Nobody's Hero

Author's Note:

See Pt. 1 for blurb. Also, if you haven't already read Pt's 1 & 2, I strongly recommend doing so before proceeding.

All sensuality (on page or otherwise) takes place between characters who are eighteen or older.

Copyright © 2024 Jake Lazarus

All rights reserved.

This book, or any portion thereof, may not be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the author (except for the use of brief quotations in a review).

This is a work of fiction.

Names, characters, businesses, products, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner.

Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Twenty-Five

"Good afternoon," a smarmy voice declared. "Is there anything I can take out for you?"

"What?" Hugo snapped as his eyes rose to behold a man wearing an ill-fitting suit with a toupee that was so bad that he was forced to immediately look away lest he burst out laughing.

"Who are you shopping for today? Wife?"

"Negative."

"Girlfriend?"

"Um..."

"Maybe a prospective girlfriend? We have lots of great pieces which will really help you stand out. How about a diamond tennis bracelet? I've got a few lovely items which just came in starting at just twenty-two hundred dollars."

"You're joking," Hugo chuckled.

"Not at all. They're a great value, when you consider the cut and clarity. I guarantee she won't forget the fella that gives her this."

"You honestly expect me to buy something that costs more than many families make in a month for a woman just on the hope that she'll go out with me?"

"Tell you what? I'll even give you a guarantee. If she doesn't love it, just return it for seventy-five percent store credit. Wait! Where are you going?"

"What the fuck is wrong with people?" Hugo muttered as he stalked out of the store and back into the swirling vortex of the mall on a midsummer weekend.

He stood staring around helplessly for a moment before a kiosk vender called out to him. "Hey! Buddy! How happy are you with your wireless plan?"

Hugo ignored him and proceeded further into the mall, his eyes scanning constantly for inspiration. He paused outside a lingerie store, his mind a maelstrom of confusion and anxiety, until his eyes settled upon a poster inside the store which looked to be a spitting image of Carrie dressed in nothing but barely-there undergarments. He allowed himself to be drawn in by the store's allure, arguing to himself that it was not outside the realm of possibility that the picture was indeed of the woman he was meant to take to dinner later that evening, considering her time spent as a fashion model.

An older woman accosted him nearly the moment he entered, calling out, "Shopping for a girlfriend? No, check that, fella as handsome as you could never be happy with just one lady."

He turned and looked at her as though she had just announced that she had solved the secret to reversing the aging process and was in fact older than Methuselah. "Why did you say that?" he demanded harshly.

Her eyes widened in surprise, but she had been in retail too long to be cowed. "Just look at you. Handsome. Fit. And those hands tell me you're no stranger to hard work. So, tell me, sonny; are you looking for something to be the highlight of a special evening? Or are you more the functional type who wants his ladies to associate him with the soft feeling on their most intimate places?"

"I... I don't know. What do you think?"

"That's a question only you can answer, but answer me this: do you know her size?"

"Which one?"

"Oh, lordy. You are a cad. I know just what to do with you. Follow me."

Hugo started to numbly follow behind, but a buzzing in his pocket stopped him short. He pulled Artoo out and nearly gasped when he saw the '

MISSION BRIEFING

' notification. He tapped on it without hesitation and was accosted with staticky snippets of panicked voices shouting for help. Realizing he was making a scene, Hugo lowered Artoo's volume to a whisper and rushed out of the store with the device held against his ear.

"Where?" he grunted as he kicked a fire door open and rushed into the bowels of the mall.

Absent the crush of onlookers, Artoo expanded in size by an order of magnitude and displayed an overlay of a large park near the river. Red icons began appearing on the map as more warnings sounded from his speaker. It was impossible to glean anything but fear from the sporadic messages, but that was more impetus than Hugo needed.

"Get me there! Now!"

The image on Artoo shifted to a blueprint of the building in which he stood, with a red dotted line showing him the quickest path to the roof. He raced through the mostly empty passages, ignoring the occasional shouted demand that he 'get back here'. The sun nearly blinded him when he burst onto the roof, but the dazzling rays were quickly blotted out as a swarm of his tetrahedrons descended from the clouds. They ensconced him in a way which was not uncomfortable, but nonetheless unsettling. He could have maintained a window to the outside world using Artoo, but his training won out and he instead focused on gathering intel for the upcoming confrontation as he was raced to the south.

