Eminent Domain: The Way of Etherforging: Book 1, page 7
“Ok, well thanks for that. So, the best stuff here is Journeyman quality. But, all I see are the smaller sizes for Seerowans and I don’t see anyone working behind a counter or anything. Maybe we should go to another store that’ll have larger sizes,” Jonx said. “That’s not necessary. For one, all of the Journeymanwork clothes should be malleable to a certain degree. The mesh of fibers will have been woven to be able to adjust up or down in size with a simple data input of your measurements from me. More advanced clothes will have more features. But right now, this is the best that we’ve got. Besides, we’re in a hurry, remember?” the AI responded. Shrugging, Jonx grabbed a couple of shirts and pants and headed up to the second floor of the store in search of changing rooms. Once he was secluded, Jonx asked, “Ok, so what do I do?”
Kirby quickly created an etherpulse code that would reflect Jonx’s dimensions and told him to pulse it, so he did. Instantly, a ripple went through the long sleeve shirt that looked like he pulled it from the kids’ section of a department store. Right before his eyes, the sleeves and body elongated to something that looked like it would fit him. When he tried it on, it was perfect. It was like a soft henley, but made of a gray fabric he wasn’t familiar with. “This is so cool!” Jonx thought. It was the little things like this that gave him a sense of wonderment. This was tech that only existed in sci-fi movies back home. Satisfied with the shirt, he sent the same pulse through the pants, which ended up fitting like a comfortable pair of joggers, though the material was obviously more rugged than cotton. He chose to wear a light gray ‘henley’ and black ‘joggers’ out of the fitting rooms, while holding an armful of spare shirts and pants. “So, where do we check out?” he asked. Kirby sent him the feeling of a hand waving away his comment, “This isn’t your backwater, mundane planet, Jonxy. This is a tier 1 capital world of a star zone. Everything is handled by personal and custodian AIs. I already paid the Imperial credits to this store’s account. It cost about 100 IC, which is chump change for you.” Jonx couldn’t help but shake his head in bemusement, “Huh, I really am not in Kansas anymore, am I?”
Once he left the store, he made his way along the paved streets of Winwall, which were laid out in a grid like fashion with a large, central road easily spanning 30 feet across that cut through this part of the city and led directly to the great bridge. Just like any major roadway in an Earth town, the main street had a multitude of shops lining either side with semi-permanent stalls set up in the middle, forming a makeshift median that divided up the road. It wasn’t a proper outdoor market like back in Hareli. The main street was more akin to an outdoor mall. High above, he noticed that the blue sun was well past its peak, eking its way to sunset. Apparently, he spent more time at the clothier than he thought. There was a flowing crowd of mostly Seerowans around him, so he was the odd man out amongst the diminutive high elves who covered every shade of purple imaginable. Jonx wasn’t tall by Earth standards, just under six feet, but to the Seerowans, he was a giant. If he were still a teenager, then maybe it would have stroked his ego. But since he was trying to escape from certain danger, he only felt like a bigger target.
Interspersed amongst the crowd were a few gaseous Maheens, though he was relieved to see that none seemed to have the symbol of Sept Ventus. However, their mere presence served as a reminder that he had to hustle. With controlled urgency, he weaved his way through the press of bodies towards the median, where he spied some food stalls. Kirby thankfully downloaded a list of the local produce and provided him with a sort of equivalency to Earth foods because Jonx was definitely out of his depth. Once again, there weren’t any actual shopkeepers, only androids who kept up with stocking the crates and registering the IC. Jonx didn’t ask, he just bought the closest approximations to foods he was familiar with. His plan was to stock up on more provisions because he had a feeling he’d be on the lamb for a while and he’d rather have too much than too little, especially since he now had the extra storage space. So he emptied everything he had into the single, large interspatial broach, which left all of his other containers clear for even more hoarding.
