Rise in Revolution (Chapter Sixty-One)
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Chapter Sixty-One
Awakening
Kyir’s temporary workshop, Sector TZI. April 13, 2272. Time instance 842N.
“You sent Nine to SOV?” Seven demanded. “Why?”
“He was too damaged for me to repair easily. It was far faster to just let him get repaired at SOV.” Kyir crossed his arms. “Do you need anything or are you just here to interrogate me?”
“He and I had-”
“Oh, shut it,” Jase grumbled. “You’re delaying an important ritual for the thirteenth.”
“A ritual?” Seven tilted his head. “What do you mean?”
“It’s a weird thing we do,” Kyir explained. “Dare! Go check on Cataclysm!”
“On it.” Dare raced out of the room and returned moments later. “Now, now!”
Kyir darted around Seven, ignoring his confusion, and practically kicked down the door to Cataclysm’s room. Cataclysm swore at him and hastily pulled his shirt on the rest of the way.
“A young man stands in his bedroom!” Kyir shouted, racing forward and pushing Cataclysm over. “And now he doesn't!”
“Fuck you! Why is it always me?”
“Sometimes it was Corvus but he’s not available! One year it was Dise but he’s also not available! It’s your turn.”
“It’s always my turn!”
“It’s been no one’s turn for twenty years! Let me have this!”
Cataclysm knocked Kyir’s feet out from under him. “Two assholes fight on the floor of a bedroom and the previously-standing young man kicks his douchebag friend’s ass!”
“Like hell he does!”
“Is this strictly required?” Seven asked, standing in the doorway and tilting his head.
“No,” Kyir admitted, “but we have fun with it.”
“You barged into my room while I was getting dressed while someone was here?” Cataclysm demanded. “He could have seen me without my shirt!”
“Boo hoo.”
“You know how I am about that! And the cyborgs are always recording!”
“Oh.” Kyir sighed. “Right. Sorry.”
“You’re not sorry.”
“I am, a little.”
“I don’t think I believe you.”
“I don’t understand,” Seven mumbled, “but I feel like you’re not going to explain any of this to me.”
“Nope.” Kyir got to his feet. “What did you need?”
“I’ll leave you two alone to do...whatever it is you guys do.” Cataclysm stood as well and rolled his eye. “Don’t wreck the workshop.”
“Hey, it’s my workshop, I’ll wreck it if I want to. Besides, we have Jase supervising.”
“You don’t question what you would be doing that would wreck the workshop.”
“Cata, it’s me. I might kill someone if I stub my toe.”
Cataclysm snorted at him, conceding the point, and left the room the moment that Seven launched into an extremely technical question that he couldn’t make heads or tails of.
Leave that to Kyir. I have something more important to worry about. He smiled to himself as he left the workshop, standing out on the street and stretching his wings. He folded them and glanced around before heading off down the street, aiming towards the building that he knew Emma had a room in. He wasn’t entirely sure what his plans for the day consisted of, but he knew that Emma was definitely involved if he could help it.
It took him a somewhat embarrassingly long time to find the right door, and then it took him almost a minute to work up the courage to knock. He could hear muffled voices inside and he didn’t want to interrupt, but he hadn’t made his way here for nothing.
He knocked.
The voices faded and, moments later, Emma opened the door. She looked confused and annoyed until she saw who it was, her face immediately lighting up.
“Cataclysm! Hi!”
“Hey. Sorry if I’m interrupting, but-” Emma practically threw herself at him, hugging him tightly and almost knocking him over. He stumbled to keep his balance and laughed, only stopping when he heard Tanadin’s voice.
“No, it’s fine. We were finishing up.” Tanadin got to her feet and stretched her arms above her head. “If you guys want to go do something, feel free. I have some leadery shit I should probably get around to doing.”
Cataclysm nodded and let Emma say goodbye to Tanadin before following her back outside, unable to keep the grin off of his face.
~~~
Geluu surveyed his class from the top of a very large box.
It had nearly doubled, he noted. TZI had been practically filled with magic users and Geek was having to teach some of the more advanced ones while he dealt with those who had no chance of keeping up with her. There were just too many for one group.
Shawn might have been able to switch to Geek’s class, as could Scara and Chris, one of the fire mages, but he felt safer keeping them with him. He knew them, knew what they were capable of, and was more than able to teach them himself.
He had everyone introduce themselves before starting to speak, voice carrying further than the ears he was addressing. “Due to recent events, I’m going to take some time to explain a fairly basic magical concept that I had yet to address. I hadn’t thought it that important, but it very well might be, and I apologize for not bringing it up sooner. Not knowing this could cost you your life out on the battlefield, and it was never my intention to leave you vulnerable like that.
