Chapter 32 : Construction finished

[Author note : Come visit my page on Patréon (replace the é by an e) to read more chapters. Simply type Cathbel on their search engine.]

After Simon's lone walk and epiphany, a year passed. It took 6 months for the ruin site of the first Terran bastion to be cleared and deserted once more. After that, Crys worked with his machines to rebuild it, while Simon helped a little by going to and fro the surrounding cities, in disguise, for supplies.

Before they destroyed it all, the remnants of a few buildings and towers, and parts of the ramparts were still visible from a distance. They were in disrepair, since time hadn't been gentle with them, of course, but you could basically tell what it was. Now, from afar, all people could see was the sight of destruction from their 'fight' and nature taking back its place once more.

In fact, it was all a giant holographic projection. Beyond that stood an extremely modern facility consisting of cement high walls with hidden security measures, the courtyard that was now cleared of all the wild plants and grass, as well as a large interconnected building compound linked to the center piece, a 10 story high tower. When it was all finished and Simon actually had to live there, he questioned whether they really should have built something so… massive ! It was like a billionaire's mansion but with no one except for Crys and Simon.

Crys didn't mind it of course, since he build it with exactly this in mind. A number of Simon's trips to the cities and back were to visit junkyard and retrieve electronics and mechanical components that he couldn't produce himself. If there was indeed, no one living in the compound besides them, there were a number of robots and drones designed specifically to help them in their tasks. Not to mention the fact that their base was filled to the brim with electronics too ! Although it was still not operational as of now, in time Crys hoped to turn it into a smart-base/home.

Simon tried to advised against it, reminding the crystal that often times in fiction, when the bad guys located the good guys' base, they would try and take control of it… He was afraid the base could be hacked and turned against them somehow. Crys found it amusing since you couldn't hack what you couldn't see, understand or decipher. Crys had written his own programs, his own master system. Most computers would even be able to detect them, much less hack it. As for those who could see the system, it would take them a while to figure out the language.

Now that everything was more or less finished and the two had truly moved to their new base, the bond-mates had to find how to occupy themselves. It took so much work, time and effort to build the base that, finding themselves suddenly with nothing to do… They were lost for a bit. Until Simon decided to return to his training and ideas popped up in the crystal's mind about new things to create.

If Simon's power to absorb and process any kind of energy made him overpowered, he was still kind of jealous of Crys. It seemed like he was constantly having flashes of inspiration about technology, and he was constantly improving. While he had to work hard to understand his powers and control them. Then again, they were limited in the way of resources, something the crystal life-form was heavily reliant on, so… Both of their gifts had some drawbacks. And contrary to Crys, he was never really powerless. However, if Crys ever found himself without technology around him, he wouldn't be able to do anything.

As he came to this conclusion, Simon headed for the massive training grounds the two had made. In his mind, he swore that he would never let anything happen to his friend !

* * * * *

The Genocidal, or as Simon renamed him, Doctor Chimera was feeling melancholy. He had missed his chance at getting his target and now, he had to wait for said target to lower its vigilance. But first, he had to locate it… And that proved a challenge this time.

His contact in law enforcement had been unable to find any trace of the Terran's passage anywhere. And now, all he was left with was to comb through the enormous pile of cases involving champions and violators. Unfortunately, the villain was never someone to rely on technology, so much so that, as the times changed and technology evolved, he was left almost completely clueless about how to even turn on the newest devices. Muss less operating a computer or running a search on the global network.

The 'Doctor' had thus no other way than to proceed by hand. When he was left curious by a case or suspected his subject of being involved, he sent his creations and controlled them remotely to investigate in his stead.

In addition to tracking his wayward subject, he was also working on a different, hopefully better method to capture him. When the doctor had thought the subject to be a poly-arcana, the method would have been straightforward, if a little hard to put in place : prevent him from leaving the scene and draw out the fight to tire him and drain his mana. However, with his new theory that the subject was like him, a bonded, this method went out the window !

From what little he managed to figure out of his own bond, their powers didn't exactly stem from the magic energy that mages and their ilk drew out. Although, it used it and the powers behaved in a similar way, the energy actually came from within. While that means that it wouldn't be impossible to tire the subject out, without more information on the nature of his powers, it would prove completely pointless. And the doctor wasn't ready to waste another team of pawns… Not before he was sure of his tactic !

« I feel like… I should investigate his origins, first. »

When he muttered this, he nodded to himself. Indeed, the subject had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He didn't have an identity and the authorities were as stumped as him about who the Terran was, or where he came from… Plus, the bond itself called for an investigation. For hundreds of years now, there hasn't been any new bonded on Aranipoc. A long time ago, Penelope had told him that their race was from outer space, so… the only way for the inhabitants of this world to become bonded would be to, either find an intact crystal that fell from the sky and accidentally bond with it, or… Come from outer space yourself.

« Is my subject an Imperial Terran ? » The doctor wondered to himself, a smile stretching his lips.