Turn 61

--- Maya ---

Seeing as she’d arrived early to the M.A.D. club, she decided to use the time to try and work on remaking her COMP, only this time taking into account the various upgrades to its memory and power supply she’d made.

Of course in the process of remaking everything and cleaning everything up, she discovered that if she tweaked a few things she could actually restructure the COMP to have better processing power and storage. Something that would allow her to increase the maximum Memory of her COMP while also making it significantly easier for her COMP to run data oriented programs. (And more memory means more programs.)

(Always useful to have options.) Her inner logic mentally nodded.

(But wait!) Her inner madness cut in, before they could finalize that plan. (If we redo the wiring here with something thicker and rearrange that circuit there can’t we increase our overall power capacity as well as how much power we can put into our energy programs!)

(Hmm, she… seems to be correct.) Her inner reason admitted, before pointing out that, (At the same time however, restructuring the wires and circuit in that way would prevent us from applying the necessary upgrades to the COMP’s storage capacity.)

“What do you mean?” She asked, pretty sure she could fit both if she increased the COMP’s casing ever so slightly.

(Not without adding a vent of some sort to the COMP.) Her inner logic argued. (Otherwise the heat from the wires and battery will cook all of the circuitry when we push the CPU for our data programs.)

(And explosions may be cool, but they’re less so two inches from our skin.) Her inner passion warned, in a rare bout of rationality. (I feel I should be offended.)

Shaking her head she went over the bits and pieces of her COMP three times over, trying to prove the voices in her head wrong, before eventually coming to the (bitter) conclusion that they weren’t.

(You should never doubt us.) The madder voice in her head told her.

(True.) The other voice agreed, before asking. (So, which will it be? Energy or Data? Memory or Power?)

---

Half way through her work on the COMP she had to set the device to the side as Melvin finally arrived for her lesson.

“Since you seemed so interested in all of our metal working yesterday, I figure we can continue from there with a more practical project.” Melvin told her as he picked up a few sheets of metal from the club’s storage room.

“But I thought we were doing practical training yesterday when you gave me the welding torch?” She felt the need to point out.

“For most people that was a practical project.” The older M.A.D. admitted while handing her some of the smaller pieces. “But for an M.A.D. a practical project is one where you actually build something.”

(He is not wrong.) Her inner logic agreed.

“So what are we building then?” She asked, shifting her grip on the metal.

“One of the labs had their wall plating screw up so we’re going to put your lessons yesterday into practice and fix it.” Melvin explained, exiting the storage room with several sheets of metal larger than her own.

“But uh, isn’t that something they’d want to fix on their own?” She had to ask, knowing that she’d feel more comfortable if she was the one setting up the defenses for her own lab.

“It’s Jim’s lab.” Melvin answered in a dry tone.

“Ah.”

(Nuff’ said.)

---

“So, tell me what do you think about this whole… ‘dungeon’ endeavor?” Ying asked, before reversing one of her strikes and locking her shoulder in place. “Also point.”

“Don’t trust it.” She admitted in frustration as the other girl released her.

“Oh, and pray tell, why not?” Ying questioned curiously. “I figured the gaming aesthetic of it all would draw you in. Especially if I’m remembering how you and Izzy tried to convince your parents to give it a run.”

“Oh, uh,” She winced, rolling her sore shoulder out as she tried to think of a response before eventually deciding to just go with the truth. “That’s before I realized the whole event is run by one of the city’s Deviant gangs. The one rumored to put Slaver effects on their ‘power-ups’.”

She wasn’t actually sure if that was a rumor or not, but it (doesn’t change the fact that we saw it with our own two eyes.)

“Hmm, that is true.” Ying nodded, before dismissing the concern because, “given how the whole event is managed -at least in part- by the city, I doubt there’s any serious cause for concern.”

She couldn’t help but give that a huff of amusement. “Usually you’re the cautious one, you can’t tell me you seriously want to give the dungeon a run.”

“Oh, I can, because I do.” Ying argued with a smirk.

“But uh, what about your mom?” She frowned with some concern. “Won’t she, you know, throw a fit over this.”

“Who said I was going to tell her?” Ying scoffed, before starting another round of their spar. “My time is my time to do with as I please.”

“Um…” She grimaced, unable to think of anything as she blocked a brutal roundhouse with her forearm. (Fuck, that stings.)

(I think we may have stepped on a proverbial landmine.)

---

After both her spar and putting the finishing touches on her COMP re-work, she found herself too exhausted to do anything that required much in the way of either mental or physical effort.

Which is why she was laying in her bed as a stray thought reminded her of the fact that, (Hey, isn’t Halloween right around the corner?)

And she remembered that, (yes, yes it is.)

As well as the random connection that, (Halloween is ghost season,) and the fact that, (don’t we technically have a ghost in the basement?)

(...)

(...)

(...)

“Fuck!” She cursed sitting up and pulling out her phone as she began pulling up everything she could about the massacre at Beacon Hospital and the ghost there of. (Because knowing our luck that ‘ll be the day she starts acting up.)

This hunch was proven extremely likely due to the fact that it turned out said massacre happened on Halloween. (Meaning ghost girl is going to be pissed on that day.)

(Hmm, perhaps we should avoid going near the hospital on Halloween.) Her inner reason suggested.

(And abandon our babies for the day? Fuck no!) Her inner maternal instincts denied.

(We could always take them out of the hospital?) Her inner logic tried to compromise.

(And take our babies away from the only home they know? Fuck no!) Her inner insanity refused.

“Moving the minions for that day is actually a decent idea.” She cut into the voices argument with just a touch of frustration as she found a list of victims from the massacre (though I can’t remember what the ghost girl actually looks like so fat lot of good it does me.)

Shaking her head at that unhelpful revelation, she decided to attempt herding the cats that were the voices in her head. “Look, if the ghost girl really does get loose, she’ll probably trash everything that she thinks doesn’t belong in the hospital. So we’d have to deal with it one way or another to keep her from trashing all of our stuff. And all of that’s before the fact that we probably have to deal with whatever is in the hell wing too.”

(Ah, yes… That is something we should be concerned with as well.) Her inner reason admitted with a mental grimace. (If there is something sinister lurking in that wing, it could cause just as much damage if not more than the ghost girl.)

(Uh, yeah… But we kind of have to, you know, go into the haunted and hell wings to actually do anything about those.) Her inner madness pointed out. (Which while having my vote for being batshit insane, loses it for pushing even my survival instincts.)

(Well it wouldn’t be too dangerous if we managed to hire a Hunter to help us.) Her inner logic offered, her own survival instincts warning away from the mess at the hospital.

“Can’t do that, not without setting us back on the thing with Tommy.” She groaned, realizing that she probably shouldn’t have just ignored the ghosts and demons in her hospital for the last two months. (Don’t rub it in.)

(You kind of deserve it though.)

“Hey you forgot about it too!” She growled.

(But I reminded you about it!) Her inner passion argued. (And I’m not the one driving this bitch either!)

“Did you just call me a bitch?!”

(I was actually talking about our body, but that works too.)