Becoming Monsters: In the Mirror 47

This is still a story of the Becoming Monsters universe by Ai Loves, setting used with permission. All canonical and mechanical errors are my own. The yarrb is the exceedingly cute creation of FelisRandomis, used with permission.

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Chapter 47: The Minefield

Sarah took slow, hesitant steps over to her enchanting table, removing the glass dome. The fist-sized construct of gold and crystal lay there, innocuous. It didn't glow. It didn't radiate energy. It didn't shimmer or distort the air in any spectrum I could perceive. And yet, there it was. If it worked, it was by far the most valuable object in the home. A completely unique expression of the soul of its maker, potentially a revolutionary addition to the combined knowledge of the world of Enchanters. Potentially a revolutionary addition to the lives of all of us in the room, and hundreds of thousands of others with Thaumic dependencies across the world.

I gently laid the still-napping Nibbles down on the couch before stepping over. There was a hush among us. The nerves were strong. We knew what came next. I cleared my throat. "Sarah, it looks like some congratulations are in order."

She shook her head, staring at the Greater Masterwork, not wanting to touch it. "Not yet. We need to test it. Until it is put through its paces and codified, my requirement is not satisfied."

I turned to my wife, who was looking precisely as nervous as I was feeling. "Love, it's on you right now. Are you ready to test this? I wouldn't blame you if you want to wait, it's been a big day..."

Lucy shook her head. "No. We need to do this now. You were the one with the big day today, I can do this. I... don't want to lose my nerve. I don't want to cost both Sarah and our daughter their chance at this."

"Who am I to say no, then? Sarah, the floor is yours. It is time to test this."

Sarah paused for a moment. Took several deep breaths. "Okay. Okay, this is it, huh? Lucy, Jay, you two can stay. Everyone else, I need you to not be in the room for this part. Need to reduce the variables, and the free-flow Hunger can screw up my initial data." Nobody much liked that, no matter how necessary we all thought it was. Especially Emily.

"What will you do if something goes wrong?"

I was the one to answer. "Emily, you'll be within three seconds of getting to us if that happens. If that isn't fast enough, then you being in the room wouldn't have helped. Sarah, is there anything she can prepare for in case it's needed?"

Sarah thought for a moment. "Concussive force, thermal and thaumic burns. Those are the big risks right now, other than the whole thing just collapsing in on itself."

"So... the things I keep in my aid bag for you anyway. Specifically. Good to know I'm on the right track."

Sarah looked at the fox. "I didn't even realize you did that."

Emily looked right back, levelly. "And that is why I do."

In short order, the three of us were ready to start. Nibbles was still on the couch, though now awake enough to perk up his four ears and look on with interest. Sarah had given the device a thorough examination, and found nothing obviously wrong. "Okay. Lucy. How much Hunger do you have in the tank right now?"

"Just ticked down to 72%."

Sarah jotted some notes down. "Alright, this first test is going to be to check its function and efficiency when running on Hunger energies. Like a battery, basically. What I want you to do is just like one of my Gold Batteries. Reach out to it and drop 20% of your Hunger pool into storage, then pull it back out after a two or three second pause. I will be standing across the room in order to sever the free flow between us."

Sarah walked as far from Lucy as it was possible to be. I could see that the flow wasn't COMPLETELY severed, but it was very slow. I nodded. Lucy, in her turn, got a look of focus on her face as she reached out towards the device. All of us had used Sarah's Silver and Gold Batteries countless times. They were integral to more than one aspect of our teamwork, letting us utilize what would otherwise be wasted mana generation. This would hopefully be no different, and as I watched I could see Lucy's shimmering Aura flow outward into it. The Greater Masterwork began to shimmer softly in my sight, my unique abilities letting me suddenly perceive the Hunger energies stored there.

A moment later, Lucy reached back out to it, this time pulling her power back from it. The Aura around the battery ceased to be, and Lucy's regained its former power. "I'm at... 68%, Sarah."

My legs went weak, landing me on the couch. The tension went out of Sarah, too, I could hear her relief. Whatever else happened, she had managed a truly unique thing. The first functional Hunger Battery in the world. By itself, not enough to be her Greater Masterwork. Others had done similar things in other domains. Heck, she'd called some of them up for advice along the way. Still, this was her accomplishment.

