Chapter 13 – SACT Contact
Shala and Naver were riding on Naver's scooter, at this point worn out from sitting in the same pose for hours on a seat meant for one. Shala was still the one sitting behind. They had tried swapping places before, but it was even more uncomfortable for both parties involved. Now, they were following Bobo and the other Agents' off-roader, heading towards the SACT Huntor's Crest outpost.
"Hey, Shala…" – Naver said.
"Yo."
"You think we might meet someone at that camp that already met me? You know, before I lost my memories."
"Yeah, probably. Unless you arrived on the airship recently, that is." – Shala answered.
"So, we might find someone there?"
"I guess." – Shala told him. "You still thinking about who you were before?" – he added.
"Well, yeah. Not much else to think about."
"Maybe you were a superhero. I mean, you do have superpowers." – Shala suggested.
"A superhero? Come on. There's no way." – Naver said and laughed.
"Hey, you never know."
"Come on, if I were a superhero, I would have been famous."
"Nope. Well, not necessarily. There are lots of heroes out there who do good deeds in secret." – Shala told him.
"Name one." – Naver demanded.
"Well, if I could name them, they wouldn't be doing it in secret, would they?" – Shala retorted.
"Well what about that whole Dexlabs mass surveillance thing you talked about?"
"Whole lot of good that did. Couldn't even help us find Buttercup when she was right under our noses this whole time." – Shala explained. "OH! There! Buttercup!" – he yelled.
"Where?" – Naver looked up.
"Not there. I mean, Buttercup. There you go. A superhero that got amnesia. Happens all the time. Maybe the same happened to you."
"Okay, name another one then." – Naver demanded again.
"Uhh…" – Shala started thinking. "I'm blanking out."
"Keep it up and you'll be the next superhero with amnesia." – Naver laughed. Shala did too.
"For that I'd have to be super first. Okay, I'm pretty sure other heroes have gotten amnesia then gotten over it too."
"Rex!" – Bobo yelled from the car up ahead.
"Huh?" – Shala asked.
"Rex had amnesia!" – Bobo yelled again.
"There you go." – Shala said, satisfied.
"Did he get over it?" – Naver asked Bobo eagerly.
"Nah!" – Bobo yelled.
"Oh."
They drove in silence, only interrupted by Shala mumbling about "ass blisters". The journey wasn't exactly monster-free, but with four Agents, as well as Shala and Naver, the constant Fusionfly raids were just a minor inconvenience.
"It's getting dark." – Shala remarked.
"Huntor's Crest has been dark all day, though. – Naver responded.
"Yeah, but the degree of darkness usually varies on the time of the day. And it's pretty late now, so it's about to be nighttime."
"You think we'll reach the outpost before then?" – Naver asked.
"We better! It's been a long day of riding scooters and fighting Fusions, preceded by another long day of walking on foot and fighting Triceraclaws. I'm gonna rest in a nice, comfy bed. And hopefully, I'll sleep through the entire day, too, cause tomorrow I'll probably have a massive headache."
"How do you know?"
"Caffeine withdrawal. You know, because of all the Radicola that I have NOT been able to drink these past few days… The headache usually hits in a couple days after I stop drinking." – Shala told him.
"How the hell does that work?"
"When you drink coffee or soda or anything with caffeine in it, your blood vessels in the brain dilate." – Shala started explaining. "When you drink it regularly, well, two or three cans a day, the vessels get used to the constant dilated state. And now that I'm "clean" the vessels are gonna be contracting again and the brain's not used to that anymore. So, this is gonna hurt like hell."
"Didn't realize you ever stopped drinking. Well, how long does the headache usually last?"
"You know… I never really lasted that long to find out. I just keep drinking." – Shala said.
"So this is the state that Radicola brings you to… but you still won't admit that you have a problem?" – Naver asked.
"Hey, keep up that talk and then WE'RE gonna have a problem." – Shala said jokingly. Naver laughed.
"Seriously, you need to lay off of it for longer. Or at least, drink a normal amount." – Naver told him.
"Oh, look at Mr. Straight Edge here, never tried Radicola and already lecturing others. You probably don't remember what the normal amount would be."
"True, but I still doubt three cans a day is not going over the line."
"I said two OR three. Actually… for all you know, you might have been drinking it more than me and you just don't remember it." – Shala retorted.
"Come on, I think I'd know if I was a Radicola addict."
"Would you?"
"Hey, wouldn't I also be getting these so called "withdrawals" you're claiming to have?"
"Huh, it just so happens that you were having massive headaches back when I first found you. Case in point: withdrawal symptoms."
"Okay, but that's not… I mean, it's because of the… Come on, you know that's not true. And anyway, nobody could outdrink you!"
"Yeah, you got that part right." – Shala smiled. For a moment, they neither of them said a word. Now they could hear Valdez and Bobo arguing in the car in front of them.
"Monkey brains aren't evolved to drive!"
"Better monkey brains than no brains!"
"Cut it out. Now!"
"Shut up, Fortier!"
Valdez was reaching over from the back seat and trying to wrestle the steering wheel out of Bobo's hands. It wasn't working.
"So, what do you want to do when we get to the camp?" – Shala asked Naver.
"I'm looking forward to it. This is gonna first time I'll be seeing so many people in one place together, you know? I'm not exactly sure why, but I wanna get to know more people." – Naver answered.
"Settling in, huh? I thought you were gonna leave this place as quickly as possible."
"I haven't… I don't know. I'm not sure anymore, I guess. I wasn't even sure back when I said it. But now, I had this conversation with Huntor earlier. I thought about how he's been hiding out, all alone, in a secret bunker, when he could have been helpful to us. At first, I, uh… I felt… disgust at his lack of compassion, you know, how can someone abstain from helping when they know they can save so many lives… But then I realized, that was exactly what I would be doing if I decided to leave the Darklands. It kinda hit me right in the face. Full speed. So, uh… Yeah, I don't know."
"Wow. And you came to that conclusion all by yourself too, without Jay threatening you or anything. Cool." – Shala said.
"Yeah." – Naver repeated absent-mindedly. "Cool".
It wasn't long before they saw the outpost walls through the distance. Seeing man-made structures in the wild, especially at nightfall, is always a special comfort for weary travellers. Shala's entire body started getting ready to fall asleep, while Naver was still anxious to meet new people.
As Bobo stopped the vehicle ahead of them, finally rid of Valdez's (literal) backseat driving, Shala and Naver got off the scooter and it disappeared into Naver's NanoCom. "Ahhhhh, my cheeks are free, finally." – Shala said as he stretched his legs. "I was considering jumping off the scooter altogether and walking to the camp if this went for any longer."
The guys approached the entrance gate, which was guarded by a single SACT Agent.
"Y'all made it after all?" – the Agent asked as he opened the gate. Bobo drove the car inside and Shala and Naver followed.
"We need to talk to Steel ASAP." – SACT Agent Bock told the guard.
"Jenna went to get 'im as soon as we saw you in the distance." – Agent Larry responded. "Is it true? Is the Providence outpost really in shambles?" – he asked the Providence Agents.
"We'll tell the story only once, so it better be when Steel is present." – Agent Fortier responded.
Other people in the outpost noticed the new arrivals already, and with comms cut off, they were desperate for updates about the situation. So, one by one, they started gathering around to see what was going on. Around a third of them were SACT Agents, with the rest being Academy Recruits, a couple Plumbers and even another Providence Agent. Before a crowd could form, someone yelled "DISPERSE!" and everyone took several steps back to watch from afar as Lieutenant Steel approached the newcomers.
As Naver looked at him, his brain started listing information on him. Luckily, he was able to refrain himself from saying them out loud this time. "Lieutenant Christopher M. Steel. Affiliated with Special Alien Containment Team. Height – 6'2'', weight – 192 lbs…" – his mind was racing. "How do I know all this?" – he asked himself, but there was no answer. "Age – 43, blood type – B+. Bold. Assertive. Decisive. Not to be underestimated." All these thoughts were as confusing as ever, but Naver's mental info dump finally stopped when Steel started talking.
"What the hell is going on down there? First the comms are dead, next we get a pair of Recruits saying the Providence outpost has fallen, then the passage to the Firepits is blocked by the monsters. Agent Bock, is that you? What's the situation down there?" – he asked.
