Becoming Monsters: In the Mirror 48

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.

Dev McTaggart is the creation of the author CorruptingPower, cameo here with permission. So is Niko, though in the original she is human.

Maia, you know who you are.

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Chapter 48: Service

None of my ladies decided to come with me that fine Sunday morning. Missing Gloria's breakfast was a sacrifice, but to be fair, Dev's assessment of the chocolate croissants at La Villa was spot on. Nibbles approved of their bacon, too. I was two deep on those croissants and halfway through my orange juice before a fairly distinct trio walked in. One Human, two Beastkin.

In front was a Red Wolf. Tall and slender, well-trained and focused. She was dressed in light and casual clothes, and from the graceful way she moved and looked around the room it was obvious that mobility was paramount to her.

Behind was a Cat, white with brown splotches. Also dressed casually, though with a computer bag slung over one shoulder. She was the one who spotted me, gesturing to her companions towards my booth.

Between them was the Human. A gentleman looking to be around his mid-40s, shaved bald but with a blonde goatee. He wore a leather jacket, and necklace with a charm that seemed to depict a guillotine. Not precisely subtle, but I could appreciate the sentiment on occasion.

As soon as they began to approach I waved them in. it was pretty obvious they were who I was here for. At the same time, I caught the attention of the waitress who had been helping me. Multitasking was something I was used to doing, and this? This was a significantly more pleasant use of the skill than the combat it was trained on. As the trio settled in, the waitress came right up and got their orders. I probably should have gone ahead and pre-ordered, they all got roughly the same thing I did, but there was no way for me to know that in advance. Without preamble, the Cat pulled a laptop out of her bag and began to type rapidly.

"Looks like Maia wasn't kidding about being happy you took the call," the Human said, fairly fondly. "I'm sure you figured it out already, but just in case: Hello, I'm Dev McTaggart, the Catfolk's Maia, and to my left is Niko. Good to meet you."

"And you as well. As I'm sure you also know, I'm Jeremiah Kithkin. This is Nibbles." I reached over to give Dev a handshake, and that completed I used the hand appropriately to give Nibbles more head scratches.

"I had, but thanks. I'm sure you're wondering why I asked to talk?"

I shook my head. "You aren't exactly a small name yourself, Dev. The Twins gave me the rundown of your journalism and entertainment industry work this morning. I assume you are going to ask about one of the viral clips I star in which are floating around the Internet?"

"Close, and when I first planned this trip you would've been right. Not many Balar are taken down in front of hospitals no matter where you look. I'm a Storyteller by Class in addition to my trades, and I find that all of the best stories have a seed of truth somewhere. It's always better than what can be made of whole cloth. I wanted to do an article or two featuring yourself and Shield Against Shadows, maybe talk about movie or book licensing if I got enough for something good."

"If that is what you were originally planning, then I am curious where this conversation is going."

Dev grinned broadly, the look pairing well with his coat and guillotine necklace. "That, sir, has a lot to do with the events of yesterday."

"What events of yesterday?"

"Please don't play coy, Jeremiah, we managed to find out a lot. At least, Maia did." To his right, Maia flashed a toothy grin and a clawed thumb up before resuming typing.

"No, I mean a lot happened yesterday, and I have no idea which particular piece you managed to find out about. There are too many different things we could be talking about, and though almost none of them are precisely secret none of them have really been advertised."

The three of them shared a laugh as breakfast got to us. Dev kept chatting between bites. "Alright, alright, fair. I can imagine your days aren't any less chaotic than my own. I speak, of course, about you becoming a Guild Leader Union Boss?"

I sighed and shook my head. "One, I'd rather almost any other title than one whose acronym makes it sound like I'm drowning. Two, only for smaller guilds. Not the Major groups that are large enough to have their own internal support staff. Three, I kind of got tricked into stepping into the slot, no matter how necessary it was. Four, how the heck did you already find out about it? We haven't even gotten word around to everyone who needs it at our own Guild Hall yet."

