Chapter 30 - The Air Grows Foul

Day 22

Evening

Former Moon Residence

Erin sat in the rebuilt living room of her childhood home, disliking the feeling of being a stranger in someone else's house. While Erin and her mother were incredibly grateful for what Noah had done for them, they both decided that having a full household at Mrs. McGibbons' made them happier. Instead, they offered the house as a residence for the soldiers, who were tentative at first, before begrudgingly accepting.

It had only been a day since they had that discussion, but the past two weeks had felt like a year to Erin. A year of building, or rebuilding, a life after her home was burnt to the ground. So it was with some consternation that Erin felt uncomfortable while she waited for Sydney to arrive.

"Any updates on your students?" Brown asked, trying to fill the silence.

Before Erin could give a general response to a situation she didn't want to talk about, there was a knock at the door.

Anderson called out, "Come in."

The door opened to admit Sydney, appearing more than a little exhausted. She only got a few strides into the house before everyone present started reacting to the scent clinging to her.

"What the hell, Sydney?" Erin blurted out.

Pinching her nose, Lopez said, "Chica, you smell like death. Literally."

Sydney sighed, "Sorry about that, guys. The apartment was…rough."

Anderson, trying hard not to react too offensively to the smell, stepped in, "Noah outfitted the house with a water tank and heater for the internal plumbing. Go grab a shower. We'll wait."

At the mention of a shower Sydney perked up. Bathing over the last couple weeks had been a bucket and cloth affair. While some community members continued to work on solutions for power and water, this neighbourhood wasn't yet integrated with the new system. Without another word, Sydney launched up the stairs like her life depended on it.

Fifteen minutes later, a much cleaner Sydney came down the stairs smelling of a lavender soap. She got a few funny looks due to appearing fully dressed while also carrying a bundle of dirty clothes, but no one asked for an explanation. Sydney didn't volunteer the info either. They didn't need to know that she was only wearing underwear and her armour, which was using the chameleon modifier to imitate proper clothing.

Tossing her bundle of clothes on the front porch, Sydney grabbed a seat on the couch beside Erin, then sank back into the cushions. "I'm just putting it out there but, Noah needs to design some transportation. I've spent most of today just walking everywhere."

"Where was Logan while you were out investigating?" Anderson asked. When Erin and Sydney both tensed at the question, he nodded knowingly and didn't push the topic, instead asking, "What did you find at the old DN HQ?"

"A goddamn mess, if I'm putting it mildly." Sydney said, "Something has changed."

"Explain, please." Anderson encouraged her to continue.

Sydney sat up resting her elbows on her knees, "So when I showed up, the stench of death filled that place. It was palpable. I haven't smelled anything that bad since I was in the sandbox.

A couple of the soldiers got thousand yard stares as they nodded to the comment. Some of them had clearly seen deployment before.

"I knew I wouldn't be finding life there, but I hoped I might find answers. Hell, even some sort of clue." Sydney shook her head, "What I found only created more questions. There were dozens of DN members throughout the building, dead, with a word carved into their chests. Traitor."

"Traitor?" Erin asked, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Sydney shrugged, "I have no idea. Some sort of internal conflict, maybe?"

Anderson interjected with his own question, "Did your station have concrete numbers on gang membership?"

"No," Sydney shook her head, "Estimates ranged from around fifty to a few hundred, maybe more."

Anderson gawked at the admission, "That's a wide margin of error, Deputy Cade."

"Small, underfunded police force with too many priorities." Sydney threw her hands in the air, "Our Sheriff would have gone after them years ago if we had the funding. He even tried to get the feds involved, but they wanted nothing to do with what they called a small town issue."

"Fuckin' feds." Brown cursed.

Looking to Erin, Anderson said, "Clearly they're targeting your students, Erin. We don't have the manpower to protect all of them."

"I know," Erin said, "My less senior students are going to have to stop coming to the Dojang. The more senior can travel in larger groups. They should be able to handle whatever DN throws at them."

"Unless they escalate," Sydney said.

Erin cracked her knuckles, "They can get in fuckin' line, 'cause I'm about to escalate my foot in their ass."

Sydney snorted, then broke into a laugh, "You didn't just say that, did you?"

The soldiers took her lead and laughed as well, but Erin froze in the act of cracking the knuckles on her other hand, then looked around at them like she was the only sane person in the room. "What? I'm gonna get out there, find them, and finish what I started two weeks ago with The Antagonist."

Erin was serious, but the others couldn't stop laughing.

Sydney, when she got enough control, said, "That was bad, Erin. Really bad."

Erin got up in a huff, "Yeah, yeah, make fun of the crazy girl with superpowers." She tried to sound serious, but everyone had seen what Erin looked like mad, and this wasn't that.

"I'll send out a guild message, then crash and get an early start in the morning." Erin said, heading for the door, "You coming, Sydney?"

Sydney stood and followed Erin towards the door, "Yeah, I've still got the walk home. Might as well get started."

"Like hell," Erin said, "My mom would kick my ass if I didn't invite you to crash with us. So unless you want to see a grown woman get yelled at by her mother, you're coming with me."

