Point Zero: Tournament

Point Zero: Tournament

…

Commissioned by Ichypa and Althero

Wordcount: 3500

…

I’ll be perfectly honest.

I never thought that, with my preferences, I’d ever be walking around bowlegged without severe trauma.

Yet, at this very moment with that discomfort seemingly omni-present, I was grinning like a loon and clinging to Gwen’s arm.

My very handsome, suit-clad Gwen.

“Grace we are almost at work.” I’d convinced her that she didn’t need to wear her combat outfit all the time and the difference was immaculate. I was taller than her, but she still cut a dashing figure in an all-black suit. Her green eyes were like emeralds and her ponytail was luck propped up gold. “It would be inappropriate to continue being so personal with one another while we are on shift.”

“Oh, you defile all my maidenly virtues after a date and you throw me aside the moment we’re at work? You’re too cruel, Gwen!” I gave off some crocodile tears, but Gwen saw through me and brushed me off. I gave her an impish grin and some devilish thoughts occurred to me as we walked towards the entrance of Verdict HQ. However, before I could put that plan into play, my thoughts and breath left me along with the sound of a crack. The light sting on my rear was nothing compared to the sudden rush I felt in my heart as everyone in earshot turned both our way. “Y-you b-bastard!”

I did my best to be annoyed, but it took everything I had to not smile like a loon as Gwen smirked back at me and tightened the smoking glove on her hand.

“The dominant one in the relationship is the one who establishes territory, correct?” The absolute confidence in Gwen’s words made me shiver, especially as she opened the door for me. I could feel every stare from the street at me, until Gwen looked over my shoulder and glared back. They all faded in an instant as she scared them away. She entered the building after me and closed the door behind us both, before finishing her thoughts. “That isn’t you, Grace. Right?”

In all my prior relationships, that was most certainly the case, but just recalling a fragment of a memory our nights together… I knew that I couldn’t contest Gwen’s words at all.

“R-right?” Once more, I heard my own voice, but I couldn’t believe it was mine. It was breathless, needy, and absolutely riled up. I’d be embarrassed as hell if it came out of my communicator while in public transit. But, without a doubt, those words in that breathy, needy voice left my lips and answered Gwen. Bloody hell, I’m completely and utterly out of my league, yet I’m loving every second of it. “Y-yeah, I guess you are right.”

Gwen gave me a singular, decisive nod at that statement and turned to clock us both in.

I wondered what hijinks we were going to get up to while we worked today, especially since we were always in such close proximity.

I shivered in anticipation as I started my shift and followed after Gwen.

…

I slammed my glass onto the table, making my lunch tray jump up a solid inch, before glaring at Gwen across from me.

I was angry, yet Gwen was just chewing away at her massive lunch with a blank expression.

I continued to glare at my very cute and very handsome girlfriend, throwing my thoughts her way, until she finished chewing and spoke.

“Grace… it would be inappropriate to perform the acts you desire in our workplace. Interpersonal relationships between superiors and subordinates are warned against already. What you desire is pushing it past any boundaries.”

I parsed those words for a second, before suddenly feeling more heated for another reason besides anger.

Still, I tried to continue being angry.

“B-but you’re being so… so you! All the time! How can you act the way you do and blame everything on me, like I’m the one making everything an issue!” I spoke from my heart, doing my best to lock away my brain, because I knew that Gwen was in the right here. “You’re being too romantic and sensual while we’re together, so of course I’m going to act all randy and be disappointed!”

I hoped that Gwen would just nod and let things lie with that, but my heart sank as she swallowed a bite of food and shook her head.

Oh, great.

I’m going to get dominated with logic instead of getting dominated by what I wanted.

“I am acting as I normally do. The sole difference is that I am not continuously wearing my mask and combat suit, therefore…”

“Please don’t say it.”

“…It is entirely my appearance that has altered the equation and brought upon the current result.”

“Gah, my fragile image as a decent human being is breaking apart!”

This can’t be!

Was I really that terrible at controlling myself around handsome, dominant blonde tomboys in suits!?

Wait, no, that’s totally believable.

