Silent Mountain (Part 7) by MaLAguA

Sunday, December 25th - 1:29 pm
Silent Mountain Base - Level 2 - VIP Lounge

Yikes! The description of the state Lightning has been left in, whoever the devisor is that created this thing needs a stern lecture about creating such devises. This state sounds like torture to me. Great, jumbled vision and hearing with the thought of the intruders being there on his mind. The kids are trying to talk to him and he is attacking, thinking it is the intruders before him.

Ah, it was Cole he was facing, no wonder he couldn't land a hit. Out for under 24 hours, ouch. Christmas and I hope the kids get to celebrate some after their victory over the intruders.

“None. Some of them are a bit bruised and injured, but they’re all alive.”

Lightning let out a laugh but it was strained and had a bit of a grumble underneath. “I’m never going to live this down if it’s true.”

Lightning, just be happy no one died on your watch and take the win the kids earned. Ouch, almost hit by Lightning, those support team members deserve a bonus.

Lifeward here in a few hours, good, I feel Vic will need to chat with her. 7 yesterday evening from Vancouver, Cole made great time for the terrain and weather. Made it to the base an hour past midnight, even with the supercycle for part of the trip that is incredibly fast. Exactly an hour after the kids took down the intruders, I hope Vic is doing better now that he has time to take it easier.

Both, the tech guys for the Syndicate are good to get Lightning out of that cube in less than a day. Lightning, they were prepared for you and outnumbered you 6 to 2, the odds were bad. And Lightning, only idiotic criminal organizations punish you for failures that aren't your fault, a good way to lose valuable agents. Christmas dinner after a well-deserved rest is, a good way to wrap up this whole adventure.

Sunday, December 25th - 2:15pm
Silent Mountain Base - Level 1 - Lounge

I'm surprised some of the kids didn't crash asleep after so much adrenaline in a short amount of time. LightEX is, a good name for a VR headset system, I would buy one. Heh, made the hardware and used existing software, Josh is already learning shortcuts. Hasn't made me vomit in a while, please be joking, Josh.

Raffina, don't revert to that attitude, not after all you guys have been through together. Dang, that is some immersive VR if you can experience vertigo. NeonSaber game and Vic can feel himself holding the hilt of the lightsaber-like weapon. Dual-wielding, no! Bad move, Vic, energy blades are hard enough to control one. Wait a minute...is NeonSaber just a renamed BeatSaber?

Raffina, who cares if you look dumb if you are having fun. The original Digimon song will be fun and challenging to hit all the notes. Dang, now I have the song in my head.

Vic has fun but takes a break when Leslie asks if she can play. Looks silly, but having fun is the point of many activities. Caroline Kythe aka Lifeward has arrived.

Sunday, December 25th - 2:32 pm (A couple of minutes earlier)
Silent Mountain Base - Main entrance

Those warper portals sure are handy. Sounds like Dereck is off to be with his father, good, Vic doesn't need any more stress right now. Sophie, I wonder if she will manifest like her big brother did when she gets older.

“I know, but it’s not as easy as going into the prison’s office and striking a deal to take in our unwanteds.”

Caroline is right, why not? From the sound of it, the ones who know have no trouble with the base being there as long as the Syndicate keeps doing their job right.

Guy Oleg and Guy Travis, the two henchmen. Toolbelt, Brickette, 'Steve' who is a second-generation werewolf, and Rival, the power mimic. Ouch, they bought the devises from one of the local Syndicate operatives and he is out on Christmas vacation, probably was lied to about their intended purposes. Only two people to do all that, you need a full team to handle that load for a base this size, the Syndicate goofed up just sending in Lightning and Censer to handle it.

Hhm, I wonder if the higher-up who wanted to fast-track getting the base ready for the next customer knew there might be trouble. And sending the kids in to, whoever did this needs removed from being a higher-up at the Syndicate.

“Seems sketchy,” Caroline said as she carried on walking down the main path towards the lounge. “The elevator isn’t disconnected, the strangers arrive and make their way up to the top, manage to subdue the barebones crew we have in place, taking advantage of the holidays so resistance will be limited and reaction times will be much delayed. The chances for all this were minuscule and yet, it happened.”

Why do I get the feeling the intruders were given insider knowledge of the situation at Silent Mountain?

Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night", a perfect song for Leslie. I hope the security footage key events show Caroline something we might have missed that can link the intruders to someone at the Syndicate.

