The Blood Solution (Approaching Infinity Book 3) (46 page)
Read The Blood Solution (Approaching Infinity Book 3) Online
Authors: Chris Eisenlauer
While Dark, the Essential Oil also surrounds Set in a bio-electric field that is sensitive to external pressures. When the external pressure is exerted by matter in a liquid state, Set gains limited control over the liquid. Among other benefits, this gives Set unparalleled speed and freedom within liquid media. Directing the power away from his person, Set can gain control over sizable volumes of liquid, enabling him to summon forth Un Azameio, a semi-independent mass that responds to his commands and his will.
Specialist, Blue Squad, Retired
Category:
F-Gene Fighter
Lead Cloud Steps
190 cm
82 kg
25
2,050
100
9,471.142
Eternal Spring
20
41,000
2,000
9,500-10,000
Planet 815
While Dark, Lowe is an anthropomorphic frog with metallic, electric blue skin. His eyes are strangely faceted yellow-green gems. He has a three-meter long tongue with a bony harpoon tip which can be launched with deadly speed, force, and accuracy. At each shoulder is a sealable “pod” that houses 7 launch tubes which can fire pollywog drones. These drones can act as fairly slow smart bombs—they can fly or swim to designated targets—detonating on impact, or they can, in two minutes, “evolve” into simple copies of Lowe (up to a total of 140 copies at one time, each with an RPP of 8,200) who will brawl until their allotted lifespan of one hour is up and they explode. The smart bombs’ explosions are twice as strong as the copies. Though through his martial art Lowe can effectively fly, the Eternal Spring grants him phenomenal leaping ability, which allows him to cover more distance more quickly.
First General, 20th Generation
Category:
F-Gene Fighter / Psychic
9 Order Fist / Gravity Sense & Control
221 cm
110 kg
25
2,750
2,900
10,322.106
Gravity Spike
22
60,500
63,800
10,350-10,691 (killed 10,691)
Root Palace
The Gravity Spike is visible when Barson is Dark, and he appears as an anthropomorphic black unicorn. While Dark, the black of his body seems to possess depth and has been observed to cause vertigo in some.
The combination of his abilities, as both an F-Gene Fighter and a psychic, make him one of the strongest Shades the Empire has ever known. His Singularity Punch, though inexplicable to even the most advanced science, does exactly what people say it does, producing a microscopic black hole that can be banished immediately by Barson’s will.
General, 20th Generation
Category:
Psychic
Concentration, 9 Order Fist
145 cm
38 kg
25
760
5,000
10,327.255
Focusing Lens
18 (36)
13,680 (27,360)
90,000 (180,000)
10,350-10,691 (retired 10,691)
To Be Determined
It may be that Mefis Abanastar is constantly in his Darkened state. His face is always covered and completely obscured by the Focusing Lens. He is darkly clad, literally from head to toe. Besides the Emperor, no one alive knows what Abanastar looks like or what color his hair is.
The Focusing Lens allows Abanastar to augment just about anything, ranging from the physical to the abstract, through an arrangement of lenses which he is able to produce.
Though Abanastar isn’t an F-Gene Fighter, he has intermediate mastery of the 9 Order Fist, which has served as an invaluable aid in developing his powers of concentration.
General, 20th Generation
Category:
Psychic
Dream Control
215 cm
80 kg
10
800
4,000
10,326.192
Keepsake Cameo
18
14,400
72,000
10,350-10,691 (retired 10,691)
To Be Determined
As is the case with many psychics, Tia Winn does not have a separate Darkened state, but had her skin permanently bleached by her Artifact when she received it.
The Keepsake Cameo significantly boosts Tia’s innate ability to create, enter into, and control the dreams of others, enabling her to create a shared experience for up to 36,000 people. Her dreams are vivid and memorable, but if they lead to violence or death, the victims suffer the same fate.
First Specialist, Death Squad
Category:
Psychic
Cancer
174 cm
75 kg
25
1,875
5,300
10,475.253
Contamination Pump
22
41,250
116,600
10,500-10,691 (killed 10,691)
Root Palace
When Dark with the Contamination Pump, Lor Kalkin becomes a giant, sickly-purple walking cancer, increasing to 3 meters in height and 3 meters across at the shoulders. He is surprisingly agile for his bulk, however, and is able to direct his potent psychic power to instill rot through unnatural growth by touch or up to a range of 20 meters. His innate discipline enables him to regenerate tissue at an already fantastic rate, but with the aid of the Contamination Pump, he is, perhaps, physically immortal, able to reconstitute himself from significant loss of body mass.
