Chapter 50 (Patreon)

It felt strange, it was like every now and then a little bit of who she was burned a little on the inside. She knew it wasn’t hurting her, not really, but it was something she would have to get used to. Each time someone signed on the dotted line she could sense it, feel it at the core of her being. It didn’t make her stronger, it wasn’t like she could gain personal strength from someone simply by having them use one of her contracts to awaken. But it still felt like she was becoming more powerful, in a metaphorical way if she had to express it.

She strode into the room, the open space illuminated from above with strong lights. The entire area was made out of that same reinforced metal that they had fitted her merging chamber with but it was far larger. Resources from hunting monsters had become more plentiful almost overnight and Amos was quick to look into ways to streamline the process. This room, though, was far less of a secret than the others, though it still didn’t have any external observation set up. It was for testing, pure and simple.

Today’s test subject? Sonya herself. The reasoning was simple enough: she was going to the dungeon. The Time’s Square dungeon had been one of the most catastrophic events in the early history of the world after the flash in her past. The sheer number of monsters that had come out of it last time had been incomprehensible. Dungeon Breaks were a fairly straightforward process, the mana in the atmosphere gathered slowly at a locus point, a hot zone, and formed a dungeon. Even after the formation it continued to draw in energy until someone entered it and it stabilized.

The problem came when a dungeon was left unmolested or worse, heroes failed to conquer it. The longer it was left without an outsider inside of it, the more mana began to build. That mana was put to use by the dungeon, creating monsters and the rewards that came from completing it. Unfortunately a dungeon could only handle so much mana build up, it could only contain so many monsters before it became overpopulated, and could only generate so many rewards. After enough time, the dungeon just broke open like a water balloon. The monsters going everywhere and the potential energy contained within the rewards converted into kinetic energy.

The crater that was the area around Times Square had become a breeding ground for monsters, they manifested en masse, pouring out of the crater and racing into the city to render it into nothing more than a ruin in a matter of days. Millions died during the break, and millions more succumbed to subsequent breaks that took place throughout New York state after the entire area was abandoned in a mass exodus. The north-east of the United States had become a warzone in less than a month after that and it had taken years and a veritable war party of heroes lead by no less than two dozen mythics to clear it and finally conquer the boss that had steadily grown stronger in the heart of the big apple’s ruins.

No one had any theory of how many monsters were in the dungeon as it was building up to its break, but that didn’t really matter. They’d become monstrously strong once exposed to the mana rich atmosphere of earth. In the dungeon they were far more manageable, if still a significant threat. Sonya didn’t know if it was possible for Firestorm and his team to handle it alone and she wasn’t about to leave it up to chance. If Firestorm’s team was forced to retreat, she would go in herself with Kingshark and his crew. Between herself, Marta, and Kingshark it shouldn’t be much of a problem.

Though her own impact depended entirely on just what she was capable of. Something she’d yet to test in any way. She’d spent so much time playing politics, business building, and orchestrating events that she hadn’t given much thought to her own personal strengths and limits. 

It had been a long time since Florence, since she had merged her abilities and had changed her body into this thing that it was. She had spent time trying to analyze herself using her own abilities but there was only so much that could accomplish. While she had some scientific knowhow, she was better at people, planning, and fighting than anything else. Her enhanced-intelligence had given her an edge, and it had served her well so far. But now the chances of her being confronted by a hero will steadily increase going forward, it was time to see what she was capable of.

She drew her hair back a little and rolled her shoulders in the outfit. It was a more standardized version of the Ishtar jumpsuit, the material was a bit thinner and designed for mass production rather than her own customized uniform. She turned her head towards the only other person in the room and smiled. Marta was wearing the same kind of outfit and was stretching her arms and legs, rolling her neck and tying her brown hair back into a ponytail. She turned and fixed Sonya with a steady look.

“Are you sure about this?” She asked, “You’re not supposed to be a fighter, Ma’am.”

Sonya smiled, “I know my role,” She said with a breath and pat the knives on her hips, “But yes, this needs to happen.”

