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Please use 1 and only 1 thread for a given story/project. Make revisions to existing posts instead of duplicating sections of your story. Do not post replies in other authors' threads.
Note that using the forums for stories is now considered for experimental projects or for new authors who want some feedback from other authors before exposing their work to the reading community. Of course, anyone is welcome to continue to post their material here... but we hope authors will take advantage of the site features for displaying their stories to more than just the forums community.
Question Two Become One (Chapter 1-16) Complete
9 years 4 months ago - 9 years 4 months ago #1
by Pioneer
Posts:
55
Gender:
Unknown
Birthdate:
Unknown
- Pioneer
-
Topic Author
Our story is one quite...odd, but could be summed up in the title of this memoir.
Two Become One
Cubic
________________
Thursday, May 29, 2008~~
12:13 PM CST~~
Centerville, Tx~~
12:13 PM CST~~
Centerville, Tx~~
I was born Zackary Jared Benton, ZJ or "hey you" for short... Uh, don't remind me. I guess I don't need to tell you that, yeah, I'm the midget and always have been compared to my classmates. Other boys my age try out for sports or, more recently, have started lifting weights. Me? I've been laughed off the field and out of the weight room enough to know that my place among the geeks. Topping out at a whopping 4' 4'' and weighing a meager 95 lbs., that is, after the cold shower I'd been thrown into by the two largest bullies in my seventh grade class. (While still clothed I might add.)
And, by the way, I think my glasses make me look more sophisticated, thank you so much. At least I was able to go home early after that one. Much better than the time Blake Masters decided I needed a new hairdo facilitated by the yellow swirling waters of the porcelain rapids. Just using the school restrooms is enough to make me wince sometimes. Yet those are only the more overt displays, it's the day to day string of name calling along with the macho displays of tripping or knocking books from my hands that seem to get to me more. After the rents found out about the bullying, naturally, my dad decided that some self-defense classes were in order.
Despite my small stature, I found that I had an affinity for aikido that very much pleased Jiro-sensei. Having no prior training (or even any experience at all), I hadn't developed any bad habits he needed to correct. For this reason I was able to quickly get into the rhythm of his "intensive training" schedule. About a month after starting my lessons I was forced to fend off three bullies, lead of course by BM, as they sought to re-assert their seniority. It didn't end well for any of us. One dislocated arm, one hyper extended knee, one broken rib (it wasn't my fault the big lout chose to trip on his buddy and crash into that sink) and a massive hit to the tough guy image for them.
For me you ask? Oh, my bruises had bruises and then I had to endure the grueling...shudder... punishment that Jiro-sensei took great pleasure in doling out over the next month after learning of it. His reasoning was that my awareness should have made it impossible to be forced into such a confrontation. You can guess how being blindfolded and attacked from different angles could drill that point home. Of course the upside of all of this was that I was left alone by said bullies and I’m now much better at knowing my surroundings. Also following that incident, sense I had faced multiple adversaries simultaneously, he decided to make that part of my regular lessons. All things considered, I've developed a much deeper respect, and fear, for Jiro-sensei's teaching methods.
Much to Mom's disbelief, my dad was so happy that I'd stood up for myself that he couldn't bring himself to get angry over me being in a fight. He instead pronounced that he would take a week’s worth of vacation from his dental practice with which we'd have a camping trip the first week of summer break. Our "guy's trip" couldn't be watered down by the "women folk," namely Mom and my pain of a little sister Maggie. You probably know her type. Having just turned nine, she has just come to master the sneaky art of "daddy manipulation" and can get away with just about anything she wants. When she started to maneuver her way into going I had to put my foot down...and on Mr. Kippin's tail so I had both an angry cat and sister to deal with. (Oops, my bad, I really didn't mean to do it either.) But that distracted her enough to forget her manipulative ways at a crucial moment.
The rest of the school year went by without any _major_ problems. Part of this was due to some trumped up rumors of the fight that I'd been in. I'm sure that at least some of which were started by the bullies themselves to gain back some respect. By the time school let out, you'd think I was Jet Lee or some martial arts maniac that looked for any reason to beat the lights out of any who crossed me. It actually got to the point that Jiro-sensei had to come and vouch that I wasn't some unstoppable mutant ninja and that my talents were strictly that of a trained baseline. That could have been bad for my whole family
Having no formal hero team, my home town of Centerville Texas had a fairly high fear of mutants in general. "The mutant menaces" as the local H1! chapter had dubbed them, and the local bigots just love a hate filled message to start their day. Thinking back, I only vaguely remember hearing about one actual mutant manifesting in our area and word was that they'd been disappeared on days later. There hadn't been any lynch mobs formed to go track it down, mainly the diligent efforts of Sheriff Marcos. Yet the show "Tales of the MCO" had many fearful to the point that I wouldn't be surprised if violence broke out against an obvious mutant. That is if one were crazy enough to come through this backwater town I call home. On the other hand, with anti-mutant sentiment so high if one was accused of being one, (even without evidence) it could mean losing community support and thus forcing the individual to leave town. Many of the local business owners had used this tactic to run off competition and solidify their support from the H1! office.
Cynthia Watkins, one of the girls outside of the geek brigade who actually talks to me, seemed to get no small amount of amusement over the rumors that I could lift hundreds of pounds. Especially with my "toothpick" build, as she jokingly called it. I'd had crush on her for over a year but couldn't work up the courage to ask her out. As she was accepted among all of the cliques, due to her personality, I was sure she was completely out of my league. With most of the popular guys wanting to get her attention I was sure I had no chance at all. So I was completely surprised with the events to come.
"Hey you," Cyn's voice came to me like a siren's call, cutting through all thoughts of getting in line for lunch or the need to hurry before the jocks took their usual swath out of the better portions.
Her grin at my expression let me know that she was pulling my leg calling me that. I should have never let her know that how annoying it was that the bullies could never seem to remember my name. Seeing that her playful barb had its desired effect, she giggled (no other word for it) at my mock scowl. She joined me and motioned for us to hurry to the lunch line.
"You'd better hurry up, slowpoke!" she continued, "I wanted to sit with ya'll since today's the last day." At that comment, someone could have knocked me over with a feather.
"Uh...S-Sure." my shuddered reply earned me yet another giggle as we made our way through the lunch line. As we sat at the designated geek table I could feel the jealous stairs of some of the popular guys boring into the back of my head.
"So, do all ya'll got plans for summer break," Cyn's question was answered by a few shyly nodded heads and some non-committed replies that you'd expect from a group who'd drop everything at a moment’s notice if she'd ask them to, "What about you, ZJ?"
"Oh, me? Oh I'm supposed to be going camping with dad this coming week, but after that..." I gave a shrug, then remembered something, "Oh yeah, you still got your spy character on GEO, right?" the question got the attention of the entire table and probably several other secret GEO buffs in the vicinity of our table.
"Oh, that's kind of what I wanted to ask about. I know you've got a decent all round character and I wanted to get with you about doing some questing together." she paused as all of the other geeks seemed to gasp as if she'd asked to carry my firstborn or something.
Jerry Collier, one of my raiding party auxiliaries, jumped to answer for me. "Would we ever. I heard you got one of the highest rated spies on our server!"
"Really, who's your character Cynthia?" Gary Houg asked excitedly.
With a sigh Cyn resigned herself to the burden of outing her alter-ego. "I'm Seek."
"Wow! You're the Seek?"
"The spy who prevented the Dark from taking over the Font at Ravenwing?"
"That was said to be a GM quest. You must have gotten a massive exp. bonus from that!"
Everyone at the table was talking over each other excitedly as Cyn simply smiled and bore the onslaught of questions and praise for her gaming feats. When it became apparent that they wouldn't stop, she motioned me closer as she reached into her purse and produced a slip of paper that she quickly wrote on and put into my hand. As I went to read it she stopped me with her hand and mouthed "Later," which only added to my confusion. After that she returned her attention to the questioning throng and lunch went by quickly with the many distractions that gaming had provided.
As I was leaving the cafeteria I finally had a chance to look at what she'd written to me. Upon the sight, my eye must have bulged our almost comically. She actually gave me her phone number the day before summer break! The note said that she wanted me to play GEO, among other things, together over summer break. It was a good thing that it was the last day of school because I sure don't remember anything else that happened that day.
I must have still had the stupid smile on my face when I walked in the door because Mom's radar was piqued and I had to spill before she'd allow me out of the front entry of our house. Of course this got her all excited as, in her words, "her baby was growing up so fast." That only reminded me of how little I'd grown since fifth grade. I'd been about average until that year and hadn't grown but maybe an inch since then. After her interrogation/torture session, Mom allowed me to escape to the safety of my room so that I could finish packing for the camping trip. Dad had told me that we'd be leaving first thing in the morning for a weeklong stay in and around one of my favorite hiking areas.
Enchanted Rock is located in central Texas, about midways between Llano and Fredericksburg. I've always loved the place as have my parents and sister. They'd visited it early in their marriage and had decided to make a tradition of camping there as a family. The massive "pink" granite domes seem so out of place in the surrounding arid landscape. Many Native American myths have been centered on the site. Three different Nations, namely the Tonkawa, Apache and Comanche hold it to be a holy place of both magical and spiritual significance.
The trip there was just the same as ever. We stopped for lunch in a little town called Giddings. The City Meat Market has always been our favorite place to get lunch on the way and we never miss an opportunity. And also as a tradition we packed away about a week's worth of it for our stay on the rock, so we wouldn't have to go back into town for food. Dad had bought a camping cooler that he'd plug into the car so that nothing went bad. Back on the road, the scenery was too familiar to me to keep me awake, so I slept most of the rest of the trip. Dad made a pit stop for no other reason than to make me wake up and stretch my legs.
As it was just the two of us, we'd decided to not unpack the tents for a few days as we could just sleep in the back of the covered truck the first night. Our second night was to be spent in our sleeping pack on the top of the main rock. We didn't know if it was really allowed but as in Dad's words, it was better to ask for forgiveness than permission. One of the big superstitions was that anyone who'd stayed overnight on the rock would become invisible.
"Since your mom isn't here with us, I've always wanted to test the legend to see if we could do a little myth busters thing of our own." he said in his not so much whispered conspiratorial voice.
"But, Dad, what if we get in trouble with the park or if Mom..." he cut off my feeble argument that was really only a token effort so that I could at least say "told'ya so" if something did happen... or if Mom found out and came down on us.
"I hereby absolve you of any punishment you should incur if she should come into any knowledge of our little outing." Dad said in a mock officiate tone.
With formalities handled we set about with our plans for the trip. The first day we arrived too late to attempt to climb any, but made up our packs to be able to climb the next day. Although not as comfortable as sleeping in my own bed, there's no beating the night sky overhead as your ceiling. Just gazing into the starry abyss is humbling. To think of the vast multitude of stars, planets, and even entire galaxies arrayed in front of me. It always makes me feel even smaller, and yet it somehow makes any problems seem so much smaller by comparison. Some of the stars that I'm just being able to see are only a memory of the past, swept away millions of years ago yet we're still here.
We'd joked and told scary stories as a matter of course. The fact that they were the same ones we always told was of no importance. We took the lack of feminine presence to, as Mom would say, "grunt and scratch and wrestle like cavemen" otherwise known as male bonding. All and all it was a good first day. The next awaited us as we drifted off, and turned out the lights. As I fell asleep there was no way to know that it'd be the last time I did so. So many things have happened since then, yet in the grand scheme of things _so_ very little.
And, by the way, I think my glasses make me look more sophisticated, thank you so much. At least I was able to go home early after that one. Much better than the time Blake Masters decided I needed a new hairdo facilitated by the yellow swirling waters of the porcelain rapids. Just using the school restrooms is enough to make me wince sometimes. Yet those are only the more overt displays, it's the day to day string of name calling along with the macho displays of tripping or knocking books from my hands that seem to get to me more. After the rents found out about the bullying, naturally, my dad decided that some self-defense classes were in order.
Despite my small stature, I found that I had an affinity for aikido that very much pleased Jiro-sensei. Having no prior training (or even any experience at all), I hadn't developed any bad habits he needed to correct. For this reason I was able to quickly get into the rhythm of his "intensive training" schedule. About a month after starting my lessons I was forced to fend off three bullies, lead of course by BM, as they sought to re-assert their seniority. It didn't end well for any of us. One dislocated arm, one hyper extended knee, one broken rib (it wasn't my fault the big lout chose to trip on his buddy and crash into that sink) and a massive hit to the tough guy image for them.
For me you ask? Oh, my bruises had bruises and then I had to endure the grueling...shudder... punishment that Jiro-sensei took great pleasure in doling out over the next month after learning of it. His reasoning was that my awareness should have made it impossible to be forced into such a confrontation. You can guess how being blindfolded and attacked from different angles could drill that point home. Of course the upside of all of this was that I was left alone by said bullies and I’m now much better at knowing my surroundings. Also following that incident, sense I had faced multiple adversaries simultaneously, he decided to make that part of my regular lessons. All things considered, I've developed a much deeper respect, and fear, for Jiro-sensei's teaching methods.
Much to Mom's disbelief, my dad was so happy that I'd stood up for myself that he couldn't bring himself to get angry over me being in a fight. He instead pronounced that he would take a week’s worth of vacation from his dental practice with which we'd have a camping trip the first week of summer break. Our "guy's trip" couldn't be watered down by the "women folk," namely Mom and my pain of a little sister Maggie. You probably know her type. Having just turned nine, she has just come to master the sneaky art of "daddy manipulation" and can get away with just about anything she wants. When she started to maneuver her way into going I had to put my foot down...and on Mr. Kippin's tail so I had both an angry cat and sister to deal with. (Oops, my bad, I really didn't mean to do it either.) But that distracted her enough to forget her manipulative ways at a crucial moment.
The rest of the school year went by without any _major_ problems. Part of this was due to some trumped up rumors of the fight that I'd been in. I'm sure that at least some of which were started by the bullies themselves to gain back some respect. By the time school let out, you'd think I was Jet Lee or some martial arts maniac that looked for any reason to beat the lights out of any who crossed me. It actually got to the point that Jiro-sensei had to come and vouch that I wasn't some unstoppable mutant ninja and that my talents were strictly that of a trained baseline. That could have been bad for my whole family
Having no formal hero team, my home town of Centerville Texas had a fairly high fear of mutants in general. "The mutant menaces" as the local H1! chapter had dubbed them, and the local bigots just love a hate filled message to start their day. Thinking back, I only vaguely remember hearing about one actual mutant manifesting in our area and word was that they'd been disappeared on days later. There hadn't been any lynch mobs formed to go track it down, mainly the diligent efforts of Sheriff Marcos. Yet the show "Tales of the MCO" had many fearful to the point that I wouldn't be surprised if violence broke out against an obvious mutant. That is if one were crazy enough to come through this backwater town I call home. On the other hand, with anti-mutant sentiment so high if one was accused of being one, (even without evidence) it could mean losing community support and thus forcing the individual to leave town. Many of the local business owners had used this tactic to run off competition and solidify their support from the H1! office.
Cynthia Watkins, one of the girls outside of the geek brigade who actually talks to me, seemed to get no small amount of amusement over the rumors that I could lift hundreds of pounds. Especially with my "toothpick" build, as she jokingly called it. I'd had crush on her for over a year but couldn't work up the courage to ask her out. As she was accepted among all of the cliques, due to her personality, I was sure she was completely out of my league. With most of the popular guys wanting to get her attention I was sure I had no chance at all. So I was completely surprised with the events to come.
"Hey you," Cyn's voice came to me like a siren's call, cutting through all thoughts of getting in line for lunch or the need to hurry before the jocks took their usual swath out of the better portions.
Her grin at my expression let me know that she was pulling my leg calling me that. I should have never let her know that how annoying it was that the bullies could never seem to remember my name. Seeing that her playful barb had its desired effect, she giggled (no other word for it) at my mock scowl. She joined me and motioned for us to hurry to the lunch line.
"You'd better hurry up, slowpoke!" she continued, "I wanted to sit with ya'll since today's the last day." At that comment, someone could have knocked me over with a feather.
"Uh...S-Sure." my shuddered reply earned me yet another giggle as we made our way through the lunch line. As we sat at the designated geek table I could feel the jealous stairs of some of the popular guys boring into the back of my head.
"So, do all ya'll got plans for summer break," Cyn's question was answered by a few shyly nodded heads and some non-committed replies that you'd expect from a group who'd drop everything at a moment’s notice if she'd ask them to, "What about you, ZJ?"
"Oh, me? Oh I'm supposed to be going camping with dad this coming week, but after that..." I gave a shrug, then remembered something, "Oh yeah, you still got your spy character on GEO, right?" the question got the attention of the entire table and probably several other secret GEO buffs in the vicinity of our table.
"Oh, that's kind of what I wanted to ask about. I know you've got a decent all round character and I wanted to get with you about doing some questing together." she paused as all of the other geeks seemed to gasp as if she'd asked to carry my firstborn or something.
Jerry Collier, one of my raiding party auxiliaries, jumped to answer for me. "Would we ever. I heard you got one of the highest rated spies on our server!"
"Really, who's your character Cynthia?" Gary Houg asked excitedly.
With a sigh Cyn resigned herself to the burden of outing her alter-ego. "I'm Seek."
"Wow! You're the Seek?"
"The spy who prevented the Dark from taking over the Font at Ravenwing?"
"That was said to be a GM quest. You must have gotten a massive exp. bonus from that!"
Everyone at the table was talking over each other excitedly as Cyn simply smiled and bore the onslaught of questions and praise for her gaming feats. When it became apparent that they wouldn't stop, she motioned me closer as she reached into her purse and produced a slip of paper that she quickly wrote on and put into my hand. As I went to read it she stopped me with her hand and mouthed "Later," which only added to my confusion. After that she returned her attention to the questioning throng and lunch went by quickly with the many distractions that gaming had provided.
As I was leaving the cafeteria I finally had a chance to look at what she'd written to me. Upon the sight, my eye must have bulged our almost comically. She actually gave me her phone number the day before summer break! The note said that she wanted me to play GEO, among other things, together over summer break. It was a good thing that it was the last day of school because I sure don't remember anything else that happened that day.
________________
Thursday, May 29, 2008~~
3:48 PM CST~~
Centerville, Tx~~
3:48 PM CST~~
Centerville, Tx~~
I must have still had the stupid smile on my face when I walked in the door because Mom's radar was piqued and I had to spill before she'd allow me out of the front entry of our house. Of course this got her all excited as, in her words, "her baby was growing up so fast." That only reminded me of how little I'd grown since fifth grade. I'd been about average until that year and hadn't grown but maybe an inch since then. After her interrogation/torture session, Mom allowed me to escape to the safety of my room so that I could finish packing for the camping trip. Dad had told me that we'd be leaving first thing in the morning for a weeklong stay in and around one of my favorite hiking areas.
Enchanted Rock is located in central Texas, about midways between Llano and Fredericksburg. I've always loved the place as have my parents and sister. They'd visited it early in their marriage and had decided to make a tradition of camping there as a family. The massive "pink" granite domes seem so out of place in the surrounding arid landscape. Many Native American myths have been centered on the site. Three different Nations, namely the Tonkawa, Apache and Comanche hold it to be a holy place of both magical and spiritual significance.
The trip there was just the same as ever. We stopped for lunch in a little town called Giddings. The City Meat Market has always been our favorite place to get lunch on the way and we never miss an opportunity. And also as a tradition we packed away about a week's worth of it for our stay on the rock, so we wouldn't have to go back into town for food. Dad had bought a camping cooler that he'd plug into the car so that nothing went bad. Back on the road, the scenery was too familiar to me to keep me awake, so I slept most of the rest of the trip. Dad made a pit stop for no other reason than to make me wake up and stretch my legs.
As it was just the two of us, we'd decided to not unpack the tents for a few days as we could just sleep in the back of the covered truck the first night. Our second night was to be spent in our sleeping pack on the top of the main rock. We didn't know if it was really allowed but as in Dad's words, it was better to ask for forgiveness than permission. One of the big superstitions was that anyone who'd stayed overnight on the rock would become invisible.
"Since your mom isn't here with us, I've always wanted to test the legend to see if we could do a little myth busters thing of our own." he said in his not so much whispered conspiratorial voice.
"But, Dad, what if we get in trouble with the park or if Mom..." he cut off my feeble argument that was really only a token effort so that I could at least say "told'ya so" if something did happen... or if Mom found out and came down on us.
"I hereby absolve you of any punishment you should incur if she should come into any knowledge of our little outing." Dad said in a mock officiate tone.
With formalities handled we set about with our plans for the trip. The first day we arrived too late to attempt to climb any, but made up our packs to be able to climb the next day. Although not as comfortable as sleeping in my own bed, there's no beating the night sky overhead as your ceiling. Just gazing into the starry abyss is humbling. To think of the vast multitude of stars, planets, and even entire galaxies arrayed in front of me. It always makes me feel even smaller, and yet it somehow makes any problems seem so much smaller by comparison. Some of the stars that I'm just being able to see are only a memory of the past, swept away millions of years ago yet we're still here.
We'd joked and told scary stories as a matter of course. The fact that they were the same ones we always told was of no importance. We took the lack of feminine presence to, as Mom would say, "grunt and scratch and wrestle like cavemen" otherwise known as male bonding. All and all it was a good first day. The next awaited us as we drifted off, and turned out the lights. As I fell asleep there was no way to know that it'd be the last time I did so. So many things have happened since then, yet in the grand scheme of things _so_ very little.
___________________
Many _Many_ Eons Ago~~
and Several Galaxies Away~~
My People Don't Increment Time~~
and Several Galaxies Away~~
My People Don't Increment Time~~
I was born of the Vra...the _Unity_ is the closest the modern language of this place can come, but it falls very short of its truth. From eons endless we existed nameless and to human perception formless as well covering our home planet as a vast sea in your terms. Its name in our vernacular would require many years of translation and wouldn't be any clearer, so this one has chosen to refer to it as Vra also for simplicity as that is the true importance of its existence. Our light was compared with the stars and our might was revered throughout the galaxy we inhabited. Yet change came, as it often does.
