Technomancer: Birth of a Goddess

Emily walks past the soldiers guarding Earnie’s workshop without drawing a single glance even when she opens the locked front door without a key and slips inside.

She heads towards the working platform, following the sounds of grinding metal.

“Hey,” she greets, grabbing a stool and dropping down at one of the enthusiastic creator’s cleaner workbenches.

“You’re early,” Earnie replies, turning off the spinning grinder in his hands and flicking his mask up. “I’m not done yet.”

“I didn’t think you would be. I finished my other business in the city early, so I came to borrow your space. How are the belts coming along?”

“This is some of my finest work,” he declares proudly, lifting up a long, dark bronze chain of delicate metal clips. “Your changes to the links’ shape worked wonders, they feed like a dream now.”

“Are you still losing rounds in storage?”

“Nope. You fixed that too.”

“Perfect.” Emily nods, sweeping clean the workspace in front of her with a light burst of wind.

“What are you working on?”

“A new gun,” she responds without looking away from the virtual blueprint screen only visible to her.

Earnie gets the message and quietly gets back to work.

An hour later, Emily finishes her blueprint and pulls out several chunks of metal to process with forgemaster, carefully blending them into her chosen ratios, without any tools, and forming them into the pieces she designed.

“I’m done,” Earnie calls over eventually, breaking Emily from her work as he places the final bolt in a crate.

Emily cuts the mana supply to her spell and catches the finished trigger that falls in front of her, tucking it into her belt before standing up and walking over to the pile of crates Earnie is standing beside.

“All the crates are marked. FM are the pieces of your feeding mechanism, and BL are belts.”

Emily nods and sweeps them all with space-attributed mana, pulling them into her utility belt.

“Thanks. Do I owe you anything?” Emily asks, reaching for a pouch to grab her coins.

“No, not at all,” Earnie replies, waving away her offer to pay. “So, that’s the end of your ship project, right?”

“Yeah, after testing tonight, she’s finished.”

“Full weapons? Where?”

“Just outside The Rusty Balloon. No one will complain if no one knows, right?” she asks, raising a hand and letting out a crackling arc of machina.

“Damn mage,” Earnie grumbles, scowling at her. “What’s next then? Heading to the front?”

“I signed up as a merc today,” Emily says with a nod, turning and heading towards the warehouse’s door. “I leave for the front on the sixteenth.”

“Good luck then! My door’s always open if you need to do any repairs after killing some bastards of the old regime!” Earnie barks, waving goodbye.

She waves over her shoulder before stepping out into the warm, early evening sun and heading back out of the city.

***

Back at the shipyard, Emily finds Podrick standing proudly in front of the half-finished autocannons in one of the open compartments on the side of Calypso.

“They’re connected!” he tells her the moment she steps off an invisible platform of air to join him.

“Well done,” she praises, confirming his words with a quick burst of machina through the ship. “I have the parts from Earnie. I left the empty chains on the floor along with a load of bullets.”

“I’ll go load them,” Podrick says before climbing down the ship, eager to get to the tests Emily promised.

Emily remains on the ship and finishes assembling all of the new weapons, closing the exposed compartments one by one. She completes the ship just as the last light of the day vanishes, plunging their workshop into darkness.

¯¯¯¯¯

[Calypso]

[Rank:] D

[Description:] A heavily enchanted, medium-sized cargo airship produced in the Modo Kingdom but redesigned by Emily Coldstone to properly defend itself.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

[Progression]

[Circle/Stage:] Third

Requirements:

-Intelligence 131/180 (Not Complete)

-Upgrade Basic Mana Manipulation to Intermediate grade (Complete)

-Create 1/1 unique D rank machine (Complete)

-Complete 3/3 C rank quests (Complete)

-Kill 1/2 fourth circle mages (Not Complete)

_____

Emily looks at her system with a satisfied nod, waving it away before leading Podrick to the bridge to join the ship’s crew there.

She steps into the control room, now lit by magical lights overhead, and uses her machina to activate the ship’s engines.

“Ready to see your new toy in action?” Emily asks, gesturing for Anton, Angela, and Tony to take their usual seats despite the new additions. “Pod can explain your new controls later, ignore them for now.”

“Are you sure it’s okay to give us a demonstration this close to the city? Flight rules are already stringent enough, let alone weapons,” Anton asks with concern, having spent the last month familiarising himself with the trading rules in New Denntimo.

