Part 2

I picked out Chris’s Smarp Guitar and my Koriel. I took them into the workshop connected to my room and set them on the workbench. I set the Smarp on the HoverPlate and set to working on the neck. The crack wasn’t anything to worry about. An easy fix. I finished it in about a half hour. I clamped the neck so that it wouldn’t move around then started to modify the weapons system. I hooked it up to my computer and started rewriting the program. It took me about an hour to finish; but once I had, I was satisfied. The guitar now had a more powerful wave but there were now two types. One would just be a direct hit to the enemy while the other would affect the ground around the enemy to stun them.

I took a break from the computer and started going through all of the spare parts that we had. I was thinking the device should take their voice to mute them or paralyze their vocal cords temporarily. Whichever ended up being made first would be what we used. It was more realistic to have something that emitted a small charge to the bilateral auditory cortices. The right charge would disrupt it. The wrong could emit involuntary phonation. I’d have to do a lot of testing before this could be used to help the guys.

I walked back over to the open space on the floor and turned on the DeskBluPrint. There was a large lens on the floor that put the hologram screen up. It projected in front of me and I started scanning the different parts I had found and added them onto the screen. After that I started rearranging the parts on the projected screen and putting them together. After about an hour of this I finally got the finished model. I smile at the accomplishment and took the parts needed and tossed them into a machine and turned it on. The thing whirred and grinded then opened up a slot on the other side. There was the vocal inhibitor in all of its rusty goodness. I took the small object and walked back over to the hologram and scanned it. The computer rolled out a list of stats. I looked through them then modified the machine again. I put it back in the other machine and had the computer remake it. I did this three more times before I was sure it was as perfect as it would get. For a final test I placed it at the back of my neck and hit the button. There was a slight shock that went up into my head. Kind of like being shot with a little static. I tried to talk but nothing came out. I tried to scream and yell but still nothing. Just a very loud exhale.

I smiled contentedly and grabbed Chris's Smarp. When I got back to the control center, Matt was finishing up the repairs to the computers and reprogramming them. He had a reddish-orange fluid on his clothes and smeared on his face. I suppressed a laugh that no one would have heard anyways and showed him his guitar. He grinned and jumped up to take it from me. I took the inhibitor, flipped the switch and shocked myself again. My voice cracked like a boy’s does when he hits puberty, then grinned.

“I modified it and added another type of sonic wave for you. You still have the first one which shot the wave straight at the enemy. I changed it so that it’s more accurate. The second one I added, affects the ground and can knock the enemy off their feet or just stun them. You can switch between the two with the sound knob and you already know how to switch it between music and fight mode.” Chris tossed it on and started playing with it. I panicked and grabbed his wrists. “This is not a toy. This will kill and destroy. Got it? You have to be very careful to make sure you have it switched on MM at all times unless you need to protect yourself. Okay?”

Chris nodded, “Sorry. I’ll be more careful.” He looked at the small, rusty device in my hands, “Is that it? That little ‘ol thing? That’s supposed to stop them from talking?” He looked skeptical.

I nodded and smiled, “Yep. It goes both ways. It sends a charge to the portion of the brain that is the most responsible for vocation. It can either paralyze or stimulate it.”

Chris gently took it out of my hand and examined it. “How do I use it?” I pointed to the switch and the button and explained on how to work it. He asked if he could try it on me and I nodded. I showed him where to point it and he clicked the button. I felt the small shock them showed him how I couldn’t phonate.

Chris grinned, “Finally, silence.” I scowled and took the machine back. I reversed it and gave myself my voice back.

“Your turn,” I smiled evilly and held it up to the back of his neck and shocked him. He jumped and tried to talk but couldn’t phonate. He gave me a worried look. I laughed, “’Finally, silence’.” He pointed at his throat, on the verge of panicking. “Chill, it’s reversible.” I laughed at him and reversed it.

His voice squeaked and he tapped his throat. “I don’t think I like that very much. Please don’t ever do that again.”

I smiled, “I’ll think about it.” I looked at the controls, “Are we ready to go?”

Chris glanced over and nodded, “Yeah, I’ve found where their ship is and I’ve got the coordinates locked in.” He looked over to me, “Are you ready?” I nodded. “Okay, then I’ll start her up. What all do you need to do?”

