Chapter 173: 173
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In the split second before the 'colorful echo' joined him, the young mage felt like reality hiccuped as he skipped forward a few seconds. Confused, he felt a weight in his hands and realized he was hold a miniature version of the spiny 'transposition' device from the temple he'd seen in the illusion world.
Annoyed at the self correction, he briefly thought, "Whether time is a stack of slides that all exist at the same time and represent a spatial direction or a 'stream', you still have to travel the damn things. So, what's wrong with the label 'time travel'? It's a freaking time traveling device."
His thoughts were interrupted when he saw that the device was disintegrating. Under Orison's eyes, the remaining fist sized core of the device turned into a copy of his mini trainer he assumed hadn't made the trip into this world. Densely packed information, completely devoid of unnecessary detail or emotional flavor began decompressing inside the young mage's mind.
A few minutes later, Orison was sitting at the dining room table assuring his companions he was fine. He dabbed a thin trickle of blood from his nose and healed the redness from an eye that had busted a blood vessel as he processed the things revealed to him. He had received several years worth of alternate future information and if he had gotten it from the 'colorful echo' of himself instead, it would have taken a long time for his mind to recover from the onslaught.
Looking at Rio and Garret, he said, "Hold tight for a minute. I'll be right back."
The young mage walked out to the training bunker and used an authorization code to open the floor panel. With a drain of personal power, he appeared at the planar hub building via the hidden magic based transport circle.
As he walked towards a half dome isolation field containing a football field's worth of Kansas farm land and a mostly destroyed barn, an older man's voice rang out, "Hold it there, youngster. The Plague Barren's rip stabilizer went offline nearly an hour ago. We don't have the spare energy to open it back up for whatever fool's errand you're on."
An angry vein of annoyance popped out on the young mage's head that was already pounding like a smith at the anvil. "Bring me a black gold battery box with a minimum three cell chain."
The older man grinned a little evilly. "Oh, did the UTF trade off some executed independent trash life force again? Irregular Criminal Division is going to cry tears of relief they don't have to bargain anymore of their golden years off for awhile."
Orison said darkly, "Your compassion for human life leaves me misty eyed... Battery, please."
Offhandedly, he tossed the cube chain back to the the older man as if he didn't care and failed to inform the greedy eyed gentleman that he had logged the transfer, visually recording the energy level content with The Weird. On a vengeful and petty base level, the young mage sincerely hoped that the man would give into the greed or hate and create a line of clerical errors. Unfortunately, the man caught a ghost of a smile on the young mage's face when the cubes were inserted into the portal device without documentation.
It took another half an hour of the man moving as slowly as production protocol would allow as the result of premature gloating. Orison mentally kicked himself for letting the mask slip but sighed and tolerated. Expecting an act of foul play Orison hopped quickly to the other side and pulled a line of the energy over with him as the older man tried to shut down the device.
Looking through to the other side, the young mage said. "Now I have you trying to trap me over here, trying to waste Adjunct LeStrange's time to come fetch me. TRY something else. I want to see if I can instill some sympathy for someone else's poor decision making plight when you're selling your own 'golden years' over in Criminal Division... And f*** you!"
"And when did you ask me to keep the rift open with the rip stabilizer, you little sh*t? You think you're the only one recording?" the older man said smugly.
Orison smiled and said, "Underneath the hate, I think I might respect you a little bit... Eat a cheeseburger and die, fossil!"
Fading into the distance as he walked towards the Captain's office among the most comfortable looking fortress accommodations he'd ever seen, the young mage heard, "Enjoy your minimum three day quarantine for crossing a portal line without proper protective gear."
It took another code word to get the Rowdy on guard at the captain's office to let him in. Under other circumstances it would have been a dumb move but Dr. Odd wouldn't be reading anymore messages and LeStrange would have his hands full trying to cover for the Triumvir over the 72 hours it would take to confirm missing status. Orison, had no intention of letting his instructor hang on the hook for so long. He merely wanted to handle personal business first.
Hearing the shower going in the adjoining room, he flipped through his options and decided to take the low road a little and helped himself to the captain's chair. He thought about kicking his feet up onto the desk but decided that even though the good captain had done him a little dirty, it was for reasons he could appreciate for Gan's sake. After all, under normal circumstances he'd have no trouble patiently waiting a little over a week so his friend could help a friend's friend to some extra 'decontamination scrubbing' time.
Amused with his own mental twisting, Orison muttered, "The Plague Barrens is a dirty place, after all."
The captain came in first, discretely towel covered while he picked up pieces of his uniform with a great deal more personal dignity than Orison would have had in his place.
"Whose son am I talking to so I know whose a** I need to kiss after kicking yours," the man said as he paced towards the young mage with a tiger's intimidating grace.
Orison said blandly, "Grab three shot glasses or some pain pills. Considering that Jacques would miss his own funeral to attend the toast I plan on making, I would suggest the first."
Fumbling with an awkward side zipper on the uniform that barely fit, Gan came rushing out of the private shower room and said, "Orison, I'm glad to finally meet you.
The scout quickly moved forward and reached out a hand to block the captain's forward stalk and so that the man wouldn't see the happiness dancing in his eyes.
