Tales of Equestrian City- the Back Roads

by Alden MacManx

04- The Day the Lights Went Out in the Tower

The Day the Lights Went Out in the Tower

“Computer, open diary program Lambda seven two seven Yankee, crypto sequence five four.”

The little blue light on the camera turned on, and the screen lit up to show a rather disheveled-looking Rip Current in his computer desk chair, shirtless, pale blue hair mussed, ketchup stains on his lips and a dab of mustard on his chin. “May I never have another day like this one. It was ugly. Too ugly.”

It was another regular weekday afternoon in the I.T. department of Rare Innovations. The two senior technicians, Rip Current and Blaise Arrow, were hard at work repairing damaged office computers. Rip normally handled programming updates while Blaise handled mechanical repairs, but an unexpected surge in clumsiness by the Rare Innovations office staff required Blaise to ask for some help. Not wanting to turn down a chance to work on equipment, Rip readily agreed. Besides, for Blaise to ask for help meant he really DID need help. The taciturn scarred Easterner found Rip a good work partner, because Rip never commented on Blaise’s scars, background, taciturnity, or voice. Rip, in turn, liked the big Easterner because he was a damned good technician and never stood over his shoulder while he worked.

The duo worked steadily through the afternoon, fixing equipment. Blaise had just reassembled a damaged 3-d printer while Rip tested a failed monitor to find out why it failed. As Blaise checked the printer’s power supply, the probe slipped off a test point and drove itself into the power supply junction, said power supply letting out a SNAP and a bright blue spark.

Blaise stiffened, unconsciously summoning his shield over both hands to prevent a shock. Rip, meanwhile, looked up in time to see the spark and Blaise’s motion, but not his hands. Rip did not hesitate. He reached out with his talent, aiming to shut off the power to the printer. However, his excited, concerned state caused him to overshoot.

Rip felt his power reach out to the largest source of power in the building, that being the main input breaker from outside. He did essentially a ‘crash stop’ on the power feed, which caused the electricity to build up ‘backpressure’, causing the big breaker, and associated power distribution box, to blow out in a shower of smoke and sparks, plunging the entire building into darkness.

Up in R&D, Twilight Sparkle was hard at work, as usual, on upgrades to her Matterhorn armor. She looked up as the overhead lights went out, followed by the building fire alarm, and the monitors going dark. “Spike? What’s happening?” she called out, worried about her friend.

Her tablet let out a bleep before lighting up, Spike there in dragon form, holding a lantern in one claw, the light inside flickering. “I’m all right, Twilight. Something blew in the main building power room. The mainframe is safe, the UPS kicked in just as you designed it to. I’m coming in through your tablet because it has power. Give me a minute or so to see what’s going on. Good thing the security system is on an independent power supply,” he reported as the image started looking around.

“Good to hear, Spike. I was worried,” Twilight said, relaxing some.

“Hey, you do good work, Twilight. No need to worry today! Now, to check out the security recordings,” Spike said, sitting at a virtual console and pulling up pictures. Twilight checked her fabricating equipment, to check if the sudden power outage had damaged anything.

Up in the upper levels of the tower, Rarity was busily trying to figure out what was going on. Emergency lighting had kicked in on the upper floors, letting her see. As she worked her terminal (which did have power), Silver Spoon came into the office. “What’s going on, Rarity?” she asked.

“As soon as I find out, I’ll tell you. Right now, you know what I know,” Rarity said as she asked for an update from Spike, getting a message on her screen saying that the main power breaker box had suffered a catastrophic failure, reason unknown. Checking the security footage on fast forward and fast reverse, Rarity determined that there had been no tampering with the box in the previous six hours. Silver Spoon came around the desk to look over Rarity’s shoulder.

“Silver, I want you to contact the power company and let them know what has happened here. I’ll call Maintenance and have them work to restore power. I know there is more than one power feed into the building,” she said as she reached for a building phone.

“I’m on it.”