"What can you tell me?"

'

THE DATA SUPPORT NO CONCLUSIONS AT THIS TIME

'

"Thanks. Do we have any assets on site yet?"

'

T.O.T. 45 SECONDS

'

"How long 'til we arrive?"

'

E.T.A. 67 SECONDS

'

"Perfect. Good any good news?"

'

OOYA ALPHA AND OOYA BRAVO WELL CLEAR OF INCIDENT SITE

'

"I guess that's something," Hugo sighed. "Text both Faith and Carrie. Let them know I'm looking into... an incident. Tell them to stay away, and that I'll call them when everything's over."

'

SENT

'

Hugo spent a few moments listening to the message filtering in from the scene, but they gave him no insight beyond instilling a sense of all hell breaking loose. One of the downsides of traveling with his drones was a complete lack of a normal sense of motion. He had enquired with Tristan and Isolde during one of their increasingly infrequent conversations as to whether a force field was involved, but they insisted that there was nothing more complicated at play than a smoothness to the tetrahedron's movements which would be wholly alien when compared to the conveyances which humanity had invented to date.

Without warning, the drones surrounding him scattered, leaving him standing in the midst of a scene straight out of a classic horror movie. Everywhere he looked, people were either screaming as they fled or hunkered down in fear. Above the screams, Hugo could hear an ominous buzzing, like thousands of angry hornets. As he watched, a dark shape dove out of the sky toward a couple who was racing from the scene.

"Is that a fucking drone?" Hugo grunted. He then watched the octagonal object flare within arms' reach of the couple and hover just above them menacingly.

It took only a quick scan above him to reveal that dozens, if not hundreds, of drones of varying sizes filled the skies.

"We need to capture one and figure out what the hell is going on." No sooner had he finished speaking when a trio of tetrahedrons zoomed silently away. As he waited, he said, "You got anything for me yet on causality count?"

'

17 NON-CRITICAL INJURIES; 1 CRITICAL INJURY; 0 FATALITIES

'

"Really? That's surprising. E.M.S. inbound?"

'

E.T.A. 2 MINS

'

Further musings were interrupted as a tetrahedron dropped out of the sky right in front of him, coming to a stable hover at his eye level. Hugo reached into his pocket, extracting the case he kept the spherical clusters of drones which could interface with electronic devices. He took one and dropped it onto the apex of the angrily buzzing drone which was held fast by the tetrahedron. Within seconds, the buzzing stopped. Less than a minute later, Artoo was ready to render a verdict.

'

THESE DEVICES HAVE BEEN TAMPERED WITH

'

'

THEY NO LONGER RESPOND TO THE ORIGINAL CONTROL UNIT

'

"Can we jam the signal?"

'

NEGATIVE

'

"All right. Let's capture and disable the ones we can so the cops can figure out what happened. But take them out if you have to."

'

PROGRAM RUNNING

'

Hugo stood back and watched as his minions fanned out and engaged the admittedly much larger force of malignant drones. It was an unsettling sight for reasons which were not immediately apparent until he realized that both the enemy swarm and his sixteen tetrahedrons seemed to be moving in perfect concert.

"Um... guys? I thought you said there weren't any others like you."

"I can assure you that whatever is guiding those devices is not celestial in origin," Tristan replied smoothly.

"Then how are they acting in perfect unison?" Hugo whispered.

"Come now, dear boy," Isolde murmured sultrily. "Would not even a commercially available personal computer be capable of such a task with the proper modifications?"

"I honestly have no idea," he admitted.

"I suggest focusing on the task at hand," Tristan advised. "There will be plenty of time later to find out what happened."

"Hugo," Isolde whispered in fear. "Look!"

He quickly evaluated his environment. It took only moments to identify that a sinister change had taken place. Where previously the drones had been harassing the parkgoers, they had now become significantly more violent. As he watched, several of the larger enemy drones plummeted toward the ground to scoop up rocks near the river's edge before returning to the sky.

"No!" Hugo screamed as the first of the enemy drones dove toward a group of cowering teenagers.

