The Conceptual Deck

Chapter 5: Beginning to believe

The next morning I woke up late. My legs were still sore from the previous night's escapades and the bike ride home. I had ridden for almost an hour straight before I felt comfortable calling a cab, as I hadn't wanted records of someone being dropped off before and getting picked up immediately after the trespassing incident. Ema thought I was being paranoid, but thankfully left it alone. When I finally did get up it was well past eleven o'clock.

"Good morning Carson." Ema said, greeting me as she floated around me. "What are our plans today?"

"Plans? I'm gonna stay around here for most of it." I explained, heading into the kitchen and pouring myself a bowl of cereal. "I think I need a good day off after last night."

"I see. I have been monitoring reputable news sites through the night, there hasn't been any mention of someone trespassing."

"That's not particularly surprising. They would probably keep that to themselves until they had to report it." I responded as I left the kitchen and sat at the couch. "Arrests are public record so there's no way to hide it, but since they don't need to mention that they chased someone"

"I see. I suppose that makes sense."

I munched on my cereal for a while, tapping through news channels. Coverage of the Stark Expo attack was starting to die down. Instead of every story being about the attack, it was every other story. Eventually the bowl was empty and I put it on the coffee table, leaning back on the couch. After a while I clicked off the TV and Ema turned back to me, sliding across the room in a semicircle.

"So, last night was a cluster fuck." I stated, not in the mood to sugar coat it.

"Maybe but for what it's worth, I'm proud of you for not stealing anything. It would have been easy but I think not letting the situation force you to bend your morals is admirable."

"It counts for plenty. But now we having nothing to show for a night of fuck ups. Not to mention we are back to square one for money and resources."

"The moral high ground counts for something right?" The green construct said with hopeful energy.

"I suppose."

The conversation trailed off as I lay back along the couch and pulled out the deck. I summoned out a grey card and threw it before calling it back, watching it boomerang around the room and into my hand. Ema turned back to the laptop, letting me mull over the previous night in silence. It took a while but eventually I let out a groan of annoyance.

"Alright. How about this." I start, sitting back up. "We go out and stake out some shady neighborhoods. Maybe we'll catch a dealer, get a few hundred bucks, maybe we could follow him back to someplace with more money, who knows."

"It's possible, though unlikely."

"I know, but I have to try. If nothing else than to say that I didn't give up the second shit went sideways. If we get lucky, great. If notI'll look into seeing if Stark would like to help another hero do his thing."

"I know you said you weren't sure about what Mr. Stark would be like but this seems to go a lot deeper than that."

For a long minute I say nothing, sorting out my words carefully. Ema watches me, hovering a foot above me and off to the left.

"In the main marvel comics reality there is this arc I guess you could call it? A civil war amongst super heroes. Basically the government thinks that they need to register everyone with an ability or object that gives them power. One group refuses, the other agrees. Or at least thinks that it's wrong to fight it?"

I explain, now spinning a grey card absentmindedly in my fingers before flicking it around the room again.

"So it is this huge ordeal and lots of weird crazy shit happens during that time. And I don't mean weird crazy like what happened to me. I mean like mutant concentration camps, known megalomaniac villains being put in positions of power, and more than a few heroes doing some not so good things. Basically the whole world goes crazy at once. It's sparked by a pretty awful incident that killed a lot of innocent kids, but when it came down to it, it was just the spark in the powder keg. The powder had been building up for years, from over fear of people with strange abilities, from a rising us versus them mentality, from internal corruption. In all of that Tony Stark becomes the government's fetching dog when it comes to registration. He does a lot of fucked up stuff."

As I talk Ema gets closer, hovering around close to my shoulder. It is interesting how quickly I've gotten used to her being around.

"Now to be honest I'm not sure who's side I would settle on in a real life situation." I admitted, shrugging as I shuffled my cards absentmindedly. "And this arc is only a small part of the whole for Stark. But I know I would be in deep shit if I got sponsored by Stark, and he goes off the reservation. I mean think about it Ema, the Deck took a dozen and a half camo uniforms and turned it into a genuine object of power, one completely independent of me. Sure it's nothing game changing but it's still an object of power. With more resources, or a situation where I ignore my squeamishness about stealing because I'm forced to, or because something more important comes up? I fucking print superpowers Ema. With a couple of solid recipes and a bunch of cash"

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I trail off, rubbing my face as I stand, starting to pace around. I had been carrying this with me for the last few days, after realizing the potential for my power. Making my stealth suit had just confirmed it.

"Basically, if power registration becomes a thing I'm pretty sure I know what side Tony will fall on. And if he goes as nuts as he did in the comics, or if the government goes as nuts as it did well I'm all sorts of fucked."

We sat in silence for a while, the only sound was the shuffling deck as I looked down. I pull out the card with my armor, contemplating tearing it up for a moment before shuffling it back into the deck and putting that back in my pocket.

"I" Ema started, immediately trailing off, at a loss for words.

