Chapter 134 – Upset Routine

  “It’s bad enough that all the laws we passed have been completely overturned as unconstitutional and the people are now completely unmonitored. But now you tell me that we have to give one of them how much? Where the hell is that going to come from?” – Alan Smith, Lieutenant Governor of Michigan.

  Kurt was down in his workshop, once again finding himself thankful that he was a lycan as he felt his recent bruises fading. The last couple weeks since his dinner with the templars had been a grueling ordeal of training and enchanting. He wasn’t having any trouble with the gun training, finding it rather easy despite trying to make it hard on himself and setting simply ridiculous standards and par times. He was having fun with it, despite the rest of Jay’s people now having very adverse reactions to the sound of shot timers.

  So, while the rest were training on drills and some competition stages, he was getting his ass kicked by a couple of the Templar knights. What made it all the worse was that the man he was training with was a regular human. Sure, he was enhanced with magic, but he still wasn’t as strong as a lycan or as quick as an elf.

  Donnovan, an experienced swordsman, had put him through his paces. He created a full curriculum of drills he should practice with his sword and they sparred every day using a spell to blunt the edges of their weapons. He was a very kind and friendly man who took every opportunity to find a positive while showing a fault.

  On the other side of coin was his polearm instructor. Gladys was, for lack of a better word, intense. Her method had been to show him the proper way to strike and defend with his hammer on the first day then get straight into the spars, using her short halberd to punish his every mistake. Three times a week, every week, for the foreseeable future.

  Now he was back at his bench, figuring out more useful enchantments. He had developed a sort of magic ear protection using what was essentially a clip-on earring. He had found that the large semi round dome was a perfect thing to throw an enchantment on. The way it worked was very similar to many of the electronic ear protection that he normally wore. It amplified quiet things and silenced loud things, very simple and easy to make in the CNC machine.

  The reason he was making them was because of Val, Tig and Piper mostly, but also every other person with an odd ear shape. Val had often complained about wearing her muffs and having to use human ears but did it none the less. Several of the elves on Jays support squads also were forced to use plugs since the muffs slid off their long ears. These earrings would allow anyone with odd external ear geometry to have hearing protection that they could snap on in a moment. Someone could even wear them full time if they really wanted, since they were very unintrusive.

  So, while the machine worked in the background, doing ten sets at a time, he was back to work on his implants. Specifically, the communication one and expanding its capabilities. He had found it to be incredibly useful and was pleased with how it worked so far, but there was room to improve. That improvement would come in creating a network hierarchy for the devices.

  Right now, the implants all had the same priority when active. There was no real way to filter or isolate them from the larger whole. That meant he would have everyone using one ‘frequency’ if they ever conducted larger operations.

  So, he had devised a way for him to create a ‘master’ implant that would essentially allow him to set the permissions of the network when he was connected. He had also found some room to enhance the range feature, increasing it to over ten miles, terrain allowing. They had done some testing with the original version and found that dense structures like earth or concrete could block some signal. That was worked around with having each item act as a sort of repeater for the rest of the network.

  “Here we go.” Kurt said after finishing sterilizing his new master implant. He took a deep breath, then, holding very still, cast the spell that Jay had taught him. There was a sharp pinch and the implant under the skin and muscle of his skull was suddenly on the table. He cast the second spell a moment later, swapping in the new implant before his healing could make any more progress.

  There was a sudden coolness, along with a brief pain, just behind his ear that told him the new implant was in place. The sensation quickly faded as the implant got up to body temperature and he ran a quick test, mentally reaching out to one of the finished ones under his magical jeweler’s lens. He saw it light with a little mana, showing that it worked. He set aside two of the nearly sixty he had made, needing to swap the ones that the girls had for the upgraded ones.

  Having finished that project, he moved on to his other device, the one that he was most concerned about. He had already made the tubular main body, minus the actual enchantments from a piece of titanium tubing. His goal was to finish that part before the girls got back from their day out with Penny and Anna.

  He put a mandrel through the center, supporting the relatively thin walls as he clamped it in a vice and got out a chisel, curved file and sanding stick. The bands that he was going to put on it needed to be connected so he began to mark where he would put down a strip of gold to act as a bridge.

  The engraving went very smooth, essentially forming a shallow trench. He then pulled out a measured length of nearly flat gold strip. He proceeded to hammer the malleable gold into the titanium, glad that he had made a custom mandrel on the CNC.

  Once the gold was inlaid and he had polished it smooth, he began to lay out the mounting points for the 8 rings that were going to be placed around it. He used a set of dividers to mark out the spaces and create boundaries for him to enchant within. He was planning on making a binding enchant that he could activate using a special tool, allowing him to change out the rings as needed.

  While laying out the lines, he had found there was room for ten rings, so he amended his plans and decided to fill the extras with more batteries. Finally, he was able to move on to the engraving of the sizing enchant, which was pretty standard, built into practically every enchanted bit of clothing or jewelry. He would also have to engrave the resize enchantment into all the rings he put on it for when he shifted but that was a future problem.

