Chapter 12 – Summertime
Alice was riding her hoverboard through the Fireswamps, with Jay close behind her. The rocky terrain zoomed past them quickly. The silence was only interrupted by the constant humming of their hoverboards. The trip was going by quickly, only interrupted by a monster encounter here and there.
Alice felt that the silence between them was a bit tense. Ever since they split up from Shala and Naver and headed south, she thought there was an uneasy tension in the air, because Jay has barely said a word since. It wasn't too noticeable, Alice could barely sense it, but it was definitely there. Maybe Jay was still pissed because of the argument about Naver? Or, maybe that's what Jay usually is like and she was reading too much into the situation.
"So, you always this talkative?" – Alice looked back and asked to try to break the ice. Jay looked at her, but didn't say anything.
"After the war is over you should pursue theater. You've already got the silence thing mastered, you'd make a great mime." – Alice made a joke that even she knew was bad. Still no response.
"Or, maybe a monastery? If you took a vow of silence hardly anyone would notice." – Alice doubled down on the bad jokes, already hating herself for them before she even said them out loud. But, since she had already begun, she didn't know how to stop without it being even more awkward. Jay just stared at her blankly, without any idea how to respond to these.
"Okay, if you're mad about something you should just say it already!" – Alice couldn't take Jay's silence anymore.
"What? Mad about what?" – he asked.
"I don't know, the argument with Naver or something? Because you haven't said a word since!" – Alice responded.
Jay shook his head. "I don't talk a lot. Don't usually have anyone to talk to on missions. Unless it's something important."
"One would classify social interaction as important." Alice slowed down her hoverboard so that she was now right next to Jay. A part of her was relieved that Jay wasn't mad about anything, but mostly she was glad to be talking to him again.
"Then what do you want to talk about?" – Jay indulged her.
"I don't know. You're the one that's the super cool time ranger. Don't you have any badass stories of saving the timeline or anything like that?"
"Stories. I do have some, yes. But I don't think it's worth telling them." – Jay answered grimly.
"Come on, you're not gonna convince me that nothing exciting ever happens with time travel!"
"No, it's not that. The stories are not… pleasant. Not worth killing the mood." – Jay retorted.
"Gee, if this is him in his good mood…" – Alice thought to herself.
"If you want to talk, why don't you tell me something?" – Jay asked her. "You mentioned you're one of the Secret Scientists. What do you think about them?"
"Yeah, they're good people. I've never really done anything cool before the invasion though. Strictly lab work. But, when these Fusion Monsters started popping up, they… fascinated me. A regular regular alien apocalypse, they don't just invade. They adapt, they change. Before making Earth more habitable to them, they make themselves habitable to the Earth. And you can't just study something like that in a lab! You need to examine their behavior in field conditions. Plus, by the time you get your hands on a specimen, the soldiers will already have turned it into goo. So, that's why I signed up for the Academy. And, well, it's not exactly just for research either. It's an opportunity to help the war efforts… more directly." – Alice told Jay.
"Hm. Good cause." – Jay muttered. "You're with the Secret Scientists and the Academy, but also affiliated with Providence as well?" – he inquired.
"That was through a mutual contact. You see, the Scientists don't exactly have a base in the Darklands, but we needed to go there. You know, because it's the Earth hive of the invasion. Any research worth conducting is probably to be conducted at the Darklands. And so, there were four of us. There's me, studying the Fusion fauna, obviously, Doc JC who specializes in Fusion flora, and Peggy and Jon, who were researching Fusions on a microscopic level. Jon's studying the microbiological and genetic aspects of them, and Peggy is cracking the secrets of Fusion biochemistry. Or, well, she used to be, anyway." – Alice paused for a moment. She hadn't exactly seen how Peggy had gone, but judging by Jon's reaction to events it couldn't have been pretty. "Well, the Secret Scientists have a mutual contact with Providence – Doyle Blackwell. You've met him, right? You know, the guy with the mohawk."
"The mercenary." – Jay said.
Alice nodded. "He's a member of the Saturday family and currently he's employed by Providence as well, we were able to set this whole thing up through him. So, me, Peggy and Winthrop are around… I mean, used to be around the Providence camp. Whoa, hold on!" – she said as she steered her hoverboard to avoid a jet of fire. "And JC's at the SACT outpost over at Huntor's Crest because she's researching the Dark Tree. She says it's the most enigmatic specimen she'd ever seen, both in Fusion and regular Earth flora."
"And your cousin? If he's as good at weapons as he says he is, and he probably is, wouldn't he be invited to join?" – Jay inquired.
"Well, I suggested that to him, many times, but every time, he declares that ever since he quit Dexlabs he's done working for The Man. I can't change his mind about that, even though the Scientists are more of a family than a job." – Alice responded.
"Yeah, I thought it'd be something like that with him." – Jay noted. "Well, at least he is doing something in the war." – he added. "There aren't as many people actively volunteering as there should be."
Alice paused and considered what Jay said. "So you ARE still mad about the thing with Naver." – she said.
"No, not mad. I told him what he should do, but I don't have time to stay to babysit him. He'll make his choice."
"And you think that the outcome of the war hinges on Naver's involvement in it?" – Alice asked him.
