by Wyatt Kane
Ty barely had time to return to what he was doing before his device sounded an alert. It was Dinah.
“That was quick,” Ty said as he brought the image of the deerkin back up.
“You’ll have to give me something more challenging next time,” she replied. “So, I’ve brought up the building plans, including those of the penthouse. It’s got length, width, elevation, the works. How do you want it?”
“Uh,” Ty responded. He hadn’t thought that far ahead. “Can you send it through somehow?” he asked.
“Your wish is my command,” she replied, and blinked off again. Less than a second later, his device sounded a different alert. This time, when Ty brought up his display, there was an attachment notification. He opened it, and an image the plans Dinah had described unfolded in front of him.
He quickly realized that the building was substantial. It was one hundred and sixty feet by ninety and four stories high, and that didn’t include the penthouse. By those measurements, Ty estimated that any shield he created would have to cover just short of fifty thousand square feet, including the roof and the floor.
All by itself, the penthouse came in at sixty feet by eighty, and two stories. He didn’t count the Architect’s workshop, because as a basement, it was already included within the main building.
To Ty’s hasty calculation, even that came in at around seventeen thousand square feet, or maybe twelve thousand if he didn’t bother with the floor.
He stared in dismay at the hologram of his mesh suit, still floating about the workbench. Each projection disc could generate a shield that could cover only about half a square foot. Did that mean he needed somewhere around a hundred and forty thousand of them to do the job right?
Then he shook his head. “Don’t be an idiot,” Ty said to himself. For the second time in just a few minutes, he found himself laughing at his own foolishness. He’d kept the projection discs small on his suit because the power supplies were small. But with this, he didn’t have those limitations.
“I can make the energy converter as big and powerful as I want. And the discs as well, for that matter.”
<<<>>>
Forty minutes later, Ty’s focus was interrupted by Gremlin wandering into the workshop. The cat looked at Ty as if she wanted something and said, “Meow.”
“Hey, Furball,” Ty said affectionately. He moved to pick her up, but she casually stepped out of his reach and bounded up onto the workbench, upon which the holographic images of Ty’s work were displayed.
The last time she’d been with him as he worked like this, the cat had tried to play with some of the holograms. This time, she walked right through a projector disc that was as big as a plate and sat herself down partially within the image of a large energy converter.
Ty grinned at the furry creature. “What, is this your way of helping?” he said. But the cat ignored him completely.
Ty snorted out loud. “Typical. I look after you for two years, and this is what I get in return? How am I supposed to see what I’m doing with you in the middle of everything?”
Despite his words, Ty wasn’t really upset. He enjoyed Gremlin’s company even if she barely seemed to notice his.
Nor, as it turned out, was Gremlin alone. Ty’s first clue that she was the advance party for Dinah was a delicious aroma that filled the air. It was warm and spicy and Ty recognized it immediately. Thai green curry. An aroma that set his taste buds watering in anticipation before he even knew he was hungry.
He closed his eyes and inhaled hugely, savoring the exotic bouquet, and when he opened his eyes again, Dinah was there.
“I thought you might be hungry by now,” the gorgeous deerkin said with a smile. She was carrying a tray upon which she had set two bowls of the delicious curry, along with another piled high with perfectly-done rice.
She flowed past him with consummate elegance and set the tray on the workbench. Then she raised a quizzical eyebrow. “Unless I’m interrupting?” she said.
“Not at all,” Ty said, acknowledging to himself that he would have welcomed her presence even if he was at a critical point. “I was just getting ready to test this,” he said.
“Oh? Did you want to do that before eating?”
Ty shot a hungry look at the food she had brought. It was beyond enticing, and he wanted nothing more than to inhale it all in one go. Yet he hesitated. The test was important. Not only would it give him the chance to make sure everything worked, but he had been more than impressed watching Dinah in her control room. Testing his work would give him the opportunity to show off his skill for her.
“Yes. It’ll only take a moment,” he said.
With that, Ty zoomed the holographic image out so that the different parts he had been working on were all contained within a small area.
“These discs,” Ty gestured, “are the same as those woven into my suit. My onesie, as you called it. But they’re different as well. When I fabricate them, they will be about as large as a dinner plate, and square rather than round. If you look closely, you can see they’re slightly different shapes and sizes. That’s because I needed to control the energy field they project.”
As he spoke, Ty arranged six of the discs so there was one on each side of an invisible box, including the top and the bottom. He figured he probably didn’t have the relative positions exactly right, but knew he could correct it later.
“The moment of truth,” he said to Dinah. Then, “Activate model, and display,” he said.
All at once, the holographic image lit up like a neon sign. A plane of blue energy extended out from each disc, making the invisible box look much like Ty when his shield was activated.
“Cool,” Ty said. He hadn’t been entirely sure that the holographic imager would be able to represent the energy field he was looking to create.
At the same time, Dinah gave a small squeal of delight and clapped her hands, startling Gremlin. “That’s amazing!” the deerkin said.
Ty grinned at her and stared at what he’d done for a moment. He had created the type of force field that science fiction films were fond of. As far as he knew, there wasn’t anything else like it in the entire world.
