CHAPTER 16 - PATCHWORK+

I woke up and saw that Joule had already left the room. I used my Observation ability and I was partially conscious all through the night so I felt more than just a little tired.

I left the room and bumped into Stein. I was wondering if it was just a fluke when the twins overslept everyday the last time we were on the second floor, then I noticed something new.

I kept a straight face, then smiled when he apologized. We exchanged greetings and I left his presence as quickly as possible. I met Coulomb in the kitchen.

Once I realized we were alone, I closed the door and activated another ability. I would receive a warning if anyone came near the door. He must have understood immediately, he turned to me and said a single word.

"Stein."

"He marked us, it's going to last twenty-four hours. As long as we're on this floor, he can teleport us anywhere he wants. "

"He's really gotten too strong. ", He dropped a plate in front of me, "Can you remove it?".

"No, I can't. I also would recommend that you ignore it and don't try to avoid him. Think of it as a good thing, he can save us from annoying people."

"I wouldn't have taken that advice seriously if I didn't speak with Ein last night. I also wanted to talk to you."

He gave a detailed explanation of everything that he said he had heard from Ein and what he had done the previous night.

"Newton's going to kill you if she finds out."

"If she....".

Someone was coming. I didn't know how Coulomb sensed it but he must have. I dropped the barrier when...

"Hey, You seen it yet?", Schrodinger didn't wait for a reply, her hands reached out for the food, "Those misguided Savants calling themselves the System placed a bounty on Newton. One mill."

She was stuffing her face while she spoke. I noticed that Coulomb looked genuinely surprised. He was a little bit too good at hiding his thoughts.

"One million?..... I've been insulted."

I didn't notice when she came but she was already at the fridge for some reason.

"These are Savants who probably didn't take the test, plus they're running an organization. They should be able to pull together more funds."

"I think one million is enough. You're going to get targeted every second, every day.", I said to her as she poured milk over the cereal.

"They can't touch me while I'm in here."

She walked out and then I realized what was odd about her.

She wasn't wearing her glasses?

We left the kitchen after Joule came in. She looked like she had something to say and I didn't want to hear it.

She was awake for most of the night. I was 'watching' her with my Observation. She probably knew about it. I guess watching someone she wants to kill sleep peacefully in front of her set her on edge.

==================================

"We haven't been friends for a long time and I don't know if I'm completely sure of this but I have to say that I feel like you want to do this. So the question is, why are you turning him down?"

Tom lifted a Rook and placed it in front of my, no... Gabriel's King.

" Check."

He spun around to face me and my brother interposed with a bishop. I heard myself celebrating what was probably a good move, however I heard him drop a piece and I made a sad exclamation.

Tom spun to face Gabriel with a bored look. He watched the board and then sighed. He picked up a Knight and placed it beside the Rook.

"Check. Are you afraid that you won't be able to meet his expectations?", he turned again, "Do you feel out of your league?".

"Maybe, I give up.", I heard myself say.

"Every single game....", He shook his head, "You make a few good moves, get excited and then make a blunder."

"I don't need to hear that from you everytime."

"Gabriel has lost his too.", Gabriel turned but I recognized the voice before he saw the girl.

Schrodinger?

"Who's up for.....".

"No!".

Tom and Raphael shouted.

"I'll go easy, I promise."

"Maybe we're afraid."

I saw myself look at my brother. I looked surprised.

"You should go for it, I'm also interested in seeing what they're working on. "

"You're doing it again, you're making decisions that benefit you for other people and making them think they chose it themselves. "

Gabriel turned to Tom at her words. He must have had quite the expression on his face because Tom pretended not to see him.

"Raphael, what do you think?".

"I'll go if you go, but that's not what you want to hear. So, I'll say this, I'll go if Tom and Isabel tag along. "

Isabel, huh?

"Um.... ", she nearly dropped her phone, "Say that again?".

"Just for a day. "

"If you insist, then I'll go but Tom, you'll have to make it up to me."

