a native to this world, that I had appeared just after the Blip, have been sent from my home world to here due to a different means, and that I had the small ability to heal light wounds, like I had done with Steve just today, as I had done where I appeared, helping save and heal those around me where I appeared here in Norfolk, during the immediate after effects of the Blip.

The room was silent so I continued, telling everyone that I couldn’t do more than minor healing or recovery, and that I was also included as a backup hero for situations where it might come up. Jessica’s eyes lit up as she blurted out that she thought that she recognized me, that she had seen me from afar helping get people healed and safe. She then asked about the dragon, to which Bob looked at me with confusion. I sighed and sent an empathic message to Rex, giving him the empathic feeling of desiring his presence. Rex sent me back a sense of smug satisfaction with a hint of sneakiness, giving me the feeling of him being very close.

I sighed again and looked back to Bob, and asked him if I should bring Rex in. Bob shrugged, and I left the break room to head back to the employee entrance. Rex was huddled down by the back door and had the biggest shit-eating grin on his face. I asked him in Draconic why he was here, and he said that he had felt the empathic surge in me responding to something, and he decided that it would be better if he was close by. I opened the door fully, and Rex slowly and carefully walked in, waiting for me to lead him to where he would be able to be shown.

I slowly opened up the door to the break room, and cautioned everyone that Rex would be coming in, and to please not open fire at him. There were some laughs as I slowly led Rex into the room and had him walk into the center in front of everyone. I told everyone that Rex was an intelligent creature, known as a familiar, that was linked to me. He has a degree of my capability in skills, as an aspect of him being a familiar, along with some other unique capabilities as a part of his status as well. I felt some sneaky glee coming from Rex as I told him in Draconic to change into his battle form but to not use his flame breath.

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Rex became much larger than his original form, becoming easily as large as a condor, both in body and wingspan. The four others in the room were surprised by the near instantaneous change in size and flinched back reflexively. Rex crooned a little and got scritches from me. Steve spoke up and shakingly asked if this was really a dragon. I laughed and noted that Rex wasn’t actually a dragon, and real dragons were a LOT larger, and that he was an animal who was actually elevated by his status as a familiar.

Rex shrunk back down to his normal size, and jumped up onto a table, to curl up in a ball, before noting in Draconic that this is much more comfortable than outside, although the sunlight is a lot better. Bob spoke up and asked what language that was. I told him sheepishly that it was the tongue of dragons, and that he had learned it because I had learned it. Bob looked at me and asked me if he seriously spoke Draconic, breathed fire, could fly, and grow big, but wasn’t actually a dragon. I nodded and noted that most of that was from his status as a familiar, and that dragons could do that naturally.

There was a bit of question and answer regarding Rex where I answered what I could, and passed answers back and forth, for those who wanted to know answers directly from him. Towards the end of this conversation the questions started getting more directed towards me, a lot of them asking if I knew any other superheroes, which I did not. Doug seemed a bit upset, and I realized that he was probably a bit miffed about the whole partial deception about the interview, so I resolved to get on a better foot with him. At the end of the conversation, Bob told everyone that he was going to be closing the place for the rest of the day today, that it would be paid, and that he’d like it if Jessica could accompany Steve to the rapid care for a check up to make sure that there were not any other issues. That left Bob, Doug, Rex, and I in the break room.

I started to speak but Bob of all people stopped me, and took over the conversation, telling Doug that he had known some of what I was before I had been here to interview, and he wanted Doug to truly test me to see if I could actually do the job, me being a hero or anything else notwithstanding. Bob went on to tell Doug that if I couldn’t cut the job, then I would not have been offered the job, and that Doug’s assessment was the biggest part. I knew that Bob was laying it on a little thick, but Doug threw the both of us for a loop when he said that he was curious what I was actually doing to the rifles to make them better. Apparently, that had been chewing him up for the longest time, so Bob asked me if the three of us could head into my workshop. I gladly acceded, and we headed that way, with Rex staying on the table he was nestled on.

When we got in there, I offered up the rack of rifles that had yet to be worked on, and the four rifles that I had completed, for him to inspect. Doug was thorough, and went through two of each of them, finding the similarities and differences, before he stopped and came back to ask me how I had done it. Before I could speak to respond, he mentioned that he saw how everything seemed to just be a bit higher in quality, after the treatment, and that everything that was a wear item was like new, but that they were obviously the same items that they were before. I told Doug that healing people’s minor wounds was not the full extent of gifts that I had, that if I took time and performed a ritual, I can bring out the hidden master craftsmanship that exists in almost any item that isn’t already a master crafted item or is of too poor quality to become a master crafted item. I added that I had to at least have some conceptualization of how the item performs to make it perform better, but that if it is a weapon, it becomes more accurate, if it is an armor, it becomes less encumbering, and if it is a tool of some sort, it becomes more effective.

Doug thought about this for a while, and asked why I was keeping it in this room, and Bob answered for me with a simple question to Doug to ask him if we outright told people that the weapons were getting magically better, would people believe it? Doug shook his head in agreement, and then asked if these enhancements went away after a while, and I shook my head along with my response, saying that no, as long as the item isn’t broken, it will remain higher quality, and then, if the item is repaired, if it is repaired properly, it will be the higher quality again, and also that they are no longer magical after the effects coalesce from the ritual. Doug thought on that for a bit before Bob asked him if he could think it over for the rest of the day before deciding if he can continue working here. Doug asked if he could observe me doing the ritual, and I sighed, saying that today it was impossible, because I had expended all of my capability to do so today, but that as long as Bob is willing, he can watch me tomorrow.

