Category Archives: Book 14: The Galaxy Core Device

Arc 14.7.0: The Portal

The Portal: Part 1

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I spoke over the comm system’s general channel, “Magnus is powering his people up. If I had to guess, he’s powering up everybody he can. Expect people with powers to become more powerful. Don’t be surprised if they develop new ones or if unpowered people start changing…”

I stopped, and Amy added more, “Magnus is trying to escape into the portal. Some of his people will be trying to escape with him. Watch for that.”

I understood how Amy knew. She’d grabbed all of that out of Rook’s head as her spear sucked it in. Continue reading The Portal: Part 1 →

Arc 14.6.5: Stage Three

Stage Three: Part 12

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Jody’s eyes fired off bolts before I had time to warn Dayton. Several shots hit, the red bolts striking his torso. Though I didn’t see a hole in Dayton’s suit, something must have made it through because he yelped.

In that moment, Rook punched him, throwing Dayton backward.

He did roll and come up on two feet, but something about the hesitancy in his movement told me that he was hurt.

Jody might have continued to fire bolts at Dayton, but he didn’t get the chance. As Dayton fell back from Rook’s blows, the Bloodspear pierced Jody’s back. Continue reading Stage Three: Part 12 →

Arc 14.6.5: Stage Three

Stage Three: Part 11

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With the Rocket suit’s speed and the short distance, I might as well have teleported.

If he were anything like the Xiniti I’d fought, he would have still been able to avoid me anyway, but instead, he stumbled sideways, still faster than a scooter, but not faster than I flew.

I punched him and he hit the ground, turning and pointing his arms at me as if to fire his weapons. Except the weapons didn’t fire. There wasn’t even a spark.

My implant offered a choice: “What is your priority? Disable weaponry or continued disorientation.” Continue reading Stage Three: Part 11 →

Arc 14.6.5: Stage Three

Stage Three: Part 10

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While Dayton’s strength, speed, and reflexes blew away a normal person’s, Jody was in another league.

Dr. Nation’s system for triggering improvements and latent powers had worked for Dayton. I’d seen figures ranging from 30-50% when Dr. Nation showed me the results. For that matter, Dayton’s mimic ability had become more flexible over time.

Instead of mimicking movements exactly, he could adjust them for his own build and strengths without thinking. He’d even reached a point where he could analyze a fighting style on the fly and anticipate moves he couldn’t do.

So, he wasn’t totally outclassed, but maybe 50% outclassed? Continue reading Stage Three: Part 10 →

Arc 14.6.5: Stage Three

Stage Three: Part 9

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Then, for lack of a better word, Jody activated.

He turned, eyes glowing in multiple sensor streams. Then he began to fire bolts from alternating eyes, all of them in my direction.

I guessed that I owed my continued survival to the fact that he’d had less than a day to get used to his transformation. That, and the designer’s choice to use many small shots instead of fewer, higher-powered shots.

Many shots worked for Jody’s strength, but also for my suit’s ability to repair and general resistance to damage. Continue reading Stage Three: Part 9 →

Arc 14.6.5: Stage Three

Stage Three: Part 8

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“Bait,” Dayton said. Despite their camouflage, my HUD filled in their outlines. Dayton had grabbed Sean’s shoulder.

“Remember this is the Nine. He might not want to, but he’ll turn on us the second they tell him to.”

Sean looked down, the head of his outline staring ahead—into metal shelving, but then over at Dayton, “We’re not going to be able to save him, are we?”

Dayton took a breath, “I don’t know how this will play out. It’s going to be hard, but maybe. You’ve taken him in training, and there’s lots of metal.”

“Yeah… But we don’t know what he is now.” Continue reading Stage Three: Part 8 →

Arc 14.6.5: Stage Three

Stage Three: Part 7

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“But first,” Rook said, “some reintroductions are in order.”

I looked around the room, checking my feeds and my HUD. Rook didn’t show up looking through the stone, which was extremely good news. The last thing I wanted was for him to have a connection to Lee’s device.

Rook’s voice continued, “You knew him as Blur or as ‘Jody,’ but we have a new name for him now. We call him Rapid-Fire. It took a little talking to persuade my boss to let his toy go, but since he couldn’t access his memories of Magnus and all the training he did, the boy was useless to us as a member of Magnus’ squad. I’m sure there’s a way to get it back, but we needed help fast, and what do you know?” Continue reading Stage Three: Part 7 →

Arc 14.6.5: Stage Three

Stage Three: Part 6

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That’s when I noticed a detail that I didn’t like at all. It might have been a small thing, but it hinted at bigger problems.

As Rook’s minions put down their packages and their arms transformed into weapons, the claws disappeared and shortened into straight barrels. That would be nothing except that, assuming normal human proportions, the barrel ended well before the human arm would have.

Even assuming all of Rook’s henchmen had short arms, the gun was just past where the elbow should be.

Put bluntly, there was no room for an arm in there. Continue reading Stage Three: Part 6 →

Arc 14.6.5: Stage Three

Stage Three: Part 5

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Our first problem with following Magnus? The window. Amy and I rose to find Sean, fists clenched, staring at the window and the empty room behind it.

The window wasn’t moving at all.

And look, that wasn’t as stupid as it seemed. The frame around the window might have been made of metal. It wasn’t, but it could have been.

Colored black, but it appeared to be ceramic to me.

With a wordless scream, Sean punched it. His hand bounced off, and Dayton said, “Whoa, dude. Let them try.”

Sean wasn’t listening. Continue reading Stage Three: Part 5 →

Arc 14.6.5: Stage Three

Stage Three: Part 4

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Victor’s mouth opened without saying anything. He closed it, sighed, but asked, “Do you think it’s possible?”

I looked over at Cassie, who’d frowned but then started talking, “It depends. We’d need to make sure our birthing chamber has the right templates available. I’d say yes if we had the one you’d used. We all know what happened to that one, though.”

Over the implant channel, Sean asked, “What happened?”

“It’s not in working order,” I said. Continue reading Stage Three: Part 4 →