Down in the I.T. room, Blaise heard Rip fall limply to the floor. Shaking out the sting in his fingers from the small shock he had endured, he went to check his friend. “Rip? Are you all right?” he asked in his monotone voice, a legacy from an incident he had suffered while in military service.

Getting no response, Blaise went over to Rip and started checking him over. He was no medic, but he did remember his first aid training, and did what he could with what he had, which was his training and his hands. “I take you to Medical now,” he droned, picking up his limp friend and putting him over his shoulder. “Rip, you have put on weight. I can tell,” he said as he left the I.T. lab, gong to Medical.

Rip woke up to the scent of ammonia in his nose, grunting in surprise. “Wha?”

Blaise was standing over his friend, removing the capsule from Rip’s nose. “You passed out in the lab after repair I was working on sparked. How do you feel?”

“I have got a headache that I do not want to have to endure, and I am hungrier than I have ever felt before,” Rip admitted.

“You have been putting on weight, Rip. You should not be overeating,” Blaise droned.

“I can’t help it, Blaise. Since I caught that bug, I have been cursed with an appetite that won’t quit!” Rip complained.

The duty medtech came over to the two. “I think you should go get checked out at the hospital, Rip,” she told the man on the table.

“Take you I will, if you want to go,” Blaise told his friend, “because it is the right thing to do.”

Rip sighed as he looked at the medtech, Glory Wrap. “If you will cover for us, Glory, then I will accept the offer,” he groaned.

Glory Wrap did not smile, she just squeezed Rip’s hand. “I can do that, and it will save the company the drama of having an ambulance come over here to get you. I will clear it with your supervisor.”

“And I will accompany you. You are my friend, and friends help friends, ja?” Blaise droned.

“Got that right, Blaise,” Rip said as he sat up on the table, quickly reaching out to the two people to catch himself. “Whoagh… dizzy…”

“I’ll get the wheelchair, and you go get your car, Blaise. I’ll meet you at the front entrance,” Glory Wrap commanded as she guided Rip back down to a prone position. “Have one of the door guards come in here to help me get him loaded.”

“Ja, Nurse,” Blaise said. “You are stronger than you look.”

“In this job, you have to be.”

Blaise did as he was instructed, sending a guard to Medical as he left the building. When he got back to the entrance, Glory and Rip were waiting. They got Rip loaded into the back seat of the small sedan, and Blaise headed for the hospital.

“Thanks for doing this, Blaise. Right now, driving is out of the question. I think I’m seeing double right now,” Rip said from where he was slumped in the back seat.

“It is not to worry about it, Rip. This is the right thing to do. You are one of the few people who do not wince when I am near.”

“You’re a person like I am, Blaise. I don’t give a damn what you look like or sound like. You’re a good person, a damned good tech, and you don’t nitpick my work,” Rip said, a little slurred because he was trying to press his head into the side post of the car to relieve his headache.

“You are to be thanked for your words, Rip. You good person are too. If I can say so, glad you my friend. You really should look in to working out some. Want to jog with me starting next week?” Blaise asked.

“Right now, putting one foot in front of the other is more work than I want to think about. Ask me after the hospital and I will answer you better, okay?” Rip groaned, a groan that was just short of a whine, because he truly hurt both in his head and in his stomach, which was demanding to be filled.

“I will do so. Your shirt is tight. I noticed that when I carry you to Medical.”

Rip struggled to sit upright. “You have been bugging me about my weight for how long now, Blaise? Six years? I have to say that from you I don’t mind it. You observe, not criticize, for which I thank you. Most other people are rude about it,” he said in as level a voice as he could. “So, I have been fighting my weight and waistline since I was a kid.”

“I have no feelings to hurt, Rip. I know you do and have seen and heard some rough comments. You need friend, not critic. Help I will, if you want.”

“I know, and thank you for offering,” Rip said as they pulled into the hospital.

“It is the right thing to do.”

Back at the tower, Twilight and Spike kept themselves busy, checking out the lab systems. The items that were in the middle of fabrication when power was lost, she decided to dispose of them, going for safety. The lab equipment was undamaged, as was the main central computer, Spike giving ‘himself’ a thorough checking over before confirming his initial report, all systems in the computer operating as designed.

