Chapter 35
Limbering Up
Lilly arrived a few moments later, as Bianca levitated down to the activation platform. She looked up, slightly dazed, at the missing ceiling, then scanned the table and found the fresh checklist.
“Are you alright?” asked Bianca.
“Yes,” said Lilly. “Just shifting context.”
Bianca began to strip down. “Many casualties?”
“Yes,” said Lilly.
Bianca snorted. “I thought it foolish to send in the army. It is not that sort of battle.”
“The Queen did not spend their lives frivolously,” said Lilly. Bianca looked closely at her. She had never seen Lilly annoyed and wasn't sure if this was what she was expressing. “The purpose was not to defeat them militarily, but to draw them out. The real goal was for them to provide cover for me and Mistress Devonshire.”
“Mmmm,” said Bianca, less critically. She was dressed only in her undershirt now. “Did it work?”
“Yes,” said Lilly, quietly. “They're still out there, making them think we're still in the field.”
The Operational Sphere had already been extracted and waited, adjacent to the platform for Bianca. She stood on the threshold of it while Lilly plugged into the strategic mana reserve and began the opening steps that Bianca had skipped.
“What did you find out?” Bianca asked.
There was a pause as she completed another step before Lilly answered. “Sky Father and The Waterbearer were as expected. Confident and forceful. It was purely strength versus strength. As long as we have the mana, you should be well equipped for that. The Grave Keeper we knew least about.”
“He's not that popular, except amongst bankers and magistrates,” said Bianca.
“I get the impression he is not very friendly with his fellow gods either,” said Lilly. “He mostly stood apart and fought on his own. The other two: they will team up to take you. Not the Grave Keeper.”
“What weapon does he use? What defense do you recommend?” asked Bianca.
Lilly completed a step, and then thought for a moment. “I believe he had a scythe, as traditionally portrayed. It wasn't the weapon but the method.” She looked up and met Bianca's eyes. “The others were content with merely smashing the troops to stop them. Grave Keeper aged them.”
Bianca contemplated that. “Tricky,” she said. “Our support magic is about restoring gross physical trauma. Worst case if the soul departs it is captured and kept handy for resurrection. Aging...”
“Is not a contingency we planned for,” said Lilly. “We'll have to solve that when the battle is over.”
Bianca stepped into the Operational Sphere and started strapping herself down. “How do you think it will affect the Ævatar?”
“It won't,” said Lilly. Then she sealed the door. A moment later one of the dark crystals lit up and her face appeared. “The Ævatar does not rot, does not putrefy. Nothing will eat or live on it. So it appears to be immune to the ravages of time.”
“True,” said Bianca, starting with her legs. “But will it shield me?”
“I cannot be sure about that,” said Lilly. “I am even unsure what sort of magical screen would best protect from such an attack.”
Bianca thought on the problem. Aging was not damage to a body, per se. It was a natural process. The magic Grave Keeper used probably just accelerated it. Time was a hard thing to play with. But if he could do it, it could be done with the new magic. That means it could be undone, our countered. But without knowing the pattern it was quite difficult. It made the pit of her stomach cold.
The chill reminded her. “Stop Lilly,” she said, suddenly. Lilly's image appeared and looked at her quizzically. “Open it up again, I need you in here.”
“Are we aborting the activation,” asked Lilly.
“No,” said Bianca. “Just back up a step. I forgot to emplace my soul shield.”
“Ah,” Lilly said. “We forgot to add that to the activation protocol.” Her image went out and light stabbed in as the doors opened.
Bianca lay half bound to the chair. But her arms were still free enough to call up the requisite patterns and bind them to herself. “I think that is it. Please test.”
Lilly passed her hands across Bianca and nodded. “Shield in place.”
“Careless of me,” said Bianca. “We should have been given more time to practice.”
Lilly shrugged. “Then we probably wouldn't have enough mana left to sortie.” She left the chamber and sealed it again.