Bob thought for a minute before he asked me if it would interrupt me too much. I replied back that it wouldn’t, as long as Doug was cognizant of the fact that once I started on one ritual, I couldn’t answer questions or be interrupted for an hour. Doug said that he was okay with that, and I said that when I got here in the morning, he should follow me to the workshop, and I would get the first one done immediately. Doug nodded, and asked if Bob needed him for anything else today, as he was going to get a drink after learning all of this. I had a brilliant idea, and pulled out my bottle of whiskey, and offered it up to him for drinks.

Bob saw the bottle and took it from my hand, before looking at Doug and pulling out the cork. They both gave it a sniff, before looking at the two stones in the bottom of the bottle. I saw them looking and told them that they were extremely minor alchemical items that were enhanced in such a way that as long as they stayed submerged in liquid, the crystals stayed ice cold. Doug and Bob looked at the bottle and at each other before laughing and saying that even our whiskey stones were better. Doug asked me what whiskey this was, and I told him it was Oldlaw Whiskey, a single malt from a two-hundred-year-old recipe, from my home world.

Doug looked over the bottle before he asked me how much this bottle ran, I flippantly let out that it was almost half a pound of gold. Bob muttered that this was about the price of a Macallan 25 year. I shrugged and said that it was my main drink of choice back home. Bob asked Doug if he wanted to head to a bar, or just drink a bit here. Doug looked more than happy to have some of the whiskey presented to him, and Bob said he’d go get the shot glasses.

I told them to enjoy it, but if they could, just get me back the crystals, because I don’t know if I can remake those again, yet. Doug asked me off hand how much the ice crystals went for. I thought about it and told him that each one was worth about a tenth of a pound of gold. Doug’s mouth dropped and I stopped him, telling him that the prices of everything were a bit different there, as a pound of Salt was also a tenth of a pound of silver. Doug looked at me very oddly and I told him that the technology level was a LOT lower than here.

Doug’s brain seemed to break at that, and both Bob and him went to Bob’s office. I went back to the workshop and started focusing on the enchanting of the tent when I came up with a realization. Originally, the tent would call for two distinct spells, of which I did not have one of them. However, the effect that was generated by the second spell, I did not need, and I could swap it out with a pair of spells that I did have and would be useful. This inspiration would make the process quicker and easier than it would have been without having to deal with the unknown spell.

At the end of four quick hours, Bob and Doug came to check in on me, just as I was finishing up on today’s work. I figured that I would be done by the end of the day Friday at least by this pace. Bob took a look at the tent and asked me what this would do. I smiled and told the both of them that this tent would be MUCH bigger on the inside than the outside, and that items left in the tent overnight would be cleaned and repaired to normal functionality. Doug perked up and asked if I could make more of these.

I looked over to Bob and told him that it would run about twenty bags of salt for each tent and the price for the canvas and the canopy, but that I would also like to be able to minimize who all knows about these, as if they got out of hand, they could likely be tracked back to me. Doug said that he’d only use it in remote areas, and that he wouldn’t reveal where he got it from. I told him that I’d gladly think about it, but that the first things on the roster were the rifles and the next thing on the block was that I needed to figure out the best solution for security for the building. Doug asked how long I figured it might take to make another tent, and I shrugged, saying that it might be three weeks to be done with everything else and then done with the tent, as long as we didn’t have any more than the same as this week’s level of scheduling.

Bob smiled and said that he might even consider something like the tent, if I could make more, he’d even spring for the salt for them. I thought about it and figured that I might be able to do something more about making the rifle process quicker, but that would take a bit more to figure out. I told Bob that I would put it on my schedule as long as he was good with it. Bob shrugged, but offered up that as long as it didn’t mess with my scheduled work, he didn’t mind. Since it was the end of our daily work schedule, Bob was more than ready to close up shop and head home for the day. Doug was ready to leave too, so I went and woke up Rex before everyone was ready to leave.

Getting Rex out to the door, I suggested that he could use a bit of stealth to get out of here, and he agreed. I cast a Vanish Spell on him and felt the wide gust of him taking off. I shut the door and locked it behind me, with Bob checking it, and the three of us got our relevant vehicles and took off from work. I got outside the gate, with it shutting and locking behind us, and sneakily cast the Ears of the City spell to check for any activities in this area today. Nothing much on the front in the immediate area, but there were more rumors of supervillains starting to come in, but nothing concrete or suggesting for where I should check first.

Before heading back to the hotel, I took some rides around the area but didn’t see anything specifically gang related, and I took some time to head down alleyways and when I had the chance, I used Prestidigitation to remove any painted gang signs, just to increase confusion. Finally, after an hour or two of unsuccessful searching, I made my way back to the Wyndham, and stopped by the bar. I saw that it was a different bartender, and asked about Amber, and was told that she had taken the day off after the events of last night. I provided the bartender my phone number and told them to contact me if they see anyone who looks like they might be related to the group that had attacked her, that the bartender shouldn’t call the cops. The bartender kind of joked it off before I pulled up the screen on my phone which revealed a S.H.I.E.L.D. badge, with my name, and added that “we” would be the ones to handle it since the Blip.

The Bartender was more amenable and asked if I should just leave the phone number up here for any bartender, and I nodded quietly, noting that I would be staying in the Hotel for at least the next few weeks, until we have gotten this situation dealt with. The bartender asked if this was something that important, and I replied back that there have been rumors of “super-villains” in the area, and that I was the local Agent who was tasked with checking them out, and if necessary, dealing with them. I know it was a bit of a stretch, but it is close enough to be true to be believed. I thanked the bartender for helping me in this investigation and headed back up to my room after my meal. Rex was already outside the room on the Balcony, so I let him in and settled in for a possibly disturbed rest.