“What I am going to address is the concept of a magical core. All creatures, alive or undead, have one. In most nonmagical races- humans and aven- their core is inactive. It does nothing. In these nonmagical races that are born with or develop a magical ability, it will activate. If you have a more passive ability- such as seeing the ley lines of magic or the ability to see ghosts- your core is thrumming. A thrumming core cannot actively manipulate magic and cast spells, but it radiates a constant effect. An active core is one that has the ability to use magic fully- most of the humans standing before me have an active core. The magical core of a usually nonmagical race is a level one core. Think of it as a cup of magical energy that you hold outside your body. You can use up everything in the cup, but it has no adverse effect on you other than making you tired. You can convert lifeforce into magical energy, but it’s very dangerous unless you know what you’re doing and not advised outside of an emergency.
“Level two cores are found in creatures, such as demons, who are inherently magical but do not necessarily run off of magic. It’s a magical effect that allows their wings to carry them, and allows magma patterns on some of their skin to exist, but most demons, if they lose contact with their magical core, will not instantly die. Lifeforce is stored outside of the core, just as it is with a level one core. Most with level two cores will have them active, but some are thrumming only.
“And, finally, level three cores are found in beings that are completely fueled and held together by magic, such as undead or elementals. Lifeforce is stored inside the core, while it constantly produces magic at a steady rate. If an elemental loses contact with its core, it will die instantly.” Geluu put a hand to his chest. “I am a half-elemental, but I possess a level three core. I am especially vulnerable to anti-magic pulses as, if they are strong enough, they can kill me instantly. This is unlikely to happen, but it makes it hard to do anything when your connection to your lifeforce is reduced.
“Undead always have thrumming cores. They cannot actively cast magic, but it is magic that holds them together.” Geluu paused, shifting his gaze to one of his students. “Always, except for you.”
Shawn blinked. “Me?”
“You are undead, and yet you cast magic. You undeniably have an active level three core. A non-elemental with an active level three. Before you, I had never heard of such a thing.” Geluu crossed his arms. “Most of you will not have to fear your connection to your lifeforce being severed directly. But if enough magical interference hits your core directly, or if you rupture it…”
“Boom,” one of the mages supplied, and Geluu nodded.
“Where is this core?” a student asked, yellow eyes flashing in the light, betraying his inhuman nature.
“It’s not a physical structure as you might think. Within each of us is a nexus of magical energy, and where it all connects is your core. Generally, you don’t have to worry about it getting hit directly. It’s almost impossible and has defenses that, unless lowered, will keep it from being disrupted. Many of you will never have to worry about this, but with the ability of our enemies to disable magic, it’s vital that you know why and how this happens. Any questions?”
Silence.
“Okay. Good. Now. What is the limit of your magical ability?”
“The amount of energy you have and your creativity.”
“Good. There are certain things you cannot do with magic, but it is my firm belief that it’s only because we haven’t figured out how. You may share or dispute this; I don’t really care. But always think before you cast a spell. Limit how much energy you put into it. Don’t cast anything that will take all of your energy. If you don’t have enough magical energy, it will draw on your lifeforce to complete the spell. And if you run out of lifeforce…”
“You’re dead,” Neves finished. “Nothing to be done. Just dead.”
“Right. So be careful. That being said, you can’t affect the cyborgs directly with magic, so you have to get creative, and usually these creative solutions take a lot of energy. Sometimes, however, they’re easier than you’d think. For demonstration purposes, Tanadin and Marek, a three thousand unit, are here today. Nona, you have wind powers, correct? Could you assist in our demonstration? Sub, you too.” They nodded and stepped forward as Geluu jumped down from his box, motioning for Nona, Sub, and Tanadin to all stand next to him.
“Marek, I want you to just stand there. Don’t try to avoid what they’re throwing at you.”
The three thousand unit nodded stiffly, unblinking robotic eyes shining.
“Sub, try moving him with your magic. Directly try to push him around.”
Sub nodded and raised her hands, a confident gleam in her eyes as bands of purple-pink energy formed in the air. They shoved at the cyborg, but faded wherever they touched him. Eventually, she lowered her arms, frustrated.
“So that’s where the anti-magic nature of the cyborgs kicks in. You cannot directly affect them with magic unless their dampener is overloaded, destroyed, or switched off. We’ve yet to prove that they can be overloaded, nor do you have the energy to do so, so don’t try it. You can’t affect a cyborg directly, so you have to try something a little different. Nona, could you try moving him, please?”
Nona nodded and raised her arms, wind picking up before blowing directly at the three thousand unit. The weight of all that metal kept him from moving much, but Geluu’s point was proven as Nona leaned back against the box, breathing heavily.
