The Trader Agent

Chapter 4 - Greenery

"Good. Now to answer your question about why I'm here-" Petra made a finger gun and jabbed Ignus beneath his head with it. "I came here, to avoid the dumpster fire that is called the office right now. Everyone's all over the place, trying to figure out who did this, and who's in charge." she said while craning Ignus' head up.

"Alright, alright. I messed up. Also, aren't finger guns a bit childish now?" Ignus said while pushing Petra's hand down. "They do hurt though. Or maybe you just haven't clipped your nails in a while?"

"Not really, they could actually be quite useful. Take this, for instance." Petra made another finger gun with the other hand Ignus wasn't holding down, and snapped her thumb and index fingers together.

Snap.

It was a horrible sensation. Ignus felt his ears ringing and, and a splitting headache. It was like the noise the snap made was spilling out inside his body. He was disorientated, nauseas and lost his sense of his direction as he stumbled around and fell over. Petra sighed, and took out her phone and played an audio recording, and Ignus felt the effects slowly wash away.

"Damage to hearing organs is from a loud noise is generally permanent, but if exposed to certain frequencies right after the shock, it can mostly mitigate the harms." she said passing her phone to Ignus. "So how was it? The stun gun technique, I mean."

"Stun gun?"
"It's a finger gun that stuns you through noise. Fitting name, if you ask me. Good job enduring it long enough without passing out. So how was it?"

"Ever been to a rock concert, close to the stage and speakers? That susurration in your ears, amplify that by like a hundred. What was that anyway?"

"I'd say that describes it quite well. It's a wonder what a loud enough sound can do. Symptoms include hearing effects, minutes to an hour or two. Dizziness, it's variable, but between ten seconds and an hour, depending upon individual susceptibility, but I wouldn't personally test it myself."

"How come you're unaffected? You were right next to me." Ignus said, looking at the unfazed Petra. He was still on the ground, but Petra definitely didn't look like she was harmed.

"Now, experience with the devices can drive more rapid recovery. One learns to disregard dizziness, the loss of hearing a godsend when firing a firearm indoors. But, it's a double plus unfun thing to experience, accustomed to the blasted things or not, but it's not that bad when it's not pointed at you."

"Pointing? I don't think you quite get how sounds work. Sounds spread, unlike bullets you know." Ignus said while imitating the finger gun that Petra made earlier.

"Yes, but you can still direct the majority of it in a certain direction. The sound that comes from a snap, is made by compressed air in between your pinkie and ring finger, and the only space for it to escape is through the middle finger and beyond. So, just point it and your target will be far worse off than you from the impact." she said while pointing at the fingers she mentioned.

"Well, that was the first time I've had a snap push me onto the floor. That's not a normal snap, so what did you do?"

"Its best if I just teach you directly, makes it all a lot more easier to explain." Petra said as she took out a notebook from her bag that she had placed on the table, and Ignus began his lesson. He had several misfires, stunning himself several times and once, he even broke a window of his house he had pointed at. "How'd something that loud not make me deaf?" he bewilderedly asked Petra. "I didn't do it too strong. I wish I did, now that I think of it. Now focus, and I don't mind the windows, since this isn't my house, but I don't want to have to wear shoes indoors, so no more breaking windows."

"Right, when it comes to paying the bills, it 'isn't my house' but when it comes to my cereal that you wasted in a bowl of water earlier, it's perfectly fine. I see how it is."