Wasn’t much longer before Jed and Gwen found themselves standing at the mine entrance, packs full of ammo, spare flashlights at their hips. Turned out there were a couple things the community of Granite Hills had to offer after all.
While the main mineshaft had plenty of lighting, a lot of the side passages they’d need to sweep weren’t as well covered.
Kelem had offered to guide them, but they’d decided not to put the kid at risk. ‘Sides, if he’d tagged along, they’d either have to keep Mythlyn tucked away, or worse, explain her presence.
The first hour passed quickly as they put down the Screechers. After drawing the first one’s attention and popping it like a balloon, it didn’t take long for the rest to come crawling. It was the cleanup that came after that ended up taking them a while.
Turned out that sweeping a mine that had existed for hundreds of years wasn’t a quick affair, even if most of the tunnels had been closed off and purposefully collapsed. Eventually they made their way to the foundry, now one of those collapsed sections.
“We sure we wanna tackle this now?” Gwen asked, fighting off a yawn. “Already been a long one.”
“I can take a look to determine what we might face,” Mythlyn said, even as she held her hand against the stone, phasing away.
“Never gets less cool, seeing her do that,” Gwen said as she plopped down on an outcropping of half-broken stone along the edge of the passage.
Jed nodded, joining her on the solid stone, shifting slightly to put his arm around her when she chose to lean against him.
“This is what I wanted, you know,” Gwen said. “Exploring the depths of some overrun mine with my partner, killing off demons. It’s work, but good work, right?”
“It is,” Jed agreed.
“But I’ve been thinking these marshals… I know we can’t fix things everywhere, but enslaving people who made the mistake of just wandering past… you saw those collars. Was there… do you think you could, I don’t know, turn ‘em off?” Gwen asked, her hand reaching up to her neck. “Feels wrong to just leave ‘em.”
“I didn’t notice much warp in them. But if there’s some sort of control center or something… well, despite her saying it’s impossible, people don’t seem to understand much… So I’mma give it a solid maybe,” Jed said, shaking his head. “But we’d have to know what we were looking for. Then we’d probably have to break in. And even if everything goes perfectly, we might end up having to kill some people.”
They sat there together silently for several seconds before Gwen turned, looking up at him with a giant smile on her face. “Say it out loud, work the problem with me.”
Jed grimaced, then laughed. “Guess we’re doing it, aren’t we?”
“Would either of us be able to sleep after, if we didn’t?” Gwen asked, laughing back.
“Good thing we’re not planning to stick around. I doubt the marshals are gonna be happy with us,” Jed said, shaking his head as his gaze fixed on the flickering yellow light of the light hanging at the end of the shaft. “Think we should recruit Teliya?”
“Might need to, if we want to have a hope in hell of finding it,” Gwen said, bumping her head against his chin.
“Of finding what?” Mythlyn asked as she stepped out of the rock in a burst of tiny motes of purple-black warp-fire.
“The master controls for the slave collars. We’ll tell you the rest later. What’d you find?” Jed asked, squeezing Gwen once before pushing to his feet.
“There are many demons inside, several of which would best be handled from a distance,” Mythlyn said, before describing the rough layout and makeup of the demons they’d face. “I suggest you rest and prepare special munitions. Cleansing the foundry shall not be an easy task.”
That was what they did, making their way back into town. When they indicated they were done with the main shaft, but intended to tackle the foundry in the morning, Teliya arranged for them to stay with her and Kelem in one of the buildings near the mine. An old bunkhouse she’d repurposed for her time in town.
Only after he’d pulled a heavy tarp normally used for covering the mine carts over the warp-stallion, and Kelem had gone to his room for the night, did they bring up their earlier decision to do something about the marshals.
“Not sure what getting rid of the collars would do,” Teliya said, shrugging as she set out another round of drinks. Each of them took one before settling onto the narrow stools that occupied one of the many small rooms of the bunkhouse. “Still lots of marshals about. Most places in six-oh-six, you can just avoid them. But this close to the Peaks, room runs short.”
“So, you don’t think it’s worth us breaking the collars?” Gwen asked, frowning into her glass. “We can’t just kill all the marshals.”
“Whyever not? That seems a perfectly acceptable solution.”
“Would take too long,” Gwen added with a chuckle even as Mythlyn sent her thought, smiling slightly. “And someone else would take their place. Only thing the Empire seems capable of doing these days is slapping new badges on people and calling them marshal.”
“I… no, removing the collars would make a difference, I just don’t know how much of one,” Teliya said, staring at Gwen before setting her glass to the side. “And it would be a good deal easier than killing every marshal in six-oh-six, besides.”
“Already said it’d take too long,” Gwen said with a smirk, waggling her eyebrows at Teliya before taking a sip.
“Don’t tease the woman,” Jed said, elbowing his partner. “The collars? Any thoughts on how we might get rid of them?”
“The collars. Yes. If anyone would know, it would be the Bothom family. They’re the ones who control the collars. Got a compound in Seven Falls,” Teliya said, shaking her head as she shifted on her stool to look at him. “For all I know, they have the controls there.”
