System Overclocked 3 -ch 7-

Exiting his pen, Wrench paused in the hall.

It was still very early morning on his first day off.

There was a lot he could get done now that he’d settled things with Stripe suitably.

That and it only took two runs in the bed for her to be tuckered out.

To be fair, she’s not exactly built for physical exertion.

She’s a lovely woman that can do a lot but at the end of the day, she’s not a Brawler.

Letting out a short huff, Wrench realized he wanted to go out into the field. Today there a predesignated day for a breeze to be going through the Hab along with a bit warmer sunlight then normal.

He liked days like that.

Where he could stand in the light yet not get too warm.

Exiting the pens he went out into the green and came to a stop thirty feet from the building.

Closing his eyes, he just stood there.

Letting the air wash over him as well as the heat of the sun, even if false, warm his skin.

Something he missed while working on Captain Boyfriend’s ship.

Despite there being Habs built into it as well as nearly everywhere being open to them, nothing quite felt like being in an actual Hab.

That’s actually an interesting thought.

Who goes to ships?

Is it a choice?

A lottery or a draft type of thing?

Rotational based on age only to return to another Hab?

Wouldn’t be a terrible way to meet people.

That wouldn’t be as much of a concern once we have our own home. Goodie’s been working on that.

Still not sure how that would all work out though. It’s beyond me.

I can’t even begin to consider how such a system would work or how you’d get everyone tow ork together.

A series of loosely collected Habs being strung together just… doesn’t sound like a great basis of government.

I’ve tried something similar before in the resistance.

We ended up fighting ourselves a great deal as well as the Tongsta.

Wrench blew out a breath and realized he didn’t care.

It really was a problem beyond him. One that he wouldn’t be solving nor could he solve for everyone else.

All he could do was work on the problems he could tackle and fix those. Everything beyond that was for other people.

Need a new class of Hume.

Beyond an Admini even.

“I see you, I long for you,” whispered a breathy voice directly behind him. Followed by a pair of arms wrapping around him. “I yearn for you, Wrench. Acknowledge me?”

Wrench knew it was Nunnkish and he grinned.

He had suspected she was different than other Grae and it seemed he was indeed right about that. She didn’t respond the same way other Grae did.

Something he’d only noticed as of late after a lot more interactions with her.

The more he had ignored her the more she paid him attention.

Sccsccc had been similar but also different. She had just wanted to beat Tickaht at first and then grew interested later.

Nunnkish had simply been someone that the more she was pushed away, the more she came for more. Or at least, Wrench figured.

He had no way of knowing other than this seeming confirmation at this moment.

“I acknowledge you, Nun. I truly feel desired. Feel accomplished?” he asked, putting his hands atop hers and opening his eyes. He looked forward to the field in front of him.

“I do, actually. I do. Kat said I’m a broken Grae and I was born backward,” Nunnkish admitted with a chuckle. It sounded perfectly natural to his ear. “I wanted to chase and I’ve chased you since the start. Do you feel me chasing you?”

“So you have. So you have,” agreed Wrench, his fingers interlocking with hers. “I do feel it. I’m aware of it.”

Nunnkish was different.

She wasn’t the brightest Grae he’d ever met.

If anything, he would in fact call her a touch slow. She had even admitted it herself and that she actively worked to leverage her other abilities to offset that.

What she did have though, was a different way of looking at things. A different view than most Grae would have.

He himself had a different view in things and he appreciated that.

In fixing things, he’d had a good deal of success when approaching something backwards or from a different light.

“Nun… how would there even be a Hume society? Who would lead it? How would Grae fit into it? I can’t see it,” Wrench murmured. “You’ve heard that Goodie wants to make a planet for us, but how would that work?”

Nunnkish let out a low hooting noise, holding tight to him from behind. Her hands slowly began traveling up and down his front despite him holding to them.

“Would there be enough resources?” She asked instead of answering him.

“Yes? I imagine there would be. Goodie would make sure of it. Resources and space would likely never be an issue,” he confirmed.