Our Eldest had become disillusioned with the other great races. The Siriden and their fixation on the past. Also the Isokist and their endless search for knowledge that nearly decimated the universe. And the Telemaps that chose to watch from afar. We as the Vra had once been an ever-expanding diplomatic race, seeking for all in the universe to see the unity we experienced. With so few races paying attention, our efforts having so little effect that it was decided to halt and return to Vra. In time we would venture forth again, but until that time when our message would be heard we would sleep and enjoy our unity.
Eons of time past as we slumbered united in the Vra. To the outside our world looked as if it were a perfect luminous sphere traversing the space around our home star, a'Vras, a blue giant that dwarfed the tiny star known as the Sun by comparison. The equivalent of hundred thousand of your Sun's energy radiated off of our beloved home star and nourished us for an age. But things change as they always do. Our system was aging and with age problems arise.
None of these were insurmountable in and of themselves. But together, the heart of our Vra was saddened. A great depression had developed that seemed to originate with the Eldest. So great where the threats to our existence that unity couldn't be reached as to how to deal with them individually or collectively, and thus is how the Dark One sought to destroy the mighty Vra as a threat to his existence.
Though our light burned Him, though our unity maddened Him, and though our might frightened Him, he persisted his campaign to corrupt the very essence of our kind. Against a foe we had no knowledge of we'd been caught sleeping. Though we weren't defenseless, we were vulnerable in other ways. The Dark One spent many eons himself plotting and pushing His way into the Vra, a feat we'd thought impossible. In our hubris we thought ourselves beyond the reach of harm. We were wrong.
The Vra was thus blinded to the amount of time that had past. His hope was that we would sleep until our extinction. Our beloved home star that nourished us for so long had begun its death throws. Yet we still slept. Even despite the many signs, the Vra was unaware of the danger. A s'Maux, a supernova was imminent. Yet we slept on. Then the s'Xaux, the Destroyer of worlds came upon the Vra. Yet we slept on. She sought to warn us of the impending doom that lingering would insure. Yet we slept on.
Finally the day came that we were awoken, almost too late. The Destroyer, having become tired of our inaction, decided to act. We were so un-aware that we were unable to halt Her actions but were able to finally see the need for action. As the Destroyer neared, the Vra pulled away before Her. Yet despite this, She made impact. The core of our home world was shattered, and many thoughts of the Vra were extinguished. Yet we slumbered no more.
No anger was held against the Destroyer. We understood Her actions and agreed that we could sleep no longer. Further, the intrusion upon the Vra was detected and the corrupted Elder was destroyed. Yet our departure was very late. The Dark One, seeing our slumber lift, sent forth His power and further weakened our home star. Unity was reached in monuments as the Vra separated from the unity we'd enjoyed for so long. Venturing out as d'Vra, emissaries and travelers of worlds to warn of the Dark One's power and corruption. Almost too late we were sent forth.
Sadly, many of my d'Vra sisters were caught in the blast as our beloved a'Vras finally succumbed to age and attack by the Dark One. The resulting supernova won't even be seen from Earth for many millennia, let alone recognized as significant. But the Vra have become what we once sought. We seek unity and we seek understanding between worlds. Our goal is in opposition to the Dark One, yet he will never catch us sleeping again. My name is d'Vra e'Vrun, Emissary of the Vra and all shall know our story. All shall see and know the might of the Vra. All shall know of our sacrifice. By the fading light of a'Vras, we will not allow the Dark One to continue His corruption.
As I fled the destruction of the home star in search of others to warn, I saw His attention was elsewhere. Now He was seeking to make a frontal attack upon the relatively young, but powerful, Sidhe and their allies upon Earth. I would not stand and see more worlds fall to His evil or to others of His kind.
Our Eldest had become disillusioned with the other great races. The Siriden and their fixation on the past. Also the Isokist and their endless search for knowledge that nearly decimated the universe. And the Telemaps that chose to watch from afar. We as the Vra had once been an ever-expanding diplomatic race, seeking for all in the universe to see the unity we experienced. With so few races paying attention, our efforts having so little effect that it was decided to halt and return to Vra. In time we would venture forth again, but until that time when our message would be heard we would sleep and enjoy our unity.
Eons of time past as we slumbered united in the Vra. To the outside our world looked as if it were a perfect luminous sphere traversing the space around our home star, a'Vras, a blue giant that dwarfed the tiny star known as the Sun by comparison. The equivalent of hundred thousand of your Sun's energy radiated off of our beloved home star and nourished us for an age. But things change as they always do. Our system was aging and with age problems arise.
None of these were insurmountable in and of themselves. But together, the heart of our Vra was saddened. A great depression had developed that seemed to originate with the Eldest. So great where the threats to our existence that unity couldn't be reached as to how to deal with them individually or collectively, and thus is how the Dark One sought to destroy the mighty Vra as a threat to his existence.
Though our light burned Him, though our unity maddened Him, and though our might frightened Him, he persisted his campaign to corrupt the very essence of our kind. Against a foe we had no knowledge of we'd been caught sleeping. Though we weren't defenseless, we were vulnerable in other ways. The Dark One spent many eons himself plotting and pushing His way into the Vra, a feat we'd thought impossible. In our hubris we thought ourselves beyond the reach of harm. We were wrong.
The Vra was thus blinded to the amount of time that had past. His hope was that we would sleep until our extinction. Our beloved home star that nourished us for so long had begun its death throws. Yet we still slept. Even despite the many signs, the Vra was unaware of the danger. A s'Maux, a supernova was imminent. Yet we slept on. Then the s'Xaux, the Destroyer of worlds came upon the Vra. Yet we slept on. She sought to warn us of the impending doom that lingering would insure. Yet we slept on.
Finally the day came that we were awoken, almost too late. The Destroyer, having become tired of our inaction, decided to act. We were so un-aware that we were unable to halt Her actions but were able to finally see the need for action. As the Destroyer neared, the Vra pulled away before Her. Yet despite this, She made impact. The core of our home world was shattered, and many thoughts of the Vra were extinguished. Yet we slumbered no more.
No anger was held against the Destroyer. We understood Her actions and agreed that we could sleep no longer. Further, the intrusion upon the Vra was detected and the corrupted Elder was destroyed. Yet our departure was very late. The Dark One, seeing our slumber lift, sent forth His power and further weakened our home star. Unity was reached in monuments as the Vra separated from the unity we'd enjoyed for so long. Venturing out as d'Vra, emissaries and travelers of worlds to warn of the Dark One's power and corruption. Almost too late we were sent forth.
Sadly, many of my d'Vra sisters were caught in the blast as our beloved a'Vras finally succumbed to age and attack by the Dark One. The resulting supernova won't even be seen from Earth for many millennia, let alone recognized as significant. But the Vra have become what we once sought. We seek unity and we seek understanding between worlds. Our goal is in opposition to the Dark One, yet he will never catch us sleeping again. My name is d'Vra e'Vrun, Emissary of the Vra and all shall know our story. All shall see and know the might of the Vra. All shall know of our sacrifice. By the fading light of a'Vras, we will not allow the Dark One to continue His corruption.
As I fled the destruction of the home star in search of others to warn, I saw His attention was elsewhere. Now He was seeking to make a frontal attack upon the relatively young, but powerful, Sidhe and their allies upon Earth. I would not stand and see more worlds fall to His evil or to others of His kind.
This is our new Unity...
________________
Friday, May 30, 2008
7:36 AM CST~~
Enchanted Rock State Park Camping Grounds~~
7:36 AM CST~~
Enchanted Rock State Park Camping Grounds~~
Upon awakening, I couldn't shake the odd dreams of planet and stars being shattered. The weirdest part was the narration, if dreams have a such thing. It almost sounded like some form of language but I couldn't understand anything that was said. Like watching a foreign film without subtitles and getting the gist of the story but missing so much more of the subtleties. Shaking off the thoughts of my weird dreams, I got up and made coffee for me and Dad. This task was much different without a coffee maker, but it seemed like this was how it was supposed to be done.
Dad awoke, as usual, at the first smells of a certain caffeinated beverage. Sort of in imitation of a zombie, he trudged groaning and moaning towards the campfire I'd built. The brisk mornings here always seem to enliven me, but he seems to prefer the climate controlled conditions indoors in the morning. After a few cups and some breakfast bars, the temperature had already risen enough that the fire is redundant so I put it out. With our meal done, we set about with last minute preparations before starting our hike.
Our route took us from the far dome first then taking us across the camelback and onto the mane dome of Enchanted Rock itself. We ate lunch on the secondary formation and continued on being selective of our path due to loose slab that had eroded to the point that they might break lose if enough for were to be exerted upon them. When we reached the valley floor we were greeted by an elderly Native American man. I say greeted because he seemed friendly, but nothing he said registered as English. After this he started to follow us wherever we went and it sounded as if he would break into a muffled chant periodically. It was starting to get kind of creepy the way he wouldn't leave us alone though.
By the time we'd reached the summit, Dad stopped and was about to tell the man that he'd had enough. Instead of stopping behind us as he'd done before, our tag along switched roles. He pulled ahead and motioned for us to follow with urgent hand gestures. Now curious as to his changed behavior, we began to follow his lead towards the back of the main summit. From previous visits I recognized the area where caves had formed form the cracks in the rock when they'd shifted. Figuring we'd have come this way anyway, I decided to it wouldn't hurt to check them out again.
Much to my surprise, though, things were very different than the last time I'd visited. Unlike last time when all I'd seen was just some big rock formations and maybe some faded impropriate graffiti, this time the walls seemed to have come alive with some strange form of glowing writing. Turning to Dad who'd lagged behind I shouted to get him to hurry up.
"You gotta see this Dad," he noted my excitement and quickly made it to the cave's entrance.
"What's so interesting?" he questioned with an odd look on his face.
"Was there a snake or something?" he asked as I'm sure shock showed on my face at his obliviousness to what looked to me like one of the biggest defacements of a natural landmark I'd ever seen.
"You don't see anything weird here?" I had to clarify as to me something this obvious should have been reported almost immediately.
"Okay, what am I not seeing here?" again with the oblivious act.
"You don't see all of the writing?"
"I know my vision isn't that good anymore, but all I see is the same thing as last time I was here." his tone was taking on a tone that let me know he wasn't appreciating the joke he thought I was playing.
"Dad, I'm not joking here." I said in the most calm and controlled voice possible at the time, "there's some kind of glowing writing in some odd language all over the walls in here." by this point he was looking even more confused with my explanation.
All through this little exchange the man just stood there looking like he was trying to explain something. Tearing my attention away from my oblivious dad, I moved closer to see what he was pointing out. What I saw confused me at first because the writing made now sense to me, but as soon as he made it to the pictures further down I was dumbfounded. There on the wall in the same blue-green, glowing paint I saw the illustrated version of my dream the previous night. It wasn't quite like the Egyptian hieroglyphs I'd seen in history class, but it was some form of pictographic representation of the events of my dreams.
Dad awoke, as usual, at the first smells of a certain caffeinated beverage. Sort of in imitation of a zombie, he trudged groaning and moaning towards the campfire I'd built. The brisk mornings here always seem to enliven me, but he seems to prefer the climate controlled conditions indoors in the morning. After a few cups and some breakfast bars, the temperature had already risen enough that the fire is redundant so I put it out. With our meal done, we set about with last minute preparations before starting our hike.
Our route took us from the far dome first then taking us across the camelback and onto the mane dome of Enchanted Rock itself. We ate lunch on the secondary formation and continued on being selective of our path due to loose slab that had eroded to the point that they might break lose if enough for were to be exerted upon them. When we reached the valley floor we were greeted by an elderly Native American man. I say greeted because he seemed friendly, but nothing he said registered as English. After this he started to follow us wherever we went and it sounded as if he would break into a muffled chant periodically. It was starting to get kind of creepy the way he wouldn't leave us alone though.
By the time we'd reached the summit, Dad stopped and was about to tell the man that he'd had enough. Instead of stopping behind us as he'd done before, our tag along switched roles. He pulled ahead and motioned for us to follow with urgent hand gestures. Now curious as to his changed behavior, we began to follow his lead towards the back of the main summit. From previous visits I recognized the area where caves had formed form the cracks in the rock when they'd shifted. Figuring we'd have come this way anyway, I decided to it wouldn't hurt to check them out again.
Much to my surprise, though, things were very different than the last time I'd visited. Unlike last time when all I'd seen was just some big rock formations and maybe some faded impropriate graffiti, this time the walls seemed to have come alive with some strange form of glowing writing. Turning to Dad who'd lagged behind I shouted to get him to hurry up.
"You gotta see this Dad," he noted my excitement and quickly made it to the cave's entrance.
"What's so interesting?" he questioned with an odd look on his face.
"Was there a snake or something?" he asked as I'm sure shock showed on my face at his obliviousness to what looked to me like one of the biggest defacements of a natural landmark I'd ever seen.
"You don't see anything weird here?" I had to clarify as to me something this obvious should have been reported almost immediately.
"Okay, what am I not seeing here?" again with the oblivious act.
"You don't see all of the writing?"
"I know my vision isn't that good anymore, but all I see is the same thing as last time I was here." his tone was taking on a tone that let me know he wasn't appreciating the joke he thought I was playing.
"Dad, I'm not joking here." I said in the most calm and controlled voice possible at the time, "there's some kind of glowing writing in some odd language all over the walls in here." by this point he was looking even more confused with my explanation.
All through this little exchange the man just stood there looking like he was trying to explain something. Tearing my attention away from my oblivious dad, I moved closer to see what he was pointing out. What I saw confused me at first because the writing made now sense to me, but as soon as he made it to the pictures further down I was dumbfounded. There on the wall in the same blue-green, glowing paint I saw the illustrated version of my dream the previous night. It wasn't quite like the Egyptian hieroglyphs I'd seen in history class, but it was some form of pictographic representation of the events of my dreams.
________________
Friday, May 30, 2008~~
6:57 PM CST~~
Top of Enchanted Rock (Main Dome)~~
6:57 PM CST~~
Top of Enchanted Rock (Main Dome)~~
Thinking that we were just pulling his leg, Dad decided he'd had enough and made his way out of the cave and towards where we'd planned to camp for the night. I'd been enthralled by the cave paintings and they seemed to speak to me in some way that I was both unaccustomed to and drawn by at the same time. By this time the sun was beginning to set and I was fearful that the old man would have a hard time getting down the from the summit. Yet when I tried to motion for him to follow me he firmly shook his head and promptly sat to wrest on the floor of the cave.
Seeing that I'd get nowhere in trying to convince him, I decided to give up my breakfast so as to allow him some semblance of dinner. He gratefully accepted my offering and proceeded to dig through a pouch at his side, gesturing for me to hold for a moment. He held out his hand and, when I accepted it in return, he deposited four marble sized pieces of turquoise. I certainly felt that he'd overestimated the value of a couple of breakfast bars, but he would have none of it.
So it was that I found myself showing off my loot to Dad as we sad around a small sterno type camping stove and heated our dinner for the night. So as not to draw attention to our presence we'd chosen to avoid using flashlights and just enjoyed our view of the nigh by light of the moon and stars. After dinner I chose to let Dad know of the odd dream I'd had and why I was so interested in what our guide had shown me.
"So, what do you think it means?" he asked as I finished the tail.
"I have no idea, that's kind of why I told you," I couldn't keep the frustration out of my voice though.
"Hey now, don't get so upset," he went on in a more calming tone, "I know you're at the age still where you think all grownups have all the answers, and I wish it were true but it's not."
"Sorry Dad...I didn't mean to sound like that."
"Anyway some of the things you're describing sound kind of super-natural to me...If your eyes had changed color I'd be more worried but...we may just need to have your head check," he said the last part as an obvious joke, "ya’know just in case some crazy has rubbed off on ya."
"Why you..." of course that led into yet another of our wrestling matches, and yes he always wins anyway but I can still hope for someday.
After our fun the, tone of the evening became more contemplative. I was surprised at the number of shooting stars that night. I was starting to get edgy for some reason also but pushed those thoughts away as irrational fear. We found out that there really are strange sounds that come from within the rock at night. Of course this has been explained as natural heat expansion and reversion in all of the literature. Yet not in the literature were the same glowing runes I'd seen within the cave. They were very faint at first, but as time went on they seemed to both intensify and clarify themselves. I remembered the reports of "lights" described by the natives but had thought it mere folklore. But could this be what they were seeing?
"Hey Dad?" I asked quietly, not knowing how to react to these events.
"Yeah Zack, what's up?" he continued in the same hushed tone as I'd used.
"Tell me you if you're seeing anything strange over there, would you?"
He looked around a bit and startled a little when he noticed something, "Yeah it looks kind of like there's a feint glow coming through the rocks around us. Why what do you see," he asked as his tone became more worried.
"Oh, what I see is as feint as a searchlight," my voice had taken on a shaky tone that I had no qualms about at that moment, "that writing I saw in the cave is back, only all over the place. It looks like they're moving in rings around the point over there." I gestured to the nearly blinding point about six yards way.
"What do you think it is?" he asked as the word came unbidden to my mind, without thinking on it I replied.
"Beacon," that all I could say before an ear splitting sonic boom sounded above us distracting me and causing me to turn. And then many things happened all at once.
Fearing for our safety Dad selflessly covered me with his body, hoping that if something hit near us at least I'd survive. As that happened a sudden rush of calm flowed over me and through me at once. A muffled thud sounded in the area to which I'd pointed. Then Dad, sensing that the danger had past somehow, rolled off of me wincing as he felt a few new welts on his back.
Next the very air shook as what I can only describe as a feminine outcry of grief sounded that I both heard verbally and felt within my skull also. My heart ached, as if I'd just learned that some I had love had just been ripped away from me. And then a soft weeping I both heard and felt within my mind nearly finished sundering my heart. Without even realizing it I was on my feet and walking towards the crater.
"Zack no," Dad yelled, but I barely heard his pleas as I make my way towards the one who'd felt such pain.
She, I revised my thoughts, needed comfort for a loss I could hardly imagine. As I approached nothing could have held me back. As I reached the small depression all I could do is gasp as the sight before my eyes. Something so beautiful should never feel pain and this thought only bolstered my desire to comfort Her. She laid there weeping. Although she was unclothed, there were no thoughts of her being indecent. Her skin had a light turquoise glow and reminded me of the small stone I'd been given. As I pulled them from my pocket, I couldn't help but marvel at what my eyes were seeing. The stones no longer had the milky blue-green luster they once possessed. No, now they looked as if they'd been refined, purified into clear turquoise tented diamonds. Also strange was the fact that they gave off a soft glow that seemed to have no obvious source.
Seeing pain the girl, couldn't refer to her as a women, was displaying I approached cautiously. As I stepped into the final ring of strange words she seemed to notice me finally. When our eyes met I couldn't turn away. Here irises seemed to radiate the same color that the stones in my hand had come to imitate, only many times more brilliantly. She seemed to gasp when she'd seen me and seemed sort of frightened that I'd been able to escape her notice until then. When she spoke, her words made no sense to me but the thought behind it carried not question.
I found myself bowing before her, arm outstretched and offering the four stones to her as if I'd intended them as a gift all along. And at that point, I wasn't sure if she wasn't the intended recipient of them in the first place. Yet as She looked upon my gift, she gave yet another startled gasp and then a euphoric wave of glee washed over me and again through me as she seemed to ask a question to herself and then nodded. As she reached out, She seemed to ask a question. To me the feeling of uncertainty seemed to ask the question for Her. As I looked her in the eyes I merely nodded my reply. Instead of taking the stones from my hand, though, She clasped it in between Her hands as a massive wave of light, relief, love, kindness and a sense of promise washed over me as She flowed into me. And as then I lost consciousness as Dad yelled pleas at me to come back to him and away from that creature.
Seeing that I'd get nowhere in trying to convince him, I decided to give up my breakfast so as to allow him some semblance of dinner. He gratefully accepted my offering and proceeded to dig through a pouch at his side, gesturing for me to hold for a moment. He held out his hand and, when I accepted it in return, he deposited four marble sized pieces of turquoise. I certainly felt that he'd overestimated the value of a couple of breakfast bars, but he would have none of it.
So it was that I found myself showing off my loot to Dad as we sad around a small sterno type camping stove and heated our dinner for the night. So as not to draw attention to our presence we'd chosen to avoid using flashlights and just enjoyed our view of the nigh by light of the moon and stars. After dinner I chose to let Dad know of the odd dream I'd had and why I was so interested in what our guide had shown me.
"So, what do you think it means?" he asked as I finished the tail.
"I have no idea, that's kind of why I told you," I couldn't keep the frustration out of my voice though.
"Hey now, don't get so upset," he went on in a more calming tone, "I know you're at the age still where you think all grownups have all the answers, and I wish it were true but it's not."
"Sorry Dad...I didn't mean to sound like that."
"Anyway some of the things you're describing sound kind of super-natural to me...If your eyes had changed color I'd be more worried but...we may just need to have your head check," he said the last part as an obvious joke, "ya’know just in case some crazy has rubbed off on ya."
"Why you..." of course that led into yet another of our wrestling matches, and yes he always wins anyway but I can still hope for someday.
___________
Friday, May 30 2008~~
11:27 PM CST~~
Top of Enchanted Rock (Benton Camp Site)~~
11:27 PM CST~~
Top of Enchanted Rock (Benton Camp Site)~~
After our fun the, tone of the evening became more contemplative. I was surprised at the number of shooting stars that night. I was starting to get edgy for some reason also but pushed those thoughts away as irrational fear. We found out that there really are strange sounds that come from within the rock at night. Of course this has been explained as natural heat expansion and reversion in all of the literature. Yet not in the literature were the same glowing runes I'd seen within the cave. They were very faint at first, but as time went on they seemed to both intensify and clarify themselves. I remembered the reports of "lights" described by the natives but had thought it mere folklore. But could this be what they were seeing?