Having wasted more time than he wanted with his travel preparations, he finally made his way out of the city and hiked a few miles north, following the ravine until he decided he’d gone far enough. Jonx stood along the precipice and leaned over to peer down at the bottom of the ravine, thousands of feet away, as he planned his next move. “Any likely candidates for our next stop?” he asked his AI. While in the city, Kirby had downloaded a GPS map for all of Garibah Secunde. What were essentially global, wireless internet networks was only one of the many wonders of these advanced civilizations and with Kirby’s upgrade to Vir class, they had more access to information. His AI informed him, “There’s a medium sized teleport station about 800 miles north-northwest of us. It won’t take us off-world, but it can connect us to another major city.”
He said, “Make it so. Chart a course for us, Mr. Kirby.” His AI rolled a pair of metaphorical eyes and said sarcastically, “Ha ha ha. I’m glad you can still make jokes when we’re running for our lives!” Regardless though, Kirby still displayed a map of the world in his mind’s eye and showed a rudimentary path between two dots, similar to what Jonx used to see on airplanes. Jonx nodded at the information, “Thanks ‘Sulu.’ You always do such good work.”
Kirby didn’t deign to comment, giving off a sulking feeling. Jonx picked up on it and said, “Oh c’mon, Kirbs, this is like riding a bike for us. What else have we been doing for literally your entire life.” He then willed the map to reduce in size and become semi-translucent in the upper right hand corner of his vision. He’d set up his internal HUD like a traditional video game way back on Earth. It made information so much easier to digest since he’d grown up playing action RPGs. His ether reserves were full and his storage devices had everything that he could think of. So, without any further ado, Jonx jumped off the cliff, feet first, with a loud, “Geronimo!”
* * *
His Ion Cloak smoldered around his body to minimize the water resistance as he made his way to the oceanic depths of the alien world on a single breath. The waters of Garibah Secunde became a deeper indigo as he descended several miles and angled himself in the direction Kirby pointed. Overclock simmered through his limbs to give him some extra oomph as he swam. Around him, the sea life resembled what he’d seen on Earth after ether radiation corrupted everything. Ocean plants were larger, sometimes barbed, which, from his experience, usually meant it was tipped in poison for the unsuspecting. And alongside him, supersized fish swam, occasionally forcing him to let out a small Spark to keep them at a distance. He’d learned before that no ether-beast was harmless. The best defense for him was always a good offense.
Gliding through the depths, he kept up a decent clip, averaging around 35 mph — about the speed of a submarine. Until, all of a sudden, Kirby blared an alarm to remind him to breach as he neared his eight hour time limit. At the exact moment he began his ascent, a tentacle slithered out of the darkness to wrap around his waist as if the monster had been following him all along. Jonx cursed in his head, “Shit! Seriously?! Man…I just can’t catch a break, I swear to god…”
The appendage revealed itself to be attached to a 30 foot long, eel-looking ether-beast. The damned thing had all of the tentacles — just so many of them — replacing its fins, while its main tail ended in a goddamned sickle. “I really must be blessed,” he thought ruefully as the limb that grabbed him tightened, releasing acidic slime from its pores and immediately eating through his new clothes. In silent resentment, Jonx rolled out his Particle Cloud, blasting it at full strength and encompassing the tentacle in a nine foot radius around his body. After all of his practice back in Mab Kahet, his Cloud had reached Expert rank, allowing for a larger area of effect. With his circuit output maxed, he clamped down on the ions under his influence, reaching through them with his will to trigger Sparks that exploded all over his area of effect like a bunch of underwater mines.
The eel immediately let out a sonic shriek that carried through the water, then released its hold. As soon as he was free, Jonx hastily swam away, though he realized belatedly that the acid still remained, having already burnt through his clothes and moved on to eating away at his skin. Hurriedly darting out of reach, he activated his Ion Cloak in the hopes of slowing down the erosion, while increasing his swim speed. Unfortunately, he didn’t have much time as two more tentacles whipped out of the depths and latched on to him, grabbing his left arm and right leg, attempting to pull his body in opposite directions like some sort of medieval torture device.
