The Tattoo Summoner [System Apocalypse]

Tanya was checking her materials again.

There weren't many of them.

She ran her finger across the faded logo on the tattoo gun in her hands. It was plugged into the wall—a fact which still hadn't lost its novelty to Tanya. There were no stencils, nor even a Sharpie. Doing a design without a stencil was something she'd done for a lot of designs she was confident of, and that required exact placement. She loved doing tattoos on bends that would stretch and squash the image, and they always worked better being drawn directly onto the curve of the body.

Tattooing straight on skin, however, she'd only done a couple of times, during what she called her aesthetic wave phase.

It was so strange thinking back to before. The days had all blended together, and she would sometimes forget when she had last seen a client. Now, the pre-apocalypse felt like a lifetime ago.

Tanya recalled the Instagram post on her feed. The client must have searched for her practically dead account to tag her; otherwise, she wouldn't have seen it at all.

Tanya cleaned the gun yet again. It gave her something to do with her hands. Behind her, Ian was talking to Olena about her outlandish plans. Mrs Eceer had the sense to listen in and make sure Olena didn't say anything completely ludicrous.

Mrs Eceer's long teal coat triggered a memory of the client who had started the tattoo trend that led to her not using a stencil.

A posh Dutch lady in a fur coat had requested something oceanlike but not waves, nor anything too detailed. It was to remember a fling on a cruise ship now that they were oceans apart. Within hours, the story and picture of the tattoo had blown up on social media, and Tanya was left utterly floored. She hadn't known that the woman was famous at all.

For a few days, it was exciting, but by the end of the next week, she worried she'd never be known for anything else. Eventually, it felt like she was dragging herself out of bed for that same tattoo every day in a different style. The ones she had done without any stencilling were small versions, usually on an inner wrist.

This tattoo on Ian was unlikely to be small.

Thinking of Ian brought her back to the present, and she finally pulled her confidence together enough to turn and face him fully.

There would be no more cleaning the tattoo gun. There would be no more organising pots of ink. There would be no more trying to predict how it would feel.

"So this idea is… One sec, I cannot read my words." Olena squinted at the piece of paper. "Oh yes! This one was you testing the recoil on my new wrist guard. We wrap you up reaaaal tight and then you go bam and see if it throw you backwards." She grinned proudly.

Ian opened his mouth, then closed it. "It does sound, uh, very…" He moved his hands, trying to find a positive word.

"Olena, you can just do that with a monster strike."

Olena pouted. "Yes, but this more fun. Ian get reward AND get to fly."

Assistant did a thumbs down.

"Aw," Olena moped.

"Are there any realistic ones yet?" Tanya asked, tittering. Her stomach was already churning.

Ian looked through the pages. "Helping to find more car batteries…" He flicked through some more. "Extra pair of hands with a couple projects."

"Oh, yes! I was going to make Boris help me with hydraulic press, but now maybe Ian help! He do tech stuff and everything."

"Well, more circuits but—"

"How different can hydraulic and electric really be? It just stuff flowing."

Mrs Eceer just slowly blinked at her.

Olena wafted it away. "You think about it, Ian. I do anytime."

Ian's expression changed as he looked at the tattoo gun in Tanya's hand. "You're ready?"

"I can be," Tanya said. "If you are."

Ian flashed a nervous smile, looking down at himself. "Where do you need me?"

Tanya took a deep breath. "Let's go to the tattoo chair and I'll need you to take off—uh—whatever you're comfortable with, I guess?"

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Ian got up, walking over to the recliner chair.

"Where do I even start if I don't know what the tattoo is?" Tanya hissed to Assistant.

Pick a place, I guess, and do the line slowly?

Assistant scribbled.

Tanya glanced over to see Ian unbuttoning his shirt. She looked away. It felt polite.

"Uh, there's a blanket over the side if you want it," Tanya said. Having someone take off sensitive clothing for a tattoo was normal, but asking felt very strange to ask for.

All she could think of was the one professional massage she'd had and how they got her to cover herself. She thought the whole thing was weird and hadn't been back, but it gave her something to say. "Let me know when you're ready?" She tried to hide the uncertainty in her voice, but everything sounded like a question anyway.

Mrs Eceer and Olena followed behind them. Tanya used the time waiting to pull her aside.

"What I do?" Olena asked.

Tanya's thoughts were racing a mile a minute. "Uh, I think if you could stay here in the main area in case we need you to run and grab somethin'. Otherwise, just do your own thing. We could be a while."

Olena nodded, more serious than Tanya had seen her in a while. "I will finish connect Monster Core to trap by door because is time. If need me I be right there."

Tanya squeezed her shoulder. "Thanks."