“It was a wild night. I disabled a reactor from a meltdown and then blew up a ship,” Josh bragged.

With all that happened it's hard to believe it only lasted for hours and not a day or more. Cut on Vic's cheek and, bandage on his right hand, Vic is going to have a lot more visible changes when he returns to Whateley.

There had better not be any tests, they each proved their powers and themselves in a fight with what happened, that is enough tests to prove they are worth keeping. Raffina is upset, if any of those creeps get 'recycled' into the organization after what happened here I would quit. Raffina's father wants her to return home, aww, let her stay for Christmas dinner at least. After lunch everyone is being sent home, I hope this isn't the last we have seen of Raffina or Leslie, I hope Root and Censer will be back in the future and you can't get rid of Josh if you tried.

Root went out to get his bag and Leslie's boot, dang, he has some stamina after all they've been through to do that. Copy the movie and watch it in Oregon, sorry, Caroline, sometimes the job invades even Christmas vacation.

Sunday, December 25th - 2:54 pm
Silent Mountain Base - Clinic

The micro scales are now on Vic's stomach where the knife wound has been healed.

“I… I actually talked to her,” Vic noted. “I think I heard her voice.”

“Her?” There was a bit of concern in her voice but she let it slip.

Yes, Caroline, this means Vic might become female if the changes progress that far. Doesn't remember much when he wakes up so he doesn't know what she, the spirit, looks like, rats. Retelling by Vic of his perspective how his spirit guided him in using magic and casting the spell that saved his life.

Tells Caroline where he believes he picked up the spirit.

“Things seem alright,” she said, her eyes closed in deep focus. “I do detect some leftover injuries and frail organ tissue scars. It shows that this spirit isn’t a full healer, but she still did a good enough job.”

Ouch, more of the changes, and this time internally. Vic, how many people with GSD live full lives despite their appearance, just look at Imp and all she has been through. Enjoy things you can, Vic, and not worry so much about what might or might not be.

Sunday, December 25th - 6:32 pm
Portland, Oregon

Enjoy the sites while driving, you might even see some good Christmas decorations that aren't overdone. Yes, hope everything will be fine, Vic, that is how you keep living. Any game in that VR system... imagine Legend of Zelda or any of the Metroid games on that, epic.

Lightning taking cooking classes so the Christmas feast was him wanting to test his skills. Aww, Raffina, you could open up to them, trouble making friends doesn't mean she can't. Josh gets to use the portal too, the benefits of being a Syndicate trainee. Leslie too with Cole along, that psy-dampening helmet is a godsend and I hope Josh can convince Junkerer to let him use the good parts for the next upgraded version.

Portal to the basement of an office building where Caroline has her personal clinic and office. 30-minute ride due to heavy traffic, oof.

“Don’t worry. Sophie is a good girl. She’s smart, friendly and has a golden disposition. She likes meeting new people. When she heard you were going to stay with us, she was both curious and excited. About you and the kind of things you like and do. I hope you two will get along.”

I wish Sophie would rub off on her big brother.

Oh boy, Dereck doesn't know his mom works for the Syndicate so keep quiet about it including around Sophie. Filling reports is the bane of everyone except those bureaucrats who enjoy heaping it on the rest of us.

“She doesn’t know about the jobs. She knows Cole, who also lives in the city, and a couple of the organization assistants that babysit her when I’m away. She just thinks they’re friends from the same building,” Caroline noted. “I told her that you’re a mutant kid from the streets that was awarded with a scholarship for Whateley but had no home.”

Sophie is sweet and innocent, keep her that way as long as possible.

Boy, Caroline has everything planned out. Even basic cooking skills at that level for a teen your age are impressive nowadays, Vic. A case went wrong and Vic was told she passed away, sounds like she was murdered by someone. Rivera, from South America, grew up in the Andes, and her family traveled a lot in her youth, why do I suspect Caroline is gathering information on Vic's mom so she can find out what really happened to her?

Taught Spanish, bilingual, Vic doesn't realize what an advantage that can be. Nice house, wish it was more lived in. Nice guest room for Vic to stay in. Lock broken on his luggage, he needs a new item to practice his lockpicking on. I knew all of that would catch up to Vic soon, asleep 3 seconds after his head hit the pillow, poor guy deserves a good rest.