No warehouse abilities this time around, I can’t rely on them. Eventually I will either merge them or give them away, I have to focus on what this body can do without them.

Marta looked at Sonya’s waist, “Knives? Like Blackrazor? I’m pretty sure I can handle that.”

Sonya smiled, “You might be surprised,” Sonya said with a wink and drew them out, both blades pointed down and away from her body, she crossed them in front of her and set her body into a slight crouch. Marta, you’ve only fought monsters and a few other light-touched. I’ve trained to fight light-touched for years. I’ve fought heroes on the front lines of the war. I know how to deal with strength enhancers like yourself. Your regeneration is the only obstacle.

Marta nodded, “Okay, I trust you.”

Sonya nodded back and took a deep breath. Her powers were integrated into her body with merger, but it still felt like there was a distinct on-off switch to them. No, more like a volume dial. She had turned it up a few times but not all the way. She’d never had to. Never had to turn everything to one hundred percent. She felt strength flood through her limbs, a tingling as the cybernetics that were integrated deep inside of her body came online. She felt the air around her tingle against her skin as it began to harden, she could hear her own heartbeat, Marta’s heartbeat. She could hear it…

TICK TICK TICK TICK TICK TICK

Full power.

Marta was gone the instant she opened her eyes, the next blink she was in front of Sonya, her fist pulled back. Frontal blitz, her bread-and-butter strategy. Sonya’s senses kicked into high gear, everything seemed slow for a moment, her mind processing Marta’s and her own movement data in an instant. She pivoted and turned, kicking her foot out and driving her right-hand knife up and towards Marta’s leading shoulder. The knife dragged against the reinforced fabric and Marta stumbled forward, sliding to a stop and turning around.

Sonya was in her face the next moment, “Superhuman strength causes you to subconsciously wind up, Marta,” She said quickly and hooked her foot around Marta’s ankle. She put her hand on the same shoulder she’d struck before and pushed sharply, taking advantage of Marta’s moment of surprise. She drove the woman down and onto her back. Sonya dove, driving her knife down towards the center of Marta’s chest. Marta’s nostrils flared and she rolled out of the way, getting to her feet and driving a kick into Sonya’s side.

Sonya grunted and flew, hitting a wall and rolling down before getting to her feet. She coughed, the wind had been knocked out of her but it didn’t hurt as bad as she’d expected. “Better.”

“Where’d you learn to fight like that?” Marta asked.

Sonya wiped her lip, “Wouldn’t you like to know?” She teased.

Sonya darted forward, taking advantage of her enhanced speed and zipping past Marta in an instant. High precision movement allowed her to stop on a dime and drive an elbow into her friend’s rib. She kicked off the ground and swept her knife across Marta’s field of view. The threat of pain driving the woman back a step. Sonya landed and with both her strength and speed swept her foot down beneath Marta. Marta grunted and kicked off the ground, getting some distance. Sonya pushed off and pursued her, Faster! Faster! All the way to the limit of what these abilities can do. That girl in italy was faster than this!

TICK TICK TICKTICKTICKTICK

She practically disappeared, reappearing next to Marta before landing a jab and leaping out of the way of the woman’s attack. Again! She darted beneath Marta’s fist, processing the angle without looking at her. She had a mental image of Marta’s stance and position in her mind, she barely had to keep her eyes open. The information was coming in so fast. Her muscles began to warm as she moved faster. Vanishing before each blow hit, letting each fist come within milimeters of her own body. Stay close, attack the joints, put them off balance, keep them on the ground, deliver a killing blow. That was how you handled strength enhancers.

TICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICK

The ticking in her head was even louder, drowning out everything, her mind was racing as information processed faster than a human could ever handle it. Her own consciousness moving somewhere between instinct and the speed of data. She could hear every shift of the fabric in Marta’s outfit. She could sense where the next blow was going to land. Her hits were strong, but not strong enough to completely throw Marta off. She planned her next few moves in an instant. Dodge, block, feint, trip, pin, strike.