"It's true about the outpost, sir. I was there myself." – SACT Agent Bock answered.
"And your partners? Henshaw and McKane?"
"Agent McKane died during the battle, sir. Henshaw's fine, but she chose to… stay behind."
"Stay behind where, exactly? The airship?"
"No, sir. You see, while trying to get to the Crest through a series of underground tunnels, we discovered a…"
As Bock was explaining everything about Huntor and his secret base to Lieutenant Steel, Shala whispered over to Valdez.
"Dude. I thought Alice told me the Providence Captain here died."
"Yeah, he did. That ain't him. Well, Steel does look like him a lot, though."
"You kidding me? They're practically twin brothers! Look, they even got the same scar!" – Shala exclaimed while whispering.
"No, I think Captain Calan had his scar over his eye. Steel's scar is over his nose." – Valdez explained.
"Okay, but you can't convince me that they're not at least related." – Shala told him. Valdez shrugged. "Or clones."
"And how trustworthy is this Huntor?" – Lieutenant Steel asked Agent Bock.
"Not very much. Apparently, he used to be a galactic bounty hunter. Considering he didn't reveal himself to us this entire time…"
"Goddamn alien bounty hunters." – Steel muttered. "Okay. Now." – He looked sharply at Naver. "Who the hell are you and why are you wearing SACT armor?" – he looked at Naver and the name tag on his armor. "I know you're not Agent Ridha. Who deputized him?" – Steel asked Agent Bock.
Naver looked at his name badge on his armor. "I, uh… I was lent this armor by Amara. Uh, Jones, Agent Amara Jones."
"From the Dinosaur Pass team. Yeah, that's where Ridha was. But she shouldn't be handing gear out like that. Is she still at that Infected Zone?"
"No, she's dead. The entire team down there got killed by Dark Horntails."
"And you survived." – Steel raised an eyebrow. "What's going on down there? The comms have been down for days. What happened to the airship?"
"The airship is gone, sir." – Shala interjected. Even though he wasn't an Agent, he still felt the need to call him "sir". He wasn't sure if it was out of respect or of fear, or maybe he just didn't want Steel to start yelling at him for no reason.
"Explain." – Steel demanded.
Shala explained everything about how the fake attack and the massive blast and the disappearance of the airship to Lieutenant Steel (and the rest of the crowd, hungry for news). This being the fourth time he explained all of this to someone in the past two days, he was already getting sick of being the messenger. Though, when that was all done, he also told everyone present all about Fusion Courage's defeat.
"Hrm." – Lieutenant Steel grunted. "Fusion Courage is good news, but the disappearance of the airship… That's not a good thing. You need to find it ASAP. I'd send some of my men to help, but I need all firepower here in case there's a similar siege on my base. Now, Providence." – Steel turned to Bobo, Valdez and Fortier. "Explain your business here."
"What? Can't a chimp enjoy a change of scenery?" – Bobo grinned, but Steel's frown and squinted eyes was so intimidating that Bobo dropped it.
"We were here to accompany Bock and to deliver the news. We'll also be going to the Precipice to check up on the Plumbers." – Fortier said.
"You may stay. Don't cause any trouble while you're here. I don't need another reason to distrust Providence. And you certainly don't need it either." – Steel told them menacingly. "Now, Bock, report to me tomorrow at 7 AM sharp for your assignment, and you two are free to go." – he looked at Shala and Naver. "But you're gonna have to hand the SACT armor in." – he told Naver.
"Wait, what?" – Naver asked.
"You're not an official SACT Agent. I can't let you wear that armor." – Steel explained.
"But I don't have anything else to wear!" – Naver protested.
"Agent Jessop can provide you with other gear. But you can't keep the SACT armor if you're not in the SACT." – Steel told him.
"Well, could I join the SACT, then?" – Naver asked. This question was already in the back of his mind, but he wasn't sure if this was what he wanted or not. Regardless, now, it was out, and Naver would have to face Steel's judgement.
Lieutenant Steel took a moment to think. "Usually, there's extensive training at the base before you're even considered eligible."
"Yeah, but Naver took down an army of Magma Hulks using nothing but an Aerial Slicer, and he was instrumental in taking down Fusion Courage!" – Shala vouched for him.
"Be that as it may… It's not entirely up to me either. There's an entire committee dedicated to recruitment and training, and we've got no way to contact them. Hrm. However, in an emergency situation, I am authorized to deputize individuals if I have to. Before I do that, I'll test your capabilities tomorrow. Myself. But it still won't be fully up to me. It depends on my men, too." – Steel told Naver.
"But you said you were authorized to deputize me!" – Naver objected.
"I am. That's not the problem. You're a random stranger walking in, wearing SACT gear, trying to become one of us. Considering the current situation at camp, you're not going to seem very trustworthy to the other Agents. That creates tension, which creates conflict between our men. There will be no conflict between my men. Tomorrow at this time, I'll ask each SACT Agent present if I should allow you to join. If at least… two thirds of them agree, then you're in. It's up to you to convince them. Until then, you can keep the armor. Dismissed."
Naver looked at Steel as he walked away. Then he looked at everyone else there – the other Agents, who he'd have to somehow convince to let him join the SACT. Well, meeting new people is exactly what he wanted, right? Then he looked at Shala.
"Oh, you're going to leave to look for the airship tomorrow, right?" – he asked him.
"Nah. I needed to rest, and with the headache I'm about to get, I probably wouldn't make any progress anyway. So you can go around the camp tomorrow or whatever it is that you'll be doing, I'll be waiting for you here. Well, somewhere around here. Hey, Bock, where can we rest up?" – he asked Agent Bock.
Bock led Shala and Naver to the hammocks (instead of the nice, comfy beds Shala was hoping for).
"So, what exactly is the situation at camp?" – Naver asked Bock.
"Are you asking about anything in particular, or…?" – Bock responded.
"The Lieutenant said, "considering the current situation, you're not going to seem trustworthy" or something like that. Do you know what exactly he could have meant by it?"
"I, uh… I don't really hang around the outpost, you know, I'm always away on long missions to other bases, so I wouldn't know anything going on here, but I do know that we – as in, the SACT, don't get along with Providence. There's history. So, if I were you, I wouldn't hang around Bobo and the others too much."
"Wait, is that like, a thing that could make people hate me here?" – Naver asked him.
"Not really sure, but if I were you, I'd play it safe. Good luck tomorrow, though. I'll say yes if Steel asks me, by the way." – Agent Bock advised him.
"Yeah. Oh, yeah, thanks for that, dude. Means a lot."
"Well, from what you guys told me about fighting Fusion Courage, you'd be a great SACT. Both of you, actually." – he told Naver and Shala.
"Eh, I'd rather stay solo. You know, flexible hours and stuff." – Shala answered.
"If they were any more flexible, they'd, uh, tie themselves into a knot, dude." – Naver told him.
"Keep working on the roasts, Naver, you can do better than that. Now come on, let's hit the sack." – Shala told him.
As Shala and Naver drifted off to sleep, Agents Valdez, Fortier and Bobo were talking with the Providence Agent stationed at the SACT outpost – Agent Tedford.
"So the Captain's really dead, huh?" – Tedford asked. "Who do I report to now? I believe second in command was Agent Morrison, right?"
"Sadly, Morrison didn't make it either." – Agent Valdez answered.
"Who's the new Captain, then?" – Tedford asked.
"Good old Special Agent Doyle Blackwell." – Bobo answered with a grin.
"Blackwell? Who's Doyle Bl- you don't mean the jetpack jackass, do you?" – Agent Tedford asked, in denial.
"The very same. Well, him and Nixon."
"Crud." – Tedford sighed.
"What's wrong?" – Valdez asked.
"Nothing. I just don't like that dude."
"What'd he ever do to you?"
"Lost a lot of money to that guy on one of the poker nights." – Agent Tedford answered and shook his head. Valdez broke out laughing.
As they were talking, one of the locals, visibly distressed, approached Bobo.
"Oh, thank god, it's true. Another monkey arrived." – he muttered.
"Excuse me?" – Bobo raised an eyebrow.
"I need to get out of here. I'll pay double the fare. Triple. Just take me to the airship." – the guy kept mumbling while holding out his NanoCom in front of Bobo's face.
