Modern Age Online

Kaleb sighed as he turned the page of his chemistry book. It was a dusty old thing with a half-torn cover and a bunch of profanity in it’s margins. It was a loner from the front office. He would get a brand new one when he turned up for work next Wednesday. His eyes scanned the section on Thermochemistry and he sighed again.

“Dude. You already said yes. So stop sighing and finish what you are doing. I think the machine is ready to go.”

Kaleb rolled his eyes and looked up at Jar-lock and Vivienne. They were standing near what Kaleb assumed was the worlds largest mass-spectrometer and tentatively pressing buttons. Noticing that the machines main panel was lit up with power, Kaleb slammed his book closed.

“About damn time. The police could be out looking for us right now.”

Vivienne shook her head. “I doubt it. They are probably still searching the campus for us and the vial. We still have time. How was the book?”

Kaleb glanced down at his Chemistry 101 book. “Boring and dry. Chemistry is still my lowest skill and I have no business teaching it.”

“So why did you say yes?”

“Because we need to use this thing! So now I’ve resigned myself to teaching an hour-long class every Wednesday to a bunch of teens.”

“Oh boo-hoo, I have to spend an hour getting paid and raising my chemistry skill.” Jar-lock mocked. “It’s not like you have to know the information anyway. The game will supplant the knowledge you need when you’re teaching.”

“Only if my skill is high enough!” Kaleb yelled waving the book around. “Which why I have this accursed thing. But in the thirty or so minutes we’ve been sitting here, my skill hasn’t gone up at all.”

Vivienne and Jar-lock shared a worried look as the mass-spectrometer beeped. Kaleb blinked as he looked between the two.

“Oh lord, don’t tell me it was longer than that?!”

Vivienne started giggling as Jar-lock placed a hand on his shoulder. “No, dude. You were reading for like ten minutes.”

Kaleb choked slightly as he stared down at the chemistry book. Dozens of formulas and key terms flashed through his brain as remembered what he’d read. Chemical density, Molarities, composition percentages. His mind went on and on, until he felt Jar-lock’s hand shake him.

“Professor! Snap out of it. You only have to teach until they find a legitimate teacher. They don’t want to get caught using an unaccredited alien with a sketchy past.”

Kaleb nodded slowly as he approached the machine. Luckily, the classroom they were in was at the far end of the building. They hadn’t seen many students at this end of the building. So Kaleb figured whatever was going to happen with the demon ‘blood’ was bound to go unnoticed back here. At least he hoped it would.

“I’ve prepared the specimen and everything. So all I think we have to do is press go.” Vivienne said, cheerily.

Kaleb glanced at the machine and checked everything was set correctly. He didn’t know the correct settings for demon blood. But he guessed that treating it like human blood was fair. With a final look at his friends, Kaleb hit the on button and stepped back. He didn’t know what to expect when he started the machine. But the ominous whirring of the machine was a small comfort. Especially when the sound quickly morphed into a weird howling.

WAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Kaleb gripped his side arm and backed up as Jar-lock and Vivienne readied spells. The noise persisted though as the machine started to wobble dangerously. The huge machine slammed into the ground continually as the noise grew louder. Carefully moving closer, Kaleb quickly hit the off button, but the machine continued to whir and howl. The sample was still in the machine, but Kaleb could see the black blood fighting against the sample port on the machine.

“What’s going on? Did the sample destroy the machine!” Jar-lock cried over the noise.

Kaleb shook his head. “No! I can still see the sample in the chamber. It wasn’t even vaporized.”

“Vaporized?! You were going to destroy the blood?!” Vivienne asked.

“Just a part of it.”

Before anyone else could say anything, the large machine stopped destroying the floor and settled. The howling noise faded away and the machine whirred to a stop. Kaleb cautiously moved toward the sample, but Jar-lock held him back as he held a small ball of fire in his other hand. They both moved slowly toward the specimen chamber and peered in.

