Lost Rain
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Outrun - Chapter 260
🕑 Added 2025-06-06 22:04:01 +0000 UTCA surge of electricity arced through my body as I channeled it out through my hand. An arc crackled through the air as it moved, creating a long string that wrapped around my wrist like a bracelet.
The arc bracelet held for a second, shifting and twitching erratically. It swayed unsteadily as if at any moment it could veer off course. I gave it my full concentration, carefully manipulating it.
Two seconds passed, the perfect circle breaking as the arc of electricity finally escaped my control. I tried to get it back into shape, but it was incredibly draining. The longer it stayed out, the longer I had to resist the arc’s overpowering desire to ground itself.
Three seconds-
Tzzt!
I lost control completely, the arc flicking into the metal work table in the speakeasy. Ugh- I’d been practicing, but it was rough. I see now why Carone constantly toyed with his fire. It’d take a while to get to the point where I could shoot and control lightning freely.
Not to say it was useless until then. I picked up the newest piece of tech I’d made. For the moment, its name was Converter, though I was still workshopping it. It was a spherical object about the size of a tennis ball. Wires led off of it, connected to a battery.
The electric charge I now naturally produced channeled through the sphere, directly energizing the battery. It wasn’t perfect, and my current output levels weren’t high. In the future? I should be able to run all my tech permanently without any issues. Worrying about recharging my batteries would be a thing of the past.
The Converter was just one of many things I was working on. It was honestly kinda easy to make? Microelectronics had always been a pain in the rear, but Quantum Automation taught me quite a few techniques on how to scale down the size of stuff without sacrificing performance. I was planning on sizing down the tech even further from here.
The resources needed to make it also weren’t that big of a deal. I needed some rare earth elements that would’ve been annoying to get, but with Transmutation? It was just as easy as summoning out the golden scale, putting something of value on it, and then receiving the stuff I needed. Simple.
Transmutation was incredibly strong. I mean, it literally seemed to warp reality to grant me resources. Sure, sure, there were a few issues, but they were minor comparatively. Mainly, It could only produce resources. It didn’t produce bullets when I tried. Gunpowder worked just fine though.
The biggest issue though? Its sense of value was weird. Best I could tell, there was some entity that decided value. It took a bit to figure out what it considered valuable. Food and water were out, but other elements? Especially any kind of material from the Aether.
I rubbed at my head, grabbing parts from my printer as it finished. I went ahead and queued up the other stuff. I had a ton of parts I needed for dozens of different projects and ideas I had. Quantum Automation opened a whole new world for me, and I was eager to explore and innovate.
I cleaned up my workstation and brought over a tub full of parts. The very first automata I wanted to make? Scouter v.5. I couldn’t exactly remember which version I was actually on, but five was close enough.
I got to work, summoning out the golden scale to create the resources I needed. Mainly, titanium. In the past, this was where any of my projects would’ve stalled. I simply didn't have the productive capacity to make alloys, metals, and other resources to build all my ideas. Now? I was practically a one-person factory.
The golden scale shimmered into existence. I tossed a chunk of Crystalized Fire onto one end. So far, I’d found Crystalized Elements had the highest worth of almost all my disposable resources. They were easy enough to make, too, so they’d been acting as my ‘fuel’.
The pan dipped down heavily. I focused on the other pan, envisioning what I wanted. Ethereal chunks of metal stacked on it, slowly evening out the scale. Once it was balanced, the scale flashed. The Crystalized Fire and transmutation scale turned ethereal, leaving behind the chunks of titanium. Just like that, I had what I needed.
I processed the titanium, using it and a lot of plastic to slowly build up my newest Scouter’s basic form. It was a drone type this time, looking roughly like a dragonfly. The sensors, processing cores, mics, and cameras all sat in the head and body. The tail of the dragonfly acted the transceiver, disguised using segmented parts to look natural.
Four wings arched from the body, which would allow the micro drone to fly. Its legs and wings were really the only moving parts on the whole thing. The rest of its body could be manipulated by controlling the segmented lengths to setup alignments and the like.
It was a long, tiring process to get everything so small and compact. It was enjoyable in its own way, though. Seeing everything come together was always so wonderful. Now that I had not only the know-how, but also the resources to just make stuff like this? My only constraint was time.