"Hey, man, lay off."
"Come on, man, come on. Just get me out of here. PLEASE? None of the other monkeys will do it!" – the guy kept trying to scan his NanoCom against Bobo's face, his arms, his body.
THUD. The guy was knocked out cold with the barrel of Fortier's gun.
"That wasn't really necessary." – Valdez remarked.
"He was clearly unstable." – Fortier snarled.
"Well, he was a couple bananas short of a fruit salad, but, uh… what the hell was he talking about?" – Bobo asked Tedford.
"Yeah, sorry about that. The moment the comms went down, people started panicking and rushed to the Monkey Skyway Agents to get out of here. But those guys declared that they had a no-fly policy if the comms were down. So nobody's been able to get out." – Tedford explained.
"That guy must have confused you for one of the Monkey Skyway Agents." – Agent Valdez supposed. "Dang. Must have been really eager to get the hell away from here if this was how badly he needed a Monkey Skyway Agent."
"The only monkey with a jetpack among us is Blackwell, and he's not here at the moment. Shame." – Agent Tedford remarked.
"Hey! And the hell is that supposed to mean?" – Bobo snarled. Though, the idea of triple fee jetpack rides stuck with him.
The next morning, Naver woke up with a jump. He was anxious. He wanted to stay in the hammock a little bit longer, maybe look at the dull gray sky above him. Not that he was still sleepy or tired, he just wanted to avoid the confrontation a little bit longer. Today was the day he'd have to go around meeting people, and he'd have to quite literally convince them to accept him as one of their own. For a guy that has never been a part of anything bigger than a four-man squad, this process seemed a bit overwhelming, not to mention the possibility of getting rejected. He wanted to stay in the hammock and think about his identity a bit longer… But no, unless he put himself out there and did this, he'd barely even have an identity. So, he forced himself of the hammock.
And he fell down on the ground with a thud. With all of his insecurity introspections, Naver had forgotten that his hammock was hanging up high, above Shala's. Speaking of Shala, he still appeared to be sleeping.
"Dude." – Naver tried to wake him by swinging his hammock a bit.
"Hrm." – Shala groaned in his sleep.
"What do I do now?" – Naver asked him.
"Talk to the SACT guys or something. I'm gonna sleep for a while longer." – Shala answered, still half-asleep.
"Yeah, I know, but, well… Where am I supposed to even start?"
Shala half-opened an eye. "There's one over there, just walk up and tell him."
"It's that simple?"
"Sure." – Shala answered and turned over. Naver looked at the SACT Agent, who was sleeping in another hammock near him. He knew that's all he had to do before even talking to Shala, but still, he was hesitant.
"Well, here goes…" – Naver said to himself as he walked up to the guy. "Hey, man." – he told him. According to his name tag, the Agent's name was Dieter Rusch.
Dieter didn't seem wake up.
"So, the Lieutenant told me that I had to talk to everyone and-"
"I know, I was there." – Dieter responded. "I was on the night shift watching the entrance and I just got off to get some sleep. Now, is this how you want my first impression to go down?"
"Oh. Sorry." – Naver stepped away awkwardly. That definitely wasn't how he wanted it to go, but he couldn't stick around and wait for this guy to wake up, he had to find the rest of them.
Naver went around the camp, familiarizing himself with the layout and the people. Most of them he recognized from last night, even if he didn't know anyone by name. He saw a couple Agents around too, but he still wasn't sure where to start. "I guess I'll start at the beginning." – he thought, so he headed towards the entrance to the camp. Indeed, there were a couple Agents there. According to their badges, Cody and Amy.
"Hey guys." – Naver told them as he got up on the wall.
"Hey." – Amy responded.
"Yo." – Cody nodded.
"Everything secure over here?" – Naver asked.
"Yeah, mostly. Well, Fusionflies fly around sometimes, but they're not much of a problem one-by-one. And if a swarm comes in, we always have the turrets." – Amy told him.
"What about the mammoth things?" – Naver asked.
"The Wooly Behemoths. Yeah, those do mean trouble. Fortunately, we can also hear them coming from a mile away because of their heavy steps, so if any of them decide to approach the camp we'll already be ready for them." – Cody explained. "What you really gotta look out for are the Skull Bashers. Those guys float around, more silent than ninjas, and if they catch you snoozin' you're in for a bruisin'. Heh."
"Steel is up our ass about vigilance, though." – Amy said. "He doesn't want what happened at the Providence outpost to repeat here."
"I highly doubt that's gonna happen." – Cody told her. Amy shrugged.
"So, uh… You probably know why I'm here." – Naver told them. "Lieutenant Steel's gonna ask you about me tonight, and, well, if anything comes to mind that I can help you with…"
"Nah, not really." – Cody answered. "Although… I don't suppose you could take my shift for today, could you? "
"Nah, if he does that, he won't be able to go around to talk to everyone else." – Amy told him.
"Or, I could just, you know, find someone else to take your shift. Right?" – Naver suggested.
"Yeah, that could work. As long as it's one of us. You know, a SACT Agent. And whoever it is, you can tell them that I'll take their shift later instead. As long as it's not the toilets."
"What about you? You need anything?" – Naver asked Amy.
"Don't worry, I'm not gonna vote against you. Well, it depends. If you're like a maniac or a serial killer or a spy or something Steel won't let you in anyway, but… Yeah unless you mess up too bad, I don't have anything against you."
"Wow. Okay." – Naver told her. "Thanks." And he got off to find a replacement for Cody, with the phrase "one of us" still ringing in his ears.
"That was easy. That's already two votes, well, if I help Cody, it will be. Three, including Bock's. And that's three out of how many? Can't be more than 20. As long as they rest of them are as chill as this guy, yeah, this will be easy." – he was thinking to himself. "But Steel said he was going to test me himself, whatever that means…"
"Hey, you!" – he heard someone yell. Naver looked over. It was another SACT Agent. This one was seemed older than the others.
"Yeah, you." – the Agent came over. His name tag said "SACT Agent Severin Sebrook."
"Hey, there. I'm the new guy, my name's-" – Naver began, but Severin cut him off.
"Listen. I don't really care what your name is. I don't care where you come from, or who you're working for. You showing up here and trying to join the SACT is going to disrupt the already tense situation."
Naver looked around. Everything seemed calm except a couple of Monkey Skyway Agents flinging dirt at each other in the distance.
"Doesn't seem very tense to me." – he shrugged.
"Don't play smart with me, kid. You know it's not something you can assess just by looking."
"Okay, but listen, I'm not trying to disrupt anything. I just wanna join the team."
"Why?" – Severin asked.
Suddenly, Naver was at a loss for words. Why exactly did he want to join? Maybe for a sense of belonging? Sure, but then he realized that saying it out loud would sound a lot stupider than it did in his head. So, he didn't answer.
Severin raised an eyebrow. "You do realize why I can't trust you, right?"
Naver thought of what to say. Clearly, this guy wouldn't take over guard duty for Cody.
"What exactly is this tense situation? I keep hearing everyone talk about it, it's like this roadblock in my way, but I still can't get anyone to tell me what exactly is going on!"
"Hrmph. And you expect to win everyone over? You're gonna have to figure that out yourself, kid. Until then, it's not even worth talking to me." – Severin told him. Naver wasn't sure of what to do, so he stepped back and slowly turned around.
"Here's to hoping this was just the one guy with this kind of attitude." – Naver thought to himself.
"Hey. Wake up!" – Shala heard. "You're LG Shala, right? Alice's cousin?"
"Sorry, LG Shala is unavailable right now, please leave a message." – Shala said in his sleep and yawned.
"This is important!" – the person said and swung Shala's hammock. The hammock was swung so hard that Shala almost fell off, and in the rush to grab on he woke up.
"Oh, come on! I was hoping to sleep through my headache." – Shala said and looked at the person that woke him up.
"I'm Doctor JC. Alice's colleague." – she told him.
"Oh yeah. Alice might have mentioned you. You're with the Secret Scientists too, right? Researching trees?"
"I'm a botanist, I don't just research trees. There's all sorts of plants that-"
"But you do research trees, yes?"
"Yes, I do research trees. I research the Dark Tree. Now, I wanna ask you, do you know what happened to Alice? I heard about Providence Agents arriving and their outpost being in shambles, and I'm worried that-"
"Don't worry, Alice is fine. I met her at the camp, she's gone down south to Forsaken Valley now."
