"You're actually pretty cute for an eyeball with wings," Rachel said, patting it on… the top of its eyeball head or whatever. The creature fluttered closer to her, almost nuzzling against her chest. "See? She likes me?"
"How do you know it's a she?" Clyde asked.
Lily elbowed him, "Shut up. We're going to make the best out of this shitty situation already, and I say it's also a she."
"You really didn't have to elbow me though…" Clyde said, rubbing his flank.
Lily stepped forward and held out her left arm that had healed more in the past couple of hours. "Can I hold him?"
Rachel gently guided Dani toward Lily. Dani hovered just above waist height as its soft bat wings beat softer than before.
"Look at those little wings," Lily said as she touched the wings by the base where it portruded from. "They're more delicate than they look."
Kyle rolled his eyes. "You girls are ruining a perfectly badass creature with all this baby talk. It's clearly a warrior doom knight that'll devour all the lands. Valithor the Overlord of the Great doesn't need none of you guys babying him."
"Her," Rachel and Lily said together.
Ollie pinched the bridge of his nose. "For fuck's sake, its name is Dani."
"That's just its Earth name," Kyle said. "I bet in the spirit realm or whatever, it goes by something way more intimidating and cool and masculine. Like Dani could mean anything. Like Dia Acrueid Ninalith Ignis. Very spirit and very cool name."
"Shut up, Kyle," Rachel sighed. "I bet you'd name your game characters…"
Rachel's voice trailed off. While the others fussed about Dani and her name and how paradoxically cute she was, Gale opened the Dainv OS to check Dani's status.
Analyze.
[Skill: Tether]
[Description: Creates a link between 1 or multiple units to share perception skills with.]
[Passive State: Visual Only.]
[Active State: All senses, Enhanced Perception.]
So he could see through Dani's eyes while only spending 0.25 essence per second. That's around 2 hours of up time. That seemed useful enough, but what this goddamned OS didn't tell him was what Enhanced Perception meant. Did that mean he'd be able to see further or maybe even detect things that Breath of the Void couldn't see? The questions are endles and the Dainv OS will never ever give him the answer even if tapped the skill a million times for a tooltip.
His eyes moved to the second skill.
Analyze.
[Skill: True Sight]
[Description: Peers through any perception deceiving abilities with no exception.]
[Passive: All is revealed on the line of sight of the Overseer.]
Ok. That one sounded promising. If Dani could see through deception tricks, illusions, or stealth, then that had a lot of use. If he tethered himself to Dani, then would he be able to see through his own Distort skill?
"Hey, Dani," Gale called. "Come here for a second."
Dani spun around, squeezing itself out of Lily's embrace. Its wings flapped harder as it flew back toward Gale.
"I need to test some of Dani's skills for science," Gale said. He focused on Dani, willing the tether skill to come to life. A thin pale thread of light connected them for a split second, not the kind that appeared in reality. The thin thread of light appeared in the same realm as Breath of the Void.
Gale felt nothing at first, but then focused on willing to view Dani's vision. In his vision, he saw Dani's vision overlayed with his own. It was only slightly different from Breath of the Void in the fact that he could actually control how big and how small Dani's vision was in his view. He could move it to the left, right, top, or even overlay it on top of his vision while still being able to see in front of him, like a third eye that wasn't part of his body… quite literally though.
Next, he activated Distort. The familiar sensation of light bending around his skin crept up. When he saw himself through Dani's eyes, he could still see himself perfectly, just with a slight haze around his outline like on a hot day.
He released Dani's vision away from his own and decided to look with his own eyes. Looking down at his own hands, he saw them still as completely opaque without the Distort effect.
"I think I know what Dani does now," Gale said, releasing Distort.
Rachel stepped closer. "What can it do?"
"When I link to her," Gale started.
Kyle coughed, "him."
"I can see through Dani's eyes, like actually see myself from her point of view," Gale said. "She can also see through illusions or invisibility or basically anything that tricks your eyes."
Ollie moved his head closer to Dani while holding his chin. "You mean if someone's using a cloaking spell or stealth tech, then that'd be useless with Dani?"
"Exactly," Gale said.