"My fault, there," Maia said without bothering to look up from the screen. "Did some research on you myself, and there was some chatter about the union. People are calling it the Gathering of Dungeon Missions, you come up with that name?"

"Nope. I signed the sheet and ducked out after requesting that they send me messages with what they need. Way too loud in the room."

This time, all five at the table got laughs. Even Nibbles, who was there.

Dev took a sip of coffee. "Also fair. You might be wondering why a Storyteller, a Technopath, and an Acrobat want to know about people unionizing, and to that point I want to tell you two things."

"I'm guessing, from your jacket and guillotine, that you are on the pro-union side."

"That would be correct, and it's the first thing I wanted to tell you before we proceeded." He had a pad out, and was taking notes in shorthand. Made me wish I knew how to read it, if only so that I'd know what they said. "The other's that a bunch of the California Guilds are in the same boat as the ones who you now seem to be representing up here in Seattle. My question before we proceed would be this: are you willing to spread beyond the borders of this state? I think what you're doing is going to be needed."

THAT thought gave me pause. There was certainly a lot going for it. I stood to vastly extend the network of resources and support, even if this stayed coastal. Despite the size and relative power of the Seattle Guild Hall, there were two other fairly significant ones in California and another in Oregon. That in turn represented a lot of chances to get my hands on rare resources, access rare talent sets, or in general make more mayhem if needed. Who cared if a guild of a hundred people didn't want to do business with me, if I represented five hundred Delvers? A thousand? Even the loose kind of coalition I was envisioning would be an enormous force.

On the flip side, that increased the logistical problems by an order of magnitude. It would be one thing to manage the disputes of the Seattle Guild Hall's minor teams. To organize and coordinate what they needed. It was an entirely different thing to ask when I could not be there in person. When I had no real idea how their cultures worked internally.

I realized I had been sitting silently for a moment too long. "Sorry, that was a lot. Um. I'd answer with a cautious yes. Just on a slow roll. I don't even have a code of ethics written down yet, nor a full organization. No estimates on what I'll need, just some loose promises to help each other when the chips are down. If you know anyone who is willing to proceed on that kind of level, then sure. Not expecting many bites."

Niko looked over at me. "Jeremiah, you'd be surprised at how eager you will find others to join exactly what you have described. We don't want to be subsumed into a Giga Guild. We just want to know that we have each other's backs. Let us go Below without having to worry about getting backstabbed when we get home."

I felt that particular statement personally. Although I'd recovered from most of it, all of the worst injuries I had ever received had been from being attacked in my own home. "I'll take your word on that."

The Catfolk grinned in a toothy way. "Holy freaking bingle, it did it again!"

Um. What?

Dev noticed my look. "You wouldn't know, but it seems that Maia just found something."

"What do you mean by 'found something'? Is it something I need to know?"

Maia looked up at me. "So first of all, I found the important stuff yesterday. What I just did was find your personal email address. I'll shoot you a message with a summary later, but your buddies on the Major Guilds have some explaining to do. Can't wait to hear about the looks on their faces when they find out I got this."

Dev grinned. "Best laugh in the world is seeing karma happen. When it happens this way, I call it a Maia ha ha."

Maia, Niko, and I all facepalmed. Nibbles thought it was funny. "Here's hoping everyone gets what they deserve."

"And that's the point, right there. Jeremiah, I'm a journalist. The stories I like to tell, though? Those are the ones where karma is helping someone who deserves it. Now, if you're willing to answer some more direct questions, I might be able to help make it happen."

It didn't take too many questions before I realized that I needed to be taking notes, too. Dev, whatever else he might have told me, obviously had a lot more experience with the kind of undertaking I had in front of me than I did. Perhaps not at the front, but certainly as a member. Establishing an Ethos and Code of Conduct, the bylaws we would abide by. Estimating resource acquisition costs, along with things like legal fees and representative salaries. Then, what those would mean for dues.