Eyes nearly in crescents himself, the young mage said, "I'm holding an energy line to the rip stabilizer. So, I'm going to delay that handshake for just a little while for safety's sake."
It didn't escape the young mage's notice that the captain stepped around Gan rather than move him out of the way as he strode closer.
"Take one more step towards me with that look on your face and we won't be having that 'Ice and Fire' toast I planned, sir," Orison said as he set an uncracked bottle on the table with a 481 of 500 maker's seal on it.
While Gan had an odd look on his face, trying to figure out why Orison was riling up the guy, the captain said, "The shot glasses are in the top drawer. Are you going to insult me further by trying to play host in my own office?"
The young mage stood up with a smile and said, "No. I just wanted to rub the fur the wrong way a little for nearly delaying Mr. Fyrstr's delivery to me for eight days during a critical time."
The glance Gan shot the man was not a kind one as the captain said, "What could be so important in a student's life that an extra week would be so tragic? You can't utilize a training partner beyond the age of twenty until Second Summit... That's what I thought until you pulled that bottle out anyway."
Seeing the man pull out three tumblers, Orison said, "A shot worth is fine for me. I'm doing it for goodwill and I have to take the bottle with me because I have two mouths at home waiting for their turn. It's a shame it doesn't store after opening it."
For the first time since they laid eyes on each other, there was a little easing of tension as the man said, "Your shame is my good fortune then. I hope that means you brought something I can keep."
Orison smiled and said, "I did but we have another you can't to get through first. So, take it easy or you're not going to be fit for duty. Two fingers is measured with the index and middle not index and pinky, Captain Rogers."
"Please. We're in the comfort of my office. Call me Adam. It's embarrassing enough when some grunt calls out to me at Core Command and five or six heads pop up to see what patch is on the uniform. It's the only way to figure out which Captain Rogers is being called," The man said with a weak smile.
After Adam passed out the tumblers, the slightly larger glass worth being handed to Gan, Orison said, "I originally meant the first toast to be for doing what you could to look after the man who destroyed the UTF device I hate the most on this planet. But after seeing the situation, I think that would be a little unintentionally cheeky. How about to the possibility of new friendships and helping each other honor old ones."
Going through the motions of the toast, Adam almost choked on his first swallow which Orison could only think wouldn't feel very pleasant considering the contents of the tumblers.
Thrown a little for a loop, Adam said hesitantly, "Are you, um, wanting to be a part of our... friendship?"
Orison laughed after the burn in his stomach settled and said, "By the surface meaning, sure. Not so much the implied... No offense. I'm sure there are plenty of people who would appreciate your... friendship."
Adam smiled bitterly and slowly worked towards a more jovial one. "Mostly for the wrong reasons... I don't know whether to be relieved or remorseful. In a few years, your future Rowdies hopeful might be able to find my willingness to make friends quite easily, Gan."
Orison rolled his eyes at the good-natured threats and playful banter that broke out as he stored away the first bottle and set out the second. Adam's half of the conversation stopped when he saw the picture of a spiny purple potato. The maker's seal bore a 9992 of 10000.
"You've got a big pair to pull that out in front of a Rogers family member. There are plenty that would kill you to keep it. I may be a black sheep but even I have a nephew I've never really been able to do something good for whose life would be changed overnight with that," Adam said.
Orison said with a saintly smile, "Garret never knew you cared. Don't worry. He's one of the two mouths I was talking about earlier. Please measure carefully. There's only six shots to a bottle and I have a Rogers family member who needs that last one. The best part is, they don't even know they are one."
As Adam passed the glasses back, he said, "There's an interesting story behind the creation of Demon's D*ck. Do you know it?"
Orison nodded and smiled a little wickedly. "I know both but how about I let you do the toasting first."
More interested in getting drink down the gullet, the captain gave a generic toast to health and the three of them threw it back.
Quickly sitting down as a sense of numbness washed over them, Gan said, "I-I don't think I like this one very much. The taste, texture, name and the picture on the bottle make me feel like I did something wrong. The pins and needles making my whole body like a leg that got sat on too long doesn't help."
Orison said, "It wasn't made with purely good intentions but the later half of the batch was doctored a little. If not for the numbness, we'd be on the floor gritting our teeth to keep from screaming... The name and picture are suggestive but it's still a mash created from a potato, no matter how weird the potato is. The funny flavor and thickness is from a bit of preservative and starch."
With an odd look on his face, Adam said, "I was always told that the first Rogers saved a newly fallen angel from demons and she created this just for him to show appreciation."
Orison nodded. "And that isn't wrong. Except for the part where his supposed greed was the cause of their capture to begin with and he came back with a group to kill the demons for their stuff. From her perspective, she was just an extra, an extra who hadn't exactly been saved in a timely manner. Of course, a small amount of that bitterness could be redirection of anger on the part of the victim and the naked truth probably lies between the two points of view.