The next blow came and she pirouetted out of the way, Marta was picking up speed too. Her eyes laser focused now. Sonya shifted back a pace and threw her arms up, a sheet of light appearing between the two of them and tanking the majority of the blow before it shattered. Sonya swept up with her knife again at Marta’s face, the woman took a step back, pulling her head out of the way as she pivoted for a kick. Sonya moved to kick her leg out-

TICKTTTICKKTICKTICKKTTTTTKKICCKKK—

“Huh?” 

Sonya’s vision had gone red, no, the edges of her vision were pulsing red. Everything was… slowing down? Her muscles ached, her mind felt sluggish, and her vision blurred a little bit. She blinked as her kick barely impacted Her friend’s leg. A wave of exhaustion washed over her, “Wh-what?” She gasped just as Marta’s kick hit her in the shoulder. She was sent flying, dazed, into the nearest wall and bounced off the reinforced surface. She felt her body creak beneath the impact. Her head spun, her mind trying to process what had just happened. She coughed and tasted iron on her lips. She heard a shout as she landed on her side.

What… happened?

Her vision swam. She squinted at the HUD over her vision, flashing red, words in bright red were blinking in the center of her vision.

<ENERGY LEVELS CRITICALLY LOW>

<Shutting down unnecessary merged systems to preserve basic functions.>

Energy… low?

Marta was at her side in an instant, “Sonya? Sonya! Are you okay? What happened?”

Sonya coughed and tried to pull hand of the healer out of her warehouse but felt resistance, she grit her teeth and curled in on herself. It hurt so much. She focused harder and dragged the ability out, activating it and letting the soothing green glow wash over her. She coughed again as it fizzled out, returning to her warehouse. Fucking shit… what the hell… She grumbled, rolling onto her back and breathing hard. She felt like she’d just run a marathon.

“Sonya!” Marta called out again and Sonya raised a weary hand.

“I’m… I’m fine…” She gasped, coughing again, “Just gotta… catch my breath I think…”

Marta looked down at her with wild concern in her eyes, “What happened?”

“Figuring that out… now…” Sonya breathed, looking through her HUD and trying to get the information to be more clear. A paper-doll image of her body appeared with several sections flashing yellow indicating various injuries that still hadn’t healed. She pushed the image aside and looked for more, “What… energy levels? What is this thing talking about?” She mumbled, concentrating harder. Finally a bar appeared at the corner of her vision that indicated ten percent of something remaining.

Explain…

<Cyber-Punk currently being powered by the body’s internal energy reserves. Internal energy reserves are sufficient to maintain normal bodily function and the use of original ability, Techno-Eyes. Current maximum operating time, thirty (30) seconds.>

She broke it down as she read it. My body’s internal energy is based on Techno-Eyes? What does that even mean? Internal energy? Powers run on energy? That doesn’t make any sense. I’ve never seen someone run out of energy while using their powers, sure they get tired but that’s just stamina.

She frowned, her protests really didn’t matter, what mattered was the facts. And the fact was that her body depended on internal energy reserves to operate. She felt like a goddamn paraplegic right now, her limbs not working at all. She sought out the logic behind why this was happening.

Wait, what about Broker? Does Broker not depend on internal energy? She mulled it over, I felt a little tired after the party on the boat but it wasn’t anything like this. Each power has their own limit, then, but Cyber-punk is a bunch of abilities stacked on top of Techno-Eyes. I may have the other abilities built in because of merger but my internal energy didn’t get any better. In other words, I’m trying to operate a jet engine with a motor cycle’s fuel tank.

Damn it!

“...Sonya?”

Sonya rolled her jaw angrily, and closed her eyes, trying to center herself. She turned her head to look up at Marta and flexed her fingers, the feeling was starting to come back to them. “It would seem I’m battery powered. Get me to Amos… I can barely move…”

Marta let out a shaky breath and carefully helped Sonya to her feet, “It was amazing in the moment,” Marta said.

Sonya let out a harsh laugh and shook her head, “No, it was awful,” She grimaced and let Marta pull her arm over her shoulder. “Not good enough.”

Nowhere near good enough, not for An Set, and certainly not for Otis.