"Hey Dad?" I asked quietly, not knowing how to react to these events.
"Yeah Zack, what's up?" he continued in the same hushed tone as I'd used.
"Tell me you if you're seeing anything strange over there, would you?"
He looked around a bit and startled a little when he noticed something, "Yeah it looks kind of like there's a feint glow coming through the rocks around us. Why what do you see," he asked as his tone became more worried.
"Oh, what I see is as feint as a searchlight," my voice had taken on a shaky tone that I had no qualms about at that moment, "that writing I saw in the cave is back, only all over the place. It looks like they're moving in rings around the point over there." I gestured to the nearly blinding point about six yards way.
"What do you think it is?" he asked as the word came unbidden to my mind, without thinking on it I replied.
"Beacon," that all I could say before an ear splitting sonic boom sounded above us distracting me and causing me to turn. And then many things happened all at once.
Fearing for our safety Dad selflessly covered me with his body, hoping that if something hit near us at least I'd survive. As that happened a sudden rush of calm flowed over me and through me at once. A muffled thud sounded in the area to which I'd pointed. Then Dad, sensing that the danger had past somehow, rolled off of me wincing as he felt a few new welts on his back.
Next the very air shook as what I can only describe as a feminine outcry of grief sounded that I both heard verbally and felt within my skull also. My heart ached, as if I'd just learned that some I had love had just been ripped away from me. And then a soft weeping I both heard and felt within my mind nearly finished sundering my heart. Without even realizing it I was on my feet and walking towards the crater.
"Zack no," Dad yelled, but I barely heard his pleas as I make my way towards the one who'd felt such pain.
She, I revised my thoughts, needed comfort for a loss I could hardly imagine. As I approached nothing could have held me back. As I reached the small depression all I could do is gasp as the sight before my eyes. Something so beautiful should never feel pain and this thought only bolstered my desire to comfort Her. She laid there weeping. Although she was unclothed, there were no thoughts of her being indecent. Her skin had a light turquoise glow and reminded me of the small stone I'd been given. As I pulled them from my pocket, I couldn't help but marvel at what my eyes were seeing. The stones no longer had the milky blue-green luster they once possessed. No, now they looked as if they'd been refined, purified into clear turquoise tented diamonds. Also strange was the fact that they gave off a soft glow that seemed to have no obvious source.
Seeing pain the girl, couldn't refer to her as a women, was displaying I approached cautiously. As I stepped into the final ring of strange words she seemed to notice me finally. When our eyes met I couldn't turn away. Here irises seemed to radiate the same color that the stones in my hand had come to imitate, only many times more brilliantly. She seemed to gasp when she'd seen me and seemed sort of frightened that I'd been able to escape her notice until then. When she spoke, her words made no sense to me but the thought behind it carried not question.
I found myself bowing before her, arm outstretched and offering the four stones to her as if I'd intended them as a gift all along. And at that point, I wasn't sure if she wasn't the intended recipient of them in the first place. Yet as She looked upon my gift, she gave yet another startled gasp and then a euphoric wave of glee washed over me and again through me as she seemed to ask a question to herself and then nodded. As she reached out, She seemed to ask a question. To me the feeling of uncertainty seemed to ask the question for Her. As I looked her in the eyes I merely nodded my reply. Instead of taking the stones from my hand, though, She clasped it in between Her hands as a massive wave of light, relief, love, kindness and a sense of promise washed over me as She flowed into me. And as then I lost consciousness as Dad yelled pleas at me to come back to him and away from that creature.
_____________
Saturday, May 31, 2008~~
12:48 AM CST~~
Somewhere Outside of Fredericksburg, Tx~~
Current Speed 114 MPH~~
12:48 AM CST~~
Somewhere Outside of Fredericksburg, Tx~~
Current Speed 114 MPH~~
How could this have happened?
How could I have been so stupid?
How could I ever explain this to Mary?
How could I _just_ sit there and do nothing?
How am I supposed to react to this?
These thought seemed to be on a repetitive loop, and kept replaying over and over in Jeremy Benton's head. Each time he'd come back to that last question, his gaze was redrawn to the figure of his...son, laid across the back seat of his pickup. Then his thoughts went back to the images and his paralyzing fear upon the mountain.
For just a few seconds he'd frozen and in that time his boy had approached the small crater. The energy coming off of the site was so intense that he couldn't hope to follow. Yet still he racked his brain as to why, after bravely protecting his own, he'd allowed that same one to walk willingly into danger. His own pride and self-image couldn't keep his tears from falling as he raced toward the closest town, Fredericksburg.
He checked his GPS again and it still showed he was ten minutes away from Hill Country Memorial. But the sobering reminder that he'd been moving as fast as possible for about an hour barely registered. His concern was redoubled as he remembered the event anew. His son approached as if possessed towards the...creature, is the best he could describe it. To him it looked like a moving mass of energy and yet it had flowed almost as if liquid. Tendril, if that was the right word, floated delicately around the thing and it seemed to project feelings outward.
Was it an alien?
Was it some form of angel?
Maybe it had somehow communicated with Zack?
Had Zack seen something different, like he'd described earlier that evening?
And then, he offered the entity something that glowed with similar light. As he replayed it in his mind he noticed that the thing had hesitated before touching his son. Then, the real shocker. When...it touched his hand it seemed to flow into him, almost as if filling him, so that he too glowed with an even more radiant light.
The energy poured off of...them as his son lifted off of the ground with similar yet somehow slightly different tendrils that acted like some form of wings. Remembering his astonishment, as Zack never did really touch back to the ground. All that indicated it was over was the light fading and the overwhelming emotions had swept through the area, almost tangibly, abated to only uncomfortable levels.
By now he was in the city proper and was still going eighty, emergency lights flashing, and honking like a madman at any motorist foolish enough to get in his way. Call an ambulance? And tell them what? Oh my son just hoovered up an alien, could you send your nearest NSA team to quarantine him so the experimentation can really begin? No!
Even if this wasn't his son anymore, even if that entity had changed him so drastically that they couldn't interact, nothing would deserve that fate. The chance that his son was still alive within that...body was too great. He'd heard of some of the things the government had tried on...mutants, just thinking of them brought up a new fear.
Was Zach one of them?
If so, what did that mean for little Maggie?
There was no doubt that Zack's eyes had changed color. Brushing aside the inexplicably long hair along with inch wide turquoise...ribbons that now spread throughout, he looked again. Once they'd been hazel, just as his own, yet now they glowed with a turquoise light that spoke only whispers of the power he'd witnessed upon the rock. Even now, unconsciously laying there in the back seat of his truck, he could feel it.
Any sudden movement of the truck would illicit a soft moan or sigh that would resonate through his mind moments before making his heart ache and then finally his ears could pick up any audible sounds. It had to be some form of telepathy or something. That’s what scared him the most. Not knowing what had happened, if it could be reversed, if his _son_ was no more, or if he could control the power that had enveloped and enfolded his very being.
Leaning over the seat, he pulled the thermometer from...Zack's, armpit to check his temperature yet again. Upon finally reaching him after the lightshow, he'd recoiled as he touched his...Zack's arm. If his temperature had only been a few degrees higher, Jeremy was sure that his hand would have been burned.
Carrying _Zack_ down the mountain was an experience he'd never forget, as _he_ could barely register that his son weighed anything. This of course made it easier to accomplish but, at the same time, worried him in a way he couldn't describe. When they'd finally reached the truck he quickly checked _Zack's_ temperature and was astounded. Normal baselines have major problem at only 107 degrees and up, yet the thermometer he had barely reached far enough to register 127 degree. And it had fluxgate ever since even with the ice packs he put all around _Zack's_ body.
How could I have been so stupid?
How could I ever explain this to Mary?
How could I _just_ sit there and do nothing?
How am I supposed to react to this?
These thought seemed to be on a repetitive loop, and kept replaying over and over in Jeremy Benton's head. Each time he'd come back to that last question, his gaze was redrawn to the figure of his...son, laid across the back seat of his pickup. Then his thoughts went back to the images and his paralyzing fear upon the mountain.
For just a few seconds he'd frozen and in that time his boy had approached the small crater. The energy coming off of the site was so intense that he couldn't hope to follow. Yet still he racked his brain as to why, after bravely protecting his own, he'd allowed that same one to walk willingly into danger. His own pride and self-image couldn't keep his tears from falling as he raced toward the closest town, Fredericksburg.
He checked his GPS again and it still showed he was ten minutes away from Hill Country Memorial. But the sobering reminder that he'd been moving as fast as possible for about an hour barely registered. His concern was redoubled as he remembered the event anew. His son approached as if possessed towards the...creature, is the best he could describe it. To him it looked like a moving mass of energy and yet it had flowed almost as if liquid. Tendril, if that was the right word, floated delicately around the thing and it seemed to project feelings outward.
Was it an alien?
Was it some form of angel?
Maybe it had somehow communicated with Zack?
Had Zack seen something different, like he'd described earlier that evening?
And then, he offered the entity something that glowed with similar light. As he replayed it in his mind he noticed that the thing had hesitated before touching his son. Then, the real shocker. When...it touched his hand it seemed to flow into him, almost as if filling him, so that he too glowed with an even more radiant light.
The energy poured off of...them as his son lifted off of the ground with similar yet somehow slightly different tendrils that acted like some form of wings. Remembering his astonishment, as Zack never did really touch back to the ground. All that indicated it was over was the light fading and the overwhelming emotions had swept through the area, almost tangibly, abated to only uncomfortable levels.
By now he was in the city proper and was still going eighty, emergency lights flashing, and honking like a madman at any motorist foolish enough to get in his way. Call an ambulance? And tell them what? Oh my son just hoovered up an alien, could you send your nearest NSA team to quarantine him so the experimentation can really begin? No!
Even if this wasn't his son anymore, even if that entity had changed him so drastically that they couldn't interact, nothing would deserve that fate. The chance that his son was still alive within that...body was too great. He'd heard of some of the things the government had tried on...mutants, just thinking of them brought up a new fear.
Was Zach one of them?
If so, what did that mean for little Maggie?
There was no doubt that Zack's eyes had changed color. Brushing aside the inexplicably long hair along with inch wide turquoise...ribbons that now spread throughout, he looked again. Once they'd been hazel, just as his own, yet now they glowed with a turquoise light that spoke only whispers of the power he'd witnessed upon the rock. Even now, unconsciously laying there in the back seat of his truck, he could feel it.
Any sudden movement of the truck would illicit a soft moan or sigh that would resonate through his mind moments before making his heart ache and then finally his ears could pick up any audible sounds. It had to be some form of telepathy or something. That’s what scared him the most. Not knowing what had happened, if it could be reversed, if his _son_ was no more, or if he could control the power that had enveloped and enfolded his very being.
Leaning over the seat, he pulled the thermometer from...Zack's, armpit to check his temperature yet again. Upon finally reaching him after the lightshow, he'd recoiled as he touched his...Zack's arm. If his temperature had only been a few degrees higher, Jeremy was sure that his hand would have been burned.
Carrying _Zack_ down the mountain was an experience he'd never forget, as _he_ could barely register that his son weighed anything. This of course made it easier to accomplish but, at the same time, worried him in a way he couldn't describe. When they'd finally reached the truck he quickly checked _Zack's_ temperature and was astounded. Normal baselines have major problem at only 107 degrees and up, yet the thermometer he had barely reached far enough to register 127 degree. And it had fluxgate ever since even with the ice packs he put all around _Zack's_ body.
____________
Saturday, May, 31 2008~~
1:13 AM CST~~
Hill Country Memorial Hospital~~
Fredericksburg, Tx~~
1:13 AM CST~~
Hill Country Memorial Hospital~~
Fredericksburg, Tx~~
Pulling into HCM, I was still frantic as I screeched to a hauled before the emergency entrance. I must have scared some of the on duty staff with my breakneck speed in the parking lot, because two nurse and a doctor rushed out to see what would warrant such recklessness. They became even more frightened as they beheld _Zack_ laying in the back seat with the ice packs nearly depleted.
I'll give them this though: They were nothing if not professional in getting suited up in MOPP gear and rushing my _son_ inside and into an ice bath asap. It finally caught my attention that _Zack_ had been mumbling the same strange language that I'd heard from the old Tonkawa tribesmen earlier today.
As soon as we were through the door the doctor shouted to the receptionist, “Shelly, get ahold of Fred and tell him to get as much ice to the tub as possible…” he paused then added, “and get the Rangers on the horn. We need someone down here in case something goes…wrong,” he gave me a wary glance as he said that.
“That was smart thinking on your part,” one of the nurse said in way of distraction from the doctor’s comment gesturing towards the ice bags, “you may have saved your child’s life just by doing your best to keep her temperature down,” but her comment brought a wince at her word choice.
Things happened quickly as we all rushed to a room a little farther back. It looked to be much more solidly built than the other rooms I’d noticed around it. In the center was a large, jacuzzi-sized tub that was being filled with ice by an orderly that seemed to act as if this were boring or mundane labor. Also too, I saw many instruments that I couldn’t identify despite being in the medical field myself. Instead of trying to lift _Zack_, the orderly instead motioned with a hand and very quickly yet surprisingly very gently _he_ was lowered into the ice.
As he did so I noticed something that I'd overlooked before because it had been covered and trapped at the time by...ZJ's (yeah I’ll go with that one) now excessively small and tattered t-shirt. But as ZJ was levitated towards the ice bath an oddly flat...tail? (I guess you could call it) came into view. It connected to the base of _his_ neck and seemed to float freely for a moment and then it loosely wrapped itself around and conformed to the rest of the body.
It seemed to glow with the otherworldly light I'd grown accustomed to. Maybe "tail" isn't the right word, but it was definitely wider than the smaller ribbons that lased _his_ hair. It was maybe a foot longer than ZJ's body and seemed so alien and yet so natural at the same time. All I could do is stare in amazement at how beautiful this creature truly was.
“How long has she been experiencing burnout,” the nurse asked impatiently, distracting me, as I was forced to confront what I’d been diligently avoiding, “Sir? Sir please, we need to know how long your daughter has been in this condition. Time is not on our side here!”
“My s…son,” I chocked as one of the nurses let out a gasp, realizing first what my words implied, “We were at the State Park and…something happened and he…Zack has been burning up like this ever since.”
“Time,” the nurse that had gasped, her name badge marked her as Dianna, demanded more than asked, “we need a gage to see how far along sh…Zack you said? is so we know where to begin. Marg, we may need more ice soon. What in there is melting pretty fast now,” gesturing emphatically toward where Zack lay covered in ice.
“A little over an hour now… we were on top of the Rock,” again a gasp escaped, only from the other nurse this time, who I’m guessing was Marg.
“My God… where are the Rangers,” looking at me she clarified, “the local hero team.”
I'll give them this though: They were nothing if not professional in getting suited up in MOPP gear and rushing my _son_ inside and into an ice bath asap. It finally caught my attention that _Zack_ had been mumbling the same strange language that I'd heard from the old Tonkawa tribesmen earlier today.
As soon as we were through the door the doctor shouted to the receptionist, “Shelly, get ahold of Fred and tell him to get as much ice to the tub as possible…” he paused then added, “and get the Rangers on the horn. We need someone down here in case something goes…wrong,” he gave me a wary glance as he said that.
“That was smart thinking on your part,” one of the nurse said in way of distraction from the doctor’s comment gesturing towards the ice bags, “you may have saved your child’s life just by doing your best to keep her temperature down,” but her comment brought a wince at her word choice.
Things happened quickly as we all rushed to a room a little farther back. It looked to be much more solidly built than the other rooms I’d noticed around it. In the center was a large, jacuzzi-sized tub that was being filled with ice by an orderly that seemed to act as if this were boring or mundane labor. Also too, I saw many instruments that I couldn’t identify despite being in the medical field myself. Instead of trying to lift _Zack_, the orderly instead motioned with a hand and very quickly yet surprisingly very gently _he_ was lowered into the ice.
As he did so I noticed something that I'd overlooked before because it had been covered and trapped at the time by...ZJ's (yeah I’ll go with that one) now excessively small and tattered t-shirt. But as ZJ was levitated towards the ice bath an oddly flat...tail? (I guess you could call it) came into view. It connected to the base of _his_ neck and seemed to float freely for a moment and then it loosely wrapped itself around and conformed to the rest of the body.
It seemed to glow with the otherworldly light I'd grown accustomed to. Maybe "tail" isn't the right word, but it was definitely wider than the smaller ribbons that lased _his_ hair. It was maybe a foot longer than ZJ's body and seemed so alien and yet so natural at the same time. All I could do is stare in amazement at how beautiful this creature truly was.
“How long has she been experiencing burnout,” the nurse asked impatiently, distracting me, as I was forced to confront what I’d been diligently avoiding, “Sir? Sir please, we need to know how long your daughter has been in this condition. Time is not on our side here!”
“My s…son,” I chocked as one of the nurses let out a gasp, realizing first what my words implied, “We were at the State Park and…something happened and he…Zack has been burning up like this ever since.”
“Time,” the nurse that had gasped, her name badge marked her as Dianna, demanded more than asked, “we need a gage to see how far along sh…Zack you said? is so we know where to begin. Marg, we may need more ice soon. What in there is melting pretty fast now,” gesturing emphatically toward where Zack lay covered in ice.
“A little over an hour now… we were on top of the Rock,” again a gasp escaped, only from the other nurse this time, who I’m guessing was Marg.
“My God… where are the Rangers,” looking at me she clarified, “the local hero team.”
________
Saturday, May, 31 2008~~
1:35 AM CST~~
Hill Country Memorial Hospital~~
Fredericksburg, Tx~~
1:35 AM CST~~
Hill Country Memorial Hospital~~
Fredericksburg, Tx~~
“Way out here?” confusion plain in my voice.
“We’ve got high concentration of mutants in this area for some reason…” the nurse was cut off quite deliberately by the orderly.
“Maverick’s is gonna blow a gasket when he hears that something like this happened! Especially after all of Doc fuss years ago…” he trailed off as a deep voice growled form behind us.
“Don’t be worrying about Maverick and his finger wiggling mumbo-jumbo.” A veritable mountain dressed in, what I can only describe as, cowboy themed armor stood in the doorway.
There was an audible sigh of relief from the doctor as he managed to make some headway in controlling _Zack’s_ temperature, “Finally! It looks as if the worst is past. Still this was a _major_ burnout. She’s gonna be down for quite some time after that doozy.
The hero saw my expression and guessed it in one, “Don’t ya be worry’n about yer kid, she’s in good hands here and all yer do’n is getting in the way now. Why don’t ya come on out here so we can talk about what happened.”
Reluctantly I followed and as we walked down the hall I head a muffled reply from inside the room.
“Ugh…Themed hero teams! Why don’t they just shoot me now and end the travesty…” someone complained none to quietly.
“Laying it on pretty thick there ain’t he?” followed with a few laughs.
“I heard that Fred, and we’ll have word later,” the giant said in a more normal tone with far less draw.
Turning to me he extended a hand, “Round here I’m know more formally as “John Wayne,” leader of the Rangers, but most just call me Wayne.”
“Nice to meet you Mr…Wayne, my names Jeremy Benton.” I replied shaking his hand.
“I know this is hard but… What can you tell me about what happened to yer kid?” he asked as he led me towards a staff break room.
It was only then that I realized how much I was shaking from the adrenaline crash. I was able to call Mary and explain, with as few details as possible as I didn’t want to know who might be listening, what had happened as she grabbed Maggie and made it clear that she _would_ be at here in a few hours. After hearing her tone I chose not to mention anything about speed limits or such things.
As we drank coffee I went over the whole story with Wayne. Where we are from and our plan for a “guy’s trip.” Our route and the encounter with the tribesman and his seemingly crazy behavior. Then on to the cave and how Zack had been seeing thing I couldn’t. Our plan to camp on top of the Rock and Zack’s pointing out the glow of the rocks around us. The impact and how he’d seemingly been drawn to it. My description of the entity that I’d seen. His behavior towards it and vice versa. And then the grand finally as they touched and…merged into one being. After which I looked at the clock and realized that it was after two in the morning. After a full day of hiking coupled with the panicked rush to the hospital I was so exhausted that I ended up napping on a spare bed for a couple of hours.
When she arrived, Mary was frantic and in tears. No one wanted to get in her way, yet it fell upon me to calm her down enough to listen to what the doctor said. Mary had only the bare minimum of the fact that I felt comfortable with over the phone. Using the words like mutant, manifested, or burnout was generally known as a bad idea because they are easily tagged.
Most people know better than to tempt the MCO and I had suspicions that sort of thing happen much more than we knew. I stood by her as the doctor explained that although Zack was out of mortal danger for the moment, we should try to keep…her as calm as possible.
They allowed her and Maggie to see Zack as soon as the staff had a chance to move her to a room. As ZJ had yet to awaken the resident telepath was brought in earlier in order to examine what we’d be dealing with when that happened. Thankfully she gave a tentative green light so that we’d be able to see…our daughter.
They seemed skeptical of my account of the events up until that point. Afterwards there were several hushed debates and the tension around ZJ jumped an order of magnitude. Having an apparent manifestation of telepathy after contact with an otherworldly being made for an interesting challenge to place before such a small hospital and the heroes here to protect it.
Just before we were allowed into the room, the doctor insisted that Mary be prepared for what she would see in the place of her son. You could see that all of the staff knew exactly what was said when Mary almost shouted “WHAT?” at the doctor. I paid extra attention to what the doctor was saying afterwards as I knew she was in no state to hear anything after that bombshell. After being prepared for the worst, a very shaky Mary led Maggie into Zack’s room.
“We’ve got high concentration of mutants in this area for some reason…” the nurse was cut off quite deliberately by the orderly.
“Maverick’s is gonna blow a gasket when he hears that something like this happened! Especially after all of Doc fuss years ago…” he trailed off as a deep voice growled form behind us.
“Don’t be worrying about Maverick and his finger wiggling mumbo-jumbo.” A veritable mountain dressed in, what I can only describe as, cowboy themed armor stood in the doorway.