"It very much does help condense bone and muscle and it helps extend Rogers family fertility by about a decade or so. It's also the reason why the closer a Rogers family member gets to the peak of what their blood can offer, the greater the chance they'll spend their final days in excruciating agony. The nearly unpreventable build up of minerals, especially calcium, in your guys' bodies as you age past sixty or seventy isn't a defect of the experiment that made you."
Looking like he wanted to throw up, Adam said, "But the nettle bone disease is hardly ever seen anymore. A shorter life with a painful ending is what I just paid for-"
Seeing that Adam was getting upset and it would only be a matter of time before it was turned at him, Orison quickly added, "Forgiveness, guilt or remorse, take your pick. Ice and Fire was originally designed to be the antidote. Now that her revenge booze is about to be a fading memory of the past, expect it's counterpart to start becoming an increasing rarity."
The captain glared at him and said, "You could have lead off with that. I saw my grandmother die from Nettle Bone."
Orison said, "Being as subjective as you can, would you say your grandmother was a good person?"
Adam resolutely said, "No. She loved us but she was cruel, demanding and judgmental. I used to think it was so that we would be the best we could be but... You're saying if she had been a better person..."
"Well, time and battery energy is burning. We should probably get going," the young mage declared.
While Gan collected his things, Orison set down a bottle of Doc Agave and made his request. "Life extension, healing and a wide variety of other minor benefits that equal the cure or at least treatment to many diseases. I'd say that it's the perfect companion for someone posted in a place like this. It's my butter up for you to approve a trial by fire for me and my team."
After a bit of banter and some back and forth, Adam gave up and shrugged. "If you want to waste your one and only shot at skipping the Three Waves in a fished out and dangerous place like this, be my guest. When do you think you'll be taking it?"
Orison ignored the look Adam subconsciously glanced towards Gan with and said, "Next rotation."
Mildly surprised, the captain asked, "Do you have a proctor request?"
"Even if I did, it wouldn't be approved. I do have an add-on, though. Julia Bisk. She'll need a gerbil ball," Orison said.
Adam blinked at the touchscreen in his hand. "To pass a trial by fire, you need a million merit achievement minimum per teammate and you want to bring a completely human, UTF certified High School teacher?"
Orison nodded. "I'm also entrusting you with a mission. The clearance code is Black Ouroboros, Deep Blue Pisces..."
The rest of the code was a complicated combination of verbal and written encrypted instructions.
The young mage added, "If for some reason the event isn't predicted exactly, stall for three days with the excuse of decontamination protocol. This came from Dr. Odd and I want you to keep acting Triumvir LeStrange from undoing it with the same excuse... I had to give you a lot fast. So, if I made a mistake or there's more than one with the same name, have your Captain's Adjunct ask for clarification on The Weird using Merriweather code. It's old as hell but the book over there underneath the filing cabinet has the cipher."
Once they were done, Gan was recovered enough not to wobble on his feet. Figuring that they might have some personal things to say, Orison gave them a couple of minutes while he waited outside. The scout had a complicated look on his face but discussions would have to wait until there was time and privacy.
Flaring his essence til it made a connection with the hidden magic transport circle in the planar hub building, the young mage moved himself and Gan to his training room bunker. Reaching out to The Weird, he sent a message to terminate the rip stabilizer's power input and converted the remaining battery charge balance into merits through Roy's account. He was about to answer the sudden question mark with a handful of exclamation points the equipment specialist sent him when the young mage noticed that he and Gan weren't alone in the training room.
Jacques stood with arms folded and a storm cloud of emotion on his face as he said, "I hope you have a good explanation for all of this before I have to call in the planar response team upstairs to arrest you."
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In the split second before the 'colorful echo' joined him, the young mage felt like reality hiccuped as he skipped forward a few seconds. Confused, he felt a weight in his hands and realized he was hold a miniature version of the spiny 'transposition' device from the temple he'd seen in the illusion world.
Annoyed at the self correction, he briefly thought, "Whether time is a stack of slides that all exist at the same time and represent a spatial direction or a 'stream', you still have to travel the damn things. So, what's wrong with the label 'time travel'? It's a freaking time traveling device."
His thoughts were interrupted when he saw that the device was disintegrating. Under Orison's eyes, the remaining fist sized core of the device turned into a copy of his mini trainer he assumed hadn't made the trip into this world. Densely packed information, completely devoid of unnecessary detail or emotional flavor began decompressing inside the young mage's mind.
A few minutes later, Orison was sitting at the dining room table assuring his companions he was fine. He dabbed a thin trickle of blood from his nose and healed the redness from an eye that had busted a blood vessel as he processed the things revealed to him. He had received several years worth of alternate future information and if he had gotten it from the 'colorful echo' of himself instead, it would have taken a long time for his mind to recover from the onslaught.
Looking at Rio and Garret, he said, "Hold tight for a minute. I'll be right back."
The young mage walked out to the training bunker and used an authorization code to open the floor panel. With a drain of personal power, he appeared at the planar hub building via the hidden magic based transport circle.
As he walked towards a half dome isolation field containing a football field's worth of Kansas farm land and a mostly destroyed barn, an older man's voice rang out, "Hold it there, youngster. The Plague Barren's rip stabilizer went offline nearly an hour ago. We don't have the spare energy to open it back up for whatever fool's errand you're on."
