Modern Age Online

"~Gonna punch some bad guys, going to punch them in the face~" Kaleb sang as he happily drove Two Gun's car down the street.

He had quickly gathered his equipment and rushed off on patrol before anyone had had time to question him at all. His new arm whirred in his ear with life and Milly's excited feelings seemed to amplify Kaleb's own. He barely noticed Daivor and Clara rushing into the workshop to compile the data they had collected. Really, the next thing Kaleb knew, he was in the car and waiting for a call, singing his new song.

"Please, stop singing. You're shit at it," Abby whined from the passenger seat.

Kaleb hummed his song to himself as he ignored the short woman who was his partner for the patrol. Roy wasn't in the shop when Kaleb stopped by, so they left without him for now. So for now, it was just the two of them out looking for criminals.

"Anything?" Kaleb asked out loud.

"No! And stop asking!" Farrah yelled over the comms, sounding annoyed. "I've told you, we'll contact you first if there is any movement in our district."

Kaleb clenched his fingers against the steering wheel and squirmed happily. He was going to punch something so hard when they finally got a call. Abby sighed again for what had to be the twentieth time. She sank into her seat and glared across at him. Her dark eyes were locked on his new arm. Kaleb tried hard not to flex the synth-muscle with a thought.

"That things louder than the old one." Abby complained.

"It's not that bad. More like a dull hum."

"I don't remember the old one humming like that."

"New power supply. You'll get used to it."

Abby scoffed before sliding her eyes to the front window again. Then a thought seemed to come to her. "It's not going to explode, is it?"

Kaleb turned to her, affronted. "Of course not! Do you think I would strap something volatile on my body?"

"Yes. Yes, I do, and I don't want to be there when it goes. So tell me now if you're lying."

"I'm not lying! This thing was tested forwards and backwards by Daivor and Clara. The energy output is great, the software is running well, and there are no leaks in the lines. This baby is running and peak efficiency."

"Uh-huh," Abby said, sounding doubtful.

As she spoke, her black hoodie rode up above her waist slightly. At her hip was one of Kaleb's laser pistols. Remembering that he had built the weapon himself, Kaleb nodded at the weapon and argued.

"You've had no problem with that thing, right?"

Abby tilted her head downward and pulled her hoodie down. "So far. But it could be a fluke."

"And Two Gun has had no issues with his guns or the rest of the Super Group with their armor, right?"

"Fine." Abby groused. "Most of your explosions have been in a lab setting. But I'm still worried about using untested equipment in the field."

"It's going to be amazing, Abs. At least it will when we can find some fucking bad guys!"

Farrah's voice was like ice in Kaleb's ear. "Are you yelling at me, lizard?"

"Not at you, just at the lack of punchables."

"Ooooh! Someone pissed off the bunny." Abby joked as she put her feet up on the dashboard.

"Not a bunny, Miss Nightmare. Professor, the nights have just been quiet lately. We had a few break-ins and some muggings during the earlier patrols. But now, are drones aren't picking up anything."

Abby mimed "Not a bunny, Miss Nightmare" without saying anything as Kaleb rolled his eyes at her. Feeling his perfect night of field testing slipping away from him, He searched his mind for something. They were still confined to their district thanks to the HLO's pettiness, but there had to be something.

"What about Jar-lock's Totem things? We have a lead on any of those?"

"No, professor. Even if we did, you would not be the team assigned to it. You two are a non-magical team and those Totems are highly magical."

"What do you mean 'Non-magical'? I have magic!"

Farrah sighed heavily over the comms. "Professor, you've received no training, you don't practice and, according to the magic users we have, your Mana Capacity is horrible. You are not prepared to identify and safely contain a Totem."

Kaleb grimaced. "I haven't met a magic problem yet that couldn't be solved with a little science."

"No means no, Professor. Continue on your patrol path."

Kaleb's grimace became a full on scowl as Abby smiled and stuck her tongue out at him. He didn't know what had her so happy. She was stuck on this boring patrol with him. With a silent prayer to the gaming gods, Kaleb continued driving the car down the streets. He didn't know what exactly he was praying for, but he wanted something.

They had crossed over a few blocks and were heading back the way they came when a noise prickled Kaleb's ear. His head tilted toward the noise as he saw Abby sit up in her seat. The sound was quiet, but he could barely hear over the hum of the engine and his arm. Quickly, he parked the car on the side of the road and lowered his window. Abby did the same on the other side and the two shared a look as the steady whistle seemed to carry through the air. Something about the noise made Kaleb's spine tingle and shook to get the feeling out of his shoulders.

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"What the hell is that?"

Kaleb snorted as he shook his head. "A sport's coach's mating call?"

"Ha ha," Abby laughed sarcastically. "But seriously, that's a long-ass whistle. So it can't be a person."

"It's too low to be someone in trouble, too."

"Talk to me, you two. Overhead drone has your car parked on Addams road." Farrah said over their comms.

"Farrah, we've got a low whistle echoing through the street. Are the drones not picking it up?"

"Negative. Audio levels read as normal. You say it's a whistle?"

"Yeah," Abby confirmed. "Like a sports whistle or a really weak train."

"But it's also constant. The noise has increased or decreased since we started hearing it." Kaleb added.

He shared a look with Abby before they both nodded and exited the car. Kaleb double-checked his weapons and armor before he put a finger to his ear.

"We're going to investigate on foot."

"Confirmed. I've got a drone on overwatch above."

Abby glanced up and waved. "We see it."