I mean, other than the fact that it would have to be in Coinage, I hadn't given it much thought.

Rosters. Skills. Formats. Paperwork. It was a mess, a pile of concepts I'd been unconsciously taking care of for my own. But not for potentially hundreds of others, many of whom I may never meet personally.

Dev was much more patient with this than I suspect I would have been in his shoes. Then again, besides a voluminous quantity of notes, I could catch what he was getting out of it. Empathic senses could be considered cheating in some circles, but it wasn't like I could simply turn them off. From him? I could feel a heady mix of amusement and hope.

I confirmed it with a question. "I assume you have folks in mind to tell about this? I will need local representatives, after all."

The wild spike of emotion in his soul did not show on his face, beyond that grin. "I have a few in mind. Would you like me to hand out your phone number?"

"Not mine directly. The one you used to contact the Twins, I'll let them do the background checks. That said, the more the merrier, just as long as they can abide by what I have laid down."

"No more than twenty-five members per guild, support free flow of information and resources, train newcomers, and maintain the commons? Yeah, I have a few Leaders and major Independents in mind. We seem to be running short on time, though. Tell you what. I'll start writing the story, and tell a few folks who seem the type. Once you go public? I'll publish. Everyone wins. You have a lot of preparation to do... probably tonight. Sorry if you thought there was rest to be found today."

"I'm rather used to rest being a rather elusive kind of thing." Making simple eye contact with one of the waiters was enough to get our checks. Capitalism still being capitalism, I left a solid tip. I could afford to eat out. I would make sure Elle, our waitress with three other tables and a harried look on her face, could eat.

We said our goodbyes, Niko on alert. For what, I didn't know, but I could recognize a bodyguard when I saw one. Soul like a wolf on the hunt. As Dev's group got into their car and left, my steps went for a slightly different route. Even by my standards. My skin took a more stony look as I invoked Shapeshifting, my feet carrying me to the crosswalk instead of the bus stop. After all, I was familiar with the church across the street, even if I'd never been inside, personally.

Although demonic monsters avoided holy ground, demonic people rarely had any such aversion. At least, not beyond their feelings like any other Human. Me? I hadn't gone to much in the way of worship in the last five years. This time, though, I had two people I wanted to make sure were alright. Both Emily and Gloria came to this church regularly, to listen to Pastor Ibrahim's sermon. Usually, they came to the second one, which started at 10:30, since both found reassurance in the sounds of children being present. It was a larger place, not quite the megachurches one could find in the South but certainly one of the biggest around here, seating nearly a thousand in every packed sermon. As soon as Dev said which church the diner was across from? I knew what I'd be doing.

Including putting on my Gargoyle disguise for the first time in a while. Incubi might not explode into flames upon entering a church, but no sense antagonizing worshippers who might not be understanding.

The flow of humanity in and out of the building was a confusing mess, something I counted on. Nibbles didn't appreciate it much, and signaled that he'd be around the outside of the building. One service left, another came in, and I had the ability to see the Auras of the two I was looking for. Or... I had counted on that, anyway. The assumption turned out to be a bad one, for the simple fact that there were far more Demons in the room than I'd have been willing to bet there would be. More than my eyes would have told me without the extra abilities I had. Shimmering and flowing, flickering empty and powerfully full, narrow and broad. There had to be at least twenty or thirty Auras here. Even accounting for the size of the church, that was a frankly absurd number. Well above the concentration for the general population.

As I slowly walked in, careful at my size not to bowl someone over, the church-goers reminded me why this was. Shaking hands, openly laughing and chatting. Often with complete strangers like myself. To be a Demon in the world right now was not exactly the happiest thing. Even beyond that, the Change had struck religious types a bit harder than most. To go to sleep secure in one's faith and wake up to find out that you had become a literal demon overnight was either going to solidify or shatter one's faith completely.