"I can't be sure, but time travel gives you a unique insight into causality. Any one person's random decision could one day lead into world-changing events. Is that one person Naver? Impossible to know. That could be any one of us. But that's exactly why everyone should strive to make the correct decisions. Correct for the timeline. Even if a single bad choice slips through, the butterfly effect could be catastrophic." – Jay explained to Alice. "And so, it's up to all of us to save the world, not just a select few that didn't chicken out. Every single one."
"Sure, that much is right. But how exactly do you tell the right choice from the bad one?" – Alice retorted. "You've been to the future, sure, so some hindsight must be involved. But isn't our timeline already radically different from the future you saw?" – Alice asked him.
Jay reluctantly nodded. "What are you saying?" – he asked.
"Okay, let's say the fate of the world hinges entirely on Naver. And, in this scenario, he stays in the Darklands like you told him to, but then he's killed by monsters. What now?" – Alice proposed.
"The Earth is doomed in any scenario then." – Jay concluded. "Where are you going with this?"
"Now, in another scenario, let's say he chickened out and was evacuated to safety, thus he doesn't get killed by any monsters." – Alice told him.
"Yeah, but the fate of the world depends on his decision. So, that means he lets Fuse take over." – Jay shrugged.
"Let me finish." – she retorted. "So, he's out somewhere with the civilians. It takes him a couple days, weeks, months, whatever, but in the end, he changes his mind, takes up arms and helps fight off Fuse. For good. Earth is saved." – Alice finishes.
"That scenario hinges on a lot of ifs." – Jay told her. "The odds of events going like that are-"
"But you have to agree that such a scenario could exist where Naver refuses to fight now but it would lead to the eventual salvation of humanity." – Alice said. The argument, with all its talk about hypothetical timelines and butterfly effects, sure did drive out the uneasy silence, which Alice was extremely glad about.
"Just because a chain of events like that could exist… Well, we can't exactly determine what happens how, so I still think that the optimal decision would be NOT to abandon your post when you're clearly able to defend it."
"Is he able to defend it, though? You saw how shaky his skills and abilities are. Do you really want to tell me that he wouldn't improve greatly with at least a course in the Academy?" – Alice asked him.
"When you were asking me to initiate a conversation, did you really want to talk or were you just looking for someone to argue with?" – Jay snapped. Alice opened her mouth, but didn't know how to respond. And so, the uncomfortable silence came rushing back, as tense as ever.
They cruised through the Fireswamps, only stopping to eat. The whole time, they didn't exchange a single word. Alice checked her snapshot of the map to see how close they were to the path that'd take them up the side of the mountain to the settlement ruins. Alice saw Jay constantly checking the Spectral Detector – something they got from Huntor to try to locate Demongo. As Alice read from Jay's face, however, there was no success.
As they headed south, towards Dinosaur Pass, more and more monsters started popping up. This wouldn't be anything noteworthy, but almost all of the monsters they'd met came from Dinosaur Pass. They passed under several Horrordactyls, flying high in the sky to the north-west, and came across a bunch of Frilled Fiends, moving in a group.
"This isn't normal." – Jay stated after taking down a couple of Fossil Brawlers and looked at Alice for confirmation.
"No. This most definitely isn't. First the Triceraclaw from last night, now this. These monsters aren't supposed to go this north, at least, I'm absolutely positive the heat is too much for Frilled Fiends. And it's an anomaly for others to be present here too. These are definitely under control of some sort of Fusion. What exactly is Fuse playing at?"
"This path… If they continue north from here, wouldn't they pass close to the Providence outpost?" – Jay asked.
"Yeah, but normally, the Agents would have wiped them out easily. I don't think most of these would put up much of a fight in the heat." – Alice pointed at the remains of the Fossil Brawlers on the ground. "Speaking of which…" – she muttered as she got several tiny vials from her Bunny Bag and started examining the remains.
"What's special about these?" – Jay asked her, as she hadn't collected samples from any other monster they'd met so far.
"The Fossil Brawlers collect the dinosaur DNA they Fusions have been gathering inside their "eggs". Each one of them is a goldmine for Winthrop to study. And then they deliver the DNA samples to Terrafusers to attempt to create new, more dangerous monsters, or improve the existing ones." – Alice explained.
"If they're delivering DNA somewhere north…" – Jay muttered.
"Yeah. They might be delivering the DNA to other areas around the island." – Alice concluded. "Huntor's Crest. Hero's Hollow. The Precipice."
"To breed new monsters there?"
"Maybe. But it still doesn't explain the presence of any of these other ones. Well, at least now we know where yesterday's Triceraclaw came from. Must have strayed from the path as it was migrating north. To Huntor's Crest, maybe?"
"Huntor will probably have seen these migrations on the monitors. They probably are aware already, so we should pursue more pressing matters." – Jay said. "Demongo is out there."
"Yeah, as soon after I'm done with these samples." – Alice answered. "Winthrop will want to know if they were carrying anything special."
Soon, they landscape started changing. As they left the rivers of lava behind, they could see more and more trees, live green trees ahead of them. They had almost crossed into Dinosaur Pass. From there, they headed west, along the border to the mountains, and kept on going uphill. Soon, even the heat was behind them.