Sydney was caught off guard for a moment, then managed to get out, "Okay…"

"Thanks for the hospitality, George." Erin said, waving to Anderson and the other soldiers

Anderson waved a hand, "It's still your house, Erin. We're just guests."

"Permanent residents, not guests, and if you argue I'll send my mom over when I get home."

Anderson chuckled, "Understood, and please don't bother Eun-ha. She already cooks for two households, she doesn't need extra things to worry about."

Erin and Sydney walked to Mrs. McGibbons house in silence, though they both diligently scanned their surroundings for potential threats. Once inside, Erin walked into the living room and collapsed on the couch. She was far from a lazy person, but even she had to admit the emotional and psychological toll events were starting to take. She needed a breather, or a vacation.

When Sydney joined her on the couch, Erin rested a hand on the woman's knee, "Thank you for everything you did today."

Sydney's thoughts froze as Erin's hand rested for a moment or two on her leg. She felt her cheeks flush a little, but didn't quite understand the reaction. Before she could think too hard on it, Erin stood.

"Alright, I'm off to bed." Erin said, "Pick a room when you're ready to sleep. If my mom or Mrs. McGibbons finds you sleeping on the couch they'll give you an ear full. "

"Uhh, yeah," Sydney said, suddenly, "No problem."

Then Erin was gone, plodding up the stairs like she wasn't an unbridled bundle of raw power and energy.

Day 22

Evening

McGibbons/Moon/Jackson Residence

Mary McGibbons sat in silence at the workbench in her bedroom. She listened to the noises in the house. First the front door opening and closing, then the couch springs squeaking slightly from someone sitting, then again when someone stood, and finally the sound of someone walking up the stairs and entering their room. Once the sound settled, she continued work on her project.

Mary had developed some very dangerous skills in her younger years. While she touched on that briefly with Erin, she very deliberately didn't discuss the details of that era in her life with her new found family. She wasn't ashamed of what she had done back then, but she also knew that it wasn't something most people could really understand.

Sliding the small pill-sized capsule into the cavity she had created in the .44 Magnum round. Using one of the tools in the Bombmaker's Kit for Blowing Everything Up, a reward she received at the end of the assessment period, Mary tapped the capsule causing it to meld into the walls of the cavity.

Her hands moved with a surety and steadiness belying her advanced age. That was partly due to the attributes from the system, but more significant was the effects of the special gloves also received from the System. The Gold Cautious Handling Gloves of the Fingerless EOD. While the name lacked brevity, the effects could not be denied. Steadier hands and five free levels in explosives handling while she was wearing them.

Placing the round back in the box alongside the other modified bullets, Mary mentally ticked one more task off her list. Explosive capsules in every bullet for both her Smith & Wesson 1854, and the Colt Delta Elite 1911 10mm. Both weapons received from the System. The capsules would, by default, explode one tenth of a second after impacting or penetrating a surface.

Mary could change that function on the fly from her System menu, switching to impact explosive no time delay, or even proximity explosion. An ability she only had because of the bomb making kit. The only annoying thing with the kit was that the resources it came with only replenished once per day. That time aligned with when the system integration first started, so basically just before noon.

"What I wouldn't give for a large military surplus of ordnance." Mary mumbled to herself. In lieu of said ordnance, she had to limit her creations to smaller solutions. Things that could be completed in one round with the kit, or that would at least be made stable with the initial round of resources.

Where the kit really excelled in her opinion was the intuitive holographic blueprint system. At least in the coolness factor. It allowed her to create ideas without using resources, but it was useless for the bigger items unless she could find a way to implement them. That's where she hoped Noah could help.

As if summoned by her thoughts, a knock on her bedroom door drew Mary's attention. "Yes?"

"It's Noah." Came the voice of the teenager on the other side.

Mary took a breath then reassured herself. While she had been secretive up to this point about her abilities and equipment, she had no way to provide her blueprints to Noah without showing him the Bombmaker's Kit. "Come on in."

Noah tentatively opened the door, like he was an extra in a horror flick.

"Stop dawdling and get your ass in here, boy." Mary said, the bite in her voice more annoyance at his slowness than Noah himself.

Noah complied, almost closing the door too loudly. "Your message was a bit cryptic, Mrs. McGibbons. What did you mean by saying you had blueprints to help with our defense?"

"Grab a seat, Noah." Mary padded a folding chair she expanded beside the workbench. "You're going to learn more about me than anyone else, tonight."

Noah didn't really know what to make of that cryptic statement, so he cautiously sat down on the chair.

"You guys know I was in the military. Vague stuff I mentioned when Erin woke up." Mary got a far off look, her mind wandering slightly with the memories of a time long past, "I learned a lot of skills back then, and included in those skills were the ability to make IEDs. You know what IEDs are?"

Noah nodded, not firm and confident, but an acknowledgement of his knowledge, "Improvised Explosive Device."

Mary shook her head, "The things kids learn these days. Anyway, I haven't used the skill in a long time, but I guess it's like riding a bike…if that bike is strapped with a mortar shell rigged to a cell phone that can set it off."