“Got a spare collar I could check out?”
“I do. Several. They’re impossible to remove when a miner is alive but…”
“The demons,” Jed said, thinking back to the miner’s den turned field hospital.
“Just so,” Teliya said with a sigh. “They’re in the main building. The miners are fined if there’s damage or missing collars, so…”
“How much do they owe?” Jed asked. Not that buying them out would help. Sounded like the marshals would just round up a new set of slaves. But he was curious.
“Depends on the miner, but usually they’re brought in with a decade or two to pay off. Some of them succeed,” Teliya said, kicking her stool, which seemed to help stabilize it.
“And then the Boltom family cheats them?”
“Oh no. Once it’s paid off, they’re free to go,” Teliya said, waving her hand. “Then some new tourist gets brought in.”
“Huh,” Jed said, surprised.
“Lowers the chance of rebellion, you see, if they think there’s an honest way out,” Teliya said as she slid off her stool. “Anyway, you folks stay here, I’ll get you one of those collars.”
Neither of Jed nor Gwen spoke while she was gone, though they did trade some heavy glances.
Not long after, Teliya returned, collar in hand. Which she gave to Jed.
He turned it over, inspecting it with his warp sense. It was more of a null in the ambient field, as if it were operating on some other principle. He chuckled. Maybe it was just regular electronics. Those might as well be magic compared to warp-tech, for the little he knew about them.
What he really wanted to do was see what his markings had to say, but for that he’d want privacy. “Is it okay if I keep this overnight, run some tests?”
“I don’t see why not,” Teliya said as she set her stool closer to the bar. “Anyway, if you two aren’t in a hurry to be out of here tomorrow, I’d best get some rest. Lots of injured miners to see to in the morning.”
After bidding her goodnight, they made their way to their room.
The second the door closed, Mythlyn appeared in a flash of warp-fire. “This… this shall pose a challenge.”
At first Jed thought she was referring to the collar. Then he noticed that her gaze was locked on the single narrow cot up against the wall.
“I shall serve as a pillow tonight,” Mythlyn decided gracefully.
As Gwen laughed, Jed just shook his head, pulling off his shirt to more easily examine the collar. When Gwen latched on to him, he decided that maybe the collar could wait until morning.
…Isekai-eh…
When the next morning came, it found them tangled on the floor where they’d moved the mattress, the sun’s beams cutting fiercely into their little nest. After raising his arm to block out the light, Jed’s brain reminded him of his task from the night before and he retrieved the collar from the corner where they’d shoved all their gear.
Once he had it in hand, he made the diagrams appear, showing him the specs of the collar. To his surprise, it did use the warp, though it was so weak when not in use he hadn’t been able to sense it.
The range on the collars was just as weak. No more than a hundred kilometers, though that could be extended with the right equipment.
Either way, that meant either a relay or the master controls were close.
With several collars, or even just taking enough time with the one, he was certain he could triangulate the source. Not bad for half an hour of inspection while laying cuddled with his two favorite people.
“Turn it off,” Gwen mumbled, hand waving through the barely visible lines of warp-fire.
Jed laughed. “Can’t turn off the sun.”
“Can too. You have that power,” she said, jabbing his chest. “Or had, I guess.”
“Time to get up anyway, we have demons to kill,” Jed said.
“Water,” Gwen said in response, arm pressed over her eyes.
Soon, after ensuring his partner was sufficiently hydrated and fooded, they were back in the mines. They were working together outside the cybernetics facility, shifting rock away from the door. Teliya had offered to send some miners to help with the task, but they’d declined, saying their strength would make it simple.
In truth, they wanted privacy.
Mythlyn’s ability to infuse stone with warp-fire and cause it to explode, as she’d done on the river, meant it was much easier to shift the rock out of the way after she’d had her way with it.
The effect was quieter than Jed had realized. On the river, everything had been so hectic, he hadn’t been able to tell, or even to spare his attention.
Now he heard each small pop as Mythlyn found weaknesses, ran her fire through the stone, then caused them to crumble.
It still involved lifting a lot of rock, but after an hour, they’d cleared a path.
Which meant it was time to kill demons.
The first was an ugly thing, with a stretched out face and ears that looked like a bat’s wings. It stumbled towards them on three legs, mouth open in a wide scream.
Only took them two shots to take it down.
Taking their time, they swept through the facility. The true challenge didn’t come from their opponents, but in not damaging the equipment. The cybernetics compound proved to be much smaller than the mine. Sweeping the place twice took them less time than it’d taken to move the rock.
“Kinda small, isn’t it?” Gwen asked as Jed moved towards a familiar table, amazed to find most of the arms he was familiar with intact.
“This is…” Jed trailed off. It’d been a while since he’d last checked his own status, so he pulled his shirt open, bringing it up.
Sure enough, everything had taken a pretty sizeable leap upwards. He supposed killing demons and absorbing their warp was good for more than just keeping people safe. Warp sensitivity was over a hundred and twenty, and manipulation was up to thirty-nine.
