(19)

(19)

“I told you, electronic equipment won’t work. Can I go now?”

Nestra glared at Doctor Mazingwe. Down, for once, since she was using her true form. The doctor tilted his head in a way that made her feel distinctly uncomfortable, because he was like a teacher and she was a petulant teen trying to get away from the physical exam.

“Miss Palladian, do you perhaps believe I am clueless without electronics? Hmm?”

“No, of course not,” she mumbled.

“Then I believe we can proceed the old-fashioned way. I assure you, humans have managed their health for centuries without advanced machines and I will draw upon their experience. Now, if you will follow me?”

“Oh, back in your days? Do you think an excess amount of humor in my spleen might cause me to be sad?”

“I know you are trying to get a raise out of me because you are concerned, Miss Palladian, however I assure you that I have handled worse than you over the ages and I will qualify your banter as ‘average’.”

“Oof. Who had the best banter?”

“Surely you do not expect me to provide you with ammunition. Here.”

They had moved into the gleam testing area. The good doctor’s innovative new tool that would beat X-ray and other pedestrian devices happened to be a table.

A table, and two chairs.

“What?”

“My testing equipment is designed for young men and women on the edge of D-rank, and since you are clearly much stronger than that, we shall assess your physical prowess with a basic yet nonetheless indicative test.”

“Beat each other over the head with the chairs?”

“No, Miss Palladian. We are going to arm-wrestle.”

***

“Oooow.”

“Do not be silly; I stopped long before breaking anything. Now, where were we? Oh yes. We shall now test your reflexes and general speed.”

The doctor opened a drawer, removing throwing knives from a sheath. They were clearly blunted.

“No.”

“If you will take position in front of this reinforced wall?”

“NO! Do you seriously use that on kids?”

“Of course not. I have them throw the weapons. Again, however, I fear it will not be a good indication of your capabilities.”

Nestra wondered if she could get away with walking through the wall. Unfortunately, Mazingwe was already stronger than Claire thirty years ago according to some footage she’d found, and though battle instincts could grow unused, a gleam’s body never weakened.

Bastard would probably burst through the entire building then drag her back in, screaming.

“Oh fiiiine.”

Mazingwe shifted. Nestra used momentum to move to the side, because she knew the old bastard would try something. The first dull knife clanged against the reinforced wall before falling down. Nestra dodged again fully expecting the good doctor to follow up, and of course he did. Something slapped painfully on the skin of her left arm. She changed direction. A glimpse at her attackers showed that he was looking at her right leg, so she pulled it to the side just in time to avoid another painful throw. No time to dodge the next so she received it on her forearm with Immovable. Mazingwe blurred. She used Momentum again.

Three knives were now lodged in the reinforced wall. Planted it, as it were.

Mazingwe’s hands were empty.

Nestra still didn’t let her guard down. She’d counted seven knives but who knew what he would pull off to test her.

“Hmm. Impressive. I have fought slower experienced C-ranks. Your battle instincts are also remarkable. How is the arm?”

She flexed it. The knife had only grazed it.

“Already healed.”

“No hematoma? Is regeneration one of your skills?”

“Think so.”

“Very impressive. If you do represent the baseline for gray demons, then your race is dauntingly powerful. I notice that you used some activated skills during the exercise? Do you know how many you can do in a row? Are they tiring you?”

“I, errr. They’re not very tiring. I always finish fights before I run out of juice.”

“But do they affect your mana, your physical endurance, or some other metaphysical source unique to your species? Mental exhaustion? Or several resources at the same time?”

“I, errr, dunno.”

Mazingwe seemed utterly unimpressed.

“Miss Palladian...”

She groaned.

“While I admit that your base abilities are very impressive, especially your natural resistance which we humans lack, you have so far mostly faced D-class threats. C-class threats are significantly more dangerous and will require you to know yourself and the full extent of your abilities. We will be testing those abilities over the course of the next few weeks until you are performing to my satisfaction. You cannot do any less than the maximum to survive.”

“Those are no longer doctor duties,” Nestra replied. “Are you sure you’re supposed to be my coach as well?”

She thought about her words. Was she sounding a little ungrateful?

“Not that I’m complaining, quite the contrary. I just—”

“My stone town was destroyed during the incursion. We lived along the shore of Tanzania, above the Indian Ocean. I was one of the only survivors.”