Full power was restored to the building, via alternate means, within an hour. The electric company sent a crew over to replace the breaker. When ‘irregularities’ were found, the crew foreman reported to his boss, who took it to his boss, who called Rarity. After receiving the report, Rarity made a request, which was swiftly agreed to by the power company representative. One minute after hanging up, Rarity called Twilight Sparkle. Six minutes after that, Twilight was in the basement of the building with a scanner and a sample kit. She was allowed to do thorough scans of the breaker, the breaker panel, some of the cabling leading into and out of the junction box, and samples of the burned cabling, insulation, and bits of the breaker, which she took up to her lab for analysis.

She was still working at the examination when she smelled cigarette smoke. Looking up, she saw Rarity standing nearby. “Have you found anything yet, darling?”

Twilight sighed. “Yes, I have. I can tell you what happened, but not why.”

“So, what happened?” Rarity asked.

Twilight began a technical explanation of her findings, but after thirty seconds or less, Rarity held up a hand. “Simplify, please. I’m not an electrical engineer.”

Twilight thought for a few seconds. “Basically, what I found was a lot of heat damage, on the output side of the breaker, meaning where the power comes into the building. What is unusual is that the metal of the cabling is showing a lot of heat stress on the inside of the cable, where it should not be. It’s as if the resistance of the cable increased enormously for a brief time, causing the cabling and the breaker to overheat and explode.”

Rarity stared at the coal on her cigarette, her mind working quickly. “That should be impossible. How can something like that happen?” she asked.

“I can only think of one reason, and that’s a metahuman. What puzzles me is why only that one spot. He or she should know that this building has more than one source of power. Sure, it hurt the building, but not for long. If it was someone truly after us, I can think of dozens of different ways to cripple the building, if the right spots were selected,” Twilight thought out loud.

“You said the wire coming out of the breaker was disturbed. Would it be possible to trace the disturbance? Maybe we can learn something that way,” Rarity suggested.

While Twilight thought, Spike spoke up. “It can be done, but it’s not going to be easy. The cabling is not designed to be easily accessible. We can try, but if the disturbance peaked at the breaker, we may not be able to follow it before it becomes undetectable to the scanner.”

“Spike is right, Rarity. We can try that, but I don’t know if I can trace it,” Twilight said.

“There can be one way, but we’re going to have to wait until late to do it,” Spike said. “We can use the Matterhorn suit to do a magic trace on the disturbed wiring. We have samples here, so we know what to look for.”

“He does have a point,” Rarity observed, pulling out and lighting another cigarette in a smooth, practiced motion. Twilight looked on in disapproval but didn’t say anything. While she did not like smoking, she had to admit that it is better than Rarity drinking.

“Yes, it does. I can do that, and will do that, but not until the building is mostly empty. I’m sure Spike can lure anyone away who could possibly observe Matterhorn in the building.”

“Sounds like a plan, darling. Do keep me informed. Wake me if it is significant, but if it can wait until the morning, please do so,” Rarity said before sighing. “I’ll be in my office or apartment if you need to find me.”

At the hospital, Rip Current was checked over thoroughly. He was given an IV medication that eased his headache. X-rays came up clear, despite some concussion signs, but it was his blood work that turned up an anomaly. The emergency room doctor, Greensleeve, brought it up with both men.

“Your blood work is indicating that you were engaged in some heavy exercise recently. Your blood glucose readings are extremely low. While I admire your desire to lose weight, you really should not take it to such extremes, Mister Current. The next collapse may not happen in such a benign place.”

“What is unusual, is that Rip did not exercise like that all day, Doctor. Know I do. I am supervisor to him at work. There was incident, yes, but the one that received a small shock was I, not him,” Blaise droned.

