Black Hole: The Book of Iratus, Episode 36

Chapter 351

Venatio pressed another button and then looked back up.

Venatio, "Technically, we still have most of the shard left. Because of how this tech works, it won't be coming out. Unless you really feel like leaving it in here, I suggest we dispel it and send it back to reality."

The mouse boy gave a sigh, still looking at the spot where two of his friends hastily left the Nexus Prime and went back home.

Iratus, "I suppose so. Unless anyone else disagrees."

Victoria, "Ain't no way we find more wire stuff to hook up."

Ignis, "A shard dispelled is a calmer world as it is."

Clamor, "Honestly, that is what we should have done."

Iratus, "You should have jumped on board with us instead of voting to use the shard."

With a few button presses, the fox woman told the machine to dispel the shard, and with a breath from the square machine, it completed its task without much fanfare.

Clamor, "It felt like if we are using this thing, then we should vote to see where to place the portal." The rabbit man finished with a shrug.

The whole time, Speculator sat on the chair because of his injury. He tried to twist his body just slightly but gave up.

Speculator, "To be fair, you didn't miss much."

Clamor, "Considering everything that you said happened, some of you nearly died."

Speculator, "That just means hazard pay."

Clamor, "I do not believe it to be a good thing to be at such risk."

Speculator, "Risk? In the Nexus Prime? How long have you lived here?"

Clamor, "You know what I mean."

Speculator, "Sure, I do, but look at the reward."

Clamor, "Useless. It may be good that the other two were able to return home, but for our survival, nothing good."

Iratus, "Have you guys found anything useful in our hoard?"

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Chapter 352

There was a strange sense that Iratus could feel, like some sort of calmness. Iratus saw the others wear an expression of surprise, and so did Venatio, who responded to the whole ordeal.

Venatio, "When you reach the third covenant, or whatever people want to call it, you become more aware of their karma. It is an understanding of the nature of things."

Iratus, "Ah-ha, I knew karma was something more than luck."

Venatio, "Nope, still just luck."

Iratus, "One day!"

Aestus, "Will we see Fractura or Tempestus again?"

Venatio, "It is a possibility. However, it's not like people outside are always asking to get people in here. Not only is it resource intensive, but even if we get you guys out, people not born into a highly technological society tend to struggle in it."

Victoria, "What? Can't you just give us a cabin by the shore?"

Venatio, "The only thing worth killing someone over is land. We have too many people and not enough land. I really don't want to get into getting ghosts out of here because it's a tragic reality that takes too long to explain."

Iratus, "What about getting you out?"

The old fox woman placed the reality machine in the pile of treasure.

Venatio, "Everyone is aware of what happens if you get stuck in here. Maybe if someone has some rich buddies, a search and rescue can happen, but otherwise, you enter at your own risk. That and my group didn't get in here in the most legal of ways."

Iratus, "It's a derelict space-building thing."

Venatio, "That holds the most godlike of technology and treasure. This place is bogged down by law to make sure every nation is aware of what's coming out. That and making sure no one brings monsters of other bad stuff out."

The four tower girls started to help the wolf pair pick out treasure from the pile while the conversation continued.

Venatio, "Regardless, there is a possibility that we could see rescue. It just depends."

Resonantia, "Wait, will Fractura be ok then, returning home that is?"

Venatio, "Most likely. I'd be shocked if any legal action were taken against my group."

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Chapter 353

The night was slowly creeping in, with the group finishing their dinner and slowly getting ready for bed. Speculator, was aided into a guest room while Fugent took another one.

Speculator, "You guys aren't going to slit our throats while we sleep, right?"

Resonantia, "You'll be fine."

The tower folk played one more game, testing out their new card game, while the brown wolf watched. It was a roughly made game where cards were drawn for the table to buy, which they used to build their team. Each card was a specific hero, with duplicates, and each one had two to three traits that gave additional bonuses.

Once the game was wrapped up, Clamor spoke up.

Clamor, "I have something I'd like to say to the group."

Everyone looked up at Clamor.

Clamor, "I've had some time to think, and I would like to share my thoughts. The situation where Iratus delved into that dangerous place as well as finding two mercenaries seems so crazy to coincide that I wonder if it was divine providence that graced these events. However, I find the complete disregard for the rest of the group and the safety of oneself to be horrific. I don't feel good about this recent event, and despite the good that has come out of it, I can't keep living with the group's terrible decisions."

