Liberty and Death, Chapter 58
“Reine?” Cora asked, then easily dodged under the flying wrench that rocketed towards her face. “Goin’ that well, huh?”
“You know what I worked on at the weavery, Casanova?” The burly woman yelled as Cora entered. “Fuckin’ sewing machines! Looms! Not goddamn laser guns!”
“Ooooooh, one of the guns made it?” Cora asked, walking up next to Reine. The woman was big, although that term lost some meaning with Hawk in the same house. She’d been the head maintenance expert at the factory where all their rescues had worked.
Worked under bond, apparently, and Cora was still wondering when that particular chicken was going to come home to roost. She had zero ethical issues with stealing humans out of slavery, but she had no personal ability to free them in the System’s eyes.
Regardless of origin, when Reine had been [Integrated], one of the first of the rescues to volunteer, she’d had the [Tinkerer] title, and as such had the responsibility of master of arms thrust upon her. Secretly, Cora suspected Reine enjoyed fucking with the myriad armaments and tech they ripped out of Chains members, but she’d still had to double her salary to stem a flow of complaints.
Which was well worth it. If you walked into the Armory any time of day or night, there was a good chance you’d find Reine, dark skin gleaming with a sheen of sweat as she glared at a deconstructed AK or Glock. Then find a wrench thrown at your head. Still, a small price to pay to keep their growing stockpile of arms in tip-top shape. Soon they were going to have to start shipping some of these off to Berg, or Reine wasn’t going to have any place to put the good shit.
Good shit like the gun she currently had on the table, distinctly un-dismantled.
“So, have you tried taking it apart?” Cora asked.
“No, I just been standing here fuckin’ glaring at it,” Reine said, and Cora started to laugh before she realized she wasn’t joking.
“Oh damn. Soooo no idea what it does, or if it's booby trapped?” Cora asked. She’d asked Reine to look over anything sci-fi for that kind of stuff specifically, wary of anything gene-locked and wired to explode if someone new tried to shoot it. She’d seen enough Redshirts in her movies go out that way, and nooooo thank you.
“Well, I mean, eyewitness accounts and context clues say it shoots fucking lasers, Cora, but no, no idea on any traps. Basically none of this thing is mechanical, all electric and magnetic,” Reine complained.
Looking at the weapon, Cora had to admit, she wouldn’t know where the fuck to start either. Most projectile weapons were put together in a predictable way, that really changed very little between models. If you’d taken one apart, decent odds you could figure out how to do another.
The smooth, seamless chrome of the handgun on the table showed no sign of the telltale latches or release buttons you’d use to do any of that though, by all accounts looking like silver that had been molded into this shape with no cuts at all. There wasn’t even a hole at the tip of the barrel.
“Could it be 3D printed?” Cora asked, but Reine looked at her like an alien.
“Could it be what?”
“Ugh, god, this fucking place needs to decide what level of technology it’s at,” Cora sighed. She focused in on the gun.
[Vector Driver (IV)]
“Huh,” Cora said, shaking her head. “What do you get when you focus in on it in the System?”
“I ain’t get shit, apparently this doesn’t count as machinery, so [Tinkerer] doesn’t read it at all,” Reine answered.
“Huh,” Cora said. That you?
THAT’S MEEEEEEEE!
“Right, well, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?” Cora said, swiping the weapon up off the table. With its sleek, slim appearance, she’d expected it to be light, but it was much heavier than her handgun. Heavy enough it’d be a bitch to wield without superhuman strength.
Wonder if all higher tier gear is like that?
Cora examined it in her hand, but uncovered no more of its secrets. Notably, however, it didn’t feel the way it looked. Its smooth grip looked like a terrible slip risk, but it was textured against her palm, not going anywhere.
“I’m gonna take this out to the range,” she announced, “help me clear the area?”
“Clear it your damn self!” Reine yelled, but followed after her. Nooooo chance the resident [Tinkerer] was missing seeing what this thing did, or alternatively, missing a foolhardy would-be heroine blowing her idiot self up.
It would have been too heavy for a normal person, but it felt perfect in Cora’s hand. She suspected it was actually shaping itself to her palm. She raised it towards the painted target, and grinned when the crosshair clicked into existence. The complete lack of any sort of sights on the weapon made her suspect it was made with someone already bearing some primo tech in mind.