"I don't think we can get cell signals anymore, Mrs. McGibbons." Noah said, a slight smirk showing he was starting to relax.

"Smartass." Mary responded with her own smirk, "One of the things I got from the assessment week was the Bombmaker's Kit For Blowing Everything Up. It lets me make, modify, or blueprint explosives and explosive devices."

At this, Noah slid the chair back a step or two from the workbench. "Umm, I'm not sure I should be anywhere near explosives."

"Relax," Mary patted the air, "I'll read the details for you, so you know it's safe."

With that, Mary brought up the details of the item and read them to Noah.

Item Name: Bombmaker's Kit For Blowing Everything Up

Quality Level: Exalted

Description: The Bombmaker's Kit For Blowing Everything Up contains all of the tools one requires to turn absolutely anything into an explosive device. It can also modify or improve existing items. It's also portable.

Modifier: Replenishing. All items included with this kit that can be used up will replenish each day at the same time the System initiated in your zone.

Modifier: 11. For when turning the bomb up to 10 won't do. Allows increasing an explosive device past its physical limits. May cause instability.

Modifier: Safety Guaranteed. While using this kit to work on an explosive, it will be unable to explode.

Notes: In the traditions of bomb makers throughout history, this kit will let you do bad things from a distance, and to hell with the ethics and morality of it!

Noah's first response was to snicker at the flavour text, but he stopped when the woman old enough to be his great grandmother gave him a chastising look. Instead, he scooted his chair close to the workbench again.

Mary waved her hand in the air above the Bombmaker's Kit and a holographic interface appeared. While she manipulated the menu far more comfortably than someone from her generation had any right to, Noah stared on in amazement.

"This is what I wanted to show you." Mary said, pulling up a specific blueprint. It hovered in the air, rotating at an angle, with measurements on each edge much like a traditional blueprint. What she had brought up was roughly the size of a 12 gauge shotgun shell. The cylinder tapered down in size by a few millimeters halfway up the length, then had a series of three funnel-like expansions on the end, narrow gaps between them, followed by a small spike protruding out the direct center of the end. "This is intended to be an anti-personnel mine."

Observing the object as it rotated, Noah's intellectual curiosity overrode any concerns for the intended purpose.

"Those funnel sections act like blast shaping cones." Mary explained while Noah looked on, "It creates three rings of varying size, while that spike splinters on launch." Mary looked at Noah, a hint of concern passing over her. "This isn't a toy, Noah. The only reason I'm showing you this is because you claimed to have manufacturing resources."

Noah broke his reverie and returned Mary's look. "Yes, I understand Mrs. McGibbons."

"Do you?" She scrutinized him, "Because if you help me manufacture these, you become an accessory to war crimes. I wouldn't even tell you about these if we weren't in dire straits."

Taking a moment longer to answer, and to consider her words, Noah steeled his nerves. "I understand these can cause a lot of pain and suffering. I also understand these can help us protect the good people of this town from the not-so-good people coming to harm us."

Sighing at the realization that this kid was having to grow up too fast in an unforgiving new world, Mary asked, "Okay, Noah. Can you manufacture them?"

Nodding, Noah transmitted the data through his implant to the systems in his lair with a directive for Sky to spend no more than five minutes of compute time reviewing the plans for flaws. "Yeah, I can make these."

"Do you need me to, I don't know…send the blueprints to you somehow?"

Shaking his head, Noah said, "No, I've already sent them to my system."

"How fast can you make them?" Mary asked.

"Hmm, I don't think I'll need System-tier materials, so I can probably generate them from the energy-matter fabs." Noah looked up at the ceiling in thought for a moment, "Around two hundred a day if I don't have to dedicate all of my fabs to them."

Mary found herself staring open-mouthed at that figure. She expected maybe a dozen a day. Two hundred meant she could use another idea. "Okay, that's well beyond my expectations, so I have an additional thing to show you."

What Mary brought up next was an array that mounted multiples of the anti-personnel mines on it. The device resembled the clustered tubes on tanks for missile countermeasure deployment. This design had a tripod underneath for mounting in the ground, then three groupings of four tubes. Each grouping was in a two-by-two square pattern, with one pointing center, and the other two groupings angled to the right and left.

"Can you make these as well? They don't need to be used for every mine deployment. It would be better to strategically place these where they can be concealed." 

Noah sent this design to his fabricators as well, designating the system to make a dozen to start. "Done."

"What about deployment? Can your drone things do that?" Mary asked, waving a hand in the air.

Noah nodded, "Yeah, I can have them deployed by the bots. I'll have Sky work them into our defense plans."

Noah, seeing Mary close down and store the Bombmaker's Kit, thought that was all and started to get up, before she rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Two things, Noah." Mary looked him in the eyes, a serious look and tone, "Keep this between us for now. But more importantly, if you have any moral qualms about this at any point, stop. This isn't a video game. We can't take back the things we're about to do."

Noah nodded, his confidence dropping to on par with when he entered the room.

As Noah left, closing the door behind him, Mary whispered three words, barely audible, "I'm sorry, kid."