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

where Harmony had been gently lowered to the floor. His voice echoed in the room, jarring in the silence.

“That’s just ‘armony,” a short, gruff super said dismissively, putting his hands on his hips. “She tends ta overdo it. Use her power for too long—”

Harmony sat up and shook her head to clear away the effects of her swoon.

“Sorry, guys. There’s some bad juju up there.” She waved toward the front of the ship with one hand and pinched the bridge of her nose with the other. “It feels like quicksand or a mini black-hole. Like it just wants to pull things in and devour them.”

Gus’ mouth felt uncomfortably dry as he looked where she had pointed and he licked his teeth to remove the uncomfortable feeling left in its wake. Why am I stressing out about this?

“If you want to fly, give up everything that holds you down,” Nick offered unhelpfully, as if he was bestowing enlightened knowledge from on high.

Gus exhaled deeply and struggled to control the retorts that sprung to mind. He was still getting used to this new persona. The new Nick was terse, even rude at times with how painfully blunt he was. And the stupid axioms all the time! The interaction had not gone very well, to the point where Gus was grinding to hit level 30 just to get a change.

Still, the new Nick had given some sound leadership advice, which had helped him put some boundaries in place. From his advice, Gus made it clear when the Crew came to the manor that he was in charge, and that anyone who thought otherwise would not be welcome there. He just wasn’t sure the leadership assistance was worth all the negatives.

The smug authoritarian tone Nick used grated on his nerves like a new papercut. Just when he forgot Nick was there, Gus would do something and the stinging rebuke would get him. He had learned not to get into arguments with this version of Nick though since he didn’t have the luxury of a quantum server to provide an endless source of fortune-cookie counsel. He really missed the old Nicks. At least the flare of irritation doused the chill of fear that threatened to take hold.

Gus stood and called Jet back to him; it glided silently through the air and he clutched the polearm as the silver inlaid grip slid into his hand. It made him feel more secure, something solid and sure in the darkness.

Clenching his jaw muscles, he strode forward into the room beyond, bracing himself for an attack. Passing through the threshold, the drones had only begun to stitch together the closest side of the room to him. From what he could see, he was in the wedge-shaped bridge of the ship.

The room reminded him of a shipwreck, with the jagged edge of the unrendered prow of the ship missing in the gloom. The other supers held back, not entering the room. Gus slowly advanced as more and more of the area sprang into his display. The room was in disarray, with items strewn about from a struggle or the crash landing.

Gus peered into the gloom as the drones finished revealing the remainder of the room. They began to retreat to access other floors and continue their survey. The room was empty. No lurking zombies or another boss hiding here camped out. As the drones retreated, they planted small LEDs to give temporary light as the other supers began to tentatively move inside.

“It’s clear,” Gus said over the comms, standing and releasing his tight grip on Jet, allowing the polearm to fly free and explore. It chose to follow the drones, giving them support and protection as they continued their work.

Harmony peeked into the room and gingerly stepped inside.

“What’s the big idea, ‘armony? Ya trying to scare us all ta death?” The light revealed the voice belonged to a diminutive man who threw his arms in the air in frustration.

Gus stared at the super, whose mannerisms and speech were exactly like the irascible dwarven NPC from one of his favorite online games. Gus wasn’t totally familiar with his powers, but his super name was ‘The Keeper.’

“It’s in here, Darik,” Harmony said, voice breathy and defiant. She took three steps into the room and swept her head left to right. “There,” she said, pointing under a storage rack. Everyone squinted to see what was glowing under the shelf.

Darik stepped forward, throwing his arms out to keep anyone from advancing. Coughing a bit as he lay prone, he reached into one of the numerous pouches on his belt and pulled something out. Unfolding it, he rotated some metal joints and held a small box with translucent hinges that fluoresced with blue light as the sides locked into place. The box hovered above his palm, slowly rotating like a large gem, which made him look even more like a dwarven doppelganger. Gesticulating with his left hand, there was a small pop and the box was suddenly full.

“What is it?” someone from the back asked.

“It looks like… a doll?” The Keeper said as he got to his feet, brushing off the dust as the box continued to rotate, showing all angles of its contents.

“Yeah, but look there at the mouth. That’s some type of injector.”

“Burn it with fire!” Harmony yelled from behind the group as they leaned forward in an attempt to get a closer look at what The Keeper had transferred to the box. Annoyed looks were cast her way at the sudden outburst.

“It’s totally contained in my stasis cube,” Darik snapped.

“I have got this.” A tall lanky super stepped up from the back, whom Gus recognized as Grimdark, the owner of the deep voice with a Slavic accent. He moved his hand as if tracing arcane symbols and the doll ignited within the box. Waxy drops dripped to the bottom of the stasis cube and continued to burn until all that was left was a black residue on the bottom of the box.

“Ah,