Iratus, already always self-conscious about his decisions, felt quite hurt, and Fugent could feel the tension in the air, so he excused himself and headed for bed.

Clamor, "Thus, I feel the need to move on."

Now even the girls were worried.

Victoria, "No way, you've been with us for a long time!"

Clamor, "Somewhere around a hundred-fifty, but I wouldn't call that enough for a familiar bond."

Victoria, "Gee, how sincere."

The shark girl gave a sigh and then joined in.

Resonantia, "Aren't we family enough? Don't we share all the trust one has?"

Clamor, "I love our trust, but I don't love having to put up with the reckless abandon."

Ignis was about to say something too, but Iratus held up his hand to interrupt.

Iratus, "I understand and support your choice to move on from our humble abode. It already wounds me that two of our friends left without much fanfare, but maybe you'd stay long enough for a goodbye party."

Clamor gave a smile in response.

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Chapter 354

It took until day 171 before the group got something set up, with the morning being a buffet for everyone, the afternoon being a long sparring session and tournament, the evening seeing the tower folk bring Clamor a few gifts, most of which were clothes and rations, and finally at night the group had one last chat. Everyone sat around the community table for the last conversation.

Clamor, "You know, it has been nice. I truly must say this has been a fine, fair, well."

Iratus, "Have you changed your mind at all about leaving?"

Clamor, "No, I am still sent in leaving in the morning."

Aestus, "Where will you go?"

Clamor, "I'll continue traveling; that's what I've done, and that's what I'll continue to do."

Victoria, "You'd think you'd be too old to continue traveling."

Clamor, "Thanks for the concern, but I'll live as I have been."

Ignis, "We will forever miss your company, good sir."

Clamor, "Once again, thanks." Clamor held his chest to show the affection he felt.

Iratus, "If you believe it was God's will that I and the others explore that underground tower part, then why have you made it such a big deal?"

Clamor, "Without the wolffolk that are still inside these tower walls, you'd surely be in a broken state, if not dead. I don't like that thought, and so I wish to move on with my travels."

Venatio, "Then I'll be taking that house you've been building up."

Clamor, "Have at it."

The night came to a close, and the next day, the tower folk wished Clamor good luck as he grabbed a few items from the stash. He took a glass jar, a compass, a bed roll, a cloak, a tent that Victoria repaired by stitching together various materials, two daggers, a hunting trap, and of course the old rabbitfolk had his own gear as well.

Iratus, "You'll eat well?"

Clamor, "There are all kinds of locations out there. Food isn't too hard to come by, but in the worst-case scenario, there are ways to hunt."

Clamor waved everyone goodbye as he walked out and started to walk away to places unknown.

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Chapter 355

Days would pass uneventfully, with day 192 being the next time something would happen. A small cabin would have finished being built for Venatio while Speculator had recovered enough to walk on his own. The two wolf men fist bumped Iratus and left with their treasures. Iratus made sure that the two knew that the medicine and food that were given were free of charge as they left. What was given was a cart, two tattered tents, the strange device, six swords, the two hand bombs, the ammo the tower folk couldn't use, the two pistols, and several bags worth of coin.

Once everything was settled and the tower folk were alone for the first time in a while, they took their time to enjoy their new privacy.

Ignis, "Finally, the tower is all for us."

Aestus, "Back to it, actually."

Venatio, "I mean, I just don't sleep here. I'm not living in that cabin by myself, so I'm still hanging out here."

Iratus, "Close enough."

Venatio, "Well, now you need to figure out how to take care of your four pregnant mates and the children they will be bringing into the world. We lost a lot of manpower with everyone leaving."

The mouse boy gripped the bridge of his nose.

Iratus, "Yeah. The rest of the year is going to be pain."

Victoria, "Maybe we'll run into more random strangers. We've had a little less than two hundred days, and we met how many people?"

Venatio, "And none of them were hostile."

Iratus, "Two of them tried to take over the tower in a sense."

Resonantia, "The Invaders were quite troublesome."

Victoria "The warband, Qui Durat, and so on."

The old fox woman gave a sigh.

