Triplet Alphas Gifted Luna novel Chapter 60

Chapter 60 Weapons

BACK TO THIRD PERSON POV

The next day, Thursday, Mr. Garrity had a helper summon Thea to his apothecary shop when she got home from school.

Thea came immediately with the triplets and four

Delta guards in tow.

“Alphas, Luna,” Mr. Garrity said. “I have some mock-ups to show you.”

“Excellent.”

“Let’s go outside for demonstration,” he said.

“Of course.”

He pushed a cart outside behind his shop. His helper followed behind him with another cart. Thea could sense the interest in her Delta team guards.

*There are a number of herbs and plants that are perfectly harmless when used alone. However, combine them, and they become quite irritating. Even the method of extracting the active compounds can make them poisonous or benign. I am toying around with that to tweak and find the most potent forms. This cart here, these all have antidotes. The warrior can take a simple capsule, giving protection for twenty-four hours. This liquid will temporarily blind if it comes in contact with the eyes.” He picked up a vial.

“How temporarily?” Thea said.

“Depends on the healing rate of the person, how much gets in the eyes, and potency, but anywhere from ten minutes to an hour.”

Thea nodded.

“I have it here in a solid ball, mixed with some other things. If you throw it against something, like the ground, it will explode, sending the dust into the air and likely into their eyes. I’ve done this with a few concoctions. One will make it difficult to breathe. The more they exert themselves, the more difficult breathing

becomes. If they keep struggling, they’ll pass out, but then their breathing will normalize. Another will be extremely itchy. This one temporarily paralyzes the muscles. Anywhere from ten minutes to an hour, again, depending on different factors.”

Thea and the triplets nodded and motioned for him to continue.

“These are preliminary. There will be more finesse later on,” Mr. Garrity said.

“Those exploding balls could be short to mid-range. For the long-range options. Bow and arrow. Arrow coated with a liquid form of the same things. As long as it nicks the skin, the toxins will get in the blood and take effect. I haven’t tested these on any subjects, so I can’t say the length of effect for sure. If a bow and arrow are too cumbersome, we could look into other long-range options. I’ve been toying around with the idea of paintball guns. Making the exploding balls paintball-sized. They are long-range and have good accuracy.”

“I say why not?” Thea said.

Mr. Garrity nodded, smiling. He moved to the other cart. “This cart has wolfsbane options. There aren’t antidotes, as you know. Maybe these are a last resort. Friendly fire is more dangerous with these. Similar applications are possible, bow and arrow, exploding powder.”

“I’m hesitant to use something that could hurt our own,” Thea said.

“We could do a dart gun where the dart automatically injects the wolfsbane when it hits. I’m playing around with different ways of extracting it, mixing it, different concentrations. Low doses won’t kill anyone, but it will keep them from shifting. That may be important in a crowd control situation.”

“Do you think you could make an antidote to wolfsbane? All the things that have antidotes didn’t originally. They were discovered. What would it take?” Thea said.

“Honestly, scientists,” Mr. Garrity said. “If they could analyze the molecular compound, they may be able to figure it out. I think it’s beyond me, though.”

Thea nodded. “How do the other herbs affect humans? Or the unshifted? Other species?”

“I’ll look into it,” Mr. Garrity said.

“I’d like the warriors and Delta team to practice with these. Feel the effects, so they know what they’ll do. Could we do that right now?”

“Absolutely,” Mr. Garrity said.

“Do you have enough of the antidotes made?”

Thea said.

“Yes.”

Thea turned to the triplets. “Can you mind link the warriors and Delta team, see who can come test these out?”

They nodded. Soon, half the warriors and all of Delta team joined them behind the Apothecary store.

“We should probably take these out to a rarely used part of the woods, huh?” Thea said.

“That would be best,” Mr. Garrity said.

“Will we need a clean-up afterward? Something to neutralize the poisons?” Thea said.

“The wind will carry it away in low concentrations. It shouldn’t be a problem,” Mr.Garrity said.

Thea nodded. “Mr. Garrity, would you do the honors of explaining what you’ve made?” Thea said.

He bowed to her, faced the group of warriors, and told them everything. “Any notes are greatly appreciated. I can only improve them if I know how you want them to function.”

“Who wants the antidotes today, and who wants to feel the effects, be the guinea pigs?” Thea said. “We won’t be testing the wolfsbane today, don’t worry.”

“Luna,” Mr. Garrity said. “It will probably be best if you don’t test them on yourself until we know how they affect humans.”

She nodded.

About half volunteered to be guinea pigs including the triplets. The other half took the

antidotes, and they went out into the woods.