“I understand.” Oliver merely looked to the nearby cube and really wanted to know what it was and what it could do. In response, from beneath the sleeve a tendril of black struck out like a webbed tentacle and consumed the object. Then it surrounded the entirety and sucked it up under the sleeve. Inside Oliver’s mind images from the multi-tool showed his desire and feelings from it also knew exactly what it was and wanted to assimilate it into itself. He approved and used his left hand to pull the sleeve back and watch it writhe.
When shown to the naked eye was like a black beating heart pulsing and the hard cube shape began to shrink as its bonds began pulling apart.
“What are you making it do? What is it?” Stephanie was fascinated rather than mad as the Multi-tool was breaking down the hardest and most dense material on record. Shrinking it with each beat.
He didn’t answer till the final pulse stilled, but then watched as a new color created a large ochre oval on the brighter color side. The lines formed a long oval in the inner part of the forearm. “I hate to say your theory was wrong, but it was.”
“It was just a theory on the data I had. I want unbiased facts. Tell me exactly what just happened as best you can.” She turned her screen to record him on video.
“Alright, well I just found out my multi-tool was actually incomplete. It was merely half done. The Voidium cubes are the missing component given when a teen becomes an adult in Solarian society. My vambrace is given to teenagers so they can play around safely till adulthood to begin unlocking the higher functions built inside it. There are too many programs to count… locked functions I can now sense and touch in a way. When I imagined wanting to know what the cube could do, my multi-tool recognized it for what it was. It is a storage vessel for psionic energy and a biological technology program master key my mind must figure out. We all know fatigue is a result of the expenditure of the electrical impulses, but to be able to circumvent that personal limitation I can access the reserves it has already begun to collects to keep going when I run out.”
“It’s a personal Psionic collector?! A battery?” Steven was on his feet. “I thought it was impossible to store energy and be able to reabsorb it. It can be stored and used in our devises, but can’t be returned to a person.”
“That was the believed idea till now, but we still know so little of our ancestor’s technology.” Stephanie said. “Keep going. Tell me everything you can articulate.”
“Well now that it is assimilated I can feel it drawing the energy from my body so long as I continue gathering and don’t intend to focus it. This yellowish orange oval is a visual resembling a fuel gauge.” He traced the line. “And rather than my body dissipating what I Gather, it draws the excess all into itself. It has no absorption limit, but once it saturates it cannot absorb anymore. It shuts itself off and can only pull from just one individual. The moment I was recognized, it would respond to only me. Used in conjunction with my multi-tool, it bypasses drawing the energy requirements from me to power itself to create or modify. When depleted it will pull from me again.”
“So… it is an empty battery that can fuel creating objects itself as well as yourself if you ever use what it stores?” She asked.
“Correct. It seems the mass is actually individual atomic size batteries rather than atoms.”
“Can you calculate the maximum storage capacity it can hold?”
“Give me a moment.” He pulled out his oval tablet and quickly felt out how to measure it’s capabilities. Since psionic output is calculated in watts for the twelve classes and the capacity is telling me it’s capability then… he thought while his left hand typed rapidly on the laser display put on the table’s surface. “Roughly it can hold fourteen trillion gigawatts before total saturation.”
Silence followed that rough estimation before Stephanie asked “Are you sure? That is the equivalent solar output of a G class star.”
“I know. From the emptiness of the cube integrated in my multi-tool, the storage capacity can store that much completely. Each atom of the cube can roughly store the psionic power of a year’s maximum output of a Class Twelve individual of Jake Dorgen’s record holding blast. At that output of constant it will take roughly 299,413,108 years, two months and sixteen hours to full saturation.” He turned the screen. “Here are my figures based on the depth my multi-tool’s basis can accurately relay to me.”
“Well fuck me sideways.” Steven sat down feeling completely numb. “We’ll be screwed if it breaks at a zillionth of a fraction. The explosion will be epic though.”
