Macronomicon

Chapter 79: Junior Varsity Mind-Control

This kid is gonna be the death of me. Chase thought, gritting his teeth. Wraith was the easiest, being all shook up because of her dead dad gave him an easy in.

Hardcase was conventionally-minded, nuclear parents, only incidentally abusive. She was a bit off kilter due to puppy love, but the fixation didn’t provide an in, with how focused she was on it. A tough nut to crack, but a simple one.

Paradox…was weird. The kids’ mind was constantly changing. His brain fired...

Chapter 78: Super Teen Delinquents

That usually works, Harv thought. Teens weren’t exactly the most worldly or confident people, and an officer of the law barging in on them unannounced would put them on the back foot, which allowed him to then take control of the situation.

Now Harvwas on the backfoot and only one of the kids had any respect for his job. The shortstack kept flinching away whenever he glanced at her, which was at odds with the other two who were about as intimidated by him as a fart i...

WotR Cover sketch

For those of you who've actually read Wake of the ravager, this is the proposed cover. Or at least the rough draft of the one I requested.

Changes i'm going to Request:

Nadia on the right is going to be pulling harder on Calvin's ear with a more aggressive look, shouting while pointing offscreen.

Probably going to shorten Ella's hair (The left one) Maybe change her weapon to something more bludgeon-y. Make her expression more positive and less aggressive.

The cove...

Chapter 77: Adventures in Super-Tailoring

“See, right there,” Harv said, pointing out the exact timestamp where people began unconsciously filing out of The Mall. In a matter of minutes, the security footage was practically empty, save for a bunch of guys on motorcycles (in custody) quietly surrounding a trio of shopping teens.

“That is spooky as hell,” Harv’s boss, Ron, muttered, stirring sugar into his coffee. “Do we have a Minder situation?”

“I don’t know. My experts are stumped. They think it might b...

Chapter 76: Exit Stage Left

“Where are you hiding, mimicspawn? You great great grandmother laid with monsters and your great grandfather ate his subjects! You’re the product of generations of incest and bestiality! At the same time!” John’s voice echoed through the massive empty plaza as his minions tooled around, looking for them.

Heather glanced over at Perry, raising a brow at him as they hid behind a rack of clothes.

“Do not ask. It’s treason if you ask.” Perry whispered.

Heather’s ...

Chapter 75: Battle Etiquette

“WAIT!” Perry shouted, holding out his hand. To his surprise and that of everyone else in the plaza, the rider did.

“This umm, this is Earth. You can’t just attack someone out of the blue. You have to have a monologue about why you’re doing it first.”

“It’s tradition,” Heather said, picking up the slack while Natalie fished around in her purse.

“I’ve been on Earth for three decades and haven’t heard of anything like that.” the rider said.

“Y...

Chapter 74: Combat Shopping

Okay, you can do this. You’re besieged on all sides, the enemy is breathing down your neck. But you can’t show weakness. Any twitch, any betrayed emotion, could be the beginning of your downfall.

Perry took a deep breath and craned his neck to take in the full scale of The Mall.

It was fifty stories tall, wider than a football field, included apartments, office buildings, onsite medics, even less-than stellar lawyers and quacks who laired in the monolithic structure l...

Chapter 73: Life Revolves Around The Wall

“I don’t care what you do, I’m not gonna cut off my pinky finger.” Jason said as his steroid-addled boss reached under the trailer’s wobbling dining table and withdrew a briefcase.

Jason’s heartrate skyrocketed as Chemestro opened the briefcase facing away from Jason, withdrawing a single sheet of paper covered in dense legalese.

Is he threatening me, or my siblings, or my home, or what?

“I broke into Locust’s office recently and asked her what the m...

Chapter 72: Level 5

Plip. Plip. Plip.

The only sound in the bathroom was the dripping from the faucet as Perry stared at the wall, thinking about his night.

Fiction always described your first kill as life-changing. A scar you would carry around with you for the rest of your life.

It was bad, to be sure, but about the actual act, Perry was a bit numb, like he was still processing exactly how he felt about it, and would revisit it later at a more inconvenient time. It was the surroundin...

Chapter 71: Closure

Natalie peeled her gummy eyes open and came face to face with silk sheets, the likes of which she’d never experienced back home.