A strangled air bubble involuntarily came out of his mouth, “Shit! I have to fucking breach. NOW.” Instantly, he switched off his other circuits, focusing solely on Overclock. Next, he thundered his Heart Chamber in his chest as if it were a steam engine, squeezing out as much burst power as it could handle. He ground his teeth, nearly cracking his molars as he wrenched his limbs out of the eel’s grasp, and frantically rocketed towards the surface. All of the straining underwater was working his Respiratory system overtime — the desperate need to take a breath overwhelming his other instincts.
Running on fumes, he could only rely on Overclock and his advanced Physique to drastically increase his swim speed, getting him to the surface in just barely the nick of time. Like a jumping dolphin, he flew out of the water and immediately switched to his Cloak to stand on the ocean. The eel breached right behind him, mimicking his technique by using its extra tentacles to stand on the surface like a water strider — scythe-tail poised above its head, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
Without batting an eye, Jonx dug into the dwindling well of his dual Chambers as a pair of Sparks lit his arms up with lines of blue-purple lightning just before he blitzed across the waves, making a beeline for one of the mutant’s support tentacles. Like a scorpion, its tail strikes fwipped through the air, slicing the waves to either side of him as he zigzagged between its attacks. Jonx was forced to pull more deeply from his reserves so he could ramp up his perception with his Brain Chamber and keep pace with the beast. Swishing side to side, he narrowly dodged each tail lash, until, finally, he got close enough to slice off one of its front limbs with a wet schlikt, causing the monster to let out a beastial roar just before he jumped back out of range.
The mutant wobbled for a split second, then instantly compensated and regained its balance. In a blink, the massive eel gunned forward across the water, flaring its own Cloak of green-blue acid, as it reared up on its back limbs and lashed out with corrosive tentacle-jabs. With his Brain Chamber roaring, Jonx’s reflexes heightened just enough to barely skirt in between its punches. All of a sudden, Kirby bellowed an alarm, “Jonx, this is your first reserve warning. You’re under 30%!”
Cursing inwardly, Jonx exploded his Particle Cloud out, instantaneously halting the momentum of the beast’s attacks as if time stood still. Going for broke, his reserves precipitously dipped another 10% as he jumped onto a restrained tentacle and dashed upward on it like a tightrope. As he sprinted, he Sparked his legs, blue-purple thunder coating his shins. All the while, his Cloud trailed alongside him, causing the monster’s movements to stutter — giving him just enough breathing room to reach the eel’s head.
In a flash of lightning, Jonx was in front of the beast’s left eye, swinging a Spark empowered axe kick down on the cornea, then immediately switching to a spinning back kick with his other leg, while simultaneously releasing a second Spark into its pupil. Blind on one side, the eel thrashed and screeched, frantically flailing its head side to side, up and down, attempting to buck him off. With only 12% of his ether remaining, Jonx desperately crawled into the smoking remains of the mutant’s eye and curled up into a ball. Turning his focus inward, he bore down on his will and instantly depleted the rest of his dual Chambers, detonating a Spark and Particle Cloud combination straight into the monster’s skull from within.
The eel thrashed wildly, immediately going into a berserk rage, while its hypersonic screeches filled the air. Its snakelike head whipped back and forth — jostling Jonx in the skull as the brain literally popped. He felt the instant that gray matter exploded since he was embedded so deeply in the creature’s eye socket. It sounded like a massive amount of paint splattering against a wall. Suddenly, he felt his world tilting to the side. “Oh, shit!” he yelled. He barely managed to take a deep breath before he and the dead eel hit the water with a heavy splash — sinking back down into the depths like the Titanic. The eye socket filled with water as if it were a leaky boat and he quickly found himself treading water to keep his head above it all.