Venatio, "Yeah, now that you say all that, it is quite bizarre to run into so many...factions of people, I guess."

Iratus, "What, is there data or something on this?"

Venatio, "Depends on the planet in here. The last record on this planet was one person per ten miles on land. So, like, three million people should be on this half planet...maybe six million at the most."

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Chapter 356

When day 194 came, Iratus and Venatio decided to explore some of the abandoned towns along the southern road.

The first town they stopped at was a town fit for a tropical area with modern buildings in a sad state, not even taking into account the weather and time. Most of the buildings were white and were not dirty, but they had signs of vandalism from their own time. Despite everything, nature had yet to reclaim much of anything, with only a crafted rock in the center having any sort of overgrowth. The rock, a black stone sawed in half, had some sort of writing on it. Venatio was excited at first about the town, but after examining the place further and looking over some of the clothes, she lost all interest.

Venatio, "Civilization type two: possible adult height of six feet tall, true biped, then tail, very thin, most likely long as well. Clothing maximizes coverings similar to those of other skin folk. Tech level, nine."

Iratus, "Translation?"

Venatio, "Type is like the most common characteristic between all civilizations, but specifically for the tech level. Tech Nine is the cellular age. We've talked about cell phones before. Do you need the other parts explained?"

Iratus, "No, I can see the clothes and make similar guesses."

There were broken and smashed-up vehicles scattered around, with some bits of damage to the windows of buildings, though that may have come from the weather with branches tossed around, sticking out of them.

Iratus took off his padded armor because even a cloudy day couldn't stop the heat it generated, as well as the tropical area he was in. He set it on the cart the two brought and continued scouting the town.

Venatio, "Missing power lines on the out skirts, vehicular destruction off by three points, oh, I think there is a school."

The small white building with a tall tower with a bell inside loomed over the east part of the town, where the modern roads had cracked and, in some places, were torn asunder.

Venatio, "What's with the inconsistent destruction, unless we have a contrast of time? Captured in the middle of a war or something. Keep your senses sharp; sometimes civilizations like these have some extras when it comes to conflict."

Iratus, "I don't remember you being this chatty the other times you've explored with me."

Venatio, "Yeah, it feels kind of reflexive right now."

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Chapter 357

The pair gathered up some items from the abandoned town, including personal hygiene items, bedding, canned food, another flashlight, more basic medicine, nails, and other stuff. Venatio grabbed several laptops as well as a few newspapers.

Venatio, "Nope, I don't recognize any of this."

Iratus grabbed a few photos to show.

Iratus, "Here is what they look like."

The people looked rather strange, with three different races based on skin color, which were purple, red, and blue. They had digitigrade legs and long, thin tails with a spade at the end of them.

Venatio, "I've never seen nor heard of these people."

Iratus, "I guess there is a lot to learn about what's out here."

Venatio, "The universe is a big place."

Iratus, "I think we stacked up all the useful things."

The old fox woman grabbed her chin and looked around for a few seconds before responding.

Venatio, "I guess so. Without a familiar place, our loot will be limited. We can't even grab any books."

Iratus, "Well, we could, but they wouldn't be useful."

The two headed back home and unloaded their goods with the help of the other girls.

Ignis, "More lootables is always fine, but it does not cure the problem of requiring more manpower."

Venatio, "In that case, we just need to find more people to recruit."

Iratus, "And what are the odds?"

Venatio, "I have an idea; we could set up several signs around to try to catch the attention of any passerby. Probably send them to the summoners tower, and as for the odds, I'd say finding someone about once a month is what we should expect."

Resonantia, "Unless, of course, we are unlucky enough to find another hostile group."

Victoria, "Yeah, one that's in league with the faction of We Hate the Tower Folk."

Iratus, "I don't see the harm in trying to get the attention of travelers, and I'm certain that the other tower is far enough away from us."

Victoria, "There is a road next to us. Anyone following it could find our home easily enough. So I think we shouldn't worry too much if anyone is walking on it."

Aestus, "I'll do the writing and stuff."

Ignis, "Leave the crafting of these omens to us."

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Chapter 358

The next day, Iratus took some time off to relax with his lovers, spending time in the hot springs cave and hiking through the local area. Ventio set up a few signs along the road further east and some in the wilderness, and everyone agreed that they needed to find people to shore up their manpower problem.

