Bender of Worlds

by Isaac Hooke

  So. Healing. First he needed something to heal.

  He knelt beside the ruined nightstand and picked up one of the wooden shards. He sat on the edge of the bed, held the sharp tip to the thick portion of his hand above the thumb, and made a quick cut, grimacing as he did so. His hand throbbed painfully in time to his heart, and blood oozed forth.

  Tane stepped into the Essence. He created Healing, and applied it to the hand. The pain instantly subsided, and the blood stopped trickling out. He stepped out of the Essence and wiped the blood away. All that remained of the wound was a tiny pink scar.

  Nice.

  Well, he could heal tiny nicks and scratches, anyway. He remembered that he was still wearing the Feral Necklace, so the Healing work had actually been level two, not one. He wondered if the higher levels could completely heal wounds without scarring. But then he remembered when Lyra had healed the microcrilla infection in Sinive’s shoulder—Sinive was left with a scar, even with Lyra’s obviously high level. Oh well, scars could always be fixed cosmetically if someone really felt the need.

  He went to the bathroom to wash the blood off, and then he cleaned up the broken nightstand, putting the smaller pieces inside the supplied garbage bin, and placing the larger remnants down beside said bin. Then he retrieved the armored robe from his suit. It felt heavy, so he set it down on the bed. He decided to try it on: he had the Strength for it now, after all.

  The heavy robe was open down the middle, so he shrugged one hand through the provided armhole, and the other into the opposite. Then he pulled the two sides closed around his midsection. It came with a belt similar to the one his spacesuit had, and he tightened that.

  Underneath the belt, the robe remained open down the middle, and he wasn’t sure how to seal the two sides; he saw a remote interface available to the unit on his HUD and accessed it. After logging in, he changed the password when prompted, and then the interface appeared. There was a Resize option, along with a Seal Front. He chose the latter.

  The front portion of the robe tightened, and the seam down the middle disappeared as the two halves joined. He released the edges and the robe held its shape. He was pleased to see the armor rating on his HUD go up by twenty.

  The robe felt moderately heavy. At twenty kilograms, it couldn’t really be considered light. But it was manageable, and shouldn’t adversely affect his ability to move around in a fight. He might get tired slightly faster, but the added protection from the armor rating was worth it.

  He walked toward the mirror. He definitely cut a nice profile in that robe. He looked like a robed assassin or something, given the way those metal plates interlocked. Or a Volur, like Lyra. It definitely reminded him of the battle dress she wore. And come to think of it, with those silver rings on his fingers and the necklace around his throat, he really did look the part of a Volur.

  And he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing.

  He shrunk the material so that it appeared to be an ordinary cloth robe, but it still had the same weight. His armor rating dropped to five at the most compact setting. He was able to put on his spacesuit at that level, which let him layer the armor ratings. He tried enlarging the robe once the suit pressurized, and he managed to increase it enough to get the rating up to ten, however he had trouble breathing at that setting, and quickly realized the robe was interfering with the suit’s air circulation, so he dropped it back down to its most compact level. That would have to do. He tried walking around, and the suit’s servomotors easily made up for the increased bulk and heft.

  Tane stripped off the suit once more but decided to leave the armored robe on, as he wanted to get used to its weight. He bound the suit up and put it into his pouch, and washed his hands of the latest dried blood the suit had rubbed off onto them.

  The plan was to leave a few hours after dusk, that way the team could sneak G’allanthamas aboard Gia’s ship without drawing any attention. Tane glanced at the time. He still had a long way to go until nightfall. He decided to spend the time practicing the different Essenceworks he knew. He slid on his gauntlets and equipped his beam hilt for extra Endurance.

  In about an hour he had exhausted himself. And he hadn’t leveled in any of the works. He double-checked the manual, and realized that leveling only really occurred when he used the works in practical situations, such as battle. Sure, he could get to level zero if he was trying to learn a new work from a Branchwork hologram—if he had one—but that was really about it. He couldn’t even get Air Current to move from level zero to one, even though he tried throwing the Essencework at the walls, and accidentally tore away the curtain from the rod one time.