The glass around the blood was cracked slightly, but the black blood seemed to have calmed down considerably. It was no longer bubbling or throwing itself around. Kaleb was about to move his hand away from his gun when the specimen chamber shattered and the blood leapt toward them. Jar-lock threw his fire ball, destroying the MassSpec while Kaleb barely got his gun out of its holster.

The blood sailed between them both and slammed bodily into Vivienne’s face. The witch looked shocked for a few seconds before she quickly tried to wipe the substance away. But it clung to her hand and face with a vengeance. An ominous feeling pulsed through the air as Jar-lock moved to help his girlfriend remove the blood. But with super speed, Vivienne arm reached up and waved her wand.

Kaleb and Jar-lock were flung against the wall as Vivienne stared in horror at her arm. The wand reared back up as Vivienne used her other hand to pull her wrist downward. Meanwhile the black blood was crawling up her face toward her eyes.

“Guys… It’s not me, somethings starting to control me!” Vivienne shouted.

“Demon.” Kaleb shouted unhelpfully.

“Great. You were right. Now hold her, Prof. I have to prepare a banishing spell.” Jar-lock ordered.

Kaleb nodded and flung himself toward the tall woman. But her wand snapped up and a blazing wall of fire appeared between them. Undaunted, Kaleb threw himself through the fire and tackled his friend. Vivienne jerked as she tried to regain control of her own body. She twitched and writhed as the blood finally covered her face. Vivienne tried to scream, but the demon dove into her mouth and silenced her.

Vivienne’s body went still as Kaleb got his arms around the slim woman and locked wrist. Meanwhile Jar-lock had his arms up and was muttering some incantation. Kaleb sighed as he got a firm hold and started to lift Vivienne off the ground.

“I think it’s calmed down.” Kaleb said.

Jar-lock said nothing as he continued his spell. Kaleb got comfortable and started to settle in when Vivienne’s body flung itself toward the back wall. Kaleb held on for dear life as he was dragged along with the body. Vivienne’s mouth opened and a demonic wail echoed throughout the room. Kaleb could feel his body growing tired as the wail echoed everywhere. But underneath, he could still hear Jar-lock muttering. So he held on.

Vivienne’s body flopped against the wall ineffectually for a few beats before an unseen force dragged her up the wall toward the ceiling. Kaleb maintained his grip and tried to yank Vivienne away from the ceiling, but they both were smashed against it. They were both pulled to the center of the room and Kaleb glanced up to check on Vivienne.

Her face was a pale placid mask with black veins crisscrossing her porcelain skin. As they hung to the ceiling Vivienne’s dead eyes turned to Kaleb. Two pitch black voids stared at him as Vivienne’s face became a rictus smile. He could see sharp pointed teeth behind Vivienne’s pale lips as the demon spoke.

“This vessel shall do for now mortals. But you shall be among the first I destroy once I return to the whole. I am no mere plaything for your science to unravel. For such indignity I shall-”

Kaleb missed the demon’s last words as Jar-lock thrust his arms up and a bright white light filled the room. The demon screamed and Kaleb felt Vivienne fight against his grip. He held on for dear life as Vivienne’s body slid around the ceiling like a snake trying to get away from a fire. Multiple fluorescent lights burst as he and Vivienne slammed into them. The demon in her body roared in anguish as Jar-lock’s spell did it’s work. Soon color returned to Vivienne’s face. She barely had enough time to smile though before she seemed to pass out.

But Kaleb was more concerned with the sudden and rough drop to the floor. Which was painful, but with Vivienne in her helpless state, Kaleb had to use his body to brunt the damage. That meant all of Vivienne’s weight hit Kaleb right in the stomach as they hit the linoleum floor of the classroom. Jar-lock quickly rushed over and checked Vivienne even as Kaleb wheezed beneath her.

“How is she?” Kaleb asked through a forceful wheeze.