By day 198, Iratus and Venatio looked out from a hill to the ever-growing woodland that was starting to bury the train tracks north of the stone tower. Lying near the crashed train was a quadrupedal treeskin of great size and the shape of a winged lizard.

Venatio, "There is no way the two of us can kill that thing."

Iratus, "Do you think it was wise to set up the signs? What if we found another hostile person or people?"

Venatio, "Uh, what? Are you still on that?"

Iratus, "I often second-guess some of my actions."

Venatio, "This is the path forward; don't worry too much about it. Now back to the matter at hand, which is killing any other monsters around."

The pair continued to look over the area to find some sort of advantage.

Iratus, "Maybe we could lure the ebony over here and watch them fight?"

Venatio, "Unlikely. When was the last time we saw it anyway?"

Iratus, "Too long."

Venatio, "We could always take a look down in the tunnels since we have to kill it eventually."

Iratus, "I guess killing that thing would be easier than that giant treeskin over there."

The two would spend a few days traveling the cold tunnels searching for the ebony monster but still find nothing. Once it was day 202, things changed when Iratus and Venatio stopped searching and started to go back to looting the nearby locations.

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Chapter 359

At another location, a town of similar caliber and the same odd species as the first one, Iratus and Venatio found a building that did not mesh with the others. Victoria and Aestus were also traveling with the two to help make the looting go faster.

This second town had the same white buildings, the same minor damage to extensive damage on the other side of it, and the only real difference was that the clothing and present technology were different. The strange building in question was an expansive form wrapped in corrugated metal siding. The roof was composed of sturdy metal slabs that mirrored the rhythmic pattern of the walls, seamlessly merging with the building's industrial aesthetic as it lay next to the riverbank.

Iratus, "I don't recall this building being here, do you?"

Venatio, "Not even close. I think it is a recent addition."

Aestus excitedly, "Then we have another stranger running around!"

Venatio, "Maybe. Let's see if we can't find a way in."

After some examining, they found a garage door and lifted it open to reveal a sparse inside, with the place only having scrap metal flooring and metal beams to help hold the roof up. A few wooden boxes were nearby with various metalworking tools and some food stuff. Off to the side were a dozen batteries and wires that littered the floor, which connected to lights and speakers around.

Iratus, "So strange."

Venatio, "Hello, anyone here?"

There was no answer.

Venatio, "There is a door over there. Let's see what we can find."

Victoria and Aestus stayed back as the other two went ahead. The second room was cramped and small, with a desk straight from the town and several other items from the same place, mostly papers and writing utensils. Venatio grabbed some of the papers and read them.

Venatio, "Blah blah blah. Oh wait."

Iratus tried to look, and while the language was similar to his own, he couldn't read it.

Venatio, "We got a group of people; they set this up and planted some dangerous tech."

Iratus was in the doorway to keep an eye on the two other girls.

Iratus looking back at Venatio, "Ok, and?"

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Chapter 360

Venatio, "All that's written is that a traveling nomad group built this for someone. So we have a group of super nomads and someone around here who wanted this building. As for the tech, its the holograms."

Iratus, "Another floating sword of death?"

Venatio, "Ha. Let's get out of here and then decide what to do next."

Iratus nodded his head and watched the old fox woman take another glance at the notes.

Iratus, "Something wrong?"

Venatio, "This thing is basically a contract, but something seems off. Almost...unperson like."

The two went back into the main room just in time to see Aestus and Victoria mess with one of the large music boxes and Aestus tapped a button which turned on everything. The shutters close, the lights came on showing a dazzling display of all colors, music came on unleashing loud beats and bops, and finally several hologram people popped into existence to dance. A voice rang out.

Digital Voice, "Dance to the music."

The tower folk were confused and desperately tried to understand what was happening, but Venatio was sneering as a defensive relax. The holograms were all otterfolk and were even wearing similar, although more complex dresses then Aestus.

Venatio, "Out of my way, false images."

She physically shoved the light made forms of the holograms to get to the music box.

Aestus, "What did I do?"

At the same time:
Victoria, "What's going on?"
Iratus, "Are we in danger?"