Nestra shut up immediately. First gens NEVER talked about the incursion. At least not to little shits like her. When her parents had done it, it was behind closed doors with sifters of mana liquor and hostile glares should she dare to break the sanctity of the moment by intruding.

“I could not return. When I became Dawn Spear, the crafter who made my armor asked me if I wanted to wear it with a kanzu. A kanzu is... a robe. A cream or white robe I would wear under a jacket. I found that I could not. I could not see elements of my past and not remember the screams. The fires. I have come here with no roots.”

He shrugged.

“No roots, but a past. We cannot let go of the past, yes? Now I have decided that I would help people before the portals claim me again. It will happen. It always does. We can never fully stop. And now, I am helping you. Do you deserve it? No. You are a headstrong, obnoxious, rebellious woman with a sharp tongue and a sharper sword.”

“Oh.”

“You remind me very much of my little sister.”

“Oh...”

“I am helping many people. I am helping you more because you need the help more, and also because you remind me of my little sister. Do you understand?”

“I... think so?”

“Now that you no longer have to divine why on earth I would try to keep your sorry hide mostly intact, will you stop questioning and challenging everything I try to do that would favor you?”

“Sorry, it’s just...”

She hesitated. He waited patiently.

“I feel like I’ve been kicked in the teeth by life many times, so now if something goes well I expect that it will come back to roundhouse me some time later.”

“I appreciate the difficulty of trusting people, Miss Palladian. However, according to my understanding, I have not been the only person who has been here for you consistently over the years. There is your aunt?”

“Oh yeah.”

“So perhaps you should trust the people around you a little more.”

“There’s also my brother.”

“Ah, yes, that.”

“And my dad. And my mom. And Bard, you remember Bard?”

“This detail had escaped my mind.”

“Well it didn’t escape mine. By the way, are you familiar with the decisions of Gidung’s leadership?”

“I stand corrected, Miss Palladian. You have driven the point home. I would still appreciate you extending me the courtesy of trust.”

He waited for her answer. A part of her wanted to jab more, maybe out of habit or maybe because Mazingwe was a father figure and she was the poster child for daddy issues. Double daddy issues, even. Mazingwe didn’t deserve it.

“Ok. I’ll stop giving you shit. I promise.”

“Marvelous.”

“So what do we do now?”

“We shall test your mana sensitivity in terms of direction, intensity, and nature. The other abilities will require tests that I cannot conduct in this facility.”

“How will you test my sensitivity? You mean like feeling mana?”

“Yes. You will close your eyes and I...”

Golden mana emerged from the doctor’s delicate fingers. Power radiated from them in an instant, brushing against Nestra’s skin with the promise of searing pain.

“I will be moving this sphere around you.”

“You won’t hit me with it. Right?”

“I am confident you will feel its presence before it occurs.”

Nestra was starting to wonder if the good doctor wasn’t having a little bit of cathartic fun at her expense.

***

“Hello, this is Doctor Mazingwe.”

The voice that answered was usually harmless. It made the cold hiss now filtering through the visor that much more threatening.

“I only gave you my number for dire emergencies. You must be very foolish or have a very good reason to contact me now.”

“I need some information on Gray Demon anatomy if I am to monitor the health of my patient.”

“Foolish, then. Gray Demons do not require physicians, Mazingwe.”

“You are never hurt? You always know exactly what you are capable of? I find it hard to believe given your proclivities. I need to know more so I can treat her if she gets hurt.”

“I can help her, unless she regenerates first. We are rather resilient.”

“Are you a medical practitioner?”

There was annoyed silence at the end of the line.

“I shall take this as a no. Listen, I have a proposal. You tell me enough to help her under an oath of secrecy, and in return, I will give you the recipe to my homemade doughnuts.”

There was a long pause.

“I do enjoy the human rituals around the preparation and consumption of food, but make no mistakes. I am here for the new woman of the People, not for the cultural experience of being a human. You already have information on our anatomy I am tempted to... erase. I will be forced to take drastic measures if you keep digging.”

“I swear on my ancestors that this knowledge will only be used to safeguard her wellbeing. I take my duty very, very seriously.”

Another pause, then a chuckle. It was not a pleasant sound.

“You believe in your own words. Very well, but if the coven protecting her decides that you need to be removed...”

“I already know enough to be a danger. A little more will make no difference.”

“I admire your commitment. I shall accept your oath and extend my trust. Recipe and one demonstration,” Seth replied.

“We have a deal.”

