So now, we could come and go freely, without being concerned about intruders, since flight would be the only feasible way to enter my makeshift home.
It was early in the morning still, prompting me to assume that at least two days had passed since we last saw the humans, because there was no way in hell all of these augmentations had happened overnight.
We had both been forced to sleep for several hours at a time in between the changes, with one of us always being awake as a lookout, so I knew a fair amount of time had passed.
I smiled slightly as Harper began gliding, while circling the roof, slowly coming closer until she finally dropped down onto the tar-pitched surface. Her body was extremely lean, but it was obvious she had some muscle in her legs hidden underneath her midnight skin, since it rippled slightly in her thighs as she landed. Granted, considering she had started with a +50 Strength boost from her elongated arms and modified legs, I supposed that shouldn’t be surprising.
It’s just that before, I had never cared enough to pay attention to such details, doing my best to ignore her for the most part.
Her wings folded behind her back, her tail beginning to sway close to the ground, as she walked towards me.
“How is it?” I asked sincerely, eager to speak out loud.
“It’s perfect!” she replied with a grin, her white hair fluttering in the breeze. “The blade actually makes it even easier to fly now. Thank you!”
Huh. I had just added it for an extra weapon, since it wasn’t much of a modification after the tail had been made, so the fact that it allowed her to maneuver in the air better was an unexpected bonus.
“Err, you’re welcome,” I responded, examining her figure again. She seemed a little taller too, and her hair was a little longer, though I wasn’t sure when that had happened. Maybe when I added the tail?
Oddly enough, her arms looked more proportioned to her body too, considering that her legs and torso had grown some. Granted, with me being something like six-five, and her being no more than five feet now, her head still barely reached my chest.
Still, if she had grown half a foot, that was a huge jump – something that should happen over years, not days. It was almost like she unexpectedly hit puberty, possibly triggered by the recent changes made.
Obviously, she was still a kid, but she was physically beginning to look like a young teenager.
After a moment of looking her over, I realized she had an odd expression on her face, her red eyes gentle – almost tender.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
She immediately shook her head. “Nothing.”
“No, seriously. Tell me what’s wrong.”
Harper hesitated for a moment before glancing down at my feet. “I’m just glad you raised your Connection stat,” she admitted. “It’s a nice change.”
My brow furrowed. “You’re glad I can talk now?” I clarified.
She shook her head, her gaze falling lower to look at her own feet as she clasped her hands behind her back, her bony hips jutting forward slightly. “No, I like that…you’re being kind to me.”
My eyes widened in surprise.
I could agree that I was being a little nicer to her, but what did that have to do with my Connection stat? Unless…
She nodded to my unspoken thoughts. “Yes, I think you struggled to feel empathy before. But now, I feel like you actually…care…” Her red gaze then abruptly met mine, looking alarmed, as if she was afraid of being misunderstood. “Not that you didn’t care at all before,” she added. “But, I just feel like you’re able to care about someone apart from their usefulness now.”
Looking up at one of the many black towers in the distance, I began chewing on the inside of my cheek absentmindedly as I thought about that. I supposed maybe she was right, though I still wasn’t interested in babysitting anyone or having to be everyone’s hero. If there wasn’t something in it for me, then I still would probably refuse to get involved in a situation.
And in fact, I really had no plans to waste my time on the humans anytime soon.
Unexpectedly, Harper dropped her gaze again, her shoulders hunching.
I sighed in annoyance that she wouldn’t just speak her mind. “What is it?” I groaned.
“I just…wouldn’t mind checking on my sister,” she whispered. “And I guess my brother too, since apparently I have one of those.”
I took a deep breath and then let it out slowly, examining her reserved posture. She wouldn’t meet my gaze.
Ah shit, whatever.
I should probably test out my speaking skills with the humans anyway. I didn’t want to come across another unexpected problem. I mean, I couldn’t imagine that there would be an issue with my capacity to speak, but I also hadn’t expected being unable to do it in the first place the first time I met them.
Turning to my side slightly, I positioned myself so she could get on my back. She, of course, already knew what was in my thoughts, so she looked up right away once the decision had been made.
“I can fly,” she whispered, seeming as if she was worried about being a burden.
I shook my head. “No, your endurance isn’t like mine. I could fly all day and never get tired. And I need you to be at your peak performance at all times, so you can escape easily if we encounter an unexpected fight.”
She gaped at me. “I wouldn’t leave you to fight alone,” she exclaimed.
I shook my head. “Yes you will, if it’s too dangerous. You’re useless to me dead. I need you to stay alive until I can raise your Thermoacoustic stat high enough so you can help support me from the air if I’m on the ground.”
And I realized I should probably raise her Endurance some too while I was at it. Ugh, I wondered how much that would cost.
Processing enhancement request…
Analyzing sub-handler 001 biometric values…
Complete.
