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Tempora Part 3: Vorpals and Casters

RhetoricalHypotheticalJun 11, 2018, 2:32:07 AM
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Note: This story is a continuation of a larger series. Here is the complete list of sections.

As suddenly as Steve had been finally released into Tempora, the situation had changed from sightseeing to actual danger. Panic filled the air as the group tried to move without outright stampeding towards a secured area, as the door they had left the bunker out of was not fortified, and the elevator would take some time to come back up.

But a dark blur thudded on the stone road in front of them, halting their progression. It slowly extended only arms, and on the front a massive eye a half dozen feet in diameter opened wide, pupil dilating as the vivid orange eye regarded the group. It started to crawl towards them, but Bob stepped forward.

“I’ll handle this… ” His shoulder and arm panels extended outward as his arms filled with electricity pulsing from within. Thrusting both palms forward he shouted. “Lightning pulse!”

A burst of electricity erupted in front of him, frying the monster as it attempted to scurry away before collapsing. But behind it was something else.

It looked a lot like a normal human, but dressed like a clown of all things. It wore a full multicolor spotted jumpsuit that was so loose it was baggy, and a bright orange fluffy wig. It had a massive blue nose, and eyes surrounded by liberally caked on white makeup. Disturbingly, though, it had no mouth, and also carried knives in all of its hands. All three of them.

Steve stared on in bewilderment. “Bob, you killed the Vorpal… but what’s THAT?”

Jane spoke in a hushed tone, answering for Bob as he turned his attention to the new adversary. “That’s another Vorpal. They come in all kinds of twisted shapes…”

Bob grimaced. “This one seems more intelligent… it’s waiting for me to make a move.”

As if on cue, as soon as Bob took a step, the sadistic jester took a step as well. Bob tilted his head, and the clown did the same. Bob charged a lightning blast and fired, only to have the clown morph out of the way and dart between the arcs like it had no bones.

It grabbed Bob by the neck while its other two hands darted furiously, stabbing Bob in the chest multiple times in rapid succession. The group began screaming, while Bob managed to extricate himself from the monster, pushing it away as he surrounded himself with a cloak of electricity.

Bob gasped in pain, as he now was clearly unable to move his body as freely. The clown tilted its head again as it scrambled back to its feet, contorting into disturbing positions in its frenzy. Its eyes narrowed on Bob, and it began to move towards Bob; cautiously at first, and then in a full sprint.

A metal sphere, roughly a foot in diameter, lodged itself in the ground right between Bob and the Vorpal, causing it to again retreat back several feet.

An obscenely rotund man wearing a simple gray shirt and black pants landed gently on his feet, as the embedded metal sphere rose back up and began to orbit around him. He was entirely bald, and stood on his toe as he almost bobbed back up into the air like a balloon. “Ho, ho. Stop right there, filthy Vorpal. You won’t be taking any lives today...”

The twisted clown scowled, then quickly switched to surprise when the knives flew out of his hands to circle around the newly arrived combatant like orbiting satellites. The clown put one hand where his mouth should be, palm facing outward, to reveal a mouth on the hand with crooked, disgusting teeth. His voice sounded slimy, the very epitome of evil in auditory form. “Caster… You will not stop us. I do not need knives to cut and stab your kind.”

With his last word, the clown’s remaining two arms morphed into oversized scythes as he charged at the human balloon. The knives accelerated in their orbit and flew off one after another, lodging themselves in the Vorpal. As the Vorpal stumbled, the metal sphere flew directly through the monster’s chest, piercing completely through while leaving a gaping whole and eliciting a choking gasp. The clown fell, dissolving into black mist that dissipated into the wind.

Bob slowly and painfully sat back up, relaxing slightly when he saw the Vorpal lay dead. He spoke to himself softly. “Eve… hail an… ambulance…”

He collapsed again, as more emergency response Drones arrived and dealt with the fallout of the battle.

Steve was in a state of shock. He could still see the bodies of the monsters, now each half their size as they continued to disintegrate. Had Bob or the strange floating man not been there, he and many of his fellow newcomers would likely be dead.

