A Reborn: Apocalypse fanfiction

13. I'm Not Mad. I'm Motivated

Four days later, Kevin had what could charitably be called a Wing suit that he stitched himself from memory from nylon sheets he purchased from the shop. Double plied with the use of many stitches, he had used a special construction adhesive also purchased from the shop to add some structure to the stitching in the wind funnel parts of the suit. He was pretty sure it wasn't going to work, but that is why he had a genuine Shop purchased Parachute as well.

Today was test day. Kevin would use Cloud Step shoes to basically jump from Cloud platform to Cloud platform for as long as he could. This would not be something a normal human could do, it might not be something a normal superhuman could do. But Light Heavy made possible that which otherwise would not have been.

Experience told Kevin that jumping with Light Heavy, though it didn't multiplicatively increase he jumping height, did multiplicatively reduce the difficulty. So, with a single powerful jump he could launch himself more than twenty feet in the air but at only the energy output required for a normal person to jump up on a tall step.

He could use even less energy if he reduced the jumping height, but that would increase the number of jumps required to get to the same height. That's what today was for. Testing and technique development.

"You are absolutely mad." Nessar told Kevin.

"I'm not mad. I'm motivated." Kevin said.

"No my friend. Motivated was trying to Cloud Step your way all the way to another world" Nessar said, "Foolishness is driving a military vehicle into the unknown and walking back. Madness is stitching your own flying suit and trying to use it to defy the heavens."

"Alright I take your point. But what else am I supposed to do?" I can't eat, I can't sleep. I am pinging her and my mother constantly, worried that soon, the ping won't come back." Kevin said.

"That must be hard." Nessar said. "But remember that you are not the only one with loved ones, we are all in the same boat Kevin, it is just that you have the power to find your loved ones."

"That is true, I have one hope where they have one worry; but they also have one hope where I have one worry. I have a hope that I can find my family, where you and the others have to worry that you may not. But, You and the others have to hope that your people aren't here. I know they are and I have a worry. People have asked me to look for their people, and I would if I could, but my people are here and I know so I have to try.." Kevin said.

"You cannot, I know. I would ask myself, but I know you cannot. People are tempted to try and earn enough points to get this ability themselves, but it is a pricey one." Nessar said.

"It is. I wish I could help more people. You are right though, I should feel fortunate. At least I know they are here, and I can hope they are alright." Kevin said. "If this doesn't work, then I might really be out of ideas. I thought about one of those fan backpacks they use for gliders but The Shop doesn't have what I'd need."

"If this fails Kevin, then take some time to right your mind and get back to doing what you have done. Look for the way to get out of this city, and prepare yourself for when that happens." Nessar said.

"You might be right. Thanks Nessar." Kevin said, holding a hand out for a fist bump.

Nessar looked at the hand before reluctantly offering a bump in return.

A crowd of people were on the main trio tower. Kevin figured most were there to watch an accident. Some faces looked on with expressions of hope, envy, jealousy and other emotions Kevin couldn't quite place.

Cameron approached him. "How are you feeling today Kevin?"

"Honestly, I don't think this is going to work, but I need to try."

"I agree. I think it is less dangerous than the APC to be honest, and I think less likely to work, but I do think you need to try." Cameron said.

"Thank you for understanding." Kevin said.

"What will you do if you do not succeed?" Cameron said.

Kevin glanced at Nessar. "I think, maybe, there must be a way to get to the center that we don't know. I don't think it is a question of strength or ability that we lack. I think there must be a condition or something we need to meet first. I think I will work on getting stronger, and look at figuring out what that is."

"Do you think it's a riddle or some solution?" Cameron asked.

"I don't know honestly. But I think I'll start by looking everywhere. There are thousands of skyscrapers here. I've cleared a bunch of them top to bottom. I'll clear the rest if I have to. But that is only if I fail. I have to try first." Kevin said.

Cameron nodded. He held his hand out for Kevin to shake. Lee and Tammy were there, though this time they didn't bother to say good luck or good-bye. Everyone knew the results of this before he even tried, but they all wanted to watch. It was like watching Nascar just to wait for an accident.

Kevin took a deep breath. He stored everything in the rings, no backpack on this one. He started jumping up using the Cloud Step shoes to create cloud platforms and jump. He continued jumping with Light Heavy activated, climbing higher. The central skyscrapers were already extremely tall, leaping from there gave Kevin a big advantage.

Soon the cluster was spread out beneath him. If he had to guess he would guess he was at least a few thousand feet above the skyscrapers. His muscles were starting to burn slightly, his soul strained at overusing the shoes, he pulled out a recovery potion and a low-tier healing pill and took them.

He continued climbing. Today the first layer had a light cloud cover. Kevin passed it. He kept climbing. His soul strain of creating cloud platforms despite the easier use due to Light Heavy was intensifying to the point of injury if he continued. That was his queue. Kevin tapped his ring. He used his exceptional control of the ring to put on the suit while tapping it from the ring. In one motion, Kevin went from jumping to falling, gaining speed and moving into a gliding motion.

Kevin fell at speeds and once he reached what he guessed to be his terminal velocity, he activated Light Heavy and lightened himself. He needed to negotiate between an effective weight for gliding and one that would keep him aloft longer, just as he had to while walking the grasslands.

If it hadn't been so urgent this would have been so much fun. Kevin had always wanted to go skydiving before coming to the first layer. Kevin's gliding evened out a little. Normal gliding suits saw about 3:1 gliding ratio, meaning that for each 1,000 drop in altitude the suit might glide 3,000 horizontal feet. Kevin's suit definitely wasn't as effective as the top-of-the-line models back on Earth. But, with Light Heavy activated relative to the area, he was probably still seeing a 3:1 ratio, maybe even better.

Kevin guessed he was probably almost 10,000 feet up. That meant he might be able to glide five to six, or even seven miles. By Kevin's estimates he was about 10 miles from the cluster when the Shop had gone out. The only question was - what would happen in the wind.

Kevin reveled in the gliding. Without the sour knowledge of why he needed this to work so badly, Kevin truly would have had the time of his life. He allowed himself to enjoy the moment as he glided over the city. As he got close to the skyscrapers he tapped his ring, switching out his flight suit for his parachute. He pulled the cord and brought himself down, rather than landing on a roof as may have been intelligent, Kevin decided to practice.

He activated the Cloud Step shoes and made cloud platforms after slowing himself down as much as he could. He tapped his ring and stored his parachute. He wouldn't be able to use it again until he pulled it out and repacked the pack. However, he planned on having more than one available. The landing was effective.

Kevin thought this was an entirely viable solution so far. He used the Cloud Step shoes to run over to the trio towers to the thunderous applause of his cluster mates. The grin on Kevin's face was perhaps the largest he had since coming to the first layer, despite the circumstances.