Chapter 10: My Mouse Can Resurrect

The CCTV footage mirrored what she’d seen. Nothing. She still wasn’t going out there. She didn’t know what was making her so uneasy, and did not feel remotely inclined to check.

Of course, once one monitor was on soon all of them were. She was already here, why not see what was going on in the rest of the world. Just a quick check.

She almost wished she hadn’t.

On one screen was live footage of a highway pileup. Cars skidding out of control. Explosions and small fires that were growing instead of being put out. The most terrifying thing was that most of the people shown in the video looked to still be unconscious.

There were maybe only five or six people who were aware. Most were stumbling about, weeping and bleeding, with no emergency vehicles in sight. One of them was holding the camera. They were clearly in distress while the world around them was frozen, unaware.

On another feed, a looping post was quickly racking up views. It was a video the teenager had called Night and Day. Outside the window, she filmed the sunrise. Then she turned to show the inside of her home, where seven people, from children to the elderly, were frozen in place, unmoving. She turned to look out the window again, then the camera flipped to show her face.

In the background was a dark room full of still people, while rays of morning sun illuminated her face. The tear tracks glistened in the light.

Outside, something roared, and the girl began to sob. Then the video cut off, then started again.

Scarlet hadn’t even seen the creature that made that noise and her handgun already felt inadequate. Even though she hadn’t seen anything on the CCTV, she added ‘Upgrade Firearms’ to a list as she left the command centre.

Maybe a rifle?

She had most of the parts for one already. The rest could be fabricated easily enough using her 3D printer. That was in the detached garage… Outside. Okay, so a project for another time, perhaps.

She briefly considered getting a silencer for her handgun as well, though that would need to be sourced. She knew a guy. Hopefully, he hadn’t been mauled to death by some mutated System horror.

Unfortunately, contacting him meant braving some of the less regulated forums. The pre-Integration internet had already been a cesspit for the vilest humans to act without conscience. Now every POS with a power fantasy had been given the magical means to see them out. If they didn’t have the power now, they would eventually.

The thought made her shudder.

She reminded herself to contact him the next time she felt masochistic enough to boot up the internet. Knowing her, it wouldn’t be long.

“Curiosity is a disease,” she said to Maus as she prepared to go through her bond’s Status sheet. Habitually, she made a cup of tea before settling down with a notepad. Something told her information was the most important thing she could be focusing on right now.

It was time to understand this bond, and the companion it was attached to.

The interface responded immediately, pulling up her stat screen. The moment she focused on the final entry, the interface changed, expanding into what could only be Maus’s Status. This time she focused on not just seeing the information, but the details as well.

Name: Maus
Species: Spatial Mouse
Level: 3
Tier: 0
Stats Per Level (SPL): 3

• Base 1
• Title +2

Free Stats (FS): 6

Bond:

• Type: Soul Bond – Subordinate
• Bonded: Scarlet Bourne

Titles:

• First Bonded: First individual post-integration to form a system-recognized bond (+2 SPL)

Traits:

• Bond Revival: If bond dies, their form dissipates and reforms within the bonded partner’s soul space. They will be available for physical reconstitution after cooldown. (Current Cooldown: 5 days)
• Bonded Growth: Growth rate linked to bonded partner

Stats:

• Strength: 4
• Dexterity: 4
• Vitality: 3
• Perception: 6
• Intelligence: 3
• Willpower: 2
• Mana: 5

Skills

• Ravaging Bite (T1): A close-range attack. Damage inflicted is moderately increased on successful attacks of non-vital areas. Damage inflicted is significantly increased on successful attacks of vital areas.
• Blink (T2): Short-range spatial displacement (teleportation). Distance scales with mana and control
• Bond Communication (T1): A skill that enables basic communication between bonded entities through intent, emotion, and simple concepts

Scarlet read through it once, then again more slowly, her attention moving in a deliberate pass from top to bottom as she organized what she was reading into something she could work with.

“So,” she said after a moment, “you are considerably more dangerous than you have any right to be.” Her tone was measured, but her heart was delighted. Sure, she wasn’t enthused that while he had short range teleportation and an increase in lethality. Her only real unique contribution to the team was ‘feeling feelings’. However considering they were a team, her boosted perception and intelligence was a good offset to the more physical build Maus was shaping up to be.

Sensing her focus, Maus turned to face her. His whiskers shifting at the appreciation.

Her gaze lingered briefly on the species line. Spatial Mouse. She tilted her head.

It would explain the teleportation. Though she was sure he hadn’t been anything other than an average Deer Mouse before the Initialization. Perhaps the episode they’d experienced during the Integration process had something to do with it?

Stolen story; please report.

Her attention moved on to the bond section. She studied it for a moment.

Bond:

• Type: Soul Bond – Subordinate

Subordinate. Meaning she was what, the superior? Why wasn’t that on her stat sheet?

Scarlet exhaled softly, her fingers tapping against her thigh. Also, the bond type was ‘Soul Bond’. Was that good? Were there better types of bonds? She didn’t dwell too long on the possibilities. Instead, she focused on what information she’d been provided.

[Bond Revival: If bond dies, their form dissipates and reforms within the bonded partner’s soul space. They will be available for physical reconstitution after cooldown. (Current Cooldown: 5 days]

Scarlet had adopted 6 mice in the past 10 years. Her first had been a pair of House Mice from a research lab on the island. Algernon and Algernon the 2^nd. Then had been the Desperaux trio two years after the second Algernon had passed (not to be mistaken with Algernon the 2^nd who had died before the 1^st). The three Fancy Mice were the only survivors of a hoarder situation. Then six months after the final Desperaux, she’d adopted Maus. He was her first and only Deer Mouse and had been with her for a year and a half now. The runt of the litter, Maus had been destined for termination before her contact got in touch.

Unfortunately for Scarlet, mice had short lifespans. Maus had already been a third to halfway through his lifecycle before Integration. Now he had Bond Revival.

[…If bond dies, their form dissipates and reforms within the bonded partner’s soul space…]