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

a switch in me, and after that my Nth spoke to me more and more. So long story short, that’s how I came to realize that manipulating ether and making it guide the body to heal overlaps into support classes.”

They sat there in silence, contemplating the story. BoJack rapt in memory and Gus still trying to sort out his thoughts. With the new information, ideas began to bombard him that BoJack could probably easily answer.

“Not to change the subject, but what’s your Nth like?” Gus wondered if the more experienced super had some experience with a NIC that just didn’t mesh.

“My Nth? He’s great. Even when he changes every ten levels or so.”

“Yeah, how do you deal with that? Have you ever had a personality you didn’t get along with?”

“I guess at first, but it’s all worked out in the end. I don’t know how the quantum server does its analysis, but, as far as I can tell, it streamlines your progress so you can level the fastest possible. I don’t know if it tries to put you in difficult situations, but it definitely knows how to stretch your limits.”

“Is that what makes quests and determines the Nth interface and all that? That never really was clear.”

“Quests? I guess it amounts to the same. Mine are ‘objectives.’ From my understanding, the quantum server dictates what actions unlock access to information that your Nth can utilize. Apparently during REM sleep, the Nth take advantage and sync with the quantum server while the mind is otherwise occupied.”

Crap, is that going to hold me back because I’ll get less frequent quest prompts?

“I’ve heard of it also happening from deep meditation when theta brain waves are really prominent. Those mimic REM sleep, but I don’t think there’s a complete sync unless you actually sleep,” BoJack said almost as an afterthought.

The information hit Gus like a slap to the face. Was that the answer to his whole sleep deprivation issues?

“Does Ether Crafting use theta waves at all? Is that maybe why I felt rested after I was in deep with that construct?”

“Maybe, I’ve never thought about it. You just kind of do it after a while and the individual steps become a little hazy. It’s definitely possible,” BoJack conceded, yawning. “Sorry, but since all’s good here, I’m going to get some more shuteye. I’m still pretty beat. Tomorrow we’ll see if we can make it out of the wops, and find the others.” He rolled over on his cot and was quickly asleep.

The wops? Gus almost asked about the slang, but didn’t want to disturb the other super. He lay down on his cot, but his mind was on fire. He had a clarity he hadn’t felt in a while from his deep dive in Ether Construct. The constant low-grade headache he had come to live with had disappeared, and he just felt better. More hopeful.

Even his awkward relationship with Nick lately seemed less daunting. As he looked up at the tent above, he thought about possibilities. Despite multiple series of poor, often desperate choices, he had a new way to progress and level again.

A tiny pang of guilt hit him as he thought about BoJack’s story with the little girl. Would he make the world a better place? So far, he had to admit: not so much. Yet.

He cast his mind to those damn pirates and wondered if he should have handled that any differently. At least he had helped the family, so there was that. But considering his abilities, he should really be able to make some changes for the better if he got his act together. And what would happen after they found his mother and the Crew went back to Purple Faction? What then?

Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself.

Instead of trying to compare himself to sometime in the future when he finally had everything mastered, he pulled his mind back to the next tasks at hand. Practice crafting, get to level 30, find his mother. Focus on that for the next little bit. He could tell his mental habits wanted him to escalate and ask harder questions, about what his future would be like, what would be the fallout from his next poor choices, but letting those go for a moment, he allowed his mind to think about what he wanted if everything went perfectly.

Maybe like BoJack, he could visualize his life in perfect order and he would be just a skosh closer to making that his reality. The tension that threatened to build subsided and Gus sat there thinking, for the first time in a while allowing his mind to enjoy itself for a change.

He imagined a much better version of himself, with things all falling into place. He imagined his family back together again, without the tension and dysfunction. Whether it did any good or not, Gus felt better than he had as the light outside the tent began to filter through the opaque material.

Gus stood up and opened the seal on the tent, stepping outside. His senses were assaulted by the smell of burning and smoke that still lingered in the air, filtered so effectively by the tent and his ether constructs that he had not thought about how much they had been keeping away.

Greasy ash coated his boots in just a few steps, tiny plumes of ash puffing into the air with each step. Gus marveled that the tent stood there behind him, stained but untouched by the destruction around it. The early morning light filtered in through the jagged spires of burned wood. He activated Advanced Flight and flew up above the area, surprised to see the expanse of the devastation. The swath of forest that was burned was much larger than expected, but that was not what caught his eye as he looked over the scene.

Chapter Twenty

Night Swim

Yuki hit with a mind-jarring slam. The air was knocked out of her, bursting on impact resulting in a spew of bubbles. A split second after,