Bianca resumed the binding. Her stomach still felt cold. As far as their research showed, the Soul had no specific physical place in a body. But as long as a body remained intact, the Soul remained. If the body was destroyed, the Soul was freed. She could not feel the soul shield other than with a magical scan. It existed in the same metaphysical dimension as the Soul.
Several steps later the chamber was flooded. Despite her determination, Bianca lost control, as always, and struggled against it. But the moment passed, and her body succumbed. She hung limply in the restraints. If she could not control herself against something so clear and known, how could she hope to direct the Ævatar?
Problems arose, and the two of them discussed their importance. This was not just an activation test, they were going into battle. Bianca had fixed all of the easy things that just required simple generation. What remained were problems that needed more energy for a simple fix, or were not fully understood. However, the battle had already started. Any delay meant the risk of losing all. In the end they fixed what they could and just put a close watch on what they couldn't.
“Primary preparation complete,” announced Lilly, rolling up the checklist. “We can proceed to activation.” Her voice was as calm as it ever was. Bianca couldn't guess what sort of flashbacks she was having during this. But there was nothing to be done about it.
“Give Jesca an update,” said Bianca. “Then proceed.”
“The Queen wishes you luck,” said Lilly, after a moment. “Our forces have withdrawn and we are letting the gods do a victory lap while we prepare.”
That reminded Bianca of her mother. She and Lilly were not the only ones working to a crazy timetable. If anything, it was likely that Goatha's attempts to bring the mana harvesting to production were even more critical. Without that mana, it was going to be a short battle. Just because she wasn't going to be staring down the throats of the gods like Bianca didn't mean there was any less pressure.
“Activation one part in twenty,” said Lilly.
Bianca felt the connection. Yet it seemed different this time. Smoother. Perhaps fixing numerous minor systems had a holistic affect. Maybe now that the need was real her own Will was more focused. Maybe it was just luck.
“The connection is good. Bring it to one in five,” said Bianca.
“Ramping up to one in five,” said Lilly. “No aberrant fluctuations on the monitor.”
“Trying hand to face test,” said Bianca. She breathed the warm, cloying liquid deeply, closed her eyes, and concentrated. She felt for her ghost limb, lifted it to her face, and then replaced it. She opened her eyes and saw Lilly's face on the monitor looking apprehensively upwards.
“Check,” said Lilly quietly.
Bianca raised her eyebrows. “Check? You aren't even wet? Did I do it without even a splash?”
“Yes” said Lilly. “Perfect control.”
“I think we must have inadvertently fixed something,” said Bianca.
“Or Rose did,” said Lilly. “Or the Ævatar just wants to go and fight.”
Bianca didn't like any of those two alternatives very much. “Bring it to one in two,” she said.
“One in two,” echoed Lilly.
This was much further than they had ever gone before. Other than when Rose took over. Bianca felt an almost magnetic connection between her body and the ghost she felt. She tried a few more simple movements and it snapped in place to where she felt her limbs. But, so too, did her limbs seem
bound by its motion.
“I'm getting minor tremors in the left arm,” said Lilly.
“I feel them,” said Bianca. She flexed her arm. “Check the triceps.”
Lilly disappeared for a while. Bianca felt the shaking diminish and vanish. She dared not move while Lilly was absent. But she returned shortly. “A pattern scan found some internal degradation. I rejuvenated it back into normal condition.”
“Thanks,” said Bianca. “Much better.”
“We need to start bringing the sensory systems into synchronization,” said Lilly. “It can be... confusing.”
Bianca was in new territory. She had no basis for preparation and no time to take it slowly. “Acknowledged,” she said.
Lilly's hands moved, out of sight, over several controls on the activation board. “Tuning in the vision loop. I suggest you close your eyes”
Even with her eyes closed, Bianca felt a stabbing pain. She did not so much see, but feel as if she was seeing. With her eyes closed there was brightness, slowly resolving into a yellowish tinged waving light. As her mind got used to this input it resolved further into indistinct lighter patches on a slightly darker background. She realized she was looking up at the sky through the synthetic amniotic fluid in which the Ævatar lay. She was seeing through its eyes.