"What about the others? Peggy Danger? Jon Winthrop?"
"I don't think I've seen them." – Shala told her. Doctor JC sighed with disappointment. "Wait, hold on, I think I did see… Winthrop, right?" – Shala asked. "Yeah. But I'm not sure if Peggy Danger made it out alive, though."
Doctor JC bit her lip. "Well, at least Alice and Jon made it out okay."
"So listen…" – Shala told her. "Are you close with the SACT guys here? I got a friend who could use insider help with something."
"Sorry, me and Two-Six mostly keep our studies to ourselves. Maybe there's something else I can help your friend with?"
"Nah, it's alright." – Shala answered. "Thanks anyway, Doc!"
"Don't call me Doc!" – the Doc shouted as she was walking away.
Naver entered the Lieutenant's cabin. There was a SACT Agent named Barry Maldonado sitting at the desk. Steel was lying on his bed, taking a nap.
"Wow. I didn't think he ever sleeps." – Naver whispered over to Barry.
"He doesn't." – Steel answered and opened his eyes.
"Lieutenant! Sorry, sir! I just…" – Naver got flustered. He saw Barry smile with the corner of his mouth so that Steel wouldn't see.
"Your business here?" – Steel asked Naver.
"I was looking for Barry and someone said he was here, so I, uh…"
"Well? There he is. What did you want to ask him?"
"I'll just… I'll come back later." – Naver said and left.
"It's probably Cody asking to switch shifts again." – Agent Maldonado said.
Steel smiled. "So he's going around doing everyone favors, eh? Smart." – he thought to himself.
"That went well." – Naver thought sarcastically after stepping aside.
"You're going about this the wrong way." – someone told him. Naver looked over, and it was a SACT Agent guarding another building. Naver walked over. This Agent's name was Diego Gomez.
"What do you mean?" – Naver asked him.
"You're going around, asking people what you could do for them. Most of the time it's gonna be either impossible, or it'll have you running around camp like an idiot. You've got to sell what you've got to offer. Assure them that what you can do is what they actually want." – Diego explained.
"Well, how the hell do I do that? I don't really have anything "to offer", do I?" – Naver asked him.
"Well, you're gonna have to figure that out if you want me to vouch for you." – Diego replied.
They heard a door open. Lieutenant Steel left his cabin and went outside to check on the camp. "Get in there" – Diego gisted by tilting his head.
Naver went back into the cabin. "Hey man, what's-" – he tried chatting Maldonado up, but got interrupted.
"You want me to guard the gate for the rest of the morning shift." – Agent Maldonado cut him off.
"Well, uh, yeah. How'd you know?"
"Cody does that sometimes. But no, sorry, but I'm busy with this stuff." – Maldonado responded and kept working on his papers.
"What exactly are you doing there?" – Naver approached his desk. "I bet I could help you with that, too."
"No, it's nothing you can help with." – Barry replied. Naver looked over at the papers. They were filled with charts and numbers of supplies, gear, food and other stuff.
"I'm the bookkeeper." – Barry told him.
"The what?"
"The accountant. Steel doesn't really have the time for this, so he delegated the task of ordering provisions, weapons, gear, all kinds of supplies, along with the expenses and the sales and everything else. Right now, I'm going over the weapons sales. HEY JESSICA, DID YOU SELL THAT VERTICAL SCATTERGUN MK-3 FOR 2800?" – he suddenly yelled.
"YES! STOP ASKING ME!" – a female voice yelled back through the tiny window on the top.
"Comms are cut off, so this is the only efficient method of communication we have left." – Barry explained.
"Wow, okay." – Naver answered. A chart pinned on the wall caught his eye. "Hey, what's this?"
"That's today's list of tasks we have to do each day." – Barry explained.
"You're in charge of composing this one too?" – Naver asked him.
"Nah, Steel sees to that list personally. He likes to know what exactly is going on in the camp at any given moment, and he likes to decide how it happens and when."
Naver looked at the chore chart. It had three different shifts of entrance guard duty, the shops, supply keeper, book keeper, general cleanup, something called a barrel run and…
"Monkey toilets?" – Naver asked, confused.
"That's the one you don't wanna get. Ever. It's what Steel hands out for punishment. There's a certain stench the Monkey Skyway Agents leave, so they get a pair of toilets of their own. Cleaning those up is a chore of its own."
"But what if nobody deserves it as punishment? Who will do it then?" – Naver asked.
"Don't worry, somebody always deserves it. Usually it's Dieter, though."
Fairly enough, Dieter was the one marked with the monkey toilets on the chart for the day.
"Say, who's the one on the morning shift along with Cody?" – Maldonado asked Naver.
"Amy Jordan." – Naver replied. "So, you definitely can't take over, then?"
"Okay, okay, maybe I could. But first, I need your help with something else. I gotta go on the barrel run. That is, drive out and fill the water barrels. It is uncertain how dangerous it's gotten out there and the place was swarming with Fusionflies as it was, so I could use you as backup."
"And then you'll cover for Cody?" – Naver asked, excited.
"Well… not exactly. If we do this, you'll get my vote, though. For Cody's shift it will have to be something else. Come on, let's go."
"Already?"
"You want to be done before Cody's shift is over, don't you?" – Agent Maldonado told him.
"Are we there yet?"
"Alice, you're the one that's driving."
"And you're the one that's navigating. How much further till the beach?"
"Around 15 minutes. Unless you run over something else."
"Oh, come on. It was that one time!"
"Why are you so eager to get there so quickly?"
"I want to see the beach. It's been too long."
"That's it? The beach?"
"Yeah, Jay. One of the activities us humans occasionally do is hang out on the beach. Swimming, surfing, sunbathing…"
"And are you gonna… be doing all that while looking for Demongo?"
"I'm just saying. I wanna see the beach."
"So where are we going exactly?" – Naver asked while they were driving out.
"The river in the mountains flows down to Dinosaur Pass, but a small stream branches off and flows over here as well." – Barry explained. "Good thing, too. Else we'd be driving all the way to the Fireswamps to get to that river."
As they went out the main gate, Cody gave Naver a thumbs up. Naver nodded.
"How far is it exactly?" – Naver asked Maldonado.
"From here it's around five miles if you go directly to the south-south-west, but there's an alternative route with less Fusion traffic if we take the longer way first to the south-east for around 4.5 miles until we reach the tree with two Terrafusers and then to the west for around 3 more."
Naver was impressed. "You, uh… you know this whole area this well or just this one route?"
"I know almost all of Huntor's Crest by heart. You've got to be aware of your tactical surroundings at all times in war."
"Wow."
"In a minute we're gonna pass a cracked boulder to your right." – Maldonado kept going without even checking. "It's from a battle with a Wooly Behemoth." Surely enough, there it was.
"Wow. I wish I had your kind of memory, Barry." – Naver said. "Or any memory at all."- he added silently.
"That's nothing. I know every distinctive rock, tree and Terrafuser out here for miles. Hell, most of the ones that were damaged during battle, I know when they happened and who was there. I even-" – Maldonado was going on, but then they passed a crashed hovercar slammed against a tree, with two holes in it.
Maldonado immediately stopped the car and got out. "I've never seen this one before. This is new, I think."
"Whatever happened to getting this done before Cody's shift was over" was what Naver thought, but he didn't say anything.
Agent Maldonado inspected the hovercar closer. "Definitely Wooly Behemoth. Wonder what happened to the driver… What do you think, Naver?"
"I guess he must have made it to camp? It's not far. How long ago did this happen?"
"No more than a week, or else I'd have seen it on last week's barrel run. Hey, look at this."
Barry found an open soda can inside the car. "Radicola. Ew, it's sticky." – he said as he dropped it.
Suddenly, everything made sense to Naver. He almost started laughing but managed to hold it in.
"Oh, I know what this is. It's a friend of mine's. He's at camp right now, you ask him about all the details when we get back." – he explained.
So, this was where Shala had wrecked the hovercar. And this was a can of Radicola. Naver picked it up. There was still a little bit left in it. Naver held the can up and tilted it into his mouth.
