Enhancer 2

by Wyatt Kane

  Ty had known Brad for a long time. They were good friends, but that didn’t mean Ty couldn’t see who the gamer was. He was a high-level slob who had maxed out every slob skill he could find, and had unlocked a few hidden ones as well. He spent most of his days in an un-washed T-shirt, fluffy slippers and a dressing gown that had seen better days. He didn’t shower for weeks at a time, and it wasn’t unusual for his personal odor to get a little ripe.

  Ty could easily see how he might outlive his welcome very quickly.

  But all that was beside the point. There was a reason Ty had suggested he find somewhere else to stay.

  “Has anyone else come looking for me?” Ty asked.

  “Nah, man. You’re all good. The way I figure it, that big guy must’ve decided you wouldn’t be back. Or they were watching and saw you leave.” He shrugged. “They haven’t returned.”

  Ty frowned. Even that wasn’t the real issue. He was worried that Bain’s or the Master’s men might try to use Brad against him. They had captured Dinah to try to force Tempest and Ty to hand over their devices. Dinah had removed all traces of Ty’s family online so they wouldn’t become targets. But Brad was a different matter. They already knew he existed. And that meant, simply because he knew Ty, the gamer was in danger.

  “If they come back, don’t tell them we’re friends. Tell them I couldn’t wait to get out of here. That we had a fight or something, or that you owe me money.”

  Brad looked at him with a puzzled expression. He cleaned out an ear with his index finger and wiped it on his dressing gown. “Sure, man. Whatever you say.”

  “It’s important. These guys might try to hurt you. It’s all because of this device. They want it and if they can threaten you to make me give it to them, they will.”

  This time, Ty’s message got through. Brad’s expression grew more serious. “Okay. Got it.”

  Ty relaxed a little. It wasn’t a perfect solution, but it was all he could do. He nodded. “Good. Now, what’s this all about?”

  Brad shifted his weight on the couch, as if trying to get more comfortable. “Just what I said, man. I didn’t want to call the landlord about the hole in the wall. You know how they can be. But it gets a bit draughty at night, so I called repair company instead. They said they’d send some guy around to have a look-see. You’re a bit early. Want to play a game in the meantime?”

  Ty didn’t like the idea of calling a repair company directly. It sounded expensive, and with him not having a job, it was a bad time. Yet Brad was also right about the landlord. The building was owned by one of the mega-corporations, and they had a reputation for being difficult to deal with.

  It was a no-win situation, but Ty knew that something had to be done. And Brad had been right to call him. Even though he’d spent a lot of time at Tempest and Dinah’s place, Ty still technically lived with Brad.

  He uttered a sigh. “Sure. What do you have in mind?”

  Brad took off his visor, exposing a mop of ginger hair that hadn’t been washed in ages. “Old school. Punch Crazy three. One-on-one fighting game.” Without asking, Brad brought up the game and offered Ty a second controller.

  Given all the battles he’d been involved in over the past couple of days, Ty thought the choice of game to be particularly appropriate. And it was one he enjoyed as well. It was simple, with no complex quests or reliance on a team of others. He could play against the computer or against another opponent, and a fight would be done in minutes, yet could go on for days if so desired.

  “Works for me,” Ty said.

  Brad quickly chose his favorite character, a hulking brute of a street fighter named Balthazar who reminded Ty strongly of Bain. Ty scrolled through the available options, and almost picked his usual, a slim, martial arts expert who shared Ty’s name.

  Instead, he chose Wendy Wu, a blonde fighter dressed in tight leathers, at which Ty Brad offered a snigger. But Ty was happy with his choice. The character reminded him of Tempest, and he knew full well what she was capable of doing.

  As soon as Ty hit the enter button, the screen changed to an image of an outdoor fighting arena complete with a crowd of onlookers. The camera panned in, and both Balthazar and Wendy displayed their power attacks to the tune of really bad music.