  As for Healing, he couldn’t simply keep cutting himself and healing the same tiny wound. He had to move on to larger wounds if he wanted to gain any experience. And he wasn’t about to start inflicting greater and greater injuries upon himself simply for the practice.

  After a moderate rest, he tried mixing Dark timelines with White Branchworks, but all he really succeeded in doing was creating the individual works. If he really wanted to create something from a mix of Dark and White, like Repel Nanotech, he needed training.

  He needed that Dark Artifact in the Umbra.

  He stopped his experimentations when he drilled a large hole into the wall dividing the bathroom from the main room: he’d accidentally released an Essence Missile and Fingers of Ruin at the same time, when he had meant for the works to dissipate.

  A delivery drone dropped off supper at six, as Jed had promised it would. After Tane ate, he lay on the bed to nap.

  As he lay there, staring at the ceiling, he wondered if he should go down to Sinive’s quarters. A part of him hoped she would come knocking again, asking to use his sonic shower. But she didn’t.

  Yep. She definitely used me.

  He applied his personal augmentation settings to his surroundings, making it appear that the bed was located on a barren, atmosphereless moon. Starting at the gas giant floating above him amid the stars helped him relax, and he closed his eyes. He wasn’t able to sleep, though. It was too early.

  A knock finally came at the door, and for a moment he thought it might be Sinive. His heart rate jumped through the roof, and he sat up, but when he accessed the remote camera, he discovered it was only Jed.

  Disappointed, Tane dismissed his augmented reality settings and snapped back into the real world. He opened the door remotely and Jed came in, his power armor forsaken for the dark red sari.

  “The hell happened here?” Jed said, looking around in shock. “Looks like a war zone.”

  “Err,” Tane said sheepishly. “I decided to do some experimenting.”

  “I’ll say,” Jed said. “And you give Sinive crap for stealing…”

  “Yeah, but there’s a difference, this was accidental,” Tane said. “Mostly.” He sighed. “Could you deposit a couple thousand credits into the building’s bank account to make up for the damage? I’ll pay you back once I can access the Galnet again.”

  “Done,” Jed said. “And you don’t have to pay me back. Oh, I got something for you today.” The Volur tossed Tane a fresh oxygen tank. “For your spacesuit.”

  “Thank you.” Tane shoved the tank into his storage pouch, with plans to install it later.

  “It’s been dark for a few hours,” Jed said. “It’s time to make our way to the shipyard. Put on your blurring cap. And sari.”

  “Is there still a curfew?” Tane asked.

  “There is,” Jed said. “And it just took effect.”

  “Gall is going to blur Sinive and I with those spheres of his while we’re out there anyway,” Tane said. “So what’s the point of wearing the cap and sari?”

  “By now you know I like to err on the side of caution,” Jed said. “If the alien lowers those blur spheres at any time, and you happen to be in a lighted area, if you’re not wearing that cap, and the cameras catch your face...”

  “Then the TSN will come raining down on us,” Tane said.

  “Exactly,�
�� Jed said. “Whereas if you keep the cap on, then the worst we’ll have to deal with is law enforcement. One or two robots. Maybe a mech.”

  “Guess I’m wearing the cap and sari,” Tane said.

  He slid on the cap, and Jed helped him wrap the long fabric of the sari around his body. When that was done, he followed Jed into the hallway.

  “Any update on the 3D printers?” Tane asked.

  “Still working away,” Jed said. “The shipyard was only able to rent half their industrial printers to us on such short notice. The emitters will probably be ready sometime in the middle of the night. Then Gia and I will install them, following the plans our alien friend gave me. He chose a dweller transport of matching size to her ship, so it shouldn’t raise any alarms. As for installation, we’ve got access to the shipyard’s loading arms, so that’ll help. We should be ready to leave by the time the curfew lifts in the morning.”