The doctor looked at Blaise’s scarred face and head, with what Blaise noticed was a mix of pity, disgust, and dismay. He was used to such looks. That was why Blaise liked Rip as much as he did, because Rip did it only once, then ignored the marring. “That is what his blood work is showing, Mister Arrow. Anomalous, but not critical. I would suggest, Mister Current, that you report to a blood lab once a day, after work, for a sample to be taken, the results being sent to me. I will make the arrangements and send you an email as to where.”

Rip looked up at the doctor. “Two questions. One, is it covered by my insurance, and two, when can I have something to eat?” he asked.

“Yes, it is, and as soon as you leave. I would suggest not driving for the next day. The medication for the migraine could have side effects that affects you behind the wheel,” Greensleeve advised.

“I will take you home and pick you up in the morning, Rip. Your car will be all right in the garage at the tower,” Blaise said to his friend.

“Good. Can we stop at a burger stand on the way home? I’ll buy.” Rip offered.

“Agree I will. Doctor, should I restrict his eating?” Blaise asked.

Greensleeve looked up from the tablet he was writing on. “Not today, Mister Arrow. How he is even conscious right now is nothing short of a miracle. I have seen cases of low blood sugar before, but not as low as his. He does need to recover.”

“Understood. Ready are you to go?” Blaise asked.

“Yes, I am. I would like a wheelchair, though. I am a bit dizzy,” Rip said.

“Side effect of the anti-migraine. It will be gone in the morning. I’ll get a wheelchair, and we’ll have you go to the discharge nurse for release. Don’t forget your blood sample tomorrow!” Greensleeve cautioned.

“I won’t, Doctor. Please email me the results. I’ll look up the meanings when I get a chance.”

“Blaise brought me to a burger stand, where I ordered three deluxe burgers, two large fries and a forty-four drink. He ordered the chicken deluxe sandwich and tater tots. By the time we got back here, I had already consumed two of the burgers and one of the packs of fries. He helped me to the door and got me in the chair here. I finished eating, then I made another here. I’m stuffed, but still hungry.

“I just hope tomorrow is a better day. Close diary Lambda seven two seven Yankee.”

While Rip was busy eating, dictating and cleaning up, Blaise headed back to the tower, to handle the relevant paperwork. Unlike most technicians who loathed paperwork, Blaise accepted it as part of his job. His prior specialty as a missile technician in the Eastern Army highlighted the need for clear concise paperwork. Plus, he wanted to clean up the I.T. work room. He regarded a neat work area to be more important than concise paperwork, but not by much. That became his first chore, to set the I.T. lab to rights. Not that there was much in disarray, but neither he nor Rip had put away the tools they were using. If there was one thing the tall, lean Easterner and the round-bodied Equestrian agreed upon, it is keeping the work area neat, all tools stowed properly. As he cleaned, he could tell someone else had been in the room, but seeing as I.T. for the tower was more than just him and Rip, he was not too concerned, although it was the lab where the two of them did most of their repair work. Rank does have its privileges.

When that chore was done, his next stop was his desk, to get the paperwork in order, detailing the incidents, taking Rip to the hospital, report of diagnosis and disposition. That way, neither of them would get dinged for missing work. By the time he was done, putting all the paperwork in the proper in-baskets, it was almost nine at night. “Worthwhile it is to sacrifice physical training for one day. Helping those under me is the right thing to do,” he said quietly to himself as he logged off and prepared to shut down his terminal.

“Mister Arrow, please report to Research and Development,” Doctor Sparkle’s voice was heard to say. “Now!”

Blaise looked around, confused. He was sure he had shut down his terminal. His phone pinged with an incoming text message. Checking it, he saw it was from a number he did not know, but the message was clear. ‘You were not hearing things, Mr. Arrow. I am waiting. Dr. Sparkle’, is what he read. With a nod, he did as he was bid.

It was two elevators and about a four-minute walk to the R&D lab’s door, which slid open in front of Blaise. “Do come in, Mister Arrow. I want to go over some data with you,” she said from behind her desk, the official head of R&D’s desk, which she seldom used.

“Ja, Doctor Sparkle. What is problem?” Blaise asked.

