“This is the diagnostic table,” Wysteri told them. “For most general analysis, the artifices built into my eyes and my hands are sufficient. For when I must view particularly complex structures or deal with scan resistant materials and entities I have the table. Typically, the table is my way to double check what I diagnosed with my personal sensors.” She swung around and pointed to the cylinder. “That is the matter/energy treatment chamber—where we put you to give you your new body.” She turned toward the back of the room. “In the back are the design and analysis consoles. That’s where Mercedes and I worked out your new shape.”
Bannor could tell Sarai was just building up her courage, and this show of curiosity was her way of delaying. “What’s that there?” She pointed to the black box in the corner.
Wysteri looked over at it and then back to Sarai. “That’s me.”
“Huh?”
“I would wave, but as you can see, I don’t have anything to wave with.” Wysteri saw the frown on Sarai’s face. “Here, I’ll wink at you.” All of the jewels on the side of the box turned green went dark then glowed green again.
She shook her head. “So, what I see here—is what?”
“Oh this is me too,” Wysteri said pressing a hand to her chest. “My personality, my self, is in both places. These two forms can exist independently. They have to because sometimes their communication can be blocked. The main difference between this body and one like yours is that most of this body’s resources are dedicated to actual function. It has almost no long-term memory. Instead that space in my mind is for things like refined coordination and other purely physical things that my other body,” she gestured to the box. “Doesn’t need.”
“I hope you don’t take offense, but it seems odd to me,” Sarai said. “Besides the obvious benefit of an avatar. What other advantage is there to being stuck in a box?”
Wysteri chuckled. “For one, that box and its self have a nominal lifespan measured in thousands of eons.” She lowered her chin. “How many different problems can you consider at once?”
Sarai pushed out her lower lip. “Two or three probably. I mean I might have a dozen things going on in my head, but I can only focus on a few a time.”
“That box, that self, can do hundreds of thousands of tasks at once. While I am speaking with you, I am having conversations with twenty-six members of my subnet. I am tracking the movements of the citadel defense forces and monitoring their status. I am also calculating the three variant shapes for each of the members of the subnet, and assimilating the knowledge from the seven libraries on Kul’Amaron’s premises.”
“Whoa, and you can do thousands?” Bannor said. “You must get terribly bored.”
Wysteri let out a heavy sigh. “Terribly, horribly, mind crushingly bored. That’s the life of most Kriar artificial entities, and the higher-class mecha have it the worst. That’s why we need communities, so we have each other to talk to. Otherwise, most of us would just expire out of pure frustrated ennui.”
“So, that was another reason you didn’t want to go to Fabrista Homeworld. You wanted to experience something different,” Bannor speculated.
“That’s true enough I suppose,” Wysteri admitted. “So, Sarai, have you changed your mind? Want to do it later? I assure you it is absolutely painless. There is no risk to Vhina, and like Mercedes said… it is a very good body.”
“What will I look like?” Sarai asked glancing up at Bannor.
“Mercedes had very complete maps of your appearance in all of your incarnations, from when she was in Bannor’s memories. Our goal was to meet your mother’s requirement of you ‘looking like the daughter she raised’, while still retaining some of the cosmetic changes that you favored in your different forms—the length and color of your hair were fairly consistent but different from your birth shape.”
“I—” Sarai held out her arms and looked down at her hands. “I know this isn’t how I was born—but I like it.”
Wysteri raised an eyebrow. “Can valkyries be elf princesses in Malan?”
She frowned. “No.”
Wysteri came back and leaned close and put a hand on Sarai’s shoulder. “You should have faith in Mercedes. She—” The mecha glanced up at Bannor. “She seemed to have a good sense for what you like. You would be surprised what is possible when an elite physician designs your body. Even if you don’t like it—we can change it again. That’s the advantage of having me as a retainer of your parents. You can have a different shape for every day and turn of the season if it suits you.”