Hours later, I cradled my beautiful dragonfly, lightly brushing its wings. I’d have to paint its body for camouflage, but for now, it was done. I tapped its head, enabling the dragonfly. Its wings beat rapidly, hovering just over my hand.
It didn't have any intelligence outside of hovering. I’d have to code commands and all of that, but that shouldn’t be too big of an issue. Quantum Automation had very, very in-depth training on coding automata. I just needed to start coding, buy some ICE, and then my lovely Scouter would be good to go-
Bzzzt! Bzzzt! Bzzzt!
My phone buzzed in my lap. I flinched harshly, taken off guard by it. The electricity that’d been building up throughout my body surged out of my control. Electricity sparked from me and immediately zapped my poor dragonfly out of the air. The dragonfly crashed into a smoking heap, completely fried.
Damnit! Ugh- I needed to work on draining my charge more often. It seriously sucked to keep frying my stuff. Should I set a timer? No- that wouldn’t work. The charge built up according to how much I moved, so a timer wouldn’t help much… maybe I should build some kind of sensor? That might do it?
I cradled my dragonfly, holding back tears and pulled out my phone. “H-hello?”
Hope’s voice came across the line. ”Zuku! Phew- you had me worried when you didn’t show at the meet-up.”
Right, I completely forgot about that. It was three days ago, wasn’t it? “Oh- sorry. I- uh- I had a medical emergency.”
”Are you okay?” A hint of concern crept into her voice.
I leaned back in my chair. I was still planning my chrome replacements, but I was mostly fine now. Everything felt airy though.“Chek chek. All good.”
“That's a relief…” Hope’s voice turned a bit more subdued. “Are we still on for coffee sometime? O-or an arcade? Is there something you want to do?”
Arcade? Were those still a thing? Oh, we could go to the Battle-Born Arena too! She’d probably enjoy that… for now, though- “Coffee’s fine. When?”
“Whenever!” Hope sighed heavily. “I’ve been almost exclusively in the gym since the start of our vacation. Don’t really know what to do when not working, you know?”
Not really. I always had something I needed to be doing. Never enough time… maybe one of these days I could get a full time freeze Perk. Might finally be able to catch up with that. I glanced over at my printer buzzing away. It’d be a while before anything else finished. “How about now? Is that fine?”
”Sure!” Her voice spiked with excitement. She took a breath, the cheer fading slightly. “There's this Nova shop just down the street from the gym. Meet you there?”
”Chek.” We talked about the it a bit more before the line went dead. I cleaned up the scrapped remains of my poor dragonfly, tossing it to the side. You will be missed, Mk. 1.
— — —
The coffee shop Hope talked about? A small place called Jousting Java. It was filled with Crusaders, though most of them came and went. Busy with patrols, it seemed. Just because we got a vacation didn't mean the rest of the Crusade did. Poor suckers.
There was more than enough space for us to find a booth… Or should I say ‘me’ since I was the first to arrive? I had to travel halfway across Little Yukoto to get here, so it was a bit of a surprise I was first.
I typed away on my deck, working on the dragonfly's flight protocols. I wanted it to fly like a natural dragonfly while also having enough intelligence to stay out of sight-lines and use shadows. It would be a long and grueling process before I got something that’d work.
“Ahem-“ A short cough caught my attention.
I looked up, spotting Hope in casual clothes. She looked as though she just got out of the shower. Her hair was still slightly damp, and her face was a little flushed with an awkward tinge. It was starting to get chilly for winter. Hope she doesn't catch a cold.
The bags under her eyes had lifted substantially, elevating her overall look from deeply depressed to only somewhat depressed. It was a good look, to be honest. Looked like the weight of responsibility wasn’t nearly as heavy as the weight of being Ligh’s Squire.
”Oh- sorry.” I closed my deck, sliding it into my bag. “Guess I was super focused.”
”No problem!” She smiled and scratched at her cheek. Her lips twitched and she started to say something, though she cut herself off. Almost all of her Cues read anxiety.
I was going to pretend not to see it, but the silence stretched uncomfortably long. “You- uh- you okay?”
“Y-yeah.” Hope shyly tipped her head, wringing her hands. “Sorry. I just- it's been five years since I did something with a friend like this. Not counting Joshua and Dev. They’re great- but… I’m just- um- nervous?”
Ugh… it’d been a while since I did something with a friend, too. Everything recently has been work related, one way or another. I hadn’t even heard from Mira in a long time. Hope she was okay. “I get it.”
