“I get the sense it is much more complicated than you are letting on.”
Jadeyn, who had been quiet throughout the exchange, was quick to pipe up. “Of course it is! Will you stop stringing this along so he can decide if he wants to do it or not?!”
Miles clears his throat after he recovered from his aghast expression directed at Jadeyn. “Furthermore, given how much energy your body produces, it is quite absurd might I add, I am doubtful these reading can be accurate, you also would be able to sustain Hobb indefinitely should all his servers be destroyed. He would operate at only a small fraction of his capacity, but he will persist. This is marvelous because you would become a living backup of Hobb!”
Anaar’s eyes went wide, even his normally measured emotions unable to hide his surprise. Though he had no reason to believe Sophangence would ever cease to exist, he did have some lingering concerns Hobb could somehow be destroyed. It was one of the few things that gave him comfort when he contemplated what it meant to live for an eternity. Knowing that he could always keep Hobb with him, even in a limited scope was enough for him to agree many times over. Though his heart swelled, reality set in quickly.
“That is all great in theory, but that would fry my brain. There is no way it has the capacity to house the vast amount of data that is Hobb.”
“Oh no, no, no! You are under the impression Hobb would move from where he exists now, to you. It is more accurate to imagine it as you becoming part of the thousands of supercomputers that make him up. Basically, you would become part of the server.”
“I did not share this throughout the development, but the readings are indeed incorrect. Since your incident with your brother, not only has your body begun producing energy levels that are greater than nuclear reactors, but your mental faculties have expanded as well. Even if Sophangence were destroyed in its entirety, you would be strong enough to house all of me. It would be an immense strain, but that is in your current state. You have been steadily growing stronger. I calculate by the time any such possibility came to pass, you would be able to house me with no discomfort.”
I knew my body temperature rose to a level higher than some of the hottest Fire Affinities, but I could never believe I am generating that much energy. Where does it all go?
“Apologies. I am unable to provide exact figures, but your Life attuned abilities are for the most part always active, and they consume more power in a passive state than anything active I have experienced you utilize.”
Are you fucking kidding me? You mean to tell me there isn’t some energy efficiency setting that is standard?! If that is the case, I can only imagine what would happen if I were to reallocate that drain to somewhere else. I’ll have to look into that. It is weird, I have only recognized my energy expenditure once. I guess it is so minor to me that I just ignore it. Lots of food for thought.
Hobb had proven once again that he knew Anaar in some ways, better than Anaar knew himself. With the new information Hobb had provided, and this assurance that the dream he had of never finding himself alone could become a reality, Anaar smiled internally. He realized that the procedure would clearly require surgery, Hobb providing the detail about it being connected to his brainstem now that the information was out in the open.
Even though he knew Miles was just as capable as a surgeon and neuroscientist as he was in applied technology, he could not deny how risky the procedure would be. In order for this to work, Anaar would be required to disable all his passive defenses. Though he was versed with stopping his healing, he had never attempted to fully bring down whatever Invulnerability Yefferson possessed. With his abilities down, he was concerned he would die, but dawned on him that he needed to actively suppress his abilities, which meant if he died, he would just come back to life since they would work again. This brought about concerns that his secret would come out to Jadeyn and Miles, but Hobb assured him that he would do everything in his power to prevent it. Though he would need some time to make sure his powers were suppressed, he turned to Miles with his jaw set.
“Let’s do this.”
29
The silence between them was literally electric as she anxiously chewed on her nail, her rapidly growing annoyance reaching its breaking point. “Gah! What is up with that smirk, fucker?!”
His grin growing wider, “It’s just that there was never a scenario where I imagined you asking me for help.”
“I’m not asking you for help! I’m presenting a mutually beneficial partnership in which we both learn together! Get it right!”
Anaar could tease Codi all day at the rate they were going, but he decided continuing to have fun at her expense was in poor taste. For her to ask him to assist in her training was a significant gesture. He wondered if her fear of him was the blockade preventing her from reaching out before, but knowing Codi well enough, it was more likely her refusal of help from men other than Phavian that was the root cause.
“Say we do this ‘mutually beneficial partnership,’ what are we both supposed to be gaining from this?”
“We’ll both get stronger. Don’t be a fuckface.”
With a smirk and a shrug, “Alright I’ll do it.”
Though she had brought the proposal to the table, Codi was genuinely shocked at his agreeance. “What? Just like that? I thought you’d still be holding a grudge for me hating your guts because I thought you were going to obliterate the planet.”
“If I held that against people, I would be forced to live in complete isolation.”
“Oh, well I see your point. Aren’t you afraid helping me is going to get your ass kicked in the School Rankings Tournament? If I get stronger, I could wipe the floor with you and Phave!”
“I don’t know what it would mean for Phavian, but it would never change the outcome between us, so why not be helpful?”
