Lair by Carl Stubblefield (recommended reading TXT) 📕

his league. After screwing up his face in thought, he realized it was all a guessing game. Maybe he could manage a work-around.

“Would turning off the bio-stasis field help?” Gus asked hopefully.

“It would have before this reaction has cascaded, and will be necessary to prevent a recurrence. Without turning it off, available energy in the manor will be capped at a fraction of total potential.”

“Can you throw me a bone here?” Gus yelled to no one in particular, looking pleadingly above. He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. Even more to do, just when he thought he was already at the brink of being overwhelmed.

“So defeat the zombies, so I can stop the magma and turn off the shield… does that about cover it? Anything else I need to do, like find a cure for cancer, perfect cold fusion, or come up with the grand unification theory?”

“It’s not that bad,” Nick said sheepishly.

Gus just shook his head and threw up his hands.

“Ok, let’s do this. Is there any way to place sensors farther down the path to monitor zombie advances?”

“There is, but it will require, once again, that the Foundry be unlocked. After it is enabled, the sub-facility Defensive Measures will need to be unlocked as well, to make turrets, traps, and sensors available for manufacture. Sensors have independent energy collection from solar chargers, and will tap into a data field that encompasses the island automatically when deployed, allowing it to sync with main control and provide telemetry.”

“How many facility points are needed to unlock those two functions?”

“Four thousand total, twenty-five-hundred for the Foundry and fifteen-hundred for the subspecialty.”

Gus hadn’t thought that traps or turrets would be available as a defensive measure, but some automated guns that detected motion could be just what he needed. Since he had trained this morning, the arena wouldn’t be available for more training until tomorrow. Gus figured he would have to start developing a plan to eradicate the Dark Nth from the island.

Finally reaching the jungle’s edge, he made his way back to the manor to start work on his next plans. “Nick, let me see what blueprints we have so I can get a better idea of what’s available.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Try This

Day 5 10:20 PM

9:14:16 remaining

Things were becoming so much clearer now. As if he had been deep underwater and swimming upward toward a flickering light that pulsed in time with the shifting waters. He couldn’t see very far through the murk that surrounded him, and all his senses were muted.

As he got nearer to the surface, more and more of his world began to resolve. The others called him The One, but it had not always been that way. He strained to see the memories that danced at the fringes of his mental darkness, but they darted in and out like colorful fish, refusing to get too close. Stretching upward toward the light, he sought to escape from this mental prison he had entered to keep himself alive and sane until the time was right.

At long last, he broke through to the surface. Understanding and faculties snapped back to him that had been dormant from his long hibernation. He shook his head from the disorientation of trying to process too much at once. The darkness welled up again, trying to push him under and he was only able to retain control with a determined effort. Wave after wave of the dark influence battered at him, trying to submerge him back to his feral state, but he remained centered. At long last, the pressure eased, and he opened his eyes.

###!###

Gus awoke early, feeling wide awake, which was uncommon for him. Usually he liked to lie in bed and slowly fight the battle of mind against mattress. The display in front of him was even more ominous than before. He was sure of it, the font size for the countdown was increasing. Obnoxiously.

Gus quickly ate an energy bar and filled his thermos with some of the cold water from the dispenser in his suite. He needed to evaluate the blueprints and make plans about which facilities he would unlock, and in what order. Not being a morning person, he decided it would probably be good to get some training in to shake the fog of sleep from his head so he could focus better.

He headed down to the arena, and Chop Chop, as Gus liked calling him, was in the center waiting for him. Arms folded, he stood in a blue column of light the holographic projector emanated, evaluating Gus as he approached.

He stood on the platform, and the system scanned him. On a nearby screen he saw a message:

Nanobot-sync loading… and a blue bar slowly filled up. Gus wondered how much more efficient training would be for an army that could customize each training regimen for that soldier. He felt like he had improved much more quickly than he would have without the feedback the Nth gave him in positioning his body and how quickly things became fluid and comfortable. With the scan complete a message flashed on his display:

Quest Granted: Fight for your Right

Quest Conditions:

1) Review battle history

2) Train and obtain the skills Parry and Counter-attack

3) Level Counter-attack to level 2

4) Defeat 3 virtual opponents (Mantids)

Quest Rewards: 1000 XP, 500 Facility Points, unlocked skills

Time Requirements: Must complete conditions in less than 3 hours after beginning training or forfeit all rewards, including unlocked skills. Initiate training at console.

Do you want to accept this quest? (Y/N)

Gus asked to review the previous battle and have it analyzed before he undertook the timed quest. Unlike the day before, the view that materialized was not a complete representation. Gus guessed that the previous battle took place away from available sensors and satellite. This replay was different, with a much less photorealistic projection of the fight. He could discern a humanoid constellation of tiny dots that Gus associated with himself because of the spear stance. The Nth scattered through his system must be reporting