"Are you certain this is where Demongo passed?" – Jay asked her.
"Naver said Demongo was passing by the Infected Zone while heading south. He could have just flown from Huntor's directly towards Forsaken, but he took a detour. And the settlement is the only noteworthy landmark for miles. So, yeah, this is probably it." – Alice told him. "Come on, we're almost there."
The wind got stronger as they scaled the mountain. Contrasting the Fireswamps, it was bone-chillingly cold, and Alice was shivering so much that she even started clicking her teeth. She never really needed to wear anything too worm while living in the Fireswamps, so she got too accustomed to the heat. Jay, however, didn't mind the wind one bit.
"Aren't you cold?" – Alice asked, or rather, yelled, to be heard over the wind's howl.
"Not if I ignore it." – Jay answered laconically. Alice was astounded by his… what was it? Dedication? Or stubbornness?
They followed up a path so narrow it was best not to use the vehicles. Alice was relieved to get to use her muscles to warm up, at least. To their left was an unscalable cliff, while to their right they had a view overlooking the entire Fireswamps. The fire, the lava, the charred ground, all of it mixed into one giant blur of orange and gray. A view from the top down always made everything seem beautiful as long as you forgot about the dangers it entailed. From up there, the only distinguishable thing was the white wall of the Providence outpost remains, which kinda looked like an eyesore to Alice, messing up the color pallet. The thing that the entire outpost depended on for safety, but it looked so underwhelming, so fragile from up there. She looked closer to see if she could see any more Fusion monsters migrating, but Jay didn't seem to notice her stopping as he kept on going ahead. Alice was almost hypnotized by the view, and gazing upon the red and orange fields even made her forget she was cold. When Alice snapped out of it, Jay was already far away, and she had to move quickly to catch up, but running on a path this narrow, along a fall from this height, didn't seem like the wisest thing to do. Still, she summoned Nano Rex to move a bit faster and had her hand ready on the NanoCom in case she'd have to summon Nano Finn to help with a jump.
As she caught up to Jay, he was already at the settlement, exploring the area and examining it with the Spectral Detector. Alice looked around. From what she remembered, this area was the same as before – a number of stone huts was all that remained of the inhabitants' houses. Some triangular, some square, and only one in the middle was circular. Most of the straw roofs were collapsed or decayed, though almost all the walls remained intact. Besides the houses, there was a cave opening in the cliff.
Alice was hoping that the settlement would be enclosed by the mountains and provide a shelter from the wind, but it was even stronger and louder there. In fact, it produced a weird humming whistle, like blowing a bottle tip for music.
"There you are." – Jay said loudly when he saw her, trying to drown out the wind. "Does anything look different to you? Anything Demongo might have tampered with?"
Alice looked around once more. "Nope. Everything is as it was when I was here before."
"The ruined houses, this cave, everything?"
"Yeah. Well, did you check inside the cave?" – Alice asked him.
"I was about to. Come on. But stay alert, this might be a Fusion Lair." – Jay warned her.
A Fusion Lair, however, it was not. The cave didn't go in deep, it led into a rectangular-shaped chamber walled with stone bricks. It was empty. The only notable thing was the scriptures on the walls, both painted and carved in stone. Whatever it was, at least it wasn't as cold, as the wind didn't make it into the chamber. Hell, it couldn't even be heard from the inside.
Alice and Jay turned on their flashlights in their NanoComs and approached the walls to inspect the carvings. From up close, you could even sense a specific smell that you might be familiar with if you've explored ancient ruins or lost temples. The smell of the ancient, of the old, of the unknown. The smell almost as old as time itself.
"Kai Green, another one of the Secret Scientists, said these scriptures are unlike any other ancient civilization she's come across before. She's still trying to decipher them, the last I heard." – Alice told Jay.
Jay looked closer and ran his fingers over the incisions in the stone.
"Wouldn't do that if I were you. Might turn it to dust and ruin the writing." – Alice told him.
"Was anything else here? Anything Demongo might have taken?" – Jay asked her.
"I think there were some old artifacts, like a dino skull turned into a headdress and, uh, mammoth-like tusks? There were also various musical instruments and a bunch of other tools, all carved out of bones. And prehistoric animal skins. Kai took them for examination. She said they might have served some sort of ritualistic or shamanistic purpose? But nothing here suggests Demongo did anything, though. At least, nothing we can tell. Is the Spectral Detector picking up on anything?" – Alice asked.
Jay went around the cave, holding out the detector. "Same readings as outside. A bit stronger. He lingered here, but what he did or where he went, I don't know. At least we have confirmation he was here." – he added. He walked around the room with the device held out. "This is where the energy reading is the strongest." – he stopped in the dead center of the room. "Nothing else to do unless we can translate the scriptures on the wall." – he added after looking around the chamber one more time.
"Hold up." – Alice said. "Huntor!" – and she rushed outside. Jay followed, not exactly understanding what she was planning on doing.
"Knowing Huntor and his surveillance, he definitely has a camera around here somewhere. Not in the cave, since that'd be too easy to find, but with a settlement like this, he definitely would have planted one somewhere around in case something important happened. To witness it." – Alice told him when both of them were outside.
