The Conceptual Deck - Chapter 2: Learning curve

Two beers and a long brainstorming session with Ema later, I looked down at the several pages of notes I had written down. The first page was filled with crossed out and circled names and topics. As far as the internet was concerned, Magneto and mutants didn’t exist. Doctor Strange did, but he currently worked at Metro-General Hospital. Iron Man had been around for a bit, but the only mention of Peter Parker was a science fair award from a year ago. Captain America was only mentioned in past tense, which I sincerely hoped was something that would change. No modern mentions of Thor or a Doctor Donald Blake. I was tempted to look up Hydra while pretending to be doing a history project, but Ema convinced me that it wasn’t worth the risk, at least not yet. We also agreed not to look up Black Widow or Hawkeye. Shield existed, and has existed for a while, though I refrained from looking up any names that I could remember. When Ema finally shut down her connection to my laptop and I put down my phone, I was thoroughly confused. This reality I had been dropped into was a complete mishmash of stories. Which meant any knowledge I had about Marvel was an unreliable guide at best, misleading and wrong at worst.

“Perhaps this is simply a reality that is more realistic.” Ema suggested after we were done. “Where outliers are based on genetics and technology?”

“It’s possible. But it feels more like we are still in the origin story.” I respond, rubbing my face. “I think this entire world is sitting on the precipice of weirdness.”

After we finished going through my short list of research topics, and after promising myself to write down anything else I came up with, I started running through some simple experiments with my cards. I quickly realized that combining things was hit or miss and extremely difficult to predict. Combining two similar things together would sometimes create an object of better quality, sometimes supernaturally so.

On the other side, mashing two different things together led to some weird, and mostly useless creations. I had managed to create a roll of paper towels that felt smooth as toilet paper, mostly because that was what I combined it with. The torn off squares were still absorbent and tough like paper towels though. Even stranger was that storing a container with objects inside was safe even if you combined an item with it as only the container was affected.

We also found out that I could pull Ema back into a card, but not the cactus I had gotten from an old neighbor.

“I am an artificial construct after all, it is to be expected.” she said dismissively when she popped back out.

“It just means you’re a different form of life as far as I’m concerned, Ema.” I assured her. “Humans are constructed too, we just take longer. Besides, it means that if we really need to, I can combine you with something to improve your chassis.”

Her card was also named, The Emerald Construct was embossed in gold on the bottom of the card where the rank would have been.

After a while I forced myself to stop experimenting and leaned back on the couch. While I was sorely tempted to continue, I began to realize that I simply didn’t have enough junk to mess around with. While I had enough money to survive, things had always been tight enough that what I did have was stuff I needed. I couldn’t just combine my laptop with my notebook for shits and giggles, at least not until I could afford a replacement.

“I need more resources. Mostly money.” I said, chewing on the end of a pen cap. “I need to be able to hold my own if I want to control my future.”

I knew I couldn’t just knock on Shield’s door, ask for a cup of sugar, some resources to play around with, and oh hey by the way have you heard anything about Hydra recently? I would be dead, brainwashed, or chained to a workbench by the end of the day.

“I need to build myself up, then I can help without being disappeared or brushed off.”

“I can understand that logic, but why not seek some sort of sponsor.” Ema asked, reading over my shoulder as I took notes. “There should be plenty of wealthy individuals who would be willing to invest in someone like you, especially if you are willing to share some luxuries with them.”

“That just circles around to Hydra again, or any of the other secret societies that could be around.” I explained. “Not to mention if I find someone who would be willing to help then I would be putting them in danger.”

All of this left me with three real choices as far as I could see. The safest thing for me to do was to use my cards and loot every Walmart, Target and Best Buy in New York. But I didn’t want to do that. Not because I cared about any of those stores’ bottom line, but if I did that I just knew someone was going to lose a job, or worse, get held responsible for all of the missing junk. Plus that kind of stuff always comes back to bite people in the ass, especially in a comic book universe. Not to mention it would be hard to explain to Captain America if they ever found him.

“Jesus, my new moral guide is Captain fucking America. I’m so screwed.”

“Judging from the information on him from this reality he wouldn’t have liked you swearing.” Ema teased.

“Yeah well I’ll give up swearing if he comes back. God, I hope he comes back.”

Alternatively, I could go to Tony Stark. I’m pretty sure he would happily fund my projects, if nothing else than to study the process and maybe make some requests. Better yet he could take care of himself and probably wouldn’t just brush off my worries about Hydra or secret societies. Though there was a chance he belonged to one.

“It’s unlikely the group called Illuminati exist in this reality.” Ema assured me when I voiced that particular concern. “I can’t find any records of over half of the group, and Doctor Strange isn’t a sorcerer.”

“Yet.” I corrected. “He isn’t a sorcerer yet.”

Even if that was true, there were quite a few different flavors of Tony Stark in Marvel. In some comics he was a paranoid alcoholic, in some he was a control freak and in some he was both. I didn’t want to end up depending on a version that turned out to be an asshole. The next option was a lot less safe than the first two. I could use all my meager savings and get some supplies legally, then pour it all into a single project while holding off on any experimenting. I could build myself a suit, something that would protect me and let me sneak around. Then I could use that to steal from gangs, future villains, anyone who could use a little humbling.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Ema asked, still looking over my shoulder. “A lot could go wrong.”