Seconds before the heavily laden drone crashed into the group, one of Hugo's tetrahedrons slammed into the side of it and knocked it off course enough to miss the group.

"We need to get these people the fuck out of here," he growled. "Artoo, can you get control of the public address system?"

As one of his tetrahedrons broke off from the battle and zoomed toward the stage, Hugo spotted the enemy with which it had been engaged, a larger drone which appeared to have the livery of an internet retail giant, resume its hunt.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Hugo grunted as he watched the drone drop below the trees momentarily, only to reappear with a lawn tool grasped in the, for want of a better term, arms of the drone. The tool was something likely designed for pruning, a curved serrated blade at the end of a long wooden handle. In the grasp of the evil drone, however, it was a terrifying weapon.

Hugo kept his eyes on the drone as it circled, looking for targets. "Artoo, tag that murder bot at eight o'clock and take it the fuck out. And where are we with the P.A.?"

'

10 SECONDS

'

The wait seemed interminable until one of his tetrahedrons finally engaged the armed enemy drone. Fortunately, the larger size of the adversary combined with the fact that it was weighed down by the weapon left it helpless to prevent the tetrahedron from dropping onto it and depositing a sphere which overrode its control system.

'

ACTIVATE PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEM?

'

Hugo tapped yes and then spoke into his phone. "Everyone needs to find cover immediately! A car. A building. Doesn't matter. Just get inside.

Now

!"

As he spoke, he heard his voice booming from the stage's speakers and he was relieved to see several of the groups of people who had been sheltered amongst trees begin racing toward the parking garage. Scanning his surroundings, Hugo could see that the tide was slowly turning. Unfortunately, it was also obvious that the number of tetrahedrons in the air was dwindling.

"What's happening to our guys?"

'

FIVE DRONES DISABLED BY ENEMY KINETIC ATTACKS

'

"Make sure they all self-destruct."

'

PROGRAM RUNNING

'

Just as it seemed that the last of the civilians had found cover, Hugo spotted a group of four huddled beneath a park bench. He raced in their direction as he looked around for threats. He was horrified to spot yet another enemy drone which had found a landscaping tool which doubled as an infantry weapon.

"Look out!" he shouted to the belatedly retreating group.

A hasty look around confirmed his fears: none of his forces were in a position to save the foursome. Hugo raced toward the group in the desperate hope to somehow outpace the drone plummeting toward them. The group had come to a halt at his warning and were looking around anxiously, it seemingly being outside the realm of their comprehension to consider that the threat might be above them.

Hugo spread his arms like a revival preacher just before he slammed into the group with the force of a professional linebacker, gathering them together and slamming them to the ground. Before any of them could even think to take a breath, a massive force collided with Hugo's back, knocking him out instantly.

Twenty-Six

"What the hell happened?" a sweet voice demanded in an urgent whisper from what sounded like a great distance. "I thought he couldn't be hurt!"

"I don't know," came a worried reply. "At least he doesn't seem to be seriously injured."

"What about internal injuries, though? These fucking doctors won't tell us shit."

"We should be grateful they're not kicking us out. I'm just trying to reassure myself based on the fact that everyone here seems more confused than worried."

"I guess," the first voice allowed, seeming closer with each passing word. "I just wish he'd wake up."

"I'm awake," Hugo rasped.

"Babe!" Faith yelped in unison with Carrie sobbing, "Hugo!"

Both women surrounded him within seconds, their hands cycling between caressing him reassuringly and yanking back as though fearful of hurting him.

"I'm ok," he sighed. "At least, I think I am."

He took in his surroundings to confirm that he was indeed once again in a hospital room. He was, in fact, not entirely certain it was not the same room in which he had awoken following being shot. He felt interminably weary despite the fact that initial reports from his extremities reported no lasting damage.

"Are you sure?" Carrie asked worriedly as a tear fell down her flawless cheek. "We were so worried."

"Where's Artoo?"

"Here!" Faith squeaked as she fumbled with his phone. She lowered her voice with an embarrassed wince. "He's right here."

He took it with a reassuring smile. "How 'bout it, little buddy. Did I take any damage the nanobots couldn't repair?"