"Ew!" – he exclaimed. The soda was warm, all fizzed out, and probably even decomposing at this point. "I've gotta tell Shala about this." – he thought and put the can in his backpack as he got back into Agent Maldonado's car.
The RV finally reached the white-gray sands of the Forsaken Valley beach. Alice ran out, breathing in fresh ocean air, immediately kicked off her shoes and ran towards the ocean.
"I should get down to the beach to research Frilled Killers more often. Man, you don't realize how much you've missed the beach until you're back." – she said as she ran barefoot through the shallow waves along the coast. "I just want to jump in and start swimming, but…" – she looked at Jay. "We better find Demongo's hideout. So, where did you say it was?"
"That's what we're looking for. According to the Spectral Detector, this is the place Demongo visits occasionally. Have not been able to narrow it down, though, and as much as I have searched, this beach is wide and I could have missed something. Besides that, there's a small isle near the shore. That's another possibility. With him having the chronoton particle, I'll see if my Tachyon Tracker picks up anything, but it's unlikely. Still, working together, we can cover more ground." – Jay went on.
"Great. Of all the places Demongo could have chosen as a hideout, it had to be the beach infested with Frilled Killers." – Alice mumbled.
"So tell me, Barry. You know everything about the forest out here. What about the outpost itself?" – Naver asked him while they were filling the water barrel.
"What exactly do you mean?"
"You know, like the stuff that goes on there. The ins and outs. The people."
Agent Maldonado stared at him for a moment without saying anything. Naver felt weird, as if Maldonado's stare was examining him.
"You don't look like one… but then again, that's the point." – Barry mumbled.
"Look like what?"
"A spy, Naver! What else? This place is practically crawling with people sent by other organizations to learn everything there is to know about the outpost!"
"Wait, what?"
"Providence, Plumbers, the KND, the Secret Scientists. And those are just the ones doing it openly. Who knows who else is trying to infiltrate? And with you randomly showing up out of nowhere, already wearing SACT armor, asking to join? It will raise some eyebrows at the very least. Haven't you noticed other Agents acting inhospitable towards you?"
"Yeah, I can think of one or two." – Naver answered, thinking about what Severin said. So, this must be what he was talking about. "But how come everyone is spying on you? Aren't we all fighting in the same war against Planet Fusion?"
"Everyone's spying on everyone. Providence wants our alien tech, the KND kids want to see real aliens, we want the Plumbers' info and access… It is an ever-complexifying net of espionage, and this invasion is presenting opportunities all around. Plus, since we're the only ones with a forward base in the heart of the Darklands…" – Maldonado stopped talking while they put the full water barrel down on the ground. "Well, you get the idea." – he finished while breathing heavily as they carried the barrel to the car. "The tension's so thick, you might as well cut through it. At least we don't have to worry about the demon guy flying around anymore."
"This all just sounds ridiculous." – Naver said.
"Yeah, well, it's true. Like for example, we caught this one Providence guy, the same guy, three times in a row. Sneaking around in one of those invisible suits they have."
"Really?"
"It makes you wonder why their Captain kept giving the same guy the job if he kept failing."
"Well, maybe he didn't fail this time and he's at the camp right now. You just can't catch him because he's invisible."
"Yeah, I'll bet you're gonna have to catch him if you want Sebrook to vouch for you. Have you met him already? Agent Severin Sebrook?" – Maldonado asked.
"Yeah, I did. He's quite, uhh…"
"Yeah, don't worry, none of us really like him either. But that's what you should expect if you wanna join this outpost. If you don't want to anymore, you could always join the Providence knuckleheads, or go to the Plumber camp up on the Precipice. No one's forcing you into the SACT. Quite the opposite, really."
Naver didn't respond. Was it time to rethink this? But if he didn't join the SACT, and if the other organizations turned out to be this welcoming too, what would he even do?
Neither of them really said anything as they filled up the other barrels in silence and drove back.
"Hey, you still gonna take over Cody's shift?" – Naver asked him as they approached the camp.
"Oh yeah. I forgot. I will, but on one condition, though."
"What is it? Do I have to find the invisible man?"
"Negative. There's something you must do for me. There's been a new type of monster going around here. We don't have the latest intel, but I believe they wandered in from Forsaken Valley."
"Triceraclaws? Frilled Killers? Terrordactyls?"
"I'm not sure what they're called, but I don't think it's any of those. They're the ones that remind me of… frogs."
"Yeah, okay. So, what about them?" – Naver asked, unsure where this was going.
"I want you to go around the area outside the camp and kill as many as you can find." – Barry told him.
"I, uh… I don't get it. How come?"
"I have…" – Maldonado gulped. "I have ranidaphobia." – he admitted in embarrassment.
"W-"
"It's the fear of frogs!" – Barry yelled before Naver even got the chance to ask what it was. "I saw one of those things last night and they remind me too much of frogs. So, if you want me to keep watch outside the camp, I need to make sure none of those things hop over here.
"Okay, I'll do it." – Naver told him, wondering how a SACT Agent was supposed to keep watch if the very thing he was keeping watch against scared him this much. "I'll hop off now, then, we're right outside the camp, anyway." – He told Barry as he jumped out of the truck without even waiting for it to slow down. He just wanted all these chores to be over with.
Shala heard someone approaching him in his sleep. They climbed into the hammock that was hanging directly above him.
"Psssht. You!" – the guy whispered.
Shala kept on sleeping, hanging onto the slimmest chance that this wasn't directed at him. Unfortunately, it was.
"Hey!" – the guy hissed at him from above.
"Oh, come on, why does everyone keep waking me up today of all days? I'm trying to-" – Shala mumbled as he started getting up.
"Clap your mouth!" – the guy above hissed again.
"Uh…?"
"Shut up. Lie back down. And just don't react from me. Pretend you're still sleeping." – the guy told him. Shala didn't even get a good look at him, but he did as he was told.
"So, you mind telling me what is it that you want?" – Shala asked.
"You arrived last night with Providence, or?" – the guy above him asked.
"Yeah. Me and my friend, some Providence Agents and a SACT dude."
"I need that you get me in contact with them. If I approached them direct, that would compromise my… that would not be good."
"Well, why the hell am I supposed to do it?" – Shala asked.
"You know Providence. You are not Providence. Sounds all clear to me."
"Fine, fine." – Shala agreed just to get the guy off his back. "What do I even tell them, though? I don't even know who you are."
"Yeah, clearly. That'd be better. Tell one of them, just, to be in the far stall of the men's clo… I mean, bathroom. The one that's a separated building to the eastern of the camp. At 16:31 exactly."
"Alright, that's it?"
"Do it discreetly, only. And don't have it be the ape!"
After an hour of chasing Maldonado's frog monsters around, which, as it turns out, were the Fossil Crawlers, Naver was heading back to the outpost, unsure what to do now. Hunting monsters was a mundane and tiring task, but at least then he was aware of exactly what he was doing. Now? The world was open to him, whether he was ready for it or not.
But he didn't have to wander around blindly. Immediately, he spotted Severin standing around with his arms crossed. Thinking over everything Barry explained about the spy situation, as well as how Diego told him that he has to assure people that what he can do is what they actually want, he approached Severin with the tiniest bit of confidence.
One disgruntled look from Severin was enough to shatter that confidence completely. Still, Naver kept going.
"I heard about the problem at this camp." – Naver told him.
"Well?" – Agent Sebrook raised an eyebrow.
"If I help you solve your problem, will you vouch for me with the Lieutenant?" – Naver asked.
"How you gonna do that? Pack up and leave? Then what's the point of vouching for you?"
"No, I mean… I could keep an eye around the place for any spies around, you know? And in return…"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. If… and that's a big if… if you come up with valuable intel on anyone… I might consider vouching for you. I'll even give you a lead or two to begin with. Now, listen up. I'm only gonna tell you this once. You see those two Recruits over there?" – Severin pointed at a guy with tinted sunglasses and a girl with blue hair standing near the barracks, seemingly arguing. Naver nodded. "They arrived from the Providence outpost the day before you did, with news about the attack. However, they might also be sent to assess our camp. So, what you're going to do is, climb into the barracks from the rear window without them seeing you. You're gonna get up on one of the bunk beds. You'll open the roof hatch, quietly, so they don't hear you. And you're gonna listen to every word they say."