Her expression lit up slightly. “Phew… Everyone I used to know stopped talking to me when I became a Squire, so…”
Wow, what shitty people. I guess I was lucky? Heck, Shinobu even showed up to my promotion ceremony. Sure, he was also responsible for saddling me into this, but whatever… ”Then they weren’t true friends, chek?”
”I guess.” Hope’s lips turned downward. Her eyes got a faraway look in her eye. A moment later, she shook her head and took a step back. ”I’m- I’m going to go get something.”
I followed her to the line. After a brief awkwardness, conversation flowed much smoother and we talked about this and that. We managed to avoid too many conversations about the Crusade and work. It turned out Hope was an art nut. I barely had to say anything once we shifted to art.
All in all? Not bad? I’d been in survival mode for most of my life. Now that I’d finally settled down and things were looking up? I guess I never noticed how much I missed going and doing something with a friend just because.
— — —
I returned to my apartment late into the night. After hanging out with Hope for a couple hours, I returned to the speakeasy and kinda lost track of time working. I really needed to get a comfy bed down there at some point so I could spend the night. I could just sleep on the floor, I guess, but the Crusade’s soft and cushy bed was ruining all of that for me.
I collapsed into bed, allowing the interface to pull me into the pavilion. For the foreseeable future, I planned on doing a Perk Point a night. Of course, that schedule would be adjusted if I had a particularly bad or tiring experience. It was inevitable, almost.
A few moments later, I stood before a towering shelf, only the bottom of which was illuminated by the flickering flame above. Net was next in line. I was a bit… excited? I thought I’d never get a Net Perk in my lifetime.
I looked through the scrolls, reading each of their titles and descriptions. There were a dizzying number of them. Everything from specialized training to some that seemed like they enhanced cybernetics. Honestly? It was a bit of a surprise how many there were considering the Aether’s typical inclination toward tech and everything related.
I had a few guesses as to which of the eidolons might’ve made all of these. Some of them had a certain Echidna vibe, but I couldn’t quite tell for the others. Was there an eidolon focused on the Net? Who would that even be? Owl? He was into any kind of knowledge, so maybe?
Anyway, it wasn’t hard to find the perfect Perk. There were few that stood out to me as much as the one I found.
「Badger’s Code Scan - Scan for malicious or broken code」
Not only was it an eidolon Perk, but it fit what I need at the moment. The malicious code part was nice, but the broken part was what really drew my eye. I guess it answered my question of what other eidolon was interested in code aside from Echidna. Badger was so not who I thought it’d be.
Although I’d received quite a bit of training in automata coding, at the end of the day, it was still all very new to me. And it was very, very easy to mess up while coding. Just one misplaced bracket or dash could easily break something. This could streamline the whole process. Not to mention I wouldn’t have to worry about being scammed with code now.
I took the scroll, tossing it onto the easel. It unrolled to reveal a badger tapping away on a keyboard with long claws. It was a goofy image, one that made me chuckle slightly as I was kicked out of the pavilion.
I stared up at the roof of my apartment. No learning space? No surge of pain? Was it another active Perk? Two for three wasn’t bad at all. I swiped around for my phone, pulling up the code I’d just been working on. How did I do this?
「Scan?」
A screen popped up. It was like the interface, but slightly… off. More like a monitor screen than anything. “Chek?”
The monitor flashed, my code copying onto it rapidly. Almost immediately, warnings and red lights flashed, pointing out all the broken bit. Some of it was even counted as malicious scrapcode.
I stared at the monitor for a moment before waving it off in the middle of its scan. Ugh- and I thought I was doing well… whatever, I’d fix it in the morning. I tossed my phone back onto its charger and curled up under my blanket.
Comments
Ria
Poor dragonfly 🥺
llenay
Thanks for the chapter. But I wish you hadn't cut off the conversation with Hope so early. This was the first time the two had a longer talk, and you cut it off after the introduction. It felt like a waste.
lenkite
Maybe she needs to switch off Vibrate on her phone. It has caused her disaster upteen times in this story. RIght now, it has been a [Repeated Trope] in this story that is going stale. Need something to go wrong for Zuku or startle her ? - let her phone vibrate. Why hasn't she switched that off btw ?
Scholar of Endless Knowledge
Tftc!