"That's useful. Like 6 figure useful and he's mobile," Clyde said. "So much for those static detection wards, eh Ollie?"
"I told you Valithor's awesome," Kyle said.
"Its name is Dani," Lily, Ollie, and Rachel said in unison.
"And she's a her," Rachel said.
Erin rose from her frozen chair, dispelling it with a snap of a finger. "The Overseer's capabilities far extend beyond its sight. Once she has grown with her owner, her capabilities far reach the realm of terrifying that strike fear into the hearts of the corruption."
"Like what?" Ollie asked.
"Patience, child," Erin said. "The Mohrusy will fall under the hands of Gale and the Great Overseer, Dani."
"What's a Mohrusy?" Kyle asked.
"Nothing you need concern yourself with."
"There's more," Gale said. "I can tether Dani to all of you too."
Rachel nodded. "Do it now. Everyone needs to know what Dani can do for future encounters."
"Are you sure?" Gale looked around at the group. "It might feel a little weird."
"We're in a half-destroyed facility fighting flesh technohorror freaks. 'Weird' is the baseline," Ollie said.
"Alright." Gale focused, willing to connect a tether to each one of them one by one. "Everyone stand still for a second."
He concentrated, extending the first one to Rachel, then Lily, Ollie, Kyle, and Clyde, but stopped before connecting one to Erin. She had shook her head before he was able to tether it to her.
"Oh!" Lily jumped slightly. "That's... different."
Clyde blinked rapidly. "It's like picture-in-picture on an old TV."
"Yeah, but the picture is us," Kyle said, waving his hand in front of his face and watching the motion from Dani's point of view. "Trippy."
Rachel squinted. "So this is what Dani sees?"
"Exactly," Gale said. "Look at where he's floating, right above me."
From the look on their faces and how some of them even almost lost their balance, they all collectively experienced the 'weirdness' that Gale had talked about. Dani hovered six feet off the ground and flapped its wings just above his head, giving them all a view of their own selves and the control room from a different angle.
"This could be useful," Ollie said, waving his hand at Dani and also seeing himself wave his own hand. "I think."
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
"Now I might as well test the active state for a couple of seconds," Gale said. "Just to see what it does. Ready?"
"Go for it," Kyle said.
Gale willed to switch Dani from Passive summon state to Active summon state. His essence dropped fast at a rate of 25 per second. The moment it fully activated, chaos.
Kyle doubled over first, hands clutching his stomach. A second later, Clyde followed, dropping to one knee and then sprawling onto the floor. Ollie stumbled backward, one hand against the wall for support. Lily collapsed completely, curling into a ball.
Rachel managed to stay upright longer than everyone else, but soon enough began retching as she clutched her stomach while falling onto the floor. Bile spilled onto the floor from each of their mouths.
Gale closed the tether immediately and put Dani back into passive mode.
Guide, what is happening? he mouthed.
[Enhanced Perception shares Overseer's Trace Breadth to tethered entities.]
What is that?
[Trace Breadth is the inferior version of Breath of the Void. Host is unaffected by sensory shock.]
Gale kneeled down to Rachel's side, holding her up. "Are you ok?"
She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "I'm fine."
"What the fuck was that?" Kyle groaned, pushing himself up to sit.
"That," Gale said, helping Rachel sit up, "was the active state of the tether share."
Guess he wasn't going to use that one unless they can get used to it.
"That was like... everything at once," Clyde muttered.
Ollie dragged himself onto the wall, putting his back against it. "Felt like my brain was getting squeezed with all the shit happening at once."
Rachel looked at Gale, her eyes trembled for a second before speaking. "Is that how you see the world? For a split second, I saw everything and everywhere. It was... scary."
Not sure what she meant by that. Dad always trained him to be hyper aware of everything. The snap of a twig out in the woods would send him flying, ready to kill the bear that was about to probably eat him. Gale guessed he probably also just took it for granted when he first got it after repairing his Origin Core.
"Those that are not of his blood are not qualified to perceive the beyond, even I," Erin said. "You were all lucky to have kept your sanity intact."
She looked down at the twins still on the floor. "Get up. Make haste to the Protection Sector."