Olena pulled her into a hug. "You are strong, sexy, powerful lady. You can make Ian big and strong without any dying at all."

Tanya squeezed her tighter, then Olena left.

Keep breathing, Assistant wrote, sensing that she was getting frazzled.

Tanya gave a small smile and took a deep breath.

She turned to Mrs Eceer. "So are you helpin' to be polite or should I involve you proper?" Tanya asked. It was blunter than she'd normally be, but right now, she just needed to know as much as possible about this strange situation.

"I think studying Ian could really change things. I also do like him, I suppose." She sighed. "The wonder of love and youth."

Curiosity got the better of Tanya. "Change things?"

"I have been speaking to people at the Estate. A couple of families there went to my church. Some of the small children there have Classes, but those who have, haven't levelled much at all."

Tanya's head snapped towards her. "Ian has a Class that levels without danger, even if it's only in small amounts."

"Precisely."

Before Tanya could think of more questions, she heard Ian's voice. "Ready."

"So, involve you as much as I want?" Tanya checked.

Mrs Eceer gave a single nod. "Yes. I'll be here."

And with that, Tanya walked into the back area.

Ian was reclining on the chair with the blanket over his lap. She could see his boxers peeking out from under it. The rest of his clothes were neatly folded beside him, on top of the blue glowing cabinet with the Monster Core inside. Aside from the nervous energy in the room, it was relaxing. Olena had kept all the lights warm and dim, aside from the lamp positioned above the tattoo chair. Olena had fixed it specially.

"Is this okay?" he asked.

"Absolutely," Tanya replied.

She perched on her stool beside him. The metal of the tattoo gun was heavy in her hand.

"I think…" Tanya started. "I think I need you to pick a memory and then we can just sorta feel it out?"

Ian shuffled in the seat, seeming unable to get comfortable. "What sort of memory?"

"I suppose whatever you want for the tattoo?" With each word, Tanya was becoming less and less sure of herself. None of this felt right yet.

"I thought about wings, I guess? That would make it easier, right? Maybe I could remember some kind of dinosaur museum—I liked that as a kid, I think." Ian squinted. "I think I remember one of those flying ones over the centre of a balcony area."

Tanya struggled to word why that didn't resonate. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times.

Eventually, Assistant picked up a pen and wrote:

Emotions impact the tattoos. That doesn't feel emotional enough.

Then it added.

Maybe?

Tanya nodded, scratching her chin. "Yeah, I think that's it. I haven't used this Ability much, but when I did, it was about muscle memories of important stuff—trying to get it to really set in, ya know."

Ian leant back, looking up at the ceiling with a look of contemplation. "I am getting the tattoo for my daughter."

"Yeah, start from there."

"What to say really? She's a little spitfire. Somehow she managed to get all of my wife's sass… but she has my nose and my hair. She likes technology like me. Whenever she sees something electronic, she always asks if I built it."

Tanya got lost in his words until the right question clicked into place.

"How does she make you feel?"

He smiled more with each word. "Happy. Frustrated. Sometimes sad. All the normal emotions but…" he gestured wildly, looking for words he couldn't catch.

Tanya felt the energy building. She turned on the tattoo gun, letting them both get used to the way it thrummed in the small room.

"No, how does she make you feel about you?"

Tanya could see in his face that he had latched onto a memory.

"Kaylee loves superheroes. It started back when she found my comic collection. I had them all sealed in the original bags—collectors' items. "

"Oh no," Tanya said, already knowing where this was going.

Ian laughed. "Yeah, she was only a toddler at the time. That age where we would supervise her for the things we knew she knew how to do, but she was such a quick learner, we didn't see stuff coming. She crawled up the stairs into my office for the first time that day. Anyway, I assumed she'd gone into the garden because she'd got through the cat flap before and by the time I found her, she'd opened several of them. With a big smile, she said Daddy, I didn't know you liked picture books too."

"How much?" Tanya asked, wincing.

Ian shrugged it away. "I don't even remember nowadays. I was gutted at the time, but I couldn't help but smile at how excited she was. I read her the ones she'd already opened. What's the harm at that point, right? But then we ran out and I was buying more, but annoyed I couldn't read her my favourites from as a kid. She helped me realise I'd been keeping all these stories I'd loved reading locked in plastic. So I started opening those to read to her too. Now the collection is in the living room instead of the office, and none of them are wrapped anymore."

Tanya leant in slowly as he spoke, not wanting to interrupt but also not wanting to surprise him with a magical needle. She could feel the energy building in the room, unsure if it was his story mixed with her nerves or something more magical, coming from her awareness of the Ability she was so close to using.

The needle touched skin, and she was transported.