Rune Seeker

Hiral reflexively pulled back from what he felt, traces of more Unnamed still sleeping within the not-quite-sealed-off facility tickling his senses. Waking up an army of them – because that was what he felt – was not something he wanted to do. How one had awoken and escaped the Cradle was a damn good question, and probably something they’d have to address if they planned to stay there long-term. For now, though, he didn’t want to do anything that might disturb their slumber.

With his mind returning to his body in full, a few more seconds of attention finished the work on the construct immediately in front of him. Being A-Rank really made things easier on so many levels. Ways he couldn’t even begin to quantify. While he’d been exploring the Cradle remotely, he’d instinctively been able to complete most of the simple work back here. All that had been left to do was finalize a few details.

“You okay, Hiral?” Seena asked from across the construct’s body. “Did something go wrong with P3W P3W?”

“Yes, no, I mean…” Hiral started, stopped, then explained what he’d found through the connections with the Cradle. When he finished – though he’d hesitated mentioning the Unnamed given Seena’s history with it, but eventually decided he needed to tell her – the party leader sat with a neutral look on her face.

“There’s always something, isn’t there?” she asked quietly. “It’s not enough we have Vorinal and his Infested waiting just beyond the glowing wall to come kill us, but now we have those… things sleeping right under our feet?”

“Yeah,” Hiral said. “I guess part of me knew they’d be in here somewhere. We even talked about having to deal with them before we came into the raid zone. But, when all we saw was Chimeras, I guess I’d kind of hoped that was it. That the one we fought was the only one.”

“Have we ever been that lucky?” Seena asked him, but the blank look on her face slowly faded as she began to… smile? “You know what, maybe this is lucky. I owe those bastards some payback. Even if they were just sleeping the whole time.”

“You think we should fight them?” Hiral asked. He definitely wasn’t quite so keen on doing that – adrenaline junkie or not – after what he’d watched one of them do to the woman sitting across from him.

“Not unless they wake up on their own,” Seena clarified. “We should figure out a way to fight them, though. We don’t want what happened to me to happen to anybody else. They won’t all be lucky enough to have you there to save them.”

“We’re… also a lot stronger than we were before,” Hiral admitted. “As long as we don’t let one of them infect us, we should be able to defeat them a lot easier than last time.”

“Then that’s what we need to figure out,” Seena said. “How to stop them from doing that infecting thing. Think you can ask Gauto and his curious friends to work on some options?”

“Without anything to test on, it would all be theoretical,” Hiral started slowly. “Though I could explain what I know. And anything – theoretical or not – is better than nothing.”

“Exactly,” Seena said. “Yeah, it’s not great we have more Unnamed under us. But! It’s better we know about them than they wake up and surprise us.”

“That’s a good point,” Hiral said. “And yet another thing we need to tell my Dad.”

“After we finish what we’re here to do.” Seena pointed at P3W P3W right between them.

“Of course.” Hiral chuckled. “Let’s wake this guy up. Oh, one thing. I couldn’t find any sort of communication function anywhere in him other than the ‘face’ he has. So… yeah. Expect him to ‘talk’ the same way as he did before.”

“Even though he was trying to kill us, it was kind of funny,” Seena said, tilting her head back like she was reminiscing over the fight.

“Funny may not have been the word I used to describe it, but… sure.” Hiral shook his head, then placed both his hands back on the chest of the Guardian P3W P3W. One more surge of solar energy flowed through the channels and toward the solar core Hiral had crafted. This would be it, the final test to see if he’d put things back together well enough to not only repair the construct, but also to upgrade it.

As his energy reached that core, sparks of it crossed the connecting links, jumping from the braces and into the core, then back out again. Over and over, the power went in, swirled there, then came back out stronger than ever. Like the whole thing was winding up, Hiral felt more than heard a kind of hum from the solar core spinning to life.

Within seconds, he was forced to withdraw his own energy, as the solar core poured its own into the channels, filling the construct with energy and reigniting the dormant systems. Runes on the four limbs flared to life, their concepts artificial to Hiral’s more refined sense, while the ‘face’ on the front of the construct’s chest flickered.

(-_-)

(=_=)

(O_O)/

“Well, hello to you too,” Hiral said as he felt the consciousness returning to the thing. It’d always displayed some level of sentience, but through the connections he’d forged with it – partially on purpose to make sure he could control it – he felt even more of a mind awakening. One that was surprised it wasn’t dead. And then surprised again when it recognized them. “Good to see you remember us. And, no, we aren’t going to fight you again.”

m(?_?)m

“Excellent question,” Hiral said with a nod.

“There was a question there…?” Seena asked. “And you understood it?”