“The coven will love to hear that a human healer has taken a female Changeling under his wing, knowing what she is. Perhaps it is true that humans can pack bond with almost anything. You are making your own species quite interesting, Doctor Mazingwe.”

“I hope that is a good thing.”

“Oh, most certainly. After all, some may care about good and evil but for us, it is about fun and tedious, and you are beginning to be quite fun. Goodbye. We will be baking at my place. Bring your own supplies.”

***

Dawn crested the kaiju wall. For those who’d barely slept, it offered no solace. The rays of the sun revealed cables snaking out of the van when there should be none. They dispelled the illusion of secrecy that comforted operatives everywhere. They reminded said operatives that they were late, that the delivery robots were dropping fresh muffins on the doorsteps of harried corpo slaves, and that the time of reckoning was upon them. Mostly they showed the contents of floor sixty-eight of the unfinished Pacific Dream tower, part of the Levant Project real estate disaster. It should have contained, to the exclusion of most other things, a 40 mm single shot remote controlled-rifle. A walker killer as they were known in the military. Around that weapon, there should have been satchel charges designed to turn the entire floor into a pile of molten slag and powdered concrete.

That was not the case. The last intact camera showed a mess of exposed cables and the barrel lying on the ground, possibly still connected to the rest of the gun. Or perhaps not.

The team leader ignored the sweat pearling in his brow. Every assessment said this should be impossible. Cameras didn’t glitch that way. This was either the work of a gleam, or a hostile jamming device not yet in the Gidung database.

His gut said it was a rogue element.

“We’re packing.”

“Wait,” the runner said, interrupting him.

The team leader looked into her crimson eye implants. The false iris rotated, probably calculating his heartbeat and blood pressure and all the other tools runners used to ‘convince’ people they were not allowed to kill. She licked her lips. His eyes caught a crease near her scalp where the dermal implants were barely visible.

“I can do it. I can make the shot. Manually.”

“Target on the move. ETA three minutes, sir,” Condor said from her seat in the far corner of the van. He could see the convoy holding Watkins making its way towards the precinct, with hovercrafts providing oversight. Once he reached the place, he would be out of reach and his testimony would fuck the corp over in a way no one had done before. Their window was closing fast.

Condor’s voice had wavered. The team leader thought it was a lost cause and Condor didn’t seem so hot either.

“Sir. Please let me.”

The team leader assessed his chances.

Law enforcement would have already gone after the van. A rival corpo would have detonated the satchel charge since it was the easiest way to make the operation fail. And Gidung really needed a symbolic win. His career depended on it.

The stench of cigarette smoke and sweat joined forces with the wet heat and his own exhaustion to muddy his thoughts.

“I think it’s a trap.”

“Then let me trigger it. If it were the city, the place would already be swarming with cops. I can do it. Somebody’s fucking with us and I want to look them in the eye.”

“It smells of gleam to me.”

“And I can go toe to toe with a low C-class. Let me do it.”

“ETA two and a half.”

A feed showed the convoy carrying the witness on its way to Central. He would be out of range soon. The team leader had to choose now.

Stolen novel; please report.

“Ok. Ok but you evac the moment you get cornered.”

The runner gave a carnivorous smirk. She turned and the swish of her black ponytail brushed the man’s face. He hoped for a floral touch from shampoo, perhaps vanilla, his favorite, but the synthetic hair was soaked with tobacco. It offered no succor. Neither did the sight of her armored form leaving the false safety of the van. The floor rose a little higher when she walked off just from the sheer weight of synth muscles and plating and against anything without mana, he would bet on her. She was more machine than person at this stage.

He suspected that wasn’t the case here.

“Riiiiight.”

Nestra bore her gaze into Helena’s amused, yet still worried black orbs. She had normal sclera but the iris and pupil really were like her own. It was uncanny.

“Because I’m not human.”

“Riiight. Right. Wait, shit, you’re serious?”

“Dead serious. I was born non human, and mom’s body was... affected. And you got the void affinity and the anger as a result. Also our dad is not my real dad. I mean, not genetically. Probably. Whatever.”

Helena’s mouth hung open.

“I can prove it but you got to promise not to freak out.”

“You... are not human?”

“No.”

“And.... who knows about this?”

“Exactly five people. Three who shouldn’t be, I had to help.”

“So, uh, ok? Are you going to... show me?”

“Yep. If that’s ok, I mean.”

