Mana Mutation Menace (Journey to Chaos Book 3)

by Brian Wilkerson

  "I think it is possible,” Talbot said. “You will stay here until I am proven wrong."

  "What if Her Incandescent Majesty said otherwise?"

  "I would ignore her. This facility is under the aegis of the Global Avatar and Mortal Alliance of which Queen Kasile is merely one member. She herself has no authority here."

  Eric's eyes narrowed.

  "Do you consider me a threat?" Talbot asked.

  "No," Eric said. "I consider you an asshole."

  "Surely we can arrange for a conditional release," Kallen said reasonably. "After all, you let me go where I want whenever I want. Have I ever killed and eaten anyone in monsanity?"

  Talbot considered this. Eric imagined him retrieving the records in his brain like a computer and reading over them.

  "I will work with Percy and the board of directors to arrange something. Mr. Watley, you can consider me an asshole if you wish, but I am simply trying to keep people safe. Surely you cannot blame me for erring on the side of caution."

  "I understand and, in return, I hope that you understand that I want to leave as soon as possible. BACON!”

  Talbot raised an eyebrow. Then he coughed and said, “Yes, it is good bacon.” He turned on his heel and left the cafeteria.

  Eric slumped back into his seat. Kallen stroked his hand with her thumb, which eased some of the disappointment. The smile she flashed him helped too. He sat back up and finished eating. By then, another guard approached and said Eric’s new quarters were ready for him.

  It was designed to be a transitional area for patients once they regained their sapience. Since Eric was the first one to do so, he was the first one to use it. On one hand, it was built for a sapient: a bed, desk, drawers for clothes, a Crystal Vision set, and computer, etc. On the other hand, it was built for a monster: the door could be locked from both sides, shackles in the center were bolted to the floor, and there was a camera watching the entire area. Eric snarled at the latter, but Kallen pushed him to the former. She started up a video of the Dragon’s Lair.

  “I bet you’ve never seen your guild like this before.”

  When Eric joined the Dragon’s Lair, it was peacetime. His first mission was gathering bird poop for an apothecary. This video showed him how his guild operated during wartime.

  Specifically, it was Latrot’s War of Starvation. Latrot was experiencing a famine and invaded its neighbor, Mithra, to feed itself. The Dragon’s Lair was called upon by both sides and, like proper mercenaries, they fought for both sides depending on the member, time, and battle.

  One scene showed Captain Quando of Squad 3 directing a contingent of Latrot’s army with his trio of living puppets. With their senses synchronized, Quando positioned them at strategic points to keep himself informed of the flow of battle. When he gave the command, they fired fearsome spells on Mithra’s soldiers. Eric felt nothing for the dead on either side and only pride in his squad captain. So much power and control of others matched with compassion and control of himself; truly a more worthwhile role model than Dengel.

  A second scene showed Basilard Bladi, his direct superior and mentor, defending a Mithran famer’s homestead from Latrot soldiers. The veteran mercenary was accompanied by three young adults that his human memories recognized as Basilard's original three students: Sosuke Lokhin, Haru Tera, Kazuma Junao. His monster instincts decided they were Basilard's children, which made them his siblings. Then another human memory surfaced; they were killed soon after this conflict. The memory made him sad and Kallen made sure that Talbot and the scientists noted this.

  A third scene showed the leader of the guild, Ridley the Dragoness, confront an army by herself. Never before had Eric seen her in action, but he always knew she was formidable. Now he watched her stomp the army into the ground. Neither Latrot with its budding ordercrafter corps nor Mithra with its forest super soldiers could stand against her in the field.

  “There’s no eating in these films,” Eric remarked. “Why do the bodies simply lie there?”

  “There’s a different kind of eating,” Kallen replied. “Looting.”

  Eric leapt to his feet and shouted, “Dragon’s Lair rule number six: Not all that glitters is gold but it can still be valuable. This is followed by number seven: Grab what does whenever you can! Oh yes, now I remember! The guild and its rules and structure. YES, IT MAKES SENSE!”

