Chapter 204: Shift in Focus

Chapter 204: Shift in Focus

Tala had a plan.

Well, that wasnt precisely true.

Alat had the beginnings of a plan, and Tala liked what she was hearing.

-We have this lovely packet of information within our head, provided by the arcane Be-thric. I think I shall process it, and extract all that I can.-

That sounds reasonable. Ill see what I can see of the city, then. Tala hesitated. You know, I dont think I can fake being Tali convincingly.

-Yeah. That might be a problem. I think I can compartmentalize our mind, so that she cant remember us, or our memories. Then, I can bring her out, and we can let her do what we need her to.-

Thats a bit dark. Isnt that basically enslaving a sub-personality?

-Tali isnt a person, Tala. She is a mental construct based on fabricated memories.-

Isnt that what any given person is? Our personalities were forged by our experiences. She was forged by what she thinks she experienced.

-Tala, lets not do this. She is you, if you went through what she thought she did. In the same vein, I am you, if you existed in a purely mental space, with access to all that I have access to. And YOU are you, with the experiences that you have gone through. We arent three distinct entities. We are the same person, with different experiences.-

I know Tala shook her head. She was being a bit ridiculous. It still feels bad, lying to myself.

-Do you want me to expose how you are lying to yourself in other areas?-

Nope! Tala was wise enough to not go down that road. Some self-deception could be healthy. After all, Im not allowing myself to contemplate how vanishingly unlikely it is that we actually get out of this alive

-Exactly.- Alat did the mental equivalent of shifting with awkward nervousness.

Tala sighed. All right. I think that I can work with that frame of mind.

Alat projected grateful affirmation. -Good. Now, be careful. If we have to put her in command, she will act as she should. Meaning, if there is no good reason for her to be where you are, she will become confused.-

So, keep up pretenses, even when Im me.

-To the best of your ability, yes. That will make the mask of Tali fit better, and work better, when we have to use it.-

Understood. So, there had to be a good reason to be wherever she went. That was probably safer anyways. So, I get to delve into Talis memory to see what she would want to do for her afternoon out?

-Ive bifurcated the memories so that they dont get jumbled. Here, twist your power like this, and think in this way.-

Tala followed Alats instructions, and suddenly, she knew what Tali would do. It was obvious. That didnt make it easy or natural, but she knew. Huh, Im even sitting differently than she would.

Tala sat up a bit straighter, adjusting herself in little ways, until she matched how Tali would have been sitting. Itwas actually more comfortable, and she felt more in control of herself. Rust me to slag.

-I think youll find a lot of the nuance similarly instructive. It seems that Be-thric was genuinely interested in making Tali, well you, into the best weapon he could. Well probably learn why through the ceremonies preceding the competition.-

Tala nodded, noticing that she nodded both slower, and lessdecisively than Tali would have. Oh, this is going to be exhausting.

She took a moment to analyze the difference. What did each way of nodding signify? What social signals did it send? The quick, decisive nod conveys confidence, a decision made, resolve. The slow nod denotes thoughtfulness and consideration. Obviously, it wasnt as simple as that. Tala often nodded more decisively, and Tali seemed to have nodded consideringly when events dictated such, but in general, the enthralled version of her was more decisive.

Tala shook her head, refused to contemplate how Tali would have responded, and stood, reaching to clear the table of her tray.

Tali wouldnt have cleared it. There are servants for that,paid to monitor the plaza. Tala hesitated, then shook her head and picked up the tray. Yeah, but Im not a jerk. She quickly wiped the table, leaving it cleaner than when shed found it.

I can learn from her, without emulating her. I am me, and I decide how I act.

-Do try to act like she would outwardly, though. Itll help us blend in better.-

Im not going to leave a mess behind. Thats just rude.

Alat projected confusion. -There does seem to be some odd conflicts between your memories and base self and her memories and self.-

Of course there are, were different people.

-No, I mean your base self is restructuring itself in opposition to what Be-thric tried to make Tali into. Youd never have cared about the mess on the table before. You would probably have taken the tray, but youd not have wiped down the surface before doing so.-

Tala dumped the tray out into a waste bin before putting it onto a stack of others. Really?

-I cant find a memory of you acting that altruistically before. Fascinating.-

So, being exposed to so muchhigh-and-mighty-ness made me kinder?

-No, I dont think that I would go that far, but there are definite repercussions, it seems.-

Huh. Tala altered her walk, falling into Talis gait and posture. Again, it was both more comfortable and easier. She could feel that this stride pattern allowed her joints to move just a bit more naturally, and would let her muscles be used more efficiently. Im going to need to spend a couple of hours going through all my exercises and martial forms if I hope to get used to this. Even more so because my muscle structure and tone have shifted slightly. Its making everything weird

-I am actually trying to focus, here.-

Tala looked within her own mind and found the mass of foreign power, waiting there. How is it still active? I have memory of it being put in place months ago, and hes never added power to it. It doesnt pull from me. How is it still intact?

