Doncha Bother Me

The barrier collapsed in on itself as they tumbled out, discombobulated from the blinding light transforming into mundane sunlight.

“Let’s never do that again.” Abigail fell onto her back, just feeling the soft grass beneath her. John did the same, taking out a health and mana potion each and rolling them over to her. He took his phone out to see if he had missed any calls or texts, but hadn’t. They had only been in there for just under an hour after all.

“Won’t argue with that.” John took a mana potion for himself, feeling pretty comfortable with his three-fourths of a health bar. Damn, I’ve only got seven health potions left and five mana potions. Still barely used the specialized ones. I think I used the wind one once? Maybe after my next contract I’ll buy some more.

Maze Sickness cured!

“I don’t need those, I’m okay,” Abigail pushed the vials back, rolling them against him. He eyed her for a moment before using Advanced Spy to verify her story. To his surprise, however, she resisted the spell.

Target level too high!

Though he couldn't see her sheet, it was clear by how sickly she looked that she needed help. “No way, dude, you’re taking them. You’re totally tapped!” He rolled over and got on top of her, tickling her to catch her off guard before holding her arms down.

“Hey, what’re you doing!” Abigail laughed, kicking out. She was surprised to find that in her drained state he was indeed stronger than her, to the point where he was able to hold both of her arms down at the wrist with only one hand.

“Say Uncle!” John picked up the health potion and twirled it between his fingers, using Move to slowly shimmy the stopper out.

Abigail didn’t notice that though; she was suddenly taken back to horsing around with her sister when they were children. She had been put in this exact position numerous times by her older (and physically superior) sibling. The same sibling who had mostly lost interest in her weaker family long ago, around the same time her flames turned blue for the first time. I won’t be like that.

John noticed her grow distant, and worried she would fall into a pit of angst and terror following their experience he was deliberately avoiding. He renewed his tickle attack, and she was brought out of her daydreaming with a snap as he poured the health potion down her throat. After swallowing, she felt better. She sat up with John on top of her and took the mana potion, downing it too.

Content with his distraction, he rolled off her. “Do you want to talk about what happened in there? With the blue fire? What was that?”

“I can’t,” she sighed, shaking the bad thoughts out of her head. “Not now, not-” She was about to say “with you”, but thought better of it. She couldn’t let him know that if she were to reveal herself so openly - so intimately - to him, then she wouldn’t know what to do. She was his friend, but she was also a strong, independent person with at least some pride. “Not yet.”

“Well… I’m here if you need me.” He propped himself up on one arm and looked at her worriedly. Beyond the fact that her powers specifically mentioned bottling emotions to be bad, he was worried for her, for his friend. “We’ve been through a lot already, there’s no need to mince words.”

I know that! Why do you have to be so… you. She didn’t trust herself to look at him, and so kept her head down. “I’m just not ready. Thank you.”

“Alright, do you want to-” he began, but was interrupted by his text tone. He glanced at his phone, but didn’t recognize the number.

“I’m gonna take a walk and then head back to our dorm, I’ll see you later.” Abigail abruptly stood, leapt onto a branch of the tree above them and flashed him an uneasy smile before leaping away.

John put his head back down, comfortable where he was and giving her the space she wanted. He checked whatever message he had gotten, unequipping his duster in the August heat.

Unknown: Is this John Newman?
John: Who is this?
Unknown: Caroline Buildwell, your phone number was on the directory. I’ve got the first prototype for you to try out!
John: That was fast. Wait a minute, I never gave the guild my phone number. How’d they get it?
Olivia: Says you registered with the app?
John: Oh right… I guess that makes sense
Olivia: Soooo I want you to meet me in the shooting range! Sublevel 3, Room 303
John: Got it, see you in a few minutes :D

After what he went through, he was pretty excited to test out a new toy. A bit of levity never hurt, especially to take his mind off what would happen if he critically failed again. Alright, time to get some long range capabilities.

John re-equipped his duster as he stepped into the lobby of the Rider-Waite base. It’s always a little chilly in here. Though it was only a few floors to the third sublevel, he decided to take the elevator anyway. I’ve earned it after what I’ve been through today… even if I brought it upon myself.

