“You did WHAT!?” Lyev shouted, vitriolic.
They stood on the center platform in the bunker, by the weapons rack. They met almost immediately after Sunday mass let out and Felix messaged them both urgently. Pioneer hovered quietly to the side, observing for the moment. Jasper sat back in the chair behind the workbench, legs resting on top of it next to some kind of nasty-looking particle weapon. None of the others would be joining them, at least for now. Felix knew full well that if anything went short of perfect, he and Jasper could both be locked up for life. Jasper spoke up. “I saw a bad situation. I ended the situation.”
“By KILLING them!”
“They were going to kill her. What was I supposed to do!? I was not about to stand idly by when I have the power to help.”
Felix attempted to intervene. “Lyev, you need to remember that Jasper saved a woman’s life. Without him, she would be the one dead, and we would be seeing a very different story in the news.”
“That’s one of my biggest problems!” Lyev threw his arms in the air and paced back and forth for a second. “This is going to get plastered all over the media! The reporters are going to pick up on this like starving wolves smelling weak game! There won’t be a single agency not investigating this!”
“She didn’t get a clear look at me. It was too late at night, and I moved too fast. Put that with the shock of being nearly raped and murdered, and no cop will take her descriptions as accurate. I’m in the clear. Not only that, but we have an alibi: we were going home from the concert. I made sure to avoid cameras wherever possible.” Jasper sat up, stretching his back, and rubbing his dark, weary eyes.
Suddenly, Pioneer came up to them, turning back and forth as if shaking his head. “You took a huge risk, Jasper. I would never have condoned such actions without proper preparations.”
Lyev threw a skeptical sideways sneer at him. “I’m sensing a ‘but’ coming.”
“But, we are capable of providing such preparations, and more. If you would allow me…” Pioneer flew over Jasper’s head, who fell out of his chair as he ducked for cover. The orb then interfaced with the computer log underneath all the weaponry, and drawers hidden seamlessly in the wall began to open and close. After a minute or so, Pioneer flew back, and looked at Jasper. “Could I see your bladed weapon?” When Jasper pulled out the knife and showed it to him, Pioneer’s eyes lit up for a second, and then dimmed back to normal. The drawers in the wall all closed. “Yeah, we don’t have anything like that.”
Felix raised an eyebrow, and looked at Pioneer. “Your solution was to arm him with some kind of alien hand-to-hand combat weapon?”
“The key term in that, Felix: ‘was’. Denoting the past tense. We have nothing that would appear to fit well for human use in that regard. However, it was not my entire plan. Like all our people, the Architect will be able to teach you much in the ways of combat. Of course, you may prefer to become more skilled in your human fighting arts. It may be a better course of action for you, as the Architect is yet to awake. He will wake up soon, though.”
Jasper stood up and twisted his back, groaning as he stretched. “I don’t know why, but I feel like I got hit by a train.”
“Probably because we were up so late, and that you put all that effort into annihilating those thugs. Wouldn’t be surprised if you pulled a couple muscles.” Felix then looked at his watch, and started to walk to the elevator. “We need to get out of here, guys. Pioneer, make sure to let Jasper know when Architect wakes up.”
“Will do. For now, don’t do anything to break your cover.”
Felix pulled up to the kickboxing gym and parked the truck right outside. He looked over to his right, where Jasper sat with a gym bag in hand and breathing deeply to calm his nerves. “How the Hell did you manage to convince Mrs. Jacobs to teach you hand-to-hand combat? As a former Marine, I doubt she would’ve taken such a request without suspicion.”
Jasper shrugged. “Easy, I told her I might be getting a job in a neighborhood I don’t know. Besides, I’ve always been on her good side.”
Felix laughed and turned off the engine as he climbed out. “Personally, I’m dying to see her hand you your ass on a silver platter.”
Jasper knocked him on the back of the head as they walked in. “I’m not that out of shape. Have a little faith in me, will you?”
“Just don’t show your fangs.”