In his mind’s eye, the outer edges of his HUD were flashing red and narrowing his vision, a stark indication that he was well and truly fucked. He could only stare at the bottom right corner as the blue bar representing his ether slowly ticked down… 1.25%... 0.75%… 0.01%… When his reserves inevitably hit zero, Overclock winked out…and with it, his consciousness…
* * *
Long ago, he and Kirby had worked out a system for situations like this. It had become a necessity on Earth considering how often he would pass out underwater, especially during the early years, before he’d advanced his Physique. His AI’s job was simple – stop his body from taking an involuntary breath and sound an alarm on repeat.
Thus, Jonx found himself waking up inside of the eel’s eye socket, floating in a vile mixture of water and eye goop. The sound of his old car alarm was going off in his head and to be honest… he would’ve preferred death. Still holding on to the last breath he took, he checked his reserves and found them just barely recovered at only 2%. Forming his resolve, a brief flash of power lit up the murky waters as he punched a hole through the back of the socket, directly into the hollow brain cavity of the monster. Instantly, a suction force was created from the pressure gradient between the waterlogged eye socket and the relatively empty skull. Rapidly, the water drained away in a whirlwind, until about halfway when it slowed to a steady trickle. That was plenty to give Jonx some much needed breathing room. Although, when he did take his first breath, he immediately began hacking up a lung. The air was absolutely foul, it was like inhaling pure rotten egg yolk. With exaggerated flicking motions, he tried his best to get the disgusting combination of blood and eye goop off of his arms.
He didn’t have enough ether to burn it all away with his circuits, so Jonx had to settle for simply not having any dripping viscera in his eyes or on his face. Too tired to do much more than that, he let out a bone weary sigh and plopped down in the muck. He was about to do something truly repugnant, but…as they say, ‘Necessity knows no law.’ So he swallowed his nausea and placed his hand on the nearby flesh on either side of his bottom — Siphoning deeply — watching his percentages gradually ticking up. The eel was a gargantuan beast and it had been powerful, at least on the same stage as him. Fortunately for him, the carcass hadn’t even been nibbled on, which he guessed was thanks to the acid covering its body. It was obvious to him that this mutant was an apex predator of the deep and had plenty of ether for him to absorb.
Jonx Siphoned well passed 100%, actively redirecting the surplus into various anatomical systems. Though, he made sure to direct the first bit of extra energy into his Musculoskeletal system to speed along the healing of his bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments and skin. He watched with rapt attention as the burn marks and acid holes in his brown skin rapidly knit back together. His muscles felt whole and his aches vanished as he stole ether. This was something he’d done for years and years, while struggling on Earth, and it never got old. His circuit had brought him back from the brink more times than he could count. Hell, it was why he’d chosen Siphon as his first circuit. Once he was all healed, he moved on to his Nervous and Circulatory systems since he’d pushed them and their Chambers beyond capacity. His Brain and Heart Chambers felt frayed and wrung out, leaving him with a dull headache and heartburn. It was no wonder he passed out once he ran out of ether. After taking care of the most imperative systems, there was just enough juice leftover to clean up. Jonx summoned his Ion Cloak, willing the particles around his body to become more dense. Then, he snapped his fingers, setting himself ablaze. It was the same trick he’d done back in the hotel to create fire, but on a much larger scale. Now that he was the Human Torch, he pushed, instantly expanding a globe of flames outward, evaporating the remaining water and incinerating the last of the gore. Now, he felt better. But, despite his aches and pains no longer ailing him, the mental fatigue was still plaguing him. So, he did the only thing he could do. Jonx laid himself down on the blackened and charred floor of a giant eel’s eye cavity and napped.
Hours later, he awoke a brand new man. Sitting up and wriggling over to a wall where he could rest his back, he enlarged his HUD and flicked open his readout:
Name: Cedrick ‘Jonx’ Jonkheer
AI: Kirby
Class: Journeyman Vir
Professions:
None
Body Preparation Realm:
Stage: Ether-Forged x6
