Tag Archives: Amy

Arc 14.6.5: Stage Three

Stage Three: Part 8

7 Comments

“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

8 Comments

“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

4 Comments

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

5 Comments

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

1 Comment

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 →

Arc 14.6.5: Stage Three

Stage Three: Part 2

3 Comments

Then he started laughing. I’m pretty sure I even heard a “Mwha-ha-ha” somewhere in there. Then the communication ended, leaving me to hope that it was an ironic “Mwha-ha-ha,” because an unironic “Mwha-ha-ha” would be a cliche.

It called up mad scientist vibes at best and at the most horribly wrong end, it reminded me of how Artificer technology had been designed to destroy civilizations either through madness or temptation and runaway self-interest. Continue reading Stage Three: Part 2 →

Arc 14.6.0: Stage Two

Stage Two: Part 9

3 Comments

Cassie looked down at the ground and then back down the hallway, “That’s what the muddy footprints were? That’s so gross.”

Then she said, “Who wants to get the door?”

Marcus shifted into a pile of goo that seeped in the door’s direction but stopped just in front, asking, “Is it booby trapped?”

Daniel frowned, “I can’t tell.” Continue reading Stage Two: Part 9 →

Arc 14.6.0: Stage Two

Stage Two: Part 7

3 Comments

Edward said, “I’m hoping the same. If Dr. Mind did survive, Brian’s advice to you guarantees that we’ll be executed by one or more of the Numbers. Though if Dr. Mind is gone, there’s an opening for Number 4, so they may be too busy killing rivals to care.”

Brian glared at him, “Thanks for telling them my name!”

Edward raised an eyebrow. “I’m sure they know already. The Heroes’ League appears to have done its homework. They attacked with overwhelming force while in disguise and went straight for our Control Center. Not only that, but they did it while we were distracted with a myriad of other concerns—which in retrospect, they may have engineered.” Continue reading Stage Two: Part 7 →

Arc 14.6.0: Stage Two

Stage Two: Part 2

3 Comments

It was as good a throw as I’d ever seen from her, but for the first time, the Bloodspear stopped in midair, hitting nothing and stopping. Then it fell to the ground and disappeared.

As it fell, though, magical symbols appeared in the air. I recognized a few. Everyone in Stapledon had had to take a survey course in magic and magical creatures. While I couldn’t read many, I recognized the one for blood and felt a burst of energy.

That worried me. I couldn’t feel magic. Anything I could feel had to be Artificer-related. Continue reading Stage Two: Part 2 →

Arc 14.6.0: Stage Two

Stage Two: Part 1

1 Comment

“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 →