I sighed and nodded after no form of rebuttal came to mind.

“Well, it looks like there is a downside to realizing all my fetishes and finding a great partner. I need more self-control than I have.” I grumbled and Gwen just nodded at my words. She was nice enough to push some super-premium ice cream my way, so I went back to eating my lunch. The top-of-the-line food fabricator was really doing wonders for my mood. And, speaking of my mood. “I think you should go back to wearing your combat uniform every day. You’re too distracting to be around, Gwen.”

“Understood, I’ll do that.”

I’m very sure that if anyone overheard my statement, I’d end up on their shitlist. I was effectively asking my hot girlfriend to cover up and show herself only when I could see her. It was like getting a fortune handed onto my lap and not sharing a single penny. However, in Gwen’s own words, we were infracting on UN regulations by having a relationship. If she kept walking around all in that perfect suit, with those gloves, and that hard-stare all the time, then I’d most assuredly be breaking a few rules.

I considered those words for a moment, before asking the question that sprang up in my mind.

“Gwen… do you make people abnormally aroused?”

“No, Grace, it’s just you.”

I nodded seriously at those words.

“Got it, I’m just a pervert.”

My new girlfriend returned my nod, gave a small smile, and didn’t bother defending me in the slightest.

“Yes, you are.”

Ah, she was looking down on me.

Hot.

Dammit.

I need to get over this honeymoon phase before I lost any pride that I had left!

…

Lunch ended, Gwen put on her combat outfit, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, the catch came in.

New orders from the powers-on-high.

Literally, because the UN’s governing body is mostly in orbital habitats and they have dozens of strategic cryo-bombardment cannons orbiting the planet, along with a protective defensive matrix that protects it from shot below and above.

“The Intrepid are hosting a tournament in Point Zero. The UN has asked me to attend and have given me a budget.” I looked over from my tablet in the corner of the office and caught a single line in the letter on Gwen’s holographic screen. I nearly leapt out of my chair. “500 hundred Credits. A decent amount.”

“A decent amount!? That’s enough to fund an entire academic project for an entire term!” It was five hundred thousand American dollars in regular currency. Half a million would’ve been enough for me to get my projects off the ground and get some eyes on me. The UN gave it to Gwen like a pocket change to use for a mission!? “What are you going to do with that money!?”

“Purchasing several more Zero Point Modules and reselling them for a higher sum, then upgrading my armor and weapons. There is a transforming weapon system that will be very good in a duel.”

Zero Point Module.

It was the hottest item on the goddamn market. The main supply was coming from the rest of the galaxy and Earth’s best and brightest were doing their best to crack the galaxy’s version of a Double AA battery and produce it on Earth. Gwen was basically saying that she already had a means of purchasing them and trading them with the UN, and was using the money given to invest in her trade line.

There was only one statement I could make to those words.

“What the bloody hell do you mean!? Explain yourself!”

I was ready to go on a tirade for the sake of my sanity and the pride of all other scientists on the planet, but Gwen just nodded and gave an answer while my chest was pressed against her hooded and masked face. Was she using my chest as a cushion? Things to consider later, after I get answers!

“I know a brilliant but socially incompetent individual in Point Zero’s underbelly. He goes by the alias ‘Woodstock.’” Gwen didn’t have time for drama. Gwen just gave answers in a straightforward manner. Gwen just takes what she wants. “He has created his own version, which he must create by hand. The limitations of fabricators on Earth have been circumvented by him through sheer practice and training in craftsmanship and his replications tap into the same power-source used by the majority of the galaxy.”

I opened my mouth and closed it after parsing those words.

“Are you… are you telling me that some scientist that decided to moonlight as a blacksmith cracked the secret to limitless energy, while the top institutes in the world couldn’t!?”

“Woodstock simplified the issue, accepted the bottlenecks, and threw himself into mastery of a nearly-long-lost craft to achieve his desires. I was fortunate to find him and begin protecting and funding him.” Gwen stirred and got up, after putting her computer to sleep. A few voice commands towards the room had Verdict HQ prepare to act like we were in there and everything was going as usual, while we slipped through one of the many backdoors. “He is also a very good person and had strict designs on his projects, which kept him from hot water and even had his work denounced before testing. He was on the verge of bankruptcy and ready to sell the patent and unleash chaos on the world.”