Jar-lock didn’t answer for several seconds as he ran a magic-covered hand over Vivienne’s body. Kaleb thought she looked much better now. But he wasn’t taking chances, maintaining the bear hug on Vivienne. When Jar-lock was done with his scan, he tilted Vivienne off Kaleb and sighed loudly.

“She’s fine. Mild possession. But I think that was a major demon. Did it talk about returning to the whole?”

Kaleb nodded as he sat up against a metal desk. “Yeah. Was that hole or whole?”

“I think it meant whole. As in, this was only a piece of a demonic entity.”

“So it was trying to get back to it’s actual body? What the fuck was it doing here?”

“Communicating with Malcolm maybe? Or it was meant as a nasty surprise for the old wizard.”

“I don’t think so. Malcolm was some big demonology professor, right? He’d know to be on the lookout for such a thing right?”

“Maybe.” Jar-lock said slowly getting to his feet, hands lighting up with magic.

Kaleb looked around the room and groaned. The ceiling was busted to hell, the wall near the white board was cracked, and Vivienne’s flame wall was petering out in the center of the room. This was to be his classroom in a week and it was fucked.

Kaleb pulled himself to his feet and grimaced at the pain in his gut. “Well, at least the sprinklers aren’t -”

Kaleb was interrupted by a deluge of water falling from the ceiling panels. Outside in the hallways shouts of alarm were raised and a loud klaxon started to sound. Jar-lock glared at Kaleb as they stood in the ice cold water. Kaleb waved Jar-lock away as he bent down to grab Vivienne.

“Blame me later, lets get the hell out of here.”

“You're a freaking menace, dude.”

“Yeah, well, at least I’m never boring. Now grab your girlfriend.”

Kaleb and Jar-lock joined the stampede of students and faculty as they all rushed out of the building. The fire alarm was going crazy and everyone was soaking wet. But as they cleared the fire exit, Kaleb immediately turned them toward the parking lot. Jar-lock missed a stepped, but quickly started to pick up on what Kaleb was doing.

They didn’t want to be anywhere near this mess right now. The classroom they were in was destroyed, the sample they had illegally procured was destroyed, and they had an unconscious witch with them. That all added up to a lot of unwanted questions that neither of them wanted to answer. Thankfully they got Vivienne to their car unimpeded and managed to get the car started before the drones showed up. The community college was smoking, but it didn’t look like the fire had caused much damage.

Jar-lock pulled the car out of the parking lot slowly. Trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. But his head kept looking back at Vivienne in the backseat. Kaleb turned the car’s heater on and tried not to look out the window. The last thing they needed was to get pinged by a drone. The HLO was still looking for any reason to come at them and this was a giant hammer they could use to smack Kaleb’s Super Group with.

It was only after they were a few blocks away that Kaleb sighed in relief. He was still soaking wet and highly annoyed, but at least they were clear of everything. That’s when Jar-lock hit him in the side of the head. The mage wasn’t strong, relatively, but it still knocked Kaleb for a loop. He hissed as he glared over at the big man. But Jar-lock’s eyes were on the road as he shook out his knuckles. Kaleb was about to complain when Jar-lock raised a hand.

“I know. I know. It wasn’t your fault. But I needed to do that to feel better and you were the nearest person responsible.”

Kaleb wanted to argue that he wasn’t really responsible. But he was the one that stole the sample and insisted on studying the vial immediately. But still, Jar-lock could’ve jumped in front of the liquid demon if he wanted to save his girlfriend. Of course she wouldn’t have needed saving if Kaleb hadn’t insisted. His mind whirled around several more times, until eventually Kaleb simply nodded and waved a hand at Jar-lock.

“It’s fine. So what’s the plan now.”

Jar-lock’s fingers tightened on the wheel of the car before he blew out a breath. “We need to ditch this car. The drones might have missed our faces, but I’m willing to bet the police or fire department will hunt down every car that was in that lot.”

“So we’re walking home? Great. You can carry Vivienne.” Kaleb snarked.