Naver kept nodding, thinking about what he was getting himself into and how increasingly embarrassing it would be for him to be caught. Would it be worth it?
"Okay, I got it."
"Good. I'll be here. Watching. You leave in that direction, so they don't see you coming."
Naver sighed and took off.
"Keeping you restrained? I don't get why do you always feel the need to run off on your own all the time, acting like some goddamn lone wolf. The great Dax Fraley couldn't possibly fit in with others, no, he has to make sure he does things his own way!"
"And I don't get why you can't be supportive for once! Come on! Every time I suggest something, you are already predisposed to disagreeing with it!"
"That's because all of your ideas are arrogant macho bullshit! I mean, seriously, Dax? Last time you decided that you were too good for the Providence guys, after they defended us during a goddamn siege, and not only do you leave them high and dry, you leave Athena and the others back there, god knows if they're still alive, and-"
"Oh, no, you don't get to lecture me about leaving Athena and the others behind, Meena. As soon as I left, you came running right after, so whatever I did, is also on you."
"I only did it to cover your stupid ass! You sure as hell wouldn't have made it through the mountain pass on your own, you know."
"You don't know that! And plus, the last time I listened to you is what got us stranded in the Darklands in the first place. If it were up to me, we'd be in Undertown, sipping smoothies."
"How the hell was I supposed to know all of this was going to happen? And, okay, maybe it is my fault. WHATEVER. At least I'm trying to control the situation and make it so we don't get killed by fucking Miasma Hulks or Fusions in the jungle or whatever that worm thing was. All you've been doing is looking for reasons to argue with me. This is Crystalline all over again!"
"And there you go again, every time you're losing the argument, you're bringing up Crystalline. I leave a destroyed camp to look for shelter, it's Crystalline. I summon Nano Bubbles instead of Nano Amethyst, it's Crystalline. I take a piss in the woods without telling you, Crystalline, Crystalline, Crystalline. Can't you just let it go already?"
Naver decided that he had heard enough. Disappointed that he didn't have any new spy info for Severin, he climbed back down from the roof.
"Hey, man." – Naver approached one of the SACT Agents he hadn't spoken to yet. His name tag said "SACT Agent Jack Jessop".
"Hey, bro, what's up? Looking to buy new gear?" – Jessop asked him.
"New gear?" – Naver thought. "Oh, yeah. This is the guy I'm supposed to hand in my armor to if I don't make it to SACT. Well, he doesn't look unfriendly, at least." – he supposed. "Nah, I'm not here for gear." – Naver answered. "I was wondering if you need me to do a favor for you." – he told Agent Jessop.
"Oh? Yeah, definitely." – Jessop answered. "Listen." – he started whispering. "Word around is, there's a new guy wearing SACT armor going around, asking everyone to let him join the team. I think he might be one of the spies. You know, we've been having some trouble with guys like that, so could you keep an eye if you see him?" – Agent Jessop told him, with a completely straight face.
"Dude." – Naver said. Jessop nodded. "That's me." – Naver told him.
Jessop's mouth stayed open for a while. "Ohhhhhhhh that's you, huh. Alright, alright. You, just… scratch that. Forget I said it. I don't… I don't even know why I said that, like, wipe it from the hard drive."
"Yeah, alright. So, are there any other favors you want me to do, except… spying on myself?"
"Actually, yeah." – Jessop told him. "I was out late in the woods last night, and I dropped my butterfly knife while peeing. So, like, if you found it and brought it to me, that'd be a great help."
"While peeing." – Naver repeated in disbelief.
"Yeah, man. It was like, near here, to the west of the camp. Or was it the east?"
"Nevermind, I'll find it." – Naver said and sighed again. Once more, he had to go outside of the camp. As he turned around, he bumped into someone.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't see you there." – Naver mumbled instinctively. Then he looked up at the guy.
"Uhh… it's alright, fellow, uh, teen. Time to kick some Fusion ass, am I right, huh?" – the other guy said, nervously chuckled and shuffled away. Naver just stood there, watching. Then, he turned back to find Jessop, who was now talking to another SACT Agent selling gear.
"Did you see all that?" – he asked Jessop.
"Huh? See what?"
"There was a guy just now, acting, uh, really suspicious."
"Suspicious how, exactly?" – the other Agent, Maria Abnett, asked him.
"I mean… I don't exactly know how to describe it, but if there ever was a spy in this camp, this guy probably the closest thing to it, uh, you know? He was tall and bulky, wearing a pink shirt that was… way too tight for him, with a pair of black and white headphones over his neck. You seen a guy like that around before?" – Naver asked them.
Maria laughed.
"Oh, that's just Private Babyface. You don't- don't worry about that guy. He's harmless."
"I don't get it. You, uh, knew about him?" – Naver asked, confused.
"He thinks he has everyone fooled, but, uh, that's probably the single worst spy that I've ever seen. I mean, I haven't met a lot but, still… even you realized it at first sight. We just keep him around, thinking he's got us fooled, because it's funny. I mean, look at him. He doesn't even have those headphones plugged into anything, and the wire keeps flapping around."
"Uh… I guess…" – Naver mumbled, looking back to see if the guy was still there, "I guess if you're fine with it, I'll just go looking for his knife." – he told Jessop and Abnett and left.
"You were out playing with that thing in the woods AGAIN?!" – Naver heard as he was going. That gave him a light chuckle. Before leaving outside to find the knife, however, Naver looked around to see if there was anything else he could do. Didn't seem like it, but as he was looking around, Naver saw Shala passing by.
"Oh, hey, what's up?" – Shala asked. "How's it going with the whole SACT thing?"
"Eh, could be better. One guy actually asked me to clean the Monkey Skyway Agent toilets for him if I wanted his vote."
Shala laughed. "Well, did you do it?" – he asked, still smiling.
"Do I look crazy to you? I wanna join the SACT, but definitely not that badly. But, uh, if I don't have any other way…"
"Don't worry, I really doubt it's gonna come down to one deciding vote." – Shala reassured him. "So what are you doing now?"
"This one guy dropped his knife while taking a leak in the woods." – Naver told him.
"Why did he need a knife while taking a leak?" – Shala asked, confused.
"That's what I'm saying!"
"Good thing he didn't accidentally cut his own… you know. Anyway, you've got it covered, right?"
"I guess? I mean, he doesn't even remember where it was, so I don't know how I'm supposed to find it." – Naver admitted.
"Oh, that's easy. You can just use a Nano. There are some with the Treasure Hunter power – one of yours might have it, you should go see it at the Nano Station." – Shala explained.
"No idea what that is."
"You- oh, right, right, amnesia. It's right over there, that blue thing behind the barracks. Can't miss it. And it's pretty self-explanatory, too, you'll find what you need." – Shala told him.
"Alright, I guess." – Naver said. "Where are you going, then?"
"I need to find the mechanic." – Shala told him. "That, and a painkiller." – he mumbled as he left.
Shala stepped into the mechanic's tent. The shelves were filled with vehicle parts, both assembled as well as disassembled, a sight that reminded Shala of his own room. He stepped around one of the shelves to see the mechanic, sleeping in his bed.
"I swear, this guy's even harder to wake up than I am." – Shala thought. Instead of yelling or pinching, Shala simply grabbed the mattress and lifted it up, causing the Agent to roll over and fall down.
"Oh, it's you." – The mechanic, SACT Agent Brock Torres, mumbled when he saw Shala. "Back already? What, need to rent another board?" – he asked.
"I was thinking of getting something for keeps, this time." – Shala told him.
"Oh, for keeps." – Brock sat down on his bed, interested. "That's gonna cost ya. I remember you being light on Taros last time."
"You let me worry about the Taros. Now, do you got anything for me?"
"Depends. What's exactly is the price range we're talking about?"
"The price range… well, it's rather unconventional this time. Remember how I told you earlier that my car broke down?"
Naver was standing in front of the only thing that could possibly be a Nano Station. A tall, blue machine, constantly giving off quirky beeps and signals. Naver was hesitant at first, he considered asking the Dexbot near it for help, but Shala had said it was pretty straightforward, so he approached it.
Both his NanoCom and a screen on the Nano Station lit up, asking if he wanted to connect. Naver pressed "yes".