Reconstructed Cardiovascular Stage 1 [s1]
Estimated Resource Requirement (Augmentation): 31
Estimated Resource Requirement (Evolution): 6
Total Estimated Resource Requirement: 37
Estimated increase in endurance: +120
Estimated increase in strength: +10
Estimated increase in speed: +30
Whoa! Enhancing her cardiovascular system, which I knew involved her lungs, heart, and blood vessels, gave her a boost to all three primary stats, and it wasn’t even that costly for the first stage! She could have the full boost from just one session.
Damn!
Just as Harper began moving towards me to get on my back, she stopped when she saw where my thoughts had abruptly gone, looking a little disappointed.
“It’s still early in the morning,” I reassured her. “Let me give you this boost, and then when you wake up, I’ll fly you over to see your sister. Okay?”
That tender expression reappeared. “Okay,” she agreed quietly.
Ugh. I sighed again as I led the way back into the building and down the stairs. It wasn’t that I didn’t like that she was appreciative, but she made it seem as if it was too big of a deal sometimes. I mean, it wasn’t as if I was sacrificing anything significant by doing this for her. And in the end, it benefited me to have a party member capable of holding her own in battle.
Once we got back to the boiler room – which I had cleaned a little by removing the Night Stalker corpse, along with disposing of all his organs, after I discovered that the bastard didn’t offer any more resources than a normal Night Stalker – I had her fill up on points from the isopod and then gave her the enhancement.
Per usual, she looked extremely uncomfortable while the change was being made, until an hour or so later when she passed out once it was about finished.
Having nothing to do while she took a couple hour nap, I checked her improved stats once her fatigue dropped below 80% – otherwise, it showed all her biometrics at reduced values starting at that threshold – all while debating whether improving her Thermoacoustic stat t
ruly was the best choice.
I also noticed that, while her Endurance and Strength increased by the estimated values, her max speed did not, because the +30 boost apparently just applied to her legs whereas her current max speed was determined by her wings. Still, her top running speed on all fours had jumped from 124 to 154.
SUB-HANDLER 001
Physical Condition: Transitional
Psychological Condition: Stable, Unconscious
Fatigue: 78%
Mass: 35
Strength: 112
Endurance: 159
Speed: 274
Wings: 274
Limbs (4): 154
Legs (2): 83
Dexterity: 87
Balance: 100
Connection: 19
Thermoacoustic: 1
Attack: 917
Defense: 1,271
Distributable Resources: 1 / 38
In the end, I decided giving her fire magic would still be my goal – one in which I would focus on from here on out, since she now had a reasonable amount of endurance.
Chapter 13: Reintroductions
As we landed in the middle of the street in front of the hospital’s emergency entrance, we saw some of the humans loading up in their dark blue pickup truck, including the old man Randy, the middle-aged John, and then his two sons Chris and Tony.
There was also another middle-aged guy I didn’t recognize, who appeared to be balding earlier than normal – he might have been one of the conscious thirteen humans who had been gathered together in the parking lot, when they were all suffocating on tear gas, but I wasn’t certain considering I had only seen their thermal signatures in my heat vision. Of course, there was no sign of the person who had been shot and killed, with the only evidence from the incident being a large dark stain on the pavement.
Just prior to them taking notice of us, Chris and Tony had been having a pretty heated argument, before their father, John, told them both to shut the hell up. Initially, I wasn’t certain if they were going to listen, but our unexpected descent shut everyone up.
Harper hopped off my back, eyeing the guy with white hair and slate-green eyes, since she could see in my mind that I primarily identified him as her and Savannah’s grandfather.
After exchanging a few quick words amongst themselves, John told Tony to go get Savannah, while he and Randy began approaching us, leaving Chris and the balding guy at the truck.
It was obvious that Harper’s grandfather was experiencing a wide range of emotions as he focused on his granddaughter’s unfamiliar alien physique, his expression reserved and his eyes looking misty. However, once the two men were halfway to us, he tore his gaze away from her to focus on me.
John spoke up as they drew closer, seeming a little more comfortable communicating with me, since he had done so previously through Harper. “Good to see you two are doing alright,” he said sincerely, focusing on me as well. “We were worried we would never get to thank you when we didn’t see you for a few days.”
He then focused on Harper, as if waiting for a response either directly from her, or telepathically communicated from me.
I cleared my throat, my anticipation rising. “Yes, well, we had some business to take care of that required more time than we anticipated.”
John’s head snapped back toward me, both men gawking in disbelief.
“You can talk?” John exclaimed.
I nodded. “I can now. I’m sure you can imagine how frustrating it was to be able to think clearly, but not have the capacity to communicate my thoughts.”
John nodded with wide eyes. “Yes, of course.”
Randy unexpectedly spoke up. “Umm, it’s Mason, right?”
I shrugged. “It is now, I guess. That’s what Savannah decided to call me. At the very least, it’s certainly better than the other options she listed off. And I have no idea what my name was as a human.”
