Glitch in the God Complex (AmpCore #1)

19 - Inch by Inch

Secret lessons continued, and Piper could feel her control growing.

It wasn't a lot – the equivalent of climbing a building inch by inch – but she could feel it. That was enough to keep her focused. She kept her head down, avoiding any more altercations with the corp students.

At the very least, her blow out with Lanson seemed to have got the word around the academy that she wasn't going to let people shoot their mouths off if they weren't ready to back it up. It didn't stop the occasional quick-fire jibe, or hushed whispering when they thought she wasn't watching or listening, but it was enough that she could ignore it.

At least for now.

Mentally she stacked up the notes of all the mouthy corporate shits who had no idea what she was actually capable of, letting the anger fuel her. That anger burned through her exhaustion. It let her dig into deep reservoirs of bitter rage and channel that into her training.

"Just as we practised," Arrow called from the opposite end of the training room, stepping into position and raising their amplifier. Theirs was a charcoal grey rod, ribbed with spines of gold and crimson.

Piper nodded, gathering her thoughts, trying to sift through every lesson both sanctioned and unsanctioned. A blend of disciplines, across Atmospheric and Newtonian, brought together to form one of the bread-and-butter techniques of AmpCore duelling.

To a laymen it would be a shield, and it functioned as such. In reality, the process involved warping the magnetic field around you into a repelling barrier – an invisible shell that would shove away anything coming at her. Piper didn't fully understand the science behind it, but thankfully she didn't need to. The AmpCore disciplines relied as much on feel as they did on knowledge.

"Walk in the park," Toran called, watching with his ever-infuriating expression of mild amusement. "Just some pretty, pretty sparks. If you can't handle these-,"

"I can handle it," she barked over him, shaking her head in annoyance before gesturing to Arrow. "C'mon – let's do it."

"Alright."

They raised their amplifier and crackling array of firefly-like globes gathered around its tip, ratting back and forth as though contained by some kind of bubble. Arrow flicked their wrist.

The lights burst forth.

Piper concentrated, reaching deep into her bones to find the threads of power that would let her manipulate the world. Her amplifier pulsed with power, and the air in front of her took on a slight shimmer as she encased herself in a thin barrier, willed into existence, but as real as the floor beneath her feet.

Gravity bent into a protective sheathe around her, just as the shower of sparks struck. Any second she expected a million scorching pinpricks to light across her body.

But the burn of impact didn't come.

She winced as the sparks exploded against the barrier in a crackle of bright light, and she could feel a faint wash of warmth, but the shield held. The when the sparks died away she stood untouched, surrounded by a faint haze of smoke.

"Good," Arrow called. "Very good."

Piper exhaled. The bubble of force sloughed off of her and she straightened up, glancing in wonderment down at the amplifier wand. Sure, she'd only deflected a smattering of sparks, but it was proof of what she was. A small window into what she might be able to do.

"Alright, Tambo," Toran chuckled from his place lounging against one of the tables, arms folded. "Looks like I owe you some crypts."

"Betting against me?" Piper drawled, casting a scathing look in his direction.