Chapter 41: Looting time! (Patreon)

“Fire!” The order came from the man who was sitting as if nothing with a weird [Shield] covering him. Alexa was surrounded by other [Humans], and all took their [Guns] and pointed at her, no one seemed to worry about the one ordering to [Fire].

And so, they did fire at her.

“[Emergency Boost, 400% perception acceleration. 200% muscle reaction speed augmentation. Warning, reserves low.]” [Main Core] intoned in her head as the world slowed to a crawl again.

The first thing that she noticed in this slowed world was how the [Man] that was smirking at her was breathing, why was this important? Well, if he was breathing it meant that something could go past the [Shield] that stopped her. He was sitting on a chair and holding a pen too, so he was able to interact with the world around him.

How?

“[Hypothesis: Target may be able to selectively block objects. Or he only stops objects above a certain threshold of speed or force.]” [Main Core] said while Alexa turned her attention to the other people around her.

She first looked at their [Eyes], then at the [Guns], most were pointing somewhere around her torso area, a few one trained their shots at her [Head], and two at her lower body. Why her lower body?

She wasn’t sure.

“[Finished calculating probable trajectory, displaying lines to help dodge.]” And sure enough on her sight multiple red lines materialized, each coming from a [Gun] and they all went towards different parts of her body.

So she started moving, and as soon as she started moving her body she felt as if her body was fighting against something heavy to move, and the [Guns] started tracking on her and seemed to ever so slowly move.

BANG

The first detonation resounded in her ears as her accelerated mind processed the sound, she wasn’t sure who shot first, but what she noticed was pain as if someone had pinched her followed by a warm sensation in the affected area. The wound was on her abdomen, one of the parts that weren’t covered by the [Bulletproof] armor additions she was wearing.

She had left that one as is since she wanted to test if her theoretical pain limits were the same as what she could withstand, she didn’t want another scenario where her theoretical limits weren’t the same as her actual limits. The event with her broken legs was still fresh on her mind after all.

But…it was quite average, it didn’t hurt as much as she expected and it was easy enough to clench the muscles around the wound area to staunch the bleeding. With that out of the way she continued weaving around trying to get out of the range of the [Guns], but she wasn’t able to get out of the range of all the projectiles.

While dodging the bullets Alexa kept the position of her [Enemies] within her mind’s eye always constant, she tried to move in ways that put her between two [Enemies] so when they [Shot] her, she could dodge away and let them hit each other. And when that wasn’t as efficient she even used her own body as a medium. She oriented part of her body that didn’t have [Armor] so the [Bullet] would hit her, go through her body, and hit another [Enemy Minion].

When her [Body] was too obvious she used her arms or legs as she jumped from spot to spot, she of course didn’t use parts that had [Vital] organs. By the end of it, some had hit her in arms and legs, one was a direct hit on her torso, she had done that mostly to test the level of defense the [Armor] additions brought, and while it didn’t penetrate the defenses…She almost wished it did.

IT HURT LIKE HELL!

Her chest had helped dissipate part of the kinetic force, but it hurt way more than she expected, was her chest an area with too many nerve endings? She had seen that on her blueprint of course, but didn’t think it would be that bad. Perhaps she would need to redesign that later…

But her [Human] side was screaming at her to leave that part alone….

Decisions decisions…

“ughh……..help….” At the end of that and when the last [Bullet] was fired she was surrounded by groaning [Humans] while she herself was leaking [Blood] from some wounds, but unlike them, she wasn’t groaning.

She wanted to of course, but [Main Core] was blocking most of her pain receptors at the moment and was actively healing her. She would need to restock sooner rather than later.

“Tch, bunch of useless wastes, can’t kill a single woman?” The [Man] that stood sitting through all of this said as he pulled out from the [Desk] another [Gun]. This one seemed different from the ones the other [Humans]had used.

In an automatic response from her body (Or as the [Blueprint] said a Reflex) Alexa moved her hand forward and grabbed the hand of the [Man], which made her stop for a second.

“[Notice, no interference from Shield theory about limit of speed and force has been confirmed.]”