“Really?” Sarai said with wide eyes. “It’s that safe?”
“Please, the Kriar have been joy-forming for a thousand eons. It’s safer than coming down the stairs to eat breakfast. Besides, if you like to change a lot.” She shrugged. “It gives me something to do.”
Bannor felt a tiny quiver of unease. Her sure hoped Sarai didn’t get attached to the idea of changing her shape often. One part of him found the idea appealing, but another said that it would end up causing problems.
Sarai seemed to steel herself. “Okay, what do you want me to do?”
“Let’s start with a preparatory diagnosis,” Wysteri said taking Sarai’s elbow and leading her toward the table. “Turn your back and step up on the lip, there you go, now relax back on the grid and take hold of the handles there. I’m going to tilt the table back.”
Wysteri pressed something and the table hummed and returned to a horizontal position.
“Okay, I’m going to put you in an operating symbiote. This will tingle.”
The mecha looked up at the black sphere and a band of purple light shot out and pulsated down the length of Sarai’s body. As the light moved from her face down toward her feet, all her armor, jewelry, clothing were either removed or replaced by a black stocking similar to the one Bannor wore under his armor. On the back counter he noticed all the items removed by the light had appeared.
“Now, that’s pretty wizard.”
Sarai rubbed her middle, feeling the stretchy parchment thin material. “What?”
“All your stuff is over there now.”
“Oh.”
He came and took her hand. Her fingers squeezed down tight on his.
“All right,” Wysteri told her in a gentle voice. “I will do a deep scan to verify Vhina is okay, and that everything is set for your treatment. This is going to feel somewhat cold, and your skin will itch, all right?”
Sarai nodded.
A flickering went through Wysteri’s eyes, and another ray of light shone from the black sphere overhead, tracing back and forth across the surface of Sarai’s skin. His fiancé flinched, surprised but obviously not hurt or in discomfort. In fact, it was the toughness of that immort body that had put their unborn child at potential risk.
“Vhina is doing better,” Wysteri noted. “The valkyrie form has been accommodating her needs quite well.”
Sarai sighed. “Good.”
The green light winked out. “I have you mapped out in detail,” Wysteri said. “It will be possible to do the transformation without shock to Vhina.” She put a hand on Sarai’s shoulder. “I will tilt you back up, hold onto the handles.” The table slowly whined back up to its perpendicular position and Sarai stepped off.
“Now the last part,” Wysteri said. She stepped over to the cylinder and pressed something. Unlike the ones in Marna’s lab, this one pivoted upright like the diagnostic table did. She flipped a latch in the bottom of the case, which dropped the lower edge to the floor.
Sarai eyed the thing. “Just get in?”
“Just like the table,” Wysteri said.
“It’s okay,” Bannor said rubbing her shoulder. “I’ve been in one.”
His fiancé puffed out her cheeks and blew out a breath.
Wysteri didn’t rush her, she busied herself with other items in the room apparently tidying up from visitors earlier in the day.
Sarai looked in his eyes. He put his arms around her, and kissed her on the
cheek. “It will be okay.”
She hugged him and nodded. She pushed away, stepped to the case, turned and fitted herself inside.
Wysteri returned to the case without remark, flipped up and locked the lower panel. “Okay, I am closing the lid. It is vented so breathe normally.” She closed and locked down the clear crystal lid. “Tilting you back.” The tube whirred and hummed returning to its horizontal position.
Bannor looked in through the lid. Sarai had a stoic expression on her face. He pressed his hand to the crystal and smiled for her. She made a forced smile and put her hand up to match his.
“It’s okay,” he soothed.
She nodded.
“Ready?” Wysteri asked.
Sarai acknowledged.
“All right, the case will light up, there will be a vibration and it will get warm inside,” Wysteri recited with rote familiarity. “These things are all normal. The transformation will occur in three phases. A green, a blue, and a purple. The green will feel just like what you experienced on the table, that is the third safeguard, to make absolutely sure everything is okay.”