"I wouldn't put it past him. We should have asked him to review the footage while we were there." – he said.
"You tell him that the next time, but I think he can help us solve these scriptures. He must have some sort of translator. I doubt he actually speaks English himself. And, well, the way these universal translators work is they can even decipher new languages not in its database. So, it might translate the writing on the walls as well." – she told him. "ARE YOU HEARING THIS? IF ANYONE'S WATCHING, GET THE TRANSLATOR TO THE CAVES HERE. OR GET ONE TO US." – she yelled so that whoever was watching the monitors in Huntor's Nest would hear her.
"But what if Huntor doesn't have one like that?" – Jay asked her.
"Then we go up to the Precipice and ask the Plumbers. I heard from Zak, uh… Zak Saturday that their badges are outfitted with translators as well.
Jay shrugged. Deciphering the writings could be important, but there was a possibility that they were scripted decades or centuries ago. He's been on his mission long enough to know not to leave any piece of evidence behind, as insignificant as it might seem at first, so he'd come back to this if all the other leads were exhausted. Plus, he was already running out of other leads. Still, this seemed like an obsession of a girl that wanted to know everything about everything.
Alice repeated her message to the cameras a couple of times, as there was no way to know for sure if anyone heard her. After examining the settlement and the houses one last time, Alice and Jay headed for the river to refill their water supply.
"If Plumbers have translators like that, why haven't the Scientists used one to translate the writing until now?" – Jay asked as Alice was washing her face in the river.
"Man, that was nice." – she muttered after washing off the soap and putting it in a compartment of her Bunny Bag. "The translators? Well, Kai is the one researching those ruins, and she doesn't like using those things. Translators like that use patterns to develop an algorithm deciphering foreign text, but obviously, they're prone to make mistakes. It's better to figure it out yourself, you know?" – Alice explained.
"She could translate it and then double-check herself to see if it's correct."
"That won't work either. Confirmation bias. Too many mistakes slip by already, and it's a lot cleaner. So, since it didn't seem urgent or anything, Kai was deciphering it on her own. But now, she isn't here, and all of a sudden we need the translation because it seems to be of interest for Demongo." – she told him as she filled up her water container in the river.
"Now that it's better done sooner, yes, we should use that translator." – Jay answered.
Before they took off for Dinosaur Pass, they took a short break to eat. It was nothing special – more generic Providence provisions for Alice, this time a weird salad that didn't seem to have anything green in it. Jay had a squished "Piles O' Honey" candy bar. Lunchtime went by in silence. After that, they headed towards the Infected Zone.
"It's a waste of time. Why do we even need an RV?" – Jay asked as they were making their way through the jungle.
"Naver said it was full of SACT equipment. They were researching monsters down there, it will probably have lots of useful data." – Alice answered.
"None of which is relevant right now. Nothing there will help us track down Demongo."
"It's also good shelter for the night!"
"No, the Providence tank was a good shelter. It was equipped with weapons suited to fight off hordes of Fusions. This they will tear down like foil."
"Well, what if it rains?"
"Rain neither hinders nor bothers me. It's a minor nuisance at best."
"We should still get the RV. It's on our way there anyway!" – Alice objected.
"I still think it's a waste of time. You haven't brought up a valid reason to get the SACT RV. But, do as you will." – Jay answered, annoyed. Alice regretted pushing so hard – maybe she was going overboard with it, but as Jay had already agreed she decided to leave the matter as it was.
"How much further, anyway?" – Jay asked.
"Naver said that the SACT camp was at the entrance of the Infected Zone, so it can't be that far." – Alice answered. Soon enough, they saw an RV ahead of them, but as they entered the camp and got off their hoverboards, their petty squabble was completely forgotten.
The bodies of three SACT Agents lay on the ground. One impaled through the chest and the back, other two gnawed to death. Alice's face went completely white, reminded of the massacre at the Fireswamps. Jay just stared without an expression, already completely numb to the horrors of war.
"Poor Naver." – Alice muttered. "Can't imagine how hard it must have been for him, experiencing all this on his first day of… of himself."
"Come on. Let's just take the RV and leave." – Jay answered grimly.
"But what do we do about the bodies? We can't just leave them here!"
"We shouldn't be wasting any more time. Demongo's trail is getting colder by the minute." – Jay answered.
"This isn't just "wasting time". These people deserve to be buried!"
"They're already dead. There's nothing we can do for them."
"But… but don't you have any compassion?!" – Alice yelled. "Doesn't any of this feel wrong to you?" – she asked, her voice breaking up, as she went to one of the bodies. She bent down and looked at the dead girl's face closely. Her eyes were still open, gazing expressionlessly into the void above. Alice felt sad, or angry, or regretful, or… she didn't even know what to call this feeling. She closed the eyes and grabbed the body by the shoulders to tried to move it closer to the others.
Jay stared at her, then sighed and started helping her.
"Digging three graves would take too much time, we'd be here till nightfall, but we could move the three of them into that tent that's still intact." – Jay said.
Alice didn't respond, so Jay took the lack of protest as a yes.