There was an audible sigh of relief from the doctor as he managed to make some headway in controlling _Zack’s_ temperature, “Finally! It looks as if the worst is past. Still this was a _major_ burnout. She’s gonna be down for quite some time after that doozy.
The hero saw my expression and guessed it in one, “Don’t ya be worry’n about yer kid, she’s in good hands here and all yer do’n is getting in the way now. Why don’t ya come on out here so we can talk about what happened.”
Reluctantly I followed and as we walked down the hall I head a muffled reply from inside the room.
“Ugh…Themed hero teams! Why don’t they just shoot me now and end the travesty…” someone complained none to quietly.
“Laying it on pretty thick there ain’t he?” followed with a few laughs.
“I heard that Fred, and we’ll have word later,” the giant said in a more normal tone with far less draw.
Turning to me he extended a hand, “Round here I’m know more formally as “John Wayne,” leader of the Rangers, but most just call me Wayne.”
“Nice to meet you Mr…Wayne, my names Jeremy Benton.” I replied shaking his hand.
“I know this is hard but… What can you tell me about what happened to yer kid?” he asked as he led me towards a staff break room.
It was only then that I realized how much I was shaking from the adrenaline crash. I was able to call Mary and explain, with as few details as possible as I didn’t want to know who might be listening, what had happened as she grabbed Maggie and made it clear that she _would_ be at here in a few hours. After hearing her tone I chose not to mention anything about speed limits or such things.
As we drank coffee I went over the whole story with Wayne. Where we are from and our plan for a “guy’s trip.” Our route and the encounter with the tribesman and his seemingly crazy behavior. Then on to the cave and how Zack had been seeing thing I couldn’t. Our plan to camp on top of the Rock and Zack’s pointing out the glow of the rocks around us. The impact and how he’d seemingly been drawn to it. My description of the entity that I’d seen. His behavior towards it and vice versa. And then the grand finally as they touched and…merged into one being. After which I looked at the clock and realized that it was after two in the morning. After a full day of hiking coupled with the panicked rush to the hospital I was so exhausted that I ended up napping on a spare bed for a couple of hours.
_________
Saturday, May, 31 2008~~
5:21 AM CST~~
HCM Hospital~~
5:21 AM CST~~
HCM Hospital~~
When she arrived, Mary was frantic and in tears. No one wanted to get in her way, yet it fell upon me to calm her down enough to listen to what the doctor said. Mary had only the bare minimum of the fact that I felt comfortable with over the phone. Using the words like mutant, manifested, or burnout was generally known as a bad idea because they are easily tagged.
Most people know better than to tempt the MCO and I had suspicions that sort of thing happen much more than we knew. I stood by her as the doctor explained that although Zack was out of mortal danger for the moment, we should try to keep…her as calm as possible.
They allowed her and Maggie to see Zack as soon as the staff had a chance to move her to a room. As ZJ had yet to awaken the resident telepath was brought in earlier in order to examine what we’d be dealing with when that happened. Thankfully she gave a tentative green light so that we’d be able to see…our daughter.
They seemed skeptical of my account of the events up until that point. Afterwards there were several hushed debates and the tension around ZJ jumped an order of magnitude. Having an apparent manifestation of telepathy after contact with an otherworldly being made for an interesting challenge to place before such a small hospital and the heroes here to protect it.
Just before we were allowed into the room, the doctor insisted that Mary be prepared for what she would see in the place of her son. You could see that all of the staff knew exactly what was said when Mary almost shouted “WHAT?” at the doctor. I paid extra attention to what the doctor was saying afterwards as I knew she was in no state to hear anything after that bombshell. After being prepared for the worst, a very shaky Mary led Maggie into Zack’s room.
____________
Saturday, May, 31 2008~~
7:08 AM CST~~
HCM Hospital~~
7:08 AM CST~~
HCM Hospital~~
“Mommy, who’s the pretty girl?” Maggie asked in the innocent tone that only a child can achieve.
“That, baby girl, is your new big sister…”
“REALLY!” Maggie beamed, then wilted a little, “but mommy, I thought we were gonna see Zack. You said he was sick. Where’s ZJ mommy.” Her little face scrunched with worry.
As Mary broke down in tears, I stepped up to cover for her, “Honey… that is ZJ,” to which she gave me a confused look, so I went on, “you’ve heard of mutants, right pumpkin?”
“Yes Daddy…but everyone says they’re bad though, and really ugly too,” she started to shrink back away from the bedside with a fearful look.
“No Maggie, not all are like that,” I said with a wave of my hand towards the bead, “you don’t need to be afraid of your...of ZJ. The doctors say that his mind is still the same, but there’s a lot more too.”
Mary rejoined the conversation at that point, “What do you mean, ‘a lot more’ Jer?”
“Well, when we were up on the Rock, something fell from the sky and landed next to us.” I watch as Maggie's expression went from surprised to curious almost like someone flipped a switch.
“Like a _real_ alien?” Maggie cut in with true wonderment best expressed by young ones.
“Yes sweaty, and this one seemed nice too,” before she could cut in I went on, “and Zack was so brave that he shook hands with it…and then together they turned into that pretty girl there.”
“Is that why she’s glowing so bright Daddy?” the question confused me because, to me the young woman before me looked almost normal.
She was certainly too beautiful to ever be mistaken as such though. The only oddities I’d seen were the strange tail that lay across her body and what appeared as a thin, yet wide turquoise ribbons that moved ever so slightly among her raven black hair.
“That, baby girl, is your new big sister…”
“REALLY!” Maggie beamed, then wilted a little, “but mommy, I thought we were gonna see Zack. You said he was sick. Where’s ZJ mommy.” Her little face scrunched with worry.
As Mary broke down in tears, I stepped up to cover for her, “Honey… that is ZJ,” to which she gave me a confused look, so I went on, “you’ve heard of mutants, right pumpkin?”
“Yes Daddy…but everyone says they’re bad though, and really ugly too,” she started to shrink back away from the bedside with a fearful look.
“No Maggie, not all are like that,” I said with a wave of my hand towards the bead, “you don’t need to be afraid of your...of ZJ. The doctors say that his mind is still the same, but there’s a lot more too.”
Mary rejoined the conversation at that point, “What do you mean, ‘a lot more’ Jer?”
“Well, when we were up on the Rock, something fell from the sky and landed next to us.” I watch as Maggie's expression went from surprised to curious almost like someone flipped a switch.
“Like a _real_ alien?” Maggie cut in with true wonderment best expressed by young ones.
“Yes sweaty, and this one seemed nice too,” before she could cut in I went on, “and Zack was so brave that he shook hands with it…and then together they turned into that pretty girl there.”
“Is that why she’s glowing so bright Daddy?” the question confused me because, to me the young woman before me looked almost normal.
She was certainly too beautiful to ever be mistaken as such though. The only oddities I’d seen were the strange tail that lay across her body and what appeared as a thin, yet wide turquoise ribbons that moved ever so slightly among her raven black hair.
_____________
Saturday, May, 31 2008~~
7:48 AM CST~~
Hospital Break Room~~
(With many anti-eavesdropping counter measures active)~~
7:48 AM CST~~
Hospital Break Room~~
(With many anti-eavesdropping counter measures active)~~
“So, Cat," started in a hushed tone. This despite the relative security they’d been afforded by both ‘Doc Holiday’s’ anti-snoop devices and ‘Maverick’s’ finger wiggling. At her look he spoke up louder, “What about this situation aren’t you tell the kid’s folks?”
Cat Ballou, or ‘Cat,’ gave a heavy sigh as she never could get why they _had_ to have old western code names, “Besides the fact that I have no idea what that thing was in her head you mean,” as she spoke her voice grew in distress, “I mean, when the dad was talking about aliens I figured he was just another head case. But when he asked me to check him I took a peek in his head and guess what? Not only is the telling the truth, he’s probably _downplay’n_ it a little.”
“How do you mean?” Maverick stepped in before Wyatt could start pulling rank on her for yelling at him.
.
“The ‘tribesman’ that was following him around was none other than our sometimes ally ‘Cochise.’” If the situation was any different she’d have laughed at Mav’s expression. “And even you said ya don’t understand that hoki stuff he calls ‘magic,’ but for some reason what he does just works for him.”
“I keep telling you that I don’t think it’s ‘magic’ either,” Doc finally joined the discussion, “my instruments can actually make sense of what he does so maybe it’s something else entirely.”
“Whatever, Doc,” Cat knew she had to nip that before the team Dev/Gag ran away with his exposition, “my point is that this is _really_ out of our league. When I looked in the kid’s head, I got a double barrel thought that something had gone wrong. Just before I was nearly knocked out when whatever else was in there decided I wasn’t welcome anymore. The one bit of good news I got from the whole thing was that the kid seemed to be in control of whatever it was that was try’n to calm her down.”
“Is it a high level spirit?” Wayne tried.
“I wandered the same,” Maverick said by way of answer, “but spirits like that appear via the astral plane, not crashing to earth to be found in some crater. Also, with even lesser spirits there would be a magic footprint of some kind, yet with the girl I’m not even picking up the traces inherent in all humans.”
His eyes took on a vacant look for a moment before he went on, “Coyote also agrees that this is not one of the great spirits that he knows of…but he is very, very nervous of it for some reason. Whatever it is…it is very, very old and I’m going by Coyote’s measure of old here.”
Wayne turned to Doc, “Could this be a Dynamorph event?”
Doc was shaking his head even as he answered, “I don’t think so. First, the whole visible display and…ceremony in how things played out, not to mention the age of the…host. Second is the fact of what Cat said about the two having a conversation…And I’ve never heard of a Dynamorph speaking with, let alone giving consolation to, its host before. And third, a Dynamorph event doesn't result in burnout by itself. Like with Cochise’s so called magic, I have a feeling that we are dealing with something truly alien to our knowledge. No pun intended.”
Wayne hesitated for a moment before he brought up his next question, “Now the next question doesn’t come lightly,” he said and all heads turned to him, “Do we notify governmental authorities?”
Cat Ballou, or ‘Cat,’ gave a heavy sigh as she never could get why they _had_ to have old western code names, “Besides the fact that I have no idea what that thing was in her head you mean,” as she spoke her voice grew in distress, “I mean, when the dad was talking about aliens I figured he was just another head case. But when he asked me to check him I took a peek in his head and guess what? Not only is the telling the truth, he’s probably _downplay’n_ it a little.”
“How do you mean?” Maverick stepped in before Wyatt could start pulling rank on her for yelling at him.
.
“The ‘tribesman’ that was following him around was none other than our sometimes ally ‘Cochise.’” If the situation was any different she’d have laughed at Mav’s expression. “And even you said ya don’t understand that hoki stuff he calls ‘magic,’ but for some reason what he does just works for him.”
“I keep telling you that I don’t think it’s ‘magic’ either,” Doc finally joined the discussion, “my instruments can actually make sense of what he does so maybe it’s something else entirely.”
“Whatever, Doc,” Cat knew she had to nip that before the team Dev/Gag ran away with his exposition, “my point is that this is _really_ out of our league. When I looked in the kid’s head, I got a double barrel thought that something had gone wrong. Just before I was nearly knocked out when whatever else was in there decided I wasn’t welcome anymore. The one bit of good news I got from the whole thing was that the kid seemed to be in control of whatever it was that was try’n to calm her down.”
“Is it a high level spirit?” Wayne tried.
“I wandered the same,” Maverick said by way of answer, “but spirits like that appear via the astral plane, not crashing to earth to be found in some crater. Also, with even lesser spirits there would be a magic footprint of some kind, yet with the girl I’m not even picking up the traces inherent in all humans.”
His eyes took on a vacant look for a moment before he went on, “Coyote also agrees that this is not one of the great spirits that he knows of…but he is very, very nervous of it for some reason. Whatever it is…it is very, very old and I’m going by Coyote’s measure of old here.”
Wayne turned to Doc, “Could this be a Dynamorph event?”
Doc was shaking his head even as he answered, “I don’t think so. First, the whole visible display and…ceremony in how things played out, not to mention the age of the…host. Second is the fact of what Cat said about the two having a conversation…And I’ve never heard of a Dynamorph speaking with, let alone giving consolation to, its host before. And third, a Dynamorph event doesn't result in burnout by itself. Like with Cochise’s so called magic, I have a feeling that we are dealing with something truly alien to our knowledge. No pun intended.”
Wayne hesitated for a moment before he brought up his next question, “Now the next question doesn’t come lightly,” he said and all heads turned to him, “Do we notify governmental authorities?”
“WHAT?”
“You can’t be serious, Wayne?”
“Why, may I ask, do you bring up this question?” the always calm and collected Doc asked.
"There have already been at least ten reports of strange events happing out at the Rock tonight," he waited a moment before pointing out the obvious, "and all of you know we can't afford to have the MCO, the DPA, or any others from the alphabet soup out her trying to hunt down a mutant."
"Are we even sure she's a mutant?" Cat, being both the heart of the team and the youngest, asked seeking a way to avoid that outcome and looked to Doc for confirmation.
"Oh yes, she's definitely a mutant," he emphatically replied, "and as for this hypothetical search for mutants, they'd probably find one...or twenty, in addition to her in the vicinity. Then we'd probably lose our team license for not being more strict with all of the MID violators." Doc said in his normal apathetic tone that constantly got him in trouble with Cat.
"Your suggesting giving up this kid to protect The Train?" Cat asked incredulously.
"We're talking about giving a show of cooperation with the one mutant that they know of. Doing this so that the big bad Mutant _Control_ Office doesn't look deeper into our area." Wayne's voice became very serious. "A mutant underground railroad is hard enough to keep off of their radar as it is. If the Llano MCO office wasn't so incompetent, we'd have been found out years ago."
"So we give up a kid who is guilty of nothing but being at the right place at the wrong time?" Cat still couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"No Cat." Maverick broke in, "If we play this smart, we can keep the identities of her and her family from the MCO and just get her registered for her MID under a temp codename. Or if she doesn’t want to come up with one yet, she could apply for one of the "Jane Doe" cards. Then, when she's legal’n all, we’ll look like we followed the rules, by the book, and gotten her registered. On the flip side we might keep our “little” secret off the desk of some castoff from H1! for at least a while longer.”
“I don’t like what we have to do any more than you do, Cat,” Wayne went for a diplomatic approach this time, “but we’ve got several _families_ here that might get disappeared because we let the cat out of the bag to cover up something too big and too public. I’m sure there are several agencies already descending upon us as we speak. If they don’t find anything close to the surface, they’re gonna dig deeper and that’s something we just can’t afford."
“You can’t be serious, Wayne?”
“Why, may I ask, do you bring up this question?” the always calm and collected Doc asked.
"There have already been at least ten reports of strange events happing out at the Rock tonight," he waited a moment before pointing out the obvious, "and all of you know we can't afford to have the MCO, the DPA, or any others from the alphabet soup out her trying to hunt down a mutant."
"Are we even sure she's a mutant?" Cat, being both the heart of the team and the youngest, asked seeking a way to avoid that outcome and looked to Doc for confirmation.
"Oh yes, she's definitely a mutant," he emphatically replied, "and as for this hypothetical search for mutants, they'd probably find one...or twenty, in addition to her in the vicinity. Then we'd probably lose our team license for not being more strict with all of the MID violators." Doc said in his normal apathetic tone that constantly got him in trouble with Cat.
"Your suggesting giving up this kid to protect The Train?" Cat asked incredulously.
"We're talking about giving a show of cooperation with the one mutant that they know of. Doing this so that the big bad Mutant _Control_ Office doesn't look deeper into our area." Wayne's voice became very serious. "A mutant underground railroad is hard enough to keep off of their radar as it is. If the Llano MCO office wasn't so incompetent, we'd have been found out years ago."
"So we give up a kid who is guilty of nothing but being at the right place at the wrong time?" Cat still couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"No Cat." Maverick broke in, "If we play this smart, we can keep the identities of her and her family from the MCO and just get her registered for her MID under a temp codename. Or if she doesn’t want to come up with one yet, she could apply for one of the "Jane Doe" cards. Then, when she's legal’n all, we’ll look like we followed the rules, by the book, and gotten her registered. On the flip side we might keep our “little” secret off the desk of some castoff from H1! for at least a while longer.”
“I don’t like what we have to do any more than you do, Cat,” Wayne went for a diplomatic approach this time, “but we’ve got several _families_ here that might get disappeared because we let the cat out of the bag to cover up something too big and too public. I’m sure there are several agencies already descending upon us as we speak. If they don’t find anything close to the surface, they’re gonna dig deeper and that’s something we just can’t afford."
_____________
Not So Much Time Ago~~
and Just Outside Your Galaxy~~
My People Still Don't Increment Time~~
and Just Outside Your Galaxy~~
My People Still Don't Increment Time~~
d'Vra e'Vrun
For many millennia we…I traveled amongst the stars as an em’Vra, a “singular” in human…our new terms. This existence requires much sacrifice, but the alternative…I could not bear. As for my voyage here, there isn’t much to tell. When traveling in such a way, the d’Vra are in et’Nam, a form of stasis. I believe the terminology you use is FTL or faster than light. But that isn’t saying much. This is something that the d’Vra had achieved many ages ago, before our slumber, and have transcended the need for such with proper preparation.
As I approached your quadrant of the galaxy, I became aware of such preparation in advance of my arrival. The star would be able to feel my elation that another would be here to guide me while among this people. Before the great slumber, many of the d’Vra were dispersed among the worlds of the stars. When the call was issued to return, some of the d’Vra had come to love the peoples they’d encountered and chose to remain as if mothers among children. It was unknown how many survived.
Yet at least one had stayed on the Earth, as I had become aware of a dim but distinct presence there. Slowing to regain concentration, I called out to my sister. As one separated from the Vra for so long, this one would be unaware of the tragedy that had befallen our beloved home. As a young one among my kind, my light brightened at the hope of having unity with this one.
Learning, feeling, experiencing and sharing as our unity always made possible. Not being a part of unity for so long was almost unthinkable for our majority. Yet the wealth of experience such a d’Vra could share would be staggering.
After a brief pause with no reply I became worried. Could such a d’Vra shun one of her own?
It was almost unthinkable. But our form of language transcends into several dimensions and would be immediately recognized by any of our kind. Something had to be wrong since this one had not yet replied. I listened for almost too long, in our time, but there was still no reply.
As I began to approach again more cautiously I became aware of an ep’Tru being activated. The only vernacular for humans… would be the odd leather hand sheath call a catcher’s mitt. This would allow me to travel much faster as it would remove the dangers inherent with “FTL” travel, absorbing and abating energies that could easily disrupt a planet’s cycles.
Encouraged that I wasn’t being shunned by my sister I quickened my pace. What would have taken year went by in minutes as my energies surged at the renewed hope before me. To be the first to share unity with one after so long would be one of the greatest of privileges.
New concepts, languages, cultures and beliefs could be shared at the speed of thought. More importantly, understanding would follow. That in turn would give way to a new unity between us and together we’d both be better prepared for the challenges ahead.
The small star that supports this planet was coming into view and I began preparing myself for a meeting of an honored elder. Yet the closer I got, the more I was able to feel. The lack of reciprocated feelings disturbed me, but I pressed on. Passing several of the nearby stars I started to really worry for my sister, yet my hope was not extinguished because of the ep’Tru and I pressed on.
Within range to make out the larger planets, my fears grew even greater. A great sadness threatened to overcome me, but I pressed on. Then as I beheld the tiny planet, the beacon of the ep’Tru providing the perfect target to aim for, my heart was finally broken as I knew for certain that my sister was no more. But I pressed on and into the grasp of the ep’Tru’s energies.
Crashing through hundreds of barriers designed to slow the decent of those who traverse stars is hardly the reception anyone who is actively grieving wants. As I broke the last barrier, I didn’t even have the will to slow down my approach. Only the massive sonic boom jarred me to re-adjust my trajectory to that of the ep’Tru. I didn’t even register the impact.
But since our kind knows the stresses involved in constructing the ep’Tru, it is always to be stationed upon only the most stable of geological structures. As this was so, I only made a small crater when I…landed. Yet I was too distraught to be concerned with such things, as the writing just inside the first ring that makes up the ep’Tru detailing the life and death of d’Vra b’Vacu, sent its message through me at the speed of thought.
For many millennia we…I traveled amongst the stars as an em’Vra, a “singular” in human…our new terms. This existence requires much sacrifice, but the alternative…I could not bear. As for my voyage here, there isn’t much to tell. When traveling in such a way, the d’Vra are in et’Nam, a form of stasis. I believe the terminology you use is FTL or faster than light. But that isn’t saying much. This is something that the d’Vra had achieved many ages ago, before our slumber, and have transcended the need for such with proper preparation.
As I approached your quadrant of the galaxy, I became aware of such preparation in advance of my arrival. The star would be able to feel my elation that another would be here to guide me while among this people. Before the great slumber, many of the d’Vra were dispersed among the worlds of the stars. When the call was issued to return, some of the d’Vra had come to love the peoples they’d encountered and chose to remain as if mothers among children. It was unknown how many survived.
Yet at least one had stayed on the Earth, as I had become aware of a dim but distinct presence there. Slowing to regain concentration, I called out to my sister. As one separated from the Vra for so long, this one would be unaware of the tragedy that had befallen our beloved home. As a young one among my kind, my light brightened at the hope of having unity with this one.
Learning, feeling, experiencing and sharing as our unity always made possible. Not being a part of unity for so long was almost unthinkable for our majority. Yet the wealth of experience such a d’Vra could share would be staggering.
After a brief pause with no reply I became worried. Could such a d’Vra shun one of her own?
It was almost unthinkable. But our form of language transcends into several dimensions and would be immediately recognized by any of our kind. Something had to be wrong since this one had not yet replied. I listened for almost too long, in our time, but there was still no reply.
