Elevators Through Time - Book 1

Part 45: Technomancy

Part 45: Technomancy

Year: 1990

Time: 12:48pm

Location: "Sydney's Tower", Sydney CBD, NSW, Australia.

Level: Lobby

We followed Sydney through the same set of doors Jed led us, past a desk, which this time Sydney waved us through. We took another elevator and exited to a large white gallery.

Ah, the same familiar whiteness with the barriers and ear protection provided: The Shooting Range below the city-line.

We did seem to be surprised when we say that same pair of shooters that were there the last time we were here.

They had the same guns as before. Maybe they were frequent old timers.

"Alfred, Rick, don't work up a sweat, 'kay?" Sydney called out to them like a good friend.

"No ma'am," they both replied, eyes still focused on their targets.

I tapped on Sydney's shoulder for a moment and asked,

"Excuse me, but what work do they do there?"

Sydney smiled.

"They are just reminiscing and enjoying just being good friends. They work in mentally embedding the will to hit a target into our weapons."

Kate and I gasped.

I moved close and whispered,

"Isn't that cheating?"

Somehow the two old guys heard it and they burst out laughing. Tears of mirth spilled from their eyes.

Once they had composed themselves one of them said,

"Ah, it's been a really long time since anyone thought of it that way."

He seemed jovial and took it well, not as an insult.

"You could say it was that, but the people we fight always don't fight fair. It's our job to even the odds," the other said.

"How exactly do you put the 'will' to be a sure shot into weapons?" I asked but was quickly shushed by Sydney.

"Trade secret. But if you want we could demonstrate to you how it works."

Sydney brought us to a nearby empty booth and brought out a Ruger LCR she seemed to have all along.

"Now I know you're not from this time. That gun came from 2009. A gun-fan friend of mine told me it was coming out when I came back from Quenesha. That's a good gun apparently." I commented.

"It's quick and clean. The opposite to me," she said as she raised the piece, gaze down the barrel and sights and fired. The shot rang out and knocked the reversed innuendo away.

The gel mannequin at the end of the range was hit in chest, which was a large area.

"That is an average shot, but what if I want to specifically target something." Sydney toggled a control that brought the target close to the booth for examination.

She took off a ring from her right hand, not a wedding ring, and forced it into the gel using a bit of force but enough for is to see a circle deep inside the target. She then set the controls to make the target move to mid-range and stop.

She aimed at the target and stared at the ring, then fired.

She brought the mannequin back near us and pointed out how the bullet passed right through the where the ring was but didn't hit the ring.