“Calm, calm,” said Lilly. “Now, try opening your eyes again.”
Slowly, Bianca opened her own eyes. A wave of vertigo passed over her. She saw both the inside of the operational sphere, but also the sky above. It was as if she had suddenly grown a second pair of eyes. “It is... disconcerting,” said Bianca.
“Try focusing on just what you see inside, and then just what you see outside. You should be able to give primacy to one or the other,” advised Lilly.
Bianca tried that, and it made things a little easier. When she concentrated on the clouds drifting, high, overhead, they became clearer. In fact when she attended to them her vision clarified and brought in more detail then she would see normally. She then looked “down” and was able to re-focus on Lilly's face on the crystal. “OK,” said Bianca. “I think I can cope.”
“Good,” said Lilly. “You now need touch; otherwise you won't be able to stand up.” She moved some more controls.
Bianca waited, but only felt the tingling she'd been feeling ever since activation started. “I'm not feeling anything.”
Lilly's brow furrowed, and she looked over the control. “I'm reading nothing wrong. You are floating in liquid that is the same temperature as you. So it may not feel like much. Try raising your hands again.
Bianca did so, carefully and then did feel a cold sheathe cover her arm. “I'm clear to the elbow, yes?”
Lilly looked on several monitors. “Yes. Now: try sitting up. Focus on your external senses and take it slowly.”
Bianca stilled herself and turned her mind inward. She brought both hands towards her face and saw them silhouetted against the sky. She then tried bringing them forward and shifting her balance. The scene shifted and jostled and slanted to one side. There was then a pressure against her bottom. She figured that must mean she touched bottom. She looked about, but couldn't see clearly. So she just shifted her weight until the pressure felt equal. She opened her eyes to see how she did.
“You are now sitting,” said Lilly. The area behind her was dripping with yellowish fluid, but she, herself, was dry. “I took the liberty of an umbrella spell.”
Bianca snorted. “No faith. Should I stand up now?”
“Not yet,” said Lilly. “Let me drain the tank. Not just to spare deluging the rest of the lab, but it will help with your balance.”
Bianca refocused to the outside, and tried to watch the progress. She could dimly see the tank and her own form, and the lighted platform on which Lilly stood. After a time the pressure on her lower half changed and it was easier to feel the ground underneath her. She reached up and experimentally gripped the edges of the hole she had opened in the ceiling. It should be designed to take her weight, but she didn't want to push it. Slowly, using the edge for balance, she stood up.
“Don't rush things,” cautioned Lilly.
“If we don't rush, we're dead,” said Bianca. “The war won't wait.” Lilly had no reply. Bianca pushed on the edges, supporting the Ævatar's body. She swung back and forth, gently, feeling the balance and the motion. Once she thought she had it, she lifted her feet to the rim and vaulted completely to the roof.
Bright sun shone down on her and she could feel the wind playing on her skin. As she turned her head to look the whole town was there in fine detail. She could see every house, every bark cart, and all the way to the perimeter of trees, a mile or so away. She took a few experimental steps around the roof, and felt steady.
“Be gentle,” said Lilly. “I'm not sure the roof can take too much.”
“Fair enough,” said Bianca. “I have motion. But there is one more real test to perform.” She spread the Ævatar's arms and summoned her Will. She strung a few simple patterns together and vitalized them with mana. With a sweeping gesture she attached a target phrase to them and directed it at the armor and weapons on the roof. They rose, floated around her, and assembled themselves on the body of her Ævatar. “I can cast spells,” said Bianca. “And that was holding back a lot. I can channel a lot of mana through this body.”
“That was a lot of mana,” said Lilly. “The reserve is nearly empty. It was enough to alert people. There are queries coming in.”
“Tell Jesca I'm ready,” said Bianca.