As I began to approach again more cautiously I became aware of an ep’Tru being activated. The only vernacular for humans… would be the odd leather hand sheath call a catcher’s mitt. This would allow me to travel much faster as it would remove the dangers inherent with “FTL” travel, absorbing and abating energies that could easily disrupt a planet’s cycles.
Encouraged that I wasn’t being shunned by my sister I quickened my pace. What would have taken year went by in minutes as my energies surged at the renewed hope before me. To be the first to share unity with one after so long would be one of the greatest of privileges.
New concepts, languages, cultures and beliefs could be shared at the speed of thought. More importantly, understanding would follow. That in turn would give way to a new unity between us and together we’d both be better prepared for the challenges ahead.
The small star that supports this planet was coming into view and I began preparing myself for a meeting of an honored elder. Yet the closer I got, the more I was able to feel. The lack of reciprocated feelings disturbed me, but I pressed on. Passing several of the nearby stars I started to really worry for my sister, yet my hope was not extinguished because of the ep’Tru and I pressed on.
Within range to make out the larger planets, my fears grew even greater. A great sadness threatened to overcome me, but I pressed on. Then as I beheld the tiny planet, the beacon of the ep’Tru providing the perfect target to aim for, my heart was finally broken as I knew for certain that my sister was no more. But I pressed on and into the grasp of the ep’Tru’s energies.
Crashing through hundreds of barriers designed to slow the decent of those who traverse stars is hardly the reception anyone who is actively grieving wants. As I broke the last barrier, I didn’t even have the will to slow down my approach. Only the massive sonic boom jarred me to re-adjust my trajectory to that of the ep’Tru. I didn’t even register the impact.
But since our kind knows the stresses involved in constructing the ep’Tru, it is always to be stationed upon only the most stable of geological structures. As this was so, I only made a small crater when I…landed. Yet I was too distraught to be concerned with such things, as the writing just inside the first ring that makes up the ep’Tru detailing the life and death of d’Vra b’Vacu, sent its message through me at the speed of thought.
________________
The Area You Now Call Texas
About 8,000 Years Ago~~
About 8,000 Years Ago~~
~~The History of d'Vra b'Vacu~~
Upon arrival on this beautiful planet, this one interacted with a primitive human tribe. At first they feared me and the light I brought. Then, as time went on, they began to see that I meant them not harm and they began to understand our speech as I learned theirs. Many things I taught them and I learned from them as well.
With knowledge they forsook their tribal name and came to call themselves by a derivation of my own name. This act was considered to be a great honor for both sides. The B’Vacu'Am, translated as “Children of b'Vacu” with a few side notes as being adopted in modern meanings, were formed. When b’Vacu recognized the meaning of this, I chose to share with them even more.
I found that I was able to achieve a form of unity with certain ones among them. These in turn could use some of my energies to accomplish impossible feats. Those touched in such a way were revered as mighty hunters, warriors of great prowess, and "shaman" (though they never called their art magic) of exceeding power. These in turn were encouraged to generate as many children as possible, so as to develop the trait.
Amazingly, this people had already had familiarity with a’Va, which they called chalchihuitl or turquoise in modern times. It was the mineral so plentiful upon our home world. It became attuned to our very being and our being attuned to it as well, a pivotal stage in our history of ages past. Yet here, so far from our home star, a people recognized its value and had given it a special place within their society. When brought before our True Light, the mineral would change. It would become clearer and realign into a symmetrical structure to better absorb some of our energies.
Also to my shock, those touched by our light were slightly benefited by contact with these charged stone, becoming even stronger or displaying strange new abilities. For a time I taught them and their new unity prospered. A great peace was afforded the B'Vacu'Am as the neighboring tribes feared and respected them as a mighty people touched by a "Great Spirit." Yet things changed, as they often do.
When the call came... for the d'Vra to return to their home star to rest for a time more favorable to their message of unity, I became troubled. The reasoning that had brought about this unity was unwarranted among the young race that I now saw as my "children." Our message of unity was treated as the greatest of wisdom upon this planet, small as it was. Certainly other worlds could be reached as this one had. I chose to forsake the Vra. To delay true unity, so as to prove that this fledgling society could thrive and enjoy the unity that the Vra provided.
Recognizing the seeds that could one day stand as mighty as the Vra, the Dark One sent forth His own form of offspring to scour them from existence. As the naive d’Vra, I had severed my link to the majority, would be vulnerable. This being corrupted the minds of many tribes and empowered them with the darkness of its creator. As b'Vacu had no knowledge of this great enemy, I first sought a peaceful resolution with these tribes. Crazed beyond reasoning, they attacked without provocation and slaughtered many of my "children."
Still grieved at the loss of so many young lights, my people still fought on with bravery. Yet in the final days I faced a vast hoard with only a few mighty warriors. My light dimed as the last B'Vacu'Am warrior sacrificed himself to buy time for the small remnant of children to escape to the small rock mountain. It was here that I protected them as long as I could after being separated from the unity of the Vra. I wept seeing most of the younglings of my children fall to this vast enemy. In that moment I became enraged, something the Vra had sworn off ages ago, and joined the battle myself.
Also, inn that moment, I saw a glimpse of the plan that the Dark One's offspring had for me. It sought to use my own link to the Vra as a means of corrupting the whole of our people. I could feel its joy over the deception that it would enslave me to and the cruel glee that it had in destroying my children as a reward for capturing me. No words, on any planet, could describe the level sadness I felt over the loss of so many lights for only an attempt to capture me. As I dove off the side of my mountainous home, I made my peace with what had to be done.
The release of all of the energy I'd accumulated at once could have been seen from space, if anyone was there to see it. No word could describe the sound that emanated from the Dark One's offspring. So filled with rage, permeated by wanton greed, enflamed in unfulfilled bloodlust and only tempered by knowledge that it had failed its creator. For this it would not die, for it would be a release. Much worse things happen to things of its nature for much less. The Dark One would handle his punishment personally.
As my last thought, I remembered that not all had been lost. Two young ones, with great knowledge of what I'd taught, still remained. The small consolation brought a small glimmer of light with it that I used to lay this record for another to find one day.
Hidden among the rocky summit of my former home they'd come to no harm from my sacrifice. As part of the Touched they'd be able to see the chronicles of the Vra and the teachings I had left untaught, written upon the walls of those very caves. Tasked with the preservation of the ep'Tru and all of the writings and relics for future generations, they'd become a people hidden among any tribes that moved here and thus hidden from harassment by the Dark One until another of the d’Vra arrived.
"May you burn as brightly as a'Vras young d'Vra,
For the light of d'Vra b'Vacu,
Mother and Protector of the B'Vacu'Am,
Sister among the d'Vra and proud Vra from the day of Awakening,
was extinguished here."
[/i]
With knowledge they forsook their tribal name and came to call themselves by a derivation of my own name. This act was considered to be a great honor for both sides. The B’Vacu'Am, translated as “Children of b'Vacu” with a few side notes as being adopted in modern meanings, were formed. When b’Vacu recognized the meaning of this, I chose to share with them even more.
I found that I was able to achieve a form of unity with certain ones among them. These in turn could use some of my energies to accomplish impossible feats. Those touched in such a way were revered as mighty hunters, warriors of great prowess, and "shaman" (though they never called their art magic) of exceeding power. These in turn were encouraged to generate as many children as possible, so as to develop the trait.
Amazingly, this people had already had familiarity with a’Va, which they called chalchihuitl or turquoise in modern times. It was the mineral so plentiful upon our home world. It became attuned to our very being and our being attuned to it as well, a pivotal stage in our history of ages past. Yet here, so far from our home star, a people recognized its value and had given it a special place within their society. When brought before our True Light, the mineral would change. It would become clearer and realign into a symmetrical structure to better absorb some of our energies.
Also to my shock, those touched by our light were slightly benefited by contact with these charged stone, becoming even stronger or displaying strange new abilities. For a time I taught them and their new unity prospered. A great peace was afforded the B'Vacu'Am as the neighboring tribes feared and respected them as a mighty people touched by a "Great Spirit." Yet things changed, as they often do.
When the call came... for the d'Vra to return to their home star to rest for a time more favorable to their message of unity, I became troubled. The reasoning that had brought about this unity was unwarranted among the young race that I now saw as my "children." Our message of unity was treated as the greatest of wisdom upon this planet, small as it was. Certainly other worlds could be reached as this one had. I chose to forsake the Vra. To delay true unity, so as to prove that this fledgling society could thrive and enjoy the unity that the Vra provided.
Recognizing the seeds that could one day stand as mighty as the Vra, the Dark One sent forth His own form of offspring to scour them from existence. As the naive d’Vra, I had severed my link to the majority, would be vulnerable. This being corrupted the minds of many tribes and empowered them with the darkness of its creator. As b'Vacu had no knowledge of this great enemy, I first sought a peaceful resolution with these tribes. Crazed beyond reasoning, they attacked without provocation and slaughtered many of my "children."
Still grieved at the loss of so many young lights, my people still fought on with bravery. Yet in the final days I faced a vast hoard with only a few mighty warriors. My light dimed as the last B'Vacu'Am warrior sacrificed himself to buy time for the small remnant of children to escape to the small rock mountain. It was here that I protected them as long as I could after being separated from the unity of the Vra. I wept seeing most of the younglings of my children fall to this vast enemy. In that moment I became enraged, something the Vra had sworn off ages ago, and joined the battle myself.
Also, inn that moment, I saw a glimpse of the plan that the Dark One's offspring had for me. It sought to use my own link to the Vra as a means of corrupting the whole of our people. I could feel its joy over the deception that it would enslave me to and the cruel glee that it had in destroying my children as a reward for capturing me. No words, on any planet, could describe the level sadness I felt over the loss of so many lights for only an attempt to capture me. As I dove off the side of my mountainous home, I made my peace with what had to be done.
The release of all of the energy I'd accumulated at once could have been seen from space, if anyone was there to see it. No word could describe the sound that emanated from the Dark One's offspring. So filled with rage, permeated by wanton greed, enflamed in unfulfilled bloodlust and only tempered by knowledge that it had failed its creator. For this it would not die, for it would be a release. Much worse things happen to things of its nature for much less. The Dark One would handle his punishment personally.
As my last thought, I remembered that not all had been lost. Two young ones, with great knowledge of what I'd taught, still remained. The small consolation brought a small glimmer of light with it that I used to lay this record for another to find one day.
Hidden among the rocky summit of my former home they'd come to no harm from my sacrifice. As part of the Touched they'd be able to see the chronicles of the Vra and the teachings I had left untaught, written upon the walls of those very caves. Tasked with the preservation of the ep'Tru and all of the writings and relics for future generations, they'd become a people hidden among any tribes that moved here and thus hidden from harassment by the Dark One until another of the d’Vra arrived.
"May you burn as brightly as a'Vras young d'Vra,
For the light of d'Vra b'Vacu,
Mother and Protector of the B'Vacu'Am,
Sister among the d'Vra and proud Vra from the day of Awakening,
was extinguished here."
[/i]
Last Edit: 9 years 4 months ago by Pioneer.
9 years 4 months ago - 9 years 4 months ago #2
by Pioneer
Posts:
55
Gender:
Unknown
Birthdate:
Unknown
- Pioneer
-
Topic Author
____________
"No...And sorry I got angry. This whole sharing emotions and stuff is gonna take me time to be able to handle." cowed a little and able to think thing through again, I continued my questioning. "C-Can this be fixed? Can you turn me back into a boy?" with a glimmer of hope I asked.
"Yeah, that's gotta be what you described. Extreme fever is a dead giveaway." she again questioned without words. "If a baseline went through that they'd be a vegetable...if they survived at all. How is this even possible?"
Fin Part 1...but more to come
...Saturday, May 31, 2008~~
Sometime after 2:00 PM~~
HCM Hospital~~
Sometime after 2:00 PM~~
HCM Hospital~~
d'Vra e'Vrun
For a time, all my light had faded as I wept bitterly. I grieved not only the loss of my elder and sister, but also over the loss of such a beautiful example of unity among the people of this world. Her final song almost crushed me within my bitter emotions.
Yet knowledge of the relationship that could be formed and the benefits to both sides was invaluable to her as a d'Vra. But for so many lights to shine for so little time was staggering for her. She would have to remain very cautious so as to recognize agents of the Dark One.
At once she was aware of a presence approaching her. She was quite startled at this because of the amount of energy involved with the ep'Tru. Yet as soon as she had overcome her initial shock, it was almost staggering to see an example of what b'Vacu had described standing before her. The young male was small but his light burned with great intensity.
Though similar in color to her own light, the youngling before her had light of a slightly different hue interspersed with the promise of other colors soon to show. She could feel his shock at the sight of her, but also his desire to comfort and protect her as her weeping had saddened him greatly. Then she met his eyes.
I sensed a small amount of a'Va within a pouch made in his clothing, "Do you ask favor of me or do you wish the a'Va as a mean of destruction?" I asked remembering the ceremony that seemed to have developed among b'Vacu's people.
At that point he seemed to remember something. In proper ceremony he presented four stones, indicating others would need my protection and power as well. I gasped at the implications: If there were others among this people that could use the power of these stones, then the touched ones had not perished. Also since they'd been adopted by b’Vacu, we could be considered of relation to a point.
And finally, as such, I'd was bound by duty to remember the love that she'd shown for her children and continue to protect and teach them where she could not. As if knowing my thinking the child nodded. After that I became gleeful at the thought of building upon the unity she'd lain the foundation for.
With an uncertainly that was new, and yet familiar from the few memories left by b’Vacu, I reached out to instill power into the stones. With these we'd begin a new unity that was far more wary of the enemy that had triumphed in the past. Great subtlety would be needed to shroud their existence from forces that would surely come against them. Yet as I made contact with the youngling, something went terribly wrong.
The first hint was a drawing sensation that was left unmentioned in b'Vacu's record. As this was a new experience for me, I had no idea that things on this planet had changed so drastically from the time of their last contact with one of the d'Vra. A time of great change was upon the humans and new traits had emerged apart from planned evolution or spontaneous change. I couldn't have known of the power that this young one was on the cusp of realizing and thus could do nothing about the events that followed.
All positive emotions I'd been projecting reverted back to a fear I'd never known. I first questioned if this was some form of deception on the part of the Dark One, but quickly discounted it as my mind first made unity with this individual. Neither the same form that b'Vacu had experienced nor that I'd known for so long as part of the Vra. I was pulled energy, spirit and body into this young but powerful emergent mutant.
Yet as strong as his abilities were, there was just too much for the young... Avatar, as your people call them, to handle. Had I not acted, the vast energies I knew as one of the Vra would have both enveloped and consumed the both of us without my control.
In that moment I came closer to panic than any d'Vra had experienced since the time of Awakening. The time when we, as a people, took on the form that was so different from anything else in the universe. At that time many of our people either merged together as one or were dispersed throughout the Vra and only reassembled many years later. Yet this fear was very present and I had to force myself to act in order to save us both. The lessons learned from our past were of great help in this regard.
The problem seemed to be that this youngling's current body couldn't handle but a fraction of myself. With realization that I couldn't halt this process, only guide it, I began making changes to better handle as much as possible. As I had no knowledge of this species' previous or future path of change, all I could go on were the memories of my own race and went with the first templet that would suit our needs. Yet with everything I'd done it never seemed to be enough. When I'd completed the changes, I recognized that there was still an overabundance of energies that couldn't be contained.
This was your... "rock and a hard place" proverb played out with grave consequences attached to either option before me. On one hand, I could allow these energies to continue to fill our new body and hope to not die. The other option was to disperse these energies into the ep'Tru. Although doing so would make travel to and from Earth much easier and safer for others of the d'Vra, it would drain much of our strength and leave us vulnerable.
A choice of instant death vs. possible endless suffering at the hands of the Dark One if we were discovered us in such a near helplessly weakened state. So, in accord with b'Vacu's wishes for your protection and with a sense of dread as to our outcome, I dispersed with so much of the energy that I fear we may need in the days ahead.
For a time, all my light had faded as I wept bitterly. I grieved not only the loss of my elder and sister, but also over the loss of such a beautiful example of unity among the people of this world. Her final song almost crushed me within my bitter emotions.
Yet knowledge of the relationship that could be formed and the benefits to both sides was invaluable to her as a d'Vra. But for so many lights to shine for so little time was staggering for her. She would have to remain very cautious so as to recognize agents of the Dark One.
At once she was aware of a presence approaching her. She was quite startled at this because of the amount of energy involved with the ep'Tru. Yet as soon as she had overcome her initial shock, it was almost staggering to see an example of what b'Vacu had described standing before her. The young male was small but his light burned with great intensity.
Though similar in color to her own light, the youngling before her had light of a slightly different hue interspersed with the promise of other colors soon to show. She could feel his shock at the sight of her, but also his desire to comfort and protect her as her weeping had saddened him greatly. Then she met his eyes.
I sensed a small amount of a'Va within a pouch made in his clothing, "Do you ask favor of me or do you wish the a'Va as a mean of destruction?" I asked remembering the ceremony that seemed to have developed among b'Vacu's people.
At that point he seemed to remember something. In proper ceremony he presented four stones, indicating others would need my protection and power as well. I gasped at the implications: If there were others among this people that could use the power of these stones, then the touched ones had not perished. Also since they'd been adopted by b’Vacu, we could be considered of relation to a point.
And finally, as such, I'd was bound by duty to remember the love that she'd shown for her children and continue to protect and teach them where she could not. As if knowing my thinking the child nodded. After that I became gleeful at the thought of building upon the unity she'd lain the foundation for.
With an uncertainly that was new, and yet familiar from the few memories left by b’Vacu, I reached out to instill power into the stones. With these we'd begin a new unity that was far more wary of the enemy that had triumphed in the past. Great subtlety would be needed to shroud their existence from forces that would surely come against them. Yet as I made contact with the youngling, something went terribly wrong.
The first hint was a drawing sensation that was left unmentioned in b'Vacu's record. As this was a new experience for me, I had no idea that things on this planet had changed so drastically from the time of their last contact with one of the d'Vra. A time of great change was upon the humans and new traits had emerged apart from planned evolution or spontaneous change. I couldn't have known of the power that this young one was on the cusp of realizing and thus could do nothing about the events that followed.
All positive emotions I'd been projecting reverted back to a fear I'd never known. I first questioned if this was some form of deception on the part of the Dark One, but quickly discounted it as my mind first made unity with this individual. Neither the same form that b'Vacu had experienced nor that I'd known for so long as part of the Vra. I was pulled energy, spirit and body into this young but powerful emergent mutant.
Yet as strong as his abilities were, there was just too much for the young... Avatar, as your people call them, to handle. Had I not acted, the vast energies I knew as one of the Vra would have both enveloped and consumed the both of us without my control.
In that moment I came closer to panic than any d'Vra had experienced since the time of Awakening. The time when we, as a people, took on the form that was so different from anything else in the universe. At that time many of our people either merged together as one or were dispersed throughout the Vra and only reassembled many years later. Yet this fear was very present and I had to force myself to act in order to save us both. The lessons learned from our past were of great help in this regard.
The problem seemed to be that this youngling's current body couldn't handle but a fraction of myself. With realization that I couldn't halt this process, only guide it, I began making changes to better handle as much as possible. As I had no knowledge of this species' previous or future path of change, all I could go on were the memories of my own race and went with the first templet that would suit our needs. Yet with everything I'd done it never seemed to be enough. When I'd completed the changes, I recognized that there was still an overabundance of energies that couldn't be contained.
This was your... "rock and a hard place" proverb played out with grave consequences attached to either option before me. On one hand, I could allow these energies to continue to fill our new body and hope to not die. The other option was to disperse these energies into the ep'Tru. Although doing so would make travel to and from Earth much easier and safer for others of the d'Vra, it would drain much of our strength and leave us vulnerable.
A choice of instant death vs. possible endless suffering at the hands of the Dark One if we were discovered us in such a near helplessly weakened state. So, in accord with b'Vacu's wishes for your protection and with a sense of dread as to our outcome, I dispersed with so much of the energy that I fear we may need in the days ahead.
_______________
...Saturday, May 31, 2008~~
About 2:30 PM~~
HCM Hospital/Inside Our Head~~
About 2:30 PM~~
HCM Hospital/Inside Our Head~~
"I DON'T BELIVE YOU," I...shouted if that is at all possible in this...place, "YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!"
"On the contrary," she continued in her odd form of reverberating language, "both of us were nearly disintegrated when we touched so I was forced to change your former body into what is now our unity." as she went she showed the "template" she'd chosen to design the "needed" changes.
It took me an embarrassing amount of time just sitting and staring at...e'Vrun, before all that she'd told me had time to sink in. In the same nanosecond that this occurred my mind overflowed with questions that she no doubt felt as a physical force within this...place within me that housed her consciousness. Really, there were too many to be answered at that moment but that didn't stop several from vying for first place. The one that won first place was the most obvious for any red blooded male.
"YOU TURNED ME INTO WHAT?"
"Your body has been advanced maybe a million years, give or take millennia, upon your specie’s path of change. This should be seen as a blessing over death, don't you feel?"
Of course she'd miss the point of my question completely and I had to clarify so as to get her to understand, "Yes, but you "advanced" me right out of my own gender!" I know I it was a bit of a minor point to her. But for me this was a change that could invite so many other consequences. I could feel as she searched my memories and found what she sought.
"Oh!" was her reply as she seemed to become a little embarrassed over whatever she'd found.
"Oh? Oh what?" I was becoming frustrated at our ease of communication that seemed to lack context on both sides.
"This is embarrassing to admit, but the Vra have been without defining gender for so long that it has never been an issue that I've come across and it never occurred to me."
"Never occurred...You completely change me and that's all you can say to defend yourself?" I was moving past frustration and going into anger, which resulted in an outburst from my head-mate.
"That is enough of that! This change has effected both of us, remember? Our body, and that includes you, only exists because of my quick thinking." her tone was flat as she felt my anger and fought to remain calm.