Jar-lock sighed loudly as he took their car further south from downtown Austin. He drove a winding path out of the city until they wound up near the Colorado river. Vivienne was still passed out on the back seat as Kaleb and Jar-lock watched the bank of the river. Not too many people were nearby, but the drones were making regular passes over everything. Eventually they found their moment and moved.

Kaleb pushed the car into the river as Jar-lock held Vivienne. Neither of them said anything as the car slowly sank and they quickly ran back to the street. Damp, tired, and annoyed they both kept to themselves as the trudged slowly along the southern edge of downtown Austin. Kaleb steered them toward a used car dealer, planning on buying an old clunker for cheap. But Jar-lock pushed back.

“We can’t buy a different car. The cops are going to wonder what happened to the old one.”

“That’s if they know the old one was ours. Who’s car was that anyway?”

“Mine.” Jar-lock said sounding surly.

Kaleb bit back a harsh retort and instead tried to make peace. “So that’s great. I can buy you a new car to say I’m sorry.”

“You’ve got nothing to be sorry for.”

“Really? Cause I was slugged in the face and you keep looking at me like I killed your cat. Dude, I had know way of knowing this shit would happen. I saw a lead and I followed it.”

Jar-lock sighed loudly. “I know. I understand that my anger is irrational. But when I saw Viv getting hurt, I just couldn’t control it. I know, logically, that she’s not really hurt and that this is just a game. It doesn’t help that the whole experience back there was both terrifying and exciting. Then I get mad at myself for getting excited…”

Jar-lock trailed off as a bus passed them. Kaleb snorted and rubbed his face.

“So you get mad at yourself and then hit me? I’ll remember that.”

“Dude, you can’t pretend that had nothing to do with you.”

“I’m not. But Viv is fine and I’m pretty sure we got away with everything. Come Wednesday, I tell the college staff that we had to rush Vivienne to the hospital or something. So long as the cops don’t come knocking we should be fine.”

Jar-lock sighed as he adjusted Vivienne slightly in his arms. He had her in a princess-carry and refused to let Kaleb help. Her damp robes probably added to the weight the big man was carrying. So Kaleb made his offer again.

“So let’s just buy a clunker and be done with this. I really don’t want to walk all the way back to the hangar. It’ll be my treat since all of this was partially my fault.”

Jar-lock snorted at him, but before he could respond Vivienne snapped awake with a large inhale. She flopped around like a drowning person for a few seconds until Jar-lock calmed her down. Once she realized she was safe, Vivienne quickly jumped out of her boyfriends arms. Her cheeks were dusted red as she asked.

“What happened? I remember you banishing the demon then everything went black.”

“You remember the possession?” Jar-lock asked, morbidly.

“You passed out and we ran. The school caught fire and we needed to make a quick exit. We just dumped the car and were discussing buying another.”

Vivienne quirked an eyebrow. “Do you have the credits for that?”

Kaleb shrugged. “I would assume so. If not, we can pull it from the Super Groups funds.”

“Ha!” Jar-lock laughed. “Then you can explain it to the duck.”

Vivienne smiled as she unsteadily started walking down the street. “Good. Then after that I can tell you both about what I saw.”

Kaleb and Jar-lock shared a look before Jar-lock asked the question.

“What you saw?”

“Yeah,” Vivienne nodded. “A portion of an actual demon attached itself to me. It’s not surprising that the connection went both ways. He got some of my memories and I got some of his. I didn’t get a name, but the demon we are dealing with is a major player.”

Kaleb blinked at her cheery tone. “You seem awfully cheerful for someone that was just body-snatched.”

“Ha! Yeah, well, lets say that I now have a vested interest in shoving my wand into a demon’s eye.”

The happy-go-lucky way she spoke made Kaleb and Jar-lock stare at each other. But they had to hurry to capture the witch as she began to explain. Kaleb opened the notes function in his menus and started writing things down. The more Vivienne explained what she had seen in the demon’s memories, the more Kaleb wondered what he had gotten himself into.