Kyle flipped her off without looking up. "Give us a minute, lady."
"The cosmos does not grant minutes freely," Erin replied.
"She's right," Lily finally opened her eyes. "We should move."
Gale helped Rachel steady herself as she stood up. For a couple of minutes, the rest of the team stood up by themselves.
"Sorry about that," Gale said.
"Not your fault," Rachel said. "None of us knew what was going to happen."
Dani floated down to eye level with Gale, its slit pupils slightly dilating as if in apology. It bobbed its head between Rachel and Gale, softly tapping its wings against her arms.
"At least Dani feels bad about it," she said.
"Enough talk. I have now diverted power resources on standby. Protection Sector will be live when we arrive," Erin said. "The Tomb is no longer on auxiliary power only. Let us make haste."
[Mission Complete]
[Find the City's Energy Source]
[Reward: 2000 points]
[Origin grain: 50]
* * *
The train stood waiting at the transit hub of the Power Plant. Its doors still stood open. Black viscous blood streaked across its exterior and through the doors they had exited through.
Erin snapped her fingers once. Droplets of water materialised from thin air. Another snap of her finger sent the droplets flying to the black bloody tracks, covering them in a thin blue membrane. After a couple of seconds, the membrane evaporated, leaving the train's surface pristine with a hint of minty lemony scent.
Kyle whistled.
"Get in," Erin said, entering through the door first. "We waste time."
Ollie followed her in and said, "We need to input our destination at the terminal."
"There is no need." Erin tapped her bracer that was once the tablet. "This device commands the train's functions directly. Your approach would route us through the main terminal before reaching Protection sector. I can direct us there without detours."
Ollie's shoulder slumped forwards. "Right. Because you know everything."
"Not everything." Erin glanced back at them and turned to the seats. "Make haste."
They filed into the train, moving through multiple cars before Erin decided to settle at the very front of the train. Ollie, Kyle, Clyde, and Gale took seats on the left side while Erin, Rachel, and Lily settled across from them.
"What is this, high school? Boys on one side, girls on the other?" Kyle scoffed.
"Do you always have to say something?" Lily asked, shooting him a sharp look.
"Always." Kyle said.
Erin tapped her bracers, ignoring the ramblings. The train shuddered and picked up speed as it sped through a floating glass tunnel up ahead.
"We will reach the Protection sector in four hours," Erin said, not looking up from the bracer.
Silence fell over the group, no one talked while they waited for the train to arrive at its destination. With Erin here, she felt like an actual adult amongst the oversized children that sat all around.
Gale leaned back against his seat, grateful for the respite from the constant ramblings, conversations about stuff he didn't understand, and the danger that always lurked just around the corner. He couldn't remember the last time he had a moment to just sit and think to himself.
Looking at Ollie, his shoulders were more relaxed than ever after Erin had taken the role of guiding them through this death trap. Lily and Rachel at the side just watched the window as floating buildings, pipes, and lights passed by at a high rate of speed.
Right about now, a book would've been perfect to read. He glanced at Rachel and then at the phone in his pocket. Maybe back on Earth, he could ask her to teach him how to get books into his phone. Books were huge though. Not sure if they could even fit inside the phone. The biggest book he ever read was almost as thick as his head. It was amazing how the spine didn't snap in half at the halfway mark of the book.
After nearly an hour of thinking about how books could fit into a small phone, the first suspect to break the silence cleared his throat.
"So," Kyle said, eyeing Erin. "What got you into this mess anyway? You mentioned you were imprisoned."
Erin met his gaze directly. "This tomb was designed as a sanctuary for those fleeing corruption."
"Yeah, we already heard that part," Kyle said. "We're curious why you specifically got locked up in that pod."
"Because I was a fool. That is all," Erin said monotonously.
They waited for her to say more, but she turned her attention back to the window as if the topic was done.
Rachel cleared her throat. "What did you used to do for fun? When you were bored, I mean. We have three hours to kill, and since you're part of the team now, maybe you could share something about yourself?"
Oh no.