  He hugged Kallen and so much peace and contentment radiated through her at the contact that she swooned. Eric pulled back and stared at her with wonder and happiness.

  “I get it now. I really get it now. Social organization, family bonds, the cities, and how so many people can live there without killing and eating each other. It’s all thanks to you!”

  He hugged her again and the second surge brought her around to wakefulness.

  “I...I didn’t do anything. All I did was say the word ‘looting.’”

  “It’s a different kind of eating. You kill them and take their stuff for your own use or to sell, which is the same thing as putting their muscles and organs in one’s mouth. It put everything in context and I could understand it.”

  “What about before?”

  Eric blinked. “Before? There’s a lot of ‘before.’”

  “With Talbot and the soldiers, you talked about how you were a mercenary and how a mercenary was supposed to act. You mean to say you didn’t understand then?”

  “That?” Eric shook his head shamefacedly. “I was referencing my memories and making an educated guess about what was going on and what I was supposed to say to neutralize the threat. I was acting like I thought I would before. I didn’t really get it. It was like reading Najican from a cue card and having no idea what I’m saying.”

  Kallen gestured to a camera watching them, urging them to make sure they were recording this and paying attention. Then she asked another question, “When you talked with your teammates, it was fluent and natural.”

  “My memories are clearest when it comes to my guild and no one within the guild is designated as a ‘threat’...except for Hasina.”

  Both of them shivered at the thought of that mad scientist. She made everyone else here appear as the very model of humane and civil treatment in comparison.

  “However, even she is more of a...what do humans call it...uh... ‘Friendly enemy.’ That’s it; so the grendel stays quiet.”

  “You mean you feel most comfortable when you are with friends.”

  “Ah yeah, you can put it that way.” He stared at the camera. “Just so long as the record shows that I’m not a grendel.”

  “Your views are essential for this project and so the record will show that,” Kallen said. “Tell me more about why looting and the Dragon’s Lair caused an epiphany for you.”

  “By thinking of the guild as a family, I can understand sapient relationships. By thinking of the guild as a business, I can understand non-family sapient relationships. Based on how the guild works, I can make connections to other parts of the city and sapient society. I guess ‘looting’ made it click. I’d like to see gold.”

  “Gold.”

  “Yes, gold. Gold looms large in my memories and many Dragon’s Lair rules concern gold, like numbers six and seven; not everything that glitters is gold, but can still be worth a lot of money; grab what does whenever you can, respectively. At first, I didn’t understand why because I never ate gold before. This is because gold is used to buy food. Thus, looting.”

  “I see. Yes, commerce is a vital part of human, I mean, sapient, interaction.”

  Kallen pulled out her moneybag and dumped the contents on the table. There were many sizes and many faces on them. Traveling as often as she did, it was useful to carry different currencies. Eric looked in awe on them.

  “The color of chaos is superior to the color of order,” he muttered. “By that, I mean gold and silver. The highest organization is reflected here. You know, I bet if I memorized what all these are, their names and countries, Talbot would find it harder to consider me a mons
ter.”

  Kallen beamed. “What you just said would make it harder for him to do that.”

  She spread the coins out and pointed to them, naming them in turn. Eric repeated them after her. After several cycles of this, Kallen scrambled them up and asked Eric to name them. He did, and on the first try.

  “As I understand it, money can be used to obtain many things but, strictly speaking, it is only physical things. Something that one can hold in one’s hand; not love, for instance.”

  “Yes, that’s true.”

  “Is there a law against paying someone to allow me to eat them? For instance, they give the money to their family in a will or we make a contract stating that I give it to a charity of their choice. Is something like that feasible in Ataidar?”

  “As a matter of fact, it is. You’re not the first grendel to live in this country.”

  “I’m not a grendel. I’ve said that several times now; three times, in fact.”

  A sigh born of frustration escaped Kallen’s throat.