I shook another hand, this one belonging to a small, pale man. He looked drab. Office worker, accountant. To my eyes, though, I could see his shimmering Aura. He was a demon, and feeding before my eyes. Of what kind, I had no way to easily know. Given how much effort he was going through to remain hidden, it would be improper for me to ask. After all, I wasn't exactly wearing my own skin. Couldn't suppress a bit of a bitter feeling about that bit. We were here, trying to do good and be good, and still had to hide. I wanted to give the man a hug, tell him that someone out here understood, but couldn't.

The tide of humanity carried me forward, and my eyes scanned for the two demons I was expecting. Though it took a bit and several false starts, I eventually spotted them. Two smaller women seated next to each other in the pews near the back, one Hispanic and one Japanese, speaking quietly with each other. Gloria and Emily. I took the seat next to them, savoring the moment before they realized it was me.

"We know it's you, Jeremiah, Gloria spotted you walking in. I didn't even realize you were in disguise until you got close enough to look stony."

Well. Looks like I needed to work on that. "I'm not being approached by people to ask about my videos, so I'm going to assume it's because you two know me so well."

Gloria glanced at me. "I've been with you for a month and never once saw you go to a church service. You don't like breaking your routine without letting us know. What's going on?"

"Not everything I do has an ulterior motive, you know."

Both answered "yes they do" simultaneously. Which... okay, fair.

"Alright, you got me. The diner I was at for this morning's meeting was across the street, and I wanted to make sure you two were doing alright. This hasn't been an easy couple of days. Plus, you know, you two always talk about how good the sermons are, here. I might as well give one a listen."

A band started playing some music. Relatively light music, especially considering it had drums and an electric guitar going. Emily nodded. "You have good timing, then. Pastor Ibrahim is coming out in about a minute now that the music started."

My phone pinged at me. Sarah, with a simple message. We have the solution. Need everyone together for it.

My heart rate rose again, my nerves with it. Lucy was doing much, much better this morning than last night, but it was still hard to forget what had just happened, or the nightmare memories. I sent one back. Got it. Right after lunch should work.

While I was thinking about it, I also dropped a message to Chaske and Misun to reserve a domain name for the Gathering of Dungeon Missions. We'd get down to brass tacks after this afternoon's experiment if they could come by the apartment. Chaske sent back a picture of a thumbs-up, which I found amusing given the fact that he didn't have any thumbs.

The band died down, and onto the stage in the center of the large room walked a winged man. He was tall and broad, with skin and wings of gold. A halo shone over his head, also golden. He was dressed in a collared dark shirt and slacks, a white tie offsetting them. Pastor Ibrahim, presumably. An Angel, by the looks of it of the Virtue Race.

He began to speak, and I understood immediately why the ladies liked to come here when they could. There were layers to this one. He was charismatic in a way that went beyond System compulsion, his words describing the kind of world we want to live in. One bridge between here and there, as relating to a passage he had chosen for the day. Emily and Gloria had notes already, having read ahead after last week, but I was here improvising.

Thing is? It went beyond that. Virtue Choir Angels were miracle-workers. Wellsprings of one of the seven Heavenly Virtues, who could push them into the world much like my ladies Hungered for their particular sin. Theoretically, trying to suppress their wellspring could have many ill effects, but that was a bit beyond my scope of experience. I had no idea what his Class was, but I could feel the wash of positive emotion over me. Others might not notice, but I again had other ways to feel things.

As direct and effective as this was, the Piety Aura was induced by Race. I wasn't one to throw stones (which was a funny thought given the situation), but it was a thing. Once I realized it, the mood became easier to ignore. Push off to one side of my brain while the rest worked on taking in details. The sermon itself was one that was, at least, dear to my heart. The need to take action in the face of adversity and resistance, to be the one to step forward and take up the burdens. There was more to see, though, and my eyes wandered. The crowd was mostly Human... or human-passing, at least. Made sense, this building was more than five years old and had not been modified to let a 12-foot Cyclops get a front row seat. A few nonstandard folks like myself were visible to the eyes. Some Gormor, in a green-skinned cluster of Goblins and Orcs. Couple of Elementals, one a rocky sort of guy with a carved tattoo in Hebrew on his forehead. A shocking number of Demons, though none visibly so.