An angry vein of annoyance popped out on the young mage's head that was already pounding like a smith at the anvil. "Bring me a black gold battery box with a minimum three cell chain."
The older man grinned a little evilly. "Oh, did the UTF trade off some executed independent trash life force again? Irregular Criminal Division is going to cry tears of relief they don't have to bargain anymore of their golden years off for awhile."
Orison said darkly, "Your compassion for human life leaves me misty eyed... Battery, please."
Offhandedly, he tossed the cube chain back to the the older man as if he didn't care and failed to inform the greedy eyed gentleman that he had logged the transfer, visually recording the energy level content with The Weird. On a vengeful and petty base level, the young mage sincerely hoped that the man would give into the greed or hate and create a line of clerical errors. Unfortunately, the man caught a ghost of a smile on the young mage's face when the cubes were inserted into the portal device without documentation.
It took another half an hour of the man moving as slowly as production protocol would allow as the result of premature gloating. Orison mentally kicked himself for letting the mask slip but sighed and tolerated. Expecting an act of foul play Orison hopped quickly to the other side and pulled a line of the energy over with him as the older man tried to shut down the device.
Looking through to the other side, the young mage said. "Now I have you trying to trap me over here, trying to waste Adjunct LeStrange's time to come fetch me. TRY something else. I want to see if I can instill some sympathy for someone else's poor decision making plight when you're selling your own 'golden years' over in Criminal Division... And f*** you!"
"And when did you ask me to keep the rift open with the rip stabilizer, you little sh*t? You think you're the only one recording?" the older man said smugly.
Orison smiled and said, "Underneath the hate, I think I might respect you a little bit... Eat a cheeseburger and die, fossil!"
Fading into the distance as he walked towards the Captain's office among the most comfortable looking fortress accommodations he'd ever seen, the young mage heard, "Enjoy your minimum three day quarantine for crossing a portal line without proper protective gear."
It took another code word to get the Rowdy on guard at the captain's office to let him in. Under other circumstances it would have been a dumb move but Dr. Odd wouldn't be reading anymore messages and LeStrange would have his hands full trying to cover for the Triumvir over the 72 hours it would take to confirm missing status. Orison, had no intention of letting his instructor hang on the hook for so long. He merely wanted to handle personal business first.
Hearing the shower going in the adjoining room, he flipped through his options and decided to take the low road a little and helped himself to the captain's chair. He thought about kicking his feet up onto the desk but decided that even though the good captain had done him a little dirty, it was for reasons he could appreciate for Gan's sake. After all, under normal circumstances he'd have no trouble patiently waiting a little over a week so his friend could help a friend's friend to some extra 'decontamination scrubbing' time.
Amused with his own mental twisting, Orison muttered, "The Plague Barrens is a dirty place, after all."
The captain came in first, discretely towel covered while he picked up pieces of his uniform with a great deal more personal dignity than Orison would have had in his place.
"Whose son am I talking to so I know whose a** I need to kiss after kicking yours," the man said as he paced towards the young mage with a tiger's intimidating grace.
Orison said blandly, "Grab three shot glasses or some pain pills. Considering that Jacques would miss his own funeral to attend the toast I plan on making, I would suggest the first."
Fumbling with an awkward side zipper on the uniform that barely fit, Gan came rushing out of the private shower room and said, "Orison, I'm glad to finally meet you.
The scout quickly moved forward and reached out a hand to block the captain's forward stalk and so that the man wouldn't see the happiness dancing in his eyes.
Eyes nearly in crescents himself, the young mage said, "I'm holding an energy line to the rip stabilizer. So, I'm going to delay that handshake for just a little while for safety's sake."
It didn't escape the young mage's notice that the captain stepped around Gan rather than move him out of the way as he strode closer.
"Take one more step towards me with that look on your face and we won't be having that 'Ice and Fire' toast I planned, sir," Orison said as he set an uncracked bottle on the table with a 481 of 500 maker's seal on it.
While Gan had an odd look on his face, trying to figure out why Orison was riling up the guy, the captain said, "The shot glasses are in the top drawer. Are you going to insult me further by trying to play host in my own office?"
The young mage stood up with a smile and said, "No. I just wanted to rub the fur the wrong way a little for nearly delaying Mr. Fyrstr's delivery to me for eight days during a critical time."
The glance Gan shot the man was not a kind one as the captain said, "What could be so important in a student's life that an extra week would be so tragic? You can't utilize a training partner beyond the age of twenty until Second Summit... That's what I thought until you pulled that bottle out anyway."
Seeing the man pull out three tumblers, Orison said, "A shot worth is fine for me. I'm doing it for goodwill and I have to take the bottle with me because I have two mouths at home waiting for their turn. It's a shame it doesn't store after opening it."
For the first time since they laid eyes on each other, there was a little easing of tension as the man said, "Your shame is my good fortune then. I hope that means you brought something I can keep."
Orison smiled and said, "I did but we have another you can't to get through first. So, take it easy or you're not going to be fit for duty. Two fingers is measured with the index and middle not index and pinky, Captain Rogers."