The screen on the NanoCom displayed the DexLabs logo and booted the main menu. "Greetings, Lars Heckwood." – a computerized voice greeted Naver. Naver felt as if he got punched in the gut, as it served as a reminder of how he failed to save Lars. He looked at his wrist. Lars' NanoCom. He wondered how he was able to use it.
Then, deciding to move on, he opened the "Nanos" tab on the screen.
"Whoa." – he muttered, as he saw all of the Nanos he had at his disposal. Adaptium, Blastons, Cosmix. Everyone he saw, he immediately recognized. The Nanos ranged from almighty superheroes like the Powerpuff Girls or Generator Rex, to seemingly regular kids, like Mac, Edd or Billy, to sinister villains that couldn't help but look cute in Nano Form, such as Hex or even Vilgax. Some of the Nanos, though, were outright weird.
"An orange?" – Naver asked, confused.
"Seriously." – Brock said, in awe.
"What? It was a Wooly Behemoth!" – Shala told him.
Brock checked under the hovercar's hood.
"This is the Dexlabs HX-13. It is definitely faster than a Wooly Behemoth. How the FUCK did you manage to wreck the HX-13?!" – Brock asked, furious.
"Hey, hey, it's not your car that I wrecked, so chillax there. So, you want it or not?"
"Chillax? This is a piece of art you've destroyed! It's like if you went to the Louvre and said "oh my bad some Fusion Spawns ate the Mona Lisa." Where did you even get this? No way you could afford one of your own."
"Dexlabs rental."
"Dexabs rental." – Brock repeated, in denial. "Wow, I hope you still got some pull with Dexter, cause I don't see you ever paying that off. And you're just willing to give the whole thing to me?"
"Listen, when Dexter comes to get the car, you let me worry about that. Right now, I need a board, a cloud, anything, just so I can traverse the island while contact is down. So do you want the car?"
"Does Steel have eyebrows? Of course I want the fucking car!" – Brock yelled. "You're lucky it wasn't one of Kevin's rentals you wrecked. Else, he'd be coming over to the Darklands personally to break both of your legs." – he added.
After a long morning of running around, doing favors for Agent after Agent, Naver was nearing the end of the SACT checklist. The only thing he refused to do were the monkey toilets with Dieter, and Severin's thing with spies was still something he had to figure out.
"Is that it?" – Naver asked as Agent Jesse threw the garbage bag in the dumpster outside the outpost.
"Yeah, that should be… Hold on. Where's the other garbage bag?"
"What? You told me to throw it away in the back." – Naver told him.
"This is the back. This is where we're supposed to throw it away. Where did you leave yours?"
"Oh." – Naver said. "I'll be right back." – he told Agent Jesse as he ran back towards the bathroom building. As he picked up the blue garbage bag he had left in the back, he heard people talking inside.
"The less you know about me, the better."
If that didn't sound like spy talk, Naver wasn't sure what would. Immediately, he froze in place and listened.
"What is it, then?"
"I need to come in contact with White. Is there any form of communication left?" – the first voice said.
"White? Who the hell is White?" – Naver thought.
"Not on our end." – the second voice responded.
The first person sighed. "Ach, mist." – he said. Naver didn't get what that meant.
"Anything else?" – the second person asked.
"No. If this situation doesn't fix itself, there might not be any point in doing this any longer." – the first voice said.
"If you are the person I understand you to be, then your unique situation could be invaluable. Under no circumstances should you reveal yourself." – the second person said sternly.
"Ich weiß- I mean, I know, I know, but still. Yeah, I will remain undercover. Report this to whoever the Captain is, and to that person ONLY. I will not contact you again."
Naver decided that he had heard enough. He bolted to look for Severin.
"You didn't get a good look at them?" – Severin demanded, once Naver explained everything.
"No. They were inside. I'd be seen."
"Did they say anything else? Any detail about their voices, or the way they talked?"
"I told you, nothing special. They were both male. Nothing about the way they talked or anything about that, except…" – he remembered something.
"Except?" – Severin repeated, ready to search Naver's brain himself if he had to.
"One of them spoke in a different language for a split-second there. German. I think it was German."
"German?" – Severin repeated again. Then, without another word, he left, looking for someone. Naver followed, worried about what might happen next. Severin finally found his target, and hurried towards him with quick and decisive steps. It was a guy Naver had never even seen before.
"It's you, isn't it?" – Severin yelled at him.
"Wha-whuh-what are you talking about?" – the guy asked nervously.
"Oh, you know." – Severin told him confidently.
"Know what? Leave me alone, dude." – the guy said and tried to leave, but Severin grabbed him by his shirt.
"Hey! Let go!" – he yelled nervously, struggling to break free, but Severin pushed him and knocked him down on the ground.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" – other Agents, Amy Jordan and Jessica Chase came over. Agent Maldonado ran to get Steel. "What the hell is going on?" – Agent Chase demanded.
"We got one of the spies right here. Providence, if I'm not mistaken. Isn't that right?" – Severin asked the alleged spy.
Naver was still there, but unsure if he was supposed to do something.
"You found the spy?" – Agent Rusch joined the scene. "What do we know about him?"
"How do we even know that he IS the spy?" – Agent Chase asked. "You haven't explained it yet, Severin."
"All thanks to Naver here. Isn't that right?" – Severin tilted his head towards Naver.
Naver froze. Should he double down on this? What if he got it wrong? What if Severin was attacking a random guy for no reason?
"I didn't see the guy. I only heard one of them talking in German." – Naver finally said.
"And there you go. And this asshole is the only one consistently around that speaks German." – Severin told them.
"That's ridiculous. That's guesswork and conjecture, that's what this is." - Agent Chase replied.
The confrontation was already drawing a crowd of people, SACT or otherwise.
"Okay, he's German, so what? What does that have to do with being the spy?" – Amy asked.
"Whoa, guys, what the heck is going on?" – Cody got on the scene.
"He was whispering about orders from White to someone. One of the new Providence arrivals, isn't that right?" – Severin barked at the guy, who was still on the ground.
"How do you even know it is him, though?" – Agent Chase asked again. "Naver. Can you identify the spy by voice?" – she asked Naver.
"I, uh… I guess?" – Naver said, still unsure.
"Well, go on then, say something." – Agent Chase told the alleged spy.
"I, um… what should I say?" – he responded awkwardly, getting up from the ground.
"Anything. Your name would be a good start."
"I'm Moritz Baumgardner. And yes, I am German, but that doesn't mean I'm some… spy!" – he said.
Everyone looked at Naver, expecting his verdict. Naver just shrugged awkwardly. Severin groaned in frustration.
"Should we take a vote on this?" – Cody asked and smiled awkwardly.
"Can it, Anderson!" – Severin yelled at him.
"If you're gonna be like that, no wonder people are gonna be out to get us." – Cody mumbled.
"Somebody get the Providence Agents." – Dieter suggested. "Where's that Tedford guy?"
"What's happening here?" – Shala and Brock had just arrived.
"I'm not gonna answer that question every time somebody else gets here!" – Severin declared.
"What the hell is going on?" – Now, Lieutenant Steel arrived.
"Naver has identified the spy, sir." – Severin reported.
"Is that so?" – Steel looked at Naver.
"I'm- uh, I don't really…" – Naver mumbled. Then he quieted down completely.
Steel turned back to Severin. "This is what you're running with? You could have at least not caused a scene with all this." – Steel told Severin sternly.
"I'm telling you, sir, he's Providence!" – Severin stood his ground.
"Alright, enough already!" – Naver yelled. Everyone turned back to him. He gulped, but kept going. "Okay, so what if he really is the spy?" Moritz shook his head nervously, but didn't say anything. Naver continued. "What, are you gonna kick him out of camp? Into this jungle? Especially now, when the communications are offline?"
"He's a snake for Providence, he can stick with Providence." – Dieter mumbled.
"So what if he is? What precious secrets do you SACT people have that need to be guarded so much? It's not them we're at war with. Wouldn't it be in your interest to cooperate with them?" – Naver asked.
"You don't kn-" – Severin started, but Naver cut him off.
"You know, what, I quit. If this is how you treat outsiders, I don't even want to be in the SACT anymore. Figure this spy shit out on your own. Where's Jessop?" – he asked and stormed off. Shala followed.
"Well… anyone else got anything to say?" – Steel asked and looked around.