"Sorry, I'm not blaming you, I know you're just trying to figure out what's going on. This is why I'm so hell bent on building myself up before going to anyone. Working freelance, or contracting out my services to certain groups or people wouldn't be the worst option, but I need to be negotiating from a position of power. I need to be powerful enough that pushing me around is a bad idea."

"I understand, I won't suggest it again."

"Well if a week or so goes by and we haven't figured something out yet I'll start doing some research on Stark, see what this reality's version is like. I was surprised as hell that it was so early in his career and he was already openly admitting to being Iron Man, so maybe he will continue to surprise me."

"If you'd like I could put together a file of sorts for you to go through, a collection of interviews, stories, documentaries, that sort of thing?"

"Yeah, that would be great. Thanks Ema."

The floating ghost bobbed before turning and flying back to my laptop. I let out another sigh before looking around the apartment, trying to think of what I was going to do. After a moment I stood, walking to the tv and the shelf above it. Looking at the combination of DVD's, books and actual VHS tapes, I quirked my head as a thought drifted through my mind.

"Ema did we test what happens when I card a book? Or a movie?" I asked, trying to recall all of the experiments we had done.

"No, we tried a stack of papers, but no books."

I frowned and grabbed a few things from the shelf, carrying them to the couch and laying them on the table. A cookbook, a VHS of Demolition Man, a book about wood carving and a biography of an Olympic athlete, all laid out on the table. Seeing me bring things to the "workbench" Ema floated over to observe.

"So my power works on concepts right? Well what is the concept of Demolition Man?" I asked before pulling it into a card, my eyes going wide.

"Woah, that's a lot." I said, spinning the card in my hand, seeing that it's D ranked.

"What? How does it feel?"

"Well for one it feels mostly like a storage device. It also feels like the concept of an action hero? Like experience but not realistic experience."

I pushed the VHS out of the card before pulling in the cookbook. I blinked, confused as I examined the card.

"Okay, so from this I'm still getting a sense of information storage but it's less than the VHS. Lots of knowledge mixed with a bit of understanding of that knowledge."

I quickly carded the remaining two books, nodding as I studied both of the D rank cards.

"The wood working book is full of knowledge and understanding. The Biography doesn't have nearly as much as either, barely any really."

I explained as I looked around the apartment, before getting up and going to the kitchen, coming back with a steak knife and a pocket knife. I grabbed the cookbook and combined it with the knife, quickly pushing the knife out of the card and into my hand. The new knife had a design along the handle very reminiscent of the designs on the cover of the cook book. I could feel an entire list of recipes 'floating' in my mind. Almost 40 of them, separate but still in my head, like I had to reach a bit further for them than my normal memories. I put the knife down and instantly the memories are gone.

"This is big Ema" I explained excitedly. "The knowledge carries over, at least partially. I know a handful of recipes."

"Could you make all of them?"

I tilted my head and picked up the knife again, going through the recipes, my brow furrowing as I realized that while I could make most of them I didn't know several of the techniques they mentioned.

"No actually. I know the ones I can feel but there are things I don't understand. It's all very directional, no background knowledge."

"Perhaps because that's what a cookbook is. It's a list of recipes, but the background information for why you cook one thing under high heat and the other under low is something it wouldn't cover."

I shrugged, putting the knife down again, grabbing the pocket knife and putting it in a card, combining it with a beginner's woodcarving book. Upon pushing the closed knife into my hand I could immediately feel the difference. The knowledge seemed closer, more accessible and easier to use.

"I think you were definitely right. This one feels much more complete. I know why you use one type of chisel instead of another, as well as how to use that chisel."

"This is a big deal." Ema agreed, floating around and scanning the two knives. "I'm not detecting any difference in the pocket knife, but the steak knife is slightly magnetic, even the handle."

I nodded vaguely, not really thinking about what she said as I tried to figure out the best way to leverage this new aspect of my powers. If I stacked a dozen books about similar information I went through my budget mentally.

"If I want to be able to afford food I need to save some of my money." I said out loud, starting to pace slowly around the living room. "Worse comes to worse when two weeks go by and Stark isn't interested in helping me, I'll get a job washing dishes or flipping burgers."

"If Mr. Stark isn't interested then there are other options as well" Ema said, watching as I pace, stationary about three feet above the coffee table. "Just putting that out there."

"Right. But I can afford to buy a few books"

"What would you combine it with?" She asked, bobbing slightly.

I paused, frowning before eventually smiling. I walked out of the living room to my bedroom, immediately heading for my closet. I threw out a few things, a messenger bag, some older clothes, before finally pulling out a dusty box that fit in my palm.

"Aha! I knew it was here!" I called out as I walked back to the living room. "My high school ring. I begged my parents to get it for me, probably the only reason I still have it to be honest"

I cracked open the box after brushing the dust off, Ema flying to the side to avoid the small cloud. Inside was a basic class ring, a large red stone in the front, set in a basic silver ring. Popped it into a card, looking at Ema with a smile.