“What? You can’t hurt me, so do yourself a favor and leave. Before a Hero arrives and pummels you into the ground you might as well run.” The [Man] smirked at her, but Alexa instead started increasing the strength of her grip.

She found that the [Man]’s face started reflecting the level of pain he was feeling at least till she exceeded a threshold and the [Shield] manifested again.

“[Theorical Limit, confirmed. Limit is set around the force needed to cause permanent damage or broken bones.]”

So, as long as she didn’t break any bones or make permanent injury she could get past that shield huh…

“I see, this is a very interesting [Gun], different from the types your [Minions] use,” Alexa said as she grabbed the discarded [Gun] and placed it into one of her [Pouches], this suit had plenty of those for some reason. “But you are wrong in some things, first…The [Heroes] should be distracted. And second…I may not be able to [Hurt] you, but I can get you [Unconscious] easy enough.”

And on that note, Alexa’s hand went for the [Throat], she used barely enough force to not be stopped by the [Shield], but enough to close the windpipe, the [Man] started trashing around as his [Brain] noticed the absence of [O2] on his bloodstream, but after a minute or so she left him to go.

All this time the man had been fidgeting with a weird bracelet on his arm, she picked it up and pocketed it too, perhaps it was [Worth something]. So maybe it was on the list, she wasn’t sure.

“[Rhapsody, this is Golem. Everything in order? We heard gunshots.]” [Golem]’s voice spoke into her mask.

As far as she was aware she should still have some time for her mission to finish, “I have incapacitated seven enemy [Minions], and what seems to be an important [Not Core User] he was able to field a [Shield], but claimed to be a non powered.” Alexa reported back.

“[And the gunshots?]” [Golem] asked again.

Should she answer that? Main Core?

“[All gunshot wounds have been dealt with, the bruising on chest area was dealt with to the degree of non-risk. Remaining work can be done by natural healing as to minimize the waste of biomass and energy.]” Main Core answered, and yet…

“But it hurts!” Alexa complained, then took a second to center herself and look around, she had already reported the amount of enemy [Minions] so she wouldn’t be able to [Devour]any of them. So instead she turned on again her [Mic] and said. “Gunshots were done against my person, all wounds have been dealt with and the [Weaponry] was neutralized.”

“[Are you hurt?]” [Golem] asked as she heard the sound of metal being ripped apart. “[Location?]”

“I’m no longer wounded and somewhere on the second floor? I haven’t gone to check the rest of the [Warehouse], so there may be other enemies [Minions]” Alexa answered while walking towards the [Door] that pointed to the outside again.

She had already checked the bodies for more [Ammunition] but they all had at best one extra charger, so that left her with…what? 50 or so rounds? That…wasn’t much, so perhaps she could get a [Human] while waiting?

“[Stand by and wait for us, we are coming in. You have my permission to use the full extent of your Core Power to defend yourself should someone attack you.]”[Golem] said and that left Alexa stumped, what was she supposed to do then?

“Attention people we are with Haephestus’s Forge. Stand down get on the ground and you will not be hurt. This place is insured so you will be safe so long you don’t do anything stupid.” The voice of [Golem] resounded within the [Warehouse].

So while waiting Alexa turned her senses to hear what was happening around, sadly no one came her way, well, not hostile [Minions] at least.

“Rhapsody?” Who came her way was [Mikey] carrying a small box with a red cross on it, “Are you wounded? “

“Not anymore. I have healed most wounds, only remaining wounds are bruises.” Alexa answered while turning to look around to see if more people had come this way.

“Hmm….Golem will have my hide if I don’t check on you, so can you show me where you got shot?” [Mikey] said while carrying a chair and pointing Alexa to it.

“Sure,” Alexa answered while sitting and pulling on one of her [Gloved Arms], she pushed the buttons that allowed it to dislodge from her torso. Her skin was flawless as always besides some small bruises. “Here is one of the [Gun] wounds already healed, the rest are bruises from spots where the [Armor] was weakest or spots where I used to block debris.”

“Hmm….” [Mikey] said looking at the place, “No wound…nor bruising…are you sure this is the place?”

