Zavier nodded at that. The Bouchards weren't really a video game or TV family, not that those things were forbidden. Owen and Chloe were both engineers, Owen in Mechanical and Chloe a chemist. They were the kind of people that always had some project or another going on. Their house was always a mess, the garage was hard to walk through, and the kids were lovingly referred to as 'Free Range,' but friends could come and go as they pleased and there was always something being built, fixed, or worked on. Owen didn't believe in coddling and considered injuries to be a part of the learning process. The kids helped build their own swingset, helped lay out the fire pit, worked on the vehicles, and even built an ice skating rink in their backyard last winter. When it was time for the derby car races Owen sat back in the garage and watched the kids use the saws, drills, and planer. He stopped them to give advice and warnings as needed, but most of the time he just watched them and made sure no one lost a finger. His kids weren't the kind to take credit for projects their parents built, he and Chloe had made sure of that.
Owen continued, "We just kept building the defenses, going wider as we could clear more trees. Jason cut and planed so much wood that he got a skill to do it even before leveling up, and Madison disassembled one of the old car engines to build some mechanical sighting systems for the rifles. When we all started workin' together on projects we figured out that you can merge skills to make something even better'n any of us could have made on our own. That's why all that fancy stuff's up there," he waved to the turrets, "and down there," he waved to the studs sticking out of the ground, "can do things none of us could do on our own."
"All of that just kept the kids leveling up since it's their defenses and weapons that are keeping the beasties out. Chloe and I are doing some leveling too with our projects, but we're mostly tryin' to keep making our area stronger. There's some right bad things out there that we ain't ready for yet."
"Like what?" Zavier asked with concern.
"Not rightly sure, but the vibration sensors picked up some stuff. Some real heavy things tromping through the woods back there, and some stuff traveling underground."
Zavier looked at the grass in concern.
"No worries," Owen said. "Those rods are metal spikes that go down about six feet. Madison managed to create energy collectors that absorb the excess energy from the creatures that are killed. It funnels all that energy into these spikes so that if anything jams into one it'll stab into them then explode the bastard."
Zavier's eyes were wide with the possibilities. "Why not put them outside of your walls?"
"It'd blow the wall up," Owen said. "Underground it still creates a big ol' hole, but at least it's contained underground."
"So you know that not all of the energy in the creatures is absorbed as fuel for levels?" Zavier noted.
"Ayup," Owen said. "Madison discovered that. Turns out the material and equipment they turn into takes some extra energy. She built some sort of attractor thing that works like a lightnin' rod. You gotta be close, but kill something near one of those things and instead of them turning into another useless coat you can use the excess energy for powering these gadgets."
Zavier was dumbfounded and felt a little silly. "I've been going too slow," he whispered to himself.
Owen eyed him then shrugged. "Different tactics, different risks. The kids and I ain't much for killin', we'd rather be building. The contraptions can do the killin' for us. Y'all don't really do much building so you gotta do it all the hard way. That puts the kids at more risk."
"Hey, I built a kill box in my garage!" Zavier said.
Owen snorted. "Yup. Saw that."
Zavier laughed. "Dick."
The two sat in silence, finishing their beer and cigars.
Zavier slapped his hands on his knees in the Midwestern signal for 'it's time to go.'
"Welp, gotta get out of here. I'm realizing now that I haven't spent nearly enough time getting everyone leveled up like I should. I'm going to go kill a bunch of shit."
"Before you go, let's go talk with Madison," Owen said. They walked to her area and Zavier realized there were multiple workbenches scattered around the floor, some just high enough to work when sitting cross-legged on the ground, others at standing height. She was soldering wires into what appeared to be a hollow cane, sliding the two pieces together after. She looked up as they approached.
"What's up dad?" she asked.
"Zavier's about to go killin' some stuff. Got anything useful?"
She sat against the edge of one workbench, chin in her hand while she thought. "Anything you're looking for?"
"I'm not really sure what to ask for," Zavier said. "Tess and Cass both have their gear pretty well decided. Tess uses machetes and guns, Cass is mostly shields and a bat. I just use whatever is laying around and Luna…" Zavier sighed, "Luna doesn't really know what she wants to do or use." His frustration was evident.
Madison nodded with the knowledge of a teenage girl who perfectly understood what the other was going through. She turned and fumbled around her bench then came out with something. "Give this to her, it goes on her wrist. It'll use the energy the creature was going to use to turn into an item to turn into ammo instead. She'll need to be near the creature when it dies to absorb its energy, but do that and it'll just keep charging itself up. Just don't let her get too close if you want the thing to turn into an item. If it tries to absorb something too powerful it may just overload, so if she feels it getting too hot tell her to get rid of it quick."
Zavier looked at her in awe and examined the item.
Item Name: Cogslinger Gauntlet
Type (crafted): Combat Gadget
Origin: Crafted by Madison Bouchard, Gadgeteer
Description: The Cogslinger Gauntlet is a wrist-mounted device that launches sharp cogs and gears at high velocities. It features a receptacle for adding chemical mixtures, which modify the projectiles' effects upon impact. This adaptability makes it an essential tool for dynamic combat scenarios.
"Oh man, Luna is going to LOVE this!" Zavier exclaimed. Madison smiled then dug around one of her benches with excitement. "Here! This one's for you. I've been doing a lot of experimenting with absorbing excess creature energy, I think you'll like this."
Zavier held his hands out and accepted the length of chain with a spike at the tip.
Item Name: Chain Whip
Type (crafted): Adaptable Weapon
Origin: Designed by Madison Bouchard
Description: This lightweight chain whip, constructed from a special energy-absorbing alloy, is engineered to absorb energy from creature kills and deliver the stored energy as explosive attacks when striking. Energy capacity based on storage capacity of the chain material and energy attack based on the total amount of energy stored.
"This is super cool, Madison." Zavier smiled as her face lit up. "So, same rules as Luna's gauntlet? I just have to be close?"
Madison shook her head. "No, too much alloy. You need to actually be touching it with the chain when it dies. It'll take a lot of energy before it hits capacity."
"How do I activate the attack part?" Zavier was looking it up and down in confusion.
"I haven't figured that part out yet," Madison sounded chagrined. "I'm good at building things that absorb energy, but so far everything we've killed with them have run into the spikes on their own," she waved to the metal spikes out in the lawn.
"So basically every time I kill something with it it'll absorb their energy, and the next time I attack with it it'll release it all," Zavier said.
Madison nodded.
"Well, I suppose that's a problem for another day," Zavier said. He turned to walk out when something occurred to him. He turned back to Madison. "How hard would it be to modify the tip of this chain?" he asked.