Codi’s face soured as she looked Anaar up and down. “You cocky little shit. Just so you know, only I am allowed to have that sort of attitude!”
“I’ll keep that in mind for the future. When do you want to start?”
“Right now! When the fuck did you think? After the damn event is already over?”
“Clearly I meant what time today, but message received. I guess we can head over to Simulacrum now. You aren’t currently banned, are you?”
“That shit happened only three times and everyone brings that shit up like it happens daily! Actually, I don’t want to use Simulacrum.”
Of everything that could fall from Codi’s lips, Anaar felt that had to be the most shocking. It had been randomly confirmed by Hobb during one of their conversations, that Codi had spent more than twenty times the hours utilizing Simulacrum than the next highest person. Though that could also be affected by her tenure, it was still a staggering gap.
“That’s odd? May I ask why?”
Codi’s face darkened, the weight of something significant bearing down on her. “It’s just that… my time here is almost up, you know? We can’t all be some weirdo like you who just makes up powers as they go along. I can’t just pop in to use Simulacrum when I feel. The real reason though is that I feel it may have been a waste of time for me in the long run. I see how much Stef, or even Hillbilly Dan grew in such a short amount of time, and they weren’t using an AI simulation. They got down in the dirt, or literally got shot to achieve results. I don’t think breakthroughs can properly happen in a virtual setting, especially when I can just cheat when I want.”
Anaar nods in understanding. “I see. I forget that your departure is just around the corner.”
“That’s what you focused on?! How can you forget so easily? Phave is leaving too.”
“As you so aptly put, I can just ‘pop in’ wherever I want. I don’t suspect I will be free of Phavian anytime soon. I would not be surprised if he continued to live in my room and eat all my food. I think I’ll have to refuse to portal him places in order to get him to leave.”
From the look on Codi’s face, it was obvious she had not considered the pos
sibility. “Oh shit. You are so not getting rid of him.”
“Right? I understand what you mean about utilizing Simulacrum. I think it is wonderful, but realistically, your mind will always stay caged in what it already understands. At best I think it is good for training things that are repetitive in nature, or injury free sparring.”
“Well since we have gotten that settled, take me somewhere I can really cut loose.”
Anaar stands from the table without the need for consideration. “That is simple. Essentially anywhere other people are not will work. At your level you are not a threat to inorganic matter, so I don’t think it is necessary to worry about that.”
Codi began to protest, but Anaar had already opened a portal and walked through it, forcing her to keep her commentary to herself and follow. She learned that he had been creating timed portals that closed in three seconds, with the understanding if someone was left behind, it was their own fault. Once she saw where they were, she pointed her finger at him accusingly.
“I thought you said it didn’t matter where we went! Why are we all the way out here in DD?!”
“Just because your powers are innocuous to the landscape, no one said anything about mine.”
“This is supposed to be my training session!”
“This is supposed to be a mutually beneficial partnership, or did you forget?”
Finding herself trapped by her own words, Codi forgot how annoying it was to deal with someone who was even quicker at the draw than she was. To prevent further delays, she accepted her defeat and moved on. Unfamiliar with Anaar’s training methods, she was taken aback when he plopped to the ground pulling up a screen to take notes.
“What exactly are you hoping to achieve in this training?”
“To get fucking stronger! What dumb shit question is that?!”
Anaar sighs, shaking his head. “How is it you don’t see how painfully similar to Peter you are? He does the same thing. Emphasis on the exactly, I need to know you are trying to overcome. Everyone wants to be the best version of themselves, so it goes without saying. No one takes time out like this and enlists the help of others without having at least one obstacle in particular they find insurmountable.”
Codi grumbles to herself before continuing. “Fine. I’m sick of getting shit on by Titans. It is stupid I have so much power, yet I get my ass beat by the most common manifestation on the planet. Actually, it doesn’t even have to be a fucking manifestation!”
“That’s better. It seems the first of your concerns is resistance.”
“Well duh. If you are facing off against another Pyro you are going to get resisted too.”
“I was more so speaking directly resistance in terms of electrodynamics, but the concept is similar enough, so let’s go with that. Do you know what I do if I’m up against another Pyrokinetic, or someone immune to flames?”
“Punch them in the face?”
Anaar laughs, the smirk and tilt of his head indicating it was an accurate response. “There is that for sure, but what if that was not available to me, much like your situation. You don’t have much else in your arsenal outside of your powers.”
“Gee thanks asshole. I don’t know. If I knew, I’d had done that shit a long time ago.”
“The answer is simple. I turn up the heat. Literally and figuratively. I’ve recently come to realize that no one is truly ‘immune’ to anything. The only exception might be a True Quintessence in their elemental form, but I still don’t have enough data to confirm that. There are only varying degrees of resistance, which if met with something exceeding that, they will then take damage. I know that seems obvious, but 99.9% of the world believes complete immunity to be a reality when in fact it is not, it never has been. Take ‘unbreakable glass.’ It is definitely breakable, but the force needed to do so is something that it typically would never encounter whilst serving its purpose, thus creating the myth of ‘unbreakable.’”
