Chapter 32 - Just A Drink

Day 26

Evening

The two women made the trek up two flights of stairs, Erin following at a relaxed pace, though keeping up effortlessly. Due to the technology integrated with most modern apartments, it seemed like the only choice was to remove a lot of locking mechanisms on the doors. Erin questioned how safe many of these people felt. Fortunately, Sydney had an old-fashioned analog key for her own apartment.

Entering the apartment, there was a front hallway with doors coming off of it. Since she didn't wear shoes or socks these days, there was no footwear to kick off, so Erin waited for Sydney before following the woman into her home.

Erin got a look at a bathroom through one door, looking kinda spartan but clean. At the end of the hallway was a living room. Not as big as the one in her childhood home or Mrs. McGibbons' house, but it could host a dozen people comfortably.

Instead of a dining room, the kitchen counter was a U-shape, with one side facing the living room, and some bar stools positioned for use.

"Make yourself comfortable." Sydney said, pointing at the couch as she headed to the kitchen.

It wasn't until Erin sat on the couch, taking one end with an arm rest, that she noticed there was no television. "No time for TV?"

Sydney chuckled, "I got out of the habit in the military, spending my time training or exercising. Now I guess it doesn't matter, and it's just one tech addiction I don't have to worry about."

Erin nodded at that answer. While she missed playing video games sometimes, movies were a sore spot in her house. It was her dad's favourite pastime, and one he loved sharing with Erin and her mom. Erin didn't really enjoy her father's choice in movies back then, but she would do anything to sit and watch one of those spaghetti westerns curled up between her mom and dad just one more time.

"Catch." Sydney said, breaking Erin from her daydreaming.

Erin spun to catch a juice box. Tropical punch. "These damn juice boxes again." Erin laughed.

"Hey, don't knock it. I saw you zoning out. Adrenaline crash is a real thing."

Erin didn't argue, not wanting to say why she was really zoning out. Instead, she popped the straw in the room temperature juice box and drank it all.

"Alright, your choices are whisky, vodka, whiskey, tequila, or room temp beer." Sydney offered.

Looking over at Sydney, Erin asked, "Whisky twice?"

"Scottish, or American." Sydney said by way of explanation.

Erin thought for a second. She had no interest in tequila, didn't like vodka, and had never tried Scottish whisky, making her decision easy. "Scottish whisky it is."

Sydney smirked, "Good choice. You're getting it neat though, since all my ice cubes melted."

"1-star review on Yelp." Erin responded.

Sydney came into the living room with two tumblers roughly a quarter full of a sharp amber liquid. Stopping to hand one to Erin, Sydney sat beside the other woman, one leg bent so she could face her guest, resting an elbow on the back of the couch.

Sydney watched with curiosity as Erin took a sip of the drink, then coughed a little.

Laughing, Sydney said, "Well, our superhero is still human after all."

When the coughing passed, Erin said, "Smooth." Then took another sip, better prepared for the slight burning sensation this time.

Sydney took a sip of her own drink, savouring the flavour, even if it was a cheap whisky. "I didn't thank you for earlier."

"For what?" Erin asked, clueless to what Sydney meant.

"With the bear."

Erin mouthed the bear, trying to pick up on the subtext, then her mouth formed an O. "That big ugly guy giving non-consensual hugs. Probably looks like a skinned bear now."

Sydney laughed, maybe a bit more than intended for how funny the joke was. She had a slight giddy energy, and while her conscious mind didn't fully register the origin, her subconscious had a pretty good idea.

"I'm no damsel, Erin, you know that, but…" Sydney paused. She felt a bit vulnerable in the moment, which wasn't normal for her, "...that asshole had me wrapped up tight…and that girl they were carrying off…I was genuinely afraid I would fail your students…fail you." She looked away, taking a sip of her drink to wash down the bitter taste of that memory.

Erin shook her head, "You didn't fail anyone, Sydney." Resting her free hand on the other woman's, "If not for you, I never would have gotten a crack at these guys. But I finally got to hit back, and that's thanks to you."

Sydney turned to look Erin in the eyes, a slight blush on her cheeks. Her eyes flashed down a couple inches for just a second, then back up to Erin's eyes. Finally, whatever war raged inside her heart and mind gave the age-old response of fuck it.

