Hypnos Chapter Five (Patreon)

----------------- Chapter Five -----------------

I bit my tongue in concentration. My movements had to be precise. Moreso than any other tinker I had ever met, my tech required delicacy. Master ice sculptors could only dream of of such detail.Were my creations music, they would make symphonies sound like nursery rhymes. 

They used to feel that way at least. 

This time I’ll be able to get it right. This tim–! 

My microwrench tilted three three fourths of a millimeter too far. In a fit of rage, I cursed, hurling the damn tool across my workshop. The whole shin guard would have to be redone!  

“God dammit!” I seethed, just barely resisting the urge to smash the floor in frustration. The shin guard wasn’t what mattered. Wasn’t what had me failing at the simplest of tasks. I let my face sink into my hand. “God… god dammit.” 

Nothing had been the same since…

I wiped my brow, hiding grim feelings and trying to let the guilt wash away. I could drown it with tinkering for a time. Occasionally when Dragon felt particularly talkative I could forget, but it always came back. 

I stood, knowing that my barely contained frustration was not acceptable for tinkering. Creating weapons and armor, my precious motorcycle had always been a relaxation before. Now it seemed tainted. Everything I did felt that way.

Why. Why you stupid little idiot? Why would you…?

The only conclusions I could come to was that I had pushed him too hard. I could be the only one at fault of course. Hunch felt as bad as I did, considering he was the one who first suggested Clockblocker’s power might be able to stop Hypnos. 

I’d pushed him. So damn hard I’d pushed him, filling him with my own ill suited need for glory. I made him think he could stop an Endbringer. And being the kid that he was, he believed me. 

Of course he did. Why wouldn’t he? I was Armsmaster! Why wouldn’t I know what I was talking about? 

His power had seemed like the perfect solution. Stall the Endbringer. Stall it while the city escaped. So simple. I’d… I’d put expectations on him. Beliefs that he shouldn’t have had and responsibilities that he shouldn’t have felt.

My damn pride infected him and he paid the price. 

I’d lost other heroes before. Once or twice but not often. But they had been Protectorate! They had known what they were getting into. Never Wards! Never...

Dennis had been my responsibility and I failed him. 

The speaker on my command console pinged suddenly. I sighed, but internally I felt a little grateful. Maybe E88 was acting up again. I’m sure Piggot would be her usual disdainful self, but I thought I might welcome even that. 

I clicked the button and the monitor blinked on. 

“Armsmaster. Good to see you,” came a cordial greeting. 

“Hero.” I murmured a little annoyed. 

“Oh come on, don’t be like that.”

I couldn’t help loosing the bone deep sigh that always seemed to escape me whenever Hero was around. “How do you expect me to be? Cheerful?”

“Optimistic wouldn’t hurt,” Hero replied with that petulant, almost fatherly grin that used to tick me off. It still did a good job of annoying me.