  The last enchantment he engraved was the spell that would bind the rings where they were added and help smooth the edges so the muscles and other tissue would still work normally. He really didn’t want to experience what it would feel like to have a tendon rubbing over the edge of a metal ring every time he took a step.

  Once what he had taken to calling the base was finished, he activated the enchantments. It was pretty simple using the batteries and took only a few moments with the nanobots already having replicated the activation spells he used.

  He took his time examining the work, making sure the enchantments were stable and had activated properly. Happy with the outcome, he checked the time. The girls weren’t due back for a few hours yet and he was making good progress so he decided to skip lunch and move on to the tool that would make the item modular.

  The control tool was essentially a wand with a selector built in with a couple buttons. The selector was a ring with the numbers 0-10 that could be rotated to line up with the two buttons. One was labeled ‘Place’ and the other ‘Remove’. On the back of the short wand was a tapered section with a small hook that would hold a new ring or catch the removed one.

  Its function was pretty self-explanatory in Kurts’ opinion. He would point the wand at the leg with the implant, rotate to the number he wanted then either place or remove the ring. The 0 was for placing the base itself and likely wouldn’t see much use, even compared to the modular rings.

  The wand was made of a high-grade stainless steel and enchanted with the runic versions of spells that Jay had taught him. The spells worked based off intent rather that actual spell structure so the engraving was simple compared to what he had expected. Still, even with the ‘simplified’ structure, the vast majority of the surface was covered in runes that he inlaid with gold wire due to the interface.

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  Kurt had managed to get everything done with the control tool and get it enchanted before it was time for dinner. He did have to stop several times to change out the earrings, placing fresh ones on the mounting block of the CNC to run in batches. Those would be ready for inlaying and enchanting after he assembled them again.

  He was just finishing up putting away his tools and supplies when he heard the door open and voices from upstairs.

  “I’m not saying you can’t have fun but please drive like a normal person when I am in the car.” Kristi called out.

  “It was perfectly safe.” Val retorted, her voice closer to the stairs. “We only slid a little bit and didn’t even brush the curb.”

  “Calling a fifty foot drop off into a ravine a curb is downplaying it a little much isn’t it?”

  “Either way, we would have needed a tow truck. Soooo, since we didn’t, everything is fine.”

  “We nearly died, Val.” Kristi’s voice was growing more and more incredulous as the banter went back and forth.

  “Pffb. We didn’t even get hurt.”

  Kurt had locked up the vault and was making his way upstairs. He had a feeling he knew what had happened given the subtext. Val really liked to drive and push her car to the very edge of its performance. While it was impressive, it wasn’t always as enjoyable for the passengers.

  “Val, you gotta be more careful when driving, especially with other people.” He said as he reached the top of the stairs and entered the living room. “At least be considerate of whoever is riding with you.”

  “I wasn’t going fast.” Val said, whirling around to face him, looking very guilty. “I promise I didn’t break the speed limit by more than five over.”

  “The speed wasn’t the problem, it was the direction of travel.” Kristi said and crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t want to look at our destination through the side window.”

  Kurt raised his eyebrows. “Taking advantage of the slush and wet roads?”

  Val smiled sheepishly. “Yeah… you could say that. I was just having a little fun, I didn’t mean anything by it.”

  Kristi threw her hands up and stalked off toward the bedroom muttering under her breath. “I’m getting my driver’s license then. I can get my own car.”

  Watching her go, Kurt and Val both winced as they heard the bedroom door shut with a bang. He turned to her after a moment to check that the primary emotion Kristi was feeling was annoyance and she wasn’t actually angry. “So how was your day?”

  “Oh, actually pretty good. We went out and saw a movie then did a late lunch and hung out for a while at their apartment.” She said while strolling over to the kitchen. “It was really nice to just be lazy and chat. Nothing against doing things but it sometimes is good to just veg out.”

  “You should host a girl’s night some time. You know, movies, wine and all that.” Kurt suggested as he followed her and pulled out supplies for dinner. He was making a stir-fry that night and figured it was a good time to get started.

  “We could but, what would you do then?”

  “I don’t know. I am sure I can find something to occupy my time for a few hours one night.” Kurt thought he could go hit up a bar with Alec or something if they needed him out of the house.

  “Also, why do we have to do wine and movies?” Val asked, her voice carrying a bit of amusement. “Just because we are girls, that’s what we do on girls’ night?”

  “I really don’t care what you do but I know you all like wine and ‘you’ have a particular fascination with movies.” Kurt put that elven mind to work and quickly came up with a reason besides him picking a stereotype.

  Val squinted at him, pursing her lips. “Mhm. A likely story.” She smacked his butt with a spatula as she passed. “Anyway, I think we might try to make it a regular thing. It would be kinda nice to just have that on the calendar.”

  “Go ahead and do it.” Kurt said as he dumped the components into the frying pan. He was sure to use lots of aromatics in this one since everyone likes a little spice.