“A lot could go wrong with most of my choices. At least this way I’ll maintain my independence and be able to build up resources before anything big happens.”

“And you’re sure you can make armor and a stealth suit?”

“Judging from our experiments, I should be able to. How well it works is another question entirely.”

“If it doesn’t work well enough what will you do?”

“I have no idea. But Ema, choices are limited. If it blows up in my face I will go to Stark and ask for help. I’m desperate not suicidal.”

Eventually I managed to convince her that it was our only option and began planning out how I was going to make both the armor and a stealth suit. Eventually , when everything was planned out, tossed the notepad into a card and put the deck in my pocket. I headed into the kitchen, having finally admitted I was too hungry to experiment more.

“Hmm… Chinese leftovers or a reheatable pizza?” I asked myself as I opened the refrigerator door.

“The chinese food would go bad first, so you should probably eat that while it’s still edible”

“Fair point. Leftovers it is.”

I pulled a box of noodles out and grabbed a pan from a hook above the sink, dumping the box’s contents into it and clicking on my small stove. As the heating coil slowly started to warm, I stepped back to wait and watch. Eventually the oil in the food started to spit as it heated up, a rather interesting thought popped into my head. I reached out and put the whole pot into a card, examining it with my new sixth sense as well as my eyes. It was graded a C, but what I was really interested in was the fact that I could feel that it was a hot pan of reheated Chinese food. A hot pan. With a mental push the pan returned to the stove before I quickly dumped the noodles onto a plate. I rushed through eating them, shoveling the noodles into my mouth before putting the empty plate into the sink.

“What’s the rush, your lucky you didn’t choke”

“When I had the pan in a card I could sense that it was still hot!” I explained, rummaging through the draws. “Cmon, I know I have a lighter here somewhere…”

“You’re going to try and card the flame itself?”

“Exactly!”

I carried the lighter into the living room, plopping back down onto the couch, pushing my notepad out onto the coffee table before pulling the lighter into a card. It was a F rank, which wasn’t surprising considering it was one of those cheap two dollar types. I pushed it back out into my hand before flicking it, holding the lever down. I reached out with a finger and took a breath, guiding it into the flame and pulling before it could burn me. The flame vanished, a card now held between my fingers. It was F rank, the image of a tiny flame, the same size it had been on the tip of the lighter. I could feel that’s exactly what it was as well, the smallest amount of fire, of heat, trapped in the card, that it would flicker out the moment I pushed it out.

“That was rather interesting. My sensors show that both the fire and the heat were completely absorbed.”

“I know, I can feel it in the card. It’s tiny but it’s definitely the flame.”

Already knowing what would happen, I held the card out and pushed it with my mind. The card vanished, and for a moment a tiny flicker of a flame sat in the air before immediately disappearing.

“I wonder what happens when I combine them?”

I flicked the lighter on again, once again stealing the fire. This time however, I repeated the process. I immediately combined the two little fire cards. The resulting card was basically the same. It was the same grade, not quite twice as big as the first, but it was bigger by a noticeable degree. It was still fleeting and unimpressive however, disappearing immediately when I pushed it out of the card.

Quickly I started capturing little flames. Over and over I flicked the lighter until I had a full hand of twenty little flame cards. I started combining them together, pushing each flame into another to make ten doubles, then five quadruples, then two octuples and a single quadruple. With a frown I started again until I had four octuples. I combined those together, before finally combining the last two into one card. Instantly I could feel this card was different. It was still just as temporary, a split second ball of heat that would be about the size of my head. But its grade had gone up to a D, and I could feel that it better encapsulated the concept of fire. It was more than a flicker of flame.

“I hope you’re not planning on releasing that here.”

I looked at Ema with a raised eyebrow before starting the process over again with renewed vigor until I had two D rank cards. Unsure of what to expect, I combine them together, only to be disappointed. The card felt more, it was definitely a bigger fireball, but that was essentially it. It didn’t go up in rank or feel like it better represented the concept of fire.

“What’s wrong?”

“I expected it to be…I don’t know, more I guess?” I explained, struggling to find words. “It’s hard to describe because I’m sensing things from the card that don’t fit common vernacular. But I’m close, I can feel it. ”

Chewing my lip, my eyes furrowed, I stared at the card before glancing at the lighter. With a pull I held rank F card, noticing that I could sense it was much lower on fuel. With shrug started to put it against the fire card, before stopping and pulling back. In my experiments it was clear that combining a higher ranked card with a lower ranked card would drop the quality of the item. Combining a F ranked lighter with a D ranked flame seemed like a good way to get no-where. I needed a better lighter.

“Stay here Ema, I need to go to the store.” I said, standing and returning my card to the deck. “Feel free to watch tv or use my laptop.”