  Balthazar’s power attack was a helicopter move where he floated in the air and spun about with his arms spread wide. Wendy’s was more of an energy attack, like a kamehameha wave, which to Ty’s mind also suited Tempest well.

  As the characters power moves were completed, their health bars appeared at the top of the screen and a countdown began. “Three, two, one … Fight!” An off-screen narrator spoke the words at the same time they appeared, and then the two characters faced each other at the ready.

  25: Fun And Games

  Immediately, Balthazar advanced with a repeated jab. Ty wasn’t familiar with Wendy’s moves, so he backed off and tried different combinations. He managed to get her to duck, do a leg sweep, and back away with a triple back flip, but couldn’t produce the power attack even though the power bar at the bottom showed full.

  “I’m gonna slaughter you,” Brad said gleefully.

  “You’ve gotta catch me first,” Ty responded, and with that, the battle was joined. Ty quickly learned that all he needed to do to avoid Balthazar’s jab was to stay low. He did so, and swept Balthazar’s leg three times in quick succession, dropping his health bar by nearly a third.

  “Are you just mashing the controller?” Brad asked in quick frustration.

  Ty just grinned. He pretty much was just mashing the controller. He didn’t have the finesse required to do anything else.

  Then Balthazar flipped over the top of Wendy and used his special attack from the other side. It was too quick for Ty to come up with a defense, and all at once Wendy’s health dropped to half. When he tried to counter with another leg sweep, Balthazar blocked that as well, and swept in his turn. Another third of Ty’s health bar disappeared. In desperation, Ty tried a move he’d seen Brad use before, but had no idea if it would work with this character.

  To his very great surprise, it produced Wendy’s special attack. She stood in place and shouted a warcry, then unleashed a huge blast of energy at Balthazar. All Brad could do was put his guard up and wait for the blast to stop. But even though he was actively blocking, his health bar continued to do to decrease while the attack was in process.

  When it finished, Balthazar was well in the red. “Ha!” Ty said.

  “Bullshit chip damage!” Brad said. “How did you do that?”

  “Never underestimate the power of a blonde superhero,” Ty said. But in truth, he didn’t really know what he did. Nor could he try at again any time soon. The power bar had dropped to below the point where he could use his special attack. He had to survive long enough for it to slowly climb back up.

  “Yeah?” Brad said. “Well, try this on for size!”

  Ty knew what Brad intended to do, and was already moving Wendy into her back flip retreat. Just in time, because Balthazar unleashed his special attack a second time. He let out a roar that reminded Ty very much of Bain and spun about so quickly that his arms acted like the rotor of a helicopter. He flew through the air toward where Wendy had been and would have ended the bout then and there.

  But Ty’s quick thinking and Brad’s telegraphing of his intent saved her. Wendy was able to watch as Balthazar wound down, and as soon as he did, Ty moved her forward and aimed a simple side kick to the groin.

  “Round one, Winner!” Both the words on the screen and the commentator cried.

  “Bullshit!” Brad said, and Ty just laughed.

  “Round two, Ready!”

  The characters reset themselves on the screen and showed off a different power move. This time, Balthazar leapt high in the air and came down with a scary looking axe chop with his hand. Wendy raised her face to the sky and uttered a primal scream, then bounced around the screen like a pinball, delivering kicks and chops at a furious rate for a handful of second
s. Then it was time for round two.

  “Fight!”

  Brad and Ty fought.

  As the rounds passed, they started to talk about everything that had happened. Within a very few minutes, Brad knew about the battles Ty and Tempest had fought against Bain and his men, and Lilith as well.

  Brad offered a series of stunning head kicks that finished Wendy off for the round, then looked at Ty sideways.

  “So, there’s Bain, a recurring boss you have to defeat more than once. A superboss you haven’t met yet who is pulling the strings. And this demon chick you thought was a boss, but who is actually some sort of side quest. Is that about it?” he said.

  Ty nodded. It was a pretty good summation. Then Ty told him about getting fired (“Good!” Brad replied. “You were wasted at that place!”), and the limitations he’d found with the shield he had made.