"Had I not been so inclined to preserve _both_ of us, you wouldn't be here. I apologize for the shape, but would you have preferred one that vaporized seconds after we made contact?" there was no missing how serious she was about this line of reasoning.[/i]
"No...And sorry I got angry. This whole sharing emotions and stuff is gonna take me time to be able to handle." cowed a little and able to think thing through again, I continued my questioning. "C-Can this be fixed? Can you turn me back into a boy?" with a glimmer of hope I asked.
"As my people haven't dealt with physical hormone in an age, I am also having trouble with them and apologize myself. But to answer your question, no. The conditions that made this possible were...unique to that moment in time," definite regret accompanied that thoughts.
Her face looked distant for a moment, projecting annoyance, before she made a waving motion with her hand.
"What was that about?
"Just someone being nose and making sure you are still in here." she calmed herself before continuing our previous line of thought. "We have neither the energies required nor the ability to travel back to that exact moment when you...manifested?" she looked questioningly at me for confirmation.
"Yeah, that's gotta be what you described. Extreme fever is a dead giveaway." she again questioned without words. "If a baseline went through that they'd be a vegetable...if they survived at all. How is this even possible?"
"From your knowledge, I'm not certain. I am only able tentatively to call you an Avatar."
She paused at the swirl of emotions that came with more conformation that I was now a mutant. All of my life I'd only heard horrible stories of those poor people who changed into monstrosities and were feared and hated by all. Remembering again the figure that e'Vrun had shown me, I couldn't help but feel that I had dodged a bullet in that regard. Some avatars had taken on the some of the shape of whatever spirit they held...and some more than others. When my emotions settled enough she went on.
"Yes you now see that there are worse things that could have found you first, I see." she empathized with the horror that thought, "Many magic entities have used the same trait that enabled our union to exist to take for themselves servants or even hosts to sustain them. Furthermore not all of these unions have been beneficial or equal." then she displayed the emotional equivalent of a wry smile, "Aren't you gonna thank me for saving you from such a fate?"
"Ugh, I thought I had it bad dealing with Maggie. Now I got a manipulative girl in my head," at that word, I'm sure my face would have turned completely white in the real word as it hit me all over again, "...an-and I'm a girl now too..." again, emotions hit me with a force that was so unfamiliar causing me to bitterly complain, "I don't think I can do this...I-I wanted to date girls...not be one!"
"Hush child. You are not alone in any of this and you will always have my support."
"But...but I saw you, you're just a kid too aren't you?" I was so emotional that I just asked the first thing that came to mind as a rebuttal.
To my surprise, she chuckled, "Yes, very true. I am "just a child" among my own people. But what is a few hundred thousand years against our oldest who can remember the Isokist race at the height of their power?"
"You mean you're that old?" I asked incredulously
"Quite. As part of the Vra, aging hasn't been a concern since before the time of our Awakening." she seemed to wander why I felt this was such an amazing amount of time. "Just so you know, that is the era that this template came from. Even if we don't find a way to achieve unity with the Vra, barring complete disintegration. We won't have to worry about such things either."
Talk about mind boggling revelations. I mean, hoping for eighty is one thing. But hundreds of thousands if not millions of years? I know that if I was conscious I wouldn't have stayed so after that statement. Instead I could do nothing but try to joke it off so as to keep what little sanity I had in place, "So do the really old ones regale others with stories of having to walk to other planets or something?" to which d'Vra e'Vrun, Ambassador to the Mighty Vra, let out a girlish giggle.
"Oh no, it was worse. Tails of how they invented things that were now useless to us were among their favorites." by her emotions I could tell that she did love to share such things with them. "What's the use of knowing who made what if the things no longer exist anymore. And even if they did, what would be interesting about something that is older than the wheel to you?" she was thoughtful for a moment.
"What is it e'Vrun?"
"I was just realizing how I should have paid more attention to such things. Many of the things they spoke of were very advance in view of the state of this planet."
"Yeah, yeah city girl stuck on a backwater planted and stuck with me. Make me feel a little more depreciated why don't ya."
"At least it has gotten you out of your depression phase. I very well couldn't have you moping when you finally do wake up, now can I?" then her tone turned serious. "Speaking of which you need to do so soon. Other people are coming and they feel as though they hate the very essence of the changes that occur in others." She thought again and remembered, "We are vulnerable now. You must wake up, you must wake up now!"
_______________
_______________
Saturday, May 31, 2008~~
5:54 PM CST~~
HCM Hospital Room 271~~
5:54 PM CST~~
HCM Hospital Room 271~~
With that I was pushed out of her presence and into blackness that seemed to go on forever. Yet even in the darkness I was able to make out things. I could feel myself breathing. My pulse quickened at the new sensations when doing so, and understanding hit me as to why girls ware coverings over those additions. Next sound came. Yet not like before my change. No, before I didn't get a general rush of images when I heard something. I was now able to place things by their sound or able to feel the shape of an object as different sounds reverberated off of it.
Okay...We'd leaned about echolocation in science class this year, but experiencing it was completely different. Odd that I somehow remembered that so clearly. But the beeping monitors that sent a steady rhythm of pulsing pain through my head, distracted me from that thought. I felt a rush of thoughts and understood what e'Vrun was getting across.
Focusing on "our" other senses quickly neutralized the migraines, but some how didn't comfort me much. Other discomforts were coming to the fore and seemed to be competing for attention, but something else had drawn my focus outside my room. By now the monitors were sounding alarms and I could make out several emotions of varying intensity hurriedly approaching my room.
Fear was my first response, as I had no idea where I was or who these people were. And it was almost as if a wall had formed outside my room. Several people reach that area and either froze or backed away cautiously. Yet two of these reached the area and, instead of stopping, forced their way onward.
The fear I felt in the others was there but it was drowned out by relief so strong it was almost a tangible blanket that I could wrap myself in. My eyes widened, almost opening, as yet another smaller one seemed to follow as if unaffected, a soft glow surrounded and emanated from this one as it projected an excitement that was almost infectious.
These three burst into the room and descended upon me as my discomfort level was dragging my attention back to my condition. Weakness doesn't even begin to cover it. I was barely able to keep from falling back into the lovely darkness, but I could feel concern the three felt for me spike at those thoughts. I was at once enveloped as the three converged upon me with positive emotions that swallowed any remaining fear and encouraged me to wake up even more. My fear abated at their sentiment and I could almost feel the sigh of relief from those outside of the room as they approached more cautiously.
Then another light, somewhat different and glowing significantly brighter than the small one earlier, arrived. I could hear her speak with those in the hallway. Although I couldn't make out the conversation, afterwards there was a flurry of activity as these hurried to check every monitor and make notes in my chart (with concern so evident that it made me wary). Discomfort finally forced me to awaken enough to crack my eyes.
The gasp this time was audible.
The three that clung around as I addressed my most pressing need, "Water," I whispered to no one in particular and I noticed that my voice had an odd echoing effect.
"Oh, we've got a whole pitcher here," responded the nurse to my right. Then there followed the most musical noise of water being poured into a cup with one of those tough plastic straws in every hospital room imaginable.
She followed with a caution, "Now drink slowly dear. You’ll still be very weak from the burnout you've experienced and you need to rest as much as possible."
Having given her medical advice, she let my mom bring forth the elixir of life. Mom had done this with her dad and Maggie when she was younger, so she knew better than to let me handle the cup. (At that point I would have tried to drink the Mississippi if it was close enough.) She limited me to only sips but each one seemed to make the desert that had formed in my throat abate just a little. Finally, as my parched condition was manageable, the doctor managed to speak.
“You are very fortunate young…ZJ is it?” a doctor stepped in and nearly stumbled as he didn’t know what to refer to me as.
When I nodded weakly, he continued, “Having a burnout this severe despite displaying a regen trait is quite rare. I recommend no power usage...that you can help anyway. If you tax your system, you could reignite it and it is more likely to be fatal in secondary cases. Especially after a level three event, like this one seems to have been. I’m going to have to recommend bedrest for at least three more days so your body can both resolve anything unfinished and acclimate to your new form."
“Unfinished?” I thought to Ev, and got an…understanding that it was entirely possible that all of the changes she’d started hadn’t fully manifested. This, of course, was on top of the odd nature of adaptations my own body had decided to make on top of her changes.
Then finally, as my parched condition was corrected, I managed to ask more questions but I couldn't manage to act like what they told me was a shock. Ev had been over most of it...in great detail. Though, to my surprise, one answer did manage to do so.
“How long have I been asleep?” to my perception it must have been days, if not weeks, since I was on the Rock. And again with the echoing voice, that’s gonna take some getting used too.
“Only about sixteen hours now, by our best estimates,” was the reply I got from the grey haired doctor standing out of the way. My parents' and sister’s concern for me had outweighed any introductions earlier so he corrected his oversight. “By the way I’m Dr. Keller, your physician and general tormenter for the duration of your stay with us.”
At his joking mention of torment, I became aware of another oddly uncomfortable sensation. Only this one seemed quite alien and so it didn't register quite right when I first awoke. Suddenly, the sensation came alive with the urgency of needing to move a limb that had fallen asleep. Much to my surprise though was the fact that this wasn't one of the four major limbs that I'd known from birth. (I know what you’re thinking. And no, I don’t want to go there just yet.)
The now painful tingling sensation started at the base of my neck and stretched out across this new body in a way that seemed both alien and somehow natural at the same time. With urgency I fumbled at pushing the hospital blankets aside so as to free this new appendage from the crushing bind it had been cramped into. The thing tingled fiercely with the pins and needles of a pinched nerve and I redoubled my efforts, but barely being able to move really frustrated me.
Noticing my discomfort, Dad seemed to understand something as he helped me to free myself of the tightly pulled coverings. As they worked to loosen the covering, I could feel a noticeable difference in my discomfort level. I was so relieved that my eyes had closed without me even realizing it. Then the "feel" of the room changed rather abruptly. It felt like all eyes were upon me as the emotions wavered between fear and awe.
"Well that answers one question..." Dad's voice trailed off as if this answer was as blatantly obvious for everyone.
Curious as to the reason, I forced my eyes open once again and found that everyone seemed to have shrunk just a little. The looks seemed to linger as I wearily fought to focus my eyes on just one spectrum, thinking that my eyes had gone out of focus after closing them. When that failed, I began to wander if they'd just raised my bed without my notice. That is, until Ev sent a little nudge that I understood as a "look down" gesture somehow.
Being so weak, all I could manage was a brief "AH!" that sounded more to me like a squeak as I panicked momentarily. I wasn't touching the bed anymore! It took a combination of my family and Eve to calm me down as I came to terms with my loss of gravitational attachment that's so popular among the inhabitants of the Earth. Just as I was getting used to the whole "life without such mundane restrains" thought, something caught my eyes and I panicked yet again.
The source of my earlier discomfort had finally come into view. As I floated there thinking about the prospect of being able to fly, a blue-green glow drifted into my peripheral vision. With all I'd seen in Ev's memories, I thought something was about to attack me. Startled, I drifting slightly away from the imagined enemy. To my horror it followed me! I would have darted out of the room and away from this unknown thing chasing me but was interrupted by a deep voice that came from the open doorway.
"Well that's gotta be a new one," He said with a hint of amusement at my predicament, "I've seen a dog chasing its tail before. But I've never heard of a tail chasing its owner in quite this fashion before."
"Tail?" was the best intellectual response I could muster in my terrified state.
After my confused response, the laughter shattered both my fear and pride as I belatedly realized he was referring to me. Mom had to add even further to my shame and embarrassment. As she wiped tears of both relief and mirth away, she asked the question dreaded by any who has done something foolish or embarrassing in the modern age of cell phones and video cameras can attest to.
"Tell me...did anyone get a picture?" She asked in a hopeful tone only a mother interested in bribe/blackmail material can pull off.
“Moommm…” I weakly complained at her excitement in embarrassing me.
After all of the phones were checked, it ended up that little Maggie (the little traitor) had gotten it all on video. Much to my horror, Mom loved it and wanted to copy it and have several still frames printed to put in the scrapbooks she’d made for each of us.
I could feel blood draining from my face at the thought of how much blackmail material I’d just given her. Ugh! At this rate I’ll be too embarrassed to have anyone I know meet my family, much less dat…
I cut that thought short, “LALALALALALA…Not even going there at the moment.” Ev chuckled at my thoughts though.
I would have said something to her, but I became acutely aware of how tired I was again. The yawn I gave as I floated back to my bed seemed to snap the medical team back into focus after the much needed stress reduction. They shooed everyone out as they went about their duties and I was out before they even finished doing so.
Okay...We'd leaned about echolocation in science class this year, but experiencing it was completely different. Odd that I somehow remembered that so clearly. But the beeping monitors that sent a steady rhythm of pulsing pain through my head, distracted me from that thought. I felt a rush of thoughts and understood what e'Vrun was getting across.
Focusing on "our" other senses quickly neutralized the migraines, but some how didn't comfort me much. Other discomforts were coming to the fore and seemed to be competing for attention, but something else had drawn my focus outside my room. By now the monitors were sounding alarms and I could make out several emotions of varying intensity hurriedly approaching my room.
Fear was my first response, as I had no idea where I was or who these people were. And it was almost as if a wall had formed outside my room. Several people reach that area and either froze or backed away cautiously. Yet two of these reached the area and, instead of stopping, forced their way onward.
The fear I felt in the others was there but it was drowned out by relief so strong it was almost a tangible blanket that I could wrap myself in. My eyes widened, almost opening, as yet another smaller one seemed to follow as if unaffected, a soft glow surrounded and emanated from this one as it projected an excitement that was almost infectious.
These three burst into the room and descended upon me as my discomfort level was dragging my attention back to my condition. Weakness doesn't even begin to cover it. I was barely able to keep from falling back into the lovely darkness, but I could feel concern the three felt for me spike at those thoughts. I was at once enveloped as the three converged upon me with positive emotions that swallowed any remaining fear and encouraged me to wake up even more. My fear abated at their sentiment and I could almost feel the sigh of relief from those outside of the room as they approached more cautiously.
Then another light, somewhat different and glowing significantly brighter than the small one earlier, arrived. I could hear her speak with those in the hallway. Although I couldn't make out the conversation, afterwards there was a flurry of activity as these hurried to check every monitor and make notes in my chart (with concern so evident that it made me wary). Discomfort finally forced me to awaken enough to crack my eyes.
The gasp this time was audible.
The three that clung around as I addressed my most pressing need, "Water," I whispered to no one in particular and I noticed that my voice had an odd echoing effect.
"Oh, we've got a whole pitcher here," responded the nurse to my right. Then there followed the most musical noise of water being poured into a cup with one of those tough plastic straws in every hospital room imaginable.
She followed with a caution, "Now drink slowly dear. You’ll still be very weak from the burnout you've experienced and you need to rest as much as possible."
Having given her medical advice, she let my mom bring forth the elixir of life. Mom had done this with her dad and Maggie when she was younger, so she knew better than to let me handle the cup. (At that point I would have tried to drink the Mississippi if it was close enough.) She limited me to only sips but each one seemed to make the desert that had formed in my throat abate just a little. Finally, as my parched condition was manageable, the doctor managed to speak.
“You are very fortunate young…ZJ is it?” a doctor stepped in and nearly stumbled as he didn’t know what to refer to me as.
When I nodded weakly, he continued, “Having a burnout this severe despite displaying a regen trait is quite rare. I recommend no power usage...that you can help anyway. If you tax your system, you could reignite it and it is more likely to be fatal in secondary cases. Especially after a level three event, like this one seems to have been. I’m going to have to recommend bedrest for at least three more days so your body can both resolve anything unfinished and acclimate to your new form."
“Unfinished?” I thought to Ev, and got an…understanding that it was entirely possible that all of the changes she’d started hadn’t fully manifested. This, of course, was on top of the odd nature of adaptations my own body had decided to make on top of her changes.
Then finally, as my parched condition was corrected, I managed to ask more questions but I couldn't manage to act like what they told me was a shock. Ev had been over most of it...in great detail. Though, to my surprise, one answer did manage to do so.
“How long have I been asleep?” to my perception it must have been days, if not weeks, since I was on the Rock. And again with the echoing voice, that’s gonna take some getting used too.
“Only about sixteen hours now, by our best estimates,” was the reply I got from the grey haired doctor standing out of the way. My parents' and sister’s concern for me had outweighed any introductions earlier so he corrected his oversight. “By the way I’m Dr. Keller, your physician and general tormenter for the duration of your stay with us.”
At his joking mention of torment, I became aware of another oddly uncomfortable sensation. Only this one seemed quite alien and so it didn't register quite right when I first awoke. Suddenly, the sensation came alive with the urgency of needing to move a limb that had fallen asleep. Much to my surprise though was the fact that this wasn't one of the four major limbs that I'd known from birth. (I know what you’re thinking. And no, I don’t want to go there just yet.)
The now painful tingling sensation started at the base of my neck and stretched out across this new body in a way that seemed both alien and somehow natural at the same time. With urgency I fumbled at pushing the hospital blankets aside so as to free this new appendage from the crushing bind it had been cramped into. The thing tingled fiercely with the pins and needles of a pinched nerve and I redoubled my efforts, but barely being able to move really frustrated me.
Noticing my discomfort, Dad seemed to understand something as he helped me to free myself of the tightly pulled coverings. As they worked to loosen the covering, I could feel a noticeable difference in my discomfort level. I was so relieved that my eyes had closed without me even realizing it. Then the "feel" of the room changed rather abruptly. It felt like all eyes were upon me as the emotions wavered between fear and awe.
"Well that answers one question..." Dad's voice trailed off as if this answer was as blatantly obvious for everyone.
Curious as to the reason, I forced my eyes open once again and found that everyone seemed to have shrunk just a little. The looks seemed to linger as I wearily fought to focus my eyes on just one spectrum, thinking that my eyes had gone out of focus after closing them. When that failed, I began to wander if they'd just raised my bed without my notice. That is, until Ev sent a little nudge that I understood as a "look down" gesture somehow.
Being so weak, all I could manage was a brief "AH!" that sounded more to me like a squeak as I panicked momentarily. I wasn't touching the bed anymore! It took a combination of my family and Eve to calm me down as I came to terms with my loss of gravitational attachment that's so popular among the inhabitants of the Earth. Just as I was getting used to the whole "life without such mundane restrains" thought, something caught my eyes and I panicked yet again.
The source of my earlier discomfort had finally come into view. As I floated there thinking about the prospect of being able to fly, a blue-green glow drifted into my peripheral vision. With all I'd seen in Ev's memories, I thought something was about to attack me. Startled, I drifting slightly away from the imagined enemy. To my horror it followed me! I would have darted out of the room and away from this unknown thing chasing me but was interrupted by a deep voice that came from the open doorway.
"Well that's gotta be a new one," He said with a hint of amusement at my predicament, "I've seen a dog chasing its tail before. But I've never heard of a tail chasing its owner in quite this fashion before."
"Tail?" was the best intellectual response I could muster in my terrified state.
After my confused response, the laughter shattered both my fear and pride as I belatedly realized he was referring to me. Mom had to add even further to my shame and embarrassment. As she wiped tears of both relief and mirth away, she asked the question dreaded by any who has done something foolish or embarrassing in the modern age of cell phones and video cameras can attest to.
"Tell me...did anyone get a picture?" She asked in a hopeful tone only a mother interested in bribe/blackmail material can pull off.
“Moommm…” I weakly complained at her excitement in embarrassing me.
After all of the phones were checked, it ended up that little Maggie (the little traitor) had gotten it all on video. Much to my horror, Mom loved it and wanted to copy it and have several still frames printed to put in the scrapbooks she’d made for each of us.
I could feel blood draining from my face at the thought of how much blackmail material I’d just given her. Ugh! At this rate I’ll be too embarrassed to have anyone I know meet my family, much less dat…
I cut that thought short, “LALALALALALA…Not even going there at the moment.” Ev chuckled at my thoughts though.
I would have said something to her, but I became acutely aware of how tired I was again. The yawn I gave as I floated back to my bed seemed to snap the medical team back into focus after the much needed stress reduction. They shooed everyone out as they went about their duties and I was out before they even finished doing so.
________________
...Sunday, June 1, 2008~~
10:30 AM CST~~
Outside of HCM Hospital, Fredericksburg, Tx~~
10:30 AM CST~~
Outside of HCM Hospital, Fredericksburg, Tx~~
“Thanks for the update, Agent Michaels.” Responded MCO Field Operative Peter McDaniel.
With a muttered curse he snapped his phone shut. Why, after all this time, did that lazy group of nobodies calling themselves a “super team” have to come out of the woodwork during a case that could be his big break? Ugh. Not only had they been looking in the wrong place. No. His team had been investigating the commotion out at the Rock while those posers had known were the mutie was all along. On top of that, they’d drug the little freak’s parent into this and made a FUBAR situation out of what could have been a shining commendation on his record.
“I know that sound Peter,” his partner in the good fight, Agent Merritt, said as from the driver’s seat, “I’ve heard it before and if I’m not mistaken, we just go more bad news, right?”
“I can’t believe the “Stupers” here in Freds just happen upon any and all cases that come up,” his tone betrayed how annoyed he’d become over the years.
When he’d been assigned in the Llano MCO Office years ago as one of the “Senior Staff,” he thought he was moving up in the world. That was until he got home and found that his wife wouldn’t be coming out here with him. On the contrary, she’d been cheat’n on him with the very “boss” that had “promoted” him. Now he was stuck in an office for most of the year, with no one to go home to. To top off the insults, his career hadn’t just met a roadblock; it might as well be stuck in a time bubble that he’d never escape. This was just the kind of case that could get him out of a dead-end job.
Knowing Peter was in one of his moods, Agent Merritt chose to remain silent for the rest of the trip to HCM to “detain” a dangerous mutant. They had the rest of the Llano office in route to help, but it was their point. It was up to them to persuade the parents to drop the disputing thing into their custody. Baring that they’d try to scare, harass, intimidate, or otherwise provoke the mini-monster into attacking so they could do their civic duty and put it down. Merritt knew that McDaniel would prefer the latter.