“Sit down and watch that screen,” Twilight ordered. Quickly, the scarred Easterner did so. While his expression did not change one bit, if asked, he would say that being here was scaring him to the very core of his being, the reason being while he KNEW this Doctor Sparkle was not the dread Professor Midnight, the similarities when hard at work did frighten him. Unconsciously, he rubbed the back of his neck, where his freedom from the East lay next to his spinal column, ready to detonate and cut his head off if he tried to talk about any Eastern military secrets.

Twilight walked Blaise through her findings about the incident, and the ‘disrupted’ wiring she found near the breaker box. “I managed to trace the disruption back to its source, by finding traces in the wiring. Care to guess where the disruption path led me to?” she asked.

“If asked to speculate, say I would it has something to do with I.T., otherwise talking to me you would not be doing. Why, I cannot answer. What do you know that I know not?” Blaise asked in his bland voice, which betrayed no emotion. He could not emote with his voice or facial muscles, just his eyes.

Wiring diagrams came up on the big display screen, starting at the main junction bus and working downstream. “Tracing the disruptions, I followed the trail back to your lab. Specifically, to one particular piece of equipment,” she said, the diagram changing to a security scan of the lab when the lights were on, before he cleaned up. The camera zoomed in on one power bar, then traced what was plugged into it, leading to the monitor Rip had been working on.

The view then changed to when the two were working, the time stamp showing it was just before the power outage. The scene showed Blaise jumping when the spark flared, then the room went dark, except for emergency lighting. The monitor changed views, this one showing a side view of Rip Current when the spark flashed, then his expression of concern and determination before the power went out. “Now, please tell me what was reported by the doctors after you brought Rip Current to the hospital. I have Glory Wrap’s report. Please give me yours.”

In monotone, Blaise reported his actions from the moment they left the building to when he returned, not describing the conversations verbatim, but saying they did talk. When his explanation was complete, Twilight looked at Blaise and asked, “What are your conclusions, Mister Arrow?”

“It is to me that Rip Current is the source of the problems we have had today. How and why, I do not know, but speculate I can when it all started. Last week, when he missed a day. The day before, tell I could he was not at peak, but his less than peak is better than many others at their best. Surprised I was not he not come in next day,” Blaise said.

“I feel the same way, Mister Arrow. What is your recommendation as to how we should proceed from here?” Twilight asked, with tones of concern, which startled Blaise some.

“Honest I will be, Professor. Talk to him we should, in complete privacy. Ask him what he knows of himself, and what he would like to do. I think he is more scared of himself than we are of him. Know him I have six years now, and he is not taking this well. While I know he likes to eat, never I have seen him go as far as he did today. Know I do he has put on weight, both rapidly and recently. His clothes were tight on him, and it took more effort to lift him than it has in past,” Blaise droned in complete honesty.

“Your assessment matches mine, Mister Arrow. Tomorrow morning, report to me after check-in. We will talk with Rip Current. I will be doing some research tonight. You go now and get some rest,” Twilight said in gentler tones, more suggesting than ordering.

The tones surprised Blaise yet again, his pupils widening a little before going back to normal. “Ja, I shall do so. Until morning, Doctor Sparkle?” he asked, snapping to attention and saluting her in an instinctive maneuver.

“At ease, Mister Arrow. Yes, until morning. Dismissed,” she said, giving a rather unimpressive salute in return. Blaise did a sharp about face and departed the office.

Once the door shut, Twilight sighed and relaxed in her big desk chair. “Thank you for the prompts, Spike. I don’t normally act that way, but you seem to have read Mister Arrow perfectly.”

“I’ve read his psych profile, Twilight, you haven’t. He does not like to prevaricate. Best he could do is lie by omission, and he did not have any reason to lie. He was as surprised about this as you are,” Spike said, appearing on the main monitor in dragon form, wearing a white doctor’s coat, sporting a neat little gray beard and holding a notepad.

Twilight giggled at the sight. “Playing psychologist now, Spike?”

