Dark Matter Ascension

"Can’t you run any faster?" Chroma asked as she kept ahead of the heavily laden brother she loved to playfully torment.

Jace shook his head, weighed down with all their worldly possessions. "Do you want to carry the bags?"

"Nope!" She skipped forward and he pushed himself to follow her despite his sore legs. They had been walking for hours, moving from central Manhattan out to New Jersey. Myscape Industrial had taken over the island proper, and they were converting the whole city into their new headquarters. For street kids like Chroma and Jace, the best they could hope for was a fresh start in a city where the megacorps were still fighting for control.

Chroma slowed down and let Jace catch up, grabbing his hand and holding it tight. "You promised," she said as her expression became dour.

Jace sighed, "Yeah. I did. Okay, what do you want to know about her?"

"Well…what was she like?"

"She wasn’t home much. But…when she was home…she would let me sit on the bed with her. She was always tired from a day of work and would just let me lay next to her." He smiled as the memory always brightened his mood. "She scratched my head and ran her fingers through my hair, and kept telling me she would get me into the daycare where she worked."

"I mean, how did she look? Do we look like her?"

"You do," Jace replied as he looked at his sister with a grin. "You look just like her, minus the frown."

Chroma nodded and gripped his hand tighter. "Why…why did she leave?"

Jace opened his mouth, wanting to tell her that their mother had no choice but to abandon them. Come up with some made-up story. He did not want to lie to Chroma. Anyone else? Sure. But not her. Never her. He knelt, "She…she left me - and then you - at the orphanage because she wanted to focus on her career. She always said that once she made it big and could afford to keep us, she’d come back for us. But…that never happened."

Chroma had a few small tears running down her face, and she wiped them before nodding with a determined look. "We’ll show her! We’ll get super rich, find her, and show her she missed out on the best thing ever."

Jace nodded and stood up, grabbed her hand, and jumped as a car backfired.

Bang!

That didn’t happen. It was a bridge, no one was starting their car-

Jace shot up in bed, brought out of the memory-filled dream.

Bang! The sound came from the entry room.

He instantly went for his belt knife and rolled out of the bed, crouching close to the ground. There was a pop and Oliver appeared. "Hi Jace! Sleep well?"

Jace waved him away and pointed at the outer door, making the street kid hand symbols for ’danger’ and ’outsider.’

Oliver just stared at him blankly, "Yeah, no, I cannot understand that. But I think I get the gist." He floated forward through the door before pulling his head back. "Oh crap." Jace gestured for the otter to keep speaking. "An Aspiran-"

A spectral snake floated through the door. Well, close enough to a snake for Jace’s imagination. It had rigid scales and a mane of fur around the head. "Oh, look at that. You will be easy to kill and con-."

Oliver clapped his paws, there was a pulse of starlight that expanded to the walls, and it shoved the snake out of the room. "Tier 2 Aspirant. I have blocked the Wayfinder from the room, but once the door opens the block will fade. The Aspirant will be hard to hurt since he is two Tiers up." The otter grimaced, "I hope this isn’t the end for you."

Jace got into the entry room with the decontamination shower and jumped up, gripping the ceiling with his one arm. Thanks to his new strength, he was able to pull himself up into the ceiling with relative ease despite the single appendage.

"His Cosmic Power is Black Hole, so expect gravity manipulation and entropy. He must be here for the serum you used. When he finds out its gone, he will be pissed."

Jace looked at the otter and gave him a look of, ’no shit.’ He followed that up by making a stabbing motion.

Oliver nodded and flew back towards the living quarters. "I’ll distract them." He cleared his throat and spoke way too loudly, "Yeah, no. They totally cannot take you on. Just hide and ambush them! Yup! Right over there. Perfect! They would never look inside the cabinet!"

Going a little over the top, Jace thought as he stilled his breathing and froze entirely in place. He kept his blade poised and ready.

He had only killed two people in his whole life. The first was a junkie who tried to abduct his sister to sell her to a pedophile for quick cash or drugs. Jace had run that man down, tackled him, and accidentally split his skull on the pavement. There was panic at first, but then he ran from the scene with his sister and spent weeks replaying the scene over and over. The result he came to was that in some instances, especially when protecting those you loved, lethal force was justified.

The second was a fellow courier who attempted to murder him to get a larger cut of a split delivery. That one almost cost Jace his life, as the man got the jump on him and stabbed him in the ribs - the bones causing the blade to stop partway in. He had used the moment of stunned surprise to gouge the other man’s eyes out with his thumbs, and the blinded courier walked into the street only to get pancaked by a transport.