The screen expanded in size to show him a schematic of his body which indicated extensive damage to his upper torso and arms. It was quickly evident that the cloud of nanobots which surrounded him, shrouding him from unwanted observation, had once again acted as something of a force field. This had prevented the spear carried by the drone from piercing his flesh, meaning he had sustained the relatively minor damage of a mild fracture to his shoulder blade and a moderate concussion, along with a massive hematoma which covered most of his back. The image Artoo displayed started to shift, showing the progress of the healing nanobots. They had started with his concussion and then gone to work on his shoulder. Artoo projected they would begin the repairs of the shattered blood vessels in his back early the following morning.

He looked up to see both Faith and Carrie regarding him with fearful expressions. He tried to reach up to comfort them, only to snag the tube for his I.V. on the bedframe, which ripped a hiss of pain from his lips. Both women reached for him at once, their concern spiking in response to his discomfort.

"Sorry," he said softly, but to little apparent effect. He glanced between them a few times before lightly enquiring, "So, how was your day," in an effort to lighten the mood.

"Shitty," Carrie replied. "This great guy nearly got himself killed in an effort to get out of going on a date with me." Hugo's face fell, prompting her to offer him a hint of a grin. "I'm kidding. Mostly."

"I had to do what I could, honey."

"I know," she whispered as tears streamed down her cheeks. "I was just so scared."

"Besides," he continued. "It'll take a hell of a lot more than a swarm of murderous drones to keep me from spending time with you. Both of you."

"And to think you claimed to not have any charm," Faith interjected with a smile.

He felt the first twinges of awkwardness seeping into their conversation, so he retreated using the tried-and-true tactic of changing the subject. "What happened after I got knocked out? Was anyone seriously hurt?"

"Twenty-three people were transported to the hospital along with you," Carrie reported. "Most were just shaken up, but seven were seriously wounded."

"Christ," he gasped. "You've got to get me out of this bed."

"Relax," Faith soothed. "Wally and Delores told us how to find your healing tablets and modified them for skin absorption. We visited each of the victims to check on them and managed to plant a tablet on them without raising too much suspicion. Everyone is expected to make a full recovery."

"Wally and Delores?"

"You did offer to super-charge our phones," Carrie replied with a smirk. "Surely you didn't just think we'd use them to track down the best threesome porn on the internet."

"Huh?"

"Nothing," Faith said quickly. "The important thing is that everyone is ok. Or, at least, they will be once you get healed up."

"I'm not sure we can wait around here for that. I'm honestly surprised the jackals haven't descended yet."

Carrie shook her head confidently. "It's true that the incident is all over the news. What's more,

you

are all over the news. But I think you're going to be just fine this time. They're calling you the Scenic City Savior."

"You're shitting me!"

"The news is filled with eyewitness accounts, babe," Faith continued. "Even with, whatever that thing is that masks you from cameras..."

"The Shroud of Obfuscation," Hugo supplied.

"Fancy!" she declared. "In any case, the news is filled with interviews of park-goers who identify you as the one who saved them."

"What about the internet trolls?"

Carrie replied, "Even that cunt, Maria Hosokawa, who's always posting shit on her channel suggesting you were somehow the mastermind behind these disasters is gushing about what a hero you are. I feel almost dirty agreeing with her."

"I'm no hero," he grumbled. "I'm just a guy who had the means and the will to act."

"Placing you comfortably ahead of ninety-nine percent of humanity. Deny it all you want, babe, but you're certainly

my

hero."

"Wait until you guys finally go on your date," Faith offered.

"A task apparently easier said than done," Carrie grumped.

Hugo glanced between them, genuinely touched by both the warmth in their gazes and the quiet relief that radiated from them. He had not had any reason to doubt their friendship, or their interest, but he was still unprepared to discover just how much they cared about him. It was at once overwhelming and more deeply comforting than anything he could remember.

Faith interrupted his thoughts. "Now that you're awake... one of us should go pick up some clothes and things."

"You guys don't need to stay," Hugo protested.

"Just like you didn't need to charge into a hive of murder drones to save a bunch of strangers?" Carrie retorted with a severe expression.

"Point taken."

"Rochambeau for who has to leave?" Faith asked with a shrug.

Carrie signaled her assent by holding her fist above Hugo's stomach. They played rock-paper-scissors across Hugo's bed, with Faith losing three out of four rounds.