“No, it can’t be broken to detonate as you would imagine. If I die the energy will simply dissipate safely over eons… like when you let go of extra as it leaves your body rather than hold it in and channel it to a point.” Oliver corrected. “I can feel the safeguards placed inside my multi-tool. I never could before now that it is finally complete.” He tilted his head slightly. “Think of the buffers in your suit. It absorbs your energy and stops when the power cells are full. At the push of a button you can create a basic electrical charge that in one touch will render an opponent unconscious. The cells in your suit also have a containment breach protocol where a neutralizing solution is let out to keep the acid from eating through the suit and yourself. My people weren’t stupid. Someone must have known a full release of that magnitude would be completely terrifying.”
“I can believe that at least.” Steven’s color began to return. “But why did it suck up heat like me at an all you can eat buffet?”
“I’m guessing here, but I think that without a multi-tool’s ability to guide, or programs to be more specific, that the cubes absorb any form of biological energy, but doesn’t know what to do with it. When it integrated I couldn’t sense anything, but right now it’s like I can see a spark within my mind and a stream of energy being fed to it. There was nothing for several seconds till the oval was finalized. It must have released heat as it drew from the body and shed it faster than can be measured by your scanners. I want to be on record in saying that is only a guess.”
“Noted.” Stephanie said and turned off her tablet and sat the object on the table. “I’ll believe you, but I want to do a blind study and see if Renee says the same thing. Sparky, no telepathy please.” The Drake wanted to be certain too. “I’ve already locked the cubes behind an acrylic window so no one accidently gets frostbite playing catch.”
“Fine by me.” Oliver said as he looked at the inner forearm. “It would feel great to be seconded. If she can come up with similar figures it would ease my mind.”
“Don’t share this, Sparky. Please. If people knew…”
“We are in agreement.” The Drake gave a single nod and cut her off. “If the quantity can be even partially reverse engineered it could prove to be a double edged sword… especially if these safeguards could be stripped and that energy is released all at once. Whole solar systems would vanish. I cannot hide my emotions, but I will protect this section of thoughts. She is still preoccupied with Taylor in the med bay, but when she believes the problem is taken care of she has promised to help out. I told her just now that Oliver believes the feminine side will discover the cube uses better than he can.”
“Good thinking. She’ll be oblivious and cocky as long as we all Gather from this point on so she cannot easily Read us.” Everyone nodded, but only Stephanie wasn’t currently doing it till as she spoke. “While we wait on little miss sunshine I wanted to ask you, Oliver, if your multi-tool can link another weapon to yourself and possibly another, circumventing trillions of credits on power requirements and supposed pain to bind person to weapon.”
“I can certainly give it a try.” Rubbing his chin and looking around the shelves of weapons asked “What should I attempt?”
Steven looked to Visor and with a gentle mental prod had the bird flutter off his shoulder so he could get up and came over saying “Brother, it would be best to carry a smaller blade and something for defense. It would benefit your fighting style.” He flip
ped the wrist of his free hand and out sprang a thin hidden knife he grabbed before it could fall to the ground. Stone had done something similar once. “Sometimes a knife is more appropriate for killing in close quarters. On the plus side your sword is overkill if you want to cut up a big juicy piece of steak. When you cracked open the Salamander skulls last time your sword made a mess. Bind this knife and… maybe one of those small shields.”
Touching the cutlass at his hip had him nodding. “Yeah… you’re right. I don’t like drawing my blade all the time if a smaller one can do a more efficient job. And I’d be in trouble if it got lost and I didn’t have another weapon… especially since I can’t do a kinetic blast yet.” He looked around and spotted a beige colored, bowie style dagger with an overall length of twenty eight centimeters. Only the barest shading broke up the solid light coloring. The grip thankfully didn’t have ridges for fingers, but its pattern would allow for him to have a sure hold even when wet. The topside of the blade was levelly flat till it dipped down and slightly curved in the tip.