Spike grinned back at Twilight. “With what we have going on here, it helps. Mister Arrow is straightforward and easy to read, if you know his background. What I do not understand is why he is afraid of you when you act in a commanding way. I may not know why, but I know it happens, and so he’s easy.

“Mister Current I know less about, but he will require less in the way of order and a lot more in the way of support. I get the feeling, observing security footage of him dating back as far as I can reach, that whatever is happening to him has him more scared than delighted.”

Twilight nodded in agreement. “With what he did today, that would not surprise me.

“Now, back to our regularly scheduled workload, okay?”

Spike’s lab coat and goatee disappeared, leaving him in his scales, notebook replaced by a quill and a scroll. “Ready when you are!” as the bottom of the scroll unrolled, and unrolled, and unrolled, falling out of view of the monitor.

The next morning, Blaise picked Rip up at his apartment promptly on time. Rip moved cautiously, tugging on the hem of his polo shirt. “Have good night, did you?” Blaise asked.

“Night good, morning sucked rocks. I may take a half day today and go shopping. None of my clothes are comfortable,” Rip answered, a flush purpling his green cheek.

“And that is why?” Blaise asked as he pulled out into traffic.

“Because I cannot control my appetite, that’s why! In about a week, somehow I’ve put on fifteen pounds!” Rip wailed in distress. “I’ve never minded how I looked, but what’s going on has me scared half to death, while the other half wants more feeding!”

“Have problem you do, ja. Help we can find. Do you want?” Blaise asked, his voice unchanging.

“Yes, I want help, but where can I find it? I’m just so scared…” Rip trailed off as a thought worked through his mind. “Why would you be saying I have a problem, Blaise?”

“Because you do. Doctor Sparkle is very good researcher. Blackout yesterday you cause. Know not on purpose. Doctor Sparkle find out, she called me last night, and proof she show. Talk to us she wants when we in office arrive.”

Rip settled down then, not speaking for a good mile or two before he did so. “Blaise, one thing I do know about you is how to read you. I can tell you are concerned about me and do want to help. For that, I am grateful. What does she have in mind?”

“Know that I do not. How you tell my concern? Want to know I do.” Blaise stated bluntly.

“Your words get more stilted the more agitated you are. This is not your first language, and it shows, especially when you are concerned or thinking. I figured that out years ago, back at Silver Innovations before the merger,” Rip replied.

“What I like about you, you accept me and not worry about differences. Many others ask why I stay the way I am. You said something once, then no more. From that, I know you I can trust, and have done so,” Blaise explained as they got waved through the checkpoint for the parking garage under Rare Innovations Tower.

“Yeah, I trust you too. But you already know that.”

“Ja.”

The two men reported to Doctor Sparkle’s official office directly after clock-in. She was waiting there, looking just as sharp as she did the night before. “Good morning, gentlemen. Can I offer you some breakfast?” she asked politely, smiling at Rip.

“Tea for me, please,” Blaise stated.

“Coffee and whatever’s on the griddle, Doctor,” Rip replied.

Twilight pointed to two chairs in front of her desk. “Do sit down.” When they did, two motiles rolled up, one carrying a mug of Blaise’s favorite morning tea, while the other had a mug of coffee, mixed to Rip’s taste, along with some buttered toast and bacon.

“Thank you, Doctor,” Rip said before attacking the toast like he had not eaten since the night before, which was most definitely not the case.

“Gentlemen, I have spent the night studying. I believe I know the cause of your appetite, Mister Current. Your meta talent is primarily mental in nature. Your brain takes up a lot of energy in relation to the rest of your body, so, when you exercise your talent, you burn a lot of energy.

“Tell me, what do you know about yourself, so far?” she asked.

Without hesitating, Rip spilled the beans about what he knew. After a couple of minutes explaining, he asked, “Do you have a laser pointer I can use? Just a small, disposable one will do.”