"And sorry for… how I reacted. I'm used to seeing things like this, but I forgot others weren't."
"It's okay. It's just pragmatic thinking." – Alice responded. "You were right, of course. Besides, what would we even dig with? We don't have any shovels."
After the three SACT Agents were laid to rest in their tent, Alice and Jay stepped into the RV. Alice threw a look at the SACT technology inside, then looked back to see the things they were leaving behind.
"Can you drive? I want to look at this stuff on the way." – Alice asked Jay.
"I don't think I should. I never learned how to drive the non-hover vehicles." – he answered.
"Seriously?" – Alice laughed. "Well, I'm the one that wanted the RV, so it's only fair that I drive. Could you at least watch that stuff in the back? I don't want to get it damaged. It does belong to SACT, after all."
Alice started the RV. The noise of the engine was so loud that it felt morbid – loud noise always attracts all kinds of monsters. But, as they left the wrecked campsite and she got used to the revving engine, she felt a little bit better.
Once again, Alice found herself in a situation where the "silence" (only broken by the vehicle) felt tense. Jay was sitting right next to her. She felt awkward. After the last time she tried to start a conversation, she wasn't too eager on trying it again.
"You're going to drive silently?" – Jay broke the ice this time.
"You want me to look for excuses to start an argument again?" – Alice asked and looked over at Jay. "Well, you prefer to keep quiet, and I don't think we have a lot to talk about, anyway."
"I'm just used to the silence. I enjoyed the conversation about choices and possibilities of the future, though."
"But then you said, and I quote, do you really wanna talk or were you looking for someone to argue with."
"That came off too rude. Sorry. Truth be told, I was stimulated by the arguing. Haven't held a recreational conversation in… months."
"Yeah, I can tell." – Alice chuckled. "Nobody calls them recreational conversations, dude. It's just small talk. Come on, you never talk to anyone?"
Jay shook his head. "I work with other people occasionally. But only when it concerns the mission. Not exactly any room for "small talk" usually." – he said. "It's getting dark." – he then remarked as he looked through the windshield. "We should call it off for the night."
"Really? I thought the "no time to waste" guy would have us on the road all night long."
"You might be used to the Fireswamps being illuminated all night, but the creatures in the rest of the island are extremely deadly at night, in the dark."
"Really, you're the one telling me about the monsters?" – Alice asked and laughed again. "But, you're right, they are dangerous. Plus, with the unusual migration patterns, I don't know what even to expect. Yeah, we should call it a night after a couple of miles."
For a moment, they drove in silence as the final rays of sunlight ran out.
"Why exactly did you want the RV?" – he asked Alice. "I know it wasn't for any of the reasons you brought up."
"Oh, it's…" – and Alice laughed awkwardly. "It's something stupid. I just wanted an… opportunity to take a shower, that's all. But, with what we saw at the camp, it really put into perspective how petty I was being."
"Oh. So that's what it was."
"Yep." – she chuckled awkwardly. "Told you, it was something stupid. Especially to you. Shala was right, you really put the mission above everything else. Maybe you need a shower even more than I do." – Alice looked at him and smiled.
"We'll see about that." – Jay said, and smiled back.
"I'm still not really comfortable with the monkey driving." – Providence Agent Valdez remarked from the back seat.
"Noted." – Bobo responded from behind the wheel. Not two seconds later the left part of the off-roader (where Valdez was sitting) drove over a huge bump that made Valdez bounce in his seat.
"That's probably the safest turn you've made so far today." – Valdez remarked.
"It was nice of Huntor to lend us the ride. You should probably not ruin it, you know." – SACT Agent Bock told Bobo.
"Would have been nicer if he'd lent us another one. My buttcheeks are getting cramped back here." – Shala said from behind Naver. They still had to share Naver's scooter.
"He's stingy like that. And I'd like to see you drive it, Valdez. This is an advanced… uh, extra-terrestrial automobile." – Bobo said. "Only I know how to handle it."
"You learned the controls when were trapped with Huntor?" – Naver asked.
"No. I did not." – Bobo answered and gave a slight smirk. Valdez rolled his eyes.
"I've been meaning to ask you." – SACT Agent Bock asked Providence Agent Valdez. "What is you guys' deal?"
"What do you mean?" – Valdez retorted.
"Like, Providence. I was at your outpost for a few days and the conditions were kinda crappy. Not that I'm complaining, I know this is a war, but there was some minor stuff. You know, like no water heaters or proper toilers or coffee machines. At first, I thought it was just your Captain being a hardass, but I've noticed a couple other things too. I've been constantly hearing about how Providence can't afford to rebuild the base or send in more supplies. SACT never has problems like that."
"Oh, that." – Valdez answered. "Bock, my man, the answer is simple. Both are shady paramilitary organizations that neutralize threats, sure, but there is one huge difference between Providence and SACT."
"Providence deals with EVOs and SACT deals with aliens?" – Bock asked.
"No. I mean, yes, that too, that is obvious, but that's not what I meant. Anyway, it's not like there's too many EVOs left. We fight whatever threat rises up. But no, the main difference I was talking about is how SACT is a government organization while Providence is privately funded."