They stepped inside, and looked around. Off to the left, two boxing rings stood elevated above the floor. A large, open area with mats lay ahead, probably where Jasper would have his lessons. To the right, a large assembly of weights, punching bags, and other equipment were arranged in an orderly fashion. Felix looked back at the mats, and saw Mrs. Jacobs in camouflage pants, black combat boots, and a dark green racerback shirt. Another person in similar camouflage, apparently another Marine, sparred with her, trading blows. But after only a few hits, the other Marine stepped to the side, and his left leg appeared to snap at the shin, going sideways. He went down hard with hardly a grunt, and Jacobs immediately took a knee. She waved her hand in front of his face, and he dismissed her. He dragged himself back until his leg somehow twisted back in line. She looked at him, concerned. “You alright, Corporal?”
“Yes, Gunny. I’m good.”
Felix and Jasper rushed over, and he pulled his phone out, ready to call an ambulance. “That looks like it was a gnarly break, I’ll call 9-1-1.”
Mrs. Jacobs stopped him. “No, no, no! It’s not broken!”
Felix looked at her incredulously, his thumb hanging over the ‘call’ button. The Corporal gave a small smirk, and pulled up his left pants leg. The prosthetic was immediately apparent, going almost all the way to the knee. The straps and bindings had loosened, and it lay on the ground next to the stump as the pants were pulled back. “I lost it to machine gun fire. They sent me home, and that was that. The sweat and jerking movements must have made the straps slip. Not the first time it’s happened.” And completely calm, the Corporal dragged himself to his bag, holding the prosthetic leg with one arm, and used the other to take a rag and dry it off, as well as his stump.
Jasper scratched his head. “So you’re an amputee, and you’re still doing hand-to-hand combat drills?”
“Why shouldn’t I be? I’m a Marine, God dammit. I swore to defend this country and its people. I’m not going to let a metal and plastic leg get in the way of that. Not a chance in Hell I’m going to let myself get soft.”
As he worked reattaching it, Mrs. Jacobs took a seat on the bench next to him, taking a vigorous drink from her water bottle, spraying it into her mouth. She gasped for air as she swallowed the drink, and coughed a little. She looked over to the Marine. “Good work, Corporal. Come back next Wednesday, and we’ll try it again.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He tightened the last strap, pulled his pants leg back down, and walked out of the gym with only a barely noticeable limp.
Jasper looked over at Mrs. Jacobs. “So you’re training the Corporal to get him adjusted to his leg.”
“Yes, and he’s not the only one. But he’s got the most guts. He actually wants to go back into the Corps. Prove that he can fight, even with a prosthetic.”
“That’s nuts!” Felix exclaimed.
“I said the same thing. But it’s not unheard of. A paratrooper did it back in fifteen. Or was it fourteen? I forget. It’s hard to believe it’s already two thousand and twenty.” She stopped for a moment, and shook her head to clear her thoughts. She stretched her arms and back as she addressed Jasper. “Anyways, Fischer. So you want to learn to fight, huh? I’m sure you saw some of what I was working on with the Corporal.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Don’t expect me to go easy on you for one second. You’d never learn if I went easy on you. Get your mouthguard in, and get ready.”
Jasper put his mouthguard in swiftly, and took a stance with his arms at the ready, right foot forward. Within moments of circling, Mrs. Jacobs jabbed at him, and before he realized that she had feinted him, she had him on the mat and tapping out. She stood back as he got on his feet. “Again, Fischer.” He struck first this time, and tried to keep her on the defense. She swept his legs and put him on the ground. “Again, Fischer.” They squared off again, circling only a little bit. They traded blows for a minute, going back and forth. Jasper managed to block a few hits, but clearly felt them all. Without the element of surprise or the Ouroboros on his side, he couldn’t stand his ground. Mrs. Jacobs kept pushing him back, and managed to duck pas him, strike him in the back, grab and arm, and put him face-down into the mat, where he tapped out once more. She got up, and Jasper struggled to get back on his feet. “Again, Fischer.”
