//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: A Displaced Spectrobes Master // by The Dark Brony //------------------------------// “Sir? Are you Jack Burgin?” A female unicorn in a nurse outfit asked. Jack then looks up then said, “Yes, Is she okay?” “She was just let out of surgery, and the commander told us of you and her situation... so you have been permitted to see her.” The nurse said before leading Jack to Jen’s room. Jack then took a deep breath and said “thank you” before he entered the room. “Jack?” Jen called from the bed she was in. “I’m here Jen, are you feeling better?” Jack asked warily. “I… Don't know…” Jen said nervously. The entire left half of her body, except for her leg, was covered in a cast. “Everything itches… And the doctors said there was something in me they couldn't remove…” She said as she scratched at the cast with her right hand. “Did they have any idea what it could have been?" Jack asked before he continued to say "and Jen don’t bother scratching at it, it’ll just make it worse.” “They don’t know what it was,” Jen said as she gave up on scratching at the cast. “I’m sorry Jen if I had gone and took everything back, you wouldn’t be like this… it’s my fault you're in this mess.” Jack muttered whilst looking towards the ground ashamed at what he had caused. “It's not your fault, I’m actually glad I was the one who went to the lab instead of you… Otherwise, you would be in this bed right now, and I would probably be in a coma from you being hurt. Also, you are the better fighter and the Krawl won’t just sit and wait for you to get better.” Jen said as she placed her hand on Jack's cheek to comfort him. “I know but… You are the part of me that gives me the courage to fight on, without you I’m just the little kid you met who was scared and alone.” “But you have grown up since then, and become the fighter I rely upon to keep me going. I believe in you… I'm like the princess in the tower being guarded by a dragon and you are my prince. I will always be here for you, or waiting for you to come get me.” Jen said as she smiled weakly. Jack then looks up and then asked Jen “Did you finish that prizmod you started on?” “Just before the Krawl got out…” Jen chuckled as she grabbed her gauntlet off the nightstand and Showed off the pink custom prizmod that she had installed. “So you managed to get yours upgraded as well… Jen, for now, I need you to stay here and rest, I’m going to get authorisation from the commander to let Sweetie Drops support me until you are better, then I’m going after the Krawl and obliterating them.” Jack said with anger in his voice. “Don't rush in head first. Remember what happens when the hero does that?” Jen said as she booped Jack on the nose. Jack then smiled before he muttered “they don’t normally survive long” “Exactly,” Jen said, “Now go see the commander. I hear that he has something to tell you.” Jack then sighs then says “Okay then.” He begins to walk back towards the door before turning around to say “Oh and Jen, I promise I’ll be back later.” “Get going already so I can sleep!” Jen laughed/shouted as she threw a pillow at Jack. Jack then laughed as he threw the pillow back at her then said “just get some rest” before he disappeared out the door. As Jack walked down the hall he began to worry about what he could do, realising that he was now alone to fight the Krawl and had little hope of getting a partner to help him. Once he got to Commander Grant’s office he slowly knocked on the door then walked in to see the commander sitting behind his desk, amazingly the room looked near perfect after the damage he caused earlier. Jack then looked towards the Commander then said “you wanted to see me.” “Yes, I did.” Commander Grant said as he put down the papers he was going through, “First off, let me say that I’m glad that both you and Jen are ok. Now to the reason I called you here, Agent Sweetie Drops will not be able to attend to the two of you now because of the extra work caused by the Krawl recently. But I have good news, you will be instated your own ship upon Agent Sweetie Drops request.” Jack then looked up and said “Thank you, although it’s going to feel weird being in that ship by myself… Jen isn’t in a state to move anywhere… I was going to request that I had some support until Jen gets better but I understand with how everything is at the moment that is impossible.” “Well, according to the doctors, Jen should be fully recovered by the time you return from your next mission, Agent Jack.” Commander grant said with a smile as he handed Jack a pair of badges. “You’re really trusting me, to be part of the team? Ain’t I a bit of a liability. Just look what I ending up doing to the headquarters?” “If it weren't for you I wouldn't be here and there wouldn't be a PPP anymore.” Commander grant said, “If I didn't have to follow the rule book I would have already promoted you to captain and given you the badge of honor.” Jack then rubs his hands through his hair then admitted “I didn’t think I earned anything like that, all I was thinking about was the risk of more lives being ended, I don’t