Shaper of Metal Material Controller (Metal)

Primary Mutation: Channel Memorite Governing Attribute: Create Magnitude (Pressure): 130 (100%); (Force): 104 (80%) Fitness: Excellent; G.P.E.: 23% Evasion: 2.4

Level: 1.8 Allotment: 140 [ 130 ]

[ 0.0 ] Augment [ 2.0 ] Control — Cord 1.1, Cloud 0.8, Throw 1.4, Spear 0.2, Collect: Sphere 0.4/2.2 [ 2.8 ] Create — Lift 0.2, Grapple 0.2 [ 1.0 ] Interpret [ 0.0 ] Destroy [ 1.0 ] Transmute — Quick-change 0.2

Techniques: Fragile Spike, Inner Energy 0.4, Parry 0.1

Spear, the default of 'Collect,' Grapple, Quick-change, and Parry were on the menu. Grapple just flat-out improved his applied Pressure when grappling, effectively the 'skill side' of such strength-like application, much like Lift let him levitate more, and that's all. Quick-change, meanwhile, would help with the speed of any newly memorized metal shape changes. There were a plethora of more specialized shapes he'd gotten much faster at. His darts were down to a quarter of a second out of combat, and that improved if he did many in a row. Actual combat had too many variables to completely count on that time, but it remained impressive.

G.P.E. was going to slow down quite a bit for him, from what Lindsay had related in her study and analysis of his development. Another 3-4% could come from Fitness at maximum, and Levels would add about 2% from Levels 2 and 3, then 1% per Level beyond that. He also finally had an Evasion stat. G.P.E. affected it, but so did levels, training, and combat experience.

His GIFT and SOFT benchmarks for power use had risen to 48% and 74%, respectively, which were considered functional and acceptable field values. His maximum safe overcharge was 'estimated' at 108%. He already knew Lindsay wouldn't give him the estimates of his hypothetical future maximums for GIFT and SOFT, wanting him to keep striving for them, but he was hoping for the soft maximums of 65% and 85% at Peak Fitness and whatever he could get Inner Energy to. The minimum for him was 1.3, but progress beyond 1.0 was supposed to be slow. In any case, he'd add more to the benchmarks gradually as Fitness and Inner Energy increased. Neither were level-based.

After eating, he did a light workout and conserved his energy, because there was a special arrangement in the morning. Lindsay had been too busy two evenings in a row, and they hadn't done one of their races in two days…

<I'm going to smoke you, Lindsay, I hope you know.> Sent via Mem-text with a snapshot of his abs. <Get ready to get smoked.>

<Yeah, yeah, keep dreaming!> she sent back. <Big man's got more muscles, OooOooh! Maybe you just don't have what it takes, huh?>

<Wanna bet? Dinner and dessert.>

<Isn't it criminal to keep taking candy from a baby?>

<Sounds like you're scared. Damn. I'm gonna beat you so bad…>

<Fine, you're on! I will win, though. I'm sorry in advance.>

<I refuse your apology because it is I who shall conquer. Also, don't even ask to have crabs for dinner.>

<There are no crabs, Jack! It was a limited supply. Yeesh. How did I find the one weirdo who doesn't like crabs?>

They both soon arrived in Rosenblum Park, at the customary tree where she'd once cheated with a head start to begin the races. Lindsay was at her most minimal, perhaps for aerodynamics: a tight pink sports bra and skin-tight black athletic shorts. But she would not distract him with her sleek, feminine aesthetics. He was here to defeat her once and for all. Fair and square. Clean, complete victory.

Instead of speaking, they glared at each other silently as they completed their final warmups. Stretches, hopping a bit, getting loose.

They each put a hand on the tree trunk, crouched and ready to explode down the path that led to the fountain. They synced their Mini-Mems to do a countdown with a chime signalling 'go.'

3… 2… 1… chime!

The first few steps, Jack was actually ahead, and then Lindsay caught up, where they were neck-in-neck for the first moments...

And then Jack stumbled as his toe dragged slightly on a follow-through.

No!

Thankfully, he recovered quickly, but Lindsay was ahead and sprinting with everything she had, to take advantage. He could tell what she was doing after long familiarity: there was no let-up, no quarter, no conservation. Maximum speed.

Jack had to do the same. He shifted his eyes to focus hard on the space down the path, and willed his body to move, move, move as fast as it could to get there. Legs up, legs down, sneakered soles eating the pavement. And he pulled for more, still — his Allotment, his interface, carving the space out for him. Enhancement that slowly ebbed stronger and stronger with time, allowing adjustment to balance oneself with it.