She had a calculator out. "Okay. It looks like approximately 90% efficiency per transfer. Looks like 80% on the surface, but you transferred twice. That's a lot better than I feared it would be. The Hunger Box the government issues out to feed underage Succubi is only 20% efficient." Sarah closed her eyes for a moment, getting her own thoughts in order. I could see how they wanted to race into theory, could practically hear them going in every direction, but Sarah was a professional. She knew what needed doing, and what she needed for her notes. "Jay, could you see Aura around the battery while it was holding Lucy's Hunger?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Looked just like anyone else's."

She looked concerned. "I wasn't expecting that, and it puts a lot of my other ideas about what you do back on the drawing board, but okay. Did it look particularly full?"

"Um. Really didn't. Well under half, if it's anything like yours."

Sarah stepped forward to let her Aura sync up with Lucy's again. I could see them balancing out. "Got it. Lucy, this next part is going to take some trust. When I step away, I need you to drop 45% of your maximum Hunger pool into the device. This will let me get some idea of capacity. Once you do, I will check its readouts."

Lucy nodded, and obeyed. Once again, her Hunger flowed into the device, this time reducing her Aura by much more than before. I was looking this time, and could see the previously-innocuous dots of material joining together what used to be Gold Coins start to light up... the pair between the first and second. Out of seven. I didn't make this thing, but if that meant what I thought it meant...

Sarah's eyes went very, very wide. Her breathing sped. I didn't blame her. If what I saw was any indication, that meant that the low end of this thing's capacity was right around 150% of Lucy's maximum. That went beyond crazy. The price tag on the materials alone was well into the low six digits, and that would be considered cheap for the capability that represented. I saw her look down at her notes. "I... I didn't expect that calculation to be accurate. Okay, okay, that means... Lucy, pull your Hunger back from it. Next up is Jay." As my wife pulled her power back into herself, Sarah looked at me. "You saw what Lucy just did. For the first test, I need you to push 5% of your maximum pool into this. If the estimates I made are correct, that should be safe. Still around half of its max. Lucy, come to this side of the room. This is the big hurdle, but this is where the most things can go wrong."

Sarah was many things. Reassuring was not one of them. They retreated to as far as the room would allow, and I could see Lucy mentally preparing to do something, likely casting Shield. Also not precisely reassuring on a personal level, but I was glad she was being safe. I turned to the battery, reaching out with my mind in the same way I did the mana batteries we used so often. I could feel it, waiting. It took a moment for me to calm my own nerves. So much could still go wrong, here, but I could do no less than my best. Deliberately, I felt the reserves within myself, and pushed 5% of my maximum to where it needed to go. The battery was again shimmering with Aura.

This time, the first three connectors lit up as my power obeyed. The device worked. I had, for the first time, managed to push Hunger energies outward. That inviolable rule that stated I could not be Fed upon had just been violated. Sarah had found a way to circumvent it. She nodded. "Okay. Jay, pull your Hunger back. You might be one percent short from before, depending on the specifics of things, but you might not."

I did so, finding that I was in fact one percent lower. I again breathed deeply. Half of me was nervous about the Hunger we were burning in the inefficiency from transfer to transfer. The other half could remember that we were not in the state from two months ago. Every precious point wasn't going to make the difference between us living or going feral. She was looking at me expectantly. "It is done, I am in fact down by one point. Still got plenty in the tank, though."

Sarah nodded. Jotted down more notes than I thought my statement could easily account for. I saw her hand shake. I saw her grip her pencil tightly to steady the hand. "Okay. This should be the last true test. If this goes as expected, the Greater Masterwork is confirmed. Jay, I need you to push one single percent of your Hunger pool into the battery. Lucy, this time, you will be the one to withdraw it. We are sticking to small doses for safety until everything is mapped."

My part of the process was simple. I took a piece of myself and placed it for safekeeping in the Battery. A gift for my wife. She stepped forward, reaching out, and pulled the power I had placed there to herself. I saw the flow of it, the spark, as it came to her call. I saw the ripple in her Aura as, for the first time, she took in Hunger from her husband. She felt it, filled herself with it, taking the purest distillation of my essence into her with joy.

I saw the moment the look of rapturous bliss left her face, to be replaced with pain. My world slowed to a crawl as I saw her Aura roil as though struck with a bullet, as reality warped with her very physical mystical might. As Nibbles dashed from his seat to intercept the sudden lash of her uncontrolled power flying at me, as she began to scream in agony.