Downing the last of her drink in one gulp, Sydney leaned forward and kissed Erin. Gently, meaningfully at first, but when the other woman leaned into it, Sydney rested a hand on the back of Erin's neck.

Erin replicated the action, reaching for the back of Sydney's neck, and the passion shifted up a notch. Sydney moved forward, slowly enough so as not to be forceful, but it caused Erin to slide down and back, Sydney straddling one of her legs as they devoured each other's lips.

Then it was over. Erin pulled back, blurting out "Wait!" as her hand went to the other woman's chest, holding her back slightly.

Sydney's brain took a second to register the words and the actions. Erin, startled and uncertain, didn't wait for Sydney's brain to fully kick in, instead pushing just a little too hard. Sydney lifted up and off Erin, flying back just enough for the middle of her back to hit the armrest on the opposite side of the couch.

"What's wrong?" Sydney asked, a bit of hurt and panic in her own voice.

Erin was borderline frantic, "I…umm…what…why…what's happening? I don't…why…I…" and then she was gone. Out the door so quickly, she forgot to close it.

"God dammit, Sydney!" She chastised herself, "You just ruined a perfectly good friendship. Again."

Picking up Erin's spilled glass, she went to the kitchen and poured herself the first of many drinks Sydney would indulge in that night.

Southeast Edge of Middletown

Erin sat on the cold metal of the Middletown water tower, knees up, one arm wrapped around them while the other absentmindedly touched her lips. Her thoughts were a jumble. Why did she do that? Why did I do that? That was my first kiss! Did I enjoy it? WHY did she do that?

Her heart still raced, though it was starting to calm down bit by bit. Erin tried to search her feelings for some truth, but she didn't know what to think. For all her strengths, Erin was terrible at most of the social skills.

I've been attracted to boys before, right? Butterflies in my stomach if a guy looks at me a certain way. Have I ever been attracted to women? Am I attracted to women? Would I be interested, given the opportunity? I was just given the opportunity…but I ran away…not before kissing her back though, right? I…I grabbed her neck and pulled her closer. But her lips were just so…soft and inviting. Do I want to kiss her again?

"It would never work." A voice said behind her, interrupting her stream of thoughts. "You're too similar. Strong-willed, hard-headed women. You wouldn't last a month."

Erin sighed in irritation, then deadpanned, "Oh look, it's my stalker, here to dole out relationship advice like every good stalker."

"Don't be like that, Erin. You know I'm right." The Stranger was going for a fatherly, yet lecturing tone this time, and that was precisely the wrong tone to take with her for so many reasons she wouldn't know where to start.

Spinning on her rear, Erin swung her foot at the mystery man's leg, intending to sweep it out from under him. Instead, she felt a bit of pain as his leg didn't move and hers hit an immovable object.

"Fuck!" She screamed.

Clicking his tongue and wagging a finger, The Stranger said, "Now now, Erin, what would your mother say to such foul language?"

Spinning back to her seated position, looking out at the city, Erin nursed her now sore leg. "Fuck off already, I'm not in the mood."

Sighing, The Stranger asked, "What must I do for you to trust me, Erin?"

"Not stalk me, for starters?" While the inflection sounded like a question, it clearly wasn't.

"I'm looking out for you, my dear."

"Well don't. I didn't ask you to, and the way you go about it is damn creepy. And don't you dare preach my relationship choices to me." There was a heat in her voice. Erin was just glad to have somewhere to direct her emotions that made sense.

Erin felt a brief sense of danger behind her, but it faded just as quickly. When she looked back over her shoulder, The Stranger was gone.

Erin sighed, but decided to keep her thoughts to herself. That guy is going to actually try to kill me someday. I need to get stronger. Thinking about getting stronger reminded her of the experience from earlier in the day. Bringing up her character sheet, Erin reviewed her status.

Level: 84

Well, the boys are gonna be disappointed that I leveled up.

Unassigned Attribute Points: 210

Unassigned Body Type Boosts: 0

➕Physical: 151.31

➕Mental: 92.64

➕Combat: 58,418.92

➕Resource: 442,839.73

➕Social: 167.19

Reviewing her attributes, Erin noticed most of the four Mental attributes were below 100. Intelligence, Wisdom, and Willpower were falling behind, while Perception was at least keeping pace with most of her Physical attributes. Putting 30 points into Intelligence, Willpower, and Perception each would keep the latter stat on track, and bring Intelligence and Willpower over 100. She had to put 35 points into Wisdom to bring that up to 101 before bonuses, but she could accept that sacrifice.

