Chương 55: Camaraderie

Hector stared across the table, studying Sass, trying to reconcile his easy acceptance of her with the self-destructive course he'd set for himself. The box in his backpack, sitting beside his comfortable parlor seat, distracted him; it felt like it had a gravity of its own—a stellar mass of potential that would curve his trajectory, change the course of his inertia, either helping him achieve his goals or reshaping them without his guidance. Where did Sass fit in?

"I was surprised," she said, as though reading his mind, "that you didn't argue, didn't try to send me away."

"I can't control you." It was a simple, blunt fact. Was that all there was to it? He'd accepted the inevitable? He knew that was bullshit; if he wanted to be rid of her, he could do it—tell her off, beat her, something else equally awful.

"Yeah, but—" He waved a hand, dismissing the topic.

"Let it go. You're here and I'm not mad about it. That okay with you?" She smiled, nodding quickly.

"Yeah." He noticed her skull tattoo had faded. It was almost invisible on most of her face; just the dark, hollow parts of the skull remained around her eyes and on her lips, though they'd faded to look almost like makeup.

"Smart tattoo?" By way of answer, the bones of the skull clarified to the point where the white seemed to stand out a millimeter from her flesh. The skull's mouth and eye shapes shifted, becoming more angular and menacing—a leering death mask that utterly hid Sass's true face beneath it. Abruptly, the tattoo faded—just subtle shading around her eyes and on her lips again.

"Nice, huh?"

"Nice." Suddenly she looked down, shaking her head.

"I still can't believe I'm here—on this train, leaving…" She trailed off, turning to look out the window. They weren't far from Redwick Station yet, but the countryside had reverted to mostly Martian red—the terraforming bands of green were further and further apart.

"Give me a few," Hector said, closing his eyes.

"Need to talk to my AI."

"Right, sure…" //I haven't heard anything from Grando about Lemon. // Okay. Let's talk about my system. You mentioned you found a course of action? //Your thoughts were very loud after you went berserk—both times. I know you don't like the loss of control. When you leveled, I focused on the aura pathways that lead away from that part of the Berserker Archetype—the ones that touched your cerebral cortex in the areas that stimulate that anger.

Those pathways are closely tied to the strength and regeneration pathways, but the ones that are tied to speed and focus diverge. // Yeah? //That's not the interesting part. Those speed and focus lines drift in the direction of the Watcher archetype, and it, in turn, shares trajectory with parts of the Brawler archetype. // Hector was trying to follow her words by visualizing a map of lines, but it was getting convoluted.

"Can you give me the punchline?"

"Huh?" Sass was confused, but Hector's eyes were still closed and he just shook his head slightly. //The punchline is that I believe you can open up an advanced archetype, one that might merge Brawler, Berserker, and Watcher, but you'll need to switch to Watcher first—cultivate some of those lines. // He didn't need to hear any more. He was ready to put the Berserker to bed. Do it. //It will cost 15 potentia to—// Do it. //Archetype migration initiated. Watcher archetype selected… Pathway propagation is underway.

Nutrient supplementation and rest are recommended for the next 3 hours. 41 aura potentia remaining. // Fast. //Watcher is a lower-tier archetype than Berserker. No pathway broadening is required—just some redrawing. // You think I'll need to buy a Watcher level before you can nail down the new archetype? //I won't know until this process completes. // Hector grunted in acknowledgement, opening his eyes.

"I need food." Sass jumped up.

"I'll find that waiter bot." She meant the synth that had stopped by their table when they first sat down, promising to come around to take their orders. As she hurried off, Hector leaned back in his seat and contemplated the urgency with which he'd given up the Berserker archetype. Was Evie right? Was it about control? He couldn't deny that it had saved him in the fight against Logan. Was control worth dying for? That's bullshit.

His acerbic inner voice was right, of course; there were more ways to gain regeneration or other powerful abilities than by giving up his ability to think during a fight. No, the Berserker had been there when he needed it, but he'd find a better way to capitalize on the gains it had given him. Sass returned, smiling.