Continuing to speak, the mecha moved around the cylinder, pressing jewels and checking little crystals in which symbols were displayed. “The blue will make you feel hot and tingly inside. That’s the mapping phase. A unique charge is placed in each element of your microstructure. It’s not uncommon to see your skin glow or spark when this is going on—it’s normal. The purple is the change catalyzing phase, your body is prepared for the actual transform procedure. During this, you may feel a kind of a floating sensation and euphoria. You will start to get groggy and feel as though you are falling asleep, that’s what is supposed to happen. When you awake, the transformation will be complete.” Wysteri tapped a few crystals on the front of the cylinder and it began to hum. “We’ll begin as soon as you say ‘go’.” She patted the crystal. “Take your time.”
Sarai took a while, staring into his eyes. “Go,” she finally said.
“Beginning failsafe diagnostic,” she intoned. Sarai twitched as a green light shined down from the lid of the case.
Bannor watched, feeling his heart beat fast. He knew the whole unnaturalness of the process was unnerving for Sarai. Add to it the fact that she liked the form she was in didn’t make it any easier. He felt the case shivering under his hand. Sarai writhed a bit in nervous discomfort.
The green illumination winked out. “One moment,” Wysteri said. “Verifying and cross-checking.”
Bannor looked into Sarai’s green eyes. Focusing on his wife to be and the woman he loved.
“No anomalies discovered,” Wysteri informed them. “Beginning mapping.”
The case trembled and the humming changed pitch. Blue lines laced the cylinder’s insides and Sarai twitched. She clenched her eyes shut and balled her hands into fists.
“You are doing okay,” Wysteri advised in a soothing tone. “It will not be long now.”
The mapping seemed to take a long time, and Sarai fidgeted during the process. Finally, the light winked out, and she relaxed.
“One moment, analyzing map data,” Wysteri said. “Try to breathe normally; deep breaths.”
After about a fifteen count, Wysteri pressed some different jewels on the case’s side. “All right, beginning catalyzing process.”
A single needle thin ray of purple illumination began stitching its way back and forth across Sarai’s face, going across, dropping down a little then going back the other way.
His fiancé winced at the feeling at first but seemed to relax after a few moments. The procedure continued and Sarai’s movements grew less and less and her breathing gradually became more shallow. After a few heartbeats she went limp.
“Initiating stasis and form regression.”
A grayish light filled the cylinder. Bannor sensed an odd twisting of the threads within the case as if all of them were suddenly knotted up. A hard white radiance seemed to emanate from Sarai’s body, forcing him to shield his eyes.
Beams of reddish illumination played within the glare and the cylinder whirred and thrummed with energy. Within that scintillation, Sarai’s threads changed. Some threads vanished altogether, new ones appeared, many more than she had originally had it seemed. The new form was magnitudes more complex than the valkyrie shape whose strength came primarily from its brute simplicity.
As the light faded Bannor was greeted with a familiar sight.
Sarai.
The Sarai like he remembered her. Her angular face was perhaps not as severe as it had been several seasons ago. Her skin appeared a little more tan than it had been and clear.
“A few more moments,” Wysteri told him. “We need to do a post transform diagnosis to make sure it all went okay.”
The green light played over the new Sarai, illuminating her body. It was tough to determine with her in the case, but she looked like she might be slightly taller than she had been when they first met. In those early days she had seemed painfully thin. This form looked trim and sleek, with lines of muscle clearly visible through the shear black fabric of the body stocking.
The diagnosis ended and Wysteri nodded. “Everything looks good.”
He admired Sarai through the lid of the case. “She looks excellent from here.”
Wysteri tilted the case up, opened the lid, and unbolted the bottom into a ramp. “Give her a few moments to wake up.”
Bannor stepped close and admired the newly reformed third princess of Malan. Mercedes did indeed design a wonderful body. However, there were a few details that while he certainly wouldn’t mind them, his wife-to-be was certain to object.