Yet when they got to the hospital, the staff wouldn’t allow them to see any records or even let slip that they had the thing there. To the agents’ disgust, the spandex jockeys had left a presence there as well, so it was obvious that the critter was in the building. Begrudgingly the MCO had been forced to recognize official teams, but he knew that not all caterpillars become butterflies. The more of them he could catch early on the less likely they’d escape his grasp by teaming up to “serve and protect,” and thus use the Hero Laws as a shield.
The first tactic of finding a H1! supporter on staff seemed to fall flat. It was crazy. None of’m were that concerned that the muties were a hairbreadth from tak’n over. Since the thing had made it to an accredited hospital, they couldn’t pull out the “for its own safety” card and cart it off to Hammond up north. Not to be deterred, they pressed on by pushing past one of the nurses only to be stopped by an orderly as they used their next tactic.
With righteous indignation Peter recounted his…altered, version of events from the previous night. In which tail he masterfully portrayed the little menace just how people round here expected them to act. He quoted several of his “confidential” sources as having been attacked by a hooligan with strange powers out at the Rock. It was therefore a matter for the MCO to handle and not the local authorities.
Of course he left out that the sources had been planted, and he neither had any idea what the thing looked like nor what said “strange powers” could be. His account of events contained lots of fire and destruction with several injuries “reported.” Reports were scattered on the scene with some claiming that they saw a meteor impact while others saw brilliant lights on the summit.
Weather it was from an impact of some kind or an explosion, he didn’t know. The only certainty was that several people had seen a man carrying something down from the summit. Because he had used a headlight that was visible in the dark, he had drawn the attention of several campers awakened by a thunderous noise.
While the confusing reports allowed for them to twist a story to their ends it made it harder in some respects. One of these problems was that at least one of the abomination’s family members was present at the time. Although not impossible to overcome, it was harder to convince authorities to turn _it_ over to the MCO. Then there was the fact that they had no real description of the freak. And without that it would be much harder to get a…plausible search warrant issued that could be used to bypass those who sympathized with muties.
And without a name, picture or even a ruff description, there was no way they could justify searching the hospital without being slammed with enough HIPPA violations to cost the Llano office millions in the following law suites. While finding the thing could gain him a ticket out of that dump, the resulting humiliation would probably end his career anyway. No branch would hire someone they think is gonna threaten their bottom line. Plus the local PD was stonewalling them, just out of spite. So, without an informant coming forward they ended up stuck doing a useless stakeout on the hospital.
With evident disgust, Peter looked towards the hospital as his partner got off the phone with updates, “I just know the freak is in there and can’t believe the so called heroes beat us to it. I can practically hear them laughing at us…” he trailed off as his anger got the better of him.
“Com’on, McDaniel, there ain’t nothing we can do right now. We just wait for the thing to attack someone and then we can go in guns blazing, just like I know you wanna.” Merritt tried to appease his partner.
“That’s the thing though,” Peter said with obvious frustration, “by the time we see the thing, they’ll already have it registered.” As he said it his expression changed to one that scared even his partner.
“I don’t like that look, Peter,” he said worriedly, “the last time you had that gleeful, excited look, we ended up do’n paperwork for a week for an ambush on that baseline. We nearly got canned when he didn’t turn out to be a mutant.”
“Don’t worry, Merritt,” he said with a tone that made his partner worry even more, “I got a plan to catch this freak out in the open and maybe take down one of the so called heroes with it.”
With a muttered curse he snapped his phone shut. Why, after all this time, did that lazy group of nobodies calling themselves a “super team” have to come out of the woodwork during a case that could be his big break? Ugh. Not only had they been looking in the wrong place. No. His team had been investigating the commotion out at the Rock while those posers had known were the mutie was all along. On top of that, they’d drug the little freak’s parent into this and made a FUBAR situation out of what could have been a shining commendation on his record.
“I know that sound Peter,” his partner in the good fight, Agent Merritt, said as from the driver’s seat, “I’ve heard it before and if I’m not mistaken, we just go more bad news, right?”
“I can’t believe the “Stupers” here in Freds just happen upon any and all cases that come up,” his tone betrayed how annoyed he’d become over the years.
When he’d been assigned in the Llano MCO Office years ago as one of the “Senior Staff,” he thought he was moving up in the world. That was until he got home and found that his wife wouldn’t be coming out here with him. On the contrary, she’d been cheat’n on him with the very “boss” that had “promoted” him. Now he was stuck in an office for most of the year, with no one to go home to. To top off the insults, his career hadn’t just met a roadblock; it might as well be stuck in a time bubble that he’d never escape. This was just the kind of case that could get him out of a dead-end job.
Knowing Peter was in one of his moods, Agent Merritt chose to remain silent for the rest of the trip to HCM to “detain” a dangerous mutant. They had the rest of the Llano office in route to help, but it was their point. It was up to them to persuade the parents to drop the disputing thing into their custody. Baring that they’d try to scare, harass, intimidate, or otherwise provoke the mini-monster into attacking so they could do their civic duty and put it down. Merritt knew that McDaniel would prefer the latter.
Yet when they got to the hospital, the staff wouldn’t allow them to see any records or even let slip that they had the thing there. To the agents’ disgust, the spandex jockeys had left a presence there as well, so it was obvious that the critter was in the building. Begrudgingly the MCO had been forced to recognize official teams, but he knew that not all caterpillars become butterflies. The more of them he could catch early on the less likely they’d escape his grasp by teaming up to “serve and protect,” and thus use the Hero Laws as a shield.
The first tactic of finding a H1! supporter on staff seemed to fall flat. It was crazy. None of’m were that concerned that the muties were a hairbreadth from tak’n over. Since the thing had made it to an accredited hospital, they couldn’t pull out the “for its own safety” card and cart it off to Hammond up north. Not to be deterred, they pressed on by pushing past one of the nurses only to be stopped by an orderly as they used their next tactic.
With righteous indignation Peter recounted his…altered, version of events from the previous night. In which tail he masterfully portrayed the little menace just how people round here expected them to act. He quoted several of his “confidential” sources as having been attacked by a hooligan with strange powers out at the Rock. It was therefore a matter for the MCO to handle and not the local authorities.
Of course he left out that the sources had been planted, and he neither had any idea what the thing looked like nor what said “strange powers” could be. His account of events contained lots of fire and destruction with several injuries “reported.” Reports were scattered on the scene with some claiming that they saw a meteor impact while others saw brilliant lights on the summit.
Weather it was from an impact of some kind or an explosion, he didn’t know. The only certainty was that several people had seen a man carrying something down from the summit. Because he had used a headlight that was visible in the dark, he had drawn the attention of several campers awakened by a thunderous noise.
While the confusing reports allowed for them to twist a story to their ends it made it harder in some respects. One of these problems was that at least one of the abomination’s family members was present at the time. Although not impossible to overcome, it was harder to convince authorities to turn _it_ over to the MCO. Then there was the fact that they had no real description of the freak. And without that it would be much harder to get a…plausible search warrant issued that could be used to bypass those who sympathized with muties.
And without a name, picture or even a ruff description, there was no way they could justify searching the hospital without being slammed with enough HIPPA violations to cost the Llano office millions in the following law suites. While finding the thing could gain him a ticket out of that dump, the resulting humiliation would probably end his career anyway. No branch would hire someone they think is gonna threaten their bottom line. Plus the local PD was stonewalling them, just out of spite. So, without an informant coming forward they ended up stuck doing a useless stakeout on the hospital.
With evident disgust, Peter looked towards the hospital as his partner got off the phone with updates, “I just know the freak is in there and can’t believe the so called heroes beat us to it. I can practically hear them laughing at us…” he trailed off as his anger got the better of him.
“Com’on, McDaniel, there ain’t nothing we can do right now. We just wait for the thing to attack someone and then we can go in guns blazing, just like I know you wanna.” Merritt tried to appease his partner.
“That’s the thing though,” Peter said with obvious frustration, “by the time we see the thing, they’ll already have it registered.” As he said it his expression changed to one that scared even his partner.
“I don’t like that look, Peter,” he said worriedly, “the last time you had that gleeful, excited look, we ended up do’n paperwork for a week for an ambush on that baseline. We nearly got canned when he didn’t turn out to be a mutant.”
“Don’t worry, Merritt,” he said with a tone that made his partner worry even more, “I got a plan to catch this freak out in the open and maybe take down one of the so called heroes with it.”
_________________
Monday, June 2, 2008~~
11:45 AM CST~~
HCM Hospital~~
11:45 AM CST~~
HCM Hospital~~
Early the next morning there was a commotion in the hallway (that I blearily took note of) but after it ended I was swallowed again by the darkness. Only this time instead of true unconsciousness, I was greeted by Ev. It’s odd entering what I now considered her space like this, but somehow comforting that I can communicate with her in private if I needed to. She had a wealth of knowledge I knew I would need if I had any hope of surviving. From her memories I knew that whatever this Dark One was, it now scared both of us more than anything due to our weakened state.
She spent time comforting me as well as helping me to come to terms with my changed state of being. There was so much that she didn’t know about this form. Because she only provided a template, my own somehow merged with it. The resulting fusion created a form that, while keeping the majority of what she provided, adapted its own workarounds and changes. The end result was that we were bound together in multiple senses. As she mentioned this would make it difficult, if not impossible for us to survive separation. The symbiotic nature of her race’s very being had made this whole thing easier for her, but the opposite was true for me.
We had a strange relationship, what she called a “form of unity,” that her people enjoyed even more fully as a whole. I could still tell my own thoughts and emotions from hers, that hadn’t changed. The strange thing I noticed was that when our emotions or thoughts were similar they became much clearer and stronger. This agreement of thought, emotion and very being, was what they called the “Vra,” in the royal we sense. Tough this whole same name for different concepts thing was odd from my viewpoint, it made perfect sense to her.
As I was trapped by fatigue, I couldn’t evade all of the medical people coming in to take “one more” sample of various bodily fluids. And no I don’t want to recount all of them for your viewing pleasure. Although to say that I was now very different was an understatement. It seemed that when I was looking, they weren’t able to draw any blood.
Zero, almost as if I had none at all. This confused the phlebotomist, as Dad called her, (think hospital vampire) to no end as she’d had no trouble when I was asleep. Thus began the cat and mouse game of getting new samples…ending in me being rudely awoken at odd hours with a needle stuck in my arm.
On top of this, after the first time, no one was brave enough to even come near my new…tail I guess is all I can refer to it as. As the orderly tried to grab it, the nurse being cautious with good reason it turned out, he was flung across the room by a brilliant flash of the blue-green light that emanated from it. All the while I was raked with a strobing pain that greyed my vison.
From then on, my file made sure that it had a “no touchy” designation attached to it as I’d found that it was _very_ sensitive to physical touch. Yet when _I_ did so, there wasn’t any pain and it was far less sensitive. It was odd, but not unheard of from a medical perspective, as it seemed similar in nature to the tickle reflex. Plus, overall, I was noticing that I was _much_ more sensitive. Normal physical touch to my new skin felt more grating. When they announced my new most hated phrase, I had no idea of how uncomfortable it could be.
The nurse simply ushered the rents out with the announcement of, “Bath time!” Then added for the real horror and indignity, “Sense you’re on bedrest, it’s a sponge bath for you.” She said with and evil smile I didn’t quite recognize as she caught my uncomprehensive and questioning look.
All I can say about it was that it was disturbing how they could call that block of sandpaper a “sponge” in the first place. The second time was no better but at least I was better prepared for it, meeting the offending nurse with a death glare when she mentioned that it was time again. Fortunately, I only had to endure it twice while awake, as I was later informed that it had been the third time.
My first shower was…an experience, one that I was lucky that Mom had decided to help with. I studiously ignored the mirror, trying to delay the inevitable shock. I was only thirteen and as such I very sensitive about my appearance. (At that age peach fuse was a mustache _insert raspberry blown her_.)The half glance I caught made me turn away fearfully. The only thing I remember were the eyes being the most sticking feature, and glowing.
But anyway, remember how I mentioned the sensitivity of my new tail? It seems that this is due to an abundance of nerves clustered within it. The doctor said that it acts as an extra organ that channels the blue energy we’d seen earlier, from yet another new organ along the inner ribcage. The effect that water had upon it was nowhere near pain, as I quickly learned.
Looking back just I can describe it clearer: Think long hot soak in a tub, add in a bar of chocolate, a personal measure, and full spa treatment and magnify it by a magnitude. Relaxing is not a strong enough word for it. That, coupled with all of the _other_ new sensations, is why I ended up passing out under the (not so well adjusted) spray of the hospital shower.
Mom later said that it sounded like I was purring for several minutes and then abruptly stopped. She wandered what was taking so long. When I didn’t answer her promptly, she nearly panicked yanking the curtain back and shutting off the water so she could get me out. When she cut off the water it went cold before it turned off completely and I was rudely awaken with a dose of cold water that make me shriek a little.
Much to my horror, Mom decided to have an abbreviated version of “The Talk” with me. The less said about such humiliating situations the better. She explained that the feeling that I had was both natural and beautiful. Seeing how red I was she had mercy upon me and helped me dry off. Having to pat myself dry was a change. Yet not as much of a problem of my hair, as the towel hurt too much to wrap it with.
Ev came to our rescue by letting me in on how to push energy through the blue-green ribbons in my hair in order to dry it. She explained that this seemed to be one of the workarounds that my own templet had added, but she wondered why her people never thought of it. She was most exited about it and looked forward to showing it to her kind. As she went on and on in my head, I couldn’t miss the jealous look that mom gave me, as to her, it looked like I’d solved an age old problem on my own.
Then again, on top of all of the new...sensations, I noticed my emotions were all over too. At one point, when I was depressed over all of the changes, I got mad at Maggie for something minor. (She just wouldn’t stop teasing me.) Then, out of the blue, I found myself crying into Mom’s shoulder as it felt like everything was crashing down on me. Mom, being her normal motherly self, was able to lift my spirits with the “it’s not so bad talk #3.” She uses it all the time when Maggie gets this way. Then we ended up in a giggling fit over her joking about how we were gonna need to put some kind of timed cutoff on my showers from now on.
The roller-coaster was a bit jarring and unfamiliar but tolerable at the same time. Ev was having just as much trouble with it for different reasons. When I was able to I had to ask. She admitted that, as part of our unity, she felt _all_ of what I did, just as I did with her. It was kind of embarrassing, but that included not only _every_ emotion but also _all_ physical sensations as well. And yes, she agreed about that the so called “sponge bath” should be labeled as an oxymoron. Also she embarrassed me when she agreed with Mom on the need for a timer on the shower.
Later that evening, Dr. Keller came by to check on my recovery. I was feeling much better by that time, and my energy level was returning. To my surprise, he said that his initial estimate was off a little. Judging by my chart, he revised his three day overlay down to the next morning. As I was still considered an emergent mutant, I had a little leeway before the MCO could take action in my case. That being said, he advised that I get power testing done as soon as possible. The local hero team had all of the equipment and specialist on payroll for just such a thing.
She spent time comforting me as well as helping me to come to terms with my changed state of being. There was so much that she didn’t know about this form. Because she only provided a template, my own somehow merged with it. The resulting fusion created a form that, while keeping the majority of what she provided, adapted its own workarounds and changes. The end result was that we were bound together in multiple senses. As she mentioned this would make it difficult, if not impossible for us to survive separation. The symbiotic nature of her race’s very being had made this whole thing easier for her, but the opposite was true for me.
We had a strange relationship, what she called a “form of unity,” that her people enjoyed even more fully as a whole. I could still tell my own thoughts and emotions from hers, that hadn’t changed. The strange thing I noticed was that when our emotions or thoughts were similar they became much clearer and stronger. This agreement of thought, emotion and very being, was what they called the “Vra,” in the royal we sense. Tough this whole same name for different concepts thing was odd from my viewpoint, it made perfect sense to her.
As I was trapped by fatigue, I couldn’t evade all of the medical people coming in to take “one more” sample of various bodily fluids. And no I don’t want to recount all of them for your viewing pleasure. Although to say that I was now very different was an understatement. It seemed that when I was looking, they weren’t able to draw any blood.
Zero, almost as if I had none at all. This confused the phlebotomist, as Dad called her, (think hospital vampire) to no end as she’d had no trouble when I was asleep. Thus began the cat and mouse game of getting new samples…ending in me being rudely awoken at odd hours with a needle stuck in my arm.
On top of this, after the first time, no one was brave enough to even come near my new…tail I guess is all I can refer to it as. As the orderly tried to grab it, the nurse being cautious with good reason it turned out, he was flung across the room by a brilliant flash of the blue-green light that emanated from it. All the while I was raked with a strobing pain that greyed my vison.
From then on, my file made sure that it had a “no touchy” designation attached to it as I’d found that it was _very_ sensitive to physical touch. Yet when _I_ did so, there wasn’t any pain and it was far less sensitive. It was odd, but not unheard of from a medical perspective, as it seemed similar in nature to the tickle reflex. Plus, overall, I was noticing that I was _much_ more sensitive. Normal physical touch to my new skin felt more grating. When they announced my new most hated phrase, I had no idea of how uncomfortable it could be.
The nurse simply ushered the rents out with the announcement of, “Bath time!” Then added for the real horror and indignity, “Sense you’re on bedrest, it’s a sponge bath for you.” She said with and evil smile I didn’t quite recognize as she caught my uncomprehensive and questioning look.
All I can say about it was that it was disturbing how they could call that block of sandpaper a “sponge” in the first place. The second time was no better but at least I was better prepared for it, meeting the offending nurse with a death glare when she mentioned that it was time again. Fortunately, I only had to endure it twice while awake, as I was later informed that it had been the third time.
My first shower was…an experience, one that I was lucky that Mom had decided to help with. I studiously ignored the mirror, trying to delay the inevitable shock. I was only thirteen and as such I very sensitive about my appearance. (At that age peach fuse was a mustache _insert raspberry blown her_.)The half glance I caught made me turn away fearfully. The only thing I remember were the eyes being the most sticking feature, and glowing.
But anyway, remember how I mentioned the sensitivity of my new tail? It seems that this is due to an abundance of nerves clustered within it. The doctor said that it acts as an extra organ that channels the blue energy we’d seen earlier, from yet another new organ along the inner ribcage. The effect that water had upon it was nowhere near pain, as I quickly learned.
Looking back just I can describe it clearer: Think long hot soak in a tub, add in a bar of chocolate, a personal measure, and full spa treatment and magnify it by a magnitude. Relaxing is not a strong enough word for it. That, coupled with all of the _other_ new sensations, is why I ended up passing out under the (not so well adjusted) spray of the hospital shower.
Mom later said that it sounded like I was purring for several minutes and then abruptly stopped. She wandered what was taking so long. When I didn’t answer her promptly, she nearly panicked yanking the curtain back and shutting off the water so she could get me out. When she cut off the water it went cold before it turned off completely and I was rudely awaken with a dose of cold water that make me shriek a little.
Much to my horror, Mom decided to have an abbreviated version of “The Talk” with me. The less said about such humiliating situations the better. She explained that the feeling that I had was both natural and beautiful. Seeing how red I was she had mercy upon me and helped me dry off. Having to pat myself dry was a change. Yet not as much of a problem of my hair, as the towel hurt too much to wrap it with.
Ev came to our rescue by letting me in on how to push energy through the blue-green ribbons in my hair in order to dry it. She explained that this seemed to be one of the workarounds that my own templet had added, but she wondered why her people never thought of it. She was most exited about it and looked forward to showing it to her kind. As she went on and on in my head, I couldn’t miss the jealous look that mom gave me, as to her, it looked like I’d solved an age old problem on my own.
Then again, on top of all of the new...sensations, I noticed my emotions were all over too. At one point, when I was depressed over all of the changes, I got mad at Maggie for something minor. (She just wouldn’t stop teasing me.) Then, out of the blue, I found myself crying into Mom’s shoulder as it felt like everything was crashing down on me. Mom, being her normal motherly self, was able to lift my spirits with the “it’s not so bad talk #3.” She uses it all the time when Maggie gets this way. Then we ended up in a giggling fit over her joking about how we were gonna need to put some kind of timed cutoff on my showers from now on.
The roller-coaster was a bit jarring and unfamiliar but tolerable at the same time. Ev was having just as much trouble with it for different reasons. When I was able to I had to ask. She admitted that, as part of our unity, she felt _all_ of what I did, just as I did with her. It was kind of embarrassing, but that included not only _every_ emotion but also _all_ physical sensations as well. And yes, she agreed about that the so called “sponge bath” should be labeled as an oxymoron. Also she embarrassed me when she agreed with Mom on the need for a timer on the shower.
Later that evening, Dr. Keller came by to check on my recovery. I was feeling much better by that time, and my energy level was returning. To my surprise, he said that his initial estimate was off a little. Judging by my chart, he revised his three day overlay down to the next morning. As I was still considered an emergent mutant, I had a little leeway before the MCO could take action in my case. That being said, he advised that I get power testing done as soon as possible. The local hero team had all of the equipment and specialist on payroll for just such a thing.
___________
Monday, June 2, 2008~~
9:36 AM CST~~
HCM Hospital Room 217~~
9:36 AM CST~~
HCM Hospital Room 217~~
The blond woman, the one that had helped everyone stuck in the hallway when I first woke up, was also known as “Cat.” Though I only called _Shelly C. Thomas_ that as a pretense, for I _knew_ her real name as a side effect of my abilities. This whole “know thy true meaning” thing was another odd thing that seemed to be coming up more and more.
Ugh! Like I really want to know how much people are lying! If I have a choice, this was the first thing I was gonna learn to turn off. Since we had a little bit of time before my release, I asked her if it was alright that I use her real name.
"No," she answered fervently, then dropped a bomb when she realized what I’d done, “Whatever you do, don’t let just anyone know you can do that. Not even the testers. That is likely one of the most dangerous abilities to have in today’s world...even for a Brick” Her tone was dead serious.