"Oh, I didn't know that. So who's loaded enough to bankroll this operation?" – Bock asked him.
"See, that's the problem. Originally, during the EVO days, Providence was conceived by this group called the Consortium. Oil company CEO billionaires and other assholes like that. But then they tried to absorb the power of, uh, some Master Nanites I think, and tried to take over the world. Rex stopped them, also he cured almost every single EVO in the process, but when all was said and done, Providence was both out of a cause and out of the means to achieve it, because, well, the guys bankrolling the operation all went to prison. Hell, there were whispers about shutting down and disbanding Providence altogether, but then Planet Fusion started invading and, well, we got a new reason to keep going. Long story short, this is why we had an outhouse instead of real toilets." – Valdez concluded.
"So that's what it is. Were you an Agent during the Nanite Event?" – Bock asked.
"Nah, I only joined recently. But if you want to hear more about the old days of Providence, you should ask Fortier. He's been there since the very beginning."
Fortier, who was sitting in the front, ignored them.
"He doesn't seem that talkative, though." – Bock remarked.
"Hey, why are you guys acting like I'm not here? You can hear all the top-secret Providence stories, straight from the monkey's mouth." – Bobo told them.
"Not a reliable source. He embellishes." – Valdez whispered over to Bock.
While Valdez and Bock were bickering with Bobo, much to Fortier's annoyance, Shala and Naver were holding their own conversation.
"Hey. Naver. Remember that girl from the medbay at Huntor's?"
"The one with no arm?"
"No, the other one. The one you were talking to."
"Oh yeah, Cindy. What about her?"
"Do you think she digs me?"
Naver looked back at Shala.
"I am not having this conversation right now."
"Okay, okay, if you like her, she's totally yours."
"Dude."
"Eyes on the road, Naver!"
Naver quickly looked back.
"So. Do you?"
"Do I what?"
"Do you think you can set me up with her?"
"DUDE!"
It was officially nighttime. They had parked the RV in a clearing in case they needed space for a quick getaway in the night. The dark jungle was partially illuminated by the warm, yellow light coming from the inside of the RV. As Jay was doing his push-ups on the floor, Alice was familiarizing herself with SACT's Fusion-related equipment. There was an air radar to track Terrordactyl and Horrordactyl movements locally. A Signal Tracker, which was labelled as the "Frilled Finder", was obviously there to monitor Frilled Fiend/Frilled Killer activity and any radio waves they might be sending out or receiving. It usually could identify groups of 3 or 4 but now, without the background noise coming from Mandark's ship, even lone Frilled Killers and Frilled Fiends could be singled out and tracked. Luckily, there were none in the vicinity. Next to the "Frilled Finder" there was a DNA analyzer – for the Fossil Brawler eggs. Alice knew Jon Winthrop had something similar at the Providence base before it got wrecked. Besides those, there were other gadgets that Alice already was familiar with, such as a Power Level Detector, which interpreted Fusion monsters' raw power, or a Fusion Matter Scanner, which analyzed raw Fusion Matter as well as Terrafuser pods collected from the Infected Zone. Besides Fusion scanners there was also a Fullbore Bazooka there. Alice wondered if the SACT agents got to use it when they were attacked. Probably not.
Both Alice and Jay were wide awake and ready to go at sunrise. Jay said he didn't mind sleeping on the floor, and Alice, still astounded by Jay's ability not to get inconvenienced by anything, slept in the driver's seat, as the RV had no beds. Most of the back space was occupied by the SACT tech, but Jay had found a spot to himself.
"Anything happen last night? Any attacks?" – she asked Jay as she got up to stretch her legs. Jay didn't respond, so that meant nothing had happened.
"Okay. Let's get on the road." – she said, got back into the driver's seat and started the car.
They went on the road, again, with silence. There was no tension between them anymore, but Alice still wanted to talk with him. But what would they even be talking about? Jay didn't seem to want to talk about his time travel adventures. She knew he wasn't used to human interaction, so initiating a conversation would still be up to her, but she found it hard herself too.
"So, uh… Hey, you should check – does this car have any tunes?" – Alice finally asked. "Because it looks like there's a CD slot right there."
Jay looked in several compartments and found a stack of disks.
"Which one do you want?" – he asked her.
"Well, which ones are they?"
"Let's see here. Solid Bold." – Jay looked at one.
"Haven't heard of those. Pass."
"Adrenaline?"
"Maybe. What else?"
"Fist pump. Shag Carpeting. The Mighty Weasels. Barracuda Deathwish…?"
"Did a '90s punk get a hold of a time machine and then join the SACT? You'd know if there was someone like that, right?" – Alice asked Jay.
"No one comes to mind."
"It was a rhetorical question." – Alice shook her head.
"Just speak clearly." – Jay rolled his eyes. "Here's one not from the '90s. Dog Toy. I think this is that one that girls used to like, right?"
"You try to play that and I'm drowning this RV in the river." – Alice objected. "Okay, you play whatever. Except Dog Toy."
"I think I vaguely remember Solid Bold." – Jay said as he put the tape in.
"So the great Time Ranger has unlocked another memory of being human – listening to music. Hold on, Solid Bold… Is it that one song that would play everywhere in the summer?" – Alice asked.