The guy in the pink shirt nervously raised his hand. Steel raised an eyebrow.
"My name is Private Steven Stevens and I was sent here by the General to discover the G3 spy who has infiltrated the ranks of the Special Alien Containment Team who is likely among you right now." – he spit out quickly.
Nobody said anything after that, until Agent Larry broke the silence:
"What in tarnation is a G3?"
"Fusion War Journal entry 697, May 14th
After investigating the settlement in the Fireswamps, we went to the SACT research camp in Dinosaur Pass, which we found destroyed. 3 dead. We got the RV, which according to Alice has valuable research equipment. I'd rather have kept moving light. The RV attracts attention." – Jay sighed. "I'm still not sure if letting Alice join my mission was a good idea. She is useful, but she's also… distractive. After a night at Dinosaur Pass, we drove to the southern beach in Forsaken Valley and started looking for Demongo's lair. The search is fruitless so far. However, there's another matter. Fusion Monsters have started migrating north from here, towards the Fireswamps. Likely headed towards Huntor's, according to Alice. Only creatures left are Frilled Killers. Unusual, but irrelevant to my current mission." – Jay paused. "It's good at least that we can split up and cover more gr-" Jay saw Alice coming out of the RV. He immediately turned off the voice recorder in his NanoCom. He didn't really want anyone finding out about his Fusion War Journal.
"Hey, were you saying something out there?" – Alice asked.
"No, I was not." – Jay responded. "I thought you were going to take a shower?" – he asked as he laid down on the ground and started doing push-ups.
"Yeah, I was, but, well, no water in the tank." – Alice answered as she sat down in front of him and watched.
"Do you really shower this often, even out here in the Darklands?"
"Okay, well, the Providence outpost wasn't too equipped with all that stuff. Didn't even have running water, we had a water guy each day that had to drive up to the river and fill the barrels for us. And there wasn't exactly enough water for everyone. But then I managed to get a proper shower with hot water at Huntor's, and you know how it is. Once you're totally clean then even the tiniest bit of dirt is gonna make you want to shower all over again." – Alice went on.
"No. I really don't know how it is." – Jay said completely seriously.
Alice paused. "Okay, well, are you gonna stand around there all night or do you wanna stand around there all night or are you coming in?" – she asked him and they both got inside the RV. Alice sat down in the driver's seat again, with Jay in the seat next to her.
"So…" – Alice said, trying to think of something to talk about.
"So...?" – Jay repeated, not sure what Alice wanted.
"You, uh, you know Samurai Jack, right?" – she asked.
Jay paused at first. After five push-ups, he said "Yeah. I d… I do know Jack."
"Was that in the future timeline or just the regular Jack here?" – Alice asked him.
"In the Future. We were, uh… I guess we were friends."
"That's the first time you ever referred to anyone as a friend. But, yeah, it does make sense that you weren't always this jaded."
Jay threw a stern look at her. Alice stopped talking to let him continue.
"I think he might have seen himself in me. Like him, I was thrown into an unknown future where the Earth was conquered by a dark overlord. Only, I wasn't prepared for it all. Back then I was just a kid. And Jack helped me. Trained me, gave me guidance. Without him, I probably wouldn't have gotten back. Back to the past." – Jay told her as he took a break.
"Cool. So, wait, if you got swordsmanship training by Jack, why don't you carry a sword in battle like Shala or Naver?"
"Who said he gave me swordsmanship training?" – Jay asked.
"Well, I don't think Jack, the legendary samurai, would have taught you how to shoot a gun. Would he?" – she asked.
Jay looked at her with an enigmatic smile.
"Would he?" – Alice repeated in disbelief.
"You'd be surprised." – Jay told her with a smirk.
As Alice was sleeping that night, instead of her usual recurring dream, she dreamt that she was fighting an unending horde of monsters in Fuse's lair alongside Samurai Jack. They were taking down monster after monster – Doom Striders, Terra Claws, Alpha Cephalopods, etc. As they made their way to Lord Fuse himself, Jack said "This enemy requires an extraordinary weapon to defeat", threw his magic sword away, pulled out a pistol from his sleeve and started shooting at Fuse with it while dodging Eruption attacks.
"Whoa!" – Alice yelled waking up as she jumped out of her seat.
End of Chapter 13.
Extract from Alice Quickfeet's Fusion Monster research log:
Fusionfly
Fusion Matter type – Blastons
Power Level – 31
Boss: Hyper Fusionfly
Location: Huntor's Crest, Hero's Hollow, Precipice
Wingspan: 3'3''-4'
Boss wingspan: 4'2''-5'
Body length: 5'1''-5'8''
Boss body length: 6'6''-7'2''
Weight: ~88 lbs.
Boss weight: ~105 lbs.
Special attacks:
Eruption: No
Corruption: Blastons
Stun
Description:
Giant, fly-like creatures. Two sets of wings in an X-shape. Sac of Fusion Matter on their lower abdomen, from which Fusion Matter is secreted around the stinger. Six short, but extremely sharp legs. Seems to be the most closely related to the hanging scorpionflies family of the Mecoptera order, though distinguished from them by the stinger.
Behavior:
Fusionflies are the Fusion scavengers of the Fusion ecosystem on the western half of the Darklands. Being some of the physically weakest creatures in the area, they make up for their lack of strength in number. They patrol the skies and the jungles, weeding out any human that might be in the vicinity. Usually, a skilled fighter can defeat them even in great numbers, but inexperienced people WILL get picked off, especially when travelling alone. They will attack Monkey Skyway Agents, so travellers are advised to be cautious. Fusionflies travel both alone and in swarms, the number of which may range from 3 to as high as 25. Flight patterns are erratic, often flying around aimlessly in search of a target, however swarms always manage to stick together.
Max height of flight is usually not very high, under 250 feet.
In combat, Fusionflies use their mandibles to bite, as well as pincers to maul. However, the Fusionfly's deadliest weapon is the Fusion Matter-coated stinger, one sting from which almost often results in a Stun. Fusionflies always help rely on and assist each other in battle, so even if you pick a fight with a single one, others are sure to come. As they attack in high numbers, they are sure to reach you before you can destroy all of them. Once they get in up-close, it's extremely easy for them to subdue prey with the Stun ability, so you have to defeat as many as possible while they're in the distance. Melee weapons are especially not recommended because of this. The most effective weapons against them are Shatterguns, Rockets and Grenades. Swarms of Fusionflies are also known to pick up subdued prey in the air and rip them apart.
Fusionflies are also able to attack the NanoCom directly via Corruption, however, they are only able to use the Blastons form.
Under Fusion control, they are virtually the same as on their own, except more organized in battle. Due to this and their high numbers, they are some of the most commonly used monsters by the Fusions.
Fusionflies are encountered all over the western half of the Darklands, which include Huntor's Crest, Hero's Hollow, the Precipice, Green Maw and even Fuse's Lair. The only exception from this is Dark Glade, which is infested with the Dark Fusionfly variant instead. The highest rate of infestation, however, is on Huntor's Crest, where the Fusionflies are mainly spawned.
Fusionflies don't usually travel to the eastern side of the island. They are, as most other monsters, weaker in hot temperatures, and they are unable to stay long in the Fireswamps or the Firepits before dissolving on their own. They tend to avoid Forsaken Valley and Dinosaur Pass as well, due to Terrordactyls and Horrordactyls. For some reason, those are the only flying monsters they avoid, as they are fine coexisting with Cephalopods.
There has been a single instance of a massive swam of Fusionflies attacking the outpost in the Fireswamps. It was likely under Fusion control.
The life cycle of the Fusionfly differs from the other monsters. Instead of spawning originally as Spawns, or being birthed as a smaller version, they are first held in Terrafusers in their larval state. Dissection of Fusionfly-spawning Terrafusers show that the Fusionfly larvae resemble caterpillars, with numerous rudimentary prolegs as well as their true legs. This is a further connection to their earth insect counterparts.
Known Fusions that have controlled the Fusionflies:
Fusion Tetrax
Fusion Jack
Fusion Rex
Fusion Mr. Herriman
Fusion Mandark
Fusion Kevin
Fusions Ed, Edd and Eddy
Fusion Clarence
Fusion Demongo
Fusion Courage (?)