At the thought, he wondered about what Martin had said back at the Club. “Maybe you could invent something and license it. Sell it to thousands.” Could this be the type of thing that would work for that?
Yet even as he thought about it, he dismissed the idea. As soon as shielding like this became popular, someone would come up with a way to breach it. And then where would he be?
Best to keep ideas like this to himself for a while.
“It’s like your shield, but for the whole building, right?” Dinah said.
“Exactly.” Ty said. As expected, he hadn’t got the proportions quite right. As displayed, the sides of the shield projected above the top by some distance, and the front didn’t quite connect to the sides. Ty reached in and adjusted it until it was perfect.
“Will it work?” Dinah asked.
“It should do. I’ll put the projector discs on the walls, ceiling and floor of the building. It should stop pretty much anything getting in.” He gave Dinah another grin. “It’s a good thing the building is empty. If it wasn’t, I could still do a shield around the penthouse, but this way is much more secure.”
Dinah returned his grin. “What about Lilith? Will it stop her as well?” she asked.
That was the critical question. “I don’t know,” Ty said. “My shield seemed to interfere with her power, and she had trouble with Tempest as well. This shield should be stronger. Maybe it will prevent her from entering. Maybe it won’t. But I’ve got something else in mind in case we need it.”
As he spoke, his disappointment reasserted itself. Lilith had been so convincing, and he still couldn’t figure out what she had to gain by warning him of the attack.
Dinah nodded. “How will we get through it?” she asked.
“I’ve designed a remote we can use to turn the shield on and off. A
t some point, I’ll make it automatic, so we don’t have to think about it. But for now, it’s more important to get it to work.”
Ty decided that he was satisfied with what he’d done. There was nothing stopping him from finishing it.
“Fabricate,” he said, and the fabricator woke up and started to work.
16: Food and Flirtation
Dinah and Ty had seated themselves on the stools next to the workbench and ate as the fabricator whirred and buzzed down the other end.
The food Dinah had brought was fantastic. Ty had eaten Thai green curry a couple of times before, but this was at another level entirely. It was rich and spicy, and every mouthful was a symphony of flavor. Even the rice, once soaked in the curry itself, was more flavorsome than any meal he’d had until then.
Nor was he the only one to enjoy it. Dinah obviously appreciated her own efforts as well.
“This is even better than I’d hoped,” she said, and it was all Ty could do to make inarticulate grunts of pleasure as he split his focus between the food and the company.
To Ty, Dinah was the visual equivalent of the meal she had produced. Exotic, exquisitely put together, and full of interesting characteristics. Somehow, she made even the process of eating seem graceful, and she studied him with the same interest as he did her.
They were simply sharing a meal, and yet the atmosphere between them was somehow electric. Ty couldn’t help but compare Dinah to Tempest, and knew that while the blonde superhero was direct in her desires, the deerkin was more subtle.
She seemed to smolder as she cast sly glances his way. Ty started to feel unexpectedly warm from the inside, and wasn’t sure that it had anything to do with the spice Dinah had added to the food.
Yet when the first of their hunger was sated, their primary topic of conversation was all business.
“So, this Master, whoever he might be, is still after our devices,” Dinah said. “What I can’t figure out is why? Why didn’t he just create more? Why does he need ours?” she asked.
It was an innocuous question, yet the deerkin packed it with secret smiles and quirked eyebrows that oozed sensuality. It was as if Dinah was deliberately sending provocative signals just to see what Ty would do.
Ty had known the two superpowered women for such a short time. And, if he was honest, his experience of women in general wasn’t exactly extensive. He didn’t know how to react.
“Uh, I can think of two reasons,” he said, responding just to her words. “The first is that he doesn’t want anyone else around who has superpowers. He wants our devices at least in part because of what we can do. Whatever his plans might be, he doesn’t want us standing in his way.”
“That makes sense,” Dinah said, almost purring. “What else?”
Ty forgot what he was saying for a moment. He stared at her until she flashed him a knowing grin, then pulled his thoughts together. “I, um, it also isn’t that easy to make them. That was my first thought when you were captured. But the technology includes the use of manufactured crystals that the fabricator can’t replicate. That’s why I had to use the Architect’s prototype – the one Tempest is still wearing now. If it hadn’t been for that, I’m not sure what we would have done.”
As Ty spoke, Dinah put down her cutlery and looked at him with an expression quite different from her normal one. It was an open expression of desire, and it came with a quiet smile. “Yes,” she said. “That makes sense. And it reminds me. I haven’t yet thanked you properly for your part in my rescue.”
The way she said it left no doubt in Ty’s mind what she meant by “thanking him.” Ty no longer just felt warm. He felt immediately aroused and slightly confused, because in his memory, all three of them had taken to Tempest’s bed not long after they had brought Dinah home.
Once again, Ty found that he was unable to think. It was as if a thousand tiny explosions had gone off in his brain, destroying all the neurons he was currently using.
“Ty?” Dinah said.
“Uh, what about Tempest?” Ty blurted.