"He wasn't exactly pleased that I was rushing him, but he says this is the next car on his rounds."

"Good."

"So? What's next for you? I mean, you said we could talk on the train, and I'm just wondering what things look like. You know, I mean…well, I bet you have a lot of opportunities after winning the tournament, and—" Hector held up a hand, and she stopped short.

"I have to find a friend."

"A friend? Missing? I can help!" Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. He sighed, shaking his head.

"Maybe."

"Who is he?"" She's a friend. A, uh…kind of a roommate, I guess." Sass arched an eyebrow.

"Oh? Your girl?"

"Not like that." He was saved from further interrogation as the train car doors opened and the synth attendant pushed his cart through, steering straight for their table. Apparently, Sass had made their need for service seem rather urgent. Of course, it didn't earn the synth any cheery expressions from the passengers he passed by, but the fellow's gray-fleshed face didn't show much emotion, let alone any concern.

"Hello, sir, I understand you're having a blood sugar episode?" Hector arched an eyebrow at Sass, and she shrugged. He cleared his throat and nodded.

"Yeah. I, uh, looked at your menu. I'll take a couple of snack cakes and a cola for now. Order me a burger and fries." He looked at Sass again and added, "A burger for her, too."

"Thanks!" Sass beamed.

"Very well," the synth opened the side of his cart and dug around until he came up with two chocolate cream-filled snack cakes and passed them to Hector. Then he poured a glass of cola—with ice. As Hector took the drink, the synth looked at Sass and asked, "Nothing for you in the meantime, ma'am?" She rubbed her fingers against her thumb.

"Things are a little tight right now."

"Give her a cola," Hector said with a sigh. After she'd gotten her drink and the synth was moving on to the next table, Sass looked at Hector and rolled her finger in the air.

"So? You were saying?"

"I wasn't…"

"C'mon, who's the, uh, roommate? When did she go missing?"

"Her name's Lemon, and—"" Lemon?" Hector smirked.

"Your name is Sass."

"It's short for—" Hector waved a hand.

"Not important. I haven't heard from her for almost three days."

"Oh." Sass shrugged.

"That's not so bad."

"She likes to talk. She wouldn't ignore my calls."

"Maybe she's just sick."

"Her work is… dangerous sometimes."

"Oh? What's she—" Hector shook his head, grimacing.

"This is only making me tense, Sass. I take it back. Tell me about your name." Initially, she looked almost crestfallen at his rebuke, but as he went on to ask about her name, she smiled.

"It's short for Saskia—my grandma's name, and I guess it was her grandma's name." Hector grunted, nodding.

"What about you? Who were you named after?"

"Just me, I think." Hector shrugged.

"My mom didn't talk about family much." The words triggered dusty memories of life in the arcology and the distance that grew between him and his mom as he'd become a teen and gotten interested in the Guard. He narrowed an eye, trying to drill back into those hazy recollections, and the more he thought about it, the more he realized the distance had started before that. She'd had to work a lot.

"Well, I'm sure there was someone…" Sass trailed off, and Hector knew she'd been about to ask about his father and thought better of it. He grinned crookedly, amused by her discomfort, but he took mercy and changed the subject.

"Need to find you a system. If we get you a clever one, I can show you how to start training it." //As if you had any influence on my growth! // Hector smiled at Evie's snark.

"Maybe it won't realize it, but the way you treat it, and the way you train—the things you study—will have an effect." He'd expected a response from Evie, but she got quiet, and he wondered if she was thinking back to those early days when he'd been a grunt in the Guard and gone to System Integration Camp.

"Is that what your, um, mentor taught you? The former—" Sass looked left to right, then leaned forward, whispering, " Invicti?" Hector nodded.

"Him and some others." //Oh my! I just realized you're talking about yourself! You're the former Invicti! // Sass leaned closer, peering into Hector's eyes.

"Is it talking to you now? Your AI?"