-I think it isnt active, unless some bit of information is required. It contains enough power to impart each bit of information exactly once. It actually is a pretty ingenious bit of spell-work. Before you ask, Ive analyzed it in detail. We have its complete structure in our memory now, so we can pass it on. Im going to be prompting magics for everything I can think of to try to suss out everything it can tell us. Now, shoo, go explore, or whatever. Tali liked the overlook.-

Tala sighed, skirting around the outside of the market square to stay as far away from the central pillar as was reasonable. Ill do my best.

She was still in awe at the city around her, though she hadnt really been able to take the time to really let it soak in.

The buildings were a wide mix of architectures, seeming to come from different sensibilities. Most of the doors were larger than she was used to, to give easier access to the larger species that shared the city, though some had regular sized entrances, and a few even had doors sized for the smaller folk.

Tala couldnt focus on the view yet. Her mind and will were utterly dominated by the need to keep the proverbial lasso spinning, building power.

Shed been doing that for close to half an hour, meaning that the amplification was orders of magnitude more powerful than anything shed ever done before.

It was at that moment that one of the ravens hopping around the overlook landed near her, flaring its wings and shrieking.

Tala jerked in surprise, her focus moving to the bird in startlement.

The active magic seemed to seize on her shift in focus, and the other end of the working snapped into place, locked on the bird.

Oh

Before the thought had even started to form, the pebble was torn from her grip. Her insane strength was nothing before the forces involved.

An ear-splitting crack tore through the air and the temperature jumped a few degrees in a wave. Only her magical defenses prevented her from having an eardrum burst.

A second, more resonant yet quieter crack followed in the same instant. At the same time, Talas vision was cut off by a cloud of gore.

The stone had impacted the avian with such ballistic force that the bird had been rendered into a violently expanding cloud of indiscernible spray.

Beyond the bird, the pebble had turned itself into powder against the roadway, though it had cracked the large, magically hardened paving stone in the process.

Talas clothing had already shed the bird mist, but the film still covered Talas face and the expanding cloud of bird had wrapped around her in a rolling wave.

Talas whole body shuddered at the nauseating grossness of the whole thing.

Holly, wherever you are, bless you for your anti-vomit scripts.

With her bloodstar, Tala saw that a lot of the people nearby were staring her way with looks of confusion. None were close enough to have been pained by the loud sounds.

None seemed to be higher races, and none seemed to have mage-sight or the equivalent. So, there was no reason to think that she would be in danger from them.

Even so, Tala had to admit that she must be a strange sight.

The ground around her was painted red in an irregular circle, centered on where the bird had been. The generally gory mist was still settling outward.

No one else had been close enough to be sprayed, and it seemed like most people didnt really understand that a bird had just met its end.

One bird based beast man was already vomiting into a waste bin, however. Though, she wasnt sure if hed had good enough eyes to see, or if some avian camaraderie had caused a sympathetic reaction.

-That is a ridiculous theory.-

Im not exactly thinking clearly. Tala aspect mirrored her elk-leathers self-cleaning onto herself, and shook her head, sending a cascade outward to join the other red on the ground.

Ohrust; that was gross.

Then, Tala spun on her heel and strode purposefully towards the far corner of the overlook, not making eye contact with anyone else.

-So much for not drawing attention.-

Tala ignored Alat. I need a bath

Thoughts of a bath died in her mind, however, as she looked out over the city.

Shed seen this exact view before, through Talis memories, but there was something special about seeing it herself.

It was utterly unlike a human city, at least those shed seen.

Buildings, and loosely organized districts, spread out haphazardly in all directions.

The layout seemed to have simply come about randomly over the course of the citys life, no central group or plan responsible for maintaining efficiency.

This city has been here for thousands of years. The very idea boggled her mind. She knew it was possible, intellectually, but it was such a foreign concept that it was hard to grasp.

In some parts of the metropolis, massive towers reached towards the sky, though those were rare.

Tali had been curious, so shed looked into their construction. It took massive amounts of magic to reinforce the structures that stretched hundreds of feet into the air. It was a display of wealth more than anything. Though, ironically, it was both less expensive, and less efficient, than simply establishing a hold.

But to have a hold, you have to have a fount of your own. The towers can rely on ambient power once theyre built. Though, there was apparently a very expensive permitting process before that could happen.

She moved her focus from the details and just focused on the overall feel of the place.

It was tucked against the mountain range which rose up to the west. With her enhanced vision, she could vaguely make out what could be the shadows of trees to the north. To the east, rolling plains stretched into the distance.

While the forest to the north might be the same forest in which Makinaven lay, she didnt know.

Tala had to hold back sudden tears as the true magnitude of her circumstances settled down atop her.

Were a long way from home, Alat.

-But well make it back.-

Do you really believe that? Do I?

-We have to.-

Tala didnt answer. Instead, she simply took time to quietly let tears roll down her face, as she gazed out over the city, below.