Jay struggled to open the plastic CD case because he couldn't find where to open it from, then he used too much force and the disk fell out of the case and fell on the ground. He quickly grabbed it and put it in the CD slot.
The player started blasting music:
"It's Summertime and you know what that means.
Gonna head down to the beach and do some beachy things.
It's Summertime, it feels just ri-"
Suddenly, something orange jumped flashed in front of the RV. Alice couldn't break in time and she hit the creature, which froze like a deer in the headlights. The RV shook and Alice and Jay were thrust forward, but held back by the seatbelts. As Alice peeped through the windshield to see what it was she just hit, Jay rushed outside to finish it off.
"It's Summertime luh-uh-vee-ing,
It's loving in the Summertime! (It's Summertime!)"
"Quickly, Jay! It's a Frilled Killer! Destroy it before it signals the other monsters to come!" – she shouted, and Jay had already blown it to bits with the Couture Rifle. Alice rushed towards the Frilled Finder in the back of the van.
"Oh, no." – she muttered. She ran back to the steering wheel as quickly as she could and hit the gas before Jay even got the chance to close the outside door. In doing so, she accidentally brushed her hand against the music console.
"Gonna call you on the phone, gonna take you on a date.
It's Summertime and I hope you like steak."
"What's wrong?" – he asked her.
"Oh, nothing, nothing, it's just that this was a goddamn Frilled Killer and it had already sent a signal to the others about human activity here. Soon the rest of them will be sending other monsters en masse to take care of us. Why couldn't it have been a Fossil Brawler or a Terrordactyl or even a goddamn Triceraclops!" – she yelled as she was steering around trees.
And speak of the devil, Jay saw a couple of Triceraclopses following the RV and even catching up.
"Slow down. I'm gonna lean outside and shoot them." – Jay told Alice as he opened the door.
"No, you stay back there and hold on to something. Make sure nothing breaks. I've got this." – Alice shouted as she made a sharp turn to the left, dodging a charging Triceraclops.
"It's Summertime luh-uh-vee-ing,
My baby why can't you be mine?"
Something in the Frilled Finder in the back snapped loudly, and Jay assumed it was the mechanism holding it in place. He grabbed it with one hand so that it didn't fell over while grabbing a handle with his other hand so that he himself didn't fall over.
"They're coming in for another attack!" – Jay yelled.
"I see them!" – Alice responded.
Deciding that steering away wouldn't be enough to get away from the Triceraclopses, Jay got a Grape Grenade from his pouch and threw it out of the still open door at the monster. However, Alice braked hard at that exact moment, and as Jay wasn't holding onto anything he fell down and tumbled all the way back to the front, with his back on the floor.
"It's Summertime and I hope you like steak.
Gonna take you to a restaurant, and eat it at the lake."
The song remained ignored as there was another loud clang, and both Alice and Jay looked towards the back to see the Frilled Finder now hanging onto a thread.
"Just stop the RV, we'll take them on!" – Jay shouted.
"No way, there's at least like, 15 of them, they'll tear the equipment to bits!" – Alice responded.
"These sensors are this important to you?" – Jay asked her as he quickly sprang up on his feet.
"Doubt there are other models here in the Darklands, and before we reestablish contact these are the only ones we've got. You hold onto that, I'll take care of the monsters." – Alice answered as she rolled down the window. Now she was maneuvering at top speed around the trees, rocks and incoming Triceraclopses as well as shooting with her Cortex Disruptor out of the window.
"(It's Summertime!)"
After the next Triceraclops attacked from the right, Alice hit the brakes, the Triceraclops missed and plummeted right into the river's valley. Jay was in the back, while not being able to shoot, still helping out with Nanos.
He summoned Nano Buttercup. "Let's get 'em!" – she yelled as he sent her to Stun the Triceraclops. As she recharged her ability, he summoned Nano Val Halen.
"-call you on the phone, gonna take you on a date."
"Oh, snap! Oh, snap!" – Val Halen yelled as he played a clashing tune to Drain the triceraclops. All Jay could do was alternate between the two Nanos, as his third Nano, Rook, could only Heal.
"To hell with this!" – he thought as the RV sustained another hit. He broke the Frilled Finder off the back wall, which would now roll around the RV freely, then he rolled it towards the door and, with one hand pushing the massive scanner against the wall, started firing with his free hand.
"You'll lose your balance!" – Alice shouted when she saw what he was doing.
"Look who's talking!" – Jay answered, as Alice had taken off her safety belt and was leaning halfway through the window, with only one arm on the steering wheel.
"Gonna take you to a restaurant, gonna eat enough till late."
Now, they heard noises of something landing on the roof.
"Terrordactyls? Now?! Fucking hell!" – Alice yelled.
While Alice was looking up, another Triceraclops hit the RV from the side, causing the Frilled Finder to fall over. Jay caught it and put it down smoothly, hoping for the best. At least now that it was on the floor, he'd be able to focus on the monsters. Immediately, he ran out the moving RV's door, bounced off of the Triceraclops' back and landed on the roof. He held his legs in tone and ready in case Alice made a sharp brake or swerve, but also light enough that he'd dodge a Terrordactyl attack. He blasted the ones on the roof and looked up for others trying to sweep from above.
