Behold, a snippet picking up right where we left off!
This was in a thirty minute session. I'm finally digging myself out of the pit I was in. With any luck, this is just the first of much more to come.
Quote:That night when I got back to the shrine, Rei simply charged out at me and wrapped me up in her arms. I simply let myself melt in her warmth, happy to have come back to something that felt safe and familiar.
The fact that the press was conspicuously absent probably helped - Teletha’s PR people were on the ball.
“They told me everything,” she whispered in my ear. “So I won’t bother you. It’s time for you to rest.”
I nodded, knowing that she’d more feel the movement than see it. With no words, she led me up the stairs and sent me off to bed with a hug and a kiss on my cheek.
##
The sphere was blindingly bright and crackled with such barely contained force that it felt like I wast standing in front of a massive bottle of pure malevolence, waiting for just the right excuse to burst free from its container and turn everything into free-floating atoms.
But if I looked carefully, I could see how it was contained in a Gordion knot of channels and flows, turning in and out of itself and writhing like a nest of mating serpents.
For a moment though, despite the chaos, it seemed all so clear.
...
And then I woke up.
I spent a few precious seconds getting my bearings and then I scrambled for my writing desk, practically tearing all my careful organization to pieces to find something to write on and with.
Frantically I tried to sketch out what I had seen.
... What had I seen?
The vision had faded, leaving me with a sketch of some lumpy, spherical object. It wasn’t right at all - all I had was the vague outline of the thing. I had no real clue what I had there. Besides the general shape, the most memorable things about it were the heat and light it gave off.
Wait... Heat and light? It was a fusion reactor! But why... oh you cheeky bastard! It was Raven. It had to be. Only he would give me infuriatingly vague clues about how to replicate the plasma lance he’d puppet me into using on Urzu Squadron.
I felt that maybe I should go to Teletha’s people about this, but I wasn’t too sure about that - all I had was the vaguest idea, and even if some of the greatest advancements were started by vague ideas, it was better I did more research first.
“Zeke?” came Rei’s voice from behind my shoji. “I heard a bunch of noise just a moment ago. Are you okay in there?”
I sighed as her voice brought me back to reality.
“Yeah, I’m okay. Just a weird dream. You can come in if you want to - I’m decent.”
The shoji slid open and Rei, still wearing her pajamas, came in and gave the mess I’d made of my desk a searching look.
“What the hell happened?” she finally said at length.
“The Old Bird is messing with me again,” I said as I tapped the side of my head and held out the sketch with my other hand.
“What is it?” she asked as she took the paper.
“Near as I can figure? Some kind of fusion reaction. Probably the same one I used before.”
“Huh. You think he wants you to learn how to do it yourself?”
“I know he wants me to learn to do it myself. Trick is he’s being tight-lipped about how to do it.”
“Why? Can’t he just show you?”
“Sure, but from his perspective it’s more fun to watch me beat my head against the wall while I try to figure it out for myself.”
Rei snorted. “Figures.”
“What time is it anyhow?” I asked. I looked around sheepishly and explained, “I think I broke my alarm clock.”
Rei rolled her eyes. “Last I checked it was already past eight.” I was about to say something about that when she stopped me with a fingertip to my lips. “We all felt you needed to sleep in after the day - hell, after the WEEK you’ve had. And I’m starting to feel it, too. In case you never noticed, Kaname and those MITHRIL people decided to stay the night again. Something about killing two birds with one stone.”
“Jeeze,” I groaned, palming my face. “I am so sorry, Rei. I swear the first opportunity I get I’m gonna get my own place so you don’t have to deal with this crap.”
Rei shook her head. “Forget about it. If I’m gonna be with you I better learn to get used to it.”
I sighed and gave Rei a hug. “What did I do to deserve you?”
“Everything,” she replied with false archness.
This was in a thirty minute session. I'm finally digging myself out of the pit I was in. With any luck, this is just the first of much more to come.