And, of course, the Angelics. Those, I'd expected. Ranging from balls of light the size of my fist to much larger winged humanoids and disturbing conglomerations of rings and eyes. Couple of really Be Not Afraid types. These guys didn't need to worry about freaking out Humans. A Throne Angel in the room was cause for reassurance. More standard sizes and shapes were spaced around the sanctuary, but I kept getting drawn to one near the front. Something about his wings seemed familiar, how he held his head and halo. Which was... odd. I didn't know many Angelics personally. They didn't tend to associate with Demonics, whether consciously or unconsciously. Why did I recognize this one?

The congregations stood for a particular stretch of song and prayer, and the person I had my eye on walked up to the stage to sing with the band. That face was... bugging me. I knew I'd seen it before. Recently. I had no good recent memories with anyone remotely resembling him, a red flag was waving in the back of my head. As Emily sang with the church, I leaned over to the diminutive Gloria to ask "who is that guy who just walked up to lead the song?"

"Oh, he's the Pastor's son. Aaron."

Aaron. Why did I know his... oh. Oh no. The bottom fell out from my stomach. I glanced down at the program, sitting innocently next to the Bible in the back of the pew in front of me. Pastor Ibrahim Christiansen. My blood ran cold. I knew the name now. Aaron Christiansen was a Paladin who had been making my life miserable for the prior month, as I tried to deal with other matters coming up in my life. The last time I saw him, Lucy and I were stopping a bank robbery he was helping, alongside two of his more unsavory buddies. He ended up being taken away by a SWAT team. Gloria hadn't been there. Emily hadn't seen his face. I hadn't expected him to be out of jail less than two weeks later.

I had to force my emotions back under control. The fury and panic filling me, were they to leak out into my Aura, could cause a riot in this Church. I didn't feel like wading through the blood of innocents after the morning started so well. "Gloria, we need to go. Now. Let Emily know. Don't make a break for it, make like you're headed to the restroom, then leave. We are not safe here. Meet at the bus stop."

She looked at me sharply, I could feel the words on her tongue ready to object just as sharply. Those words died unsaid when she saw the look on my face. A gulp. A nod. While the congregation still stood, I made sure my outward face was a bit more distinct from how I usually appeared. Shorter, stockier, more rocky, my actual face shifting more. With a forced casualness, I walked out to the lobby, stopped by the restroom, walked outside.

I was alone at the bus stop when I released Shapeshifting, reverting to my natural form. Before I let myself actually feel a few of the emotions that I'd been desperately bottling up. Let them out a bit, into the clear air. Where they wouldn't cause a brawl. A few moments later, Gloria walked up with a sparrow on her shoulder and Nibbles at her feet. "Alright, we're clear. You can explain, now."

The sparrow fluttered off her shoulder, becoming Emily's Human form in a puff of smoke. "I haven't felt you panic like that since you were coming to grips with your Critical Injury. Whatever it is, we need to know."

"Remember the bank robbery you helped us stop? The one where I accidentally sent Whitney running? Aaron was one of the robbers. The one in the armor."

I could feel both of their emotions as they followed the train of thought. Shock at his identity and acts. Trying to link things together. The dread when they realized that it would take a very powerful person to get him out of jail that fast, and they both knew of exactly one person in his orbit with that kind of money and influence. Pastor Ibrahim.

"Chins up. We can talk about it with the others tonight. For now, we need to get home and get ready to help Sarah out. She told me that they found a solution to last night's mishap, and it is going to take all of us. Last chance we're going to easily get, tomorrow we are back on a normal schedule. Or, at least, as normal as things get around here."