“And you brought me here becaaaaause?”

“The portal. If you were, I mean if you took it well, I thought we could have a bonding moment.”

“And not because you wanted to kill me and get rid of the body if I threatened anything?”

Nestra paled. Horror filled her chest.

“Wha — what? No! No, of course not I would never! Helena!”

“Ok ok ok ok sorry I shouldn’t have. My bad.”

“I, shit I didn’t think it would worry you so much I’m so sorry!”

“I know thinking’s a bit hard for you but just listen to me! I’m fine, just show me non human Nestra!”

“Ok. Sure. Don’t freak out.”

“You have tentacles?”

“No.”

“Horns?”

“... yes.”

“That’s so wired! Come on, show me.”

Nestra sighed. It wasn’t going the way she’d expected. Helena was just so exuberant but... maybe that was better? She pulled off her mask. Immediately, the world became more. She could hear the birds nesting on the second floor cafeteria. Her nose picked the dust and the rot and the wild flowers growing through the cracks. The wind caressed her skin. Mana pulsated wildly from her little sister, familiar yet strange on a human. Said little sister was now standing but Nestra was still looking down at her in her best, most harmless impression of a meek demon.

“Wooooooow.”

“Yep, it’s me.”

“You’re so tall!”

“And ssstill growing.”

“And your voice is so low-pitched?”

“Also because I’m really tall.”

“Are those horns?”

“As I said, yesss.”

“Can I touch them?”

“No, please. Very sensitive.”

“ Holy shit what are you?”

“A Gray Demon.”

“Yeah I can see that but what is it called?”

“Hmm. Err. Gray Demon.”

“...”

“Unless you want the latin name but please don’t address me by my genus and clade?”

“That’s so wireeeeeeeed. How long have you been, you know, that?”

“Hm. From birth. But I only figured it out recently.”

“So is this why you have no core? Is that part of the disguise?”

“Hm. No. My body needed a lot more mana to grow so... it cannibalized the human core.”

“WHAT REALLY?”

“Yes.”

“You nommed your own core? That’s so wired! Can you, like, regrow it?”

“Don’t think so. My true form has a core anyway. It’s... serviceable.”

“Nice. And can you use mana and everything?”

“Yes, void, same as you. Or rather, you are the same as me.”

“Riiiiight! Can you tell me more about who your dad is then? Are there more like you? Oh, are you infiltrating human society to overthrow it and control the government? Wait, you’re not going to do that, right?”

“No.”

“Aw.”

“I can’t tell you more about what I am, partly because it endangers you and partly because, well, I know very little myself. But we are hunters, not manipulators. At least, I think so.”

“Wait, you can have human shapes and you’re not evil manipulators bent on world domination?”

“I can’t talk for other Gray Demons I assume exist but as far as I am concerned, I absolutely and very definitely couldn’t possibly be arsed.”

“Damn. You show up with super infiltration power in human society and you stay for fun?”

“And gastronomy.”

Helena huffed though a smile tugged at her lips.

“That’s some high mindset here. I like it. Actually, you just asked me to bring my axe expecting me to, like, be okay about all of this?”

“I was certainly hoping for it, yeah.”

“And we just go into the portal and kill stuff? Wait, that means you’re registered as a gleam then?”

“No, at least not yet and... this portal isn’t registered yet.”

“ILLEGAL RAIDING?”

“Yeah.”

“What about the loot?”

“Black market.”

“This is so damn wiiiiiiirred. WAIT A MINUTE YOU ARE A COP IS THIS A STING OPERATION?”

“Human Nestra is a cop. Demon Nestra...”

Nestra shrugged.

“She is one hungry girl. And Threshold’s gleams are not exactly tolerant of non-humans.”

“Yeah, I mean. Oh. You would be killed on sight. At least by the old guard.”

“Yep.”

“I am part of a secretive criminal conspiracy. Oooooh this is so wired. I wish I could tell someone, but I won’t. Oooh this is so damn wired. Can we go now? Can we go?”

“Get in your training armor. I’ll go grab my sword.”

“Yes. YES! We were only scheduled to raid shit portals at the end of the semester, and even then only under guard. You... you’ll cover my back, right?”

Nestra used momentum to step really close. Helena jumped back with a yelp.

“WAH!”

“I’m actually quite strong. This is a D-class portal. We’ll be fine.”

“Get that damn sword and let’s goooooooooooo!”

