Unity by Carl Stubblefield (epub read online books TXT) 📕

Checking her terminal, she saw some of the typical commands she was able to use grayed out. That’s irritating. A few minutes of rerouting later, she had reestablished her customary access. But someone had put blocks on the system, limiting access to certain searches and restricting what could be accessed across the board.

She couldn’t tell where it originated, but it was high enough up to be put in place across all supers. A few more minutes of modifications ensured that her station would report to the powers that be that she was still on “limited access.”

Now this was interesting. Was this from something internal, or an external source? Either way, it was a mystery to solve.

Chapter Fifty-Eight

Alone Again (Naturally)

Was it stupid to go after Mengele alone? You betcha. But instead of feeling a burning desire for vengeance, he just felt like this guy had to be stopped. He had stopped moving and he was indeed in South Africa.

Hopefully his mother would recover, but from what he had seen in Hinansho, there was no way this should be allowed to go on. If he could take this guy out, then at least other families wouldn’t be affected by this predator.

Following Aurora’s tracker, he could pursue Mengele to whatever hole he was hiding in, up until he disappeared without a trace again. If Mengele made it to another sanctuary city, he knew the tracker wouldn’t penetrate and he would be lost.

Gus figured that when he got there, he should be able to impersonate someone with his Mimic ability to get close to Mengele and end him. The whole plan sounded ludicrous, even to him. It was basically suicide. Throwing his life away for very little reward other than ridding the world of an evil mind.

But maybe that would be enough. He would finally have left a mark that would leave the world a better place than he had found it. If he could do that, then the powers he had been given weren’t wasted. He just hoped he had time before he couldn’t function and had a total mental breakdown.

Checking his FP, Gus found a small flying transport called a skip-jump and paid the FP price to unlock their use, upgrading its power supply to include solar converters. It was basically an enclosed one-man craft, and it would take almost seventeen hours to reach Mengele.

Gus stopped by the cafeteria to restock his gels with the intent of loading his dimensional pockets to the brim. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the ring he had taken from the super he had inadvertently killed just a little while ago. He had already forgotten about that incident, and that fact bothered him. What am I becoming?

Shaking his head and sighing, he took a closer look at the ring’s details. It was fashioned to look like a skull, with rubies in the eye sockets. A little gruesome, but it captured his morbid curiosity as he turned it back and forth in his hands. Why not? It would be a good reminder of what could happen if he wasn’t careful. He couldn’t let himself forget so casually that actions have consequences.

Gus slid the ring on his finger and looked at it from different angles. The rubies caught a glint of light and pulsed for a moment. The ring felt perfectly sized. There was a brief pinch and a message popped up on his display.

XXX’s Ring of Regeneration

By donning this artifact, you have bonded to it. This ring cannot be removed until your death.

Effects: Doubled health regeneration rate, bonded artifact.

Testing if he could remove it, Gus gave the ring a tug and yelped in pain. Taking a closer look, hairlike fibers extended from the inside of the band, embedding into his skin. Pulling harder, he felt them split the skin like tiny strips of razor-wire tugging on the bones underneath that they were anchored to. Not just bones in his hand, but he even felt the strain in his forearm.

How far do these little root-like threads extend? Does it matter? He didn’t intend on removing it, and faster health regeneration was always a good thing. With a little shame, Gus realized he had already forgotten the super’s name. This would be a good indicator to center himself on what he was really trying to accomplish, and what he needed to avoid.

He changed into another uniform, leaving his regular clothes in his room. He checked his abilities and noted Wreckord.

Wreckord (Level 3): Everyone marches to the beat of their own drum, but you use this to your advantage! When you songify your life in apropos ways, you will get a bonus to stats. Bonus depends on the aptness of your choice and stats relevant to the situation. Rock on!

Note: Each song can only be used once for effect. Unlike most abilities, as you increase in your personal level, this ability loses its potency. Use this ability wisely.

For levels 20-30:

Multiplier Progression: Additive.

Cooldown: 24 hours.

Dang. That ability had really taken a drop in its boosting power. After he hit level 30, it was doubtful that it would even do much of anything. Gus created a playlist, including any song that he had ever liked that he hadn’t used yet.

Go big or go home, right?

When he had finished, he couldn’t think of any other excuses for waiting, so he climbed into the skip-jump, finding a way to position Jet to fit in the small space.

“Mponpeng Mine, here I come,” Gus murmured as he engaged the autopilot. The ship lifted off the landing site almost silently, slowly rotating, then it shot off in a straight line. The panel to Gus’ left polarized on its own to reduce the glare of the sun and Gus started his playlist. This time he hadn’t really organized them into any rational order, just put everything in and hit shuffle.

You have created a song chain! Success with activities related to musical themes increased by