He had so much less to give after she was gone. Less happiness, less energy, less everything. Looking back up into his son’s eyes, he made the choice that he had given enough. The Faction would continue to take from him until it drained him to a husk and then cast him aside. Sometimes people get the leaders they deserve.
He looked over and saw Rampage and Aftershock congratulating themselves. Tempest would lose this battle either way, by ruining his family’s legacy or by losing his career. Reaching out, he slapped the arena floor, signaling that he conceded the battle.
Cyclone let go of his neck and stood on shaky feet. His hands trembled in amazement, and confusion was barely recognizable on his face until someone rushed forward and lifted his right arm in victory. The crowd roared again, celebrating the apparent upset.
“The challenger has succeeded! Per Faction rules, they will trade ranks immediately. Tempest will be reclassified as Class D and Cyclone is elevated to a Commander!” the referee bellowed, voice augmented to project through the arena.
Cyclone didn’t even give him the respect to offer a hand to get back on his feet. Tempest stood and made his way out of the arena, heading to clear out his room. No one paid him any attention as he walked out the door.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Sad Girl
Gus and Aurora went to the Foundry with the canister and plate. “Nick, are you going to go offline forever like last time we did this? That would suck if the supers showed up and you were AFK.”
“No, this should go much more smoothly. I have already interfaced with the hybrid-Nth and there should be no time offline upgrading and installing anything,” Nick reassured and Gus breathed a sigh of relief.
“What should I do with the Nth in the canister? They’re first-generation, right? Should I save them for something?”
“I would put them in for processing with the Endurium. They no doubt would be even more powerful because they haven’t overspecialized. The Endurium might even allow them to retain adaptability, which would be especially helpful with your wide range of abilities. This Foundry can process and fuse the two, and it should take less time than a straight fabrication.”
“How long would that take compared to last time?”
“Integration should only take about two or three hours. Once they are synced to you, they would be immediately available for use. Your shielding would rebound and be even more robust, and I think your storage problems for abilities would be gone.”
“Good news for a change. Thanks, Nick.” Gus entered the orders and entered the materials and canister into the indicated hoppers. A timer synced with the lower left of Gus’ display.
“And now we wait,” Aurora sighed, tapping her fingers while watching the countdown timer.
“You know everything about me, but I still don’t really know you. Why don’t you tell me how you came to be a super to pass the time?”
“Nah, there’s not much to tell,” Aurora said dismissively.
“That’s not true,” Daphne broke in. “He showed you his, so he gets to see yours.”
“Daphneeee,” Aurora warned.
“I already have the memory queued up. Movie time!” A window popped up on Gus’ display that he could maximize just like a holovid.
“Here, let me catch you up, Gus,” Daphne said and a montage of Aurora’s memories replayed. He saw her mother die, and her Nth transferring. From there the movie slowed.
“Please don’t show him this,” Aurora pleaded.
“You need this Aurora; you’re too closed off. This was a key moment for you. Now hush.”
The little girl stayed in the shack for as long as she could stand. But soon the flies came. And the smell. There wasn’t a lot of room in the small space, and the girl realized she couldn’t stay there anymore. When she could take it no more, she rolled her meager belongings into a blanket and went outside.
She wandered the streets, shy, yet fascinated by the large city around her.
She hadn’t eaten since her mother had come home and she held her stomach. One boy a bit older than her offered to share his bread. After she had a couple bites, he grabbed onto her arm while older boys came, whooping and hollering.
In a panic, she stomped on the foot of her captor and twisted out of his grasp. She ran and ran, finally escaping, but she had to leave her only blanket and belongings behind. After that, she was much less trusting.
Due to her small size, she could crawl into small nooks and try to keep warm by packing old newspapers and discarded scraps of clothing or bags around her. She constantly shivered, awaking in fear with noises in the interminable nights. She would sleep fitfully, hoping to wake in the morning, but finding only a couple hours had passed, and the cold night would endure.
Her favorite nook to rest had a view of the clock on Svenson Tower in the distance. Even when daylight finally arrived and the temperatures rose again, it still took her a long time to stop shivering.
The gaunt little girl was always hungry. This wasn’t new to her, but she had to swallow what little pride she had and scavenge for food from the ubiquitous trash bags that always populated this part of town. This went on for three or four weeks.
She was loitering around a small local market that usually threw away expired, but edible food and vegetables. Cass saw a woman trying to buy some groceries, but she also saw the owner was charging her way too much for the food. The woman seemed oblivious to what was happening so Cass followed her.
She tried to explain what was happening but neither could understand each other. The woman took pity on the little girl, and took her to her