A couple days later, Felix sat in the Giuseppe drinking coffee and reading the news on his phone. Another massacre in the Middle East, an earthquake severely damaged Olympic facilities in Tokyo, a second incident of an AI asking an existential question. Relatively calm, compared to how it could have been. A late-winter snowstorm rolled through, with waves of light and heavy, wet snow that stuck to everything. Felix sighed in frustration. It would wind up melting the second the sun showed its face, and would promptly freeze overnight, making morning driving an utter nightmare. Felix looked at the news again, trying to see if he missed anything of significance. Suddenly, the chair across from him grated as it slid across the stone floor and someone took a seat. He looked up and saw Olivia with a cup of black coffee in hand. Felix promptly put his phone away and smiled. “Hey! What’s up? Didn’t expect to see you here. I just came by to clear my head. My data for the lab due Tuesday sucked, and it’s making the report nearly impossible. So what are you here for?”
“Just to chat. I’m kind of bored. I finished all my homework, and I decided that maybe I would go around town and find one of you guys.”
“And you just came here? In a snowstorm? Instead of calling up Cat or Daphne? I thought girls liked to stick together.”
“Meh. I don’t know. Don’t ask me these difficult questions.” She took a sip from her cup, and continued. “So, how was yesterday with Daphne?”
“It was really nice. I didn’t do the normal Valentine’s Day crap. Chocolates, roses, teddy bears… it’s overrated and immature. We just went to dinner at a nice little restaurant, and she had to go home early so her dad wouldn’t go nuts knowing we were together.”
“He’s going to have to let her go some day, you know.”
“Try telling him that. Anyways, you clearly didn’t come here to ask me about my date last night. How have you been?”
She sighed and stirred some sugar into her coffee. “Well… All right, I suppose. It’s just so different here. I don’t even really know all the cool places around town. I really feel like I don’t know any people, either. Besides you and Lyev.” She blushed a little as she mentioned their mutual friend. “But I feel like there’s something that all of you are hiding from me. Like there’s some dirty little secret.”
Felix replied instantly “Nope, not one.”
“Drugs.”
“Hell no!”
“Mafia ties.”
“You’re crazy.”
“Secret cult?”
“You’re even crazier.”
She raised an eyebrow and giggled. “Orgies?”
“What is your major malfunction, woman!?” He whispered. “You’re mental!”
She giggled some more, and stopped. “I’m going to get it out of someone, eventually.”
“There’s nothing to keep digging for. You’ve already hit the rock.”
She gave up, or at least seemed to. “Anyways, what’s up with Jasper?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, all of you are really smart and everything, but he doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who’s a total brainiac. And yet, he’s been completely rocking all his tests and other assignments, and I’ve never seen him take more than a few minutes to do most things. Like the other day, he did his entire college Chemistry packet in ten minutes.”
“He always loved science, Olivia. Besides, Jazz already took high school chem and aced it as well.”
“But ten minutes is a whole other level! Not only that, but I saw him run a mile in just under five and a half minutes. And he beat Gonzalez’s previous squat personal record. That’s three hundred and ninety pounds, he did! And he says he’s never played on a sports team.”
Felix shrugged. “He’s always been obsessed with his well-being. He actually used to be pretty chubby about five years ago. He’s been treated like dirt most of his life for being smart and fat. So he set himself to not being fat, and whipped his own ass into shape. Let it go, it’s just how he does things.”
“Is he going into the military? He could probably be a Marine tomorrow afternoon if he wanted.”
“Nonononononononono! No, he has no intention of going in. He’s the only child.”
“Ok, I didn’t know it was a touchy subject, sorry.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to come across as pushy or anything. I just don’t want anybody pressuring him to go into the service. He’s already stared death in the face enough times.”
She stayed quiet for a couple minutes as they finished their drinks. After she found her cup disappointingly empty, she spoke up again. “Anyways, where’s everybody going next year? Lyev is the only one who’s a Junior besides me. Kinda sucks.”
Felix sighed. “It sucks more than you could possibly know, Olivia.” He stared out the window, through the now light snowfall, and out to the foothills, almost completely concealed by snow. “I’m going to Mines, out west of Denver. Not too far.” He pointed towards Golden, and a particularly heavy squall above it. “Jasper managed to get in there, too. It was a real surprise, but his whole family was extremely happy. He’s got no idea what his major is going to be, but he wants whatever can get him into a scientific field.” He pointed over his shoulder, to the west and slightly north. “Cat and Daphne are both going to Boulder. Cat’s doing it on a soccer scholarship. Daphne… she’ll find a way.”
“Well, at least you’re all in-state. We could see you guys on weekends.”