Monday, December 26th - 7:51 am
Plymouth, Massachussets - Seaside junkyard

Ouch, when Christmas falls on a weekend and you have to go to work the next day. A man and his large bodyguard at the pier services to check on something, they have the needed papers. Oh crap, this guy is here about the artifacts that went down with the tanker.

“I know. Pay a price to appease your guardian deity in exchange for magic and enhanced strength,” the man scoffed. “I know the terms of your agreement you and the enchanted weapons have. Enough to know that you’re getting scammed.” He chuckled, looking back at the bodyguard with a mocking smirk. “One spiritual feast a year. One taste of blood before your weapon starts to rust. No wonder few people serve your spiritual wolf.”

He is right, that is a scam for the use of enchanted weapons, should be every 3-4 years at most for a blood price to keep them from rusting. Goes for his weapon only to be painfully bound, the businessman promised to let the bodyguard go.

“I only told you that the mark on you would fade away after five years, I never said anything about not replacing it with a better one.” He snapped his fingers and the bodyguard exhaled as the man’s body regained movement. “Maybe if you make me happy one day, I’ll consider it, but it won’t work if you keep on trying to draw a knife on me.”

Weasel wording on a magical deal, I hate those types.

“You have your freedom, as long as it aligns with what I want,” the man said as he stepped into the open warehouse.

This is why you always have a lawyer versed in magical contracts involved when making such deals. All those artifacts and treasures ruined, what a waste.

A sculpture of stone made round with faded off markings that were framed and reinforced by a frame of a strange metal that glimmered and changed colors as the faint light hit it.

He was after the spirit imprisoned inside it!

“The key to my plans…” the man said as he stared, “Someone that could guide me. That could help me find what I’m after.”

Is this man after something from Atlantis? A tattered journal, centuries old, uh oh.

“At least this further validates the journal. If that is so, then there shall have to be other ways around and, eventually, I shall find it… the kingdom of many forms, frozen beneath the waves.”

Okay, Vic is in a lot more danger by having that spirit than I realized. This man is a threat that wants to unleash something upon the Earth that he doesn't fully understand.

This has been a rollercoaster of emotions throughout the story. From Vic's worries and Leslie's warning about what she might hear in his mind, to the trip with Josh, Raffina, Root, Leslie, and Vic to the base, to finding out about the intruders and their goals, to the high stakes of stopping a meltdown, staying alive, and capturing the intruders. I'm so glad they had time to unwind after all of that and Vic is finally getting some real rest.

Vic, seeing him harmed, debating survival over further changes, and having to buckle down to get through this. Vic is a lot stronger than he believes. Even if he was forced to use healing magic and rely on his spirit in dire situations he still did it. It shows he will be able to handle whatever changes come to him in the future, especially with his friends to help him. And that fight against Chad, I loved seeing him finally take down that psycho.

Leslie, poor girl loses her boot, twists her ankle, then gets knocked out and locked in a closet tied up for a long time. In the last part, she came through with telepathic comms, I just hope we can see more of her in the future. And wonder if her teasing of Vic is just friendly or due to a growing crush.

Josh, I can see why he is Vic's best friend even when he gets distracted. His technical abilities due to his power saved the day, stopped a meltdown, and helped take out the intruders. Plus that VR headset system, if it is a gadget I hope he keeps working on it and markets it someday.

Raffina, I didn't like her attitude while they were in the woods. But once trouble went down in the base she was crucial to gaining intel, securing the security room, taking back the base, and preventing the intruders' escape. I hope when/if she shows up again she opens up more and tries to be friends with the others.

Root has grown in skill with his magic, I wouldn't have expected some of his stunts before. Plus his leadership skills, he needs to be trained to help develop those as he has shown he can handle the position.

Lightning, whom I thought was going to be a hardass and make trouble for the kids, didn't get to find out what he is really like thanks to Chad's disguise as Lightning and manipulating the kids once they entered the base. The Syndicate better go easy on him, no one could have predicted what happened here.

Censer, since his previous mission has upped his game, his skill with his meteor hammer and manipulating smoke has noticeably grown. Using materials provided by Root to mess with Steve, the wolfsbane, shows he is more than a combat grunt.

The fallout of all this, I hope the Syndicate realizes the kids went through a much more intense situation than the planned tests and passes them all without further testing. Vic and Josh especially, their test wouldn't be anywhere close to as difficult as what they went through that night.

Now I can't wait for the next story and see how Sophie reacts to her new brother. And if she will greet Vic with a regular hug or a tackle glomp.