do this for my own gain, I do this to help those who can’t help themselves.” “And that's exactly why you deserve this. No one in the PPP does it for themselves, we all do this to make our solar system a safe place for others to live in.” Commander Grant said with a sagely nod, “Now for your next mission, I want you to go to planet Zeba with Professor Sparkle. There is a dig site that was shut down for unknown reasons that she wants to investigate and with the Krawl going about she needs an escort.” I then looked at the commander before saying “If I find any Krawl in gems from here on out I am destroying them… I don’t want anyone else suffering the same fate as Jen.” “I agree with your opinion and will allow it, no matter how much Professor Sparkle will chew me out for it later.” Commander Grant agreed before dismissing Jack. Jack then saluted the commander before walking out of the room to begin to find his new ship. As Jack walked out of the headquarters he began to wonder what the new ship was going to be like. As he walked towards the docking station he looked around all the ship, and as he walked by Sweetie Drops ship he began to think It’s going to feel weird not having her around. “Oh, hey Jack.” Sweetie Drops said as she came out of her ship. Jack then looked up then smiled before saying “Hi Sweetie, how you feeling.” “I’m fine, I’m more worried about you and Jen!” Sweetie Drops said. “Don’t be worried about me… I’m not the one in a half-body cast,” muttered Jack. “yeah… Hey, I got most of your equipment, fossils and stuff that I could salvage from my wrecked ship and put them in your ship for you.” Sweetie Drops said as she walked over. “Thank you… although I'm still trying to find the ship… and I've got the job of protecting Twilight for my next mission.” admitted Jack. “Ouch, that's going to be difficult… Want me to look after Jen while you're gone?” Sweetie Drops asked as she chuckled at the memory of the last bodyguard mission she had done for the unicorn scientist. “Got any pointers for me when dealing with her?” asked Jack hopefully. “Don't let her leave your sight for a moment and don't get between her and a discovery. that's the best advice I can give ya.” Sweetie Drops replied as she rubbed the back of her head. “Any advice is better than nothing… i’m not the best person alone and if she find another Krawl trapped in a crystal i’m destroying it and she can go and do one for all I care.” argued Jack. “Yeash, what parasprite crawled under your skin?” Sweetie Drops said before leading Jack over to a ship, “And here's your ship.” “thank you… and i’m sorry for being in such a bad mood, it’s just seeing Jen like that… scares me, she’s all I have left and I fear for her life.” admitted Jack. “I’ll make sure to take real good care of her then loverboy.” Sweetie Drops laughed as she walked away. Jack then looks over to her and shouted “Wait! Did you find a prizmod in your ship when you were moving everything?” “Yeah, I left it in your ship's lab!” Sweetie Drops called back before she disappeared through the entrance to the PPP HQ. Jack then turned back toward the ship as he walked inside and attempted to find the new lab. “This should be the right place… I think?” Said twilight as she walked into Jack’s ship with a ton of equipment floating in her magical grasp behind her. Seconds later Jack pops his head from behind a door and said “oh, hi Twilight” causing her to lose control of her magic momentarily and drop some of her equipment. He then walked over towards her and said “oops sorry about that.” “Can you NOT do that! You almost gave me a heart attack!” Twilight shouted as she tried to re compose herself before gathering up what she droped. “I could, but it’s not exactly easy for me to be happy with you right now” admits Jack. “What did I do!?” Twilight said as she threw her arms into the air while glaring at Jack. “The White Krawl you had us bring on the ship is the reason Jen was almost killed… so sorry if I’m a bit angry” explained Jack. “Wait… Jen’s was almost killed? And the White Krawl has something to do with it?” Twilight asked. “Yes we were on our way back from finding fossils when there was an explosion in the lab, when I got down she was lying in the centre of the room, she told me that White Krawl attacked her.” explained Jack before he said “I almost lost her… the one person I have left to care about, and if I had chose to destroy that Krawl when we found it, the whole thing would have never happened!” “I’m sorry, I never thought this would happen… But that Krawl shouldn't have been able to escape without outside help…” Twilight explained as she donned a concerned expression. Jack then sighed before he said “I’m sorry, I know it’s not your fault… it’s just I know I can’t blame anyone but I just felt like…. well if I didn’t I’d keep blaming myself.” I then realise what she said then continued to say “wait… did you say it couldn’t escape by itself?” “The Krawl was completely immobilized by the crystal, so unless someone cracked it it shouldn't have been able to move. that and the crystal was so thick it couldn't use brute force