“W-What do you mean?” I stammered in total confusion.
“Think,” she whispered urgently, “heroes, supervillains, government spooks not even mentioning the common crooks. What do they have in common?”
It took me a moment…What I’ve been through a lot lately. You can’t be blame me for being a little slow. She started nodding when she saw my expression so I went ahead and said it out loud.
“Secret identities.” She nodded more fervently, motioning with a finger as she shushed me. She paused but then motioned again, this time for me to listen to her thoughts, so I obeyed.
“If it gets out, most villains and maybe even some heroes won’t react well. They are _very_ serious about their identities and won’t take kindly to having someone around that can identify them…” her fear for me was even stronger in her mind, “And if the government finds out…I don’t want to hear that you were disappeared on some newscast!”
Following this warning, she went over how to “shield,” as she called it, my thoughts and emotions going both ways. It seemed to take forever (to me) to figure it out, but within an hour or so I had gotten the general idea of how to do it. This was mainly since I was getting tips and tricks from Ev as well. Yet even after getting the trick down, I still had the odd truth sense going and couldn’t even get it to dim a little. Shell… “Cat,” told me that some tricks just aren’t like a light switch that can be turned on or off. It looked like this irritation was flipped on an stuck that way.After our talk, I was grateful that I'd not mentioned it to anyone else.
Ugh! Like I really want to know how much people are lying! If I have a choice, this was the first thing I was gonna learn to turn off. Since we had a little bit of time before my release, I asked her if it was alright that I use her real name.
"No," she answered fervently, then dropped a bomb when she realized what I’d done, “Whatever you do, don’t let just anyone know you can do that. Not even the testers. That is likely one of the most dangerous abilities to have in today’s world...even for a Brick” Her tone was dead serious.
“W-What do you mean?” I stammered in total confusion.
“Think,” she whispered urgently, “heroes, supervillains, government spooks not even mentioning the common crooks. What do they have in common?”
It took me a moment…What I’ve been through a lot lately. You can’t be blame me for being a little slow. She started nodding when she saw my expression so I went ahead and said it out loud.
“Secret identities.” She nodded more fervently, motioning with a finger as she shushed me. She paused but then motioned again, this time for me to listen to her thoughts, so I obeyed.
“If it gets out, most villains and maybe even some heroes won’t react well. They are _very_ serious about their identities and won’t take kindly to having someone around that can identify them…” her fear for me was even stronger in her mind, “And if the government finds out…I don’t want to hear that you were disappeared on some newscast!”
Following this warning, she went over how to “shield,” as she called it, my thoughts and emotions going both ways. It seemed to take forever (to me) to figure it out, but within an hour or so I had gotten the general idea of how to do it. This was mainly since I was getting tips and tricks from Ev as well. Yet even after getting the trick down, I still had the odd truth sense going and couldn’t even get it to dim a little. Shell… “Cat,” told me that some tricks just aren’t like a light switch that can be turned on or off. It looked like this irritation was flipped on an stuck that way.After our talk, I was grateful that I'd not mentioned it to anyone else.
__________
Monday, June 2, 2008~~
12:36 PM CST~~
HCM Hospital Room 217~~
12:36 PM CST~~
HCM Hospital Room 217~~
Mom was excited when she returned from what she'd termed a "necessary detour." Of course, she had waited until Dad had suggested they go out for breakfast to spring it on him. She managed to completely derailed my earlier fears when she brought in a large bag of clothing. I became more wary when Maggie appeared with a bag and a wide grin as she showed off her new shoes.
A newly discovered primal fear set in when Dad wearily shuffled in carrying even more clothing. I recognized the glazed look in his eyes from the last time that the girls had dragged him along shopping. Whether it was from the amount of money spent or the sheer horror of the experience, I didn't know. All I knew was that after seeing him like this the first time he'd gone, I begged off from any and all shopping excursions. With this many bags, I began to wonder if they'd even managed to get anything to eat while they were out.
As Mom saw the blood drain from my face she tried to console me, "Now, ZJ, don't panic. Your old clothes aren't going to fit your...form like they used to." she paused as my head started shaking involuntarily. "Don't get all worked up about this. No one in this town has even met you. And besides those you've seen in the hospital, none of them has any idea that you have changed so much."
"But Mooomm... I don't want to wear girl's clothes!" the whininess of my voice was clearly evident for all to here, I still say it was due to the echo effect on my voice. Then my eyes started sweating for some reason...Okay, I was crying! Sheesh, you don't have to look at me with those judgmental eyes like that.
"You are one now, sweetie," her tone had turned consoling and that only added to the water works as we ended up in another sniffling huddle.
"I know you've been avoiding the mirror in there," she pointing towards the restroom, "and I can imagine how uncomfortable you are with all of this. But you've got to come to terms with it eventually." as she was talking she was gently pulling me to my doom.
A newly discovered primal fear set in when Dad wearily shuffled in carrying even more clothing. I recognized the glazed look in his eyes from the last time that the girls had dragged him along shopping. Whether it was from the amount of money spent or the sheer horror of the experience, I didn't know. All I knew was that after seeing him like this the first time he'd gone, I begged off from any and all shopping excursions. With this many bags, I began to wonder if they'd even managed to get anything to eat while they were out.
As Mom saw the blood drain from my face she tried to console me, "Now, ZJ, don't panic. Your old clothes aren't going to fit your...form like they used to." she paused as my head started shaking involuntarily. "Don't get all worked up about this. No one in this town has even met you. And besides those you've seen in the hospital, none of them has any idea that you have changed so much."
"But Mooomm... I don't want to wear girl's clothes!" the whininess of my voice was clearly evident for all to here, I still say it was due to the echo effect on my voice. Then my eyes started sweating for some reason...Okay, I was crying! Sheesh, you don't have to look at me with those judgmental eyes like that.
"You are one now, sweetie," her tone had turned consoling and that only added to the water works as we ended up in another sniffling huddle.
"I know you've been avoiding the mirror in there," she pointing towards the restroom, "and I can imagine how uncomfortable you are with all of this. But you've got to come to terms with it eventually." as she was talking she was gently pulling me to my doom.
________________
Monday, June 2, 2008~~
12:55 PM CST~~
HCM Hospital Room 217~~
12:55 PM CST~~
HCM Hospital Room 217~~
I could have resisted, but I knew she was right. The whole no more gravity thing was still kind of strange as she pulled me along like I was a parade balloon. She opened the door of the bathroom and lead me in, much to my displeasure, closing and locking the door behind us. As she caught me again avoiding the mirror again, she gently took my shoulders and turned me so that I couldn't do so any longer. My only reaction upon the sight made me gasp.
The mirror had betrayed me, displaying a beautiful girl looking back. In place of the plain yet nerdy features I used to have, I could only gasp at her appearance. Long raven black hair, with a luster that would make hair models green with jealousy, had replaced my own dull short brown hair. Adding in an exotic touch were the turquoise "ribbons" that interlaced with the black. It was as if they were strategically placed for maximum effect. Two of these "ribbons" now made up my bangs, hanging in such a way that they prevented the rest of my new locks from falling into my eyes.
Those were one of the most striking features that I noticed. My old dull, dark brown, eyes had been swallowed up, never to return. Staring back were the most brilliant turquoise eyes you could imagine. A slight glow emanated from them and yet seemed to leave a trail whenever my eyes moved. Pulling my hair back a little, I could see that my ears were slightly elongated. Not so much pointed, but rather stretched up and back like someone was pulling on them.
The mirror wasn't big enough to see below waist level, but what I was able to see was definitely all girl. Being only thirteen, the two alien things attached to my chest were quite small. From what I could tell through my hospital gown I was about the right size for my age...as a girl. Not quite "flat as a board," but not by much. Then I purposely distracted myself form those. I chose to instead notice that, when I compared myself to Mom, I had actually grown several inches.
Before my change, I was a 4’4” shrimp with no build at all. Now I was nearly even with Mom’s just over five foot height, making me around five foot even. I had a build that, although softer, was much more tone than I ever had been as a boy. Although undeveloped, this overall size increase made me look older than I really am. I could maybe get away with saying I looked like a “flat” fifteen year old now. My completion had change a little too, slightly darker than my former pasty white, with flawless skin everywhere.
My "tail," as we'd referred to it as, wasn't one in truth. Ev had explained that this actually was part of that new organ I'd mentioned earlier. Her people had called it a Vi. It not only served as a two way energy conduit, but it also served a secondary function. The new senses that I noticed earlier were routed through it as well, thus the need for all of those pesky nerve extensions.
As I turned to inspect it, I saw that "ours" was between three and four inches wide and tapered as it neared my neck. Ev mentioned that this was considered highly regarded among her people but failed to say why. It was longer than I was tall and seemed to absently coil around me, like I was lazily spinning around. Unless I was moving or thinking about it, it seemed to flow in this manner of it own accord. It glowed with the same "turquois," another color name I learned that day, light that was even brighter than my eyes.
If I'd seen her before my change, there's no doubt that I would have thought this girl was _way_ out of my league. The mutant hair, long tail and glowing eyes just added to the beauty and the overall effect. I was so distracted by what I was seeing that I had failed to notice when Mom had covertly snagged two bags on the way in. I belatedly noticed then, as she started pulling feminine articles that I'd only seen in magazines out of one of said bag. I chose to ignore that the name on it started with a "V" and looked at Mom like she'd tricked me.
"I know it’s embarrassing, but you've got to lean to do this sometime." she said as she untied the paper thin thing the hospital claims is a "gown" but is no more than an overly large and drafty shirt.
Again I could have fought for dear life, but I had already resigned myself to letting her have her way. Before I knew it, I was standing there naked and still standing in front of the mirror. I don't think they have a name yet for how red I was at that moment. She had me take a quick shower, avoiding my hair and the new...sensitive addition on my neck, at all cost.
I was practically glowing from embarrassment after drying off, as Mom walked me through putting on a...my new bra, and panties. At least they weren't pink or anything, but who came up with taupe as a color name?
Following that "most embarrassing moments" clip, nothing that followed was really all that bad. It was _mostly_ the same as getting dressed as usual. Yeah, I know the saying about horse shoes and hand grenades too. But it wasn't really that bad. This was probably because my new body wasn't developed very much, but who's counting.
(Very funny Ev! Put that imaginary calculator away already!)
The only trouble came with the first shirt she had me try. No, it wasn't pink or some garishly bright thing you could use to flag down a 747. Having me run screaming from the restroom would have been the foreseeable result if that had happened. It turned out that Mom had put some forethought into my new outfit, fortunately, going with neutral colors. Tan pants and a white T-shirt were what we tried first.
The pants stayed, they were a little bit loose but not bad by her standards. But I discovered that my tail had an aversion to the T-shirt and it decided, for the both of us, that it would be heard loud and clear. The neck of the shirt was just a couple inches too high and pulling it down underneath became a mad scramble to remove said article of clothing.
It felt like someone had laced the shirt with sand paper just where it would grate on my tail to no end. Fortunately, Mom had brought an alternative in the form of a white tank top. It fit loosely and the straps ended up crossing just a couple inches under my new appendage.
With noises of victory in her battle to cloth the monstrous “teenage mutant...alien Urkel,” as she ended up dubbing the event, Mom led the way back to my bed.
Of course Maggie squealed with delight after seeing that I was wearing the shirt she'd picked out. Dad gave a questioning look to Mom who just pointed to her own neck to highlight where it was cut wrong for me.
He of course caught the reference and gave a fatherly "You look great," that Maggie almost demands when playing dress-up.
The mirror had betrayed me, displaying a beautiful girl looking back. In place of the plain yet nerdy features I used to have, I could only gasp at her appearance. Long raven black hair, with a luster that would make hair models green with jealousy, had replaced my own dull short brown hair. Adding in an exotic touch were the turquoise "ribbons" that interlaced with the black. It was as if they were strategically placed for maximum effect. Two of these "ribbons" now made up my bangs, hanging in such a way that they prevented the rest of my new locks from falling into my eyes.
Those were one of the most striking features that I noticed. My old dull, dark brown, eyes had been swallowed up, never to return. Staring back were the most brilliant turquoise eyes you could imagine. A slight glow emanated from them and yet seemed to leave a trail whenever my eyes moved. Pulling my hair back a little, I could see that my ears were slightly elongated. Not so much pointed, but rather stretched up and back like someone was pulling on them.
The mirror wasn't big enough to see below waist level, but what I was able to see was definitely all girl. Being only thirteen, the two alien things attached to my chest were quite small. From what I could tell through my hospital gown I was about the right size for my age...as a girl. Not quite "flat as a board," but not by much. Then I purposely distracted myself form those. I chose to instead notice that, when I compared myself to Mom, I had actually grown several inches.
Before my change, I was a 4’4” shrimp with no build at all. Now I was nearly even with Mom’s just over five foot height, making me around five foot even. I had a build that, although softer, was much more tone than I ever had been as a boy. Although undeveloped, this overall size increase made me look older than I really am. I could maybe get away with saying I looked like a “flat” fifteen year old now. My completion had change a little too, slightly darker than my former pasty white, with flawless skin everywhere.
My "tail," as we'd referred to it as, wasn't one in truth. Ev had explained that this actually was part of that new organ I'd mentioned earlier. Her people had called it a Vi. It not only served as a two way energy conduit, but it also served a secondary function. The new senses that I noticed earlier were routed through it as well, thus the need for all of those pesky nerve extensions.
As I turned to inspect it, I saw that "ours" was between three and four inches wide and tapered as it neared my neck. Ev mentioned that this was considered highly regarded among her people but failed to say why. It was longer than I was tall and seemed to absently coil around me, like I was lazily spinning around. Unless I was moving or thinking about it, it seemed to flow in this manner of it own accord. It glowed with the same "turquois," another color name I learned that day, light that was even brighter than my eyes.
If I'd seen her before my change, there's no doubt that I would have thought this girl was _way_ out of my league. The mutant hair, long tail and glowing eyes just added to the beauty and the overall effect. I was so distracted by what I was seeing that I had failed to notice when Mom had covertly snagged two bags on the way in. I belatedly noticed then, as she started pulling feminine articles that I'd only seen in magazines out of one of said bag. I chose to ignore that the name on it started with a "V" and looked at Mom like she'd tricked me.
"I know it’s embarrassing, but you've got to lean to do this sometime." she said as she untied the paper thin thing the hospital claims is a "gown" but is no more than an overly large and drafty shirt.
Again I could have fought for dear life, but I had already resigned myself to letting her have her way. Before I knew it, I was standing there naked and still standing in front of the mirror. I don't think they have a name yet for how red I was at that moment. She had me take a quick shower, avoiding my hair and the new...sensitive addition on my neck, at all cost.
I was practically glowing from embarrassment after drying off, as Mom walked me through putting on a...my new bra, and panties. At least they weren't pink or anything, but who came up with taupe as a color name?
Following that "most embarrassing moments" clip, nothing that followed was really all that bad. It was _mostly_ the same as getting dressed as usual. Yeah, I know the saying about horse shoes and hand grenades too. But it wasn't really that bad. This was probably because my new body wasn't developed very much, but who's counting.
(Very funny Ev! Put that imaginary calculator away already!)
The only trouble came with the first shirt she had me try. No, it wasn't pink or some garishly bright thing you could use to flag down a 747. Having me run screaming from the restroom would have been the foreseeable result if that had happened. It turned out that Mom had put some forethought into my new outfit, fortunately, going with neutral colors. Tan pants and a white T-shirt were what we tried first.
The pants stayed, they were a little bit loose but not bad by her standards. But I discovered that my tail had an aversion to the T-shirt and it decided, for the both of us, that it would be heard loud and clear. The neck of the shirt was just a couple inches too high and pulling it down underneath became a mad scramble to remove said article of clothing.
It felt like someone had laced the shirt with sand paper just where it would grate on my tail to no end. Fortunately, Mom had brought an alternative in the form of a white tank top. It fit loosely and the straps ended up crossing just a couple inches under my new appendage.
With noises of victory in her battle to cloth the monstrous “teenage mutant...alien Urkel,” as she ended up dubbing the event, Mom led the way back to my bed.
Of course Maggie squealed with delight after seeing that I was wearing the shirt she'd picked out. Dad gave a questioning look to Mom who just pointed to her own neck to highlight where it was cut wrong for me.
He of course caught the reference and gave a fatherly "You look great," that Maggie almost demands when playing dress-up.
_____________
Tuesday, June 3, 2008~~
7:55 AM CST~~
HCM Hospital Room 217~~
7:55 AM CST~~
HCM Hospital Room 217~~
By the time I was dressed, we didn't have to wait long for Dr. Keller to show up and tell us we were free to go. The rents had taken his advice and thus the reason "Cat" had shown up today. She was tasked with taking us to their official "headquarters," although I caught the under the table information via my ability.
There was paperwork for them to sign, insurance to bill and all of that. Of course nobody in their right mind would think of trying to bill insurance for "Manifestation," so my stay at HCM was chalked up to heat stroke along with other complications.
With that done, "Cat" lead us to a none descript black SUV in one of the loading docks. Dad had insisted on bringing Mom's car along so that they could go get lunch while I went through testing. I was all for this because, after days of hospital food, I was ready for some variety. I was eating much more than I used to. But I still prefer quality, along with my quantity, when eating.
There was paperwork for them to sign, insurance to bill and all of that. Of course nobody in their right mind would think of trying to bill insurance for "Manifestation," so my stay at HCM was chalked up to heat stroke along with other complications.
With that done, "Cat" lead us to a none descript black SUV in one of the loading docks. Dad had insisted on bringing Mom's car along so that they could go get lunch while I went through testing. I was all for this because, after days of hospital food, I was ready for some variety. I was eating much more than I used to. But I still prefer quality, along with my quantity, when eating.
______________
Tuesday, June 3, 2008~~
About 6:00 AM CST~~
Outside of HCM Hospital~~
About 6:00 AM CST~~
Outside of HCM Hospital~~
“Are you sure about this Peter?” Agent Merritt asked his partner, wary of setting him off.
“No question about it,” he said as he placed another disk on the inside of a newer model sedan.
His partner gave him a skeptical look as he remembered what these things were. “You seem to hate mutants just like the rest’o the office but…Isn’t using some’o their tech ain’t go’n against one of your codes?”
“Just because these were designed by a gadget head, doesn’t mean he made all of these himself.” He paused at another bumper and repeated his action. “This ain’t like using deviser junk. That would be going against my beliefs. Plus that stuff is unreliable in the extreme.”
The plan was pretty simple otherwise they’d never have gotten a nod from upstairs. All they needed was for the heroes to do things by the book. If they didn’t, the second plan was to nail the local team to the wall for violations. But first, they needed to be able to identify the freak. Preferably get a picture of it using its powers so they could claim it was dangerous.
That was what the little trackers were for. We didn’t need to try and tail the mutie if we had a bug on their car. The only problem was that there were around forty cars in the hospital parking lot, not counting the doctor’s spots. So, to simplify things, we planted a small disposable and most importantly cheap tracker on each of the cars. The thing were designed to disintegrate within a week and came hundreds to a box, all set for a single receiver. (That piece, of course, cost an arm and a leg a few years back.)
Then they could just sit back and track where each car went. The heroes would want the little freak to get powers testing quickly so that it’d be in the system making it harder to disappear. The closest MCO office was in Llano. It was long drive with much less traffic than the major highways. A lot could happen to a piece of paper between the two cities.
"You got that hologram projector set up right?" he asked to make sure. Not that he had to worry about Merritt doing his job, but it always pays to be thorough.
"Of course I did. And the Force Cage™ is set up in the back as well." He cringed at hearing that.
His partner had used the trademarked name, even if a baseline company assembled them. A portion of that money would go to the mutie that had both designed and kept the patent for the force field generator. It seemed a little too close to overstepping boundaries, but nothing could be done about it. The thing was rated to stop up to category 5 bricks and was impermeable to just about anything energy or gas-wise as well. A necessary evil it he ever saw one.
“No question about it,” he said as he placed another disk on the inside of a newer model sedan.
His partner gave him a skeptical look as he remembered what these things were. “You seem to hate mutants just like the rest’o the office but…Isn’t using some’o their tech ain’t go’n against one of your codes?”
“Just because these were designed by a gadget head, doesn’t mean he made all of these himself.” He paused at another bumper and repeated his action. “This ain’t like using deviser junk. That would be going against my beliefs. Plus that stuff is unreliable in the extreme.”
The plan was pretty simple otherwise they’d never have gotten a nod from upstairs. All they needed was for the heroes to do things by the book. If they didn’t, the second plan was to nail the local team to the wall for violations. But first, they needed to be able to identify the freak. Preferably get a picture of it using its powers so they could claim it was dangerous.
That was what the little trackers were for. We didn’t need to try and tail the mutie if we had a bug on their car. The only problem was that there were around forty cars in the hospital parking lot, not counting the doctor’s spots. So, to simplify things, we planted a small disposable and most importantly cheap tracker on each of the cars. The thing were designed to disintegrate within a week and came hundreds to a box, all set for a single receiver. (That piece, of course, cost an arm and a leg a few years back.)
Then they could just sit back and track where each car went. The heroes would want the little freak to get powers testing quickly so that it’d be in the system making it harder to disappear. The closest MCO office was in Llano. It was long drive with much less traffic than the major highways. A lot could happen to a piece of paper between the two cities.
"You got that hologram projector set up right?" he asked to make sure. Not that he had to worry about Merritt doing his job, but it always pays to be thorough.
"Of course I did. And the Force Cage™ is set up in the back as well." He cringed at hearing that.
His partner had used the trademarked name, even if a baseline company assembled them. A portion of that money would go to the mutie that had both designed and kept the patent for the force field generator. It seemed a little too close to overstepping boundaries, but nothing could be done about it. The thing was rated to stop up to category 5 bricks and was impermeable to just about anything energy or gas-wise as well. A necessary evil it he ever saw one.
Fin Part 1...but more to come
Last Edit: 9 years 4 months ago by Pioneer.
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