“Don’t you want Pinky over there?” Steven joked as Oliver very carefully lifted the upside down dagger from the stand.
“Not my color. Too bright.” He replied, looking over it.
“Besides, I want it. I love pink. Well salmon actually.” Stephanie seemed to hover over the knife on her desk. “If he can bind it to other people, I want this little cutie all to myself.”
Oliver also lifted an indigo colored targe, a circular shield that would allow a person to slide in a forearm for stability with a solid bar for a hand grip to keep it from flying off when swung around. The shell was lacking any form of pattern as an individual. If not for the holding pieces in the underside it would seem to be an oversized throwing disc. He then carried over the two rather hefty items to the desk, sat down and laid the shield on the table as it wasn’t as dangerous as the knife.
Four sets of curious gazes looked on as Oliver rubbed his chin and took in the overall design and craftsmanship of the cutting tool. Committing it to memory before doing anything else, feeling it was an integral step in the process without understanding exactly why. He just went along with it. To commit it more to memory he carefully ran a thumb over its surfaces aside from the deadly edge on the blade.
Okay, that seems good enough. Now I want it to be mine and mine alone. With that thought the vambrace traveled over his hand like a liquid glove to coat both hand and blade together. Oliver felt through the link of the vambrace had with him symbiotically that it recognized the dagger for what it was. It knew it was functional, but empty of power. Without power it no longer recognized its previous owner and master. Without an owner, the protocols of his multi-tool didn’t deny accessing the knife’s three abilities and transfer ownership to himself. The vambrace seemed to give Oliver a feeling which made it seem it was asking if he wished to follow through, but also there were limitations. He agreed and in that moment there was a painful squeeze that had his jaw press so tight it made it impossible to scream.
“Brother! What…”
And just as fast, the bone crushing squeeze eased. The inky vambrace withdrew and as it did it showed a bright red hand dotted in white spots, like circulation had been cut off. In his right hand was now holding the beige knife, but now it sparkled faintly with a resemblance to a dawn starlight. The lingering pain had done more than enough and without intent, he dropped the knife.
Stephanie jumped away in fright, thinking it would go right through her foot, but as the point hit tip first, it bounced off the wooden floor rather than disappearing below. When it didn’t she picked it up while Oliver flexed his throbbing hand and used the other to rub it further. Very carefully she scanned the edge with a recalibrated scanner she and Jessica worked together on to detect the near impossible to read aspects innate to the weapon. A quick preliminary reading had her smile. “It has got the dulling barrier when not on your person. Are you alright?”
“That really hurt.” He answered, shaking the offending hand. “Felt like it was going to crush every bone in my hand. Took quite a bit of power too. It depleted the store it already absorbed and sapped me pretty good.”
“Then you just rest and recuperate and try again with the shield. I’ll do a few tests in the meantime. What can you tell me about it?”
“For starters, there is a limit to how many if these weapons I can carry. No more than three. Now that it is complete,” He touched his forearm. “I was able to understand a bit more on what I can and cannot do. It told me that the armor and weapons are all connected and regulated by this. It is what keeps them from drawing too much and over saturating. A limiter. It is why the cutlass and knife light up in my hand as well as even sheathed when it isn’t touching my bare skin. They respond to me through the multi-tool, but I also found out that through it, I can locate them wherever they may be so I never will lose them or have them stolen.”
“Weapon GPS. Sure is nice to have. My weapons have it too.” Steven said, hiding the knife back up in the armor’s sleeve. “But why can you only equip three weapons?”
“My people seemed to like simplicity. Look at their laws and weapons. I’ve yet to see a handheld blaster. Sure their ships had cannons, but they carried swords and shields. Simplistic and easy to use to defend their person. Unlike the Marines, Solarians fight more like Hunters. Close range weapons. Melee. I think though, too many weapons will disrupt something in this.” Touched his arm again, but keeping gathering as most he could sustain without collapsing. Gathering just above a lower Class Two. “I really don’t have a clear answer. It just told me no more than three. I don’t like the feeling it gives imaging four equipped.”
