Tag Archives: Haley

Arc 8: Faerieland

Faerieland: Part 13

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Worse,  the goblins didn’t just have teeth. They wore armor and carried weapons–specifically swords and bows.

I took in the situation, and came up with the best plan I could think of on short notice. “I’ll grab Haley. Cover me?”

Still staring down the hallway, Amy didn’t look at me. “I’m going with you.  You need someone to handle the troll.”

To be fair, Amy became a lot more intimidating as Bloodmaiden than she was as Amy. She went from being only a little taller than Haley to a little taller than me, and from being thin to… It was hard to tell if she became more muscular because her black and blood red armor would have thickened her arms even if they didn’t grow. I was pretty sure they did though. Even her hair thickened and grew.

All the same, while she looked intimatiding, she didn’t look “I can take down a troll” intimidating. Continue reading Faerieland: Part 13 →

Arc 8: Faerieland

Faerieland: Part 12

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Having already reformed the suit’s helmet, I watched as the suit attempted to connect to several different networks, finally only connecting to one–the Castle Rock Compound’s network.

Once connected, notifications began pouring in to my phone, lighting up in the corner of my HUD. I caught a few names as the numbers climbed–all of them students, most of them League members or friends. They were probably trying to contact me after I had sunk into the floor.

I considered opening up my queue and reading them. One of them might have been Haley. Continue reading Faerieland: Part 12 →

Arc 8: Faerieland

Faerieland: Part 8

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“I hit it with the sonics. I’m guessing I didn’t damage it enough that I could punch through it myself yet. How did you get here?”

“Earthmover sent me down here right after he sent you.”

“Whoa. What happened?”

She paused for a second. “I told him that he shouldn’t have done that. Loudly.”

Nodding, I said. “That seems excessive, but I basically didn’t do anything except try to explain what was going on.”

Her shoulders drooped. “He had a little more reason. I shifted. I didn’t mean to, but it happened.” Continue reading Faerieland: Part 8 →

Arc 8: Faerieland

Faerieland: Part 7

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That left me alone in the dark again, but one thing had changed. Before Adam talked to me, I could believe that this was unplanned, an overreaction by Earthmover who might easily be inexperienced at teaching.

Now I knew it was intentional, and that Adam, or whoever was controlling or using him, wanted me out of the way.

It seemed likely that if someone wanted me out of the way, the best thing I could do was get back in the way.

Well, assuming that I wasn’t stepping in front of a metaphorical Mack truck. Continue reading Faerieland: Part 7 →

Arc 8: Faerieland

Faerieland: Part 5

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Adam gave a hint of a smile. “Why would you think I’d know anything about that?”

“Oh.” I realized I’d given something away, and tried to think of a way to answer that did minimal damage. “Well, Troll smelled fey on you, so I guessed you might have a connection.”

He blinked. “I didn’t know it was that obvious, but yes, my powers come from the fey. I’ve never told anybody, but I suppose it had to come out sometime. Sorry, but I haven’t noticed anything unusual.”

“Really? That’s weird. I’d think you’d see something before I would, and I’m pretty sure I saw something inhuman on the Fourth of July.”

He nodded along as I talked. “Interesting. What did you see?” Continue reading Faerieland: Part 5 →

Arc 8: Faerieland

Faerieland: Part 3

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Travis’ mouth twitched. “I’m pleading the fifth on that, but yeah, I like the idea. That might get us what we need. Do we have any other way we can find out more? Like his ex-girlfriend… Jaclyn, do you know where she is? Or what about Samita and Rod? Can’t you, I don’t know, summon up something?”

Samita’s mouth turned into a flat line. “Summoning is very dangerous. One wrong move and you could release whatever you summon into the world. Worse, depending on what you summon, you could put your life or even your soul in danger.”

Jaclyn started tapping furiously into her phone.

Vaughn looked up from whatever he’d been checking on his phone. “Hey, it doesn’t have to be something dangerous does it? I read one of those Dresden Files books, and in there the guy summons up fairies and feeds them pizza. Can’t you do something easy like that?” Continue reading Faerieland: Part 3 →

Arc 8: Faerieland

Faerieland: Part 2

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Jaclyn shook her head, and pulled her phone out of her pocket. “That’s not what interests me. What I want to know is why he’s even bothering? What do we know about him?”

“Well,” I paused, mouth partway open, wondering if I should even say it. “I’m pretty sure he’s a client of my dad’s. My dad had a client who was a superhero, and who needed therapy after quitting. Adam’s girlfriend got killed by the mob, and he went on some kind of rampage, killing anyone remotely associated, I guess. Agent Lim got him into therapy. I don’t know why he actually stopped killing and went through with it, but he did say nice things about my dad when I talked to him once.”

Fingers already tapping out something on the screen of her phone, Jaclyn said, “His codename?”

“Dark Cloak.”

She stopped and looked up at me. “That guy? I heard about him.” Then she started tapping away again. Continue reading Faerieland: Part 2 →

Arc 7.9: Demo

Demo: Part 7

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Tara and I parted after that, each of us heading to our own rooms. The week flew past. We had two matches with each of the three teams, losing more than we won. That was okay. It was actually the plan. We’d come up with strategies and tactics for fighting each team, and devices or spells that might help.

Tara wanted to test how the other teams would respond to similar tactics that didn’t use the new equipment.

It had the side effect of getting them used to less effective versions of the same idea. Combined with losing, it might lull our opponents into thinking we weren’t much of a threat.

I explained as much to Haley on Friday night, the night before the tournament. We were sitting in my lab with the lights on low, deliberately next to the wall and out of direct view of the door.

Haley glanced in the direction of Stephanie’s lab. “Are you sure you can tell me this? It’s not as if I’m going to tell Travis, but Izzy hears everything.” Continue reading Demo: Part 7 →

Arc 7.8: Threat Analysis

Threat Analysis: Part 10 (The Real One)

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Between the blue t-shirt that appeared to be a pajama top and the wrinkles in his khakis, Dr. Nation was the closest to disheveled I’d ever seen him. He’d obviously come straight from bed, and thrown on anything in reach.

It could have been worse, I told myself. He might have come in a bathrobe.

Dr. Nation leaned over Stephanie, and picked up the glowing metal weapon, aiming its face away from him and us. After a moment, he turned it off.

Then he checked Gordon’s face. It was red where he’d hit the rock wall. He touched his hand on Gordon’s arm, checking Gordon’s pulse, nodding and giving a small smile as he found it. Then he looked at Haley. “How long does your poison generally last?”

She pursed her lips. “That’s hard to say. It depends on how big they are, and how much I put into them. With the normal amount, people are out for at least ten minutes.”

Nodding slowly, he asked, “And did you give them the normal amount?”

Haley grimaced, and said, “I… think? It was a bit of a blur.” Continue reading Threat Analysis: Part 10 (The Real One) →

Arc 7.8: Threat Analysis

Threat Analysis: Part 9

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My mind raced. Was there a technical fix for this? Set Hal to follow where the email went and delete it from any system that had it? That would create a mess by itself. If it turned out that the recipient had already printed it out or removed the computer from the internet, we might not ever find it.

Haley glanced back at me, but since I was still trying to think about technical solutions, I didn’t say anything.

She frowned, and addressed Stephanie again. “Can’t you stop them? You know these people, right? If they’re trustworthy, they’ll understand it wasn’t your information to give.”

Stephanie’s face twitched. “Do you want to leave a bunch of murderers in charge?” Continue reading Threat Analysis: Part 9 →