We were suddenly swarmed by the rest of our Guild. Emily and Amber were first, helped by the mighty Whitney. They were yelling something rapidly to each other, something about Magical Resonance Shock. In the far corner, Sarah was wailing a single word, over and over. "No!"

I felt like my limbs were made of lead as Gloria took Nibbles to apply what first aid she could. I found my voice. "What did I just do?"

Emily frantically yelled back. "Resonance shock! Whatever you just put into Lucy is the same kind of magic source she normally exists on, it burned her out! We have to get rid of it, fast. Amber, get the green vials out of my kit. The ones I won't give you copies of. Now!"

I could still do one thing. "Sarah! Sarah, your new ability! You just picked up Siphon, USE IT!" I put every ounce of forceful command I possibly could into what I yelled. Leaned into it in a way I never had given a command to one of my own.

It was enough. Sarah startled out of her shocked terror and immediately fired off the spell at my wife. Normally, it was intended to seize chunks of mana from its victim to let her steal a fraction of it for use. The Lord protects fools on occasion, this time in her panic it blew out a portion of Lucy's Hunger reserve. The most recent one, that held my own Hunger now in the pool, and Sarah devoured a piece of it. I watched her Aura ripple and smooth as she integrated it. Hers did not recoil. She did not react as if my essence poisoned her.

Lucy's breathing calmed, her screams ceased. My limbs came back under my control, I ran to where the others had laid her out on the couch. "Love! Are you okay? Please, speak to me!" My own tears were flowing freely. I did not care.

Her beautiful crimson head turned to me. "I... I think Sarah needs to fine tune things better."

The relief hit me so hard my legs gave out instantly. I fell to my knees beside her, hugging Lucy tight to me.

She let me. We both needed it. "Okay, Jay, I need you to Scan me and the baby. Make sure we're really okay. Please. Emily needs the information."

I slowly stood and called upon the power granted to me during that terrifying first year after the Change, one of the first things I earned. Back when we were all still learning who and what we now were. With focus, I could distinguish both of the Auras before me. It let me target my Scan. Lucy was hurt, no doubt about it. Her health was at 54%, the rapid action on the part of Emily and Amber and Sarah keeping her over half despite the hideously dangerous nature of Resonance Shock. Details floated at me from my memory. The single most frequent hazard for crafters, anywhere. Combining the wrong streams of power into someone of just the wrong Race can easily kill them, and humanity took a long time to figure out what was going on. It still had a sobering mortality rate. If Sarah had not tightly controlled the last step of the experiment, if we had gone for a full-scale refill, it would have killed her before we could have reacted.

Her Hunger had equalized with the others as we were together, her Mana now around 80% despite being topped off earlier thanks to Sarah's panicked blast and her own uncontrolled discharge. Interestingly, her Status was showing Pregnant. That was the first time I'd ever seen that on a Scan, and reassured me greatly.

I tried to cast it again, targeting our daughter, still lying comfortably in her mother's womb. Like a flower blooming for the first time, the Status unfolded before me. I could see that there was a hash where her name should be. It was not yet determined, amorphous. It felt significant. Like what we would eventually give her would define a significant piece of her. It was hard to look away. Same went for her Class, and her Race. I could see that she had Demonic Feeding, but not what kind. What I was very much relieved to see, though, was that her own Health and Hunger were resting comfortably at 100%.

Our daughter was okay. My wife would be okay. We hadn't done anything permanent.

I must have managed to relay the information somehow, because Emily's movements got much less frantic. She began the steady business of ensuring the health of the Succubus on the couch, rather than the frantic scramble of triage and lifesaving interventions. Amber walked over to Sarah, hugged her with all four arms, and slowly convinced her to get back to work figuring out what had gone wrong.

And, you know, how to fix it.

Nibbles, thankfully, would also be okay. The blast he caught was a wild and uncontrolled thing, not the focused mayhem Lucy was capable of in battle. The force that had blown out the back wall of our old apartment and sent demons running in terror merely sent him across the room. Gloria was cheering him up with some sardines, and that was that.

In the midst of all of this, I heard a sound that I really should have expected. A knock at the door Somehow, all of that had only taken an hour. Agnes was here, and I let her in. She took in the settling chaos with surprising calm. "Anything I need to know about, Jeremiah?"