Dinah just grinned and tilted her head to one side.
Ty tried again. “I mean, do you think she would mind, given she isn’t here?”
Dinah’s grin grew broader. “You haven’t figured all this out yet, have you?” she asked.
Ruefully, Ty shook his head.
For a moment, Dinah said nothing, and Ty understood why. She was enjoying his discomfort, teasing him subtly. Yet he was a match for it. He smiled and waited, and eventually she started to speak.
“Think of it this way. Tempest and I have been lovers for years. Ever since we both gained a device. But with Zach being gay, there being a lack of other men in our circle of heroes, and all the others being so far away, there has always been something lacking. And now you’re here. I don’t know if you’ve figured it out, but both Tempest and I have become very fond of you very quickly. She would no sooner deny you and me the chance to explore one another more fully than I would deny her the same.”
As she finished, she looked him up and down and delicately licked her lips. It was as if she was wondering how he might taste.
Ty didn’t know quite what to say. His life had become filled with danger to the point where even now, his body ached as a result of Lilith’s attack. Yet it was exciting as well, in so many different ways. The possibilities were incredible, and he didn’t want to miss a minute of it.
Especially this. It was as if all his secret desires from when he was a teenager were coming true. He wouldn’t trade it for anything.
“But if you really want to make sure, we could give her a call,” Dinah said, raising an eyebrow.
Ty blinked in surprise. He hadn’t even thought of that. “Yeah. Maybe that would be good.”
Dinah took him at his word. Without any hesitation, she brought up her device and dialed for Tempest. But the blonde superhero didn’t answer. Instead of talking to her directly, Dinah left a message.
“Hey, we were just wondering how long you’re likely to be. And our lovely Ty wanted to make sure you were okay with the idea of me taking him to bed without you. Let us know when you can.” With that, the deerkin dismissed the screen.
“Satisfied?” she asked Ty, her tone still teasing.
Ty nodded, although in truth, “satisfied” wasn’t the right word. “Excited” was perhaps more accurate. Or, “aroused.” It felt as if there was a promise between him and Dinah that he couldn’t help but look forward to.
Satisfaction, he thought, would come later.
17: Installation
After that, Ty had a hard time focusing on his food despite the rich flavors. All he could think about was Dinah’s message to Tempest and the promise contained within.
It wouldn’t be the first time he and Dinah had slept together, but always before, Tempest had been with them. Ty couldn’t help but imagine what they might get up to without her.
As for Dinah, she seemed to understand where Ty’s mind had gone perfectly, and took great delight in finishing her meal in a way that could only be described as teasing and sensual. She didn’t say much, but expressed herself instead with quiet moans and gasps of pleasure at each succulent mouthful.
She could have been responding to the delight she found in her food, but Ty knew better. Her sly smiles and knowing looks were driving him wild, and she knew it.
Ty would have liked to pick her up and have his way with her on the Architect’s workbench, but couldn’t. Not yet, at least. Though he expected Dinah to be right in her assessment of Tempest’s response, they had yet to receive her reply. To him, it wouldn’t be right to go ahead without it.
But more than that, there was work to be done! The fabricator was busily putting together not just the projector discs, but also the associated energy converters and the remote controls Ty had designed. The machine had been programmed to stack them all neatly to the side of the bench. When they were done, he needed to install them.
If he did not, the mansion would stay vulne
rable. Only when it was secure could Ty think about relaxing.
So he did his best to keep his breath steady and tried not to think of the way every nerve he possessed seemed to be alive with interest.
<<<>>>
The fabricator completed its work as Ty and Tempest put their cutlery down. Dinah looked at Ty with a mischievous expectation, as if he was dessert. Every fiber in Ty’s being wanted to bring her close and kiss her perfect lips, but he knew that if he did that, he wouldn’t stop.
Instead, he cleared his throat. “Um, I need to install the discs.” It was all he could manage. His eloquence had deserted him part way through the meal.
Dinah grinned at him. “Of course. Would you like some help?” she asked.
Ty wasn’t entirely certain that Dinah’s help would speed up the process. Yet he nodded.
“Absolutely,” he said. “The sooner we get this done …” He wanted to say that the sooner they got this done, the sooner they could move on to more interesting occupations. But he didn’t finish putting his thought into words.
Dinah understood anyway. “Yes,” she said, grinning broadly. Then, to Ty’s combined relief and disappointment, the deerkin shifted gears a little. “What’s the plan?” she asked.
It was enough to free Ty’s tangled tongue. “Each projector disc is associated with an energy converter. The energy converters will keep the shield running for as long as we wish. All we do is fix the discs to the appropriate walls, floor, and ceiling, hook them up to the energy converters, and turn them on. The shield will be inside the building, and won’t be visible from outside at all.”
Dinah nodded. “Sounds good. Let’s get to it.”
They got to it. The only tools they needed were a measuring tape and a screwdriver, both of which Ty found in one of the workbench drawers, and a coil of electrical wire that he knew would come in handy. He packed these, together with the largest of the discs and two of the energy converters into his backpack.
