Mason raised a salutary eyebrow, glancing at the thin piece of nearly burnt paper in his hand, "Why do all these sound like spell names?" He asked, turning his head to the observation deck where Lied and the rest of the scientists were.
Mason and B-64 had woken up just an hour before, and a bit before the others woke up as well. He expected it to be awkward between them, but it really wasn't. B-64 seemed to have taken the Pseudo-kiss rather well, in fact, it seemed he had actually liked that action.
Mason had learned, through B-64's visor, that his home world did not have many avenues to explore affection. Even less so for him, as he was a Captain, so he had just learned what a kiss was, and he loved it for some reason.
So, in the span of five minutes after waking up, B-64 had given Mason about three pecks on the cheek. Mason did enjoy them, especially because it certainly dispelled a rather large fear of his, but it had grown somewhat annoying.
While his friends slept, they were taken to what only could be described as a bomb testing area, just underground. The area that they were in was just like that infinity room thing, except highly durable.
They both were given a list depicting certain things that The Foundation has encountered and made up regarding utilizing Boson Energy for weaponry and offensive capabilities. And as Mason had said, most had the underlying theme of spell names.
Scarlet Blast, Crimson Smile, Blazing Inferno, Red Strength, and Red Depths. Just to name a few.
Lied sighed from the booth, rolling his eyes, "Yes, we are sorry about that. But the lead scientist in coming up with these names is Doctor Bright, and he's... Not that most stable individual. Also, they are easy to remember."
Mason shrugged, rubbing his eyes with his hands. He then glanced at his hands, trying to remember what he was supposed to do.
Mason was given a small gauntlet that looked more like a cannon than a glove. They had inserted what looked like a couple capsules of some red liquid, and then he was told to wait for further instructions.
But he agreed with Lied on the account that the abilities were easy to remember. B-64 tilted his head from the other side of the room, waiting for his turn. Due to him already having latent abilities, he was the last to demonstrate what he can do, due to the others needing practice.
After a solid ten minutes of bickering, Lied finally gave him the go ahead, "We're ready. Remember, this will be a scenario with almost life-like monsters. Just shout out whatever you want to try, and focus on the words. The Gauntlet should make it a reality."
"Axel would have a field day with this..." Mason muttered, quickly closing his eyes as the room was flooded with light. He could only guess how many questions that Axel would have on how this worked, or why it even worked.
Mason felt the familiar feeling of everything changing, and he opened his eyes as he felt nothing new. He was now in what looked like a city-scape, with dozens of sky-scrapers around him. B-64 was inside the nearest burger joint, watching him through the window as a sort of waiting area.
"Okay, we recommend starting from the top of the list and working down. We don't have much time to work on each of your, maybe an hour each before we've used too much processing power. So please, be speedy."
Mason nodded, staring down at the gauntlets. They felt as heavy as bricks, but somehow he could manage to hold them well enough. They were sleek and black, fitting perfectly around his hands. A single wire stuck out of place in each one, and a single compartment sat against his wrist. That was where they inserted the liquid.
Mason peered down at the list, reading the first of the many spell-like abilities, "Scarlet Blast". Deciding on that one, Mason lightly sat that paper against a windowsill. Mason took in a deep breath and held out his arms.
"Scarlet Blast".
He felt heat rise in the gauntlets, them actually burning in a sinister red. He felt panic rise in his stomach, but he kept his hands in front of him. Sound belt as thousands of tiny noises invaded Mason's ears.
And in a final moment, all the energy was released. A large beam of pure Boson Energy was unleashed from The Gauntlet, pushing Mason back an inch every second he held his arms out. Mason felt the strain grow more and more, and after another five seconds finally let his arms fall to his sides.
Mason nearly fell onto his back, his breath slow and shaky. But the scientists, wherever they were, were shouting with mixed-joy and relief. Mason slowly got back on his paws, steam still rolling off the knuckles of the gauntlet.