With a moment to breath, Steve saw that the other Drones walking around that were not fellow newcomers were much more diverse in size and shape. Some rivaled the Giants in height, while others had strange and unique attachments. Some had treads or wheels instead of legs, and all kinds of colors of paint were used rather than the slightly reflective silver that appeared to be the standard Drone coating. Some even had mechanical mouths rather than a auditory display that showed heightened bars when the Drone was speaking. He already knew Drone bodies could be altered, so he might be able to customize himself in the future, but it still depressed him slightly. All around him were true Drones, their personalities and purposes expressed as outwardly as possible, while he was simply one among a crowd.

Jane followed him from a short distance as he walked towards the one protector who was still standing. She said nothing, despite Steve asking her questions, and Steve realized this was probably not something she had ever been through before either. Vorpal attacks were likely similar to car crashes or fires; something one reads about, not something one expects to experience first hand.

“Excuse me, sir.” The floating man turned around, looking for the source of the question, before finally looking down, revealing to Steve that the man had some tiny circular spectacles resting on his larger than average nose. His eyes were a very odd shade of dark purple, not especially noticeable though clearly not simple black. Not only was their also a height difference of a couple feet, the taller and fatter man did not rest his feet on solid ground either, causing him to practically tower over Steve. “Oh! Hello there, little Drone. Did you need something?”

Steve found the man’s speech patterns odd. In his previous life, this man would be considered incredibly overweight, and would have pausing breaths after so much activity. But his actual energy levels seemed through the roof. “I just wanted to thank you. We were in a tight spot there, I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t of shown up. My name is Steve, by the way. Steve Lyon.”

The floating man laughed as tilted forward and bent down to shake Steve’s hand. “Good to meet you, Lyon. You may call me Spoon.”

Steve rubbed his hands together nervously, unsure how to pose what would likely be another stupid question, given the rest of the bystanders seemed completely unperturbed by the hovering fat man’s presence. “This might sound… odd, but let’s just say I’m new here. What… are you, exactly?”

Spoon shot Steve a crooked eyebrow, frowning slightly. “You were right, that is an odd thing to say. I’m not sure I understand your question...”

“How are you able to fly? You certainly don’t look… lighter than air.”

Spoon grimaced. “Well, I’ll just ignore that comment on my weight… you genuinely don’t know a gravity caster when you see one?”

“Caster? What is a gravity caster?”

Spoon sighed, rubbing his forehead in frustration. “Just how old are you? You talk like someone who needs a chaperon. Where are your parents?”

Jane ran up. “Sorry! His parents are away right now, I’m his caretaker… Spoon, you said? You will need to excuse him, sir, his education was a bit… esoteric. He has several gaps in common knowledge.”

Spoon gave Jane a discerning glance. “Hmm… Well, keep an eye on him, then. It’s dangerous to be out and about with so little understanding of the world.”

Steve tried to cut in, but was now being ignored by both Jane and Spoon. “Wait, parents? I have parents?!? I thought-”

Jane pulled Steve along by the arm as she tried to exit the conversation. “I will, thanks again for your help! Have a nice day! Byyye!”

Steve wrenched his arm away from Jane as they continued walking. “What the hell, Jane? I was just asking him a very reasonable question. Are you ready to answer it, then?”

Jane mumbled. “You are going to make me lose my job… I’m in charge of making sure you are ready to integrate into society. I can’t have you asking Gatekeepers what a caster is.”

Steve sighed. “Well, what is a caster then? And how is that guy able to fly?”

Jane calmed down slightly, then answered. “You’ve already seen several in the Tempora city simulation. Giants are almost universally kinetic casters. The man you saw was a gravity caster.”

Steve thought for a second. The simulated Giants he had seen did seem to move abnormally fast for their size. “So… kinetic casters can move faster, and gravity casters have levitation and telekinesis?”

Jane nodded. “Close enough. There are other types of casters, too. But Spoon is also a Gatekeeper, which means he is an especially well trained caster. We have multiple Gatekeepers in the city at all times, in case of emergencies like the one we just went through. Anyways, enough of that, I have a simple solution to your current problem of being utterly uninformed. You need a personal assistant.”

“I thought you were basically my personal assistant? At least till I learn enough to get around.”

“Obviously, your ignorance is deeper than I thought. So you need someone who can answer any and all basic questions at any time without being distracted by anything else.”

Steve squinted his glowing eyes. “Are you saying…?”

“We are going to go shopping for an AI.”

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