“It’s fine,” Emily shrugs, piloting the airship up through the open hangar roof and out into the open desert. “I gave the Defence Force a warning earlier, and I can make sure it’s not too noisy. Just relax and enjoy the show.”

“Okay,” he says, sitting back in his chair and looking ahead as Emily pilots the ship under the moon’s light.

As the light from the shipyard fades into the distance behind them, Emily stops the ship still in the air.

“I was torn as to what weapons I should give Calypso,” she starts to explain, raising her hands and pouring mana out to form several floating orbs of fire around the ship whilst also wrapping it in a large, sound-isolating barrier. “Mostly because you aren’t a trained combat crew and only really need to defend yourselves from beasts now that you’re not on the run. So, I gave you a weapon that will make sure you won’t have to worry about any small beasts attacking you.”

With a spark of machina, steam flows through the narrow control pipes spanning the ship, activating the mechanisms that slide open several compartments on the side of the ship before extending gun platforms on rails. Another spark and the cannons all activate, automatically pointing themselves at the nearest flame before opening fire.

Six loud, simultaneous pops reach the bridge, and everyone listens as they’re followed by countless more in rapid succession. Six solid streams of bullets light up the night sky, drawing gasps from everyone on the ship as Emily moves the flames and the tracers follow.

“The autocannons can be activated individually from Angela’s console, and they target the closest heat signature outside the ship, so be careful about accidentally turning them on while docked,” Emily explains, turning the cannons on and off one by one, cutting the streams of bullets for a few seconds before they’re reactivated. “You can also manually override and control each cannon if you choose to, but you will lose the magic-assisted aiming.”

The shooting cuts out suddenly as Emily deactivates the guns, saving the rest of the tracer rounds for future use.

“Each belt holds three hundred rounds, but the cannons only fire at a rate of six bullets a second to prevent jamming, so you get fifty seconds of uninterrupted fire from each.”

“That’s incredible,” Anton exclaims. “Slightly terrifying, and completely overkill for us, but incredible nonetheless.”

“Overkill for you maybe,” Angela says, flashing Emily an excited grin. “Thanks, Emily! Next time I see any of those stalkers I’m turning them into bloody mist.”

“Ha, good luck,” Emily scoffs, turning the ship back towards the shipyard. “If that doesn’t work though, run away. I’ve also installed flare launchers to help distract any beasts if you need to flee or scare off birds while travelling.”

A single burning flare fires off the starboard side of the ship, illuminating the desert below as it arcs towards the ground.

“You can’t get ammo for that one from Chop Shop, but Pod knows how to make it, and you can easily buy the powdered crystals needed in Liberte.”

Angela nods, and Podrick steps forward to start explaining the added controls to the crew as Emily quietly pilots the ship, thinking about the successful field test.

The gun’s tracking didn’t skip like I worried it might. It won’t have proper target selection without manual intervention, but that’s as good as I think I’m going to get without something other than steam to control it.

“So,” Anton says, turning back to address Emily. “Is that it then? Is this where we say goodbye for now?”

“I signed up as a merc and I ship out in a week, but if you want to take off now that’s fine,” Emily says with a shrug. “Your side of our deal is over.”

“We’ll stay for the week as well,” Anton replies, glancing at the others to check with them and receiving nods all around. “We might as well make the most of the time you bought us in the shipyard.”

***

Back on the ground, everyone leaves to sleep as Emily and Podrick seal up the warehouse for the night and make their way back to Emily’s workshop, still set up in one of the ship’s cargo holds.

“So, what are you working on now?” Podrick asks as Emily removes the workbench from the centre of the room.

“Sit,” Emily says in lieu of an answer, gesturing to the empty floor.

Podrick drops down cross-legged without question.

“Do you remember what my requirements were for awakening you?” Emily asks, standing in front of him.

“Don’t tell anyone and let you scan me,” Podrick answers quickly.

“Exactly.” Emily nods. “Have you told anyone?”

“No. Not even my parents,” Podrick answers resolutely, the slight tensing of his jaw betraying his nerves.

“I know.”

Emily reaches out, touching her fingers to Podrick’s forehead with a small smile.

She draws on the Mother’s Blessing skill from her system and feels her heart beat faster. Her blood rushes through her body as mana and machina pour from her reserves, flowing out of her hand along with something else she can’t quite place.

Is that my stamina being used? How strange. It feels like my entire body is being strained to push blood out of my hand.

The air crackles around them as energy flows into Podrick, guided by tight bindings of intent. The energy pours into his cortex without meeting any resistance, and the boy’s eyes open wide, glowing with crackling lightning.