But he had no time, right then. He had to gamble with all that it could give and hope he learned as he went, to match without foiling himself. Another stumble would be All She Wrote.

His longer strides, powerful legs, and bodily core quickly let him catch up to Lindsay. And she somehow squeezed extra when she saw him, somehow pushed more than he had ever seen of her in the natural world. She kept up!

She better not be hurting herself- gah, don't think about that right now, Jack!

Around a slight curve, unveiled from the blocking treelines, the fountain came into view. The final decider, the finish line.

He made it into a beacon in his head; all he saw was like tunnel vision. He stretched toward it. He was slightly 'ahead' of himself, he knew, like a tiny bit of wild time travel, like gradual teleportation, because he was moving a significant percentage faster than he ever had, in the very hour he had gained improvement. Even by evening, if he was training, he'd be less shaky, less risky to push to his limit like this. But it was morning.

Even still, he pushed, risking disaster, trying to gauge his footfalls by feel, move through the stable rhythm, and just abuse it harder. So he did.

Jack took a slight lead and then grew it. Inch by inch, he attained more and more. A body length, two… and the fountain was imminent. It seemed like it was ballooning, becoming a giant, as he got closer at superhuman speed. A few more seconds…

Lindsay let out a feral cry, pained in its intensity. For a split moment, Jack thought she'd torn something, but instead of feeling her drag behind, she exploded across the distance and edged past him. Her face was a rictus, and she was screaming like a madwoman!

Something in Jack erupted in competitive rage, spiking through his body like his nerves had been immolated. Adrenaline pumped into his veins. No! I refuse! To! Lose!

Jack let out a feral cry himself — the clarion call presaging the charge of a manic berserker. He pushed harder than ever for the last bit of space before the fountain, owning it, taking dominion over it, eating it, ripping it past him. He pushed just ahead!

But the sittable fountain lip was low. To touch it, one had to transform into a crouch, and Lindsay was shorter and closer. Hands reached out as they crouched and threw themselves with abandon down to it, with Jack with some fraction of a step ahead, but Lindsay with less contortion required. Both were focused on nothing but reaching that glorious, glorious concrete…

Hands touched in the same breadth, and neither had time to see who was first, as they soon had to adjust to the fact that they were sprinting at a solid barrier. Lindsay managed to drag her legs and twist sideways, going down and slamming into the fountain lip with her shoulder, eliciting a grunt from a hard impact.

Jack could not get low fast enough, and his mass was going to make the impact worse. Instead, he rolled over the top and crashed directly into the water of the fountain, drenching himself almost immediately. He quickly scrambled up over the lip, kneeling in the splashing water, his eyes wide as he met Lindsay's own, pointing and yelling hysterically, "I beat you! Haha — I beat you! I win-"

"No!" Lindsay protested as she shot up, her eyes wide with offended emphasis. She was panting, and constantly fighting and squeezing for breath to speak. She raised one arm to point, wincing a bit. "No… You didn't, Jack! I won! You… lost!"

"Bullshit, Lindsay!" Jack countered angrily as he stood up in the fountain and pointed down at her again. "Just admit defeat!"

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"I won't!" She flung her arms out, hands splayed. "Cause I won! I… touched it… first!"

Jack scoffed loudly and ran a hand through his wet hair. "Ask the damn System! Mini, who won?! Tell us both!"

Mini chimed in reply, presumably in both their heads. "Inconclusive. Neither system was set up to monitor this, and both would need to be in sync. We just did the countdown. The assumption, unless instructed otherwise, is to preserve human novelty for contests, such as your current 'backyard childhood' style argument."

"That's a crock of shit!" Jack cried in annoyance.

"That's complete bullshit!" Lindsay called in a shrill voice, right on top of his.

They met each other's eyes and glared. And then they broke out in laughter. It turned into a wheeze for Lindsay. She turned back around to plop into the dirt, her back up against the fountain, one hand rubbing her shoulder.

Jack squeezed water out of his drenched shirt and stepped out to plop down next to her. He took off his shoes to dump water out, too.

Two guys in plain clothes suddenly came into view from a walking path, an alarmed expression on their faces as they looked over the scene. One of them was carrying a first-aid kit. "Is everyone okay? There was screaming."

Jack waved his hands. "Oh, no- yeah, no! We're good! Everything's great! We were just… uh, you know… racing…" He winced — and smiled to hide it — at how dumb it all sounded. Meanwhile, Lindsay said nothing, trying to hide behind Jack's body as one hand waved out, clearly embarrassed.