  “I’m surprised Gall was able to give you the precise thermal signatures for some minor alien transport off the cuff like that,” Tane said

  “Dwellers have chips in their heads, too, you know,” Jed said.

  “I suppose they do,” Tane said. “I guess I never really thought about it.” He considered something. “What about the extras we’re printing up beside the emitters... will those be ready in time?”

  “Yes,” Jed said. “I accounted for them in my estimate. Everything will be ready when the curfew lifts.”

  Sinive was already dressed in her sari when Jed and Tane arrived. The Volur tossed Sinive an oxygen tank as well, and she stowed it in her storage pouch underneath her sari.

  G’allanthamas was eager to go. The alien had essentially destroyed the room: all the fixtures were broken, and the mattresses leaning against the walls had multiple holes poked in them. The damage was far worse than anything Tane had done to his own suite.

  “Jed...” Tane said.

  “I can’t afford the repair costs on this one,” Jed said.

  Too bad. Because neither could Tane.

  He ran a quick ID on the alien, wondering what his enhanced chip would return.

  Name: G’allanthamas

  Race: Dweller

  Level: 27

  Class: None of your business, Doomwielder

  Weaponry:

  None

  Shielding: Energy. (40/40)

  Base Armor rating: 20

  Total armor rating (including shielding): 60

  He wasn’t expecting a name, level and class, since the public profile information wasn’t available when IDing aliens, due to tech differences, but G’allanthamas had obviously made the necessary data available to Tane’s chip, using the same technology the dweller used to share his location and communicate over the comm. The little note G’allanthamas had left in place of class was cute. Tane doubted the alien’s level was accurate, since it seemed a little high. Then again, seeing as the dweller was over a thousand years old, the level might actually be too low.

  G’allanthamas immediately lowered blurring spheres over himself, Tane, and Sinive—apparently he had created them in advance and stored them in reserve.

  That was a good idea. Creating the works in advance, that is. Tane started work on his own, so that by the time the party was winding its way through the streets below, he had both Fingers of Ruin and Melt Metal in reserve.

  Jed led the way, invisible, but staying close enough to the reduced range of Tane and Sinive’s transmitters so that he still showed up on the overhead map.

  As usual, it was really hot out there. Tane was starting to regret that he hadn’t put on his spacesuit, if only for the climate-controlled environment.

  They made their way through the dark streets. They kept close to the tall silos that bordered the road, and avoided light sources as much as possible, sticking to the shadows.

  Jed had them duck inside side streets and alleyways three times to avoid different patrols: two TSN, one local law enforcement. But otherwise, they reached the shipyard without incident.

  There was no access to the terminal at this hour, but Gia had stowed a shuttle on the street below. It wasn’t big enough to fit G’allanthamas and the others at the same time, so they would have to travel up in two groups.

  Tane glanced upward, his gaze running up the sides of the large terminal beside them. At the top, he could see the landing lights that lit up the different platforms and hangars up there.

  “Will the TSN pick up our shuttle from orbit?” Tane asked. “With their LIDAR?”

  “Yes,” Jed replied. “But my hope is it’ll be confused with an automated building process. Shipyards have a lot of moving parts. Automated shuttles often lower debris to street level in the middle of the night, for retrieval by garbage scows in the morning. Either way, we’ll know shortly.”

  “But that shuttle doesn’t actually belong to the shipyard, right?” Tane said. “How can we be sure it won’t trigger the building’s proximity alarms?”

  “It won’t,” Jed said. “I was able to hack the system when I visited earlier. I programmed the alarms to turn off from nine p.m. to ten p.m., and since it’s nine forty-five at the moment, we don’t have time to lose. Dweller, you’re first. When you unload at the top, wait for us, and we’ll lead you to the ship when we arrive.”

  G’allanthamas approached the shuttle warily as the wide rear ramp lowered.

  “Will the craft obey my commands?” the alien asked before boarding.

  “No, but the AI will take you up to the platform just as soon as you’re aboard, and then return when you debark,” Jed said.

  “Good enough.” The dweller entered and the ramp shut behind him.