“Yes, I still have the bullet encased within my body, I can expel it if needed?” Alexa said as she focused on the place, the bullet had hit her [Bone] so it was lodged there for now. She was planning to assimilate the material and use it to reinforce her body.

“...that is okay.” [Mikey] answered, “And all the wounds are like this?”

“Yes, I have dealt with most like that. I can use my [Core Power] to fix what needs to be fixed after all. I only need [Biomass] and [Energy] to return to my peak.” Alexa answered, she got the feeling that there was some degree of misunderstanding.

“...And you are sure that your Core Power is that of a Shifter?” [Mikey] seemed more confused by this than anything, “No wait, don’t answer. I don’t want to know…If someone asks you what your powers are, remember to include regeneration. That is one of the important ones for your companions to know you have.”

And on that note [Mikey] closed his small box, in the end, he only had sprinkled some liquid to [Disinfect] the [Wound] and had cleaned her skin to make sure everything was [Okay]. Alexa of course recorded the composition of those chemicals.

And when she acknowledged said new prompt Alexa turned to look at [Mikey], “How long am I supposed to remain here?” And asked as such, [Golem] hadn’t sent any new orders her way, but the fact that he sent [Mikey] probably meant that he was tasked with some mission for her.

“Till I had patched you…and made sure you weren’t bleeding away, but since you aren’t bleeding nor needed patching up…I guess we can return, do we need to deal with the guards that shot you?” [Mikey] asked her in a somewhat more somber tone as he pulled a [Gun] from within his jacket.

“Not necessary, they are unconscious within that [Room],” Alexa said pointing at the room with the missing [Door]. “Some may require medical attention since they shot themselves.”

“They what? Why?” [Mikey] asked confused at her statement.

“I [Dodged] out of the way while making sure they would shot other [Enemy Minions], in some instances I let the [Bullet] hit me so it would hit others too, the [Arm] wound was one such attempt, but I miscalculated and it hit the [Bone].” And after that one, she had no longer done that again.

“...You….made them shoot each other while they also tried to shoot at you?” [Mikey] asked while trying to contain his laughter. “That’s brilliant.”

In the end, he ended up laughing, “Do we need to help them?” Alexa asked, she didn’t want to. But maybe she could rip apart one of their arms using the excuse of a [Bullet wound]?

“Nah, they got what they deserve for trying to kill one of us. That is the rule, you attack with the intention to kill. You don’t complain if you end up dead.” [Mikey] said walking towards her again after checking on the enemy [Minions]. He also made sure to step in all the [Minions] that stood in his way.

Sometimes stepping on them twice.

“Okay, now let’s go to Golem, he is pissed so maybe you can calm him down? I tried to remind him that you told us about being somewhat bulletproof. But those were too many gunshots.” [Mikey] said as he looked one last time at the enemy [Minions] and the [Man] at the back. “Perhaps we could use one of these, which one was the important?”

“That one at the end, he had some kind of [Core Power] that allowed him to survive without wounds all of this, I knocked him unconscious by -” Alexa started explaining only for [Mikey] to stop her with a motion from his hand.

“Yeah, not interested to be honest. All we need is one of the important ones and that is all. Golem can decide what to do, or a Lieutenant I guess.” And like that [Mikey] grabbed the [Man] by his hair and started pulling him towards the lower floor.

Alexa wondered how he was planning to get him to the lower floor…at least till they arrived at a [Stair], there [Mikey] just threw him first and followed after. Alexa was not seeing the weird [Shield]spring again, so maybe this didn’t count towards the [Threshold]?

“Rhapsody, are you okay?” [Golem] asked when she arrived on the ground floor, around him several [Minions] were loading stuff into the [Vans]. As far as she could tell it was mostly mechanical components and some liquids. “Mikey, I told you to stay and safeguard her while we secured the place.”

“I am functional at 80% capacity, I needed to burn some [Biomass] and [Energy] to heal and fix some minor wounds, but leaving that aside everything is okay,” Alexa answered before [Mikey].

