The World Which Is, CH 96

The table materializes the way objects do in some of the science fiction movies in Bases’s collection. Seemingly out of nothing. He has them grow out of the floor, or the counter, or table, when those are already there. The only thing he doesn’t do that with is food. He never grows that before us.

Freaks people out, he told me when I asked why not. And it is kind of gross, I have to admit. Food ‘appears’ while we aren’t looking, or in a cabinet, or the fridge, or any other method that isn’t us looking at it.

This even has the ‘special effect’ of the reflective dust around the item as it appears. It’s missing the sound, though.

On the table are a few things. The ones that catch my attention are the bow and quiver. There’s pair of glove looking thing, an amulet, and a violin case.

Dardanus’s Bow of Precision

A state of the art, never before seen military bow that will make even the clumsiest archer able to hit the broad side of a barn.

Perception Check Failed

Dardanus’s Quiver of Containment

Because what archer has ever said “I have too many arrows”

Perception Check Failed

I can’t help the smile.

“I wish I could give you better stuff,” Dardanus says, “but my resources are ultimately limited. A lot of that’s outside already, maintaining my disguise. Dennis, that is what I call Dardanus’s Bow of Precision.”

“If I can already hit the broad side of a barn, what else is it giving me?” I ask.

“Ah, right, that is what I wrote for it. In my defense, I wasn’t thinking anyone would ever see this. It’s the best of my bows. It doubles your aiming bonus, increases your effective pull strength while not being as tiring, and has a snap shot bonus for when you just can take the time to aim.”

“Increased pull strength translates into damage bonuses, right?”

“Yes. The quiver’s not infinite, and it isn’t auto-refilling. Every attempt I’ve made at creating something that makes arrows is so expensive in energy I wasn’t left with anything to populate the town. I figure that’s something reserved for the really powerful bases.”

“How many arrows can it contain?” I ask.

“Two thousand, one hundred, ninety-seven.”

“A triple treen.”

Brandon stares. “How are you going to find that many arrows?”

“Oh, it’s already filled,” Dardanus says. “Arrows are easy to make. Half are broadhead, half armor piercing. You just have to think of which you want when you reach for one.”

“What happens if I add my own?”

“Make sure you have a mental identifier for them. Do you need a different type of head? I can’t make you anything magical at this point, but replacing some with a different type is simple.”

My question had been academic, in case I felt the need to send some of mine in while fighting, but I consider the people we’re going up against. “Something jagged. Something that’s going to rip muscle and inflict more damage. They’re experienced and almost certainly better equipped, so if I can force them to heal, go through their potions and whatever else they have, it’ll give the rest of you better odds.” The teleportation effect happens with the quiver, but it doesn’t go anywhere.

“Done. You now have a third of each, broad, piercing, and ripping. Brandon.”

“These don’t look like any pugilist’s gloves I’ve ever seen.”

Dardanus scoffs. “Please, I’m a military base. I don’t do ‘ordinary’. These are combat gloves. Designed to be fully compatible with any unarmed combat abilities. There’s bonus to damage, to hit, and an armor shatter ability, although I had to limit it to a random chance on successful hit to make this thing affordable. Magic is expensive as you wouldn’t believe. Helen, this is a mana reserve. If you manage to go through all of it, I am going to be impressed.”

“I thought magic was expensive,” Brandon says, while Helen reverently takes the amulet.

“Mana batteries aren’t magic, exactly,” Dardanus replies. “There is magic in their creation, but that’s the matrix. Don’t ask me to explaining it. It’s highly technical, and I’m not sure what I do is the same as enchanters. But the hardest part was letting it sit and accumulate mana over the years. That is the downside. If you do drain it, it is going to be a long time before it gets even one point of mana back in.”

I chuckle. “Hopefully this fight isn’t going to last so long we’ll find out.”

“Right. And Silver. I wish I could have made you something more, but music really isn’t something I’ve thought about. I have seen how you fight, though, and that you will use your case as a bludgeon, even if it isn’t really designed for that. So I made you this case, designed for hitting things with. You can bash in a tank with this thing, and your violin will be as cozy as if it was in its mother’s arms the entire time. You know what I mean.”

It looks no different than her original one to me, but durability has little to do with what something’s made of.

“Can you provide us with something so we can talk while we’re separated?” I ask. “Team chat isn’t going to be useful in the middle of this.”

What materializes on the table are headbands with attachments.

“That goes over your eye,” Dardanus says, as I put it on, trying to figure it out. “Other eye, so that can go in your ear. I won’t be able to project a full HUD, but I will be able to add information to what you see to help you navigate.”

I get a framework of structures behind the walls for a few seconds.

“If you need something specific, ask and I’ll see what I can do, but as much as I want to be entirely at your back for this. I’m going to have to take active control of my automatons. Their programming is nowhere near adaptive enough to deal with that Xander and his team as dishing out.”

“Where are they now?” Brandon asks, and a map appears with them highlighted as dots. They’re already apart, but still heading in the same direction. “They’re coordinating. Can you make it impossible for them to talk?”

“I can’t affect what is part of you.”

“Can they use team chat that effectively?” Silver asks.

“They have years of working together, at least four of them, and I’ll be surprised if the others are brand new. They’ll have come up with short-hand so they don’t need to think entire phrases. We are going to need surprise on our side.”

“Give me the highest building in that area,” I say, and one highlight. “I can go up and shoot them. I’ll be the distraction.”

Brandon looks at me, then at the others. “Silver, hit and run. Don’t stay in place long enough for one of them to see you. Dennis, you need to keep an eye out on her more than Me and Helen. We’re all way under leveled against them, but you two are the worst. Helen, don’t hold back. Max is vicious, and a lot of his magic is about making people suffer. If you have anything that makes you immune to pain, cast it.”

He looks at me. “Dennis, this is our last chance. We can’t win this, and you know it.”

“I’m not abandoning Dardanus.”

“Okay.” He looked at the map. “Show me where Greg is. I’ll start with him. Oh, and just so we’re clear. No killing.”

“You were pretty insistent Dardanus murder all of them,” I say.

“He’s this place, you aren’t. Incapacitate, knock them out. Fuck, leave them to bleed out, since that’s not technically you killing them. But you do not kill any of them, am I clear?”

“I don’t get what your problem is, but I’m not a murderer, so I don’t plan on killing anyone.”

“Plan on how not to kill anyone, Dennis. It goes for you too, Silver. We can’t afford for either of you to be murderers.”

“I’ll do my best.”

He isn’t happy at her answer, but nods. “Lets go do this.”