"And you dare accuse me of being manipulative!.... You want to go too. Ralph, if she doesn't want to go, let's leave her here."

"You play a wicked game."

"It's Rafe and I don't remember telling you it was...".

"It's been a month already, let's make an exception for him."

"What about me?".

"Go die."

"Don't say it so casually! I might just die."

"Checkmate!"

"Let's play again."

"Don't feel like it."

"Don't ignore me!".

"Gabriel, it's almost four."

"Two of you, out. Rodney's coming soon. "

"I wanna see the kid. "

"Sure, sure... ", Tom dragged her out and then turned at the door, "Forget everything I said, do whatever you want. "

He closed the door.

"That boy..... As if that's possible."

We didn't have to wait for long. He walked in at exactly four.

"Raphael, Gabriel, this is my last offer. Join us."

"Or what?".

"I can release information on every single illegal trade you've made with insider information."

"Please, our profits were minimal and who's going to believe a couple of high school kids got their hands on that kind of information".

"Gabriel, I know your secret. Should I tell your brother?".

He refused to recognize Rodney's presence. Actually all Stein could see was Gabriel's one sided assault on amateur players who didn't know where he was sniping from.

"I know everything there is to know about my brother."

Gabriel was about to make a headshot but he missed.

Did his hands just shake?

"Then, I'll just have....".

"Stop right there, we accept."

             ===================================

When I woke up this morning, I noticed that Newton was still asleep. I brought out the cat and tried to ask it to explain my abilities but it just ignored me and acted like a normal cat. I left it and went to the kitchen for a quick breakfast.

Once I got out of the kitchen I saw the triplets glued to screens and Newton's left hand moving through the air while her right periodically took a spoon on a trip from a bowl to her mouth and back. Coulomb, Laplace and Joule entered the living room a few minutes after.

After everyone had something to eat, Stein appeared with a child we all recognized behind him.

"How did... Um, what's his name again?.... get here?".

"How rude. My name is....".

"I brought him down. I've checked the thirteenth's test also. I've found the area but it's not open until tomorrow, something about the Creator making a few modifications to celebrate his return.", Coulomb interrupted the child's tirade.

"Why is he dressed like that?", I asked pointing at his outfit that gave him a butler's vibe.

"I just picked up several clothes for him since he didn't have any apart from what he was wearing. I want him to stay here and...".

"Oooooooooooooh..... They're moving. What is this?".

The boy was circling the laptop that Alpha was using while making clichéd 'caveman meets technology' movements and exclamations.

"So what are we going to do today?", I asked.

They all looked at me like I was an idiot.

Hehehe....

Priceless.

"There's a new addition to the the city, I'm going to check it out."

"Let's go right now. "

"I said 'I'm'."

"Sure, let's go."

Coulomb and Laplace left the house.

"Ein, you should still be sleeping."

"I don't feel sleepy, I heard what they said. Let's take a look at the city."

"I'm following you two."

"Eh, Newton? Why?".

"If Newton's going then I'm following you too."

"I guess I'll try to catch up with Coulomb and Laplace. What about you three?".

"Don't worry about us, we're fine right here."

"Yup, leave everything here to me."

The triplets responded in unison and the child added his thoughts with enthusiasm.

There's really nothing for you to do though.

The house is self-maintained and nobody can get in without au...

"Does anyone here have a key?".

"No, I guess we'll just have to look for them sooner or later."

"Do you know how big the city is? Or can you teleport to somewhere you haven't seen?".

"Actually, I can open a portal if I have a particular object in mind but I was just going to fly around with Ein."

"You can fly?".

"There's no problem there, I should be able to fly too."

"Bye ", Ein started walking to the door but he was barred by Schrodinger.

"I want to go too. "

"Newton, can you carry her?".

"Her ES would..... Oh, she's surprisingly weak. No problem."

====================================

Where have they gone to?

It's just been a few minutes since they left.