Unfortunately, that only left 85 points to put into Physical attributes. Erin reviewed her options, then decided how to split those remaining points. 15 into Strength and Endurance each, 12 into Vitality, then 20 into Dexterity and 23 into Agility.

I need to put more into Dexterity and Agility soon, or I could end up outclassed by someone faster in the future.

Erin reviewed her stats after applying the points, pleased with the results.

Unassigned Attribute Points: 0

Unassigned Body Type Boosts: 0

➕Physical: 171.86

➕Mental: 117.64

➕Combat: 87,363.54

➕Resource: 579,996.08

➕Social: 206.94

Nodding in approval, Erin let out a weary sigh. While physical exhaustion was difficult to achieve these days, she did feel the mental and emotional exhaustion of the day. Too many highs and lows, too many surprises, too little time to adjust.

Standing up, she decided it was time to go home. Even if her body didn't need rest, her mind certainly did.

Noah's Lair

"Has Erin arrived at home yet, Sky?" Noah couldn't hide the excitement in his voice. While he knew Erin had important things to deal with, he couldn't wait for her to see the gift he left for her.

"Not yet, Noah." Our bots detected her leaving the water tower at the southeast edge of town moments ago.

Noah contemplated that. He couldn't imagine why she would need to be there, so he could only imagine it was somewhere she wanted to be. Frowning slightly, he decided there was nothing to do except continue his work and wait for a message from her.

"Display the status for Project Akropolis."

"Yes, Noah." Sky responded, the info appearing on the main terminal.

Project Akropolis: 2% Complete

-Scans 26.52% Completed

-Resources Deploying As Available

"And the hard numbers?"

Sky shifted the initial info to the side and added the requested information. "We've deployed nearly seven kilometers worth of poles for the wall. Hedgehogs are deployed at town exits, and the trenches have been dug."

Steepling his fingers, Noah said, "Excellent. What about the AP mines Mrs. McGibbons designed?"

The display shifted to a generated map of the town with markings around the perimeter. "The solo mines have been deployed in several configurations." The image shifted to a generated image of a trench, with markings. "Solo mines have been staggered on our side of the trench wall, angled to face the other side at a 50 degree angle."

Shifting the image again to show the treeline, Sky highlighted two cluster deployments. "The cluster systems are being staggered as well, with some being hidden in brush on the ground, while others are hidden in trees angled down."

Once more the image shifted, this time to a town entrance. "Additional units with the modifications we made have been staggered outside our defenses at town exits, buried below the surface with pressure sensors."

Noah nodded solemnly at this. While he never mentioned the modified versions to Mary, he suspected she would approve in practice, if not in principle. She expressed concern at the morality of involving Noah. While her sentiment was well meant, Noah was old enough to understand that when a maniacal military leader with an army came to annihilate your home, war stopped being a spectator sport.

"Thank you, Sky. Can you bring up the status of our other primary projects please."

"It would be my pleasure, Noah."

Project Panoplia: 0% Complete

-Designs Underway

-Simulations Complete (Gen1)

-Simulations Complete (Gen2)

-Simulations Ongoing (Gen3)

Project Empeiria: 0% Complete

-Designs Underway

-Simulations Underway

Project Polemikon: 0% Complete

-Scans 100% Complete

-Simulations Complete

Project Technites: 60% Complete

-Designs Complete (S/M/L)

-Designs Underway (XL/XXL)

-Simulations Complete

Reviewing the status, progress was about where he expected. Project Technites was well underway at this point, allowing Noah to start creating System equipment. There were limits to this still, but as long as he made progress it held value. Project Polemikon needed the XL and XXL fabs from Technites to start progressing, but it was otherwise ready. Project Panoplia was making great headway, but he didn't expect functional designs before the invasion.

Project Empeiria was the irritating wildcard. If he had more compute nodes active, simulations could progress faster, but he still didn't want to overload Sky too quickly. So that project would be for the long term, and hopefully they were still alive when the project was ready.

Leaning forward to interface with his terminal, Noah said, "Alright Sky, let's look over things and see where we can refine efficiency a bit more."