“I don’t think Goodie would allow violence and would stop that,” Nunnkish continued.

“I would agree. She would take precautions to make sure it didn’t happen. It’s why she doesn’t allow Brawlers to mingle yet,” confirmed Wrench. “I don’t… know how that’d work out.”

“Well. I don’t know about the security. I think Goodie will just put Grae in, instead of Brawlers. Like how we are in the ship! We like security and we don’t play the same games Brawlers do.

“Hume could take the opposite place on the Grae planet. Goodie said it’s next door after all. Hume could manage all the systems and things just as their designations are.

“Grae are just… security Hume. Brawlers aren’t needed anymore and Grae can handle them just fine.

“For the planet… just put Habs all over. Instead of a Hab family, make a family Hab.”

“What?” Wrench asked. He didn’t quite understand that.

“This is a Hab family. We’re all family because of our Hab. Instead, give each family a Hab. Mother, father, children,” Nunnkish explained. “Each one sized for comfort of a family. The size of the family would be the size of the Hab.

“If someone wanted a larger Hab, they need only grow their family.”

Wrench thought on that.

He could easily see some of what Nunnkish had thought of coming to reality. Some of it not.

“This is all idyllic silly fantasies,” said the Grae after a beat. “Really, it’ll just be whatever you want it to be. Then you fix whoever doesn’t listen, or you tell Goodie. They get put into isolation Habs or… I don’t know. Goodie has most certainly put people in isolation. Grae and Hume alike.

“We had several people we had to get a Tongsta involved with in security. We never saw them again.”

Oh?

Oh.

I mean.

That’s a good point.

Idyllic is… idyllic.

We’ll still have problems.

Crimes.

Issues.

Given what’s been done to us I don’t think our instincts will change any time soon.

Then again, I get the impression Goodie is going to be watching over our kind for… a very long time.

Whatever.

Again.

Again!

Focus on the problems you can.

You’re borrowing future problems, Wrench.

“I think I’d just put a bunch of Admini in charge and tell them to keep everyone happy, or I’d fix them,” Wrench said bluntly. “Then put a bunch of Brawlers in as a police force with Grae to assist and keep the peace, or I’d fix them.”

Nunnkish shrugged her shoulders and laughed.

“It doesn’t matter to me,” she said. “That sounds just as idyllic to me as the previous one! Because you’ll let me in your Hab, right?

“I told you I long for you. I did long for you. I watched you. I chased you. I know you felt me. You’ll let me in… right?”

That was certainly the truth.

Any time he was somewhere she could follow, watch, or stalk him, she did.

Constantly.

During that time he’d noticed Tickaht and Zntik as well. Not as often as Nunnkish, but they weren’t far off from the same.

As much as they wanted to be looked at and long for, they sure do spend a lot of time following me around.

“I’d let you in and I did feel you longing for me,” Wrench stated. “Now… come on. I need to do some Fixer things. You’re my resident Grae Fixer, aren’t you, my dear Nunnkish?”

“I like it when you call me Nun,” she answered instead. Not really answering him in her very Nunnkish way.

“Nun, you’re my resident Grae Fixer. Won’t you come with me, my dear?” He asked, trying again.

“Yes. Yes please. I’m Nun, the Grae Fixer. I long for you,” she purred in a way that made him think Tickaht was giving her lessons. “Zntik will join us. She wants to know more. I invited her. Tickaht is busy with Seventh and Squeak today.

“And… you like my hair, right? I… it’s so different but Zntik said you’d like it. She seems to know a lot about Hume and how you think and-and I trust her. She’s smarter than me.”

“Your hair color is irrelevant. Do I like blondes? Sure. Red heads? They’re great. Do I love the natural shades of Grae white? Very much. What I really like, is Nunnkish being Nunnkish,” he affirmed, squeezing her hand. “Now, come on Nun. Zntik can catch up or finally drop down from above.”