That particular line brought me low from all my indignant anger as an artist.

The ZPM projects across the world were harshly defended and eyed with suspicion by everyone. Every country was pursuing their own, with even UN nation-states who normally work with one another just fine, competing to unlock the secret. Even at the UN, everyone knew that the people who unlocked it first would be more equal than everyone else… but with this limited source going into the UN through its neutrality-enforced agencies in Point Zero…

“Oh, God. This is the best solution, isn’t it. The Human race is going to get unlimited energy through some blacksmith in Point Zero.” I lamented. All the advanced research facilities and all the doctorates in the world of all the nations that remained… lost to a guy who decided to roll up his sleeves and start hammering away at metal. Wait. “How did this Woodstock guy get access to the materials necessary to make these things!? Even if he’s making everything from scratch, he still needs materials no fabricator on the planet can make!”

Gwen, for the first time, hesitated as I followed her through the winding tunnels.

A chill went down my spine as she looked over her shoulder.

“Do you really want to know?”

For the first time in our entire relationship, she gave me a warning, which didn’t even happen before she made me a quivering, ecstatic, and defeated mess on our bedroom.

I knew that I should say no at that moment, because the answer was only going to make me feel anguish.

But, still, I gave the wrong answer.

“Yes.”

Gwen stopped and turned towards me, while I braced myself for the answer.

“Woodstock bought scrap and depleted fuel from the traders coming down from orbit. The ability to shape metal and perform welds cheaper than a drone earned him a reputation, thus many merchants seeking to profit made him their mechanic. He used his payments to get a steady access of scrap and used gadgets from the rest of the galaxy.”

The answer staggered me completely and utterly.

“He… h-he’s… he’s…”

I tried to get the words out, but my throat felt like it was desperately trying to cut off my air supply and kill me off before I could manage it.

My body was trying to mercy-kill me, because Gwen’s words led only to one conclusion.

Gwen finished the words for me with an apologetic nod.

“Yes, unfortunately, he did not become a blacksmith. He became a spaceship mechanic.”

That broke the dam and I screamed into the tunnels without a care in the world.

“The entire fucking scientific community on Earth was beaten by a MECHANIC!?”

My world was crashing down around me, but Gwen didn’t hesitate.

“Yes.”

The words registered and I did the only reasonable thing that came to mind.

Black out.

…

“Don’t hold me back, Gwen! I’m only going to strangle him a bit for not publishing! Just a little strangling!”

We arrived at Woodstock’s abode at the bottom rung of Point Zero, in one of its absolute worst neighborhoods, and I did my best to choke the man who decided against publishing the secrets to infinite energy because he didn’t trust any academy.

It was a completely reasonable desire.

“You are angry, but it is not reasonable.” Gwen spoke and with a sigh I found myself floating. Damn density manipulation powers! “Stay and float for a while, until we finish speaking.”

Fine, I’ll stay in time out… and do my best to not wonder how creative this power can be in private!

“You do that!”

I looked around the workshop, while Gwen took care of Woodstock.

The man was a lanky and scraggly type with stubble on his face and wavy hair. Like most scientists since the greater galaxy decided to dump its basic sciences on us, he was haggard and looked like he kept himself together with coffee. His lab coat was a mess with oils and stains, but everything beneath wasn’t, so I supposed that he knew how to use it properly.

As for his lab, it looked more like a sci-fi car mechanic’s workshop than a lab.

“Thanks, Commander Elliot. I don’t get along with other scientists. They always try to do that nowadays.”

“It is because you are keeping unlimited energy a secret because you can’t stand the thought of it falling into the wrong hands.”

“W-well, you’d do the same if you’d throw the entire world into chaos by making one mistake!”

“Quite.”

Gwen crossed her arms and gestured at Woodstock.

“I told you to acquire assistants with your new funding. Where are they?”

The lanky git looked taken aback for a second, before trying desperately to have a spine and standing straight.