  “We’ll build up to that. For now, let’s continue bringing your memories up to speed and reintroducing you to sapient society. It seems like the best way to approach that is watching more Dragon’s Lair footage.”

  Eric nodded. “Yes, I’d like that. Thanks for helping me.”

  Kallen beamed. “You’re welcome.”

  She pushed play and they watched more footage of the Dragon’s Lair and its mercenaries. Most of it was Latrot’s War of Starvation since it was part of the public record. This included rare footage of Lunas Latrot in the lair itself begging for help. Kallen took great pride in possessing this one. There were also stories unrelated to the war such as Hasina doing contractor work for the ICDMM. Eric shivered at these scenes. It was a contradictory feeling of both family and threat. Then he yawned.

  The next several days consisted of more tests and more observations. The scientists spent hours poking and prodding Eric for data. It was the same set every day to prove consistency and the lack of relapse. It was upsetting, to say the least. Other tests were about his memory to prove that he could build new memories and wasn’t simply acting out old ones. Soon Eric was mouthing along with the proctors just to prove a point.

  Sometimes, Kallen took him for a tour of the facility. She showed him the locations of interest and explained their purpose. He talked with her about them with the cameras overhead catching every moment.

  The pair of demons walked by the monster containment wing and Kallen talked about the people inside it. She recited their names, their background, how they mutated, and other aspects of their identities. Then she asked him what he thought of them as a grendel; not human but grendel. Before Eric could protest, she insisted.

  “It’s for posterity. We want to map a survivor’s thought processes to better treat those that come after you.”

  Eric relented. He responded that he thought of the monsters in the cages as “threats and food.” They walked about the laboratory and security guard lounge and Kallen said much the same thing as before. Eric responded the same way: “threats and food.” Next, they stopped by the armory and Kallen explained the kind of weapons that were used by the guards here; state-of-the-art equipment guaranteed to bring down B+ class monsters. Eric responded with “obstacles and food…maybe.”

  “‘Maybe’?”

  “I feel confident that they won’t work on me. According to you, I gave Basilard a hard time and he’s one of the most powerful people I know. Also, they might be tasty, but I won’t know that for sure unless I put them in my mouth.”

  Suddenly, Kallen stopped. Holding her arms behind her back, she spun to face Eric. Tilting her head coyly, she leaned forward towards Eric. Finally, she asked him, “What do you think of me?”

  “That’s easy. You’re….uh….um….On second thought, it’s not easy.”

  Kallen leaned back. “Why not?”

  “You’re not family or food or an obstacle, and definitely not a threat or neutral. ‘Friend’ is close but doesn’t feel close enough. What else is there? I’m inclined to say you’re ‘me,’ but that doesn’t make any sense.”

  Kallen bit her cheek to keep her expression straight. Ideally, he would come to the right conclusion on his own. Telling him outright, in the state he was in, was likely to confuse him or drive him away. As much as she wanted to be honest and forthright, she couldn’t say it.

  “Hey, maybe it’s because you’re a Modern Demon too, so I feel some kind of kinship.”

  He proceeded to ask a series of questions like the general picture of demon life and how to coexist with humans peacefully. He still insisted that he was human and not a grendel but felt it was best to be fully informed about what his life was going to be like after he was released. Kallen hid her disappointment and answered his questions as best as she could.

  “I’m sorry if this isn’t helpful. The problem is that we’re both anomalies, so society doesn’t know what to do with us.”

  “My guild already has a reputation for strangeness and violence. I don’t think I’ll get any more than a second glance. Is Lunas Latrot a threat?”

  Kallen blinked and looked fearfully over her shoulder. The last thing she needed was Talbot or his goonies thinking that her friend was plotting regicide.

  “That was random. Why are you asking about him?”

  “I’ve been thinking about those videos we watched and how you said he was a ‘vicious imp.’ I also remembered my little sister talking about suitors. I want to make sure he is suitable as a suitor before anything happens. Based on that radio, he is a dominant predator.”