Twilight opened her top desk drawer and pulled one out, one of the little ones you hang on a key chain. He picked it up and held it. “Now, like this, it is just a lump of plastic and metal. When I turn it on,” which he did, pointing it at a far wall, “I can sense the current flow in this device, which is powered by three small batteries which are not meant to be replaced. Now, with a current flow, I can… interfere… with it.” Rip reached across the desk to a roll of tape. Pulling out a length, he wrapped the tape around the pointer, keeping the beam on.

He then put the pointer on the corner of the desk, beam pointing to a wall. “I can either start and stop the current,” he explained, making the pointer blink on and off, “or I can throttle it down, increasing the resistance to the current flow, heating the device. You won’t feel much now; it will take a few seconds to warm up.

“There is one more thing I can do. Reverse the current flow rapidly. That will lead to detonation of the batteries. I won’t show you that here,” he explained, releasing his ‘hold’ on the pointer, which resumed its normal shine.

“What happened yesterday?” Twilight asked.

“Well, when I saw Blaise getting sparked, my first thought was to shut the power off. I missed and shut off the whole building. The larger my effects, the hungrier I get after. Doing what I did then, well, I woke up three times during the night to eat something.”

“When you do what you do, Mister Current, you leave traces that can be found. That’s how you were tracked down. You do not object to Mister Arrow knowing about you and your talent, yes?” she asked.

“No objections, Doctor Sparkle. I trust him,” Rip replied without hesitating.

Blaise glanced at Twilight, making eye contact. She nodded once. “Rip, something I have to tell you. The spark would not have harmed me. I can defend.”

“How so?”

Blaise raised his hands and called up the crossbow and shield. “I, too, am meta. Quiet I keep it. Bolts can stun, shock, heat or penetrate, depending on what I want. If watch I do, miss I do not. Shield work very good, too. Trust you I do too, because is right thing to do.” Rip said the last four words in perfect synch with Blaise.

“What I want to know is, what do I do now? Do I go on like nothing has happened, or do I go someplace for examination? Right now, my appetite scares me. I’ve put on fifteen pounds in a week already!” Rip said, his worry becoming apparent.

Twilight leaned back in her chair. “What I have to say, Mister Current, is that you should stop worrying about it. I will start to help you, and I will find others who would want to help you, too. Just go about your life, and find some appetite suppressants,” she said with a small smile.

“I’ll remember that. I have to shop today anyhow. My clothes are getting uncomfortable,” Rip said before finishing his coffee.

This time, Twilight looked at Blaise, who nodded once in return. “Rip, I suggest you take rest of week off, starting now. Keep your blood test appointments, and I will check with you once a day, or you can call me if you need to,” he droned.

“I will check with you as well, Mister Current. You will find some phone numbers in your phone that lead to me or a message service if I am unavailable. You need help, and we are offering,” Twilight told him.

“What about the company? Hell, what about my job?” Rip said with worry.

“Your place is secure, Mister Current. I will clear everything with Rarity myself.” Twilight stood up out of her chair. “You have left me with a lot to think about. Like Mister Arrow said, take off the rest of the week.”

“You really mean it… you’re not mad at me?” Rip asked.

“Why should we? You did not intend to blow the main power lead into the building, causing my fabricators to shut down in mid-process, spoiling what I was working on. How can we be mad at you?” Twilight said in reasonable tones. “No intended damage, no reason to get mad.”

“Ja. You do so for good reason, to help me. No reason to be upset. Relax, get calm, and get some fresh clothing. Your pants have to be painful,” Blaise stated.

“They are,” Rip said before the inseams of his pants split at the crotch with a loud noise. He blushed all over. “I think I need something to wear out of the building…” he said in a meek voice as Twilight let out a small laugh. Blaise remained impassive, but Rip was sure he would not embarrass him further.

Author's Note:

Second of the bonus chapters before I move. Next one Monday.

So, Rip Current is also a meta, and a powerful one, with a lot of side effects. What will he do with it? What can he do with himself? The answers to these questions and more will be revealed in future chapters of Back Roads! Stay tuned!

Comments

[Malcontent]

9761229
What a wonderful idea. :3

[DavisSentoV5]

Kinda slow chapter for me, but a good read regardless.