“I went through lots of interviews, I’ll have you know, but even the ones who passed the background checks didn’t want to do things the way I wanted!” Woodstock gestured at his workshop and did his utmost to look proud, but the oil stains, the welding equipment, and the plasma burners were all menacing as he spoke. “They were great and had the right qualifications, but they wanted to do everything a perfect laboratory… and that would impede my production efforts!”

I was doing my best to calm down, but as Gwen rocked me in the air, I lost my temper.

“That’s because you turned a scientific miracle into a damn master craftsman project! If you actually did things right, you’d be making these things faster in a lab!”

“No, I wouldn’t! I started with a lab and that got me nowhere! I went to Stanford, Yale, and MIT and if I stayed there I wouldn’t have made one ZPM, let alone a hundred!” I didn’t expect the answer. The universities that he credited were top-of-the-line and they didn’t open their labs to anyone. Hell, they rejected my requests without a second thought. This guy got in… and he called them trash after making a pile of priceless treasures! “Say whatever you want about my workshop and how dangerous it is, but I couldn’t have done what I’ve done without it, and that’s more than most people have managed!”

My teeth ground at his words, because they were true.

No one else in the world came close to making one ZPM, let alone the hundred he said he mad, which Gwen didn’t refute.

I was trying to come up with a way to save face when Gwen spoke up.

“Enough. This argument is unnecessary. Grace, stop trying to fight with him. Woodstock, if you cannot hire an assistant to help with your work, then you must fix your environment.” Gwen got to the heart of the problem and tackled it without hesitation. She brought up her Communicator and went through it. Soon enough, she had UN contractors and suppliers for Verdict who happily submitted to memory erasure for sweet, sweet cash. “The UN has granted you preferential status and access to their finest. You have access to these people, so use them, and expand your workshop. I recommend purchasing the surrounding territory.”

Woodstock, surprisingly, nodded.

“I already bought the surrounding buildings. Profits are high, after all, and your Drones are keeping things nice and safe without drawing any attention. I think a complex with multiple forges will be for the best.” My teeth grinding must’ve been heard from my place orbiting on the roof, because the lanky git addressed me directly. “If you can find a way to make them with Fabricators without bankrupting the entire UN, then go ahead. Until then, I’ll be making them by hand!”

I didn’t answer back.

At the very least, the revolutionary scientist who’ll have his name written in very textbook forever has a spine.

Suddenly, the door to the workshop opened, which was strange since we locked it coming in.

Meaning only someone with a key could open it.

A straight-haired redhead with blazing blue eyes entered wearing a buttoned-up heavy-duty lab coat, a hard-hat, and machining gloves.

“Woodstock, you’re a creep and a weirdo, but I’ll admit that this ZPM is worth the trouble! I’ll work with you in this mess of a lab!” I blinked as I registered the voice and looked closer. I locked eyes with the woman and she met mine, before nodding. “Ah, Grace O’Hara, is that you? I wondered what you were up to since your last project proposal was shot down! It seems that you are in high spirits!”

It was my class valedictorian Mari.

“What the hell are you doing here instead of building an FTL drive?”

“How can I build an FTL drive without a decent source of power?”

“Okay, well put.”

For a moment, I thought that the gangly man who’d just been insulted would reveal some more of a spine and refuse, because she called him a creep.

Instead Woodstock fell to his knees and raised an arm into the sky.

“I CAN FINALLY SLEEP!” The declaration made an incredible amount of pity fill me, Gwen, and possibly Mari, as Woodstock bared his arm and fiddled with his communicator. In an instant, a beep came from Mari’s… and a smile formed on his lips as he pointed her way while falling back. “Those are the first steps. Do them. I’m… going to sleep now.”

And, just like that, the lanky, overworked man fell back and started snoring.

I felt bad as Gwen let me down, and I looked her way, and then towards the workshop.

“Uh… I guess I’ll clean the place up a bit while you get him on a bed and some food?”

Gwen nodded seriously and I moved to help the Woodstock out for almost strangling him earlier.

Oh, and catch up with Mari, I supposed.