Neither instance triggered a feeling of guilt. Both of those instances were justified. Just as what he was about to do, now, was just. A foe he would not be able to fight in a straight-up brawl, with some powers of gravity that, for all Jace knew, could smush him into a tiny sphere of meat. Getting an underhanded jump on this person and killing them first was his only chance of surviving.

The door below wrenched open. A heavily armored person in plated armor cautiously entered, glanced in each direction - except for up and down - before passing under Jace. The person’s left hand glowed. A black circle with a white center. It glowed through his armor.

Now! Jace twirled his body, hung on with his stump of an arm, and coiled his legs under him. He dropped down with the momentum of the swing, kicking out as he did so. Bang! The metal feet slammed into the person’s head, and the armored person tumbled forward, momentarily stunned. Jace let the rest of his weight land on top of the figure, pinning them to the ground. He wriggled the knife into the slit between neck armor and helmet.

The knife dug in - not as deep as he would have imagined. Must be because I’m a Tier 0 and they’re Tier 2. But his newfound strength more than compensated for the default difference in Tiers. He felt the blade slide down past the muscle and sinew, catch on bone, and he wrenched it left and right.

The person stopped struggling and went limp. They were breathing ever so slightly, but he knew he had severed something in the spinal cord.

Their snake-Wayfinder flew up to his face, and he almost recoiled from it. "How dare yo-"

Oliver flew up and slammed the serpent with his paw, "Otter punch!"

The snake Wayfinder hissed, "You…you’ll pay!" It vanished with a pop.

"Not sure how this Aspirant had a Wayfinder sti-" he flew down and looked at the person’s fingers, "Ah, they weren’t an official Signer."

Jace looked down at the person and kept his knife firmly planted in their spinal cord as he removed the helmet. Writhing, grey flesh that slowly pulsed in time with the creature’s heartbeat. It had scales atop its head, and a pair of horns. He could hear the faint gurgling as it struggled to breathe. "Oliver, what are the rules for Aspirant-on-Aspirant violence? I assume it’s okay, since this one was coming for me."

"Yup. The rules are a bit complex-"

"Later, then," Jace replied as he took off his ragged shirt and used the sleeves to tie the person’s arms behind their back, just in case. "How’d they find us?"

"Well, this was a Hidden Location. But since you found it, it was not hidden, anymore. So, The Cosmic System logged where it was. This person was not a Signer for the Black Hole Conclave, because if he was, X would have stripped his Wayfinder from him." He tapped his chin, "I don’t know how they got here so fast…that’s a mystery to me."

Jace nodded as he stripped the person down, piling their gear to the side. Except for the armor - he would have to untie them to take that off. He spied buckles and straps. It looked like an ancient design. "Okay. Now tell me the rules."

"You will not get any more Stardust from them than what their base species is worth. So, you cannot take his accumulated Stardust that he has used to gain levels. Equipment disappears when they die…but." Oliver grinned, "There is a fantastic opportunity here. The Pulsar Coalition hates the Black Hole Conclave. Let me reach out to them. I bet they would give you a Quest for taking out one of their enemies. Well, possible-Signer of one of their enemies."

"Alright. See if we can get something for this guy."

"Yup. Give me a minute." Oliver’s face went blank, and Jace used the time to look over the still alive but paralyzed body.

It was human-like, but it had features of some type of lizard or reptile. It was not very muscular. I wonder if being paralyzed prevents Skill use entirely. Judging by the gear and other equipment, Jace imagined that this thing was not a marksman. A type of bruiser. I’d bet that their Class Skills have to do with hitting things harder. They relied on their armor for defense. I’m probably safe.

He could see a small pulse of black and white light appear in front of him. "Oliver?! What’s he doing!"

<<<<<>>>>>

[Quest: Slay an applicant to the Black Hole Conclave.]

[Time Limit: N/A.]

[Reward: Rare (Equipment).]

[Sender: Pulsar Coalition.]

<<<<<>>>>>

Oliver’s eyes returned to normal, and he flew in front of Jace. "Crap! Quick, finish him!"

Jace nodded and gripped the knife. Pressing it forward, he kept applying pressure until the form stilled. Just to be sure, he sawed the blade back and forth, feeling the sinew tear away until the spine was fully separated. The black energy faded from the creature’s hand. Jace breathed a sigh of relief.

There was no remorse, no sense of disgust at his actions. Like those two people he had killed due to circumstances…this was justified. He was raised in a violent world. From an early age, after his mother abandoned him, he knew nothing but the hardships of his youth and the violence that came along with it. He did not relish killing this person. He did not want to kill people. He just wanted to live.