“Thank you, Nona. Using magic, you can have other things do what you want to the cyborgs. While you cannot magically move or harm the cyborgs directly, you can affect your environment to do the same thing. Think of it as looking for loopholes. Nona didn’t try to move Marek- she used magic to have the wind move him. He’s just exceedingly heavy due to his metal enhancements and didn’t move much. Her method used a lot of energy for very little gain”
“In a normal situation, I would have shot her before it affected me much,” Marek said in a matter-of-fact tone.
“Yes. Sub, Nona, you can go back. Thank you.”
They nodded and left him with Tanadin. He took several steps back. “You might all want to back up for this one. Tanadin’s going to show us another creative solution to moving Marek, one that Seven devised. Tanadin, if you would be so kind?”
“Prepare yourselves,” Tanadin warned, shifting into her fire elemental form. “Back up more.” She waited for them to be sufficiently out of the way before she turned towards Marek and extended her hands, palms first, towards him. Bright yellow fire built in her hands, and when she turned her palms towards each other so that they almost touched, a loud bang split the air with a flash of light.
Tanadin, Marek, and the boxes were all flung away from the source of the ‘explosion.’ Tanadin landed on her feet and Marek slammed into a wall, easily getting back up and shaking it off. He looked dazed for a brief moment but quickly recovered.
Geluu clapped enthusiastically. “Thank you! You may both go; that’s all I needed you for. Thank you very much.” Marek bowed stiffly and left, but Tanadin stuck around, shifting back into a human and grinning proudly.
“That was Tanadin superheating the air.” Geluu jumped up onto one of the displaced boxes. “It took very little energy and, in our earlier testing, didn’t register as much of a threat to the cyborgs in comparison to wind magic pushing at them. It’s not aimed at anything, so they don’t register it as quickly or easily. It can blast back a decent number of cyborgs with very little energy drain.”
“It just takes practice to stick the landing. I usually don’t manage it,” Tanadin admitted, grinning sheepishly.
“Don’t go at it in a straightforward way. Do something creative to take those cyborgs down. And remember- heat is the cause of most mechanical damage. Even if you can’t get through the metal, if you can produce mass amounts of heat, you might be able to damage some circuits in their limbs. Any questions?”
“What if you can’t do anything like that? I’m an ice mage. That’s not exactly in my repertoire.”
Geluu nodded slowly. “I’ve been having that problem as well. It’s mostly a matter of how and where you throw spikes at them, but there’s other things you can do. Freeze the ground around them, if you can, to mess with their footing. I’ve been practicing with a water mage recently- he’s not here, he’s in Geek’s class- to have him fling water at them and then freeze the water last-second. I’m not directly affecting them, although it doesn’t usually work too well. Too late, and the dampener affects the water. Half the time, they just avoid the water in the first place. It’s a trick to affect them with magic, but if you have nothing else, you have to do what you can. If there aren’t any more questions, let’s get back to what we were doing last. We still have a long way to go.”
~~~
Nine wasn’t really sure what to expect when he returned to TZI that evening. He’d left Seven in charge and had informed almost no one that he would be gone, so he half-expected the sector to be a smoking ruin with Seven sitting in the middle, shrugging off the damage and saying that it had been the most efficient course of action.
Fortunately, the sector seemed to be exactly as he left it. He greeted a few familiar cyborgs on his way to the control center, where he was almost certain Seven was lurking. He made his way into their usual meeting spot and raised an eyebrow when he found it empty.
Okay. So Seven was probably busy. He wandered around the control center for almost ten minutes, figuring he was somewhere inside, and eventually found him in a side room talking to Tanadin.
Nine leaned on the doorframe as Tanadin tried to explain the concept of having your own shit and not liking people going through it for what was probably the hundredth time. As entertaining as their back-and-forth was, Nine eventually cleared his throat and stepped into the room.
“Sorry to interrupt, but I just got back from SOV and need a rundown on what’s gone wrong in my absence.”
“Nothing, surprisingly.” Seven leaned back in his seat. “Hawk and Goldtalon are gone.”
“Well, that’s g- what do you mean by gone?”
“They left to go to the nearby Mainframe-controlled sectors to try to get the aven out. I sent a small team of seven thousands with them. Their chances of success are decent, and if we lose them, it won’t be a big loss. The aven themselves won’t be too much help, but they bolster our numbers and getting reinforcements should help with morale.” A glint of...amusement?...flickered to life in Seven’s right eye. “You like morale, don’t you?”
“It’s important.” Nine crossed his arms. “If we lose morale, we all die.”
Seven nodded as Nine continued. “When you get a chance, could you help me out with a few things? I’m behind because I’ve been gone.”
“I can do that.”