  The shuttle ascended, staying very close to the wall. All of its running lights remained offline so as to avoid drawing attention to itself.

  By then Tane had worked up a good sweat, and was steeped in his own bodily juices; as he watched the craft rise, fresh perspiration drizzled down his ribcage. It was sourced more from nerves than the heat.

  In moments the shuttle reached the platform above and vanished from view. After about a minute, it reappeared and descended. No alarms had sounded. And no TSN or law enforcement patrols arrived.

  So far so good.

  After the shuttle landed, the invisible Volur boarded, according to the overhead map. Still surrounded by dark spheres, Tane and Sinive followed up the ramp behind him. When it sealed, Jed materialized in front of them.

  The cabin shook very slightly as the craft ascended. In moments it touched down on the platform, and the ramp opened once more. Tane and the others debarked, and Jed became invisible again. The Volur led the way, and Tane and Sinive followed via their maps. Meanwhile G’allanthamas brought up the rear.

  Tane felt strangely guilty at having bypassed the customs and security protocols that everybody else normally had to go through when entering via the terminal proper. Guilty, and a little liberated, as if the rules of society no longer applied to him.

  He wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to believe such a thing. That was the path of criminals, not good citizens of the galaxy. At least, he had always believed that.

  Yes, best not to get too comfortable flouting the laws and rules humanity has developed after thousands of years of civilization.

  Jed led them inside a nearby hangar via a pair of double doors. Behind Tane, G’allanthamas tilted his body diagonally at a forty-five degree angle to squeeze past the tight opening.

  Inside, steps led down to a starship, and Tane found himself slightly underwhelmed by what he saw.

  This thing is taking us into the Umbra?

  21

  Tane studied the ship. It was big enough for the task, he supposed, coming in at about half the size of the Red Grizzly. It was T-shaped, with several big nozzles—obviously for acceleration—emerging from the horizontal portion of that T, and smaller nozzles placed at strategic locations across the remainder of the gray hull, these ones meant for attitude control. On the sides were several deployable rotor and
anti-grav sets meant for atmospheric flight, all of which were currently unfolded. The underside of the ship was completely black—the heat shield tiles. Two ramps had been lowered. The smaller one seemed to lead to the cramped main corridors of the ship. The wider ramp led directly to a cargo bay.

  Tane immediately ran an ID on the ship.

  Ship: Mosaic

  Class: Scow.

  Offensive Weapons:

  Forward-facing:

  Three dragon laser turrets, 180-degree throw angle.

  One plasma thrower, 45-degree throw angle.

  Aft-facing:

  Two dragon laser turrets, 90-degree throw angle.

  Point Defense Weapons: None.

  Shielding system: Energy.

  Crew complement: 2 (currently 1)

  Passenger capacity (current/maximum): 0/3.

  Tane was happy to see the ID go through. That was a good indicator that the Chip Database Upgrade was working. Then again, since it wasn’t a military vessel, the ID was probably already in the public domain anyway.

  “Strange that it has no Essence lance,” Tane commented.

  “The scow isn’t an offensive ship,” Jed said. “She’s meant for short term hauls. Those weapons are for defense only: to cut and run in case of a pirate attack.”

  “Looks like a garbage scow to me,” Sinive commented.

  “Make sure you don’t tell Gia that,” Jed said.

  Jed became visible and took the steps down to the ship. Gia stood in front of a waist-high console below, and her hands were manipulating an invisible user interface; the big robot arms that hung down from the ceiling matched the pose of her limbs, and as he watched, those arms attached a rectangular panel to the back of the ship, above one of the engine nozzles. No doubt that panel was a freshly 3D-printed emitter.

  The party approached the console.

  “Welcome,” Gia said, glancing over her shoulder. “Nice blur spheres you have around yourselves, by the way. Go ahead and climb aboard. Make yourselves at home. We got all night, yet.” She did a double take on G’allanthamas. “When you said you had a dweller coming with you, you weren’t kidding.”