Tag Archives: Vaughn

Arc 14.9.5: Reality Tweaks

Reality Tweaks: Part 8

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Haley scrunched up her face, “That’s not really nice. They’re people.”

Amy shrugged, “Most of the time I’ve spent in this world was in Florida. I’ve heard that the benefits for working at Waffle House aren’t bad, but the dental care some people got before working there wasn’t great.”

Haley shook her head. “That’s restaurants. The full time staff get benefits, but most jobs are part time and they don’t get benefits at all. Are things different in your world?”

Amy stared out the window. Continue reading Reality Tweaks: Part 8 →

Arc 14.9.5: Reality Tweaks

Reality Tweaks: Part 7

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“It’s better than the alternative,” I said, and thought about what I might be getting. In addition to the practical knowledge of the Nine’s operations which we’d need to track whether we’d succeeded, Rook and Dr. Mind weren’t the only inventors who’d ever served the Nine.

We’d get in trouble with the government for stealing the Nine’s tech, but not for using their ideas—probably.

It did worry me that Rook had likely brought back Abominator tech from the Moon and Mars. I didn’t even know where it was if I wanted to destroy it. 

In the main channel, Hal asked, “I’ll appear above the main building shortly.” Continue reading Reality Tweaks: Part 7 →

Arc 14.9.5: Reality Tweaks

Reality Tweaks: Part 6

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“Weird,” I said, “but not surprising. Rook used Abominator tech for his implant. We used it too, but we modified ours with Xiniti technology in such a way that we can’t replace their parts without consent. For all I know there might be a way to turn things back. I think it’s unlikely, but you never know.”

Dayton sighed but followed it up with, “He’ll probably like the power upgrade.”

“Oh, man,” Sean said. “I bet, but he’s still unconscious, so we don’t know yet. Is he going to be okay?” Continue reading Reality Tweaks: Part 6 →

Arc 14.9.5: Reality Tweaks

Reality Tweaks: Part 4

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It didn’t take long to reach the surface, relatively speaking. Izzy lead us down a hall off of the main room, giving me a chance to look at the dead, frozen bodies of all the people Rook had turned into robots as well as his own transformed body.

Amy shuddered as she passed it, telling me, “The little bit of him that’s left saw his dead body. Even for him, it’s weird and creepy.”

Haley shook her head, saying only, “Yuck.” Continue reading Reality Tweaks: Part 4 →

Arc 14.9.5: Reality Tweaks

Reality Tweaks: Part 1

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The glowing ring of the portal appeared before us, with the grey concrete of the dock’s control room visible through the circle. It grew larger by the instant, making it clear that we were exiting immediately.

It was less that we stepped through to the room, so much as fell through at an angle. There was no law, I supposed, that a tunnel through time and space had to synchronize with the orientation of the exit point.

Haley let go of my hand, rolling and coming to her feet. I turned on the suit’s anti-gravity, floating to the ceiling like a Rocket-sized party balloon.  Continue reading Reality Tweaks: Part 1 →

Arc 14.9.0: Engine

Engine: Part 9

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From where she stood next to Nataw, Kee smiled. “You met him in the future, and he chose not to kill you. I think Govan will be reasonable, provided we’re talking to the version of him who spared you. If we’re about to talk to a version of him that doesn’t know anything about that, it could become messy.”

“Great,” I thought back to her.

Continue reading Engine: Part 9 →

Arc 14.9.0: Engine

Engine: Part 5

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The dog observed the hand and sniffed it, but didn’t lick it. Tiger was smart enough to know he didn’t want to taste the metal-and-ceramic gauntlet.

Within a few moments, everyone had arrived: the old Heroes’ League, the new, Prentkos, and both Jody’s and Colette’s unconscious bodies. Talk about not being able to save everyone. Being turned into Rook’s mind-controlled cyborg was still in this Jody’s future. Though I didn’t need to, I made a check, changing that future had the same problems as saving Travis. I checked on Colette, too, but hers wasn’t any different.

I could do it, but it wouldn’t be worth the price. Continue reading Engine: Part 5 →

Arc 14.9.0: Engine

Engine: Part 1

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As the stone touched my gauntlet, I connected with it and through it the Galaxy Core Device (GCD) itself. How did it feel to use a device that could destroy galaxies and create new ones?

You’d think it would be a moment of enlightenment or maybe ascension, since you assumed powers that you’d normally think were reserved for gods.

What surprised me is how normal it felt. I’d been absorbing knowledge from my implant on demand for years now. I’d been training with Kee to understand what Artificers could do for years and while I’d only been interfacing with Abominator and Artificer technology with those skills for a few days, it felt natural. Continue reading Engine: Part 1 →

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 →