Sarai roused by stages, her eyes blinked, revealing the glowing violet orbs that were synonymous with the woman he loved. She drew a deep breath and made a moaning sound. “Mmmm.”
“Welcome back,” he said.
Her eyes cracked and she focused on him and smiled. “Mmmm, I feel good.” She drew another deep breath and her eyelids fluttered. “Oh, yes.” She reached out and touched his face. She flexed her fingers, opening and closing her hand. Her brow furrowed.
“Is something wrong? he asked her.
“I—don’t—know,” she said. “It’s different. My immort and valkyrie bodies had a kind of solid positive feedback when I moved; probably those dense muscles. This is more smooth.” She moved each of her fingers one at time then moved her whole arm. “It sure feels good, better than the valkyrie body. I hope you can put up with me grinning like an idiot all the time.”
He shook his head. “I’ll cope somehow.”
“Let me stand up and see how this feels.”
Sarai leaned forward to lever herself out of the case and her mass shifted. With a gasp she had to catch herself on the side of the case.
“What the—???” She shifted her shoulders and looked down to see what had caused her to go off balance. Her voice dropped. “Carellion.” She put her hands to her chest and cupped up two hands-full and glared at Wysteri. “What in Hades are these?”
The purple-haired mecha tilted her head. “I believe they are called breasts.”
“I know that!” Sarai growled. “Why are they so big? Where was looking like a cow part of the design?”
“But—” he started.
“Ahht!” She pointed a finger at him. “No. I already know what you think, they could drag on the floor and you’d be happy.”
He rolled his eyes. “Well, not the floor.”
She dismissed his remark with a wave of her hand and glared at Wysteri. “Well?”
Wysteri shrugged. “I am sorry that feature distresses you. However, when you discover how much your baby nurses, you will be grateful for it. That and the amount milk production can make the process quite painful if you do not have sufficient volume.”
“Sufficient volume,” Sarai repeated in a sour tone. She stepped away from the case and stood up. Rolling her shoulders she moved her neck side to side. “This whole body is smooth. No kinks or catching. It’s nice except
for these things.” She glared down at herself.
“You’re not that much bigger than your sister,” he remarked self-consciously.
“My sister is a frelling flirt. She used magic to make herself get bigger when we were growing up.”
Bannor raised an eyebrow. He was certain that was a detail that under normal circumstances that never would have reached his ears. He had no idea Sarai resented it so much.
Sarai wiggled her hips side to side. She rubbed her hands on her thighs. “There’s something else different here.”
He stepped back and studied her. “Well, now that you mention it, yes. You have hips now… errr,” he corrected himself. “A lot more hips.”
She frowned at him with narrowed eyes. She focused her attention on Wysteri. “To make childbirth easier?”
“Right.” Wysteri answered. “There are number of form acclimations to make the pregnancy, childbirth, and post childbirth easier.”
Sarai looked down at herself, felt her skin and rolled her shoulders. “I admit it feels nice, and aside from this—” She shot a look at Bannor. “Deformity. It is okay. I don’t see or feel what Mercedes was making such a fuss about.”
Wysteri sighed. She walked over to the examination table and opened a drawer underneath its surface. She pulled out something small and round. “For proof of the quality in your design, look in that crystal right there.” She pointed.
Sarai turned to look.
The mecha healers were typically so deliberate and methodical that he never thought of them as being able to move fast. Wysteri whipped something straight at Sarai’s head. Gasping, Bannor lunged to intercept the hard-thrown missile but was simply too slow.
The object impacted with a crack that made Bannor cringe.
“What did—!?”
Sarai looked back, her hand was up and wrapped around whatever Wysteri had thrown so fast he hadn’t even been able to move half the distance to intercept the object. It was phenomenal, she hadn’t even been looking at Wysteri to even have a hint something was coming at her.
Reality's Plaything 4: Savants Ascendant Page 32
