{"sf1_id":912884,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Victernus - Chapter 23","author":"Baumarius","words":1154,"posted_at":"2015-09-20T19:40:00.000Z","tags":["Cybernetics","Science","Transformation","War","Werewolf","Wolf","apocalypse","corruption","dystopia","implants","mind","tf","uploading"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/912884-victernus-chapter-23","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/912884","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=912884\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"            It wasn't until a few hours after\nMahalia had come home from the School with Athius that she realized that Namara\nstill hadn't made it back yet. She switched on the small computer in her room\nupstairs and sat on her bland, grey bed. As she waited for it to load, the bed\nreminded her of why she never really personalized her belongings. She sighed.\n            The screen lit up, and she quickly\nlaunched the tracking program. It had a green, three-dimensional wireframe map\nof the city and a small blue dot for the signal that was being generated by\nNamara's implants. It took a moment to find him, but when it did, she narrowed\nher eyes and zoomed in on him, turning the map around to get a better look.\n            Darn\nit, he's in the palace... Something must have gone wrong.\n            She shook her head and closed the\ncomputer. I guess it's finally time to\nleave... Setting her computer aside, she let her hands touch the bed one last\ntime. The thought of how long she waited nearly overwhelmed her, and she\nrealized that she never actually tried living her own life. Her room was a\ntestament to that. She simply waited, hoping that her friend would return, and\ntook on a nomadic lifestyle.\n            Mahalia got to her feet and decided\nagainst these thoughts. I can't think\nthis way anymore... Namara is here. He's in trouble, but he's here. I will let\nthe past be the past, and now I will live. She left the room and ran\ndownstairs, grabbing her shoes from beside the door. She sat down on the floor to\nput them on.\n            Theo, who was at his computer\nworking on the weapons for Namara, smiled and asked, \"Gotta go fast?\"\n            She smacked her palm on her forehead\nand slipped her feet into her sneakers. \"Theo!\"\nAthius, who was sitting at the table reading an old\nbook, was clueless. He asked, \"What? \nIgnoring Theo's previous comment, she began to issue\norders. \"Never mind. Namara's in the palace and we need to go get him. Athius -\nyou're coming with me. Theo - get Kyon and head to the tunnels. Wait just\noutside of the forest. I'll take what you have for the weapon system now and\ngive it to Namara. He can use it if he feels it is necessary when he finds what's\ngenerating the power here.\"\nTheo scratched his head, \"It might be a little bit\nunstable... he might not be able to use his implants after he uses it.\"\nShe nodded and then beckoned Athius to come\nupstairs. \"That is why you are going to find a way to get him his hand and foot\nback after we leave here. Athius - come. We're going to need a little bit of\nfirepower ourselves.\"\nAthius put his book down and then followed her\nupstairs. He raised an eyebrow as he asked, \"Firepower?\"\nMahalia sighed and said, \"Guns and stuff,\" and then reached\nthe top of the stairs. To the left was a metal door that was locked tight, and\nit had a hand scanner attached to it. She placed her hand there and watched as\nit shined a dark blue. When it faded, the door unlocked and cracked open. She\npushed it open and set her eyes upon the stash of weapons that they had\nsalvaged from the Collapse. They were organized on three tables that were\nspread evenly about the room.\nAthius stood behind her and asked, \"Where did you\nget those?!\"\nShe shrugged and picked up a shiny grey laser rifle.\n\"It's not important now. Just grab something and go - we're not really going to\nneed much, honestly. Nobody in your city really has weapons.\"\nHe nodded and picked up a rifle similar to Mahalia's.\nHe looked down its sights and started, \"So how do I use-\" and then accidentally\npulled the trigger. A pulse of light shot across the room and burnt the wall.\nBoth he and Mahalia jumped, startled by the sudden\nblast. Mahalia rolled her eyes and scolded, \"Not in here! You'll burn a hole into\nthe next house and expose us!\"\n\"Sorry about that.\" He blushed and attached a strap\nto the gun, letting it hang across his back.\nMahalia did likewise and then picked up a thick\nwristband. \"Hold out your arm, Athius.\"\nHe held his arm out and asked, \"What's that?\"\nShe strapped it onto his wrist and said, \"It's a shield,\"\nbefore aiming her rifle at his chest and firing.\n            Athius jumped when the blast reflected\noff of the shield and hit the floor. He scowled, \"You could have warned me\nbefore doing that!\"\n            Mahalia chuckled, \"Sorry. The main thing\nto know is that any force as powerful as someone throwing a punch at you or\ngreater will be deflected. Just don't fall too far - I've heard stories...\"\n            He looked down at it and asked, \"What\nhappens if I punch someone else?\"\n            She smiled and took two more of the\nbands, putting one on herself. \"They'll feel it pretty hard, and they'll\nprobably get burned too.\"\n            He grinned. \"That's awesome!\"\n            Mahalia rested the rifle on her back\nagain and then directed Athius downstairs, \"Let's go now - I don't want to\nwaste time here.\"\nAthius turned back out of the room, but he stopped at\nthe stairs. He asked, \"Wait, what about Gala? If we're leaving today...\"\nShe thought for a moment before answering, \"Oh right...\nDon't worry about it. Once we get Namara, we'll gather the people in the city and\ntell them of what's going to happen. I know you told your friend to meet you\ntomorrow night, but we might not have that much time. She will hear us though.\nEveryone will have a chance to leave.\"\n            He nodded, \"Oh, alright. That'll be\nfine, I guess.\"\n            Mahalia prodded him to move down the\nstairs and then followed when he went. When she reached the bottom, she asked\nTheo, \"Hey, is it ready?\"\n            Theo squirmed in his chair briefly\nas if he was uncomfortable with her rushing. But, before he could say anything,\nhe unplugged a tablet from the computer and nodded, \"Yes, I just finished\ncompiling it. Just give it to Namara, and he can upload it wirelessly onto his\nimplants straight from there.\"\n            She held out her hand, \"Great!\nAthius and I are going to head out now, so why don't you go get Kyon and leave\ntoo?\"\n            He nodded and handed the tablet to\nher. \"Okay. I'll meet you near the forest. Just don't get yourself into too\nmuch trouble.\"\n            Mahalia laughed, \"Theo, this is New\nSelania. A bunch of scientists who've never seen a gun in their entire lives\naren't going to mount much of a resistance.\"\n            Theo shrugged, \"You never know.\"","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/912869-victernus-chapter-22.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/913216-victernus-chapter-24.json"}