Kaleb looked up and down the empty street as he tried to zero in on the noise. The road looked fairly new and so did the various businesses along it. But there was no other car or foot traffic. Most of the businesses were closed, too. He waggled his head around, trying to get a sense of where the noise was coming from, but it pervaded the streets. Looking at Abby, he saw the young woman was just as confused.

"Maybe if we head up the street to where we first heard it?" Abby suggested.

Kaleb nodded and moved to follow her, but Farrah had her own request.

"Professor, can you tap that parking meter for me?"

Looking around, Kaleb spotted a parking meter a few feet up from where he parked. He sighed as he wandered over and looked at the meter.

"It's fine, Farrah. It's an automatic one. They'll charge us for the parking when we leave."

"No. I know that. I need you to touch it."

Confused, Kaleb reached out and tapped a finger of his actual hand against the metal meter. His finger pressed against the cold metal and Kaleb drew it back. Looking up at the drone, he shrugged his shoulders.

"What the hell was that about?"

"Standard reality check." Farrah said, sounding like she was writing something down. "The Totems are known to warp some things around them sometimes. It hasn't happened in a major way yet. But be on the lookout for illusions."

"Great." Kaleb complained as he focused mana into his eyes. "I thought we weren't on the trail of a Totem?"

"You might not be. But I just want to keep things covered."

Kaleb nodded as he started walking and looking around with his mana sight. The streets were a dull gray to his sight as he and Abby walked up the street. The whistling had become background noise as he tried to find out if its source was magical. They had gone thirty feet up the street when Kaleb's magic sight spotted something strange.

"Abby? Do you see that?" Kaleb asked, pointing at the anomaly.

"What?!" she asked, sounding excited and looking to where he was pointing.

He watched her as her eyeline followed along to where he was pointing and well passed it. Hanging in the air, in the middle of the street, was a vague fissure. It looked like a cracked mirror and as he stepped closer, the whistling noise grew ever so slightly louder. Abby turned to him, scowling as Kaleb stepped back again.

"Farrah, I've got a weird fissure in the street that I can only see with my Mana Sight. Is there anyway to confirm it's real?"

"A fissure? Like a tear in reality?" Farrah asked, worried.

Kaleb scoffed. "I wouldn't go that far. It's barely two feet across and doesn't look like a gateway to anywhere. But the noise seems to be coming from it."

"Miss Nightmare?"

"Don't ask me. I can't confirm any of this. Stupid magic."

"Do either of you feel sick or look different to each other?"

Kaleb frowned and dropped his Mana Sight to look at Abby. She was gazing at him in confusion as well, and they both shook their heads at the drone overhead.

"Do you hear music or perhaps laughter coming from the fissure?"

"Nope. Just the whistling." Kaleb answered for the pair of them.

"Phew!" Farrah exhaled loudly over the comms. "Then it probably isn't Wally Wondrous. That's good."

"I thought that wasn't an option, anyway." Kaleb asked.

"Just being cautious, Professor. Jar-lock and Vivienne are headed your way to examine your fissure. Wait for them before exploring further."

"Copy."

"Yeah, yeah. Probably couldn't do anything to it, anyway." Abby scowled as she continued to try to find the invisible fissure.

Kaleb moved up next to her to help as he turned on his Mana Sight again. He drew even with her shoulder as the magic filled his eyes and his vision changed. He noted that when he used his Mana Sight, the whistling seemed to grow louder. That discovery was dwarfed by the equally disturbing information that the fissure had grown and was now almost touching Abby.

"Abs!" Kaleb shouted as he reached out for her.

His hand hit her shoulder just as the fissure seemed to connect with her other side. A sudden weightlessness overcame Kaleb and his stomach dropped. He barely had enough time to recognize the teleporting sensation before it was over. He blinked, and he was in another place, his hand still on Abby's shoulder and the quiet Texas street far behind.

"What the fuck?!" Abby cried as she looked around.

The bright colors of their new environment made Kaleb blink a few times before he could fully comprehend where they were. They were in a long, empty train car. But not just any kind of train car, one that looked like it was made of plastic. Kaleb examined the floor and ceiling as Abby rushed to the window. The swaying of the train car told him they were moving as he leaned down to look at the brown plastic planks that made up the train car's floor. Poking the floor with a finger, Kaleb confirmed it was indeed made of plastic.

Standing, Kaleb spun in place and took in the rest of the empty train car. Either side of the center aisle was full of plush seats. The cushions were a bright and vibrant red trimmed in green. Oddly placed light bulbs were placed overhead from the beige planks above and the windows had a weird glossy sheen.

The train whistle blew, surprising Kaleb, but Abby stayed glued to the window. She was half-kneeling on a seat as she gazed out at the landscape beyond. Kaleb could just make out a yellow landscape beyond her shoulder. He leaned next to her to get a look, and he froze as he got his first look at where they were.

"Professor! Abby! Come in!"

Both Kaleb and Abby jumped as Farrah's voice in their ears surprised them. At first, they shouted over each other as they each tried to explain. But eventually Kaleb calmed Abby down enough to let him speak. She didn't look happy about it, but she stepped back. Kaleb saw her eyes dart back to the window and the insane landscape beyond.

"Farrah. The fissure sucked us in. I don't know how. But it grew and tried to snag Abby."

"Where did it take you? It can't have been far if the comms still work."

"HOW do the comms still work?!" Abby asked pointedly.

"Why wouldn't they?" Farrah asked.

"Because," Kaleb started, looking back out the window at the bright world beyond. The cacti were swaying and humming happily, tumbleweeds were skimming across the ground playfully, and a bright yellow sun with a smile on its face was high in the sky.

"I think we're in a fucking cartoon!"