Factory Reset

Chapter Twenty-One: Science or Spell

Mason raised a salutary eyebrow, glancing at the thin piece of nearly burnt paper in his hand, "Why do all these sound like spell names?" He asked, turning his head to the observation deck where Lied and the rest of the scientists were.

Mason and B-64 had woken up just an hour before, and a bit before the others woke up as well. He expected it to be awkward between them, but it really wasn't. B-64 seemed to have taken the Pseudo-kiss rather well, in fact, it seemed he had actually liked that action.

Mason had learned, through B-64's visor, that his home world did not have many avenues to explore affection. Even less so for him, as he was a Captain, so he had just learned what a kiss was, and he loved it for some reason.

So, in the span of five minutes after waking up, B-64 had given Mason about three pecks on the cheek. Mason did enjoy them, especially because it certainly dispelled a rather large fear of his, but it had grown somewhat annoying.

While his friends slept, they were taken to what only could be described as a bomb testing area, just underground. The area that they were in was just like that infinity room thing, except highly durable.

They both were given a list depicting certain things that The Foundation has encountered and made up regarding utilizing Boson Energy for weaponry and offensive capabilities. And as Mason had said, most had the underlying theme of spell names.

Scarlet Blast, Crimson Smile, Blazing Inferno, Red Strength, and Red Depths. Just to name a few.

Lied sighed from the booth, rolling his eyes, "Yes, we are sorry about that. But the lead scientist in coming up with these names is Doctor Bright, and he's... Not that most stable individual. Also, they are easy to remember."

Mason shrugged, rubbing his eyes with his hands. He then glanced at his hands, trying to remember what he was supposed to do.

Mason was given a small gauntlet that looked more like a cannon than a glove. They had inserted what looked like a couple capsules of some red liquid, and then he was told to wait for further instructions.

But he agreed with Lied on the account that the abilities were easy to remember. B-64 tilted his head from the other side of the room, waiting for his turn. Due to him already having latent abilities, he was the last to demonstrate what he can do, due to the others needing practice.

After a solid ten minutes of bickering, Lied finally gave him the go ahead, "We're ready. Remember, this will be a scenario with almost life-like monsters. Just shout out whatever you want to try, and focus on the words. The Gauntlet should make it a reality."

"Axel would have a field day with this..." Mason muttered, quickly closing his eyes as the room was flooded with light. He could only guess how many questions that Axel would have on how this worked, or why it even worked.

Mason felt the familiar feeling of everything changing, and he opened his eyes as he felt nothing new. He was now in what looked like a city-scape, with dozens of sky-scrapers around him. B-64 was inside the nearest burger joint, watching him through the window as a sort of waiting area.

"Okay, we recommend starting from the top of the list and working down. We don't have much time to work on each of your, maybe an hour each before we've used too much processing power. So please, be speedy."

Mason nodded, staring down at the gauntlets. They felt as heavy as bricks, but somehow he could manage to hold them well enough. They were sleek and black, fitting perfectly around his hands. A single wire stuck out of place in each one, and a single compartment sat against his wrist. That was where they inserted the liquid.

Mason peered down at the list, reading the first of the many spell-like abilities, "Scarlet Blast". Deciding on that one, Mason lightly sat that paper against a windowsill. Mason took in a deep breath and held out his arms.