The guy with the first aid kit nodded slowly. He exchanged a glance with the other guy briefly and replied, "Alright then. As long as everyone is okay…" He leaned slightly to see what he could of Lindsay.

"Yep! We're good!" Jack waved goodbye. "See you around!"

The guys nodded somewhat reluctantly and left, obviously perplexed.

The two racers were soon laughing again quietly, Lindsay's head resting on Jack's shoulder from where she'd hidden herself. She gradually regained her breath after all the exertion. Nothing was said for a while as peaceful silence persisted. Finally, Lindsay offered, "I'm buying dinner."

"You don't have to-"

"No dessert. We buy our own if desired. A fair compromise. You probably won."

"We'll never fraggin' know." He was pretty annoyed by it.

Lindsay lifted her head and patted his shoulder with a hand. "We decide it all tomorrow."

"Eh. Maybe. We'll see. But it's not the same as narrowly beating you today. Would've been perfection."

"Pfft. I think a draw is perfect. I'm your twin, after all."

Despite the teasing tone, Jack shook his head. "Like hell, you are." He hadn't intended for whatever it was to leak out of his voice, but Lindsay's eyes studied his face after.

"Jack… you know, we've never really talked about a certain elephant in the training room…"

Jack turned to face her, but she was looking away, her mouth open. "Mmn?"

She turned to meet his gaze. "Like you, I've been around the block. I know not to get… too intimately attached to my students. But-"

Frag me, am I giving off that vibe Highfive talked about? Shit. "Whoa-whoa-whoa," Jack interrupted, waving a hand dismissively. "You don't need to defend yourself. It's not like I'm not aware how out of my league you are-"

"What?!" Lindsay interrupted sharply, sitting up and glaring at him with her brows drawn down. She added an admonishing slap at his shoulder, her lips scrunched up. It was both dangerous and comical. "Is that what you think?" She looked as if she'd wait for a reply, searching his face judgmentally, but instead, she scoffed loudly and rolled her eyes, sitting back and sighing. "Baka! Idiot. Okay, so I see what you need to hear. Regardless of my stance, Jack, I am attracted to you. So yeah. You're attractive. Deal with it." She flicked her eyes back to glare at him.

Jack was a little stunned. It did feel good, too. He recovered quickly, though, meeting her gaze and shrugging. "Thanks. Seriously. But, again, you don't have to explain yourself."

"I know that. I just choose to, so that the air is clear. And I mean it. We don't have a rapport for no reason." She paused, holding his gaze with emphasis. Jack was uncertain exactly how to reply. Lindsay crossed her arms and continued, "As adults, we have to make choices outside of feelings. I have to form uncommon bonds with men and deal with the confusing emotions it saddles me with. I made a different choice a number of times, and the results… Well, youthful indiscretions, right? But then I fell stupidly head-over-heels with a grade-A Mr. Perfect, and got super serious. It was great… we got engaged." She looked away. "And then he went off to war and died. Commendably." A trace of bitterness in the last.

Jack swallowed and nodded slowly in understanding. "I'm sorry."

She nodded slowly, too. "I never… really… got over it."

"You don't have to. If you do, it's when you make the choice that you're ready. With… I imagine… maybe someone closer to home. Not someone slated for the far reaches."

Lindsay nodded slowly once again, blinking off at the tree line. They didn't have to say where that would leave Jack, if the idea had crossed her mind. It was obvious. That it probably had crossed her mind was a mixed emotion for Jack, too. It was difficult to trust that the feelings could be fully authentic. That went for both of them.

Silence persisted for a while. To lighten the mood, Jack scoffed suddenly and said, "I can't believe Miss Center doesn't have a boyfriend."

Lindsay smiled faintly. "I know, right? Guess I'm just too unapproachable in my vastnesses of beauty." After another long pause, she asked, "Wanna hear how I received you as a project, from Memoria? Your new clearance makes it legal."

"I absolutely do."

Her faint smile persisted. "Your info came over with a text from her, which read, 'Are you ready, yet, dear? I really, really, really, need you. So does he.' I had to sit down when I saw she had sent me a 'guy project' that needed more than just some training — full interfacing, compatibility, an intimate bond, the works. A young, charming man, and not even that much younger. I had requested never to do it again, before. Memoria vetoed that but promised me she'd avoid it where possible and only suggest it in exceptional circumstances, working with me if I couldn't. It's been… a long time."

"So… you could've refused?"

She nodded.

"Why didn't you? A guilt-trip from Memoria?"