I sighed. "A hundred and fifty thousand dollars of business expenses and a thankfully mild case of Resonance Shock qualify?"

"You've certainly had a busy day."

"Ma'am, that was the last fifteen minutes. What happened this morning is much more complicated, and technically still ongoing."

"I... see. Let's continue, then."

So, as it turns out? If I had been keeping track of exactly what and when Sarah had expended which materials, the entire Greater Masterwork process could have been written off. Especially since it was built in direct furtherance of Guild needs, AKA Hunger issues. Well, now I knew. Just like I knew now that a few Senators were finally making headway on auto-filing, but given my newfound and absurdly complicated position that was unlikely to get to me any time soon. Pity. Still, when one becomes a Race without usable eyes while in a position to effect change, it becomes incumbent on one to represent the interests of all those now sharing one's particular perspective.

We had not finished two hours later, when she called another halt. "It would seem that we will be at this for a while. I would prefer to not meet tomorrow, taking a break myself."

"I must admit to curiosity. What do you do around here to relax?"

"Honestly, I rest in my cave and read the literature I brought with me."

"Not what I was expecting to hear, to be honest."

"I'm a bit of a bookwyrm, truthfully. I was a librarian before I changed careers."

I did a double-take. "Was that a pun, ma'am?"

She grinned right back. "Despite appearances, I'm a person, too. Are you doing anything Monday?"

"Unfortunately yes. Conclave of Major Guilds in the morning."

"Then I will meet you at Camp afterwards. We have much to discuss with the staff there, and that should bring me close to finishing this particular audit."

"Actually... one question, before you leave. The literature you brought. Is any of it reference material concerning enchanting, Demonic Hungers, Magical Resonance Shock, or the like? If so, I have a favor to ask of you."

It was perhaps fifteen minutes later that the enormous Silver Dragon was taking off from our apartment's roof, carrying two passengers. Sarah and Amber were on her back, holding on tight, the promise of knowledge and the chance to explore a real Dragon's Hoard with her permission drew them. I also knew that it would get Sarah out of her own head for a bit, working on the problem in front of her teamed with someone who could both help with the research and pull her out of the rabbit hole at some point before midnight.

Dinner was... much more subdued than usual. Lucy was thankfully able to join us at the table, though Sarah and Amber had not yet returned. There was one more shock remaining, however, as in the middle of the team chowing down on buffalo chicken (which, it should be said, tasted like it was handcrafted from the Platonic Ideal of spicy and delicious), my phone rang. This, of course, was a bit awkward to answer with my fingers slicked in buffalo sauce, but a timely assist from Nibbles combined with me rapidly licking the sauce off let me get to it.

Don't look at me like that. I wasn't going to let the sauce go to waste.

The voice on the other side was a familiar one. One of the Twins, it sounded like Misun. "Boss, got someone trying to contact you that sounds like you might want to hear it. Says his name is Dev McTaggart, an author and freelance reporter from southern California. We went looking and he seems legit."

"Send me the number, I'll give him a call. If I'm doing this, I'd best do it right."

A rough tenor voice answered on the first ring. "McTaggart here."

"This is Jeremiah Kithkin. I hear you wanted to talk to me?"

"That was quick, the way your people sounded I half expected to be waiting all week. And yes, I do." I could hear a higher and scratchier voice cheering in the background. "There's a cafe across the road from the church on Main, they serve the best chocolate croissants I've ever tasted. Meet there for breakfast? As long as we're done by ten, the traffic shouldn't be a bother."

"I know the one, and you're on. I'm fairly distinct and you have the advantage of me right now, so I'll be there a hair early."

"Maia, Niko, and I are as well, don't worry too much. See you in the morning."

And with that, we were back to the tactical assault on the chicken. Gloria immensely simplified cleanup by devouring the bones whole, a process I still preferred not to watch directly. Hypocritical? Perhaps a bit, considering what else had gone into that mouth, but still.

Sarah and Amber ended up getting back not long before bed, chatting rapidly about their research and the flight. Neither natively had wings, after all, this was not a common experience for them. We settled in, though the fact that I had an alarm meant that our traditional weekend cuddle pile would not be a thing this evening.

Getting ridden by Paige and Whitney, though? That absolutely was.