to shatter it from inside… Why do you ask?” Twilight said. “Because if the Krawl couldn’t get out someone else was on the ship that or Sweetie Drops or Jen did it themselves.” “Well, having known Sweetie Drops for many years I can guarantee it wasn't her… And Jen seems like a very bright girl, so I can't see her doing something that stupid… Which leaves it to a third party that somehow got on the ship without Agent Drops knowing or setting off any of her ship's security systems.” Twilight said with a concerned tone as she set down her stuff. “But even then to get past without triggering any alarms… they must have been recognised by the PPP database… right.” “Not exactly, the security systems would have still reacted passively if someone it recognized had entered by alerting Sweetie Drops to their presence.” Twilight said. Jack then sighed then says “I suppose for now we best get moving and make our way to Zeba.” “We can bring this up with Sweetie Drops and the Commander when we get back, don't worry.” Twilight said before picking up her stuff again, “Now where's the lab? I have equipment to set up!” “The lab is where I was before I scared you… once again sorry for that” replied Jack whilst he scratched the back of his head. “I forgive you,” Twilight said before going onto the Lab to set up her equipment. “Thanks… I’ve just thought we’re the only ones on the ship during this mission, right?” says Jack. “Yeah? what about it?” Twilight asked as she started installing some of her equipment and repaired some of Jen's old equipment that had been damaged in the explosion. “Well if someone snuck in before, they could do it again and this time, there's nobody around to notice.” admitted Jack. “Hmm, that would be a problem… I’ll see what I can do.” Twilight said as she continued working. Jack turned and looked at the Prizmod Jen made as a prototype for her own, then said “Twilight, if you're traveling with me, i’d like you to have this” as he reached for the Prizmod on the table. “Hm? what is it?” Twilight asked as she finished installing her equipment. Jack then smiles and says “A Prizmod, we need all the help we can get.” “You mean the device you use to summon those creatures you use to fight?” Twilight asked as she gained a glint in her eye. “Don’t think of the Spectrobes are creatures, they are companions. But yes it is that device,” explained Jack. “Cool…” Twilight said as she walked over, “So am I going to end up having to fight?” “In the end that’s up to you… but I would be glad to have a friend by my side.” admitted Jack “Then I will try my best… Do you mind if I keep this to try and make more for the rest of the PPP officers?” Twilight said as accepted the prizmod from Jack. “To be honest with you this is the prototype Jen made before… ‘it’ happened, and for the moment I want them just going to people we trust; that being you and Sweetie Drops.” “Fine…” Twilight relented as she attached the prototype prizmod to her wristband. “well… before we head off shall we sort you out a Spectrobe of your own?” asked Jack. “Wait, I get one already?” Twilight asked, confused on how this works. “Not much point in having a Prizmod without a Spectrobe is there.” Jack said whist smiling as he walked towards the computer. “Well, what Spectrobe would you recommend for me then? I heard a bit from Sweetie Drops about how this stuff works so no need for a tutorial.” Twilight said as she approached one of the lab computers she had repaired. “Well… we normally work with what you are like… for example with Sun he’s fast so we gave him a Spectrobe that could keep up with him.” explained Jack. “Oh, um… then do you have any Spectrobes that are good at maneuvering around?” Twilight asked, trying to think of what would be most compatible with her magic. Jack then looked through the fossils that they found then says “well we do have Aoi… I’d say he’s quite maneuverable.” Jack then opens his prizmod as a small bird appears beside him, He then smiled and said “this is an Aoi” as it perched on his shoulder. “So… Cute!” Twilight gushed as she looked at the small bird spectrobe. “Yeah, this little guy would possibly be a good fit for you,” admitted Jack whist pulling out a fossil that looked similar to Aoi and handing it to Twilight. “So… I just put it in here…” Twilight muttered as she put the fossil into the computer before calling out to it three times and awakening it, “Woah… I so wish I could find out how they do that!” “It’s a mystery to me as well Twilight… oh by the way the Prizmod you have only allows you to have one spectrobe out at a time,” explained Jack. “That's fine with me, I don't plan on doing combat anyway. And if I ever do convince you to let me reproduce them then it would make a good limiter should they fall into the wrong hands.” Twilight said as she hugged her Aoi. “Well then Twilight… Should start to make our way to Zeba?” asked Jack calmly. “Oh! I almost forgot about that! Yes, let's go.” Twilight chuckled nervously before running off to the cockpit. “well, this is going to be an interesting mission.” admited Jack before following Twilight towards the Cockpit.