I brought out my panel and checked the new notifications hoping to find the location of the new site.

Got it.

It was on the other side of the city. There was no way I could walk there and there was something I always wanted to try. I focused on heating the air around my feet and cooling the air above me but sadly I didn't float.

Of course it wouldn't work.

I need to get stronger and better at controlling my power.

I tried my second method of transportation. Freezing moisture around the ground and melting it like a skater without the blades. It was more fun than I thought and I quickly forgot my dissatisfaction with my inability to fly.

I noticed that there were more Savants in the residential area. They were finally starting to come to terms with the duration of their stay in the Playground. No one interfered with me and I didn't notice anything interesting. I suspected that they knew who I was and didn't want get involved with my team.

I took a right turn and wondered if the streets would ever be filled with vehicles someday. Then the traffic lights would finally be of use.

Then I sensed a section of the air behind me heating up. My body moved on reflex again. I was impressed with my speed and skill.

I spun and absorbed all the kinetic and heat energy in my ER. I heard something metallic drop. I quickly checked it and then resumed scanning the direction the bullet came from. Judging by the appearance alone, I'm no expert but I've watched Coulomb, those should be tranq shots.

The attackers I had been trying to bait had appeared. They knew that they couldn't beat me in a real battle so they tried to take me out from a distance. They must be low level Savants trying to take me hostage to get Newton.

Do they know where I came from?

If they studied every single frame of every action we've taken in the Playground, they could figure out a lot of things.

I found the assailants, they weren't as far away as I thought. They were running away. Three Savants.

I switched from my heat sight to my regular vision and went after them. I ran up the building using a technique I learned from watching Newton.

Once I reached the top, the kinetic energy of falling that I absorbed was used to propel my body straight at the attackers. They turned around and noticed me. They must have heard the sound of the air crackling from the heat I generated.

The three wore black and covered their body from head to toe. One of them stopped and raised his hands, a line of concrete rose out heading for me.

I burst through it easily and headbutted him. His clothes caught fire. He tried to kill the flames by trapping himself in a dome.

Not bad.

But I've got this.

I heated the dome until it turned red hot. Then I realized that I was distracted and the other two were escaping. I tried to look for them but they must have gone down to blend in with the other Savants.

I turned back to the dome and melted a portion of it but all I saw was a hole in the ground.

I could have done that better.

I can't believe I let those weaklings escape.

I decided that nobody needed to know that.

=========================================

I left the room once Ein stopped dreaming. At least that's what I thought. I couldn't see anything anymore.

I turned off my new ability from the last level to search the house. Everyone was still in the house and it was a little exhausting to keep myself focused on it. Still, it was thanks to it that I had an idea of what Ein was doing last night.

I had already decided that I wouldn't ask if he wouldn't tell me but that didn't mean that I wouldn't take precautions. I left the room and met Coulomb, he had just returned from wherever he went to this morning.

He asked if it okay for me to be awake at this time. I smiled and told him that I had planned everything carefully placing emphasis on 'carefully'. I tapped his shoulder and walked past him.

My Spatial Awareness was triggered because of the tension I felt. I noticed Coulomb paused for a while and the touched where I placed my hands before moving into the kitchen. I went in and got something to eat but the tense atmosphere didn't change.

I felt like I had been unnecessarily aggressive and wanted to talk about something else to get rid of the awkward silence but I sensed Laplace's approach. I left and bumped into her.

She also became tense after that but she didn't show it on her face. I apologized and she smiled then we exchanged greetings.

How did Coulomb notice it?

Laplace used her ability but Coulomb....

Was it just suspicion?

I made my way around the house marking all of them in subtle methods and finally returned to the living room then I heard something in another room. I went to check and found a child that I knew.

His soft breathing eased mine and I started thinking more rationally.

My brother was certainly hiding something, that I was sure of.

The question wasn't what he was hiding but if I wanted to know.

If I asked, he would tell me but should I?

The answer was most likely...

No.