No one from the governor chat had thought it prudent to mention the kaiju boss battle that was waiting for them at the end. The Colonel spent the following week in meetings and planning sessions, desperately trying to come up with contingencies for the worst-case scenarios. Damian, on the other hand, spent the week attempting to adjust to life with only one arm, progress was slow. He still found himself going to use his left hand to open doors only to remember it wasn’t there as he stared dumbly at the closed door.

  With all his downtime, Damian had started reading through his new books. He started with the gem crafting books and was surprised at their simultaneous complex yet simple nature. Runic gems were simple in application; they applied the effect of an element they were associated with, such as lightning or fire. Then the rune would amplify the effect and direct it. Yes, rune singular. Unlike regular runic enchantment with the Elder Futhark language, runic gem craft required the gem to be carved into a three-dimensional representation of a rune tied to the gem’s symbology. For example, rubellite tourmaline, often called the electric stone would need to be carved into a rune that represented lightning, such as sowilo. The ambient magic would latch onto the connection and symbology of the gem and produce a long-lasting source of electricity that could then be harnessed for a myriad of purposes.

  Damian spent a lot of hours consulting with Viktor, raising the big man’s familiarity with the craft by sending him copies of Damian’s notes. They eventually decided to make the first iteration of the arm be a simple utility and proof of concept. They would take a simple design used as an example in Viktor’s textbook and adapt it to use a runic gem as a power source. Viktor was slightly disappointed to not make a more combat oriented device but agreed that with their time table, and lack of exotic resources, simple was better and promised to visit the week before the market to have the arm installed.

  Outside his design meetings with Viktor, Damian was dragged around town by various friends and acquaintances that didn’t wish to see him fall to depression. Even Reynold the pixie was surprisingly light handed in their ongoing prank war. Damian wasn’t sure whether to be touched, or deeply worried. Ulf dragged Damian out to drink and be social, Brynhildr ensured Damian remained active and ran the man ragged with training exercises. When he could spare the time, Colonel Johnson made sure to stop by and check on Damian, and to bitch at him for not telling him about the kaiju sooner.

  It was the middle of the second week that Damian’s family arrived with their bags in tow. He had managed to clear out one of the empty houses near where he and Big Lu stayed. His sister was an emotional rollercoaster of clingy, angry and upset, that she couldn’t seem to decide between. When Damian showed her the designs for his prosthetic, she appointed herself as his surgeon and demanded Viktor’s number. The two could be heard discussing plans and surgery prep notes into the late hours of the night. The next morning, Damian took his brother-in-law to register as a new teacher at the school, and enrolled his niece for her last year of high school, much to her protest.

  “Uncle! I’m already learning from mom, I don’t need to go to school!” Rachel whined.

  “You are going and that is final, young lady. You need to make some friends, no niece of mine will be hiding out in her room all day reading textbooks.” Damian said sternly.

  “Ugh! You’re as bad as mom and dad! You were supposed to be the cool uncle!”

  “If you behave and make a few friends, I’ll ask Arushi to teach you some herbology so you can make your own medicine.” Damian cajoled.

  “Really! Okay I………wait. Arushi? Who is this Arushi, uncle? Are you cheating on aunt Catherine already?” Rachel teased.

  Damian ran a hand down his face, “Damn Teenagers. The hell are you laughing at Patrick? You haven’t seen what I signed you up for yet.”

  Patrick made a choking noise, and turned to run. Damian caught the boy by the collar, “Oh no you don’t! Come on kid, time to face the music. Just remember I do this out of love.”

  Damian dragged his fruitlessly struggling nephew behind him as he made his way to the field he arranged for Ulf to meet him at. When they arrived Damian tossed his nephew, who just went limp in protest at this point, at Ulf’s feet. Patrick rolled to a stop and stared up at the giant wolfman with trepidation. His uncle’s following words nearly made his heart stop.

  “As we discussed this little welp wants to be a soldier. As his loving uncle I want to ensure he actually survives such an occupation. I entrust his training to you and the Einherjar, my friend. I’ll provide the appropriate tithe of booze as recompense, so spare no effort.” Damian said, voice dripping with schadenfreude.

  “Of course, my friend! We will make a fierce warrior out of him or kill him trying!” Ulf said with way too much cheer for Patrick’s liking.

  “U-Uncle, he’s joking right? Right?” Patrick asked nervously.

  Damian just shrugged, “Meh, it’ll be good for you in the long run. Have fun brat, maybe next time make a few less puns when you reunite with your uncle next time.”

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  Damian walked away with a smirk as Ulf laughed, and his nephew screamed in terror. Ulf wouldn’t do anything too bad to the boy, but Damian was a firm believer in petty vengeance. Something he reminded himself of, as he felt a squishing sensation under his boot. He looked down to see a pile of cow dung, in the middle of a school parking lot, in a city with no cows. The maniacal crowing of a pixie in the distance just confirmed it for him.