“Don’t push it then. Let your gut guide. It won’t steer you wrong often. It saved my ass more times than I can count.”
“Can I get an example?” He asked the burly Hunter sitting back down as Stephanie went back to work, still holding the beige knife in one hand.
“I’ve never had anything to hide.” Steven smiled. “It was during my three decade stint where all Hunters are sent to the front lines. The most memorable gut saving incident was when I was aboard the battle cruiser called the Sweet Cheeks. I was forty nine at the time and we were called to cleanse an outpost world that helps form a net that detects Keptl FTL disturbances in our corner of Andromeda’s space. The cretins had just knocked down the node, but hadn’t yet gotten through to the civilians. I and a few brothers, sisters, a dozen Drakes hungry to kill Keptl and five ranks of Marines at our back, dropped to the surface since orbital bombardment wasn’t optional to risk losing three thousand people as well as a primary node. We hit the surface and went on the offensive against a host of Trackers, Defilers and Lisks.
“The battle took two whole days and we lost nine Marines, one brother and a Drake, but no civilians were killed as they hid as soon as the warning system detected Keptl life signs. We had just gotten the all clear from the Sweet Cheeks and I decided Visor and I needed to go have a little rest.
“We were laying out in a clearing together when my stomach knotted up and I rolled away though nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I hopped to my feet and as I stare at our campfire. I then watched as a reddish rusty spine began pushing up through my bedroll to find we had missed one Lisk. It had been burrowed and tunneling underground before it thought to catch me when it thought I had my pants down. So I grabbed my spear and gave it a rather nice piercing through its nose. If I hadn’t moved when my gut said to get the hell out of dodge it would have had me getting a new hole. Lisks are nasty customers. They can come up right under you and it would be too late if you realized it.”
“Why didn’t the ship find it?”
“Too much iron in the ground and it stuck close to me like a shadow. Plus, most of us were soaked in Keptl blood and that screws up the bio-scanners too.”
Oliver and Steven chatted back and forth for several minutes before he felt ready to try again. Pain like before crushed his hand, but the shield became part of everythi
ng. A new sheathe appeared down on Oliver’s left ankle, perfectly suited for the knife while a hook grew out from the back of the shirt to properly carry the shield. In battle mode though the cape completely hid the shield.
After another respite Stephanie asked to have the knife in her hand chosen for herself. But Steven said “No, Mrs. Menann, you’re too important to act as an experiment. I’m a bit more expendable.”
“Nonsense. I’m just as…”
“Let me say it a different way. Shut up and let me go first. If I say it’s safe, then you can have a go. You forget your other half is technically still a Dorgen though she took your name.”
“Well, when you put it that way.” She said meekly when Steven got serious. He was still as intimidating as any Hunter when he chose not to be friendly.
Steven had his eye on a pair of weapons for months and went over to lift first a royal blue leaf bladed spear as well as a blood red flail with twin studded balls twice the size if what he always carried. The lance was a half dozen centimeters taller than what he was accustomed to and only marginally heavier. He placed his normal weapons down and first unlatched the clamps locking his glove, gauntlet and sleeve from the shoulder of his armor to slide it off. Without the armor showed an arm knotted in bulging muscle from someone who trains fanatically to be as strong as possible. Taking the spear that was a head taller than his own height in his hand, he held it out.
It was Oliver who asked “Have you come to understand the weapon intimately.”
“If you’re asking if I’ve fondled it so much it would be pregnant with my child then you better believe it.” He smiled wickedly. “I’ve played with it whenever Mrs. Menann isn’t looking. I really like it as it is a phallic symbol to let the ladies know I’m hardly overcompensating. Same with the flail’s big two balls.”
“Alright then.” Oliver gripped over Steven’s hand with the intent to give him control and what popped in his head made him chuckle.
“What is so funny?”
Void's Psionics Page 3