Codi rolls her eyes in the most exaggerated fashion. “Does all of this have a point?”
“I think so, but I’ll need to run some tests.” He stands from his seated position and beckons Codi. “I want you to hit me with a powerful blast. Not the best you can do, but something you intend to have some serious stopping power.”
“Are you trying to die?”
“If you can’t trust me, there is no point.”
“Fine, your funeral.”
Codi charges for a moment and then releases arcs of electricity into Anaar. She is dumbfounded when he does not flinch in the slightest, and appeared completely unfazed. As they were talking before, Anaar had borrowed Codi’s powers and had been running simulations on their use with Hobb. Their enhanced connection now made it possible to handle trillions of permutations a minute. As he hoped, her abilities came with an inherent sense of understanding when it came to electrical forces. Upon further examination however, he found that Codi had a secondary trait that made her even more sensitive to said forces. Her synesthetic ability was a sense of ions, which explained why her control was so remarkable.
“What kind of shifty shit are you pulling?!”
“Don’t worry about it. Just go at it again, this time making it even stronger. Every time you fail, I want you to try again, hitting me harder and harder until your reach your limit.”
Codi could not believe what she was hearing. No one had ever given her free rein to utilize her powers on them how she saw fit, especially not with the intention of doing harm. Even when Peter had allowed her to experiment on him, he enacted many conditions, despite him initially saying she could do whatever she pleased. It did not take long for Codi to tire herself out, forcing her to plop heavily onto the rock filled dirt.
“That shit is dumb as fuck! How is it possible nothing even tickled you?! Why are there so many people immune to my powers?!”
“I’ll tell you the same thing I told Dan. Don’t conflate Sophangence with the greater world. I have been on many missions where there were professionally trained, elite agents, but most were not Quintessences. Even when I came across Titans, they were not nearly on the level of those in your class. Think of this as good practice. You have been living your life with a bodysuit five times your weight. When you leave here, the suit will stay, and your strength will be far better for it.”
“Sure, whatever you say. What the fuck am I doing so wrong?”
“Well for starters, you aren’t giving it your all.”
Codi jumps to her feet, tiny arcs of electricity coursing through her piercings. “What the fuck you mean I’m not giving it my all?! You think my powers just appear out of thin air?!” She notices Anaar’s face and immediately puts up a finger. “If you answer that, I will kill you. Seriously though, it isn’t like I have an endless reserve to work off of. Speaking of which, if I were a True Quintessence like you, could I just become my own generator?”
“Technically you are your own generator, albeit it is a slow charge, which is why you absorb energy to supplement it. I know what you mean, and that is a good question.”
Anaar was fairly certain he knew the answer, but as it was the first time he had borrowed Codi’s powers, he had not experimented with them. He was not familiar with all the additional sensations and feedback he was getting, which would make it hard to discern whether he created the electricity, or if it was naturally available and he just harnessed it. He also could not openly practice there with Codi, as her knowledge of his abilities only extended to those that were Fire attuned.
“I have a solution to your quandary that will prove most effective.”
I’m all ears, let’s hear it.
“The expansion of our interconnectivity has become such that anything under my control is directly available to you. With these enhancements and your mental capacity, it is possible for me to replicate Simulacrum without the need of hardware. This will allow you to experiment so that you may find an answer to your question. Also, as I am directly integrated with you, the ability to simulate unknown varia
bles is now available, which means breakthroughs in your abilities will be available and enjoy a 93.562% level of accuracy.”
Wow, that is awesome. I’ve never been much of a Simulacrum guy, but I can see other uses outside of training my abilities. I can practice new recipes without wasting ingredients!
As Anaar had come to expect, his training in his mental Simulacrum happened at a rate that was so fast, it was as if time was at a standstill. Since their connection had been enhanced, it had increased their transmission speed. Once he had finally gotten a sense of the ambient resources he had available to utilize, he then tried spontaneously creating electricity. To his surprise, he found that he was incapable of the feat no matter how hard he tried. He considered it would potentially become available as his abilities grew, but he had become so accustomed to instant gratification that he was extremely disappointed to find it did not work.
“The answer to your question is no. It may be due to the fact that air and electricity are fundamentally different. If someone were powerful enough it could be possible at some point.”
Codi upturns her nose as she looks away. “Good, that means fuckers like you can’t just swoop in and be good without trying.”
Anaar ignores Codi’s comment and continues. “I think I may know your problem, but I would like to gather more information first. When you are making a stronger blast, what are you doing?”
“I’m giving it more juice! Duh!” Codi motions to him as if he had asked the most moronic question ever.
“Okay, what does ‘giving it more juice’ specifically mean to you?”
Revelations (Song of Sophangence Book 4) Page 50