"It's Summertime and when the end is near.
Gonna hold you very close. Whisper "let's get out of here".
Jay Stunned the Triceraclops running alongside the RV with his Buttercup Nano, then shot it in the legs to make it trip. They were already far ahead by the time the Triceraclops recovered.
Alice saw the drawbridge over the river up ahead – could she dare do it? The bridge was big, but at the same time, it was wooden. However, it was their best shot at leaving the Triceraclopses behind, and if they didn't manage to do that, the RV would get wrecked either way. So she made a sharp turn and drove over the bridge. Jay, still on the roof, realized what she was doing and as soon as they were over the bridge, shot at the ropes holding it up. A couple Triceraclopses that were on it plummeted into the river, another one was right at the edge and couldn't stop the inertia, so it fell over too. The others stopped and turned back.
Jay climbed back into the RV, with Nano Val Halen following him.
"It's Summertime luh-uh-vee-ing,
It's loving in the Summertime. (It's Summertime!)"
Alice shut the music off.
"Oh my god, this song was on repeat all this time and I didn't have a chance to shut it off. Now I remember why I hated it so much!" – she said.
"I liked it." – Jay muttered.
"Oh snap, oh snap, come to our macaroni party then we'll take a nap. Oh snap, oh snap, come to our macaroni party then we'll take a nap." – Jay's Nano Val Halen was saying, over and over again.
"See? It somehow even broke your Nano." – Alice pointed out. Jay pressed a button and let his Nano disappear to rest. He was about to sit down on the front seat, but then something slammed into the side of the RV again – a Terrordactyl swooping in, still chasing the vehicle.
"I'll get it." – Alice stopped the car and sighed.
End of Chapter 12.
Extract from Alice Quickfeet's Fusion Monster research log:
Frilled Killer
Fusion Matter type: Cosmix
Power Level: 28
Boss: Amped Frilled Killer
Location: Forsaken Valley
Height: 6'-6'4''
Boss height: 6'8''-7'2''
Weight: 180-250 lb. (varies)
Boss weight: 220-280 lb.
Special types of attack:
Eruption: Yes
Corruption: Cosmix
Stun
Description:
Short, bipedal. Bears the closest resemblance to the Dilophosaurus, but with major differences, the most striking ones being the huge metal neck frills. Another body part that is metal in most specimens is the large tail. The metals were originally remains of the several attempts to build radar or radio stations in Forsaken Valley and Dinosaur Pass. After frequent monster raids, the idea was abandoned, but Fuse now has managed to build his own radio technology for the Frilled Killers and Frilled Fiends.
Behavior:
The primary purpose of the Frilled Killer is to collect, share, or relay information. They observe Forsaken Valley and upon human detection alert the network other Frilled Killers, who, in turn, notify other Fusion monsters in the area. Because of this, Fusion movement in Forsaken Valley and analogically, Dinosaur Pass is very coordinated. They also receive information (mostly orders) from Fusions and Fuse himself, then transmit it to the rest of the Darklands or the mainland. Frilled Killers are the fastest route of information relay between Fuse's Lair and other parts of the world.
Frilled Killers most commonly travel in groups of four, with one of them being the Amped Frilled Killer. The Amped one coordinates the flow of data to or from a nexus of Frilled Killers. Occasionally, a single Frilled Killer can also be seen roaming around. Reason for this is still unknown.
When detecting a human, the Frilled Killers (contrary to their name) are rather passive. More often than not they will simply alert other monsters of human activity and only engage if they are forced to. However, the Frilled Fiends in Dinosaur Pass differ from this, as they will attack just like any other monster.
Since Frilled Killers are in constant radio communication, they are easier to track and find than other monsters. However, the vicinity of the Mandark airship makes this difficult, as any signal Frilled Killers might be giving off are overshadowed by the ship itself. Frilled Killers' radio signal could sometimes mess up an individual's reception. Whether this is intentional to cut off an individual human's comms or just a byproduct for their information relay unclear.
Attempts at intercepting and deciphering the signal have been made, but they were only successful through using Fusion Uplinks. However, Fuse often changes frequencies, so it's impossible to have a firm grasp.
Frilled Killers are as active during the day as they are in the night. I suspect they even work in shifts – some rest during the day so that they can keep the constant contact up during the night. However, this has not yet been confirmed.
Area spread:
Frilled Killers are found everywhere in Forsaken Valley, however, a lot of them congregate on the tall cliff to the east near the beach. I suspect this is where the signal to the mainland is the strongest. They also freely move around in Dinosaur Pass with no conflict between them and their Frilled Fiend counterparts.
There have been sightings of Frilled Killers deep in the Darklands, around Fuse's lair. However, no reports have been confirmed yet.
Fusions don't often use Frilled Killers. I suspect this is because Fusion control shuts down their communication ability. However, Fusions stay in constant contact with them, giving out orders.
Known Fusions that have controlled Frilled Killers:
Fusion Hex
UPDATE: 14/03
Need to examine Frilled Killer activity now that the airship is gone. However, with most of the Frilled Killers migrating north, this might be hard.