Felix scoffed. “Jazz and I are going to engineering school, sweetheart. Do you really think that we’ll have time on our hands?”
She shrugged her shoulders and changed the subject, lowering her voice. “Mind if I ask you a question?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Shoot.”
“Do you think that I could get Lyev to go to prom with me?”
He nearly spat out his coffee with hysterical laughter. “He never goes to dances! It would take a miracle for anyone to get him to go.”
“What would it take?”
“Oh wait, you’re serious. Let me laugh harder!” And he did for a few seconds. “Listen, I hope you have an exceptionally filthy Russian vocabulary, because if his caffeine-amped Freudian slips are anything to judge by, he’s one kinky son of a bitch.”
“Ooohhh…” She smiled slyly and bit her finger. She changed her tone of voice to something far more sexual, to demonstrate. “I think I may just have him in the palm of my hand.”
“Listen, Olivia: if you can get him to go to prom with you, I’ll personally take you to lunch.”
“You are so on, Felix.”
Suddenly, Felix’s phone chirped, and he read the message from Jasper. “Well, it seems that Jasper needs my help on that lab. Looks like I’m not getting out of it chit-chatting. Good seeing you outside of school. Stop by any time.”
“Planned on it.” She said with a smile.
As he stepped out the door, he handed her a piece of paper with his address and the following Saturday’s date with a time on it. “By the way, if you want to impress Lyev, you’re going to have to kick his ass at Halo. I recommend you practice.”
The first thing Felix saw in the abandoned factory were Lyev and Jasper with goggles and painting masks on, the second thing was the suit of sick-looking motorcycle armor on a mannequin, the latter of which presumably acquired by questionable methods. They sprayed the armor panels with some kind of enamel-like, heavy duty black paint, with the underlying parts of the armor protected by painter’s tape. Jasper turned around and tapped Lyev on the shoulder, who promptly also stopped. He pulled up his goggles and down his mask, waving to Felix. “Check this baby out. Yeah, I kind of had to spend two hundred and fifty bucks, but it’s got the toughest panels, most coverage, and looks by far the most badass. Like something out of a sci-fi movie, am I right?”
Felix shook his head as Lyev returned to painting over the last couple parts that somehow weren’t black enough. “What the Hell is this about?”
“If I’m going to kick ass and take names, I should probably have some armor. It’s probably not my final product, but it’s a definite start. We also found some old flak jackets in the cache of milsurp stuff Pioneer stowed away and scored some Kevlar. We’ll line my duster with that.” He looked back at Lyev, who broke out a pint of red enamel and a paint brush. “Oh, here comes the good part!” Jasper sat down in front of the suit with his back to Lyev. “We painted the chest first so that it would be dry when we finished everything else. That way, we can paint my symbol on it.”
Felix didn’t catch on at all. “What symbol?”
Jasper rolled his eyes as he took off his shirt, and Lyev closely examined the lights on his back. Slowly and with unerring precision, Lyev painted an exact, larger duplicate of the Ouroboros on the armor panel over the chest. Lyev finished quickly, as if he’d done a couple trial runs beforehand. Jasper put his shirt back on and stepped back, looking at it proudly. “We did great! The ouroboros on it looks sick, doesn’t it, Felix? I think it adds a sort of… je ne sais quoi.”
“Easy on the French figures of speech, man.” Felix said, holding up his palm to Jasper’s face. “Last I knew, you spoke English and some German. Keep it that way.”
“Fine, I can do that. But somewhat more importantly, I need to finish the job I started.”
“What are you talking about?”
“One of the thugs I killed, he had a shark tattoo on his neck. It’s a gang identifier, the Champa Street Tiburones. Small-time gang, mostly had run-ins over coke, unlicensed pot shops, assaults, bribery of public servants, obstruction of justice, et cetera. They’ve been big enough to give Denver PD trouble, but small enough to avoid major action, unlike the Noreños, cartels, Latin Kings, bigger fish. I’m going to track down their little fun house. And I’m going to shut it down.”
“Um, why don’t you track them down like a good citizen, and then call the cops like a sane citizen!?” Lyev asked, flabbergasted. “Do you really think that you can put down a whole gang by yourself?”