Mason thought back to what Lied had said about them not having to use technology to actively use Boson Energy, having been a bit too asleep to have asked. Now, after having been shocked completely awake by the beam of energy, he decided to ask.
"You can, it's just that we need to use these gauntlets as a stepping stone due to inexperience. Our last person that we know of that could use Boson Energy imploded after the second test due to him not fully understanding how to use this stuff. We need you to grow accustomed to the power first, and we can't make you learn it without you doing it." Came Lied's answer, along with a few murmurs of grievance.
Mason guessed that was a fine enough answer, trying his hardest not to visualize what that might look like. Mason grabbed the sheet of paper again, and combed through to find what he might like to try next.
After thirty minutes had elapsed, Lied told him that he would now simulate something that would try to fight him, and that although he was in no real danger, he'd best try to fight it. Once B-64 heard this, he approached closer to the window incase Mason needed his help.
Mason gulped loudly, muttering something about how crazy this all was, and then said that he was ready. Silence answered him, then he heard a noise.
A slight buzzing sound echoed through the barren city-scape, slowly progressing to harsh screeching and loud moaning. Mason gripped the insides of The Gauntlets hard and readied himself, staring ahead.
Soon enough, something came into view.
The scientists, or however was in charge for rendering, out did themselves with this one: With five bulbous, gelatinous heads of disproportionate length and width, a body many times taller and a width many times lower than that of a normal person, the beast lumbered towards Mason.
Mason breathed in and out, contemplating what he should do. Deciding, he spoke, "Scarlet Blast". Instantly the beam of raw energy burst forth from the gauntlet, slamming against the creatures' thin body.
Mason dug his heels into the ground, slightly cracking whatever caused the simulation to activate. He allowed his mind to concentrate, his fists turning white inside the gloves and gripping with their full strength.
Mason slowly took a step forward, just an inch, as the energy continued to be released. He felt the intense heat radiate from the gloves, and the feeling of the steam slowly rising in the air. Finally, he gasped as the last bit of air left his body, and he let his arms fall limply to his side.
The creature before him just took the beam with seemingly no damage to its structure, "This is just a test to show you what happens. Look again, and you'll see the damage you would've inflicted."
And just as Mason blinked, he saw the change happen. Holes as wide plates appeared in its body, the wound cauterized due to the heat that radiated off the beam. Simulated steam rose from the wounds.
Mason took a step back, surprised. He honestly expected a bit more from something like that, especially due to what happened with him being pushed back and all, and he voiced his thoughts to Lied.
"This is Shy-Guy, a creature that we captured many months prior to this invasion. He, the actual un-simulated version of him, dislikes being seen. He is barely affected by anti-tank weapons and many types of missiles. Sometimes warheads are the only way to stop him for a few minutes."
Lied seemed to shrug, the observation platform appearing on the side of a building that seemed to collapse into itself to make room, "It's honestly shocking that you managed to do this much damage to his body. Incredible really."
"Huh." Was all Mason had to say, before returning back to thinking about what he should try next. There was only one thing that he really wanted to try that he hadn't been able to do. To try Crimson Smile.
Apparently it only worked when whatever was using Boson Energy directed the flow to their jaw, which strengthened it almost twentyfold, which meant that Mason could bite with nearly Three-Thousand Pressure. He had no idea what that meant, but he was willing to try and figure it out.
Mason slowly approached the thing, carefully planning his steps. B-64 was now outside his little waiting area, just in case something unexpected happens, which Mason was rather thankful for.
Mason readied himself right against the creatures arm, brought the gelatinous arm right against his mouth, and allowed the Boson Energy to flow. Instantly, Mason felt and saw the red liquid make its way through his body, and into his mouth.
He could feel the seconds tick by, and as soon as he felt he had enough, he disabled the flow and took a large, powerful bite.
