CHAPTER EIGHTY-TWO - EASY TASKS

I woke up the next morning unstabbed, with no clairvoyant-backed gangster hitsquad busting in my door, so I figured that things were alright.

Still, I didn't set a new Save just yet. Instead, I ran through my morning routine. Did some stretching, ate a granola bar (it was basically cereal, and that was breakfast, right?) and then took a quick shower. It was nice being able to wake up ten minutes later and not rush quite as much since I'd be riding all the way over to work.

With my gear still stuffed in my saddlebags for tonight, and feeling pretty freshened up, I hopped onto my bike and rode out to work.

On arriving, I went up and met the team. Eldur was there, prepping for us to head out with Erde helping him along. "Hey," I said. "We're hitting up that E-ranker today?" I asked.

"We are," Eldur said. "Readings on the ground show minor fluctuations in ambient magic. It could pop up any moment now."

"You can tell where a portal will appear?" I asked.

"It's complicated," Erde said, his rather thick German accent making it sound a little strange. "Buy yes. The devices are similar to those that let you find new portals, only far more sensitive. More expensive."

"And their range is awful," Eldur said. "There's been some talk about early warning systems, but the cost for those would be prohibitive."

"Right," I said with a nod. I guess that made sense. I got to work helping the two. It looked like we were mostly moving some things to a van downstairs in the company parking lot, the same one Squad B usually used.

"Do you have any training with assault rifles?" Eldur said.

"I'm comfortable with them," I said. "What are we expecting from this portal?"

Eldur grunted. "If it's the same as usual, then it's one of our most profitable low-levelled portals. We usually run into these monsters called gricks."

"They have a real name," Erde said. "Shimano's Worms. After the B-ranker that first discovered them. But no one calls them that."

"Just worms works," Eldur said. "They have thick skins made of a sort of hardened leather. Normal nine-mil rounds sometimes glance off them if the angle is right. It'll still penetrate on a dead-on hit, but not as deeply as you'd expect, and being worms, they don't die so easily."

I nodded along. "Hence, rifles?"

"5.56 NATO standard, with hollow-points. Enough to pen, and enough to mess up their insides without over-penetrating and ruining the skin. It's pretty valuable," Eldur said.

I hummed along, and when we got to the van, I pulled a rifle off the rack and checked it over. It was a Princess' Armament, SR-15. They had flip-side holo sights, and an under-barrel grip, all done up in Luna Corp's black and grey scheme. They looked a little worn, the paint scraped off the metal on a few parts, but the gun I had smelled like oil and when I checked the breach (empty) it felt smooth.

"I can work with this," I said. "Remind me to pick up earmuffs, I don't want to have a ringing in my ear tonight. I've got a maybe-date and I'd like to hear, you know?"

"Oh?" Eldur asked.

If there was one thing that would get anyone's tongue waggling it was a hint of a lovelife. I was a little too excited not to give up some details, though I was very light. I... didn't mind being closer to Squad B, but I didn't want them all up in my business.

There was this fine line between being part of 'the family' at work, and having them know too much. The other end of the spectrum involved being hyper-professional and entirely detached, which wasn't bad, but it did leave the workplace feeling a little bland.

And speaking of not being bland... Terry arrived, wearing a very pink skirt and shirt and bright blue sneakers. "Am I late?" she asked.

"Not for another three minutes," Eldur said. "Are you intending to work in that?"

"Nope!" Terry said before running off, presumably to get changed.

"I'll get geared up too," I said. "When are we taking off?"

"As soon as we can," Eldur said. "I'd rather wait by the portal than over here."

That was fair enough. I jogged after Terry and found her changing into her much more subdued work clothes. For some reason it didn't surprise me that she was so flashy in her everyday dress. Nothing she'd been wearing matched, and I think Jane would have strangled her for it.

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Once I was geared up fully, I moved back to the squad leader to see that Dharti was there, dressed up as well. She was talking to Eldur in a low voice, and he nodded, then on seeing that everyone was here, he clapped. "Alright, Squad B, we're heading out," he said.

"No Sol?" Terry asked.

"Out sick," Dharti said. She looked a little conflicted about it, and I suspected that there was something more to it, but it was possibly none of my business, so I kept my mouth shut. "Are we ready to go?"

"We are," Eldur said. He clapped. "Gear check, then we head out, Squad B!"

The ride over was a little uncomfortable, and I was actually happy that Sol wasn't there, because with the extra gear packed into the back of the van there wasn't as much room to stand in. Erde and Eldur both had thrown on some heavier armour. All-metal breastplates and greaves and vambraces over thick kevlar padding.

It looked custom-fitted, and both of them had small logos from different manufacturers. So, not something supplied by Luna Corp, then.

"How can I get something like that?" I asked.

"Pay for it," Eldur said. "If the purchase is reasonable, then a portion can be refunded by the company as well. Since we mostly deal with E and D ranks only, the value of full plate is... mixed."

I wasn't so sure about that. I think some companies and PMCs had had a lot of success arming normal folk in full plate and giving them swords and maces to bash around. Until they came up against something that needed some sort of magic to take down, they were pretty invulnerable.

Whatever. I'd be able to complain about the company being cheap some other time, because right then, we arrived at the site and pulled up into the driveway out front.

We jumped out, loaded up on guns and ammo, with each of us getting three magazines and Eldur carrying a backpack with a pair of boxes filled with loose rounds. I adjusted my headphones, a little annoyed at the fit since the plastic shell was rubbing against the rim of my helmet.

"Ready?" Eldur asked.

"Yes sir," I said while the others gave their own agreements.

He nodded, then we ran into what was clearly just some normal office building a few blocks away from the inner city. It was semi-abandoned, with warning posters on the walls and tape over the windows.

I'd forgotten about this place, but now that we were here, I could recall a few long assignments looking over the place. Sometimes overnight as well.

We went in, were greeted by someone from Squad E2, and then went to the main office floor. It was once filled with cubicles, but they'd been removed and shoved up to one side, the rest of the office furniture removed to make space.

The portal... should have been there, but at the moment there was just a large tape-off space surrounded by delicate scientific equipment all plugged into a Luna Corp-branded laptop on a stool to one side.

"Oh no," Terry whined. "This is gonna suck."

"Why, what is it?" I asked.

"No portal means waiting. And I hate waiting."

"Just keep sharp," Eldur said as he moved over to the laptop and glanced it over. "Magic levels are fluctuating. It should be here within the next three hours or so."

"We don't even get battle pay until we're in it," Erde complained to me.

I... didn't mind the wait so much, not when I had Dharti around to poke at. She seemed pretty happy when I came to her and said that I'd carved out Grasping Growth and was ready to test it. So, with Eldur's permission, we stepped out to the back of the site and I set a Save. My first one since yesterday.

I'd need one before entering the portal anyway, so might as well see if Dharti couldn't help me a few times over.

Grasping Growth was a tricky spell to cast, mostly because it had several 'adjustment' sections on it. One to direct the speed of growth, three for the direction and then another that I needed to stay connected to in order to feed magic to the spell to keep it functional.

I'd tried my best to carve it all correctly, but I suspected that it wasn't perfect. Having Dharti poke and prod and give me some tips was what I needed to get it working because this kind of spell was tricky. But hey, first second level spell, so what was I supposed to expect, that it'd be easier?

***