Tag Archives: Alex

Arc 14.6.0: Stage Two

Stage Two: Part 1

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“Nick?” Haley’s voice sounded in my head courtesy of our implants.

“I’m okay,” I said, still feeling the heat.

“For two more hits,” she said, because she could check my vitals and armor stats just like everyone else could. With our implant-to-armor connection, all we had to do was think about it, and we knew.

“And no one else has as much armor on as you do,” she said. “We need to take it down now.”

My armor noted that repairs were in process and that it was increasing protection against energy weapons. That was nice to see. It was a recent update, and I’d been worried it might not kick in soon enough when I needed it. Continue reading Stage Two: Part 1 →

Arc 14.5.0: Bigger Things

Bigger Things: Part 4

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I get it; I thought back, and I’m glad you’re worried about lowering your ethical standards, but I think this is an okay exception. We’re talking about the possible destruction of Earth. That doesn’t come up too often.

I felt relief and then a stab of worry from Daniel, but he replied, In our lives, we’ll see more situations that we can justify exceptions than most people. Tell me if you think I’m being too cavalier with other people’s personalities. Because it does matter. It’s the right choice for now, but for all I know, that distrust I added might migrate to his thoughts about his father, and they might not ever reconcile or might attach to all his relationships, making him less connected to anybody. It shouldn’t be an easy choice. Continue reading Bigger Things: Part 4 →

Arc 14.5.0: Bigger Things

Bigger Things: Part 3

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Everyone tensed, a reasonable response, given that I’d told them that the end of the world was on its way and that my social skills might be the only thing standing in the way of planetary destruction.

Jaclyn responded to me first, thinking back, “Coming to meet you or coming to kill you?”

I shrugged, “That remains to be seen, but Kee thought he’d be interested in meeting because to the degree that I’m an Artificer, I’m descended from Nataw, his brother. He was also a friend of Lee, but he probably feels a bit betrayed by him. So, mentioning that is to be avoided.”

Haley looked up at me and thought, “And he could randomly show up at any time? Anything we do could be interrupted and then—BOOM—end of the world?” Continue reading Bigger Things: Part 3 →

Arc 13.6.5: Courtesy

Courtesy: Part 62

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“For what it’s worth,” I said, “I was ready to take a chance on it. We will have to face the Nine and it would be easier with whatever you got out of Arete.”

He gave a weak nod and coughed, “There’s another chance. I knew you had to destroy us completely. I created a spore, separated from us, and encased it as completely as I could. Look past me. I’d give it to you, but I shouldn’t touch it.”

I stepped around him. Hidden from direct view, a ball made of a pearl-like hard substance sat on a bare spot of concrete. Continue reading Courtesy: Part 62 →

Arc 13.6.5: Courtesy

Courtesy: Part 61

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I pushed the bot views into the background and paid attention to the world around me. Alex pointed at the mounds around us and the ceiling. All of them sagged and dripped viscous, brown goo. More liquid puddled beneath the withered skin.

“We should grab everybody,” I said. “We might be able to get away with leaving Flame Legion. I know she doesn’t exactly enjoy dying, though.”

Alex nodded, “Yeah. That hasn’t changed, but she’s more used to it. I’d leave her.” Continue reading Courtesy: Part 61 →

Arc 13.6.5: Courtesy

Courtesy: Part 60

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Sean’s face tightened. He took a short breath as if he were about to blow up at her, but instead let out a long breath, finishing with, “Are you sure? Do you know it?”

Amy shook her head slowly, “No. I didn’t absorb him. Another Bloodmaiden was in charge when he got hit with the Bloodspear. So she got more out of him than I did and she doesn’t like answering questions. I don’t have his thoughts, just a whisper of his feelings. He was happy and relieved when he got the order, the way you are when you’ve been worrying about something and now you can finally do something about it.”

Sean looked over at Dayton, then back at Amy, “Couldn’t that have been part of it? The Nine can manipulate your feelings too.” Continue reading Courtesy: Part 60 →

Arc 13.6.5: Courtesy

Courtesy: Part 59

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I had good reason to think Kals would be fine but I didn’t know if Alex had bothered to download and install the latest update. You could reasonably ask why that wouldn’t be automatic, but even my updates had the potential of going wrong.

You wanted to install when you had a backup suit available and not midway through a mission.

In that moment, though, I didn’t spend any time checking the update logs. I jumped for Jody and glancing behind at me, his eyes widened. Continue reading Courtesy: Part 59 →

Arc 13.6.5: Courtesy

Courtesy: Part 58

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I didn’t shed tears, but if I weren’t having to again slaughter humonsters, I could have. I punched a humonster that jumped down from the top of a mound toward Alex in the face, splattering it across the side of the mound it jumped from.

We might finally be done with this.

Alex stumbled toward the glowing mound, shaking his head, his footing becoming more sure with each step. He only had to make it twenty feet, but I’d seen how unpredictable twenty feet could be. 

Still, he had Kals and whatever Bloodmaiden was in control for help. It needed to be enough. Continue reading Courtesy: Part 58 →

Arc 13.6.5: Courtesy

Courtesy: Part 57

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That knowledge gave me the confidence to let “Amy” and Kals protect Alex while I did my best to protect Daniel and the various Jennys.

Her ability to duplicate herself made it worse when every copy represented a tunnel into her brain.

I fired off a series of armor piercing bots. They weren’t as effective as killbots, but they were simpler and faster to produce. Plus, they didn’t have monomolecular blades constantly sucking energy until they dulled. Continue reading Courtesy: Part 57 →