Venatio tried to click the same button that was pressed, but when none of that worked she looked over the buttons and text near them. She pressed a few other buttons, but only succeeded in changing the music to another track, one that had a faster and smoother rhythm to it. The fox woman looked over the button that started everything, the power button in theory, and above it was written Aestus.

Aestus, "Sorry, but it had my name and I thought it meant something."

Iratus, "I'm glad that all the reading and writing lessons are paying off."

Victoria, "I didn't know this would happen otherwise I would have stopped her."

Venatio, "Pay it no mind."

The three looked to Venatio as her serious demeanor gave way to a slight smile.

Venatio, "There once was a young girl of the name Aestus and Riversinger. She wasn't much for her families dance, but when she died of sickness, legends of her voice popped up when the rivers started to sing. It isn't much for local legends, but it was enough for a particular corporation to use the name for their products."

Aestus, "Woh."

Then that one voice was back when another hologram popped up next to the group.

Strange Hologram, "Welcome to the Aestus, I see you have been having trouble. Have you called a technician for help?"

Venatio, "We are leaving. C'mon everyone."

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EPISDOE 36: END

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Episode 36 End Character Sheet
Name: Iratus Lionheart
Species: Mousefolk
Age: 14
Coverings: blonde fur, white gambeson (many repairs, some leather patchwork), leather gloves, tactical vest, tailorcraft backpack, leather plate helmet, delicate gold chain with a small pendant shaped like a lion's glare, flashlight
Weapons: Long Sword, 3x Knifes, Short Sword
Equipment: belt, belt bag, water skin, leathercraft backpack, 2 bags, 33 oval copper coins, 6 small silver bricks, 3 gemstones, 20 fine silver coins,20 fine gold coins, metal keycard

Wounds: none

Relevant Community Stash: a fire starter, whetstone, several leather items, 2 glass jar, 12 empty bottles, 1 fish net, primitive sewing kit, a bunch of small wooden figures, wooden dice, metal scrap, lots of rusted metal, several small fish nets, sextant, some bedrolls, a tent, a large barrel, writing material, 79 cloaks and other clothing materials, some fabrics, 5 carts, 8 tattered tents, skin drum, beautiful arts of tropical scenery, floatation devices, wildlife figures, lots of tropical clothing

Armory: 10 wooden spears, 50 short swords, 53 knifes, 23 daggers, 34 metal spears, 21 rusted weapons, many armor pieces, ruined metal armor, semi-automatic rifle (no ammo), 3 hunting traps, 3 snares, 4 backpacks
Aestus: leather vest, leather helmet, metal spear, short sword
Victoria: scrap metal breastplate, leather helmet, metal spear, short sword, crossbow, flashlight
Resonanita: breastplate, metal helmet, metal spear, short sword, compound bow, flashlight
Ignis: leather helmet, metal spear, crowbar

Treasure: 62 oval copper coins, 19 oval silver coins 64 ancient metal coins, 8 fine silver coins, a tarnished silver brooch, a small ornamental figurine, a handful of sparkling glass beads, a few antfolk tapestries, some antfolk art, 46 copper lion coins, 5 silver lion coins, 4 gold lion coins, 57 wolfen metal coins

Home Base, Tower: Large Storage Area (many crates, clay pots, and wooden chests), Basic Workshop Area (lots of tools, woodcarving tools, glue, sandpaper), Kitchen Area (many tools, many cutlery items, pots&pans, makeshift grill), Library, Armory, Infirmary Room (surgery tools, first aid kit, plenty of medicine and equipment), Guest Quarters, Master Bedroom (proper bedding, sensual antfolk sculpture), Six Bedrooms (proper bedding)

Outside Base: Butchering Hut (modern butchery kit, smoking rack), Tannery Hut, Underground Storage Area, Garden Area (fenced in), Tool Shed (fishing gear and supplies, trowel, woodcutting axe, woodworking tools, lots of rope, rope ladder, plows, hoes, sickles, rakes, shovels, scythes, chisels, anvils), Partially Built Wall, Small Cabin

Books: 3x woodworking books, weathered leather-bound journal, war game booklet, sketch book (from warband), Bathhouse Reviewers (entire 80 book series), cards, Fractura's Notes, Tempestas's Notes

Year 0, Day 202

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