“She has no bullet wounds, I did see evidence of the gunshots and her bodysuit has gunshot holes. But her skin isn’t wounded, she has some bruises here and there from where the bodysuit stopped bullets. But besides that she is okay.” [Mikey] answered after her, “If anything I think that her power may be more complex than we think it is.”

They had no idea….

“I see, and that one? We aren’t supposed to hurt Civilians.” [Golem] asked pointing at the unconscious [Man] that [Mikey] had brought with them.

“Rhapsody? Could you do the honors?” [Mikey] said turning to her, was this an [Honor]? What is an [Honor]?

“That [Human] was seated amidst the [Enemy Minions] while speaking, when I breached his [Defenses] he took command and directed the [Enemy Minions] to shoot even if it meant hurting other fellow [Minions].” Alexa said recounting what had happened when she came to them, “He also showed some type of [Core Power], he was able to prevent objects traversing at a certain speed from harming him. So I needed to tune down my speed and strength to render him unconscious.”

And that had been annoying.

“And the gunshots?” [Golem] asked.

“I dodged them in such a way that they hit each other.” So Alexa answered, “Some did get me as [Mikey] said before, but I merely [Refreshed] my [Blueprint] to fix the damage, that is why I need new [Biomass] since I haven’t gotten any recently.”

Really, her main problem was that while the [Food] she got was enough to keep the maintenance of her [Body], it wasn’t enough to fix these kinds of problems, she had used most of it already with how she had climbed to the second floor!

She needed more meat!

“So this one was important huh?” [Golem] said as he raised his feet high into the air and let it down on the leg of the [Man].

Crunch “AAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!” What followed was the pained scream of the [Man] as he tried to grab his [Leg].

“I don’t see any shield.” And of course [Golem] said while turning to her, “Are you sure he has a [Core Power]?”

“I DON’T HAVE CORE POWERS WHAT THE HELL?!?!? I WAS USING AN ARTIFACT FROM THE SAINTSWORTHS!” The [Man] screamed while rolling on the ground, “YOU ALL ARE DONE, I WILL MAKE SURE CHRYSALIS KILLS YOU ALL!”

“She is a Hero, and should be busy dealing with the distraction.” [Mikey] said behind her, the [Minion] had walked behind her at some point.

“HAH! WHO DO YOU THINK PAYS HER VICES? THE GOVERNMENT? IT’S US! SHE IS COMING AND I WILL PAY HER EXTRA FOR YOUR HEADS!” The [Man] raved around for a few seconds before [Golem] grabbed him and threw him against a wall. That was enough to render him unconscious.

“...chances of what he said are true?” [Golem] asked to [Mikey] who seemed to be the more knowledgeable [Minion] around.

“Very high, some Heroes get paid to make sure some warehouses are better protected than others. And Chrysalis is among the most vicious ones around, if you are caught…you are caught.” [Mikey] answered.

So [Golem] placed a finger against the ear of his mask and started speaking “Control, we have a situation…The warehouse we got assigned seems to be paying a Hero for protection…Do we continue the mission?” He asked.

Alexa wondered why he was asking such an obvious question, shouldn’t they continue to fulfill their mission?

“You sure? We could probably wrap this up in another ten min– oh, she already left?... Crap, okay.” [Golem] said and cut the call, he then took a deep breath (Why does a rock need to take a deep breath?) and said “WRAP IT UP MINIONS WE ARE LEAVING!”

That was all he needed to say as any [Minion] still carrying something left it on the floor and ran towards a [Van]. “Okay, Sylph you are at the front. If you can make it so the vans don’t get wind resistance with your Core Powers, then do it. If you can’t…well just make sure to pay attention if you see Chrysalis call it.” [Golem] started saying as he pointed to [Skye] and she nodded once, afterward she ran towards the [Van] in question and sat in her spot waiting for the other [Black Masked Minions] to get in. “Rhapsody you will be at the back and I will be in the middle, if Chrysalis turns up you need to distract her for a few seconds, if you think you can’t…Run. I will try to help you as soon as I can, so just hold a few seconds.”

That seemed easy enough, so for now Alexa just walked to her [Van] and stood at the side while the [Minions] pilled up on the back. How hard could it be to return home early right?