Even better, was the sideways 8 infinity symbol on the bottom right of that crosshair.
She breathed out as she placed her finger on the trigger. Again, it felt like it was made for her alone.
She squeezed.
There was a flash, but for a moment, Cora didn’t think anything had actually happened. There hadn’t been so much as a whisper of noise or recoil.
Then a wisp of smoke began to curl from dead center in the bullseye.
That’s it? Cora thought, overall a little disappointed. She’d half expected to blow up the wall, not just leave a tiny scorch mark.
“Cold!” Cora yelled, both out of personal habit, and because she was trying to instill that habit on the people of Luxholme. Not that it was necessary now, with the exception of Reine, everyone was watching from the windows.
She strode out onto the range, hoping that up close, the [Vector Driver] would be more impressive than it looked.
It wasn’t.
At least not until she got right up to the target.
From every angle but straight on, it did look like just a tiny scorch mark, and appropriately tiny hole. But if you looked at it juuuuusssst right, you could see light at the other end of that hole.
“Holy shit,” Cora breathed.
HAH!
Shut up, wasn’t a pun.
Cora rushed to the Courtyard gate, yelling for Lux to open up.
She found the street side of the bulwark, and confirmed there was indeed a tiny hole there as well. Pulse pounding, she sprinted across the street.
“Oh FUCK yeah!” She yelled as she found a hole on the building opposite Luxholme, and saw light shining through it as well.
That happened twice more. A literal stone wall, and 3 buildings. Sure, the hole was small, but it was un-fucking-stoppable!
“Damn, that thing kicks ass,” Kyra said in Cora’s ear, giggling as she jumped. Cora scowled at her, wiggling the [Vector Driver] in her direction, but making sure not to flag her with it. She still didn’t really know how it worked.
“It’ll kick your ass if you keep scaring me, spooky bitch,” Cora grumbled.
“Hah! That one would’ve counted as a negative if you’d actually shot me,” Kyra grinned.
“Yeah? Wanna make sure?”
“Mmmm, nah, cause that one probably would’ve worked,” Kyra shrugged. “Wanna ride?”
Cora sighed, and extended her arm. Kyra grabbed it, and after a nauseating rush of earthen darkness, they popped out of the wood floor behind Mike, still looking out of the window at the courtyard gate, waiting for Cora to return.
“Boo!” Kyra shouted.
“Gah!” Mike yelled, spinning as Kyra melted back into the ground. “Damn it Kyra!” He shouted, but she was already elsewhere. Cora let herself have a little chuckle.
“Okay, she’s got a point,” Cora admitted. “It’s pretty funny from this angle.”
“Right, well, I’ll try to remember that when I’m perishing of a heart attack,” Mike said, dripping with sardonic spite.
“Between Tania and now her, nowhere safe for a moment’s peace in this loathsome house,” he muttered under his breath. “Anyway, we have another problem.”
“More nobles I can test my new toy out on?” Cora asked, still wearing a stupid grin.
“Hah! Not quite, but not far off. A Mr. Baxter, proprietor of Baxter Textillery, is here, currently enjoying Dip’s hospitality at the gate. He seems eager to collect his ‘property’,” Mike growled.
“Oh! That’s easy then,” Cora beamed, and damn near skipped down to the gate.
It opened as she approached, and this guy looked a lot more like the slave owner Cora had expected, when she’d gotten Eldridge instead. Tubby, short, and pinstriped, he looked like no-one so much as The Penguin. He was also alone, which made things even easier.
He was opening a frog-like mouth to say something, when Cora quick-drew the [Vector Driver] and put a blast through each of his kneecaps. She’d been a little worried the hole would be too small to even notice, but apparently, this gun was meant for flesh. The guy’s kneecaps fuckin’ exploded.
“Lux, let the rescue girls know they have a visitor, and tell ‘em where the dungeon is if they don’t already know. This sumbitch is theirs till he spills where their Bonds are,” Cora said into the air, over nearly inhuman shrieks, then skipped back inside as Reine pushed open the front doors, looking out in awe at the screaming man on the threshold.
“You… you’re for real, aren’t you,” the woman said as Cora passed her.
“Baby, I’m as real as it fucking gets,” Cora shot back, just in a banger of a mood.
This is a good goddamn day.