(Raven's Apprentice) Raven Lunacy, Episode 5
Naked before a full-length mirror. Or is it 'nude'? With locked door. In bright light. I'm not particularly body-modest, but some people easily get the wrong idea, and I've seen how Garfield, maybe Kory, look between Raven and me. Yes, I'm pretty sure green-boy is a gossip. Raven's not likely to phase through the wall, and she doesn't care much about being naked (nude?), anyway. I suspect the same applies to Kory, maybe the others, but, not a subject for general conversation.
I prod my belly. It squishes, a bit, but less than a few days ago. I'm not an expert on physical training, but firmer muscles in such a short time isn't standard. My first time in a fully-human body, here, but I've studied their care and maintenance. Too early to tell if my head-hair is growing longer, but there's no sign of secondary sexual characteristic hair, anywhere. Strange, but matches my preferred body, though I do have all those fine hairs human skin inflicts on you. I suppose they could be useful, though I'm not sure for what. No sign of the rampant sex drive I was afraid I'd get by being homo sap (I've seen the way a lot of eyes wander), so, that's good.
What I'd give for a built-in medical scanner, but seeing as that's a feature of my sister's build, not mine, rather much to ask for. If I do end up in combat then her melder implant would've been really nice, too - the sight of strong men holding their pants up after their belt's been mysterious cut - seems to me the team would like that.
Raven's comment about my 'meta psyche' changing was interesting. Apparently I now have the beginnings of 'chi' powers. Maybe those are pushing my physical development? She didn't know, too early to tell. Getting a chi master to look at me, also, I'd likely just get a wise saying, be told to meditate for a year on a mountaintop. Probably. Not something I planned to do. No glowing eyes, or hands, or a tendency to float off the ground - possibly I shouldn't have watched that anime. The chi-powered martial artist general death-resistance was interesting, though.
Didn't seem like I needed much sleep, maybe a bleed-over from my previous nature? Raven was a night owl, too, though she'd dropped hints that her non-human heritage made sleep a luxury, not a necessity. Unless she was in a bad way, injured, exhausted. It'd certainly helped my training programme - Raven always had another book for me to read, and no one objected to late-night tinkering in the lab. If I could just get the mind interface safe and reliable, getting books into my head would be a lot easier. It was probably OK now, but 'probably' wasn't good enough with tech that hooks straight into your naked mind.
After the bank robbery incident, Raven seemed concerned I was a bit too... squishable. She'd been working on that nice robe she gave me when I arrived, which was apparently made from other-worldly cloth. By the time she'd finished it'd apparently bounce artillery shells, swat bullets from the air, and have features like anti-grab and self-repair. The colour-change'd be nice, too. And the shape-shifting to other clothes. She'd commented that I
would be fully trained in all those enchantments, if she got her way.
Guess I wont get stronger, or faster, or learn to levitate, by staring at myself. Some of that sleep stuff seems wise...
---
Raven'd looked terrible at breakfast, informed everyone that she'd been up, all night, doing magic that it wasn't safe to drop in the middle. After she'd eaten she announced she was going to have a nap, but informed me that we'd "meet at the usual time". The others were obviously concerned, but unsure what to do. Robin muttered something about getting some advice, but refused to say who he had in mind. Not a good start to the day.
Training is 'fun'. Robin informs me that I've improved enough that I'll be mixing the treadmill with other torture devices. He almost complements me. Then starts the sparring, in other words, beating me up. I think I'm doing better, and beginning to grasp the logic of the Tai Chi block; the smooth, circular movements, can almost hypnotise. At one point Robin stops, asks me to do something again, then throws a ball at me. He points-out that I deflected the ball several inches away from my hand, without actually touching it.
Then, he goes and rewinds the gym cameras, which appear to have some exotic filters, and shows me, on a monitor, in slow motion, a blue glow reaching from my hand, and brushing against the ball. I guess I now, officially, have shown a super power. I wonder if Raven will be upset that it's not magical?
The rest of the session Robin is thoughtful, taking me through flexibility exercises, a variety of break-fall and acrobatic practices, as well as an introduction to Tai Chi sword. The last of which I manage to do by recycling my existing blade training, though he says my form is 'sloppy'. Finally, he shows me some acrobatic tricks, and for a moment I see him looking up at two falling people, before that's wiped from my mind by a sudden headache. Which slowly fades as we do the cool-down.
I get the impression someone, or something, is trying to tell me something. But, what? I catch myself humming a familiar-sounding tune, "Da, da, da, da, something-man", but, the name fails to come to me. So much for my 'perfect memory'. Robin gives me a funny look.
---
A break, a bite to eat, and it's on to work with Victor. We have the mind interface in a state safe for human trials, mostly by adding optical buffers and some really fast sensors and cut-outs, just-in-case. I show him I can drive the CAD software, just by thinking at it, as he stands-by ready to do a manual shut-down, if the automatics fail, for some reason. Then, the big moment. We hook-up the prototype build cell, and, in about 90 minutes I replicate all the work we took days to do, so we now also have a production build cell. The rest of our time is testing to check everything is OK. Flying colours!