She pushed her head out of the sheets and glanced around, finding nothing but a single light left on in the main room.

“You guys awake?” Nat asked, dragging herself out of bed and stumbling toward the main room. I can’t believe I fell asleep in my overalls.

There was probably engine grease marking her bed now. The sheets were proba...

Chapter 70: Walkabout

“Here’s where your team will be staying,” Their guide said, motioning to the heavy oak door.

“Uh,” Perry grunted, dragging his feet into the room. He was too tired to appreaciate how stunningly well-appointed it was, with gold trim and leather upholstery. He was too tired. Sixteen hours of battling giant silver aquatic caterpillars on next to no sleep will do that to you.

“Each of your beds is in one of those rooms,” The guide said, pointing to three opened doors wit...

Washington City Worldbuilding

Washington city is mostly agrarian (farming). 

They don't have as strong of a central government or standing military.  

Perry's Franklin City is decidedly fascist compared to Washington City, which is more democratic, but also not as strong militarily as a result.  Now...what kind of worldbuilding would you like to see while Perry is there?

I wanna make this trip meaningful Bonus points if a suggestion ties in with his adventures back home somehow.

he...

Chapter 69: A Missed Opportunity

Perry stepped through the doorway, craning his neck to follow Matador’s progress.

The replicators didn’t hang around to get murdered. They saw the billowing crimson cloud coming straight for them and immediately jumped backwards, springing away with the lightning quick speed of grasshoppers.

Perry’s mind was just barely quick enough to process what happened, and it was mostly after the fact.

The three replicators on the train shot their oversized rifles at Matador in m...

Chapter 68: Matador

We’re in car eleven, we need to get to fourteen, as quick and painlessly as possible.

Perry was peripherally aware of replicators flooding into the cars in front of them and creating a wall of guns in the open ground where car ten used to be to cut them off should they try to turn back.

There were two cars in front of them, most likely loaded with replicators.

Fulldisintegrate.EXE

Traincar 12 and all the replicators on it turned int...

What's the magnum opus?

I have a vague impression of a bot or mech that is so seamless as to appear organic, which can kick more ass than Perry could hope to ATM, as well as control other's attention to make itself extremely difficult to fight.

the reason I want it to be this badass is that it reinforces the concept that Perry isn't the most powerful yet, and that without this thing they would never make it out alive, because the replicators are too good at what they do.

It places Perry in the heirarch...

Chapter 67: Berserkers

“What are you looking at?” Monolith demanded, eyeballing the megadeer who was in turn eyeballing the corn cob in his fist.

“I will punch you right in the snout.” Monolith said, raising his fist, allowing the black energy inside him to flicker around his knuckles.

The megadeer gave a dismissive snort and went back to munching on corn.

“That’s what I thought,” Monolith grumbled, taking a bite out of the cob while snapping off a few more and shoving them in his wa...

Chapter 66: Night Raid

***Monolith***

Giant mole didn’t know who the hell he was messing with, Monolith thought, trudging down the road toward Franklin city, his shredded pants fluttering around his ankles.

Off to the left, he could make out the inter-city train, a speck in the distance, heading northeast towards Washington city. If it were going the opposite direction, Monolith might be able to save some time by hitching a ride back to the city.

As it was, Monolith didn’t want to vis...

About the Armory (Not a chapter)

The armory was always a McGuffin to allow me to put Perry in situations where he would not have access to his armor.

Unfortunately the suspension of disbelief snapped at the end of last chapter for some of my sample size, which means it was going to sit poorly with others.

I'm going to be doing some minor edits tonight that change the tone of the armory's presentation.

1: Rather than being required and strictly regulated, it will be convenient and customary to house bulky...

Chapter 65: Small But Aggressive

***Monolith***

I think I’ve changed my tune on potatoes. They are a truly blessed plant, Monolith thought as he devoured a plate of mashed potatoes and gravy.

Farmers hadn’t had quite enough time to harvest all their crops before packing everything up and hiding inside the city walls for high tide, and Monolith had been able to find half a field of potato plants and dig a couple up, boil them up and make gravy out of a powder mix.

Home-cooking out in the sticks....