Chapter Fifteen - And frolicked in the autumn mist

When we got out of the shower, we found three bathrobes and three sets of slippers in the gym room. I could get used to having goons around, I decided. We put them on and walked up the stairs to our flat. I opened the door with the 8-digit code and my fingerprint—I’d taken that for granted for a digital lock at sixteen, but now I had a bit more experience with those and knew that was a bit excessive, and walked in, Samantha directly behind me.

We were greeted by Gamma and Alessandra doing gymnastics on the couch. The type you do in the nude that involves fingers and tongues. “Hi Cindy, hi Alessandra,” I greeted them matter of factly.

“Hi Janes, hi Livia,” Gamma greeted back, while Alessandra only waved, her face hidden between Gamma’s legs. Behind me, Samantha stumbled and had to grab my shoulder to stay upright. “We’ll be in the kitchen. Have fun, you two,” I said.

“Those two are like rabbits,” Livia mused as she closed the kitchen door behind her.

“Young love,” I replied. “Give them a week or two, and they’ll cool down enough to make it to Cindy’s room before succumbing to their urges.”

“Who are they?” Samantha asked, perplexed.

“Lessie is one of my managers,” Livia said. “Cindy…” she trailed off, and I took over.

“Cindy, we picked up as a quest. Get that traumatised, scarred girl some action on her eighteenth birthday so she’ll come out of her shell. Turned out the quest reward was herself. NPC follower, some support class we haven’t gotten to explore because she’s been quite busy,” I explained or rather bullshitted my way around the fact that we had talked our way around whatever the system had presented itself to Samantha as.

“Oh, that’s why she has that NPC status tag. Must be quite high level; it’s orange. But then, if she’s not a fighter but out-of-combat support it would make sense. But the other one—”

“—Alessandra.”

“—Lessie.”

“She has that non-player tag but also a healer marker. What’s that about? I thought normal people had no skills or magic? The system introduction made it quite clear it would only give those to people who accepted the nanites and became players, didn’t it?”

Think fast, Jane! I opened my character sheet to stop time. Think smarter, Jane. Was IBM still around, or had they gone the way of the dodo?

So the story was the system was some kind of nanite infusion? That story had more holes than Swiss cheese. But I guessed nothing a little memory implant couldn’t fix. Swiss cheese with cream cheese in the holes, jetlagged style. Now, did that mean it would smush over any holes I left in my story, too? I had an idea, but it would contradict something I had said before.

A system message answered that question:

🖹

You’ve got a private message from SOL-GB-Liverpool-39-Gamma-10: “Please don’t overdo it. I do not want to have to babysit you as Gamma-9 did. Or end up like her.” Reply? (1) Yes. (2) No.

Good, thank you, I thought in ten’s direction. I’ll keep the retcon to a minimum. Can you tell Livia to play along?

🖹

You’ve got a private message from SOL-GB-Liverpool-39-Gamma-10: “Why? She does that anyway.” Reply? (1) Yes. (2) No.

True. I closed my menu. This time, Livia hadn’t moved from where she stood, but her gaze had shifted to me. I returned it for a second, then sighed.

“Oh fuck it,” I whispered under my breath, but loud enough for Samantha to hear. “The system’s messing with everything; I might as well.” I turned to Samantha, “Sam, what do you know about the supernatural? Magic, monsters, spirits, and the whole shebang?”

“Only what the system introduction—”

“Not that system stuff. The real one.”

Samantha looked at me questioningly, and then understanding dawned in her eyes. “Real? You say…?”

“Yes, Sam. Magic is real. Always has been. The system barging in didn’t change that. I’ve always been part spirit demon. Livia always had that succubus in her DNA. We got a boost when the system acknowledged that, that’s all. And Alessandra always had whatever she inherited from those Amazonian warrior priestesses she’s descended from, even though the system’s not approached her yet.”

“Fuuuck…me sideways,” Samantha said as she plopped down on one of the bar stools.

“Later,” Livia said. “For now, you must understand that you are not supposed to know and live.”

“Rules will have to change,” I said. “With system magic in the mix, normals getting powers, too, and the system even pointing out magicals like some tattle-tale, we can’t keep to the old ones.”

“That’s not our call to make,” Livia said, striking a tone that made her sound afraid of some big bad mafia boss. Impressive. I hoped Samantha picked up on that.

“Isn’t it? Really? There are four players in the greater Liverpool area, and three of them are in this room. And don’t tell me you didn’t notice you could rip any of the local council in twain without breaking a sweat now. How long did it take to cast that force ball before? Three minutes? Four? You did it in less than two seconds earlier.”

“Less. It was practically instantaneous; the rest was aiming so I wouldn’t hit Sam by accident. She didn’t look like she could take it.”

“I rest my case.”

“And I love you.”