“You’re talking to the guy who can shoot lightning out of his eyes.” Felix reminded him.
“Not my eyes. Doesn’t work very well.” Jasper commented.
“You say that like you’ve tried it.” Lyev said.
Jasper picked up the mannequin with Lyev’s help and started carrying it towards the barracks tunnel entrance to the bunker. “Moving on to another topic: Felix, Lyev’s been waiting for you to get here, because he needs some advice.”
Felix eyed him carefully. “What kind of advice?”
Lyev sighed in submission as he walked backwards and opened the barracks door. “Well, you see, you seem to know Olivia more than I do, at least a little. You have Calculus with her and all… Anyways, do you think I could possibly have a shot with her? Jazz thinks I am crazy.”
It took Felix every last mote of discipline and self-control to not burst into laughter right then and there. He disguised his mouth with his fist, as if pondering the question. Fortunately, the effort to get the mannequin down the hole provided an ample distraction for all of them, and he got plenty of time to actually come up with a response. As they shuffled down the tunnel with the armor, Felix replied to Lyev. “Well, she seems really nice. She also seems like she’s your type. I’m not sure what she thinks of you specifically, but I know that she’s really happy that she met all of us. Except Daphne. I don’t know why, maybe it’s a thing between blondes.”
“She’s not blonde, man! Her hair shines white like the sun as it beams down on a fresh snowfall on the mountain.” He seemed to drift off for a moment, until he almost tripped over his own feet.
Good God, the boy is completely lost. “Fine, have it your way.” Felix unlocked the doors for them at the console. As the doors grated open, he raised his voice a little to be heard. “I guess you could try. I’d give you about a sixty percent shot, at a guess.”
“Not fifty-fifty?” Jasper asked.
“Nah, I’ve got a feeling that if he played his cards right, he could get her to go to Prom with him. But he’s got to be careful.” He looked over to Lyev. “But you better figure out what you’re going to do fast. Don’t want some other guy running off with her, do you?”
“Da.”
“Then you best figure out what you’re doing, and fast.”
The familiar hum of Pioneer hovering around cut into the conversation as Lyev and Jasper set the armored mannequin next to the weapons bench. At the other end of the bunker, the door sealed shut with a hiss. Pioneer floated up towards it, and scanned the freshly-painted armor, blue laser-lines zipping back and forth, up and down. A couple of Pioneer’s eyes flashed in a sequence, and his fins twitched. “Is this what I think it is?”
Jasper smirked slightly. “It’s a set of motorcycle armor, meant to protect riders in the event of a crash. However, it’s durable enough and covers enough that I’m repurposing it. It’s not really optimal, but it’ll work for now.”
All of a sudden, Pioneer’s tone completely changed, and the floating robot started giggling. “Oh, goodie! Human hardened armor! You must get me images of other kinds! We don’t have any intelligence on modern equipment. Last I knew of anything was old flak jackets and M1 helmets. Oh, those were all the rage!” He stopped for a second, looking around at the dumbstruck humans. A couple of his eyes blinked. “What? As an observational and reconnaissance AI, it is important to know everything about the native species, including combat technology! Trust me, my species has absolutely no intent of invading. We have two entire colony worlds, each roughly one hundred and nineteen percent the mass of this planet. My species has a cyclical reproduction rate, and we’re in the middle of a huge slow-down. We have no interest in war when we couldn’t replace the troops. Besides, The Architect would never allow it, he likes you all too much. What I’m more excited about is that such radical advancements in armor allow me to do something special.”
“And what would that be, soccer ball?” Lyev spat. He still hated the thing for reasons unknown.
Pioneer didn’t catch on one bit. Or didn’t care. “I could draft schematics for a suit of armor for you, Jasper. All I would need to do is analyze some biomechanical models and modern hardened armor designs. I’ll set up some runtimes cross-referencing the weaknesses and strengths with my own kind’s armor designs, and I can have an exceptional armored suit tailored to Jasper.”
“So what, are you going to throw energy shields on him or something?” Lyev said sarcastically.
Pioneer scoffed at him. “Please, Lyev, this isn’t a science fiction film. Come back down to Earth, here.”
He was met with utter silence.
ravenmountain 