  It was then that Brad proved to be surprisingly insightful. “You said that the shield uses the same energy principle as your girlfriend, right?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” Ty said.

  “And you also said that it gives her a stat buff not just in terms of durability, but also strength and stamina, and that it allows her to fly.”

  Ty couldn’t help but wonder where his roommate was going. “Yeah?”

  “So you should be able to get your shield to do the same.”

  The game had reset to round five. Ty had won four of the rounds already played, and opened with his special attack. But Brad had anticipated that, and made Balthazar jump clean over Wendy so the attack did no damage.

  Ty made a rude noise. “Should be,” he said. “If I could figure out how.”

  Brad started his own special attack, and then hit the pause button as Ty mashed the buttons of his controller, trying for a combo-breaker. He gave up when he realized the screen was frozen.

  “You know that comic book hero with the guy in the metal suit, right?” Brad asked.

  Ty knew who Brad was talking about. “Yeah?”

  “Well, he’s just some genius billionaire playboy, right? He’s not going to have the fighting skills to murder a duck, let alone take on one of the gods of Asgard. So, who do you think is doing the fighting? Is it him? Or is it his suit?”

  Ty had never really thought of that. “It’s got to be his suit, right?”

  “Exactly. Or at least, the AI controlling it.” He looked meaningfully at Ty. “Get the idea?”

  Ty thought about it. He understood where Brad was going. “You’re saying that I should be able to work up some sort of algorithm that adjusts the energy parameters my suit projects so it can do more than just enhance my durability?”

  “Precisely!” Brad said. Then he looked uncertain. “I think.” With that, he unfroze the screen, and Ty was too slow to react. He couldn’t get his counter in, and Wendy’s health drained almost to nothing.

  “Hey! You could have given me some warning!”

  “Ha! Do you think the bad guys in real life will give you warning? Consider this training.”

  Yet even as he spoke, Brad had left his character open. Ty didn’t have enough power to launch one of his special attacks, but he did manage to get in three quick jabs, two to Balthazar’s chest and one to his groin. Then he backed away, watching as his power bar slowly approached the point where he could launch a special attack.

  At the same time, he was thinking about what Brad had said. It would take some time, but he thought he could actually do it. He wondered if he could download the specs of Tempest’s power into the holographic imager. He needed to know exactly what happened when she threw a punch, lifted something heavy, or even flew through the air.

  If he could then create an algorithm that replicated how it all worked, and somehow integrate that with his conscious control, then he really could do what she did.

  It would take a lot of work, but he thought he might be able to do it.

  As soon as Wendy’s power bar reached the point where a special attack was on, Ty mashed all the buttons at once. Wendy faced the heavens and uttered a shriek, then spent the next few seconds bouncing around the screen kicking and punching for all she was worth.

  At the end of it all, Balthazar stood looking out of the screen with stars circling around his head. For three seconds, he wobbled back and forth, then he crashed to the ground.

  “Winner!” the screen said.

  “Hmmph,” Brad said.

  Ty was enjoying himself. He didn’t usually win as much against Brad as he was now. Admittedly, this wasn’t Brad’s preferred game, and it certainly wasn’t where he made his money. But it felt good to beat him in this harmless way.

  Before the next round could begin, someone knocked at the door.

  26: Estimate

  Even though Brad was closer, it was Ty who got up from the couch and answered the door. But he didn’t simply swing it wide. His previous experience with the mercenaries had taught him caution. He first used the peephole and saw a scruffy-looking guy wearing jeans and a checked workshirt and carrying a tablet.

  “Who is it?” Ty called out.

  The guy looked vaguely bored. “Building Repair Services,” he said, pronouncing each word as if it was the name of a business rather than just a description of services. “Got a call about damage to a wall.”

  It was good enough for Ty. He opened the door wide. “Come in,” he said.

  The man did so, barely glancing at Ty as he started to look around. “Where’s the damage?” he muttered.