“That’s a given.” I grinned and pointed to her hand. She held it up and wiggled her fingers to show off the ring. I pushed it aside and kissed her instead. Partly because I wanted it, partly because I wanted to end the performance and give Samantha the chance to say something. Ok, mostly for the former reason.

It took her a long while to come to grips with what she just heard. Not that I was complaining, bathrobes with nothing beneath and such things.

“Mind blown,” she finally said. “And I thought alien nanites were a big thing. Silly me.”

“Not silly at all. People worked very hard to deny you any chance in hell of even guessing the truth. We don’t need yet another humanity war. The last one wiped out most of Europe’s population. You may have heard of it; your people call it the black plague…”

She looked at me wide-eyed. Had I overdone it? Then I felt the memory implant I had gotten for the setting update. Details about how the history of the Black War was told among magicals flew by my mind’s eye. This meant that Alpha had gotten involved and approved my story; this was way too shard-global for Gamma-10’s pay grade. Next came information on the local council I had made up. Two wizards, a witch, a mermaid descendent named Arielle (funny, Alpha, very funny), and an old werebear.

🖹

You’ve got a private message from SOL-GB-Liverpool-39-Gamma-10: “They’re NPCs, by the way. Just don’t expect them to be push-overs; if you want to take over as community leaders, you will have to work for it.” Reply? (1) Yes. (2) No.

That hadn’t been my plan, had it?

“Shit. What have I stumbled into?” Samantha mused. Her voice was steady, with no sign of panic. She must be taking it well.

“I’m more concerned about you now being part of our criminal faction, given who your dad is,” Livia changed the topic.

Samantha shrugged. “I had been ready to join you in crime when I confronted you back then, to be honest. For whatever horror stories my dad told me about your family, there was nothing in there that’s on my ‘no way’ list.”

“What would be on that list,” I asked, amused by her eagerness to please.

“Contract killing, children, hard drugs, murdering innocent bystanders, such stuff. Dad tried to weird me out by describing in detail what your dad did to that uncle of yours who sold pictures of little girls back in—was it 2011? ‘12?—in all its gory detail, ‘how could a man do that to his brother’ and such, but I admired y’all for it.”

“That was mom’s handiwork,” Livia stated, her tone icy cold. Her nose twitched in the way I had learned meant she wasn’t sure about what she was saying. Not outright lying, she could do that without a tell. I was about to take it as her not knowing about that incident when I noticed there was more. Her eyes quivered in—what? Rage? No. Or not only…

Samantha did the mental maths before I did. “You were one of them,” she stated, frost running down her voice.

Livia nodded. “I had all but forgotten about it. For me, it was just, um, posing. I had fun that afternoon, making pictures like movie stars. That night, I told my mom about it. Three weeks later, we were at his funeral. Afterwards, my mom took me aside and told me how it had been wrong what he had done. That God had struck him down for it. I argued how that was too harsh a punishment and started crying. I left her no choice but to tell me more. That he had made pictures where he hurt other girls. Something must have clicked in my head at that moment. Without thinking, I asked her, ‘Like what they do in those funny grown-up films you and Dad watch? That would hurt, wouldn’t it?’ I’ve never seen my mom as speechless as in that moment.” She laughed, but it was nervous laughter mixed with some embarrassment. Then she continued. “There’s stuff even little girls pick up. I realised I had said something I shouldn’t, so I hugged Mom and whispered into her ear, ‘Forget I ever found them. I’ll do that, too. I promise. And he deserved it.’ Now I know I unwittingly congratulated her on a job well done.”

“So, did they hide away their porn better afterwards?” Samantha asked. What kind of question was that? Couldn’t she read the room? That was something I would…never mind.

“Funny enough, no. Quite the opposite, actually. Those tapes moved to a high shelf in their bedroom, in plain sight.”

“But out of reach for little Livia,” I concluded.

“Pfft. As if I wanted to watch that shit. And when that changed, the VCR had long vanished, and I had a smartphone.”

“Nature finds a way.”

“Um, not break the mood, but could we change the topic?” Samantha asked.

“Sure. What do you want to talk about?”

“Did you level up from that fight? I’m still level one; that single goblin wasn’t enough.”

I still didn’t have a full character sheet, but I had the group status. “I made level two, but the single one wasn’t enough for Livia either. I think the reward for defeating you was what made me make it.”

“That makes us group level four, doesn’t it? Not enough for that troll, but the imps should be an easy fight considering how much stronger you are with your non-system abilities. You went through those goblins like they were made from paper.”

“What were you even thinking going against them alone at level one?”

“What should I have done instead? I spent all day yesterday and all morning today looking for other players. Couldn’t find anyone with anything but that “not part of the system, don’t involve or be slapped silly” tag. How do you know there’s only four players anyway? No wonder I didn’t find anyone.”