Wrench turned his head, leaned it back, and looked straight up at Zntik.

She was hiding in a deep spot of the Aerial-Hab and was almost entirely hidden away. He didn’t think for a moment anyone else would have ever known she was there.

If they didn’t have his senses, that is.

“Isn’t that right, Zntik,” he said, staring into her red-pupils. “If you want me to say I look and long for you, I’m doing that right now. So hurry up or I’m going with Nunnkish alone.”

Zntik had frozen the moment he had looked at her. As if she could somehow convince herself he didn’t see her.

Only to release her grip on the vines and drop out of the Aerial-Hab.

Plunging out of it and rapidly descending at maximum velocity in no time at all.

She struck the ground ten feet away from him with a fairly heavy thump. Her bare feet briefly visible as the lovely dress she was wearing fluttered about her.

It was a dress that Nunnkish and Tickaht would wear and fit Zntik so well that Wrench was momentarily unable to say anything.

Standing up, Zntik gave him a smile.

“I see you, Zntik,” Wrench got out, forcing his eyes up and away from her body. He squeezed Nunnkish’s hands. “You fill that dress out wonderfully, and you look beautiful. I’m amazed at the look of you in a dress.”

“Why thank you,” she said and gave herself a light spin, making the dress twirl around her and showing off her bare muscular legs. “And yes, of course I’ll join you and Nun. I’d love to learn more about Fixers.”

“Off we go then,” Wrench stated, still holding Nunnkish’s hands. He began walking, dragging her along behind him.

***

Yawning, Wrench closed his eyes for a moment, and then rubbed at them. He was tired of staring at the screen. Weary of watching it creep up percentage point by percentage point.

Zntik and Nunnkish had quite literally passed out behind him on Fixer cots.

They were both sprawled out on one each and sleeping quite peacefully.

For the majority of the day they’d been quite helpful. All of the physical things and tests to do were things they were very curious about and interested in.

Right up until he started doing diagnostic tests.

Then they just about drooped like flowers in a cold spot.

Putting his chin in his palm, he just stared at the screen.

“Well that’s just fucky and boring looking,” said a voice from beside him.

Flinching away, Wrench looked to the speaker and found the helmeted man standing there. The same one who had given his life back to him.

“Holy shit four boobs!” the man said, pointing at the Grae. “That’s awesome. If I wasn’t thinking that my whole life was going to be spent at the end of a blackhole I’d ask you to introduce me to a few.”

Holding up what looked like a tablet infront of himself, the man tapped a gloved hand at it several times. Then did it again.

“Oooh! Four boobs and red and black eyes. That’s just amazing. Grae. I like Grae. Super hot. I’ll just… tap in some notes and… there. If the black hole at the end of time doesn’t eat me, this’ll be a nice point to come back to and see if there’s any hot-single Grae in my area.”

The helmet turned back to Wrench and he got the impression he was waiting for Wrench to say something.

“Welcome back?” Wrench tried.

“Haha, thanks! Good to see you. You’re looking great. Your power is nice and stable, you’ve expanded it, and you’re even at the peak of your health,” the man said, the helmet tilting toward the tablet and back to Wrench. “Though you haven’t frozen your aging yet. You should probably do that in the next like year or two. You’ll be past your peak at that point.”

Freeze my aging.

Freeze… my aging?

“I’m immortal?” Wrench blurted out in a strangled voice.

“I mean, yes? Yes. You just have to lock your systems regeneration to be perfect rather than standard,” the man stated. “I can help you with that after we do our job if you like. I should have a bit of window just after you get the work over with.

“After that though I won’t be able to come back. It’s not quite a dead-end branch but it might as well be. Everything is converging right then and there. Like… uh… like… a power cord. I’ve put the machine back together after I rebuilt the whole thing. I’ve rewired it and everything is good to go.

“I’m about to plug it in and if everything goes well, it’ll work, and I can never turn it off. If it doesn’t work, it’ll explode.”