“Thanks. I could really use a hand.”
A wicked glint entered Seven’s right eye. “I have an extra one of those.” With a smooth motion that must have been practiced, he detached his left forearm and tossed it to Nine.
Nine caught it, unamused, and was about to shoot back a sarcastic response when he paused.
Wait.
This was Seven.
Tanadin seemed equally dumbfounded as Seven grinned to himself, clearly pleased. “Did you just...tell a joke?”
“Yes. Can I have my arm back?”
Nine numbly handed it back and watched Seven reattach it. “Since when do you have a sense of humor?”
“Since last Thursday or so.” Seven flexed his fingers.
“Why? Why now?” Tanadin demanded.
"Well, I'm attempting to mimic normal social human interactions. That, or my brain is waking up. I'm going to go with the first one because it's less scary- I mean more probable." Seven looked a little sheepish as he interrupted himself, clearing his throat and shifting his face back to a more neutral expression as Nine and Tanadin glanced between him and each other.
“What was it you needed help with, Nine?” Seven got to his feet, less-than-subtly changing the subject.
“Erm. Right. Let’s just...go.” With one final odd look, Nine led the way out of the room.
What the hell.
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Date: 2016-10-12 12:06 am (UTC)Don't worry Seven, you're not the only one who doesn't understand what going on here.
Shawn might have been able to switch to Geek’s class, as could Scara and Chris, one of the fire mages, but he felt safer keeping them with him. He knew them, knew what they were capable of, and was more than able to teach them himself.
That's good, I prefer being a big fish in a small pond so to speak. Plus if anyone blows themselves up or something I can patch them up XD
“That was Tanadin superheating the air.” Geluu jumped up onto one of the displaced boxes. “It took very little energy and, in our earlier testing, didn’t register as much of a threat to the cyborgs in comparison to wind magic pushing at them. It’s not aimed at anything, so they don’t register it as quickly or easily. It can blast back a decent number of cyborgs with very little energy drain.”
Impressive! I love these magic lessons with Geluu XD
“Nothing, surprisingly.” Seven leaned back in his seat. “Hawk and Goldtalon are gone.”
Daww I hope they're bonding on their side mission to free more aven.
Seven nodded as Nine continued. “When you get a chance, could you help me out with a few things? I’m behind because I’ve been gone.”
“I can do that.”
“Thanks. I could really use a hand.”
A wicked glint entered Seven’s right eye. “I have an extra one of those.” With a smooth motion that must have been practiced, he detached his left forearm and tossed it to Nine.
Nine caught it, unamused, and was about to shoot back a sarcastic response when he paused.
Wait.
This was Seven.
Tanadin seemed equally dumbfounded as Seven grinned to himself, clearly pleased. “Did you just...tell a joke?”
“Yes. Can I have my arm back?”
Nine numbly handed it back and watched Seven reattach it. “Since when do you have a sense of humor?”
“Since last Thursday or so.” Seven flexed his fingers.
Who are you and what have you done with the real Seven?!? XP
"Well, I'm attempting to mimic normal social human interactions. That, or my brain is waking up. I'm going to go with the first one because it's less scary- I mean more probable." Seven looked a little sheepish as he interrupted himself, clearing his throat and shifting his face back to a more neutral expression as Nine and Tanadin glanced between him and each other.
Huh....after that kind of emotional slip up there Seven I'd say it's more likely the latter. Which means....oh shit....he'll remember that he had a sister and then find out that the Black Market blew her up!
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Date: 2016-10-12 12:19 am (UTC)He doesn't remember his past life. It's just that the human part of his brain is waking up.
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Date: 2016-10-12 05:41 am (UTC)-Observing Anon
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Date: 2016-10-12 12:24 pm (UTC)Flip the word anon.
Now go back to Geluu's scene.
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Date: 2016-10-12 10:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-10-13 06:48 am (UTC)I think lurkiest lurker technically counts as an anon, and Anon Cami was definitely here at some point.
-Observing Anon
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Date: 2016-10-13 12:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-10-13 01:40 pm (UTC)-Observing Anon
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Date: 2016-10-12 01:53 pm (UTC)Ah ok, cos if he remembered then that would hella complicate matters. So Seven's squishy human side is just waking up then.
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Date: 2016-10-12 09:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-10-13 12:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-10-12 11:38 am (UTC)You teasing little...
Also, seven telling a joke was nice. Enable my favorite line in that was can i have my arm back.
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Date: 2016-10-12 12:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-10-12 01:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-10-12 06:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-10-12 09:22 pm (UTC)THEYRE BRIGHT YELLOW ANYWAYS YOURS ARE DARK
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Date: 2016-10-12 10:21 pm (UTC)