She tried not to show any reaction at all. She looked at her second period PE class, most of whom were bent over and looking like they were ready to collapse. She shook her head. She wasn't even being hard on them.
"Alright, class, I'm wrapping things up a bit early today. Go on and hit the showers. Take a little extra breather before your next class. And tomorrow be ready to really give it your all."
She assigned a couple of less red-faced and panting students to pick up the equipment and casually stepped out into the hall before stepping into the stone and rushing towards the infirmary.
Looks up at the sound of a new arrival on the other side of the curtain...mentally asks H'Tor who it is, and and is told it's the 'new kid with the balls'...Krays actually chuckles, then refocuses on Ephebe.
Looks up at the sound of a new arrival on the other side of the curtain...mentally asks H'Tor who it is, and and is told it's the 'new kid with the balls'...Krays actually chuckles, then refocuses on Ephebe.
Aananda barely glances up when Solivala enters.
"Whatever it is, Solivala, it's not my top priority right now. You want me for something, first you can help me with this analysis. It's taking too long. I need the results now if not sooner," she said, typing commands into the computer at an alarming rate of speed.
The transformations were slowing down a little. Ephebe still thrashed around. And more than half of the icepacks were already melted.
The transformations were slowing down a little. Ephebe still thrashed around. And more than half of the icepacks were already melted.
"Oh, man oh man....Heyas Kam can I get s'more icepacks here?"
Keeps trying to hold Ephebe still with out hurting her..
"Fieri, is there anyway you can leech or absorb the excess heat out of her? The icepacks don't seem to be cutting it..."
"Oh, man oh man....Heyas Kam can I get s'more icepacks here?"
Keeps trying to hold Ephebe still with out hurting her..
"Fieri, is there anyway you can leech or absorb the excess heat out of her? The icepacks don't seem to be cutting it..."
Fieri shook her head. "Anything I do is only going to make it worse."
The transformations were slowing down a little. Ephebe still thrashed around. And more than half of the icepacks were already melted.
"Oh, man oh man....Heyas Kam can I get s'more icepacks here?"
Keeps trying to hold Ephebe still with out hurting her..
"Fieri, is there anyway you can leech or absorb the excess heat out of her? The icepacks don't seem to be cutting it..."
Kam hurries over with as many ice packs as he can carry. He places them around Ephebe quickly before helping Krays hold her down.
Kam hurries over with as many ice packs as he can carry. He places them around Ephebe quickly before helping Krays hold her down."Oh, man oh man....Heyas Kam can I get s'more icepacks here?"
Keeps trying to hold Ephebe still with out hurting her..
"Fieri, is there anyway you can leech or absorb the excess heat out of her? The icepacks don't seem to be cutting it..."
"Thanks, Kam..."
"Thanks, Kam..."
"No problem, I know she's stronger than she looks." Kam replies as he barely dodges a slap from a half-formed wing.
Aananda barely glances up when Solivala enters.
"Whatever it is, Solivala, it's not my top priority right now. You want me for something, first you can help me with this analysis. It's taking too long. I need the results now if not sooner," she said, typing commands into the computer at an alarming rate of speed.
Solivala looks things over.
"Do not be alarmed."
A pair of orbs dissolve into a black cloud that worms its way into Ephebe thru her mouth and nose. Another orb darts over to the computer and dissolves into a black mist that settles over the computer quickly disappearing. Soon the screen starts pulling up window after window of information with details on the subject.
"It seems your subject is unstable, my swarm is scanning only. Any actions will require authorization."
"Yeah..she's amazing...I was afraid I'd have to cast Dragon Form to hold her down, but the idea of her waking up with a black dragon in her face may not be heathly for either of us..."he said with a smirk.
As the black cloud settles over Ephebe, Krays exclaims "What the hell...?" Looks to Aananda...
As he is helping put up the equipment in the gymnasium, Fei notes that Professor Sunwake's demeanor is different - on edge. Assuming that it has to do with her children, he makes for the Infirmary when he is done.