His teeth pierced through the skin like butter, only stopping as it hit the hard bone of the thing. Mason felt a rush of energy like he had never before, a primal lust to continue biting consuming his mind. He let go only to bite down again, this time harder. Denting the bone.
"That's enough." Lied said, a little worry in his voice. B-64 looked at the observation area, confused. He quickly made his way to Mason, a little disturbed to see the rabbit going to town on the creature's arm. If the thing could produce blood, it most certainly would have looked like a massacre went down.
Mason's mouth was excreting an excess amount of red liquid, the same kind of stuff that he produced. B-64 grew worried, placing a hand against Mason's shoulder in an attempt to calm him down.
Mason acted a bit violently, jerking away as he let loose a primal, bloodthirsty growl. What did that do to him? B-64 wondered as he gave a short growl in return, the guttural scratch almost like nails against a chalkboard.
That sound, that horrible sound echoed around the infinity room, invading Mason's ears as Mason tried to close them. But whatever B-64 had done, it seemed to snap Mason out, and the flow was disabled due to his lack of concentration.
B-64 looked sorrowful, seeing Mason's mouth coagulating with the red liquid, turning somewhat hard yet still malleable. He knew what extended periods with that felt like, so he helped Mason onto his paws, carefully making sure that he kept moving the clay-like substance in his mouth.
He carefully walked Mason out of the Infinity Chamber, holding onto his arms and making sure that the substance inside his mouth kept moving. He knew that if it solidified, it could cause some damage to mason. Although it wasn't life threatening, it certainly did not feel good to undergo.
After getting outside the chamber, B-64 lugged Mason up the observation deck and onto one of the chairs in the room that was pulled up by the scientists. he carefully slid out his dagger, and began to slowly carve away at the red substance.
Lied kept an eye on the two, but he knew that B-64 had everything under control. he had seen how the protogen handled himself before they intervened. He knew that B-64 knew much more than they did about this kind of thing.
With surgical procession, B-64 managed to cut away most of the material that forced Mason's mouth shut, but he couldn't get the tiny details as his dagger was too large, and any other tool would break trying to get it out.
So all he and Mason could do was wait for the liquid to dissolve, which would take a couple hours. Hours that they had. B-64 placed an arm around Mason's shoulder and brought him in closer to him, sharing his warmth as he knew the longer the material stayed, the more heat it would capture.
Mason accepted the side-hug, snuggling as close to B-64 as he could. The other scientists had already powered down the Infinity chamber, and were discussing on whether or not they should continue. Lied shot down their idea on stopping, and called for two guards to wake up Mason's friends.
Lied then turned to B-64, "There's food in the back of the room. Get anything you like, and I know I don't have to say this, especially to you, but make sure that is taken care off." Mason felt nice that Lied cared about his wellbeing, if only because he was a valuable tool for them.
B-64 nodded and quickly rushed to the back of the room and collected a couple plates of food: Sandwiches, what looked like a burrito, and three cobs of corn. Mason glanced to the back, and found that none of the items B-64 had grabbed were there. That made him wonder where B-64 got it from, but he decided that he didn't care.
Although Mason did have a tough time chewing some of the food, B-64 helped spoon feed him small bites that were easy for him to swallow. Apparently, Mason had gown insatiably hungry from that short time, and he didn't even know it.
So they sat there, B-64 feeding Mason while chowing down on corn, waiting for their friends to come.
________________________________________________________________________________
Hello!
Another chapter today! Another one will probably come out in a few days, maybe even tomorrow.
I, as you may have noticed, am kind of struggling on how to write this whole thing. I want it to be cute and somewhat simulate life, but I am completely inadequate on doing this, as I have no idea what to do.
I'm just winging it and hoping that it works out and that it doesn't seem rushed, because I'm not sure on how I like this pacing.
But I've already finished this chapter with nearly 2.5K words already, and I don't want to rewrite it unless I have to.
So please, tell me what ya think!
~Candle