"No. I've shouldered that plenty." She took a deep breath. "Because I realized she was right, and it was time for me to stop being selfish. Time to Soldier Up and deal with myself. And the why, to that? That's what really got me. A realization. What if I had refused my fiancé? What if he had been sent out there without that bit of acceleration and boost of understanding? Without the edge? The sacrifice he made might've been in vain. He might've failed instead; his death made fruitless. Pointless. I couldn't refuse anymore. Guilt hit me that I'd deprived others already. Memoria spared me of it, but I didn't spare myself. I wondered if I'd sent men to their deaths. So I agreed immediately and dove deep into your file in the scant time I had before I'd meet you."

She met Jack's eyes. Something raw in her expression, like she wanted to draw him inward. "And then deep into you. Threw myself into the project, swearing I'd deal with whatever the consequences were. Whatever the hell love for a man means — some permutation and mutation. I'm her daughter, after all… I've got to learn how to transmute that love into the proper configuration. Just as you shapeshift metal, I shapeshift the soul. Mine becoming yours, blending and making something new out of mutual power…" She smiled suddenly. "Like an alloy. And it's… complete, Jack. The final casting is right here. You. The accelerated substance made out of lightning and elbow grease. It needs some touch-ups, some polishing, but… me, I… I have no more to pour in." Her voice cracked a bit at the end.

Jack was awed by all she said, perhaps as sober and somber as she'd ever been. He also felt an immediate sense of loss. "Are you saying my training with you is over, Shifu?"

The last word made her face break a bit, her lip quivering briefly. Her eyes welled up. "Reducing. Tapering." She took a calming breath. "No more Jack and Jill until you need it for something. After Access Level 3, perhaps. We will still duel in VR. I'm not needed for most practice. You already know what to do. Memoria may have special training going forward. I dunno. But soon you'll need to begin dedicated team-seeking and have team practice. My general mimicry of you is now… in diminishing returns."

In their training parlance, that meant 'time to move on.' Jack struggled for what to say. "Well. I'll miss you." It just came out, and he regretted it immediately. Bad timing.

Her face broke more, looking pained as she tried to control it. She looked away, and two tears fell down her cheeks. She shook her head. "Jack… please…"

"Sorry," he said, looking away and taking another breath. "Should've pocketed that one."

Lindsay coughed the ghost of a laugh. "And just when a girl is vulnerable, too."

"Yep. I am a devil."

"No… you're good, Jack." She wiped her eyes with her fingers. "Incredibly good. Thank the heavens. And also, curse them."

He glanced at her, unsure what she meant. "You find the bad irresistible?"

She glared at him with a suddenly sour expression and then rolled her eyes dismissively, as if annoyed he had to ask. "The opposite. Easier to reject. Angels are my weakness."

Jack felt a bit offended. "Pfff, I'm no angel…"

"Suuure you aren't…" After a pause, she added, "Okay, a little devil is in there. Granted. But you leveled out. There were times you could've pushed the envelope, but you didn't. The point is… who you are helped me get through this, Jack. I came to fully trust you. I'm grateful. And because of that… in the stability of the future… we can train and even work together intimately again. Our compatibility remains sky-high. And, as you've hopefully gleaned, compatibility for me must be carefully balanced. I cannot be too attached, or it gets ruined. Boil too high, you blow the top and get burned; too long, and all you have is a burnt pot. Was I good with my fiancé by the end? Hell no. I was useless to him."

Jack had actually not thought about it a great deal, but it made sense. She needed to have some adversarial foundation. Certain relationships worked for that, others not so much. A brother and sister squabbling was ideal.

Perhaps after their blissful honeymoon period, things would've changed, but she'll never know.

"It should go without saying," Lindsay continued, "that I am still available for any consultation, and if you want to meet, I'll make it happen."

Jack nodded. A brief silence stretched.

"Can I please lay my head on your shoulder again, Jack?" Lindsay asked politely.

"Of course," Jack replied immediately. "You can take my arm, too, if you want." He grinned. "Platonically."

She grinned back and scooted over to take his arm and wrap it around her as she lay her head on his shoulder, closed her eyes, and sighed. "Just a little while, is all…"

Jack kind of enjoyed it himself as he stared out at the trees, soon otherwise lost in his own thoughts. It wasn't so bad, really: Lindsay separating herself more. She was still an intimate friend and confidante. Hopefully for life. She wasn't going anywhere. Her valuable time was simply being reallocated where it was more efficient.

She fully trusts me?

"You're still a spoiled brat," Jack added, smiling to himself.

Lindsay scoffed. "Whatever… you are… I'm the cute one…"

👀 Patreon Link, Next Chappy — Chapter 56: Spooks and Lies

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