Opting to explain things to Seena after P3W P3W was settled, Hiral focused on the construct. “You impressed us when you fought us before,” Hiral said. “So, I thought I’d bring you with us. I’ve got something new for you to protect, if you’re game.”

c=(~_~c)

“I knew you were the right choice for the job!” Hiral said, patting the construct on the shoulder. “Why don’t you get up and we’ll show you around. Got a few people to introduce you to, but the short version of it is you’ll need to protect the fortress area, and everybody in it.”

(^_^)b

“Great, here, we’ll give you some room.” With the words, Hiral and Seena stepped back a bit, so P3W P3W could get to his feet. It didn’t take long before he was back up on his crab-like legs, and people nearby were gawking in his direction.

“Is it just me,” Seena started. “Or does he look… slimmer?”

(@~_^)

“Don’t let my sister see you wink,” Seena said before Hiral could answer the question. “The one with the daggers. You remember her?”

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L(>_<>

“No, you can’t run from her. She’s a teleporter,” Seena said with a shake of her head, before stopping. “Wait, why can I understand him now?”

“Expressions are universal?” Hiral offered with a shrug. “Either way, let’s get going. And, yes, he’s slimmer. When I was upgrading him, it made the crystal of his body denser as it was making it stronger.”

Lm(*_*)

“Yup, more muscle, less weight,” Hiral agreed. “Now, come on. I noticed the building from Mechanized is finished, and there was somebody already over there.”

With P3W P3W in tow – and more than a few onlookers staring at the new addition to the camp – Hiral and Seena wandered over to the brass building. Like he’d noticed through his sensory domain, the building was indeed completed, and somebody was standing in front of it. Eyes wide, the Bonder – from the bird perched on his shoulder – was practically motionless.

“Everything okay?” Hiral asked gently, trying not to startle the man.

“Hrm? Oh,” the man started with a shake of his head, then turned to look at Hiral and Seena. “Oh! It’s you.”

“Yes, it’s me…?” Hiral said.

“Hiral, right?” the man said. “We haven’t met, I’m only D-Rank, but everybody here knows who you are. How could we not with how glowy you are most of the time? Not that that’s a bad thing! I mean, it just kind of stands out. In a good way. Not a bad way at all. Can I stop?”

“Please,” Seena said, coming to the man’s rescue.

“Thank you.”

“What’s your name?” Hiral asked, though part of him was marvelling at the chance he was well-known for something other than being the Everfail.

“I’m Milich,” the Bonder said. “Nice to meet you.”

“You as well,” Seena said, standing beside Hiral, with P3W P3W looming behind them. “Something wrong with the building?”

“Nothing is wrong at all,” Milich said. “The opposite really. I was just walking by, and I got offered an advanced class!”

“Really?” Hiral said. “What is it?”

“Uh, it’s called a Mecha-Armor Soldier, though soldier is spelled with numbers in place of some of the letters. Took me a minute to figure it out when I got the notification window.”

“Are you going to take it?” Seena said, looking from the man to the building.

Now that Hiral was closer, he could feel a kind of humming vibration from the building, like something was going on within, even though the door still seemed to be completely closed. The whole place was big too.

“Already took it!” Milich said. “I’m getting close to C-Rank, and I may not get another chance. Besides, it said the advanced class was upgradable. I’ve never heard of that before.”

“An upgradable advanced class?” Hiral said, looking at Seena. “We’ve never heard of that either. Did it say what the next class could be?”

“No details, just names for the B-Rank classes,” Milich said. “Three options. The… uh… wasp, the commando, and the heavy gunner.”

“Wasp?” Hiral immediately asked. “Spelled W-4-5-P?”

“Yes! How did you know?”

“We fought some in the trial that unlocked the building. They’re fast-moving flyers…”

Milich immediately looked at the bird – some kind of hawk? – on his shoulder. “Did you hear that? If I get that next class, maybe we could fly together!”

Squawk!

“I know! It’s a long way away, but I think we can do it.”

Squawk, squawk!

“No need to be sarcastic about it,” Milich said flatly.

“If you already got the advanced class, what are you still doing here?” Hiral asked.

“Waiting for my… what did the notification call it? My PIRSA.”

“You’re what now?” Seena asked.

“My Personal Interface and Reinforcement System Armor. My PIRSA,” Milich said again.

“Some kind of PIM?” Hiral mused. “Sounds similar. I wonder what it is.”

They all got the answer the next second, as the door at the front of the building opened to release a dense cloud of solar-energy-infused steam. From the top of the doorway, a long, mechanized, rectangular bar emerged, extending out to almost fifteen feet. As soon as it stopped moving, the shadow of something else grew within the steam, until it too came out with a whoosh.