  Kallen blinked again. This was getting worse by the second.

  “Her Majesty is your little sister?”

  “She is a girl younger than myself who is important to me and whom I protect from threats and support emotionally. Tiza is also my little sister and Nolien my little brother.”

  “That’s something you should not say in public. It’s okay for Nolien and Tiza because, as you said, everyone thinks your guild is a nuthouse. They’ll tolerate eccentrics. But if you claim that the reigning queen is your sister, given your relationship with her, it will cause problems.”

  “If you insist. Now, if Her Majesty were to legally hire me to carry out lawful royal justice following due process in response to some capital crime Lunas committed and was convicted of in a fair trial, how do I best go about killing him?”

  For a moment, Kallen didn’t say a word and Eric feared he missed some trivial part of this human thing called “tact.” He was sure he hit all the points of legitimation and avoided monster terminology like “eat” and “threat,” even though that was what he was thinking. Lunas Latrot was as infamous for his control magic as he was for his silver tongue, and Eric wanted to be ready for him, but he had to play this silly human game. Kallen’s eyes sparkled.

  “That was fascinating!” she exclaimed. “To take a grendel thought and couch it in sapient legal terms that are personally appropriate can be nothing but sapience.” To one of the cameras, she said, “Talbot, did you see that? That’s quite a thought process!”

  “Well?”

  Kallen had plenty of advice. It was obvious that she did a lot of research about Prince Lunas of Latrot and knew many things about him. In the ear of someone else, it would sound like a crush obsession, but to Eric, it was reasonable observation of the enemy. All this knowledge was put to use in various plans to kill him. It was just as obvious that she thought about his death all the time. Some of the plans were needlessly gruesome, and during one plan in particular, her eyes shifted into triangles and her nails became claws.

  “He thinks himself a hero and would love to slay a dragon for the sake of a princess. He’d love it even more if that dragon were her knight and he could twist its death to endear himself to her and trap her in his own lair.”

  “Kallen, I’m feeling better by the second, but I haven’t recovered that much.”

  “Okay, then. Lunas wants to isolate Kasile
by estranging her from her allies, making them into threats, and then killing them to make himself seem like her only ally so he can exploit her.”

  Eric’s eyes slitted.

  “If he does that to my little sister, then he will be the one slew.”

  Kallen pointed at the nearest camera and declared, “You would do the same!”

  Everyone in the control room was native to Ataidar and most of them nodded in understanding or agreement. Talbot, himself from Roalt, shrugged.

  All of this was yet another memory test to prove that he was sapient and capable of remembering the layout of the facility. Eric compared it to teaching a rat to navigate a maze, with cheese as a reward. Nonetheless, he learned it until he could give the tour himself.

  “One might say he’s more intelligent now than before,” Tasio remarked after a week had passed. “He never learned to navigate his guild this well.”

  “Go away, you pest!”

  Tasio blew Eric a kiss and vanished.

  Then there were stretches of time that were just for fun. As Kallen explained it, monsters didn’t have the capacity for fun. The only pleasures they knew were eating and mating, and those were driven by the instinct to survive and propagate, rather than pleasure for its own sake. In this way, Kallen acquired game room privileges for Eric. Most of the time, they played alone and Eric preferred it that way. More than the games themselves, he was coming to enjoy Kallen’s company. He didn’t want to share her with anyone, and especially not those humans that made her a lab-rat. Then one day, they entered the room to find Tasio playing ping-pong with himself.

  “Congratulations on your victory.”

  Eric slugged him in the jaw. Tasio spun in place over the floor, and even when he stopped his body, his head continued spinning on a pivot on his neck. He finally stopped completely by grabbing his head with both hands.

  “Tsk. Tsk. Unprovoked aggression,” The Trickster said with a finger waggle.

  “There’s nothing ‘unprovoked’ about it in regards to you. That is the third time I’ve punched you and the second time deliberately.”