***

“Sooo what now?”

“Just like the textbooks say. You just need to push your hands into the portal after coating them with mana.”

“Like that? WHA—

***

Nestra drifted through the hospital portal into a forest. Leaves covered the ground in patterns she didn’t recognize. The trunks were smooth and striped like a zebra’s hide. They were also red. Above her, a bluish sun cast late afternoon rays that provided little heat while Helena finished collapsing from the entrance portal.

“—AHT. Oh. Huh, it was easier than I expected.”

“Might be the void element. Hss.”

They stood in a clearing. The ground rose and fell in tiny mounds and deep recesses and the air smelled of mud and rotten leaves, altogether not unpleasant at all. The distant din of battle surrounded them on all sides though Nestra wasn’t too concerned. It had a distant, fake quality she couldn’t quite place. It was more a setting than a reality. That told her what sort of portal this would be.

Helena stood up, She looked a little ridiculous in her training gear since it was so bulky, but it would definitely help. Her axe sucked since it was a dull weapon but she knew how to coat and it was all she needed with void mana. And it was still a large piece of metal swung by a gleam so... not exactly harmless. And Nestra was here.

“A portal world! I’m inside a portal world! What do we do now, explore?”

“No. Battle.”

“What?”

Nestra pointed. A short humanoid creature emerged from the treeline, clad in a gambeson with pieces of shiny metal strapped here and there. He looked surprisingly humanoid but his features were much more feral, his skin drawn, and the hair on top of his head was dark and thick like a horse’s mane. He growled when he saw them, then picked a mace hanging by his side and charged. A dozen warriors followed quickly after him. Only their hair color and weapon truly differed, though the first had by far the most protection.

“Battle,” Nestra said. “You take the leader.”

“YAAAAAAAH!”

Nestra had been worried her sister might hesitate but the girl was meeting her foe head on with her axe held high. It was weird watching her be so fearless. She really trusted Nestra.

Speaking of.

Nestra used momentum to move to the first of two archers, dispatching him with a single punch. They were D-class. She was almost a step above. She was also twice their size and monstrously stronger. There was no context and yet, when his skull crumpled, she still felt her mind grow slightly faster.

She took out the next archer in the same breath. Helena made contact with the squad leader. She didn’t coat, but her strength was alone to push him back. Her follow up was slightly too slow to land a solid blow, Nestra judged. The demon rushed to a spear wielder trying to flank Helena. A kick crushed his spine. She slew a sword fighter with a void blade an instant later.

The barrier between worlds shivered. Nestra tensed, knowing what it meant. She grabbed a shield bearer before crushing his vertebrae. Helena fell back when another spear fighter threatened her flank. Solid battle instinct. Not bad, but though the warriors were little danger...

Sashimi swam into this world.

“Sashimi if you touch a hair off her head, I swear to... to...”

But the shark just hovered above them. Their dark gaze met Nestra’s own and in them, she felt a sort of baffled condescension, along with a feeling words could only express one way.

Cub.

That was it. Sashimi would not attack Helena because Helena was a cub.

“You leave her alone but you attacked me? What?”

Nestra used momentum to appear in the middle of the surviving fighters before they could surround Helena. Her strikes were precise and, to be frank, there wasn’t much challenge here. It would be a little boring without Helena. Maybe she could fight without any mana at all? No, that was hubris talking. When Helena was here, Nestra would take no risks.

Rival.

Not cub.

“REALLY?”

Her sister did a nifty maneuver and managed to strike the enemy across the chest. It didn’t break through the armor there but the blow was enough to send the leader on his back. Before he could recover, Helena stepped forward to bring her axe down. The blade erupted with a dark corona. Her void was a wild thing, hard to control yet oh so destructive.

The blade cleaved through an arm, the chest, and the loam below. A little bit of blood sprayed the armor.

Helena stepped back. She pressed her hand to her torso, then found her fingers sticky with her victim’s fluids. She took a deep, shuddering breath.

“Wow. Feels different when they’re humanoid. Wait, what is that thing? A pet? You have a pet shark?”

“I wouldn’t call Sashimi a pet, per se.”

“Can I touch it?”

The traitorous shark bumped Helena with their snout. Then stole her victim’s severed arm before lazily floating away.

“It’s so glorious and buoyant!” Helena declared.

The damn emergency seafood banquet went for one of the dead spearmen.

Nestra was livid.

It was so unfair.

***