“Finish working on my keytar then depending on how much time we have, I will work on the guys’ things, and then start making new weapons if I think it might be necessary. I’m not sure yet.” I waved, “I’ll see you in a little bit. I’m heading back to the workshop.” I grabbed the Cryptodimensional Mask to keep an eye on things. I didn’t want him to do anything dumb or for the ship to catch us by surprise and attack us. When I got back to the workshop I sat down on a stool and slouched. I didn’t feel like doing this right now. Tired, bored, and a little lazy. I sat for a few minutes before forcing myself to get my keytar and start working on it.

I set it on the HoverPlate and started taking it a part. When I was able to get inside I hooked it up to my computer and started working on the targeting system…or lack thereof. I added it to the instrument and wrote the program to sense the enemy. I then added the needed pieces for it to do the sensing. I put it in the parts then put it back together. I then took it to the DeskBluPrint and scanned it. I looked at the numbers then took it back to the workbench. For some reason it wasn’t working out the way I wanted it to. I tinkered with it for a few minutes the tried again. Still not right. I kept trying for another hour or so before I gave up and decided to get lunch. I left the workshop and went out to the front where Chris was busy watching the ship’s progress. We had left our current galaxy and were halfway through its neighbor.

“How’s it going?” he asked, sounding bored.

“Awful. I don’t get it. I can’t get my keytar to work. I put a targeting/sensing system in it and I can’t get the configurations right. I don’t know if it’s me, the keytar, the computer, or all three. It was frustrating me so I decided to get lunch and think about it.” I opened the cupboard and pulled out the peanut butter. I went around the kitchen getting the jelly, plate, knife, and the Frito's then started putting the sandwich together.

Chris looked at it with disdain, “How can you put chips on that?”

“Like this,” I tossed a few of them on and smiled. “It’s good.”

“No it’s not.” He argued.

“You never know until you try.” I held up the finished sandwich and offered him a bite. He shook his head and I shrugged, “More for me.” I took a huge, crunching bite and Chris faked a gag. I rolled my eyes at him and went to sit in the copilot’s chair, which was usually his. Through a mouthful of peanut butter I asked him how close we were to catching up to them.

“About a few hours behind them; they left about two hours ahead of us.” He looked at my sandwich again, “On second thought I think I will have a bite of that.” I passed the creation to him and he took a small bite. He crunched through it then raised his eyebrows. “It’s not bad but it’s not something I could eat as often as you.”

“You tried it. That’s all that matters.” I took my sandwich back. Chris kept looking at the sandwich as I finished it.

“I think I want one now. I’m thinking ham and swiss.” He got up and went to the kitchen to make his lunch. While he was up I stole my captain’s chair back. I pressed a button on the side and a soda popped out of the armrest. When Chris came back he looked at the drink in my hand then at me.

“Where did you get that?” I shrugged and he shook his head at me. “I don’t understand you sometimes.” He rolled his eyes then sat down in the copilot’s chair. “So now what?”

“We’ll have to just wait. For now I’m going to work on their instruments and come back to mine later. I need time to figure out what’s wrong and what I can do to fix it.” I slouched and sighed. “Do you have any ideas of what could be causing it?”

Chris shook his head, “Not a clue. I’m not the tech geek here, you are. How should I know?”

“Ugh, I need Jon here. He could help me out.”

“Sure about that? You’ve proven that you know a lot more than he does with computers and their systems.”

I shook my head at him, “How much we each know doesn’t matter. He might be able to see what I’m missing. That’s why I need him here.” I got up to put my plate and glass in the sink and shuffled back. “What I really need is my DeskBluPrint to just tell me why it’s not working and how to fix it, not just the numbers.”  I flopped back into my chair and watched him finish his sandwich.

Chris leaned forward in his chair, “Well take out what you started and the stuff that you had originally put in there and start over. Try it from a different angle and see what happens.” He leaned back again and took the last bite of his food. Chris then stood and took his things to the sink. He leaned back on the counter and watched me for a second. “Well? What are you waiting for? Go get to it.” He motioned with his head to get going.

I hesitated, “Would you like to help or watch?”

He shrugged, “I guess, there isn’t really much else to do.”

Author's Note

Koriel is what I decided to name Danni's Korg keytar. Lemme know if you see any mistakes in this.