“R-Right,” he replied. “I just wanted to apologize for what happened back when we first found my youngest granddaughter.” He paused, his expression uncontrollably becoming pained as he glanced in her direction, before composing himself. “I’m afraid I overreacted, even though you were clearly trying to protect us, and I’m very sorry for that. I also wanted to thank you for not killing me for raising my weapon against you.”
I shrugged again. “I may have overreacted myself. Your gun wouldn’t have harmed me.”
Both men stared at me in shock.
“What?” I continued, a little amused. “You didn’t know that some Night Stalkers are virtually bulletproof?” I raised my arms slightly. “This black armor isn’t just for show. It serves a purpose.”
They both nodded slowly, completely unaware that they were in sync, as if they were responding to an eye-opening lecture.
John cleared his throat, glancing at Randy. “That’s good to know,” he said hesitantly, before looking back up at me. “So…Mason…if that’s true, how would we defend ourselves from an attack from…you know…”
I shrugged. “I’m not sure that you could,” I admitted. “You’re lucky that most of them only have heat vision, or otherwise your flimsy cinderblock barricades wouldn’t offer any protection. To them, it just looks like another wall. And like most predators, they’re lazy – they wouldn’t try busting through a wall for no reason.”
They both looked at each other again, seemingly stunned at that revelation.
“So that’s why,” Randy said slowly.
John nodded in agreement.
Shit, why was I being so helpful? I supposed it didn’t really matter either way. At this point, I was just happy to talk, and if they could benefit from this information then good for them.
I quickly continued. “Actually, I should clarify that I assume most of them only have heat vision. It’s the only reason I can come up with for why even the flimsiest of barricades wouldn’t be tested by one of my kind.” I glanced back at Harper, prompting her to nod at my unspoken question regarding her eyesight. I then continued as I focused on the men again. “I have no idea why the two of us can use both color vision and heat vision, but I’m pretty sure the average Night Stalker only has the latter of the two.”
“What’s this heat vision like?” John asked. “Can you describe it?”
“Well, since I can use both, I have no idea what it would be like to only have heat vision, but if I had to guess, then everything would be shades of gray, based on temperature. When I’m using my heat vision, things that are cold are dark gray, whereas things that are very hot would be white. However, I can still see some color either way, whereas I doubt that’s the case for the others. The two of us also both have a unique form of night vision they may or may not have. My eyes glow enough that I can see the red color in the dark, so if they don’t have color vision then they probably can’t benefit from that light, even if they do produce it. Granted, if their heat vision isn’t dependent on light at all, then it would be more than enough to see in the dark on its own.”
Seriously, I was pretty sure both these men were about to whip out notepads and start taking notes. Was this information really that useful?
“Any reason why you ask?” I finally prompted out of curiosity.
Randy was the one to clear his throat. “Umm, yes. When all this first started back in April, there were a lot of firsthand accounts of people surviving close encounters by hiding under things like emergency thermal blankets in plain sight, or even hiding under a thick wool blanket. It was assumed that Night Stalkers were just really stupid, but now we realize it might be because the survivors were basically becoming invisible by trapping their body-heat.”
I scoffed. “Did no one seriously even consider the idea?” I asked.
They both glanced at each other again, before John spoke. “Since Night Stalkers started off as humans, I think everyone just assumed that their eyesight would be the same. Although, scientists might have different theories now.” He shrugged. “We honestly don’t know. It’s not like we can watch th
e news.” He paused to look at Harper, lowering his voice. “And we didn’t know the Night Stalkers could change so much, so quickly.”
Huh, now that I thought about it, I could understand that logic behind their assumptions, as well as their ignorance about how fast Night Stalkers could change, especially since the average person likely didn’t get a closeup of one and live to tell about it. Granted, it probably was rare for one of my kind to change so quickly.
We had the isopod to thank for that.
But I really couldn’t blame their ignorance. Even now, if my theory was correct about the heat vision thing, I wasn’t sure why most of my kind had lost their color vision, or why both Harper and I had it…
Something here just wasn’t adding up, but I didn’t have a clue what it might be.
When I noticed Randy becoming teary eyed again, having focus on his granddaughter too, I spoke to Harper in my thoughts while glancing down at her.
‘Well? This is why you wanted to come, isn’t it?’
She looked up at me to reply. “Yeah, but you were talking. I didn’t want to interrupt.”
“Go ahead.”
She nodded, focusing on the older man. “Hi, I guess. Are you really my grandfather?”
He nodded silently in confirmation, getting down on one knee, the tears brimming over now. “H-How are you, honey?” he whispered.
“I don’t remember you,” she blurted out.
He sniffled. “I…I know. Your big sister told me. I’m…I’m just glad you’re alive…” He paused, wincing a little. “And…I hope safe too…”
She nodded. “Mason is helping me get stronger.”
Rise of the Night Stalkers Page 14