He lurched forward with a big step, pressing the three button and then leaning against the back of the elevator. He did all this without seeing Elizabeth, who watched with bemusement. “Long day?”

He jumped a little, then looked toward her and chuckled a little before replying, “Yeah, you could definitely say that. Hey, you were with us a little bit during the tests.”

“Yeah, John, right? Good to see you again.” She flashed him a cocky smile and rocked forward on her heels before continuing, “I got assigned my first contract today! I’m working with an Eight of Swords called ‘Crossfire’ to take care of a group of troublesome orcs in a nearby Kingdom.” She punched her fists together, and energy flew off them in arcs of electricity. “What are you up to?”

“Out to test a prototype that’s being developed for me. Did you already get the equipment you were allowed to commission?” He was confused, surely they wouldn’t send someone out underprepared.

“Huh? Oh, yeah! I got this battery.” He noticed the chain that hung from the belt on her neck was lower than before, dipping between her cleavage. She reached in and pulled out a small glowing device that looked like a wand-shaped crystal. “It holds mana and electricity, and can convert them freely based on what I want to drain. It feels like it’s exactly what I was missing.”

“That’s pretty cool! Makes sense that something like that would probably be on hand.” the elevator dinged as they reached the third sublevel. “Well, this is my stop. Good luck!”

“You too!” The redhead waved him off as the elevator doors shut. He turned left to follow the signs posted toward the aforementioned shooting range, passing multiple barriers along the way. He came to Room 303 and opened it to see… an empty storage closet. He entered the barrier to see a wide firing range with varying distances. Long, spotless white partitions stretched to a far wall with waist-high separations each couple yards. He spotted the steampunk engineer on the other side of the room wearing earmuffs, and Jumped over.

“Hi John! This model is made out of simple steel, aluminum, and plastic. Normal gun stuff. The actual gun will have a similar feel to it, so I want you to fire it and tell me if there’s anything you want to change.” The tattooed girl held out the sniper rifle in question. It looked old fashioned, bolt action and a revolving chamber. “Eventually it’ll have a suppressor and a variable scope, this is just a rudimentary example. You have to load it, I brought a box full of bullets.”

She presented it to him, and he used Move to float the box in the air as he used both hands to unlatch the chamber-guard and expose it. She made a small noise of surprise as an unseen **** lifted the box out of her hands, and took a notepad out of her back pocket to study all his movements. He spun the barrel and fed six bullets into their slots. He closed it and stopped to admire her work.

She had taken his pause as dissatisfaction apparently, though in reality he had never really fired a sniper rifle and was thinking of how to go about it. Marksmanship kicked in, and he leaned it against his shoulder comfortably. She had picked the second longest lane for them, and the markings denoted that the target was twelve hundred meters away.

“The rounds you’re using are 7mm Winchester Magnum bullets. The maximum effective range for that gun is about fifteen hundred meters. I have that scope set to twelve hundred for this situation,” Caroline explained at his side, watching his form and taking notes.

John took a deep breath, then another. On the third, he exhaled slowly. At the tail end he shot at the chest of the human-shaped target at the end of the lane. He aimed for the center, but the bullet ripped a few millimeters higher.

Caroline slipped on her goggles and inspected the target as it was reeled toward them. “Huh, a little high. Was that you or do you want me to adjust the sight?”

“I think that one was all me, let me try it again.” The paper target finished reeling in, and Caroline replaced it with another from a stack behind them. John aimed at his mark as it moved quickly back. Once the target settled in place, he repeated the process. The bullet created a gaping hole in the dead center. “There we go! I don’t have much to compare it to, but it feels pretty good. Maybe a more comfortable grip, and stylize it closer to my pistols?” He flipped around his pistols in his hands before showing them to her with open palms.

“That’s an interesting idea! I like the monochrome weapon motif. So functionally the same for the most part, but with a more stylized finish. I can do that!” She took the sniper back from him, stuffing it into a backpack that it stuck out of before turning back to him. “Okay then, if there’s nothing else, I’ll get to it!” She waited for a few moments, but John didn’t really have much to say besides a thank you. New designs in mind, she hurried back to her lab.

I don’t really have much to do for the rest of the day… or tomorrow. Figuring he was already there, John decided to test out his pistol’s full capabilities in the firing range.