"Yeah—talking my ear off." He snorted softly and pushed one of his snack cakes toward Sass.

"One thing to learn is you always want to eat when you can. Stack up the calories because your system is going to burn through them."

"But I don't have—""Start building the habit." Hector ripped his package open and bit into the cake. It wasn't bad—moist and plenty sweet. //I really think it's good that Sass is here. Have you noticed how much you're talking? // Trying to get me to stop? Out of nowhere, a thought occurred to Hector, and he slammed his hand on his thigh, feeling the contents of his pocket. Of course, it was empty.

"Damn it!" he hissed. Sass jumped back, startled by his sudden motion." What?"

"A mono-wire. It was in a pair of pants I had in my bag."

"Your bag?" She glanced at the backpack beside his chair. He shook his head.

"A different bag. Deep in a recycler's guts now."

"Ah, that's a stinker." Hector smiled and shrugged.

"That's what Aura Blades are for."

"You think I'll be able to do that? I mean, like you do—all quick-like?"

"Some day. Takes a lot of practice. We'll need to find out what color your aura is, too. Blade might not be so smart for you." Of course, those words triggered a dozen more questions from Sass, and they continued talking that way for a long time. The Synth came and deposited their food, they ate, and then they talked some more. He wasn't really sure why, but Hector had to admit that it was good to be able to talk about stuff he was an expert on, things he didn't have to think about, that didn't matter.

Of course, Sass didn't see it that way. She hung on his every word, but it was a different kind of interest—something about it didn't stress him out the way Lemon's pointed questions always did. Maybe it was because he saw Sass as a fellow fighter in the trenches. There was a certain easy kind of camaraderie between people like that. The timer Evie had set up for him ran out but the system level-up message didn't come—it wasn't an exact science—so he finished his sentence, "…

so a scraper is a must until we manage to upgrade your system to a decent tier. I think silver will outperform most standalone scrapers." Sass frowned." Silver?" //You're showing your age. The current generation of locals would call that "A-grade."//"Uh, A-grade." Sass laughed.

"You're crazy. You think I'll ever have an A-grade system?"

"Well, your system's AI will learn to function at that level; we'll just need to upgrade the hardware." He almost said neurodeck, but Sass would only have a data port and system chip—for now.

"Damn…" She exhaled, leaning back in her lounge chair, closing her eyes as she obviously fantasized. A window appeared on his AUI, and Hector saw the dense text of a system message awaiting. Is it finished? //Yes, and I can tell you now that you'll need at least one more level in Watcher before we can open the new Archetype. // He frowned, staring at the window until it enlarged: //Watcher archetype integration complete. Watcher propagation has clarified advanced pathways, but more definition is required.

Recommended action: Advance Watcher at least one more level. Archetype Integration Report: Watcher established – Level 5 maintained (35 aura potentia required for Level 6) Neural reflex latency reduced, increasing Speed rating from 17 to 18 Sensory signal resolution increased, raising Perception rating from 11 to 12. 25 Aura Status: Aura Pool: 22/22 Aura Potentia: 41 Current Abilities and Boosts: Berserk – Boost Strength, Speed, and regeneration by a significant amount.

Cost: 5 aura per second Aura Blade – Condense aura into a short, bladed force projection. Cost: 2 aura per second Available Abilities and Boosts: Speed Boost – Enhance your current Speed rating for a short time by infusing your corpus vivum with aura. Cost: 5 aura potentia Sentinel's Vigil – Infuse aura into gray matter, temporarily increasing processing rate for sensory data, thereby boosting Perception.

Cost: 10 aura potentia Critical Eye – Enter an aura-induced combat trance that will temporarily enable you to more precisely land devastating strikes. Cost: 12 aura potentia Notes: The Berserk Boost did not regress to Strength Boost when you altered your archetype, though its cost per second has increased. There currently is not a pathway leading to a straightforward Strength Boost, though further archetype changes may open one. Overuse of the "Berserk" boost could result in aura overload; use caution. End Report.

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