"Please. We're in the comfort of my office. Call me Adam. It's embarrassing enough when some grunt calls out to me at Core Command and five or six heads pop up to see what patch is on the uniform. It's the only way to figure out which Captain Rogers is being called," The man said with a weak smile.
After Adam passed out the tumblers, the slightly larger glass worth being handed to Gan, Orison said, "I originally meant the first toast to be for doing what you could to look after the man who destroyed the UTF device I hate the most on this planet. But after seeing the situation, I think that would be a little unintentionally cheeky. How about to the possibility of new friendships and helping each other honor old ones."
Going through the motions of the toast, Adam almost choked on his first swallow which Orison could only think wouldn't feel very pleasant considering the contents of the tumblers.
Thrown a little for a loop, Adam said hesitantly, "Are you, um, wanting to be a part of our... friendship?"
Orison laughed after the burn in his stomach settled and said, "By the surface meaning, sure. Not so much the implied... No offense. I'm sure there are plenty of people who would appreciate your... friendship."
Adam smiled bitterly and slowly worked towards a more jovial one. "Mostly for the wrong reasons... I don't know whether to be relieved or remorseful. In a few years, your future Rowdies hopeful might be able to find my willingness to make friends quite easily, Gan."
Orison rolled his eyes at the good-natured threats and playful banter that broke out as he stored away the first bottle and set out the second. Adam's half of the conversation stopped when he saw the picture of a spiny purple potato. The maker's seal bore a 9992 of 10000.
"You've got a big pair to pull that out in front of a Rogers family member. There are plenty that would kill you to keep it. I may be a black sheep but even I have a nephew I've never really been able to do something good for whose life would be changed overnight with that," Adam said.
Orison said with a saintly smile, "Garret never knew you cared. Don't worry. He's one of the two mouths I was talking about earlier. Please measure carefully. There's only six shots to a bottle and I have a Rogers family member who needs that last one. The best part is, they don't even know they are one."
As Adam passed the glasses back, he said, "There's an interesting story behind the creation of Demon's D*ck. Do you know it?"
Orison nodded and smiled a little wickedly. "I know both but how about I let you do the toasting first."
More interested in getting drink down the gullet, the captain gave a generic toast to health and the three of them threw it back.
Quickly sitting down as a sense of numbness washed over them, Gan said, "I-I don't think I like this one very much. The taste, texture, name and the picture on the bottle make me feel like I did something wrong. The pins and needles making my whole body like a leg that got sat on too long doesn't help."
Orison said, "It wasn't made with purely good intentions but the later half of the batch was doctored a little. If not for the numbness, we'd be on the floor gritting our teeth to keep from screaming... The name and picture are suggestive but it's still a mash created from a potato, no matter how weird the potato is. The funny flavor and thickness is from a bit of preservative and starch."
With an odd look on his face, Adam said, "I was always told that the first Rogers saved a newly fallen angel from demons and she created this just for him to show appreciation."
Orison nodded. "And that isn't wrong. Except for the part where his supposed greed was the cause of their capture to begin with and he came back with a group to kill the demons for their stuff. From her perspective, she was just an extra, an extra who hadn't exactly been saved in a timely manner. Of course, a small amount of that bitterness could be redirection of anger on the part of the victim and the naked truth probably lies between the two points of view.
"It very much does help condense bone and muscle and it helps extend Rogers family fertility by about a decade or so. It's also the reason why the closer a Rogers family member gets to the peak of what their blood can offer, the greater the chance they'll spend their final days in excruciating agony. The nearly unpreventable build up of minerals, especially calcium, in your guys' bodies as you age past sixty or seventy isn't a defect of the experiment that made you."
Looking like he wanted to throw up, Adam said, "But the nettle bone disease is hardly ever seen anymore. A shorter life with a painful ending is what I just paid for-"
Seeing that Adam was getting upset and it would only be a matter of time before it was turned at him, Orison quickly added, "Forgiveness, guilt or remorse, take your pick. Ice and Fire was originally designed to be the antidote. Now that her revenge booze is about to be a fading memory of the past, expect it's counterpart to start becoming an increasing rarity."
The captain glared at him and said, "You could have lead off with that. I saw my grandmother die from Nettle Bone."
Orison said, "Being as subjective as you can, would you say your grandmother was a good person?"
Adam resolutely said, "No. She loved us but she was cruel, demanding and judgmental. I used to think it was so that we would be the best we could be but... You're saying if she had been a better person..."
"Well, time and battery energy is burning. We should probably get going," the young mage declared.
While Gan collected his things, Orison set down a bottle of Doc Agave and made his request. "Life extension, healing and a wide variety of other minor benefits that equal the cure or at least treatment to many diseases. I'd say that it's the perfect companion for someone posted in a place like this. It's my butter up for you to approve a trial by fire for me and my team."
After a bit of banter and some back and forth, Adam gave up and shrugged. "If you want to waste your one and only shot at skipping the Three Waves in a fished out and dangerous place like this, be my guest. When do you think you'll be taking it?"
Orison ignored the look Adam subconsciously glanced towards Gan with and said, "Next rotation."