The process continues for a few seconds before abruptly cutting off, leaving Emily feeling surprisingly drained with half of her resources gone in an instant as Podrick gasps for breath.

“How do you feel?” Emily asks, stepping back and giving him room to recover.

“I feel…” Podrick says, reaching up to massage his brows. “Strange. My mind feels oddly calm and my machina flow is smoother.”

“Interesting. I’m not sure exactly how long it will last, but that should give you a boost to your cultivation,” Emily explains, walking towards the door and gesturing for Podrick to follow. “Go meditate for a few days and take notes on any changes please.”

“Okay,” Podrick nods, stepping past her before turning to give her a small bow with his right hand on a fist over his heart. “Thank you for trusting me.”

Emily raises a brow at the formal gesture she never taught him before scoffing and reaching out to ruffle his hair.

“I didn’t, but thank you for being honest and keeping your word.”

Podrick flashes her a confused look but shrugs it off and turns to leave.

As Emily shuts the door behind him, she’s interrupted by a sudden shout.

“Wait,” Podrick calls back with an embarrassed expression. “I still shouldn’t tell anyone, right?”

“No,” Emily replies, rolling her eyes and shutting the door.

She moves to the middle of the room before settling down on the floor and pulling out the pieces she was making in Earnie’s workshop to continue working.

***

A gunshot rings out in the confined workshop, and the bullet fired buries itself in the floating mass of metal waiting for it.

Emily doesn’t spare her guardian a glance, staring closely at the breach of her Spitter instead.

“Success!” she mutters with a satisfied grin, happy to have finally found the correct blend for her new gunpowder mix. “I knew the smoke cloud was a fault.”

She holsters the weapon and dismisses her spell before turning back to the workbench covered in beakers of acids, powdered minerals, and several other questionably organic materials.

It’s a shame I have such a limited supply of nitric acid. I’ll have to ask Earnie where he gets it from when I get back.

Emily pulls out The Clock and glances at the time.

Only an hour till I’m due at headquarters. It’s a shame I don’t have time to remake all my current ammo with the new blend. I thought I’d finish faster.

She quickly gathers everything from the workbench, tucking all of it into the many spaces within her bag, including the workbench itself. Glancing around the room, she confirms it’s completely empty, without a single spare screw left behind, and nods, opening the door to leave.

She finds Podrick waiting on the other side, and he falls in step beside her as she heads for the ship’s exit.

“Any changes?” Emily asks him.

“No.” He shakes his head.

Looks like it’s limited to a ten per cent increase.

“It seems like it should last you a while then at least. If you want, make a note when you feel it start to diminish and let me know about it if we meet again.”

Podrick nods and falls silent. They soon walk down the steps into the warehouse with the roof open overhead, letting in the early morning sun. Podrick notices several other members of the crew waiting by the front door and pauses at the bottom of the steps, turning to face Emily.

“We will meet again, right?” he asks quietly with a concerned expression.

“Unless one of us dies, or you leave Calypso’s crew, probably,” Emily says with a shrug. “Until I’m done here, I will likely be between this city and the battlefield. So, if you ever need me, you know where to look. But just in case, here.”

She reaches into her belt, pulling out a small black and silver metal cylinder with several runes carved into the body and a single button on top.

“Press that if you ever need my help.”

“Okay.” Podrick nods, returning to a goofy grin as he takes the communicator and holds it to his heart to once again bow. “Thank you. See you again soon!”

“Ha,” Emily scoffs, placing her fist on her chest and nodding her head back at him. “See you around, Pod.”

She turns, waving over her shoulder as the young mechanic stays behind, approaching the rest of the crew who woke up early to see her off.

Tony steps forward first, offering his hand.

“Good luck,” he says, lightly shaking her hand. “Take care of yourself.”

“Thanks,” Emily says, releasing his hand and stepping past him.

“Thank you for the upgrades,” Ash says with a small nod. “Good luck.”

“Thanks. Take good care of her,” Emily says, patting them on the shoulder.

Anton and Angela are the last two to see her off, Sam nowhere to be seen, probably still sleeping inside the ship.

“Thank you for everything. Despite the circumstances, I honestly don’t think I could complain about living here for the rest of my life,” Anton says, shaking her hand.

“I’ll give you the option to go back eventually,” Emily assures him, stepping out of the door and glancing at Angela.

“Go kick some ass,” she says, holding out her fist.

“With pleasure,” Emily replies, knocking her knuckles against Angela’s before turning and heading towards the transports to the city without looking back.