Chapter 45: Innovation

“So I just have to stand here?” A little girl with pigtails glanced around the room, while a large arctech device was aimed right at her, four black lenses staring her down.

If she did not know any better, she would have assumed it was a monster of sorts, but she had complete faith in the man behind the machine, who was currently modifying its innards with a hot pointed iron serving as an etcher, changing some of the arctech engravings on the fly.

“Yes, dear, just stay right there. Papa’s going to show you a miraculous invention!”

“Like the dragonfly you showed me?”

The father stuck his head out and grinned at the girl. “Even better. Just give me a minute.”

He focused back in the interior again, mumbling to himself as he carefully re-routed some of the arctech engravings. “Just got to add a few more traces here to reduce the high-speed load of the incoming light.... FUCK!” He yelped as the hot iron accidentally touched one of his fingertips, making him almost drop it and wreck the rest of the machine. The hot iron, however scratched the surface of an engraving, rendering it completely useless.

“No, no, no!” The father groaned as he noticed the error, trying to take subsequent deep breaths to calm himself down. Stay calm, Reese. This is your big breakout moment; stay calm. We still got a few days to sort this out.

“Daddy, how long do I have to stand? I’m tired...” The little girl whined as she shuffled uncomfortably, her eyes already locked onto the sofa nearby.

“Sorry, dear, it’s going to be a while more. Let’s take a break.” Reese smiled weakly, turning off the arctech etcher and stepping back. The room was a mess of metal and engravings save for the sofa, where the little girl rolled around happily.

Reese shambled over to a workbench filled with broken engraving plates and tools scattered in an unruly fashion. “Need to find a replacement... it’s better if I did the modifications here...”

He pulled a wooden stool up to the table to sit, rubbing his deep black eyebags that had never gone away since he began this project. It’s been nearly a month, and have been nothing short of a miraculous run.

His arm instinctively reached out to the right, attempting to grab something as he stared at the engraving in front of him. The observant little girl quickly jumped to her feet and ran out of the room, but soon return with a shocked face. “Papa, we’re out of potions!”

“What?! We’re out of Stamina Recovery Potions?!” Reese’s face balked, but he took yet another deep breath. “It’s okay darling; I don’t need the potions to get this done. Only one more final stretch to go.”

That final stretch turned into hours, with the little girl having gone to sleep in her own room while Reese toiled through the night. His body felt lethargic, his arms weak and his thighs aching from the numerous nights he had spent trying to make this thing perfect.

Just as soon as he was about to give up and turn in for the night, the doorbell rang softly, ringing like a charm. Reese’s face immediately lit up and he scampered to the door, frantically opening it to reveal a well-dressed gentleman in a black coat.

“Hello, Reese. I’ve come to check up on the progress of your project.”

“Sir Kyle, thank goodness you’re here! I’m currently trying to fix a few issues here and I may require your help once again.”

“Of course.” Kyle smiled genially before motioning to an associate behind him carrying a crate of Stamina Recovery Potions. “You, put it in the kitchen and wait for me outside.”

The associate nodded, with Reese making way for the two of them to enter the house. Reese quickly led Kyle into the workshop, explaining the issue with the engraving. “The main problem I’m facing right now is that there seems to be residual energy being emitted from the machine towards the lens. From my understanding, the entire device should be completely passive.”

“Let me have a look.” Kyle sat on another wooden stool and examined the engraving in question. “Bring over the schematic diagrams.”

Reese pulled out an entire stack of paper, each detailing a specific part of the machine and its connections. Kyle flipped through each page, tracing the error through its various supposed connections. “I found the error. You have the engraving connected to these wrong four ports, causing the engraving to be connected to form a radiative effect.”

“Radiative...?”

“Nevermind. The point is, you’ll have to re-do a few parts in the machine. Can you make it for the demonstration debut?”

“I....” Reese was about to say yes, but he checked the number of modifications he would have to make, which would be more that he could do in the next two days. He could barely keep himself awake even in front of his biggest investor into the project yet.

“Okay. I’ll get the factory to manufacture the parts for you right away. I will be back in the morning – you have a good rest. Don’t want you messing up the demonstration.”

“Th-thank you, sir!” Reese stood up and bowed deeply, his face filled with gratitude. He would never forget how hard and long he fought at the University of Raktor to get this project done, only to find Kyle as an investor so quickly the moment he was drinking and crying in a pub. He also owed his life to him for saving him from a pub brawl in which he nearly got killed.