“We got a notification before the spawn info came in. ‘yada, yada, only four players, we’ll spoon-feed you the monster locations’ or something. You didn’t?”

“No. I only got the notifications about the new quests on the quest tab.” Damn it, Ten and Alpha, get us that interface, or I’ll stop pretending I have it so you can babysit Samantha’s memory all the time to fix that.

🖹

You’ve got a private message from SOL-GB-Liverpool-39-Gamma-10: “Please stand by while we encounter technical difficulties. Can I bribe you with map markers and some hints?” Reply? (1) Yes. (2) No.

I won’t say no to that, but knowing that you’re not doing it on purpose is all I needed to know.

🖹

You’ve got a private message from SOL-GB-Liverpool-39-Gamma-10: “I promised, so here it is: Your group is strong enough to handle targets up to recommended group level 20 if you protect Samantha. She’s a bit squishy for now. If you take Alessandra along, 25 should be doable. That advantage will get smaller at higher levels. Around character level 100, it’ll stabilise at about 5 levels.” Reply? (1) Yes. (2) No.

But Alessandra has no idea about the system. What would we tell her?

🖹

You’ve got a private message from SOL-GB-Liverpool-39-Gamma-10: “Monster spawns are appropriate for the setting.” Reply? (1) Yes. (2) No.

Thanks, that helps.

“We should ask Alessandra to come along,” I said out loud. “She doesn’t know about the system, so we need to make a cover story. Suggestions?”

“Do you have any kind of magic, Sam?” Livia asked.

“Not much. A kind of shield,” she held out her left arm, and a bluish shadow version of a knight’s shield flickered into existence for a second. “It’s single-use at low levels. Then I can summon my sword,” she extended her right hand and the metal sword I had seen her use dropped into it, “and stow it somewhere.” The sword disappeared as she dropped it. “I have two spells that boost a strike. They show as glows around the sword, but I don’t have the mana to do that often enough to be useful yet, especially because I need mana for my shield, too.”

“Battlemage?” I asked towards Livia.

“Not without spoken spells. Those look like innate abilities, not spells. Table knight descendent, if you’re ok with an English heritage, Sam? Otherwise, we’d need to go French or Arab…”

“English is fine. That ‘O’ in my name doesn’t mean I harbour ill-will against the English. That’s B.S. in my eyes anyway, we’ve all been one country for ages now. But what is a table knight?”

“Knights of the Round Table. An ancient group of English warriors that sacrificed magicals to sap their powers to boost themselves in order to better kill magicals. Some of it stuck in their genes. Congratulations, girl, you just volunteered to experience the other end of racism.”

I checked with my memory implant. It sitting there like a foreign object made it way harder for me to work with it than what Livia apparently experienced. “More like running around telling people your parents were in the SS. Racism is something else, Livia.”

“I know,” she winced. But…”

“My great-grandpa was a German soldier,” Samantha explained. “No big deal, I never met him. The only time it comes up is when the press is unhappy with my dad.”

“Shouldn’t be an issue with Alessandra anyway. She’s from Brazil,” I waved it away.

“Plenty of Nazis went there after the war, didn’t they?” Samantha asked.

“Wasn’t that Argentina? But that’s not what I meant. They never had issues with the Knights of the Round Table there.”

“Oh, right. My bad. So, what can you two all do? How did you pull that goblin towards you?”

“Telekinesis. One of my natural abilities. The rest you’ve seen pretty much. My natural form is all about shredding people into little bits. My natural magic is, aside from the telekinesis, pretty unremarkable. I could mess with reality, but I never did much with those abilities.”

“And your class?”

“Cindy promised me help to pick a good one, but we haven’t found the time to do that yet.”

“The system really treats you magicals differently. I had to select a class to wake up.”

“I get the impression it has some trouble integrating us,” Livia chimed in. “For my part, I’m a witch, but I don’t have many spells yet. On my natural side, I can transform into demon form for a minute or two.” She did just that, presenting her claws and wings. “Not quite as much a shredding menace as Jane, but I can fly.”

“Cool.”

“I also can fuck people to death. Not half as useful in a fight as using my claws, though.”

“Succubus. Oh.”

“Indeed. Soul-sucking monster. Kill on sight in some circles, so don’t blurt it out.”

“That’s why you’re ok being a, um, professional?”

“The word is whore. Get used to it. You non-whores are in the minority here. It’s 3 against 2,” I stated. I left the question unanswered. She had been whoring long before the succubus part, but we were pretending she’d always been one. That made it complicated.

“Maybe,” Livia said. “I started whoring before I came into my powers or even knew what I was, but I have no idea how my nature influences my mind. It’s not as if I had a direct comparison, do I?” I couldn’t suppress a smile because that actually was exactly what she had.