Plus, it was in self-defense. If he did not get the drop on this guy, he would not have survived. He was sure of that. Survive, he thought. Survive until you’re a Tier 10 Ascendant. Get Chroma back. Jace was surviving. And this was justified. That was enough.

The body vanished - as did all the gear. Even the stuff Jace had removed vanished. The sparkles flew into Oliver’s paw.

<<<<<>>>>>

[Stardust Acquired: 5.]

<<<<<>>>>>

[Quest Completed: Slay an applicant to the Black Hole Conclave.]

[Time Limit: N/A.]

[Reward: Rare (Equipment).]

[Sender: Pulsar Coalition.]

<<<<<>>>>>

"Why so little Stardust? And what happened to all his gear?"

"Equipment is ’stored’ in the Wayfinder’s System-side information storage. When the Aspirant or Ascendant dies, the Equipment is there for a long time. But, when the person is dusted, all of that Equipment, no matter where it is, is recalled. As for the little amount of Stardust, people in general are worth less because they don’t have inherent traits. Humans, for instance, are anywhere from 5 to 10 because they are just fleshy sacks with mostly brainpower. Versus a Vyrknadine – that wolf thing you fought – is an apex predator." Ollie frowned, "And, having people worth less Stardust de-incentivizes committing mass killings for personal power."

"Thanks for the information," Jace said. "Makes sense when you put it that way. Okay, I want to use that Boon."

Oliver crossed his arms, "What do you want?"

"What am I limited to?" Jace asked as he stood up, wiped the blade clean on his pants, and put his shirt back on.

"Rarity is subjective. It is determined by the world you received the Equipment Boon. So, for example, on a world that is more rustic and not as technologically advanced, a stick would be Common, and a magic sword would be Legendary."

"This world had a magitech super soldier serum, so they must have had good prosthetics. I need an arm."

"Let me see here…" Oliver’s eyes went dark again, and a few moments later he roused again. "Ah, I found a good one. They called it a Wirecannon Arm. It has a grappling hook with a super strong cord built in, and a retracting cable. You can use it to travel up steep surfaces or buildings."

"Or pull someone to me," Jace muttered. "Is that the best thing they have?"

"The best thing for versatility and survival. There are some that are fancy but meant more for pleasure purposes. Including ones that vibrate. I figured you would not find that especially useful."

Jace nodded, "Let’s get the grapple one."

<<<<<>>>>>

[Using Boon: Rare (Equipment).]

[Manifesting.]

<<<<<>>>>>

Jace felt a searing heat in and on the stump of his arm that then traveled up to his shoulder. He screamed out in pain and grit his teeth as he leaned against the wall of the decontamination shower. There was a glimmer of blue-white starlight that surrounded his limb, and he felt white-hot pain.

The starlight faded and he was able to take deep, shaking breaths as his heartbeat slowed once more. He examined his new artificial limb. It was a deep, cerulean, metallic blue color. There were lines of black that cut through at geometric angles. It ran all the way from his shoulder down, having taken away his stump along with most of his natural arm. He held it up to his face and slowly turned it over.

In the center of the palm was a small hatch, and on the exterior of the index finger, a small notch that the thumb fit perfectly into. He held his palm out towards the wall, tapped the notch with his thumb, and recoiled slightly as a spiked, metal cord shot out with extreme speed, sinking into the wall. He felt it begin to retract and stood his ground.

He was in a tug-of-war with the device, evaluating its tensile strength. It did not budge. Feeling around the index finger with his thumb, he found another notch, and to his satisfaction, the spike retracted its hidden prongs. A third button and the cord coiled itself back up. "How much range does it have?"

"Fifty feet."

Jace smiled, "Well, this will make things easier." He went to the door leading to the entry tunnel and closed it. "Let’s make that flechette pistol. It should kill enough time to the end of the Aspirant Trial."

Oliver floated ahead of him, "I have found schematics in the System database that we can use to work our way through. It will not be perfect, but it’ll be serviceable!"

Jace looked back to where the corpse was before, "You mentioned something about him still having a Wayfinder that was odd. What’s that about?"

"X hates the Black Hole Conclave since they want the whole System to be consumed by oblivion. So, once an Aspirant or Ascendant becomes a Signer for their faction, she removes their Wayfinder." He gestured to the area where the corpse once was. "This person was an applicant; meaning they had not been accepted. Coming here to check out the new location was probably his ’task’ to be let into the faction."

"You’d think a fanatical cult would take anyone in," Jace replied.

Ollie frowned, "You would think that. But, some people try to infiltrate factions as a Signer, and then disrupt it from within."

Good to know, Jace thought.