Patricia Wilson
Stories
10
Chapters
3,347
Words
163.4 K
Comments
0
Reading
13 h, 37 m
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Truth activated the body reinforcing enchantments on his armor, racing for the nearest oversized needler as the built-in cannon gathered energy. He hacked at a howling bandit, still in agony from the blast. The bandit’s head cleared the emplacement and was still rising when Truth went in. There were three more terrorists in the sandbagged AA emplacement. They must have been scrubs- they had their needlers up and working. Two of them missed. From three meters away, they just fucking missed. Truth…-
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Truth lay in bed that night, staring up at the ceiling. He felt like he had all these words inside of him, but they were so jumbled together that he couldn’t possibly get them all out. He wanted to tell the sibs that- He could close his eyes and he was right there. He hated it there. He hated it more than anything. So it was all simple. What does he have to do to make sure that he and the sibs are never He wanted to explain to them that he had a little rule, so ingrained that he didn’t need to…
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Truth was in an odd mood as he walked into the PMC. He was still thinking over the scene in the Vice Principal’s office. The matter just… ended. There would be no negative comments in the siblings' permanent records. No problems with their college applications. The kids that were bullying them would be suppressed, and their parents given a quiet, but firm, word. The teachers too, for that matter. Not because of the moral rightness of his case nor the simple injustice of bullying. Not even because he…
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The fastest way back to Jeon, specifically Harban, and even more specifically, the Sibs, was complicated. There were no airfields near Chil Perdermo. There was, however, a brilliant international airport two hours down the road in Okepuela. Okepuela being the beach paradise that Sergeant Murthey had promised Truth and where the party bus was headed. However, Truth was not prepared to wait two hours to make it to the city. He certainly wasn’t prepared to spend two hours watching other people get drunk and…
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Harsh lights lit the warehouse interior. Whatever they were doing here, the outlaws wanted to make sure nothing got missed. Truth could see his targets- the half-naked slaves, necks rubbed red and raw by the iron collars they used to wear. Now with glowing green beams of light pouring from their eyes, their faces twisting into demonic forms as their bodies withered and twisted to better suit their new owners. They were slaves no more- or at least, not slaves to an earthly master. The outlaws screamed…
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Truth was back in the armory, fixing up the talismans and fetishes. He was working with another guy, doing what he usually did, letting them chatter and then asking questions. It was one of the strategies he learned for talking to people, and amazingly, it worked. You ask someone about something they are interested in, and then they wouldn’t shut up. They looked Talismans, he understood. For talisman maintenance, you need a good memory and a steady hand. That was it. You don’t need to be a genius.…
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“Truth’s back!” Harmony shouted. “I think he died. Bro, did you die?” “I swear I was delivering a package all day. Yes, I think I died. Bury me somewhere nice.” “Sorry, Bro. Student budget. Best I can do is a coffee can urn and a quick trip to the storm drain.” Harmony tossed him a can of cold tea from the fridge, which Truth pressed to his neck. His neck ached from leaning up against a wall for sixteen hours. “Who are we burying?” Sophie yelled from the room she shared with…
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Truth had a lot of time to think on the flight back. The first thing was, “Lovers are a “Summon humanoid System interface,” he thought. “What do you mean no? Are you broken or something?” “Oh, for fucks sake.” Truth got his mind set, then tried again. “Appear, Imp!” “Yatta! It’s me, your lovable human-shaped… something! Yaay!” The sprite, still in its office lady outfit, delivered the lines in a monotone while appearing to smoke a golden bat cigarette and flip through a…
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“ “And then, THEN, the little idiot was like, “Oh, but I don’t see your Weekly Employee Efficiency Evaluation Review Reports linked in the database!” And then I was like, “Um? Excuse me? Is this the demon right here? You know, the one with the WEEERR Reports memorized? Because it’s been the same demon for forty years? You know? That demon? And then she got super embarrassed and stomped off to the bathroom. I know she cried in there. And then everybody clapped.” She drew a single short…
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“We welcome the Great God, the unity, the Divine Mind that is both the universe and the person. We call upon the great teacher, thrice great, thrice born, ibis, child, star, giver of all arts and wisdom. We call upon that which is greatest and that which is least. In their sacred and perfect wisdom, let the stars above summon up the starry universe within….” The droning prayers rolled back and forth between the masked astromancers. Truth sat cross-legged and naked between the ritualists, trying to…
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