Sam nodded. “Makes sense. When did your powers come along?”

“Middle of puberty, about. When I was fourteen.” The fuck? Now, she was just messing with Sam. And it worked. Her mouth mimicked a fish on land.

I tried to hold it in but failed and broke out in loud laughter. “She’s pulling your leg… Remember what she told us downstairs…”

“Spoilsport!”

“Thanks, Jane. That went right above my head. So off to slay some imps then?”

“Not before dark, Penny Lane isn’t as secluded as Sefton Park.” Livia pointed out.

“We could tackle the troll. We are strong enough if you stay back, Sam.”

“Where’s that anyway? The location name in the quest doesn’t ring a bell, and my phone is no help either.”

“About ten miles in that direction,” I pointed. That was southeast, I’d say.

“How do you know? Magicals thing?”

“Maybe. I don’t have a quest list, but I do get a feel of the locations. It feels the same as my normal abilities; those don’t come with fancy menus, either. Like I feel people I team up with, even before the system added that group feature.”

“Makes sense. The system is piggybacking on something you already can do.”

There was a knock on the door, then Alessandra stuck her head in. “Can-a we pass trough to dee shower? You decent?” she asked.

“New rule!” I announced. “Nobody shall be concerned about seeing others naked or fucking in here.”

“What’s new with that?” Livia asked under her breath, then louder, “Come in. We’ve got someone for you to meet anyway.”

“Oh, good,” Alessandra said and stepped in, naked and covered in sweat and other fluids. “Aye was concernid I was overstepping my welcome… Hello,” she walked up to Samantha. “ay am Lessie. You’re Jane’s sister?”

“Um, I’m Sam. Unless one of us is adopted, we’re not related.”

“Sam’s Livia’s fuck body for when I’m in London,” I explained, trying to shock the other for a change. Not very successfully, to be honest. At most, it got Samantha’s shade to go towards reddish pink slightly.

Alessandra’s eyes lit up. “Ah, ay see. Good match. Nice to see you two get along well now Jane movid here. You interestid in doing sex work, too?”

“Maybe,” Sam said instead of rejecting it violently. “Livia promised me to not even hint at it, which means I’m curious…”

“You should, you should. People will pay good money for local girl. You young, too. Most whores are above forty and pretend to be teenagers. Extra money in real age. Jane, dear, remind me, how much did you make yesterday?”

“Seven hundred and eighty pounds after the house took its share,” I said. Alessandra was a real saleswoman; Sam’s mouth stood wide open again. “But I did use skills to bedazzle the guy,” I added towards Samantha. “Half that when playing fair, half it again when the client isn’t loaded.”

“That’s still more than I make on a weekend serving at the cafe,” Samantha mused.

“The customers are all men. With dicks,” Livia said.

“Ok, that’s an issue,” Sam admitted, shuddering.

“Pure lesbian?” I asked.

Sam said nothing, but Livia shook her head. What? Oh. Oh! Shit. “Sorry, Sam, I had no idea.”

“It’s ok, how could you.”

“But I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions, either.”

“Do you really think that was a bad guess?”

“Honestly? Yes. I have never met a lesbian who was horrified by dicks. They don’t see anything in them, or find them disgusting, but horrified? That’s another can of trauma.”

“Doesn’t mean there are none, does it?”

“Livia, help me out here, please!”

She laughed. “You’re a horrible being who’s at fault for the world being a bad place. Happy now?”

“Yeah.” I grinned. “And I killed Sparky, too.”

“That’s my line!” We all laughed together.

“But what I wanted to ask you, Alessandra—we plan on going after a rogue bridge troll. Do you want to join in? Some magic healing would be nice to have, just in case.”

Her eyes shot to Sam for a moment, but when she didn’t freak out, it was clear I hadn’t messed up. “A bridge troll? Dey’re a menace; I am happy to help. Can’t have dem eat a human, and dey will once dey buried in.”

“Nice. Thank you. I don’t expect problems, but Sam isn’t as sturdy as us demon girls.”

“You are a mage?”

“No, sword woman,” she smiled with some embarrassment, then added in a tiny voice while ducking as if expecting to be eaten, “Table knight?” Nice acting, girl!

“Ah, do not worry. You are not your distant ancestores.”

Sam gave her a cute smile with just a bit of suppressed sorrow. It was just adorable.

“Ah, you smile just like her,” Alessandra said. What? “When will we leave?”

“As soon as you’re showered and we all are dressed, I guess?” I looked around to see if Livia or Sam had any other suggestions.

“I don’t have a single thing to wear. Literally,” Sam said.

“You can have some of mine. Should be a perfect fit,” I offered.

“But—” she started, but I waved her off. “We bought all new fighting clothes yesterday. It’s fine.”