“Sounds like you’re a shit Fixer,” blurted out Wrench.

The helmeted man laughed at that and nodded his head.

“Oh hell yes I am. If I was a Fixer I’d just be fucking cooked. Your damn genetics are literally built out to do your job. The things the Tongsta have done are… wild,” the man said, expressively holding one hand out. “I mean, part of the job I need you to help me with is fixing a bunch of shit.

“Whole bunch of shit. Fix it and make it work the way it’s supposed to. At the very end of that, we’ll need to use your super-speed hero at light speed thing to save a man.

“Well, hopefully save a man. I’m not sure even you’re fast enough to save him but we’re going to try. Oh, and don’t worry about death, I literally can rewind time.

“Remember? You already died once.

“Got blowed up. Perkow! Earth shattering kaboom! Atomic style!”

“Right,” Wrench said simply. “What’s… your name?”

“Edmund! I’m Edmund. I know, resistance name, right? I come from a far away time and place that you’d never even guess at,” Edmund stated with a laugh.

Wrench nodded his head slowly.

He’d noticed that the Grae weren’t breathing anymore.

The timers on the monitors weren’t progressing.

Time was effectively stopped as far as he could tell.

This Edmund individual had a great deal of power over the world and Wrench wasn’t about to haul off and do something stupid like antagonize them.

“So… you need me to fix things. Will they be fun? Something that you need me to fix can’t be simple I imagine,” Wrench said after the conversation had passed into a weird awkward lull.

“Hm? Oh! Yeah. Sorry. I was going through your Save-states. You’ve got a lot of them and wow… Stripe looks fun. Also crazy,” Edmund admitted, nodding his head. “Crazy can be a lot of fun. You’d be surprised how many crazy people there are out there. Way more than you’d think.

“But yeah, lots of things to fix. Doomsday weapons, bombs, random bits of magical machinery that probably do weird things. I know there’s one that supposedly turns all periods to commas. Which is just really weirdly specific and I don’t even know why it was made.

“Sound fun? Willing to do it for me? I’m willing to barter or trade for your help. Since, you know, the second job, saving someone, is what I originally asked you to help me out for.”

“Alright. I’m sure I could figure out something worth trading for,” Wrench allowed then shrugged his shoulders. “What do we do? How do we do this?”

“Well, you see, this here portal right here,” Edmund murmured and then gestured at nothing. A moment later a portal appeared.  A perfectly blue oval that slowly wavered in the air and looked as if it went somewhere else. “Will take us to the landing point. From there, we’ll go somewhere else to do the repairs. I’ll leave you there to do your thing and I’ll keep working on other things. When you’re finished up, then I’ll come back, and we’ll go from there.”

“How long do you think I’ll be gone?” Wrench asked. “Will they remain like this? The world seems… frozen.”

“Yeah, they’re just-yeah, frozen. They’re frozen. Time is stuck right now until you come back,” Edmund confirmed. “Oh, we should pop over to a store and get you a whole bunch of shit. I imagine you’ll need a bunch of things. Food, tools, drink, lotta crap.

“If you run out or need more, we can get you more, too. So don’t fret over it or anything like that.”

With a nod of his head, Wrench stood to his feet and looked into the portal.

He couldn’t see anything through it and all that was visible was impenetrable darkness.

Well.

We knew this was coming at some point.

To pay the price we took on to restart our life.

I mean, I just got to close the relationship with Stripe and-and… and I’m happy.

Admittedly the problems on the horizon seem almost too grand but that’s not too bad.

“Any chance you can help me figure out what kind of government I should be aiming for, for my people in the future?” Wrench asked, looking to Edmund. “Or someone to put in charge so I don’t have to worry?”

“Eh? Oh. Uh… yeah, I can do that. I’ll just bug Adeena and she can figure it out,” answered Edmund with a laugh. “Onward, good Wrench. Onward. Bolts don’t tighten them selves and broken shit is… well it’s broke.”

Not waiting any longer, Wrench stepped through the portal.