This reminded Gale of when he had asked the same thing to Ms. Molly. What did you do for fun, Ms. Molly? That was a great question that led to an endless tirade of knitting and embroidery. It was the only time he'd nearly fallen asleep while guarding a book in his clutches from her demonic confiscating hands.
Erin looked at Rachel. "My research focused on rift aperture systems. The technology only functions where reality's threads and seams grow thin. My purpose was to discover methods of repair and stabilization-"
"That's not what I asked. I meant something fun. A hobby or game you enjoyed. Something not work-related." Rachel interrupted.
Erin looked down at her hands. For the first time since they'd met her, she seemed to be considering her words carefully.
"I understand the concept of 'fun' in theory," she said. "However, I have not experienced it since I was 2 Se."
"Se?" Lily asked.
"A measurement of time. One Se equals approximately twelve Earth years," Erin said. "In my culture, once a child reaches 2 Se, they begin their professional training. My bloodline predisposed me to research aptitude, and thus became my purpose. 'Fun' is a foreign concept to me. Not once in countless stars after reaching 2 Se did I partake in such frivolity."
"That's..." Kyle said. "Depressing. Sorry."
"It is efficient," Erin replied.
"So you've never played a game?" Lily asked. "Or had a hobby? Or just did something because you enjoyed it?"
"The Weber family does not indulge in purposeless activities," Erin said. "Our function is research and advancement."
"You must've done something in your free time," Rachel said.
"I cannot comprehend the fixation on activities that produce no measurable outcome," Erin said.
"That's the whole point," Lily leaned forward with a smile. "It's not about the outcome. It's about enjoying the process."
"Inefficient," Erin said.
Kyle turned himself and stretched his legs out into the aisle. He grinned before saying, "Not everything's about efficiency. Like horror movies. The worse they are, the better. Any flick under five stars on MovDB is a gold mine."
"What's the point of watching horror movies when we're living one?" Clyde said. "I'd rather play games. Horror ones, actually."
"That doesn't make sense," Rachel said.
Clyde shrugged. "Feels different when you control it. In games, you get to be the one holding the gun instead of the poor bastard getting chased."
"I like going to parks in my free time. High Park in mid-May is perfect when the cherry blossoms bloom," Ollie said. "We should all go sometime. When this is over."
Lily chuckled. "For a cold-blooded businessman, that's surprisingly human of you."
"What, you think I sleep hanging upside down in a vault filled with money?" Ollie asked.
"Yes," Kyle and Clyde said in unison.
Gale spoke up, clearly turning his eyes towards Lily. "What about you? What do you do for fun?"
"I dance. Hip hop, mostly. My friend Jessica has a studio where she teaches kids. Sometimes I go there just to talk and dance. It's... freeing," Lily said.
"Dancing?" Kyle said. "Wouldn't have pegged you for that."
"There's a lot you don't know about me," Lily said with a small smile.
"I've started learning to cook recently. Though I still burn most things. My mom tried to teach me, but I never had the patience," Rachel said.
"Didn't you make those sandwiches you fed us on the way to Sudbury?" Kyle asked.
Rachel coughed, her cheeks flushing slightly. "Gerard made those."
"No wonder. They were good," Clyde said. "Almost knocked me out. Like literally. What about you, sword boy wonder?"
"Does books count?" Gale asked.
"No," Kyle and Clyde said in unison.
Gale thought about it for a second before continuing, "Well, I only really started ghost hunting with my friends. That's about it for hobbies."
Kyle snickered. "Why hunt ghosts when you're afraid of them?"
"N-no, I'm not," Gale said. "Only the ones I can't hit."
"That's basically all of them," Ollie laughed. "Ask Rachel to buy you some of that Jiuling magic dust when we get back. One-time use, but good for ghosts."
"You can get that in Chinatown for cheap," Lily added. "The old woman at the back of the pharmacy sells the real stuff."
Erin's lips curved into a soft smile, the first genuine expression they'd seen from her that wasn't a blank face. "You fear spectral entities?"
"I'm not afraid," Gale said firmly. Note to self, search Vianne's shop for ghost-killing weapons or items when they escape this rift. If not, then note to self, go with Rachel to buy the ghost magic dust thing at the pharmacy in Chinatown.