All the Dust that Falls

Chapter 152: I Can Fix It

Chapter 152: I Can Fix It

As Beatrice took the injured man inside the castle, I followed behind. I wasn't sure if she would need assistance, but I wanted to be nearby if it was required. Well, even if the man was being led toward a bed. You could never be too careful.

He seemed to regain some of his senses along the way. What he said wasn't quite intelligible, but I did hear something about massive armies and a large siege. That was slightly worrying; it sounded like there would be trouble in the near future. Hopefully, it wouldn't come knocking at our door. If it did, I worried that Beatrice hadn't been adequately prepared.

Her levels and combat experience were acceptable for now. However, Tony's recent demonstration showed that her broom design still left a lot to be desired. Honestly, I wasn't sure how she had already managed to do so much against the undead. The skeletons were easy targets, as she had shown a long time ago, but the ghouls and the zombies had much more mass behind them. She must have just been using the broom like a makeshift spear.

Well, that has worked so far. It was definitely suboptimal. A broom had certain advantages if it was used as intended, but right now, she was probably forming bad habits. And if she wanted to use a spear, she could just use a spear, but there was no need. I had some ideas.

Beatrice was pretty strong now, and almost nothing seemed to have much weight when she lifted it. So I could add a decent amount of mass to a broom, and she would still be able to wield it.

Going around the castle, I looked for spare metal. There wasn't much scrap, but I found a few old horseshoes and a cast iron pot that hopefully Mary wouldn't miss. It still wasn't the nice shock-absorbent material of a good steel brush that I was looking for. My sensors indicated that there was too much iron and not nearly enough carbon. So I found some wood and extracted all its carbon by burning it with my laser before consuming it.

It tested my Void Manipulation skills, but I was able to combine the carbon and iron into usable steel by repeatedly heating it and folding it. I didn't quite get the perfect molecular structure until it had 4,194,304 layers. Then I could start working with it.

This project stretched the definition of a broom a bit, and it was more like a wire brush or a broom sculpture. It should still be effective for cleaning but might scratch up any delicate services. Really, this was best used outside until we had tested it better. The broom was made almost entirely from metal. The bristles seemed to work better as a combination of steel sheathed with the same crystal polymer I had used for those spare human parts. The steel core gave strength, while the polymer lent a flexibility I couldn't get with metal alone. The result was a lot more heft and stopping power. They were still a little springy and would absorb impacts, which was necessary for any heavy-duty cleaning.

On the other hand, it was vastly improved as well. This was no kitchen knife strapped to a stick. This was a broom made for war. A war on dirt and filth, of course. At the top was a 2 ft leaf-bladed spear point, fully integrated with the shaft of the spear. There would be no risk of it becoming detached, and it was honed to a razor's edge.

On the grip, I added a certain amount of texture. Just enough for hands to be able to get a grip even when wet. And not just rainwater wet, but the surface should provide plenty of grip even when coated in viscous fluids like thick stews or mucus. I had a little bit of fun with the textured grip's design. I also made sure to smooth it enough that it wouldn't be overly rough and damage Beatrice's hands.

Finally, I balanced the weapon. Brooms had their center of mass much closer toward the bristled end anyways. Still, with metal, this was a bit exaggerated, so I had to narrow the head of the broom a little bit. Soon enough, I was satisfied and produced the weapon.

It was a masterpiece. Truly, my finest work to date. The whole broomstick gleamed with a polished silver sheen, and the bristles reflected light nicely too. The metal wasn't quite as evenly colored as I would have liked, and the full process took several hours, but when I finished, Beatrice was still waiting with the injured man. Something must really be wrong with him. With most injuries nowadays, she was able to heal them reasonably quickly.

—

Bee wiped the sweat from her brow. She had cured a few bites from zombies before, but none were as challenging as this. It could have been the amount of corruption that had entered the man, or maybe it was how long it had been invading his body. Whatever it was, she had to resort to a lot of rather unorthodox methods to ensure he would not slip away and wake up as one of the undead.

Two impromptu surgeries later, she was certain she had removed all the dangers. She had resorted to some of their more powerful hearing potions and anti-zombie solutions, but it had still been close. Making a mental note to accelerate Maranda's training, she resolved to replenish what she had used soon. Walking out of the room, Bee slid down the wall and leaned her head back with a thud.

She was exhausted. Just briefly, she would rest her eyes, then she would go and find her master. The things he had said about Caleb were worrying…

***

Her eyes snapped open as she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. The piercing blue of Susan's eyes stared back at her. Blinking, Bee looked around. She was still in the hall outside the temporary medical station. Susan was squatting in front of her, studying Bee's face with a concerned expression. "How did it go? Are you okay?"

"Huh? Yeah, just… tired. It was touch and go, but I think I did enough." Bee said, her mind racing through what had just happened.