“Look, the cunt is awake.” The leader smirked as he stood up from the barrel he was sitting on, striding over with his crowbar.

“Wh-why are you doing this?” Reese asked weakly, the blood loss and the impact still making him dizzy and unable to get a good grasp on where he was.

The leader squatted next to Reese and grabbed his face. “The same reason why everyone in Raktor does something – money. And you look like a hundred thousand rakels to me now.”

“What?!”

“That’s right. Someone put a contract on you! Do you really think that I, the great Tyler Won, would barge into a university and risk getting caught by the enforcers just so I can fuck you up for a pub brawl a month ago? HAH!”

If the thumping in Reese’s head was not already bad enough, it got even worse with this realization. Who paid the thug gang to kidnap me? Was it my jealous colleagues? The dean?!

Soon, a man dressed in a inconspicuous attire entered the warehouse, clearly of a different class than the leader of the thugs. “Good job catching him.”

“So you’re the client. Fuck that, where’s the money? I don’t want to mess with Kyle any longer if necessary.”

“Not until I ask the hostage some questions.” The client adjusted his collar, walking up to Reese who looked petrified. He did not recognize the person at all, but he began to put two and two together quickly. Shit, he’s here to steal the technology from me!

The leader groaned loudly. “Fuck, are you serious? Fine, have it your way. But fifteen minutes more, and we’re out of here.”

Before the client could retort, a series of screams and cries echoed through the empty warehouse, prompting the remaining thugs to stand up, their faces wary.

“Who the fuck is that?” The leader dropped Reese back onto the floor, walking up to the main warehouse entrance, where the sounds of fighting could be heard.

An injured thug staggered to the door, limping towards the leader. “Who is attacking us?!”

“It’s him! The Seven Snak-“ Before the thug could finish, his head was crushed in by a neon red arctech hammer, breaking through the skull in a smooth downward motion.

Reese gaped in shock, having never seen an actual fight break out before. It looked like an entire theatrical scene to him as the wielder of the hammer charged forward, smacking each of the thugs with a single hit and killing them. Even the leader of the thugs stood no chance against the strength of Kyle.

“Wh-what!? Kyle!?” The client exclaimed, before running over to Reese and grabbing him up, using him as a hostage shield. Within a minute, Kyle had killed all the thug members in sequence, as though it was a choreographed fight scene. Reese naturally was happy. He came to save me!

“Stay back! Otherwise I’ll kill him!” The client began to sweat profusely, his eyes glancing back and forth, looking for a way out as he held the crowbar to Reese’s neck, the tip piercing into the skin.

Kyle stopped moving, standing still.

“Good. Now we can make a deal. You don’t want your precious Reese here getting hurt, do you? Don’t try anything funny.” The client tried to understand what was happening so far. How did Kyle get here so fast? Was he tracking the thugs? I should have shifted the hostage immediately.

“Oh, I won’t. But I can’t say the same for her.” Kyle suddenly spoke.

“Her?”

The glass windows in the ceilings were shattered, with a female figure landing right behind the client as they were showered in glass shards. In one swift motion, the lady grappled the neck of the client and pinned him to the ground. His limp body slumped to the floor, releasing Reese onto the ground with a thud.

“Thank Yual you’re here!” Reese nearly cried tears of joy. However, instead of helping Reese up, Kyle quickly moved over to the client, grabbing his mouth and preventing him from clenching down. He used his hands to pry the client’s mouth open, reaching inside and checking for any suicide pills or killchips. A habit from the galactic era.

Just as Kyle was about to begin the interrogation, the client wriggled one of his hands free, activating an engraving inbuilt into his clothes. The clothes began to catch fire, forcing Sasha and Kyle to let go instantly. The flame was unnatural, burning nearly instantly and turning the client’s body into a blackened figure without even giving him a chance to scream, with the skin completely charred.

[What was that, sir?] Sasha was shocked, having never seen anything like it.

Reese too was in utter shock as Kyle turned his attention to setting him free. What kind of human would be willing to set himself on fire to prevent getting caught by the enemy? “That’s crazy! Madness!”

Kyle frowned, clearly remembering the expression of the client before the activation of the engraving. “We have a new enemy. Or perhaps, an old one.”