Mildly surprised, the captain asked, "Do you have a proctor request?"
"Even if I did, it wouldn't be approved. I do have an add-on, though. Julia Bisk. She'll need a gerbil ball," Orison said.
Adam blinked at the touchscreen in his hand. "To pass a trial by fire, you need a million merit achievement minimum per teammate and you want to bring a completely human, UTF certified High School teacher?"
Orison nodded. "I'm also entrusting you with a mission. The clearance code is Black Ouroboros, Deep Blue Pisces..."
The rest of the code was a complicated combination of verbal and written encrypted instructions.
The young mage added, "If for some reason the event isn't predicted exactly, stall for three days with the excuse of decontamination protocol. This came from Dr. Odd and I want you to keep acting Triumvir LeStrange from undoing it with the same excuse... I had to give you a lot fast. So, if I made a mistake or there's more than one with the same name, have your Captain's Adjunct ask for clarification on The Weird using Merriweather code. It's old as hell but the book over there underneath the filing cabinet has the cipher."
Once they were done, Gan was recovered enough not to wobble on his feet. Figuring that they might have some personal things to say, Orison gave them a couple of minutes while he waited outside. The scout had a complicated look on his face but discussions would have to wait until there was time and privacy.
Flaring his essence til it made a connection with the hidden magic transport circle in the planar hub building, the young mage moved himself and Gan to his training room bunker. Reaching out to The Weird, he sent a message to terminate the rip stabilizer's power input and converted the remaining battery charge balance into merits through Roy's account. He was about to answer the sudden question mark with a handful of exclamation points the equipment specialist sent him when the young mage noticed that he and Gan weren't alone in the training room.
Jacques stood with arms folded and a storm cloud of emotion on his face as he said, "I hope you have a good explanation for all of this before I have to call in the planar response team upstairs to arrest you."
In the split second before the 'colorful echo' joined him, the young mage felt like reality hiccuped as he skipped forward a few seconds. Confused, he felt a weight in his hands and realized he was hold a miniature version of the spiny 'transposition' device from the temple he'd seen in the illusion world. Annoyed at the self correction, he briefly thought, "Whether time is a stack of slides that all exist at the same time and represent a spatial direction or a 'stream', you still have to travel the damn things. So, what's wrong with the label 'time travel'? It's a freaking time traveling device." His thoughts were interrupted when he saw that the device was disintegrating. Under Orison's eyes, the remaining fist sized core of the device turned into a copy of his mini trainer he assumed hadn't made the trip into this world. Densely packed information, completely devoid of unnecessary detail or emotional flavor began decompressing inside the young mage's mind. A few minutes later, Orison was sitting at the dining room table assuring his companions he was fine. He dabbed a thin trickle of blood from his nose and healed the redness from an eye that had busted a blood vessel as he processed the things revealed to him. He had received several years worth of alternate future information and if he had gotten it from the 'colorful echo' of himself instead, it would have taken a long time for his mind to recover from the onslaught. Looking at Rio and Garret, he said, "Hold tight for a minute. I'll be right back." The young mage walked out to the training bunker and used an authorization code to open the floor panel. With a drain of personal power, he appeared at the planar hub building via the hidden magic based transport circle. As he walked towards a half dome isolation field containing a football field's worth of Kansas farm land and a mostly destroyed barn, an older man's voice rang out, "Hold it there, youngster. The Plague Barren's rip stabilizer went offline nearly an hour ago. We don't have the spare energy to open it back up for whatever fool's errand you're on." An angry vein of annoyance popped out on the young mage's head that was already pounding like a smith at the anvil. "Bring me a black gold battery box with a minimum three cell chain." The older man grinned a little evilly. "Oh, did the UTF trade off some executed independent trash life force again? Irregular Criminal Division is going to cry tears of relief they don't have to bargain anymore of their golden years off for awhile." Orison said darkly, "Your compassion for human life leaves me misty eyed... Battery, please." Offhandedly, he tossed the cube chain back to the the older man as if he didn't care and failed to inform the greedy eyed gentleman that he had logged the transfer, visually recording the energy level content with The Weird. On a vengeful and petty base level, the young mage sincerely hoped that the man would give into the greed or hate and create a line of clerical errors. Unfortunately, the man caught a ghost of a smile on the young mage's face when the cubes were inserted into the portal device without documentation. It took another half an hour of the man moving as slowly as production protocol would allow as the result of premature gloating. Orison mentally kicked himself for letting the mask slip but sighed and tolerated. Expecting an act of foul play Orison hopped quickly to the other side and pulled a line of the energy over with him as the older man tried to shut down the device. Looking through to the other side, the young mage said. "Now I have you trying to trap me over here, trying to waste Adjunct LeStrange's time to come fetch me. TRY something else. I want to see if I can instill some sympathy for someone else's poor decision making plight when you're selling your own 'golden years' over in Criminal Division... And f*** you!" "And when did you ask me to keep the rift open with the rip stabilizer, you little sh*t? You think you're the only one recording?" the older man said smugly. Orison smiled and said, "Underneath the hate, I think I might respect you a little bit... Eat