  Ty figured him to be a practical man who preferred doing the work to talking to people. Ty also figured that Brad would likely spend the time on the couch, mostly ignoring everything that happened and just playing his games. But, surprisingly, his roommate heaved himself out of his seat and moved to the cardboard covered hole in the wall.

  “Here,” Brad said, peeling enough of the tape away that he could fold the cardboard the way from the hole.

  The scruffy man had made his way into the lounge. As Brad exposed part of the hole, the man’s eyes widened, but only a little. It was as if he had seen much worse than that in his job. He just nodded a little to himself.

  “Hole as big as the cardboard?”

  “Yeah,” said Brad. “Big enough to fling a huge guy through without any problems.”

  “Hm,” the man said. He made a note on his tablet, then looked up. “Shift aside for a moment?” he said.

  When Brad complied, the man held up his tablet in recording mode and described the damage.

  “Large hole in the main external wall. Approximately seven foot by six. Steel framed building, so probably not structural.” He glanced at Brad and Ty, who had followed him in to the main room. “Window?”

  Both of them nodded.

  The man gave an acknowledging grunt and stopped recording. Then he looked Brad and Ty up and down. “Significant damage,” he said. “I take it you don’t want to involve the landlord?”

  It had been Brad’s call to contact the contractor directly, so Ty left it up to him to answer.

  Brad looked away from the man as he answered, his expression vaguely guilty. “The landlord is one of the mega-corporations. I looked up the lease. We’d be liable for a whole bunch of costs if we go through them. Repair, lost rental earnings, you name it. And probably eviction as well. Kinda wanted to avoid all that, if we can.”

  The man gave a knowing grin. “Yeah, I hear that a lot. Well, I’ll tell you now, it ain’t going to be cheap.” With that, he gave an estimate so large it made Ty doubt he’d heard him correctly.

  His mouth went dry and his stomach tied itself up in knot. At the same time, he felt his palms start to sweat. This was the last thing he needed. To be tied up with another crippling debt to go along with his student loan. Especially at that moment, when he’d just lost his job.

  Far from having leveled up, Ty felt his whole life crashing down around him. This was the type of blow that could lead to him winding up on the street.

  Nor was he the only one to react that
way. All the blood drained from Brad’s already pasty face and his mouth dropped open. He looked positively ill, as if he might throw up at any moment.

  The contractor looked between the two of them once again and gave a shrug.

  “Of course, you don’t have to go ahead. You could talk to your landlord anyway, and see what they say.”

  In the last few days, Ty had faced all manner of challenges. But this was different. He didn’t know what to do. He felt as if he had been kicked in the guts and wanted nothing more than to sit down and stare into space for a while.

  How was he going to come up with that sort of cash?

  “We’ve got payment plans, if that helps,” the man said.

  Of the two of them, it was Ty who recovered first. “Um, thank you,” he said. “We’ll be looking at a couple of other options as well. We’ll get back to you.”

  The scruffy man seemed completely unfazed. “Fair enough. But I think you’ll find other providers will all quote a similar price. It’s because jobs like this aren’t insurable. Mega-corporations tie us up both ways. It’d cost about the same going through proper channels, but this way, you don’t risk eviction.”

  He looked at them again, and nodded. “I wouldn’t wait too long to make up your minds, either. There’s a bit of a gap in the schedule right now, but these gaps can disappear pretty quickly. When is your next apartment inspection?”

  It was a good question. Again, neither Ty nor Brad gave him an answer.

  The contractor took it as his cue to leave. He nodded again. “Be seeing you,” he said, and made his way out of the apartment.

  When he was gone, Brad looked at Ty and gave him a tentative grin. “Well. That could have gone better,” he said.

  Ty couldn’t come up with an answer. He just shook his head and worried about what he was going to do.

  <<<>>>

  Ty would have liked to hang around for a while, just wasting time with Brad, shooting the breeze, playing games, and ignoring the looming dept hanging over them for as long as they could. To him, it was a simple existence, and despite his less-than-wonderful grooming habits, in a way, Ty admired his friend.