The four of them walked through a dark tunnel lit by a shimmering rainbow of butterflies, flitting around in record numbers on the other side of a curved glass tunnel. Madison Bouchard's excited explanations of everything they were seeing echoed in the narrow space.
"... and although you can't see them, there are panels that slide away to open the butterfly environments to this tunnel. Jason rigged up an exhaust system that forces the butterflies into the tunnel with air, then can generate a vacuum to suck them back into the enclosure afterwards. It's really quite elegant and should prevent anyone from storming the compound through the front entrance."
They reached the end of the tunnel, the wall parting silently to allow them entrance. The visitors bumped into each other as they stopped, staring in awe. Whereas before it had been a very advanced workshop, garden, compound amalgam it now looked like a futuristic oasis.
Jason's workshops had multiplied and looked to be fully autonomous, the young man walking from station to station, observing each operation. Occasionally he'd touch one and a flow of energy could be seen passing from him to the machine, reenergizing it. He was adjusting levers and knobs, changing the output of what they were producing.
"What is he doing?" Cass asked with interest.
"Oh! Before, he used to be able to imbue additional characteristics to materials, but nothing that was beyond the capabilities of the material. He could make wood harder, infuse metal into it, shape it into what he needed. He has since evolved his skill to allow him to modify them further. He's attempting to create a generic matter generator that allows him to take any material, break it down to its molecular components, and recreate something entirely new based on that."
"He's making replicators," Ed said with a gasp.
Madison gleamed. "Yep! Just like Star Trek. He's at a bit of a block, though. He's close, but can't seem to break through to the next development. Maybe at his next level."
"I have something that may help with that."
Madison fixed Tess with an interested stare. "You do? Oh man, he'd love that! Talk to my dad first, though. Don't give it away for free! You know how he likes to charge for stuff - make sure he gives you something equitable in return. Something like that would be HUGE for Jason, so don't go cheap." Her laugh was conspiratorial.
Madison led them to a vast garden, its tiers reaching stories above them. Small insect-looking things were flying to and fro, ceaseless. They saw some bigger ones reach flowers, extending small snippers to clip the plants and carry them into a large shed that was billowing purple and green smoke from its chimney.
"Mom has been experimenting with every type of plant she can, concocting a wide array of potions, elixirs, and tonics. She's vastly improved the basics - healing, poison, sleep droughts - but she's also gone further. She's working on things to improve levels by better metabolizing System energy, temporarily and permanently increasing core stat points, increasing perception, and a lot of other things. I don't really know everything she's doing in there."
"What are those?" Luna pointed to the bugs.
"Oh! They are my creation," Madison said with pride. "The storage units you all brought back for us showed me the adaptability of System energy. It really only requires that it be used in a similar fashion as the source, but otherwise it's very pliable. We've managed to catch a lot of flying monsters and I use bits of their core energy in the small drones I've created. They don't have any offensive powers, but I'm creating some that do."
"How do you control them?" Cass asked.
"Oh that's easy - although it took a lot of experimenting. It turns out that The System wants people to use the power it gives them and it doesn't want to have to control everything. It gives us the tools or ingredients and leaves it up to us to determine the best use for them. The initial versions were pretty useless - they'd fly around randomly, disappear into the distance, or just hover in place until they dropped to the ground. I realized that they required an infusion of will to program a set of instructions, similar to a small amount of computer code. I'm not exactly sure yet how The System recognizes the will of the creator, but my hypothesis is that whatever it did to modify our bodies allows it to read our minds and understand what it is we're trying to do. My creations are limited by the type and potency of the energy being imbued, but it doesn't require a lot for smaller creations. I can give it a mental order to 'pollinate' or 'monitor growth and harvest at optimal levels' and it does it. The limitations are that I have to be very, very focused on the intent I'm imbuing, and whatever the internal simulacrum of a computer that The System uses has to have enough space for me to imprint it. More complicated directions require larger investitures of power and far stronger concentration. Fortunately, my mom has created potions that allow me to focus the entirety of my mental energy on a single task for a limited amount of time, although I'm pretty spent and a little hazy after."
"This is beyond incredible, Madison," Tess said.
"What is going on up there?" Ed pointed to the sky. They all focused but could only see a slight shimmer in the afternoon air.
"Oh, you noticed that, did you? You must have a pretty good eye! That is our forcefield."
"Your. Forcefield?" Ed was in shock.
"Yep! We realized that a core weakness of our compound was the sky. We are well-protected on the sides and underneath, but were completely exposed to air attacks or anything climbing over the walls. So I took the spikes that you see around the grounds and modified them," she pointed to an array of metallic spikes lining the top of the walls like crenellations. "They form an array that arcs into a dome above us. The height of the dome is controlled by the quantity of spikes, and the power is controlled by how much energy we feed into them. It has done a remarkable job fending off aerial assaults. The only weakness, beyond its inherent power, is that it's all-or-nothing. We can't open windows in it - we either have to drop the whole thing or keep it up. It can stay active with a loss of up to 15% of the spikes, but nothing so far has managed to overload even a single one."
"I hope that day never comes," Tess said.
"I kinda hope it does," Madison replied with an excited gleam in her eyes.
"You guys have made amazing strides," Tess said. "What about your dad? What's he doing?"
Madison snorted. "He just makes beer."
They walked to the oversized deck, the shade a relief from the heat. Tess sensed cool air blowing around them from an undetermined source. Owen was sitting in a chair, pipe in one hand and a book in the other. There were four empty pint glasses on the table and two pitchers of beer. Without looking up from his book he waved the pipe at the pitchers.
"Don't know if y'all want to get drunk or feel refreshed, but they're both there. Dark one is drunk, light one is refreshed."
He dog-eared the book and set it down as they all found seats and reached for the pitchers.
"You guys get the light one," Tess admonished as both Luna and Cass reached for the pitcher of dark beer. Her look was stern but she smiled at their groans.
"Ooh, get the drunk one! I've never been drunk before!"
"Maybe later."
"You always say that!"
Tess ignored the distinct 'humph' she felt and took the pitcher of light beer as it was passed to her. She was amazed to see that the liquid never seemed to drop in level and was ice cold as she poured it.
"How are you doing this?" She asked, indicating the pitchers.
Owen shrugged. "Didn't like making trips down to the cellar every time I wanted a refill, and no one likes hot beer."
"That's not really an explanation."
He just shrugged again.
They sipped their beer and Ed groaned, leaning back in his chair. "Oh sweet Jesus, this is good. It's been a while, but I think this is better than anything I tasted from before," earning a smile from Owen.
"And it feels like it's doing something… I feel good, man. Like, REALLY good. And my health is going up. What is in this?"
"The wife is cooking up a lot of good stuff over there in the Goat Shed," he waved toward the shack in the back of the property. "Seemed like a waste to not use some of it for beer. This one has bits o' healing, some energy boosters, and a little something to clarify the mind."
Ed downed the glass and was reaching for the dark pitcher. "And what about this one?"
"That one'll get you fucked up." He laughed and poured some for himself. "Don't worry, I made it so that you can just will yourself sober again. And no hangovers!"
"I'm tellin' ya man," Ed's voice came out in a slur, "this might be the best thing The System ever created."