I was up and out the door before I could even think about putting this off until tomorrow, barely hearing Ema’s response of confirmation. I could feel how close I was, and I knew there was no way I could rest without figuring out how far I could take this. I made it to the nearby corner store in record time, walking in and waving to the clerk. The store looked a bit different from what I remember, sparking a moment of pause. I hadn’t even thought about it on the way here, but this was a different reality. I was lucky this store was still here at all. I needed to remember that, or I would be caught flat footed not knowing something I definitely should.

My thoughts were drawn away to the outside world, finally finding what I was looking for. Picking up a butane torch and two extra containers of butane, I headed to the cashier, putting them down on the counter. I looked behind the teenage clerk, spotting a few zippo lighters.

“Hey, grab me one of those zippos too, maybe the brass one. And a container of fuel.”

The clerk nodded, taking the cash I passed him without comment. After a quick count, he passed me the change and a bag with my purchases.

“Have a nice night.”

He called after me, getting a wave in return as I headed out the door. I rushed back to my apartment. By the time I got back the sun was setting and I could see my breath. I rushed back up into my apartment, the three flights of stairs catching up with me once I shut the door behind me.

“Ema, remind me that I need to work on my cardio. Like really badly.” I huffed out, eyes closed.

“Noted. Was your shopping trip successful?”

When I had recovered enough to push off my once again triple locked door, I pulled off my jacket and made my way back to the couch, dropping my bag on the cheap table. Ema flew down closer to the bag, scanning it before turning to face me as I sat.

“Is it smart to be experimenting with fire inside of the apartment?” She asked, her parts spinning, almost fluttering in a way I was beginning to identify as nervousness.

“I have a fire extinguisher. Two actually. Brought one with me and the previous tenant left one behind.”

I assured her as I began to open my purchases, immediately putting each one into a card as I did. Everything was D ranked, with the torch already full of fuel. I popped out the butane torch and clicked it on. It lit like a mini rocket, blue flame extending an inch and a half from the nozzle. With a grimace I reach with my finger, pushing it in and pulling. I could feel my finger singe a bit, not enough to really hurt but enough to sting.

“Careful!” Ema said, hovering directly over my shoulder, almost resting on it.

The card was a F rank, but already I could tell it was much, much more than the tiny flame the lighter had given. As quickly as I could I grabbed seven more cards before combining them all together. The finished product was a D rank, about the same size as the conglomerate I had made from the lighter, but way more intense and directed. I could feel that it was a jet of flame almost a foot long, much hotter than the original torch could make. Quickly I made another, combining the results with the original. Then, after confirming it hadn’t jumped in grade, put it back into the deck.

“Still not a C rank. And the last combination did much less than the first.”

“Diminishing returns?”

“Seems like it. Wonder if everything works like that, if it’s just fire, or if it’s because the source I’m getting it from is easy to get. Would fire from a house fire work better? From a candle…?”

I frowned, my ramblings trailing off, still not understanding what I was missing. It was also possible that the scale for jumping from D to C was much larger than F to D. With a shrug I put the free torch into a card, flicking it away and pushing out the zippo. Quickly I filled it with fluid, cleaning it with a handy toilet paper textured paper towel. When I was done I pulled the trash into a card and with a wince, tore it in half. The card disappeared instantly, and in a slight rush I counted my deck.

” Fifty-Two. Guess tearing them up is fine.”

“The message did say it would work.” Ema pointed out, leaving my shoulder to float near my laptop.

Shaking my head and smiling at my new discovery, I once again pulled the brass zippo and the butane torch into cards, combining them confidently and pushing the result into my hand. The results were… less than stellar. The shape was almost the same as the original torch, but now made of burnished brass. The nozzle had a spring loaded cap just like a zippo, and while the jet of flame was exactly like the original, it required you to spin a striker with your thumb while holding the butane on with the trigger.

“That looks… different?” Ema offered, spinning around the lighter, scanning it. “I can’t say how it works, the striker is at the wrong end…?

With a click of my tongue I pulled the torch back into a card, noting that it was still D rank before flicking the card to the table where it popped out the torch and disappeared. Deciding that I may as well go all in I combined one of the extra butane charge with the bottle of fluid for the zippo. The result was still D rank, had both the compressed quality of the butane but mixed with the oiliness of the fluid. With a shrug I rapidly combined it and the last spare butane with the new mixed torch.

“What are you doing?” Ema asked, watching me rapidly mix cards together.

“Randomly stuffing it all together because I’m frustrated.” I admitted shamelessly before slamming both the lighter and torch amalgamation into the lighter. “Hey! Check it out!”

I held up the final result, a C rank card. I flicked it and pushed the new brass torch out, holding it in my hand. It looked basically the same, but having felt it in the card I knew it was drastically different. I pointed it out towards the kitchen, down the doorway and clicked it on. A jet of flame two feet long fired from its nozzle, roaring like a rocket. The flame was entirely blue, and I could already feel the heat from it. I quickly released the trigger, wincing sheepishly at Ema.

“Really?”

“What? I knew it was fine.”

“Right. Maybe it’s time to stop experimenting for today.”

“Yeah. there isn’t much else I can do anyway.” I admitted, pulling the lighter into a card, flicking it back into the deck. “Let’s just relax. Plenty to do tomorrow.”