Hanging from the bar was a suit of pitch-black, mechanical armor. While it lacked the heavy backpack and wings of the W45P, and was noticeably lighter, there was no mistaking the similarities between the two Mecha-Armors.

“Oh, wow,” Milich said, his companion jumping off his shoulder as the Bonder stepped forward. Like the armor was waiting for him, more steam jetted out of seams all along the frame, pulling the metal aside to reveal a hollow interior. Without an apparent thought or concern, Milich climbed up and into the armor, which then immediately closed again around him. “Wow,” he said again, though, this time, his voice came out with a bit of an echo.

“It says the… the systems are booting up. I have no idea what shoes have to do with anything…” Milich explained at the same time Hiral felt solar energy swirling around him. And not just around, but through him, as the PIRSA connected directly with his PIM. No, it wasn’t just connecting, it was merging. Even some of the threads of connection to Milich’s companion were being reinforced by whatever the PIRSA was doing.

“What’s happening?” Seena asked. “Should we stop it?” She could obviously feel the surging solar energy – even though it was still only D-Rank – but couldn’t sense the finer details.

“I think it’s okay,” Hiral said. “It’s incorporating his abilities right now.” Hiral watched on in fascination, even going so far as to call on the Edicts and his Rune of Connection to get a better look at what was happening to the man’s PIM universe. “It’s almost like what the Unnamed was doing, but not in a malicious way. It’s copying parts of his PIM – not stealing them – to recreate the abilities in a way they’ll be compatible with this armor.”

Even as Hiral spoke, a new shape emerged from the still-billowing steam that prevented him from looking – or feeling – inside the building at all. This time, hanging from the rectangular bar, it was a heavy, mechanical crossbow. As soon as it stopped a foot behind where Milich hung in his armor, there was a hiss of steam from where the armor was held to the bar, and the man dropped the six inches to the ground. One stumbling step – like he was getting used to new legs – and he caught himself.

Immediately, he turned around and pulled the crossbow from where it hung, then lifted it like he was feeling the weight.

“You normally use a crossbow?” Hiral asked.

“Yes, and this one is even better,” Milich said. “And I can feel how my abilities will work with it. This is great!”

“The advanced classes are drivers of some kind for the armor types?” Seena said to Hiral.

“Looks that way,” Hiral replied. “Unless there are some kind of support classes or something.”

“Do you think we’re going to have people piloting around those G14NTs eventually? Or even the 0M3G4 W34P0N?”

“How would that even work? No way one person could pilot either of those. Maybe they need a whole group with advanced classes?”

“If there’s more people who can get these PIRSAs,” Milich said. “It would be worth it. This armor strengthens more than half my abilities, gives me big bonuses to my physical attributes, and has some built-in weapons of its own. The downside is I don’t get any of those if I’m not wearing it… but why would I ever take it off?”

“Bathing?” Seena asked flatly.

Silence was her reply for a solid three seconds.

“Point taken,” Milich replied.

“Personal hygiene aside,” Hiral said. “Sounds like a few more of these could make a difference on the upcoming battlefront. Milich, did you have to do anything other than walk past the building?” Even as Hiral asked the question, he saw dozens of people passing by. Maybe even more than would normally walk to this section of the camp, with the spectacle of P3W P3W and the man in black armor adding to the attraction. “No, there obviously has to be more to it than that,” he answered his own question. “Still, if the armor is that powerful, and leads to advanced classes being as strong as – or stronger than – the wasps we fought…”

“Will they actually be strong enough?” Seena asked. “You were… pardon the pun… swatting them out of the air like they were practically nothing.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Hiral said. “But, no, look, Milich said he has access to his abilities in the armor. Those Mecha-Armor W45Ps we fought, they didn’t use anything but those weapons. If our people have the weapons – which were already pretty scary – and their own abilities, that’s a much more dangerous combination.

“Imagine one of those G14NTsSkyfalling somebody after unloading with the cannons.”

“Okay, that is terrifying.”

“When we take P3W P3W to meet Dad and Grandmother here in a minute, we should get him to make sure everybody comes by here. Who knows what kind of classes they might get.”

“I’m sure he’ll love another thing added to his already busy plate,” Seena said, then shrugged. “Nothing really to do about it, though. Now that your project is done and we’re evolved, we should get to that A-Rank tower. Need to make sure it’s secure before those Infested arrive.”

“Exactly,” Hiral said, then turned to Milich. “Would you and your companion mind coming with us to the keep? We need you to talk to the Trust.”

Milich’s armored head looked from Hiral, to Seena, then finally to the big – though slimmer than before – construct standing silently behind them.

“We’re going to make quite the entrance, aren’t we?” the Bonder said with a chuckle.

“We usually do,” Seena said.

d_(^_^d)

“Then, after that…” Hiral said and took a break. “Then we go to war.”