  He heard the tic-tic-tic noise as Val began texting. “Got it set. Or at least I told the group chat that we are making it a regular thing.” She wrapped her arms around him from behind, standing on her ‘tip-toes’ to prop her chin on his shoulder and give him a kiss on the cheek. “I’m going to go get cleaned up, then I want to hear about your day.”

  With that she sauntered off to the bedroom. She was replaced a few minutes later by Kristi as she came and chatted with Kurt until he began setting out the food for dinner. They chatted and caught each other up until Kurt broke the news that he had to swap their implants.

  After several long minutes convincing Val that it would be a quick process. He finally agreed to use one of his talismans on them. He applied the numbing talisman and swapped the chips. He went one at a time rather than trying to do both at once. He figured better slow and steady than trying to rush a process he wasn’t familiar with.

  With the implants swapped and tested, they settled down for the night. They decided to go for some movies on the couch and snuggled in to watch the movie that Kristi had picked. She had been on a little action movie kick lately and had selected the first RoboCop movie.

  Kurt hadn’t ever seen that one all the way through and was surprised at some of the scenes that he had missed. He was wondering how many classic action movies he was misremembering after seeing the full thing. Was Commando really that bad? What about the original Walking Tall? He was just beginning to question his sanity when the show ended and they called it quits for the night.

  He was fine with the decision since he wanted to get up early the next day and get a jump start on some projects he had been working on. After a few weeks of nearly non-stop enchanting for Jay, he was really looking for a little more variety and one of the books he had gotten had given him ideas.

  *****

  “Alright, touch the silver dot and push a little mana in.” Kurt told Kristi as he held out a wooden block to her.

  The dragoness frowned at the match box sized contraption. “What does it do?”

  “It will take an imprint of your mana.” Kurt told her. This was a device he had learned about from reading some of the captured books from the enchanters guild. It would allow him to collect and store a large selection of mana types in gems. The original author had found that synthetic sapphires would work just as well as natural ones and Kurt had ordered a small selection of them.

  Kristi reached out and touched the little silver button and pushed a little mana in. It flowed down a rod that had been enchanted to prevent mana leaks and into the piece of sapphire at the back end of the box. After a few seconds Kurt told her to stop and pulled away. He slid the gem out of the block and put it in a small padded jar labeled “Kristi” where it glowed ever so slightly and hummed softly.

  “Your turn.” He held the device out to Val after inserting a new sapphire.

  Val shrugged and followed suit. Kurt then repeated the process and placed her crystal in an identical jar where it did the opposite of glow. It turned a blackish grey color that seemed to absorb light but was clearly visible. A paradox if there ever was one.

  Kurt then repeated the process with his own. His gem turned a warm amber color and radiated a little warmth as he held it. He was also getting a strange feeling when he looked directly at it, like his wolf wanted something. When it was placed in the jar, it stopped emitting light and just looked like an orange gemstone with a strange occlusion in the middle that seemed brighter than the surrounding material.

  “Ok, that was easy but why did you need them?” Kristi asked while looking at the small jars on the counter. “Just collecting or is there a purpose?”

  “I learned that there is a way to charge an enchantment with a type of mana and amplify or reduce its effects.” Kurt answered and put the containers in a larger box that he stored in his ring. “For instance, if I enchanted a shield with a reflective barrier, I could use Kristi’s mana imprint and her innate force magic to make it stronger.”

  “Huh, neat.” Val said then drained the last of her coffee. “So, is that what you have been up to since three this morning?”

  “Yeah, wanted to get a jump start on things so I can get more done on my next internal magic item.” Kurt took her cup and placed it in the sink with his own empty mug. “I am finally on a roll and can make some progress…ah, shit.”

  He stopped mid-sentence as all their phones went off with a familiar beeping tone. It was the special tone that was assigned to the group text Penny had set up to alert them of incoming rifts or emergencies.

  A couple seconds later, Penny texted that they had a rift incoming that they would have to deal with. Kurt and the girls cleaned up breakfast and did the standard chores until their handler knocked on the door a few minutes later.

  “Hey, good to see you are up.” Penny said with a smile. She was dressed in her business formal attire so it was pretty clear that her day had also been derailed. “Looks like the down time is over.”

  “Eh, it was nice while it lasted.” Val said and lifted the coffee pot up. “Want a cup?”

  “Sure, I was going to get some on… my… wa- What’s wrong with him?” She pointed at Kurt who was making his way down to the basement, grumbling under his breath the entire way.

  Kristi pulled out a mug for Penny and slid it across the counter to Val, who filled it. “He was finally on a roll with his projects and was hoping to hit a few milestones today.” That was promptly followed by a bottle of creamer.

  “Ah.” Penny frowned while she added her creamer to the coffee. “I thought he had a couple weeks to work on it?”

  “I had a couple weeks to work on stuff for Jay and train with the teams.” Kurt replied after coming back up the stairs from securing the vault. “It was only the past two days that I was able to get any work done on my other projects.”

  Penny nodded then shrugged. “Well, happy Monday I guess.”

  “Yeah. Happy fucking Monday.” Kurt grumbled as he sat down at the counter with another coffee so Penny could tell them about the rift.