a cheeseburger and die, fossil!" Fading into the distance as he walked towards the Captain's office among the most comfortable looking fortress accommodations he'd ever seen, the young mage heard, "Enjoy your minimum three day quarantine for crossing a portal line without proper protective gear." It took another code word to get the Rowdy on guard at the captain's office to let him in. Under other circumstances it would have been a dumb move but Dr. Odd wouldn't be reading anymore messages and LeStrange would have his hands full trying to cover for the Triumvir over the 72 hours it would take to confirm missing status. Orison, had no intention of letting his instructor hang on the hook for so long. He merely wanted to handle personal business first. Hearing the shower going in the adjoining room, he flipped through his options and decided to take the low road a little and helped himself to the captain's chair. He thought about kicking his feet up onto the desk but decided that even though the good captain had done him a little dirty, it was for reasons he could appreciate for Gan's sake. After all, under normal circumstances he'd have no trouble patiently waiting a little over a week so his friend could help a friend's friend to some extra 'decontamination scrubbing' time. Amused with his own mental twisting, Orison muttered, "The Plague Barrens is a dirty place, after all." The captain came in first, discretely towel covered while he picked up pieces of his uniform with a great deal more personal dignity than Orison would have had in his place. "Whose son am I talking to so I know whose a** I need to kiss after kicking yours," the man said as he paced towards the young mage with a tiger's intimidating grace. Orison said blandly, "Grab three shot glasses or some pain pills. Considering that Jacques would miss his own funeral to attend the toast I plan on making, I would suggest the first." Fumbling with an awkward side zipper on the uniform that barely fit, Gan came rushing out of the private shower room and said, "Orison, I'm glad to finally meet you. The scout quickly moved forward and reached out a hand to block the captain's forward stalk and so that the man wouldn't see the happiness dancing in his eyes. Eyes nearly in crescents himself, the young mage said, "I'm holding an energy line to the rip stabilizer. So, I'm going to delay that handshake for just a little while for safety's sake." It didn't escape the young mage's notice that the captain stepped around Gan rather than move him out of the way as he strode closer. "Take one more step towards me with that look on your face and we won't be having that 'Ice and Fire' toast I planned, sir," Orison said as he set an uncracked bottle on the table with a 481 of 500 maker's seal on it. While Gan had an odd look on his face, trying to figure out why Orison was riling up the guy, the captain said, "The shot glasses are in the top drawer. Are you going to insult me further by trying to play host in my own office?" The young mage stood up with a smile and said, "No. I just wanted to rub the fur the wrong way a little for nearly delaying Mr. Fyrstr's delivery to me for eight days during a critical time." The glance Gan shot the man was not a kind one as the captain said, "What could be so important in a student's life that an extra week would be so tragic? You can't utilize a training partner beyond the age of twenty until Second Summit... That's what I thought until you pulled that bottle out anyway." Seeing the man pull out three tumblers, Orison said, "A shot worth is fine for me. I'm doing it for goodwill and I have to take the bottle with me because I have two mouths at home waiting for their turn. It's a shame it doesn't store after opening it." For the first time since they laid eyes on each other, there was a little easing of tension as the man said, "Your shame is my good fortune then. I hope that means you brought something I can keep." Orison smiled and said, "I did but we have another you can't to get through first. So, take it easy or you're not going to be fit for duty. Two fingers is measured with the index and middle not index and pinky, Captain Rogers." "Please. We're in the comfort of my office. Call me Adam. It's embarrassing enough when some grunt calls out to me at Core Command and five or six heads pop up to see what patch is on the uniform. It's the only way to figure out which Captain Rogers is being called," The man said with a weak smile. After Adam passed out the tumblers, the slightly larger glass worth being handed to Gan, Orison said, "I originally meant the first toast to be for doing what you could to look after the man who destroyed the UTF device I hate the most on this planet. But after seeing the situation, I think that would be a little unintentionally cheeky. How about to the possibility of new friendships and helping each other honor old ones." Going through the motions of the toast, Adam almost choked on his first swallow which Orison could only think wouldn't feel very pleasant considering the contents of the tumblers. Thrown a little for a loop, Adam said hesitantly, "Are you, um, wanting to be a part of our... friendship?" Orison laughed after the burn in his stomach settled and said, "By the surface meaning, sure. Not so much the implied... No offense. I'm sure there are plenty of people who would appreciate your... friendship." Adam smiled bitterly and slowly worked towards a more jovial one. "Mostly for the wrong reasons... I don't know whether to be relieved or remorseful. In a few years, your future Rowdies hopeful might be able to find my willingness to make friends quite easily, Gan." Orison rolled his eyes at the good-natured threats and playful banter that broke out as he stored away the first bottle and set out the second. Adam's half of the conversation stopped when he saw the picture of a spiny purple potato. The maker's seal bore a 9992 of 10000. "You've got a big pair to pull that out in front of a Rogers family member. There are plenty that would kill you to keep it. I may be a black sheep but even I have a nephew I've never really been able to do something good for whose life would be changed overnight with that," Adam said. Orison said with a saintly smile, "Garret never knew you cared. Don't worry. He's one of the two mouths I