them (1): the beam shooter

There were a few unlit torches on the walls, cosmic striders lit them up by bumping two rocks into each other repeatedly, then they started diving down until they reached a really, really big place, that had land where they were standing, a big empty void, then some more land at its end.

"We built the cave like this so that even If they find it out, they would not be able to retrieve their items, in hopes of us understanding them one day" Joul explained, then took him and flew across that empty void that seemed endlessly deep, until they reached a bunch of wooden boxes that had the machinery inside. They opened the boxes, and the first thing they did is grab one sample out of every kind. After organising them, the total number was seven.

The first one was a gun. Alan had no idea how guns work; he knew what they were but had no idea about the mechanism.

The second one was also a gun, but with two firing places that made a V shape, he got told they used that to shoot both their wings simultaneously

The third one was a crossbow, "finally something that we can replicate," Alan thought to himself.

The fourth was a grappling hook.

The fifth was a big spring that attaches to the legs; they used to use it to travel big distances while jumping in short amounts of time. It reminded Alan of kangaroo legs.

The sixth were gloves that had sharp claws sticking out, a lot like wolverine.

The seventh was something he's never seen before; it had the shape of a gun, but with a big wheel on top and at the tip was a big pin.

"What do they use this for?

-The trigger launches that pin, which attaches to something, then it starts retracting, they use it to get things. Try it."

Alan aimed at a small box and fired it. The big pin stuck to the box, then a string started wrapping around the wheel and bringing the pin along with the box back.

"So, I know what all of them are, however, I can sadly replicate only three of them, the wolverine gloves, the kangaroo legs and the crossbow. I am educated enough to understand how guns work, but not enough to know how to make one on my own, sorry.

-We don't want to replicate them.

-what? Then what do you all want?

-we want to know their weak points, a small type of damage we can do to them that would be detrimental.

-oh, well then, I know all about it.

For these four ones that use the same firing mechanism, you can either destroy the trigger or empty the bullets, but beware of the second, because even if you empty the bullets, the gun may still be able to fire one last shot.

For the grappling hook and retriever, you can cut the cord as well.

For the wolverine gloves you can do a lot, but the most effective would be bending the claws inwardly so the sharp parts can't do damage anymore because they're hidden

For the kangaroo legs, two of you grab a leg from each side, then pull, the spring will expand and get ruined

For the crossbow, you just cut the string, and it stops working.

Have you guys really never concluded this on your own?

-we were too scared to mess up and attempt to do something that will either do nothing or even give them some advantages.

-you should stop doubting yourselves, you're really powerful, knowledgeable and wise. I bet that if you gave yourselves the chance to think, you would've not needed me at all. My big concern is their newest inventions, they seem to be pretty close to humans. I wonder what will be next, bazookas, tanks, nuclear weapons? I have no idea how advanced they are.

-you can find out.

-are you suggesting...

...

"Are you sure you want to do this? What if you die? I don't want to see them lacerate you and take your heart out.

-to kill, you don't need to take someone's heart out, all you need to do is neglect it, they'll be there, living but not alive, a dead soul lingering around waiting for the body to wither. Even if my body dies, as long as my memory is still in your hearts, I'll always remain alive. Life is not about a beating heart, it's about a feeling heart."

After saying goodbye to the striders, and them wishing him a safe trip, Alan took Xynar and his Guenara rocks, got on a boat, went to the side of the island, and sailed from there, if he sailed from the back where the string was, barterschzepos would know he came from where the striders were.

While in the waters, a creature came and took him out of the boat. Then, his hands got paralysed by the creature and he started drowning. While underwater, the creature started humming, singing beautiful sounds that were extremely relaxing. Alan fought the urge not to freak out, he composed himself and focused, sadly he was not able to do anything, and he lost his consciousness.

He woke up in a very small cave, more like a carving, and there was a small pond on the ground, the pond was a part of the ocean, the water did not enter the cave because of how it was built. He was not bound by anything but all he could move was his head, the rest of his body was paralysed.

After some time, the creature came, it was... it was a Gwaxy, or was it? It looked a bit different, but it had a lot of Gwaxy features, he spoke:

"I apologise for the underwhelming welcoming. My name is Lyt, Tyl's brother"

Alan now understood why he didn't totally look like a Gwaxy, he was a hybrid.

"Why did you do it like that?

-my apologies, when Tyl told me you were arriving, I had to catch you before you reach the second part of Neris, there is too much security there, I couldn't risk exposing myself.

-why are we here?

-I can change shapes, from barterschzepo to Gwaiter, a Gwaxy and Strider hybrid, whenever I take my Gwaiter form, since I'm dominantly a Gwaxy, I can do everything they can, which is why I came to you from underwater, and this is my little hideout, I come here whenever I want to be alone, it's under the water, well, above it, both actually..

-We can keep talking for however long you want, however, I would like to gain back my mobility first please.

-oh yeah, totally, sorry, I paralysed you so you wouldn't fight back."

Lyt went to Alan, kneeled in front of him, his forehead started glowing. He lightly bumped heads with Alan, and gave him back control over his body, then stood up again.

"Thank you. Now tell me whatever you were wanting to say.

-I want to tell you everything. Of course, you will have to act as if everything you'll be hearing from them is a first time thing.

The most concerning this is their latest invention, that they're planning to use, it's called "the beam shooter", it's a box, that has a high velocity spinning wheel in it, it generated heaps of energy, it shoots a beam to the sky, after a certain height, the beam spreads in sixteen directions and returns back to the ground, causing big explosions, each has a very wide radius, they're planning on placing three of those shooters in the middle of the island, with each one having a different range. If they succeed at doing so...