“Hey, hey,” Gwen said, punching his shoulder and pointing at his warp manipulation. “Nearly to forty. Nice.”
“It is,” Jed agreed. “Now just need to get you one of these.”
“Ha, good one,” Gwen said, turning away.
“No. I’m serious, this table… it’s exactly what I needed,” Jed said as he changed the display, bringing up a scan of the table in front of him. “There are a couple parts missing, but with everything else here…”
Gwen followed his gaze to the dozens of other machines about the room. “You’re thinking they’ll have what we need?”
“Not… exactly. I’ll need to make some adjustments,” Jed said, pushing to his feet. “But for the most part, yes. The Architects were big fans of standardization.”
“Don’t know what that means, but glad to hear it, partner,” Gwen said, grabbing him and pulling him down into a kiss. “Now, what do you say we get to work. If that thing’s what you say it is, I’m not the only one you can fix up, am I?”
“I… still need to figure out the designs for Lyn’s wings,” Jed admitted as he turned to the other woman, who was standing silently, staring at the table.
Mythlyn’s gaze rose, giving him a slight nod. “You will keep your promise.”
With that, they set about moving through the room. To Jed’s surprise, they found everything he needed without having to scavenge from any of the existing machines. There were entire racks of spare parts in one of the side rooms. Tons of tools too. It wasn’t quite as simple as plug and play, but it wasn’t far off either.
By lunch, he had the entire facility flickering back to life. An hour after that and he’d engaged the security protocols, ensuring no one could intrude on them.
After a break to eat, he found himself out of reasons to delay Gwen’s ‘upgrade’.
“Well, what’re we waiting for, partner? Stick me on the table and carve me up already,” Gwen said, smacking his ass as she moved over, chest already bared as she sat down.
“It’s like you’re trying to make me as uncomfortable with this as possible,” Jed said chuckling softly as he inspected the program again, going over the steps, making sure that he hadn’t made any assumptions that might result in a catastrophic failure.
“I do believe you have managed that without either of our assistance,” Mythlyn said from her position near the wall, hand running along the side of the table where Gwen’s head would rest.
“I had years to do these calculations before I ran it on myself,” Jed said. “Forgive me if I’m a little worried about getting it wrong.”
“Yeah, but mine is way less complex, right?” Gwen said, hand running over her chest just above her breasts where the new markings would sit. “Like getting a tattoo. No biggie.”
“Yes,” Jed admitted. “I just… don’t want to hurt you.”
“Admirable. However, I have checked your work. It should be correct,” Mythlyn said, stepping over and placing her hand on his shoulder.
Jed nodded, looking everything over one last time anyway. Honestly, the software was a massive upgrade over the station’s. Most of the changes didn’t even need his math. He really was just being paranoid.
An hour later that fact was proved as Gwen sat up, fresh markings curving up along either side of her chest. They actually looked quite fetching, which made sense, since half their time designing the markings had been Gwen customizing their positioning.
Jed held up a mirror they’d found among the tools, letting Gwen inspect herself.
“Wicked. Like wings of an angel. One step closer to matching, partner,” Gwen said as she stepped next to him, placing her hand and head on his shoulder as she watched him work. “So, you said there’s a reason we can’t use this to make everyone into a Written?”
“Well, for one, there are plenty of people I wouldn’t want to give that power to,” Jed said as he started adjusting the settings on the table. With Gwen’s changes done, he at least wanted to scan Mythlyn, to get started on the next step.
“Yeah, but you said there was some sort of hard limit, right?”
“The markings require a special ink,” Jed said as he swapped the controls. “You can lay down, Mythlyn.”
His long time friend did as requested, stepping up to the table as Gwen asked, “Demon ink, right?”
“Yes. There are a couple ways to make it, but either way, it’s a complicated process,” Jed said. “Infusing so much warp energy in such a concentrated form… it’s a lot harder than making RDR.”
“Would the Brewer be able to do it?”
“I… you know, he might,” Jed said, looking up from the console to meet Gwen’s gaze. “Not that he’ll need to yet. There are two doses left.”
“Knew it.” She smirked, bopping his nose. Wiggling it, Jed turned back to his scans.
Gwen fell silent, watching the screen change and update.
A few minutes later, it was done, though Jed didn’t tell Mythlyn.
He ran the scans again, hoping that he was mistaken. Again, they waited quietly for the process to finish.
Jed was about to run the process a third time when Gwen asked, “What’s wrong?”
Mythlyn lifted her head, looking over at them. “Is there a problem?”
With a sigh, Jed reached down to his hip, then pulled out the revolver. Stepping forward, he handed it to a confused looking Mythlyn.
Then he stepped back to the console, tapping it a couple times.
Gwen’s laughter echoed through the chamber as Jed explained to Mythlyn how easy it was to give her control over having her wings manifest.
While she was laughing, Jed’s thoughts were considering something entirely different. Something darker.
Why had someone already designed a way to clip an angel’s wings?