was talking about earlier. Please measure carefully. There's only six shots to a bottle and I have a Rogers family member who needs that last one. The best part is, they don't even know they are one." As Adam passed the glasses back, he said, "There's an interesting story behind the creation of Demon's D*ck. Do you know it?" Orison nodded and smiled a little wickedly. "I know both but how about I let you do the toasting first." More interested in getting drink down the gullet, the captain gave a generic toast to health and the three of them threw it back. Quickly sitting down as a sense of numbness washed over them, Gan said, "I-I don't think I like this one very much. The taste, texture, name and the picture on the bottle make me feel like I did something wrong. The pins and needles making my whole body like a leg that got sat on too long doesn't help." Orison said, "It wasn't made with purely good intentions but the later half of the batch was doctored a little. If not for the numbness, we'd be on the floor gritting our teeth to keep from screaming... The name and picture are suggestive but it's still a mash created from a potato, no matter how weird the potato is. The funny flavor and thickness is from a bit of preservative and starch." With an odd look on his face, Adam said, "I was always told that the first Rogers saved a newly fallen angel from demons and she created this just for him to show appreciation." Orison nodded. "And that isn't wrong. Except for the part where his supposed greed was the cause of their capture to begin with and he came back with a group to kill the demons for their stuff. From her perspective, she was just an extra, an extra who hadn't exactly been saved in a timely manner. Of course, a small amount of that bitterness could be redirection of anger on the part of the victim and the naked truth probably lies between the two points of view. "It very much does help condense bone and muscle and it helps extend Rogers family fertility by about a decade or so. It's also the reason why the closer a Rogers family member gets to the peak of what their blood can offer, the greater the chance they'll spend their final days in excruciating agony. The nearly unpreventable build up of minerals, especially calcium, in your guys' bodies as you age past sixty or seventy isn't a defect of the experiment that made you." Looking like he wanted to throw up, Adam said, "But the nettle bone disease is hardly ever seen anymore. A shorter life with a painful ending is what I just paid for-" Seeing that Adam was getting upset and it would only be a matter of time before it was turned at him, Orison quickly added, "Forgiveness, guilt or remorse, take your pick. Ice and Fire was originally designed to be the antidote. Now that her revenge booze is about to be a fading memory of the past, expect it's counterpart to start becoming an increasing rarity." The captain glared at him and said, "You could have lead off with that. I saw my grandmother die from Nettle Bone." Orison said, "Being as subjective as you can, would you say your grandmother was a good person?" Adam resolutely said, "No. She loved us but she was cruel, demanding and judgmental. I used to think it was so that we would be the best we could be but... You're saying if she had been a better person..." "Well, time and battery energy is burning. We should probably get going," the young mage declared. While Gan collected his things, Orison set down a bottle of Doc Agave and made his request. "Life extension, healing and a wide variety of other minor benefits that equal the cure or at least treatment to many diseases. I'd say that it's the perfect companion for someone posted in a place like this. It's my butter up for you to approve a trial by fire for me and my team." After a bit of banter and some back and forth, Adam gave up and shrugged. "If you want to waste your one and only shot at skipping the Three Waves in a fished out and dangerous place like this, be my guest. When do you think you'll be taking it?" Orison ignored the look Adam subconsciously glanced towards Gan with and said, "Next rotation." Mildly surprised, the captain asked, "Do you have a proctor request?" "Even if I did, it wouldn't be approved. I do have an add-on, though. Julia Bisk. She'll need a gerbil ball," Orison said. Adam blinked at the touchscreen in his hand. "To pass a trial by fire, you need a million merit achievement minimum per teammate and you want to bring a completely human, UTF certified High School teacher?" Orison nodded. "I'm also entrusting you with a mission. The clearance code is Black Ouroboros, Deep Blue Pisces..." The rest of the code was a complicated combination of verbal and written encrypted instructions. The young mage added, "If for some reason the event isn't predicted exactly, stall for three days with the excuse of decontamination protocol. This came from Dr. Odd and I want you to keep acting Triumvir LeStrange from undoing it with the same excuse... I had to give you a lot fast. So, if I made a mistake or there's more than one with the same name, have your Captain's Adjunct ask for clarification on The Weird using Merriweather code. It's old as hell but the book over there underneath the filing cabinet has the cipher." Once they were done, Gan was recovered enough not to wobble on his feet. Figuring that they might have some personal things to say, Orison gave them a couple of minutes while he waited outside. The scout had a complicated look on his face but discussions would have to wait until there was time and privacy. Flaring his essence til it made a connection with the hidden magic transport circle in the planar hub building, the young mage moved himself and Gan to his training room bunker. Reaching out to The Weird, he sent a message to terminate the rip stabilizer's power input and converted the remaining battery charge balance into merits through Roy's account. He was about to answer the sudden question mark with a handful of exclamation points the equipment specialist sent him when the young mage noticed that he and Gan weren't alone in the training room. Jacques stood with arms folded and a storm cloud of emotion on his face as he said, "I hope you have a good explanation for all of this before I have to call in the planar response team upstairs to arrest you."