So, no Star Labs, or whatever, super tech. All stuff from the normal catalogues. Though, some of it used in rather twisted ways. Victor is obviously thinking hard, then, asks me if I'll enjoy being a billionaire. After picking my jaw up from the floor, I point out that it isn't my design, and he asks me to point to someone, human or alien, who did the hard work. And, I can't. Apparently, inter-dimensional patent law isn't a well-developed field...
Then, I point-out that it doesn't work properly without the mind interface, which we can't replicate, or an AI. He gives me what I think is called an old-fashioned look. Asks if I don't already have plans to get around that. I don't blush. Honest. We're late for lunch because we network some spare cutting-edge computers together, I download an AI into them, via the mind interface, and we leave the build cells doing test pieces, over lunch. He's a little monitor screen next to him, that he glances at, every so often, so I'm pretty sure he's keeping an eye on things. Honest, the strange looks we get from the others aren't due to the occasional giggle that leaks out of both of us.
Raven isn't present. Garfield apparently took a small lunch to her room. A mumbled "thank you", as a black tentacle floated it into her room, he reveals.
---
Raven time. She does look a lot better, but I can still see bags under her eyes. We're not training today, we're 'reviewing'.
Apparently my question, about whether she'd stealth-skryed her alternates, had started all the trouble. The idea that most everyone is part of a group of dimensional other-selves, generally seven in number. This idea'd apparently been new to her. Oh. Dear.
"I took a couple of hours, last night, to set things up. First of all, I need to tell you about my father. No, I wont say his name. He's a corrupted demi-god, a millennium-old, self-made demon lord, monstrous ruler of millions of other-dimensional worlds. The usual story, took on human form, courted my human mother, conceived me, revealed his true nature. Made sure that I had a 'rite to life'."
She pauses.
"I don't like talking about him. Far too often, I get the impression that he's listening, smirking at my belief in my independence. But. If I put in the effort, push myself to the limit, I'm pretty sure I can block him over-looking me. At least for a while. And, I did that, last night. Today, I've just got the watch-aura going, so I should know if he is, or starts, watching, listening. He doesn't do subtle. Generally."
A sigh.
"If I can hide from him then I'm pretty sure none of my alternates can spot me either. So. Stealth-skrying. As you suggested."
She pauses and sips from a glass of water, then stares up, at a corner of the room, for a while. Shakes herself.
"The first two, were about what I expected. A four-eyed, red-skinned, not-self, sitting at her father's side. Obedient. Measuring his back for her ritual knife when he looks away. Daddy's little girl. That he's so proud of."
"The second, on Earth. Its demon ruler. Grey-skinned, with orange and green patches, and the odd metal bit. A monster that'd eaten her friends. Who rules, because she's no better idea what to do. And, sooner or later would be ripped-down by a more powerful monster."
"What was interesting, as I looked at them, was they'd no real connection to me. If you look far enough through the dimensions you can find just about anything, yourself in any role, any shape. But, those two lacked that spark, of familiarity."
I sit, silent. Oh-kay. Bad, but not yet disastrous...
"I skipped over a number of others, one was a nun, one a hermit, one a singer, a world-wide celebrity. None of them 'me'. None of them with the 'spark'."
"I'd gone a long way, nearly lost myself. When I found the ponies. Yes, magical ponies, some with wings, some mage-horns, some earth-wed. And, I was one of them. And, somehow, also a human, in a school, in a mirror-world. So strange. I saw her life, wept at her mistakes, gloried in her successes. She was me."
"By the way? If the boys ever ask you to watch 'Magical Princess Unicorn', with them? Just say no. Walk out the room. You've been warned."
She grins, briefly. "I, of course, have no unicorn dolls, in that chest over there." Another deep breath.
"Then, I started finding the others. A blonde superhero girl, without darkness, who lived with her father and two sisters. A talker to animals. So joyful. A girl, I'm afraid I recognised, clown-faced, clown-mastered - a broken soul. Then, two boys, one with the power of all the aliens, the other just a baby, then a child, in a loving family. All so different lives. I plan to learn much from them."
"Finally, another with the 'spark', a lady adventurer who fakes magic with outlandish technology, Doctor Raven. Who plans to rule her war-torn Europe, then, The World. Oh yes. She has the Spark."
She looks down for a moment. Breathes all the way out. Then, looks up at me. Can I, could I, see, is that hope?
"Enough of my review. So, tell me about you. Are you happy with what you're learning?"
AN: There you go! More (SFW) naked time!
AN: That's a cameo by the 'Flying Graysons'. And, I'll let you guess what the (Bat) tune was. Till next (Bat) time.
AN: And, you might note a Strong connection between the alternates. Except the last one. For her, she's an OC in the world of 'Girl Genius'.