  “You will regret this Reynold!” Damian swore at the pixie.

  Damian returned home to continue his studies, only to pause at an unexpected sight. Sitting on the front porch was Big Lu, Viktor, Arushi, and Catherine. Big Lu spotted him first and waved at him.

  “Dude! About time you got back, we’ve been waiting forever!” Big Lu laughed out. The big man got up and dragged Damian into a hug, “It’s good to see you man.”

  Catherine joined in the teasing, “Yeah! Don’t ya know it’s rude to keep ladies waiting?”

  “For shame Damian. I thought you were more respectful than that.” Arushi giggled as she threw an arm around Catherine.

  Viktor just grinned, “Surprise! It is good to see you again Damian! Come, drink vith us and eat. Your sister is using your kitchen to make snacks!”

  Damian flipped Big Lu the bird and laughed as he joined his friends on the porch. Big Lu passed him a drink and patted him on his shoulder.

  “Sorry I couldn’t be here sooner man. They had us clearing out as many portals as we could get to. We only have a few left across Europe, Asia, and Africa. A few teams were sent to clear portals in Antarctica before being stopped after clearing five of them.” Big Lu said.

  “That’s probably due to me. I told the Colonel about the kaiju fight coming at the last portal. High command wants to ensure that the last portal is in the artic, no civilian casualties if it happens there.” Damian said as he placed his beer between his legs so he could pop the top.

  “That would do it. How are you holding up man?” Big Lu motioned at his missing arm.

  “Other than walking into a door here and there because I forget I don’t have a left arm to open them with? I’m adjusting, hopefully this arm Viktor and I are working on will help.” Damian waved off his friend’s concern.

  “Da! It should vork vonderfully! According to text book it should be very responsive! Catherine has helped make plating and gears for inner workings.” Viktor chimed in as he tossed a snack into his mouth.

  Catherine gave him a soft smile, “I couldn’t let your project have poor results due to shoddy craftsmanship. Only the best for my partner, yeah?”

  Arushi chuckled, “Don’t let her fool you with her tough girl act. She bawled her eyes out when she learned about your accident. She was very worried and hounded Viktor to let her make the parts.”

  Catherine went red in the face, “Arushi! Like you were any better, you kept asking when would be an appropriate time to visit to check up on him.”

  Damian laughed as the two fell into good natured bickering. Viktor and Big Lu eagerly egged the two on with baiting statements, half of which Damian was sure, were made up. Amber emerged from the house with a tray of food; she smiled at the friends sitting around and joking. She placed the tray down in front of Viktor and walked over to Damian to ruffle his hair.

  “You made some good friends, little brother.” Amber said, a fond smile on her face.

  “Yeah. I really did, though Lu is hit or miss most days.” Damian teased.

  “Hey! You ass!” Lu laughed.

  Amber giggled and asked, “How long will you all be in town?”

  Arushi stole a snack from Catherine, who pouted at her, and nibbled on it, before turning to Amber, “Catherine and I will be here until the market and maybe a bit after. Viktor?”

  “Same. I vas told they vould hold me in reserve until arctic mission. I vill get materials at the market and vork vith Damian to create combat arm prototype. Ve vill kick monster ass vith power of friendship and science-y magic!” Viktor boomed out with a laugh.

  Damian smiled at his friends, “It will be great to have you all here. I have a few ideas on the arm front, Viktor. I’ll let you know for sure after the market.”

  Viktor gave him a thumbs up, his mouth too full of meat, cheese, and crackers to speak. Arushi gave his knee a squeeze and smiled at him alongside Catherine.

  “What about you girls? What are your plans for the market?” Damian asked the two women.

  Catherine hummed in thought, “I will look for some special alloy formulas and weapons that were made to harm large targets. Best to arm our fellow Inducted and the regular soldiers if we want to hunt kaiju.”

  Arushi considered for a while before answering, “I will look for potent poison formulas. See if I can’t find something to lace our weapons with. It would be best if we could do as little actual fighting as possible. Other than that, I will look for methods to increase the fire power of our regular troops.”

  “Good plan I’ll join you two after I deal with the crown auction. Do you think we will meet people from other planets that got dragged into all this integration nonsense?” Damian asked.

  “I hope so,” Big Lu said, “It would be nice to know its not just us that got screwed over. With any luck we could land ourselves some allies.”

  Viktor spoke up, “You could just ask the system. I doubt it would hide that information.”

  “Nah, I’d like to keep that part a surprise. I am curious about one thing though.” Catherine said as she poked Arushi in the side.

  Arushi swatted at her hand, “Stop that. What are you curious about?”

  Catherine smirked and redoubled her efforts to poke her best friend, “What happens after we survive the integration and form a new government?”

  They all blinked. They had never considered that; they were too focused on the immediate future. They didn’t get the opportunity to contemplate long before a system box decided to interject into their conversation.