"Just like I thought, it's mostly ornamental but it's got some knowledge concepts in it as well."

"So where is the nearest book store?"

A few minutes later I was riding my bike down the street, heading to a small used bookstore I knew was close by. A bluetooth earpiece was hooked into my ear as I pedaled, Ema on the other end.

"I think you should include gymnastics in the ring, maybe a dance style of some sort." She suggested, her voice coming in clear. "Something to help with body movement."

"If anything I would choose gymnastics. Knowing how to move more efficiently would be useful."

"So martial arts, gymnastics, free running anything else?" She asked, sounding like she was taking notes, which she probably was.

I spotted my destination and turned into the nearest alley, hopping off my bike and pulling it into a card. I tapped the bluetooth to make sure it was still firmly in before leaving the alleyway..

"No, I think that is it. I mean I have a ton of ideas for other rings but for now this is all I can afford. Even this is cutting it close."

Ema hummed in agreement as I crossed the street and quickly headed inside of the book store. I grabbed a shopping basket as I waved down an employee, who directed me to one of the corners of the store.

"Muay Thai is probably a good start, right?" I asked Ema, recognizing the name, pulling out several books about it and thumbing through them.

"Yes, Mauy Thai is a solid first start."

I quickly put back some of the books keeping three how to guides as well as a book about a supposedly famous practitioner.

"Ema, look up what kind of styles compliment Mauy Thai. I'm thinking we go with three martial arts styles, some gymnastic stuff and some free running stuff. That way it's mostly about martial arts but contains other movement skills."

"I'm seeing a lot that points to grappling martial arts like Judo, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, or even just wrestling."

"There is a ton on Brazillian Jiu Jitsu, I'll go with that. Any suggestions for a third?"

"There are a lot of suggestions, I'm seeing Taekwondo a lot. As well as Wing chun."

I frowned and looked through the martial arts shelf, finally finding a series of books on Wing Chun, adding them to the basket. It was already half full.

"Okay, now to find gymnastics and free running"

Almost an hour later I was finally back at my apartment, my fingers playing with my class ring as I sat on the couch. I was trying to plan out how I would combine everything.

"I'm thinking the ring is the last thing I want to combine." I explained. "I don't want to end up with a paper ring or a ring shaped book because I combined it too much."

"That makes sense. And since you're basing everything around Mauy Thai?"

"Then I should mix everything together and combine that last." I finished, nodding my head in agreement. "By that logic I should mix all of the smaller groups together, then mix the parkour and gymnastics. Then after that the two separate martial arts before finally mixing all that together and combining it with the Mauy Thai."

"That sounds like a good plan." Ema agreed before pausing. "My question is what's the result of combining books together?"

I looked at her in surprise before furrowing my brow and picking up two books on parkour and freerunning. I combined the two and pushed the new book into my hand, studying it for a moment. As far as I could tell it was a completely new book, a mix and combination of both of its components. The weirdest part was that the title was a mix of the original two, with the author listed as "The Conceptual Deck"

"That I'm going to ignore that and just combine them all."

I said softly, Ema nodding her shell. I quickly mixed everything together, ending up with five conglomerate books: parkour, gymnastics, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Wing Chun and Mauy Thai. I quickly combined the parkour and gymnastics, then Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Wing Chun as well. Now with three books I combined everything together just as I said I would. The final result was a C ranked card, a step up from what my class ring was.

"Well moment of truth"

I combined the book and the ring, nodding happily when I saw the result was still a ring. It was a B ranked card, and felt pretty impressive. I pushed it out of the card and slid it onto my finger.

"Holy fuck!" I cursed, my immediate instinct was to clutch my head.

"What is it? Carson are you alright?"

I held up my hand without a word, trying to process what I was experiencing. It was almost ten minutes before I could finally talk, half collapsing back onto the couch.

"Okay, first problem. We mixed too many things together. I can handle it I think, but oh boy that was a lot."

Ema floated around me, almost peppering me with scans and questions. Eventually I calmed her down enough to actually answer them.

"It was just a lot at once. I'm pretty sure there is going to be a limit to how many skills I can be using at once as well. It might change in time but I have no idea how long"

"Well if you are not in any paindid it work?" Ema asked hesitantly, getting a smirk out of me.

"It worked exactly like I hoped it would."

I stood slowly, feeling the feedback from what I now knew about movement, stature and positioning flow through my mind. I could feel myself standing using the knowledge. With a smirk I settle into a traditional Muay Thai stance, foot raised off the ground, my hands up and prepared. It felt very natural as if I was learning it again for the first time. I settled down into a more neutral stance.

"I know Kung Fu" I said to Ema, a smirk on my face.

"No you don't, there weren't any Kung Fu books in that batch." She replied, making me frown and sulk before she started to laugh. "Alright Keanu, Show me."