Lucy and I cuddled together on our bed, comfortable there together, as my mind slipped back into my dreamscape. I stood before the Great Mirror, and wept. Fatigue filled me. My soul was heavy. The shattered plains were enormous, seeming to stretch out to infinity. It seemed hopeless, that I would ever get the chance to complete the task before me. That I would ever heal the grievous wounds I had dealt to myself.

"It never ends, does it?"

I spun. From the shattered face of the Mirror, distorted and broken, was my reflection. Not the mighty being I had seen before, who I had broken with the Mirror's face over a week prior. This Incubus looked almost exactly like me. Perhaps a bit better equipped. I could see his mail was of finer quality than what I wore, he had Shield Gauntlets on both hands, but besides that? He was my size. He showed the same scars I did. None of my ladies were behind him. "I wasn't expecting to see you here."

"I am what you can be. What you know you can be. Right now, until you get past this? This is it. I need you to move. I need you to heal. You need you to do that, too. This is not a life we can live for long. You know this."

I turned back to the plains. "Do you know what the memory is for tonight?"

"I don't. By definition, it's scattered out there. Go, please. The night is wasting, and you don't get to sleep in today."

My legs began to carry me forward. Slow and heavy. Ahead was this night's task. This night's memory. This one, I knew, would not be easy. My vision wavered, and I was suddenly in the living room again, watching as my wife nearly died at the hands of a chunk of my own spirit. What did that say about me? What did that say about all I had been doing?

I had the advantage of knowing how it turned out. Lucy was fine. Our daughter was fine. Largely due to the careful and methodical steps Sarah had laid down, in case something should go wrong. But... then, my vision shifted again. To a scene in front of my Inner Mirror, as mystical energies carved at her abdomen to free her from the curse I had accidentally spread to her. These I knew. Then, the world shifted once more. To a room I hadn't thought about in more than three years, with more than a dozen people in it. As Lucy wore one ring instead of two, as my own left hand didn't have a band on it yet. As we were all yelling, two families which had until recently started to reluctantly come together.

It was almost exactly five years ago. Mere weeks after the Change, before everyone knew what it all meant. Two deeply traditional families from two wildly different traditions, which we had slowly been working on bringing together. Two families which both almost entirely stayed human, and who were convinced that the forms Lucy and I had ended up in were signs from Above that we were undeserving and wretched souls. That conversation had started with us trying to sit the families down to tell them about the realities of our new bodies, how we would have to live our new life together.

It ended with both of us severing ourselves from our old names and moving fifteen hundred miles away.

And again, to a vastly different scene. More than a year before that. Back when I was a skinny nerd of a programmer, back when Lucy was first entering the child care industry. On a date, one that had gone well for 90% of the plan then went almost as far south as it was possible to go, as a gang of bigots spotted me for who I was and accosted us. Both of us ended up in the hospital, the attackers never caught. That Lucy and I hung together after that was a sign of just how much we were meant to be.

The scenes showed the same thing. Since we had been together, I did my best to shield her from everything I could. Ultimately, though, what hurt her? Always came from me. Thankfully rare, never by intent, but it happened. What did it mean, and why was I dwelling upon them here?

My legs stopped their work. This question was a difficult one. Why was she even still with me after all of that? After the pain of being together? Then again, there was the answer. That pain had worth. Neither of us was perfect. None of that pain had been by intent. We both always strove to make things right, to live the joy no matter what came. Perhaps the lows struck on occasion. The highs were worth it, and the mediums, and even at our lowest points we faced it all together. Like two cards in a tower, leaning on each other for strength, unable to stand alone. And when the pain came? We took it, we recovered from it, and we brought the lessons forward. Lucy had counseled victims of bigoted attacks from a place of knowledge. We had made this found family work. She retained her independence, and her life, and our baby was still sustained. The life we led was forged in the steel of our souls, and would not break.

Lucy, at least, certainly thought the trade was worth it. Who was I to object to the most important judgment call?

Back at the Mirror, I found myself releasing an enormous handful of glass shards. As they returned to their places, I found that it was nearly complete. My reflection noticed, too, and nodded at me. "You're not finished, you know. Not even close."

"I think I'm doing better, though. Bit by bit."

"Then why haven't you used Sapphire Radiance since you broke the Mirror?"