We rolled into the driveway as I said, “The Grey Giant was in Armory’s place dressed as a security guard. I’d barely destroyed much of anything in his weapons lab and suddenly I had a whole new fight to deal with. The bright side was that I was supposed to be distracting people from everyone else, and it worked.”
Haley shook her head, “He nearly killed all three of you the first time you fought him. Why is he even out of prison?” Continue reading Never Go Home: Part 10
To be clear, it was the good kind of “not alone.” In the clearing with us was everybody that hadn’t been in HQ when we teleported out.
And when I say everybody, I’m not exaggerating by much. This was what Cassie called a “friends and allies” practice. Not only did it include all current members of the Heroes’ League (except for Rachel who was in space), but it included all the former members of Justice Fist who hadn’t joined up with Sean’s new Justice Fist. So basically, we didn’t have Sean, Jody, or Dayton, but we did have Julie (voice powers), Shannon (darkness), Camille (gravity), and Sydney. Continue reading Never Go Home: Part 9
I turned around to find Vaughn in my latest version of the Storm King armor. Black with a storm cloud on his chest, it included flaps to catch the wind he generated. Yoselin wore her own armor, the red triangle, white star, and blue and white stripes might almost pass for a patriotic US costume if you didn’t think too hard about it. The backpack and streamlined half-cylinders running up and down her arms and legs hinted at a refined version of her father’s armor’s air manipulation tech.
Neither of them wore their helmets, but it was plain they were both prepared for practice. Continue reading Never Go Home: Part 8
Chris grinned, “Can’t argue with that. We’ve still got time to figure it all out and with any luck, we won’t get corrupted by ancient alien artifacts first.”
“Sadly, that means that we’ve got to leave this one alone for the time being,” I looked down at the tablet where it lay on the table. “I’ve got a feeling I’ll want to lock this one away.”
Raising his eyebrow, “Does this mean you’re finally going to open storage room three or four?” Continue reading Never Go Home: Part 7
Against the sea of stars behind her, Kee seemed to shrink into herself, saying nothing, “I don’t have an easy answer. Back when we were young, when Lee, Nataw, and other friends of ours first came into this universe, we loved to travel, he more than most of us. I think he may have been the last of us to give up traveling simply for the sake of travel–if he ever did. I think he still did even after our people divided up into factions. As one of the first members of the Live faction, the smartest thing he could have done was hide, but he kept on moving instead, never staying anywhere long enough to be found.”
Watching her face for any reactions, I said, “A lot of people would see that as a pretty good tactic for hiding.” Continue reading Never Go Home: Part 6
Where I was, I didn’t know for sure. I’d asked before, but she told me that I didn’t have words for it. My best metaphor so far was that it seemed to be Kee’s personal breakout room in ancient, eldritch social media.
She’d raised her eyebrow when I’d suggested it the first time and while she didn’t roll her eyes, it felt like she was nearly there. Anyway, I knew better so I didn’t push it. To me, it seemed more likely that it was her personal demiplane. I mean, if you’re basically a deity, why not create your own mini-universe for conversations that you’d prefer to keep private? Continue reading Never Go Home: Part 5
I did the only thing I could think of. I ordered the power interface to cut off the power, but on the off chance that the tablet had a bomb inside, I did it while running for the exit and shutting the door behind me.
Theoretically, given the size of the tablet, it might not be much of a bomb, but I knew what Cassie’s gun could do. I remembered the bodies of the frogmen on the roof of a building in Washington D.C. It hadn’t been pretty and if push came down to it, if I had to come up with a species most likely develop a golfball-sized hydrogen bomb (or worse), the Abominators would have been high on my list of candidates. Continue reading Never Go Home: Part 4
Knowing that Cassie was upstairs or at least in Grand Lake, I considered calling her. With her Abominator Citizen’s Mark, she registered to Abominator devices as an Abominator or at least as a servant authorized to use their stuff. Chances were better than average that she could have full control over the device.
Knowing that the Xiniti fought the Abominators and hacked into their technology, I asked my implant if it could connect to the device. It replied that it couldn’t sense any means to make contact.
That either meant that the device had hidden its communication systems or that they’d been damaged to the point that they no longer worked. Either way, I wasn’t getting much help from the implant. Continue reading Never Go Home: Part 3
I had options. The obvious ones were purely the product of normal physics—X-rays or my sonics to analyze the structure, shaving off bits and tests to understand the materials, and trying to operate it by touch, if I wanted to take that risk.
Armory had done it and it hadn’t been fatal—yet.
Of course, I was a special case, given my connection to the Artificers, and that they were the “gods” the device took its name from. Continue reading Never Go Home: Part 2
I woke up the next day in my own house and my own bed. I’d been living there since my junior year of college by that point so it felt normal to think of it as mine as opposed to my grandparents. I’d even decorated to a degree.
When we’d cleaned up the base below, we’d found a sign that hung in front of Grandpa’s business. It said, “Joe Vander Sloot, Consulting Engineer.” His name was on the first line and title on the second, both in gold letters against a black background. Knowing the Rocket suit’s colors, I’d wondered if it were a subtle nod to his alter ego, but it might be colors that fit the look of the business.
It might have been both, but it was five years late to ask him. Continue reading Never Go Home: Part 1