"Let me help you get to bed." Susan said, standing up and offering a hand.

"No, no. I'm good, just had a nap. Too many things to do." Bee still took and had. "Do you know where Void is?"

"Sitting on top of the portcullis last I saw. Though he had been moving around the castle for a bit I heard."

"Good," Bee nodded. "I need to talk to my master."

Susan walked with her as they made their way down and out of the castle. "What did you hear?"

"He was a scout from Caleb. I think?" Bee said, frowning. "It was hard to understand a few things he said. But it sounded like the undead changed how they were behaving and were getting a lot more aggressive."

"Interesting." Susan said. "When I was last there it looked as if things were not good, but mostly under control. I would give even odds if the city would stand. But only because the Gray Wolf was commanding."

"What changed you think?" Bee said as they stepped outside.

"I don't know. But even if the undead got aggressive, I don't think they would be able to take the city. Maybe 80 percent chance of failure." Susan said he was looking up and speaking slowly as if she was doing a lot of mental calculations. "But that's not necessarily a good thing. Sure, the city might stand, but in most cases, there wouldn't be many people left. Overall, the undead would be stopped, but at a much higher price than it should take. That's usually how the undead act, anyway. I'm not sure what the humans were doing. They are acting like they are facing a human army.

"Normally that would be a mistake, but not one Commander Arthur would make. There must be a reason for it. Yes, the more I think about it the stranger it becomes."

Bee wasn't sure what that all meant, but maybe Void would. As if it could read her mind, her master landed right in front of her. Maybe it could read her mind?

"Master," Bee greeted with a bow. It let out a beep in return.

"Your concern is touching, but I am fine. We are worried about the city of Caleb." Bee said, "It seems to be about to experience a catastrophe."

A few more beeps, and it presented her with its latest creation. As if appearing out of nowhere, its claw suddenly held a work of art. A shiny, gracefully curved broom that looked like it was made of solid metal was offered to her. The shaft was long, straight, slender, textured, and almost imperceptibly striated with wavy patterns of dark and light. The bristles sparkled like crystals, reflecting light with every movement. It almost resembled an ornate torch of gemstones.

Hesitantly she accepted it. Turning it over in her hands, she felt the heft, the grip, and the balance. It was much heavier than her other broom, but the balance was perfect, and there was a slight roughness to the metal that kept her hands firmly in place. She might want to wear gloves with them; she would have to practice with them.

As she examined it, she realized that the rough patterns almost resembled… pictures? In fact, as she looked more closely, the tiny engravings resolved into images of a small human girl fighting zombies and skeletons, a small disk tackling a demon, the girl and disk cleaning a mantle together…

Bee couldn't form words. Not only was it beautiful - it was a chronicle of her adventures with her master so far. She was so touched. Just staring at her master, her jaw worked silently as she held back tears.

Eventually, her brain restarted, and words tumbled out. "Th-Thanks you master!"

Void listened stoically as she and Susan gushed over her new weapon. Eventually, it had enough, and it asked them why they were looking for it. Bee came back to her senses, straightening. She'd continue admiring the divine artifact later. For now, there was business to attend to.

"We wanted to know what you think about the situation in Caleb. Susan had some other information and insights to share."

Quickly they caught Void up. Wasting no time, her master told her to pack and bring as many healing supplies as the castle could spare. Her exhaustion forgotten, she ran to get everything ready.

—

After talking to Beatrice and Susan, I was thrilled I had decided to start on the new broom prototype. Beatrice was going to need it soon. I went over my needs to see if I had anything else to prepare.

As long as I had mass to consume, I wouldn't run out of power. I repaired myself just fine. I supposed I could bring food for Beatrice, but she would probably take care of it. Also, after seeing what my dustbin was doing to the humans inside it, I wasn't sure if storing food in there for a long time was going to work so well. Maybe it was fine, though. At least Cliff hadn't complained yet.

So I was pretty much ready to go. My plan was to just bring Beatrice; I hoped that leaving Susan and Tony behind should be enough to keep everyone safe. Besides, it wasn't like we were going to be gone long. It should just be a quick flight to…

Hmm, that might be a problem. I went off to find Susan, she hadn't gone far so it didn't take me long. I asked her if she had a map or directions to get to Caleb in the most efficient manner - a straight line. My specialty.a

"I only know the way by roads, but if you were to fly, I suppose you would just go about south, southeast?" Susan said, pointing in a general direction on the horizon. Then she adjusted slightly and frowned. "You know what, I think it might be better to just find you a map."

We headed off to the library. With the help of a Librarian, we found an Atlas that had not been on the shelves. After scanning the map, I think I had a better idea of my local area. It also reminded me that I needed to spend some time finishing reading the rest of the library. I had gotten so wrapped up in other things that it had fallen out of my cached memory.