First Specialist, Titan Squad
Category:
F-Gene Fighter / Psychic
Single Element Ghost Sword / 20% Physical Augmentation
180 cm
80 kg
25
2,000
1,000
10,663.015
Titan Star
22
44,000
22,000
10,688-Current
Root Palace
While Dark, Forbis Vays is clad in a gleaming suit of angular armor that will conform, to some degree, to his will to temporarily adapt to circumstances. Along with its excellent defensive properties, the Titan Star also provides a potent weapon, the Titan Saber, which is housed within the helmet, its hilt forming the distinctive horn rising up from the forehead.
When Vays invokes his psychic ability to augment his physical characteristics by an additional 20%, his armor undergoes a physical change in order to release the power.
When sufficiently enraged while Dark, Vays gains access to the Grudge Star, a devastating attack that crucifies his opponents and subjects them to six explosions, the intensity of which are determined by a combination of the degree of his indignation and his composure in the face of that indignation.
Specialist, Titan Squad
Category:
Psychic
Suggestion/Compulsion
157 cm
45 kg
5
225
4,200
10,664.304
Dharma Engine
18
4,050
75,600
10,688-Current
Root Palace
Brin’s Artifact becomes visible at her back when she goes Dark, but otherwise she doesn’t change physically. She has the innate ability to make people do what she says. In general, her victims must be able to hear her voice, but she is able to transmit her power, chaining it between minds when they are in close proximity to one another.
Of course her Artifact substantially increases this ability, but it also enables her to inflict the Dharma Clock on individual victims. This attack crucifies the victim and forces him or her submit to first psychological then physical trauma according to “guilt” they feel based on criteria—genuine, manufactured, or twisted—set by Brin.
First General, 21st Generation
Category:
F-Gene Fighter, Superior Grade
18 Heavenly Claws
172 cm
73 kg
28
2,044
500
??,???.???
Kaiser Bones / Ritual Mask
20 / 15 (30)
40,880 / 30,660 (61,320)
10,000 / 7,500 (15,000)
10,682.031-Current (replaced Karlan Farsal)
Root Palace
Jav was the Block 2 champion at the 10,688 Artifact Competition. He won the Kaiser Bones, and thus replaced the ailing Ritual Mask and removed the imminent death sentence that came along with it.
While Dark with the Kaiser Bones, Jav looks like a stylized skeleton, with the actual bones providing excellent protection. The space between the bones is inky black that seems like animate “nothing” and offers somewhat less protection. Besides the standard augmentation, the Bones enable Jav to animate and control up to 20,000 skeletons, making them rise from their graves and fight on his behalf. He can sense bone matter, “feeling” it as well as “seeing” it through earth or flesh and blood. The Bones also make Jav exceptionally resilient in that they respond quickly to physical damage, rebuilding and restoring tissue at a fantastic rate.
That the Ritual Mask survived its supposed expiration has surprised everyone, Jav included. Like all Artifacts, it augments Jav physically by a factor equal to its rank. In addition, the Ritual Mask is capable of initiating the Mikai Curse, which cycles up in intensity, forcibly wrenching blood—spilled and readily available or through the very pores of the skin—from all living things in an 200 meter radius to start, with this limit expanding as the Curse intensifies. This blood is drawn directly into the Mask until the Mask is satiated and reaches its maximum, doubled potential. The Mask appears to be have even greater restorative abilities than the Kaiser Bones, using the blood obtained through the Curse to repair any and all damage. Jav has gained some control over the functioning of the Mask, but the Mikai Curse remains a weapon dangerous to friend and foe alike.
General, 21st Generation
Category:
Psychic
Electrokinesis
246 cm
230 kg
10
2,300
2,900
10,533.124
Resurrection Bolts
20
46,000
58,000
10,689-Current
Root Palace
On receipt of the Resurrection Bolts, Raus Kapler’s skin color underwent a permanent change. His skin is now pale and seemingly translucent, revealing a gray or even greenish hue beneath. The Resurrection Bolts are visible as smooth metal circles on either side of his neck until he goes Dark, when the Bolts extend out beyond his skin. When Dark, his skin darkens further and more metal bolts rise up along the lengths of his arms and along his spine.
The Bolts enhance Raus physically, as is the case with all Artifacts, but they significantly increase his ability to produce electricity to both heal and destroy. His ability to stimulate regeneration of lost tissue makes him one of the most resilient Shades ever produced, though his power is not on par with that of Lor Kalkin. The Bolts also enable him to infuse the dead with a portion of his power, bringing up to 20,000
corpses back to a semblance of life, and which he alone can control.
While not as focused or well-developed as Jav Holson’s ability to sense bone, Kapler is able to “feel” the presence of likely raw materials for his power, if only vaguely.