He stops short upon entering as the dark elven student from the cafeteria is standing just on the other side of the doors.
"It is....very crowded in here," he says to nobody in particular as he quickly surveys the scene to see what he might be able to do to help...
"Give me a run-down of the analysis, Solivala, and then I'll authorize what action is necessary."
"Fei, yes, it is a bit, could you please help keep Ephebe restrained? Krays and Kam are having a bit of difficulty with it and someone needs to get more icepacks."
"It's okay, Krays. Solivala might not have the world's best manners, but he's a brilliant technician and right now I don't care about manners so long as we find a way to help Ephebe."
Her words are crisp, clear, and authoritative but the tone is a bit frantic.
Nods, and makes room for Fei.
"Give me a run-down of the analysis, Solivala, and then I'll authorize what action is necessary."
"Fei, yes, it is a bit, could you please help keep Ephebe restrained? Krays and Kam are having a bit of difficulty with it and someone needs to get more icepacks."
"It's okay, Krays. Solivala might not have the world's best manners, but he's a brilliant technician and right now I don't care about manners so long as we find a way to help Ephebe."
Her words are crisp, clear, and authoritative but the tone is a bit frantic.
Solivala takes a moment.
"The screen holds all the details. But in simple terms it seems some sort of transformation process is taking place. It does not seem to be a completely natural process at that, a good deal of magic is involved."
He seems to stare at nothing for a few moments.
"If you wish to stop the transformation it may have a great deal of side effects and endanger the subjects life. If you wish to allow the transformation my swarm can infest the subjects system and help regulate the process, this should stablize the subject. My swarm can also repair any damage the stress of the transformation will cause, I have no data on this transformation so I can not guarantee anything compared to the outcome of said transformation. I would suggest you allow me to regulate the elemental build up in the subjects system, it will become volatile in a short time."
Nodding, he takes a steadying breath, his exhalation once again sounding like scree settling after a landslide.
"Excuse me" he says with a nod as he moves around Solivala to get to Ephebe's bed. He carefully takes hold of her to keep her from injuring herself or anyone else around her, nodding to Krays when he feels he has her secured so he can find more ice packs.
"If you have used what is in this supply cabinet, there should be more in the storage closet around that corner on the left."
Aananda scans through the readout before her on the monitor.
"Yes, I'm going to allow the transformation. It's a necessary thing. What I don't understand is why it's so volatile. You have my permission to stabilize her."
She manipulated the data on the screen, running as many tests as she could manage in a short time. Solivala's nanites were quite a bit faster at data analysis than hers. She'd have to ask him how that worked when she wasn't in the middle of a crisis.
"Okay, so I've been working on analyzing her genetic structure, trying to figure out what changes were made. Thanks to your swarm I've been able to isolate the pieces. I'm working with guesses here because there isn't time for proper testing anymore. But I think that we might be looking at more than one transformation here. Some things that were dormant when I started testing are becoming active now. I think that's what's making the results so volatile. I'm not sure if I should be assisting the process or trying to stop it. It would help if I knew what this stuff was from. Can you help me finish the analysis and see if we can piece together the rest of this and find a match?"
"My readings have lead me to believe that the volatile reaction is due to conflicting energies with in the subject. Their is a large amount of elemental energy, this seems to be a natural part of the subject. Then their is this other energy that seems to have been implanted into the subject."
Solivala falls silent, those close by get a sudden sense of anger and danger but it passes as quickly as it came.
"The natural state of the subject has been altered in a imperfect manner. I would theorize that the subjects body adapted over time to deal with this, a recent change has forced things beyond limits. The subject can not adjust without aid. My swarm will analyze the foreign matter with in the subject, we must adjust or destroy those that are conflicting with the subjects natural matter and energy. Equilibrium must be obtained."
The three remaining orbs move over Ephebe and begin to orbit, humming and glowing with energy.
"My orbs will regulate the energy and attempt to absorb or discharge excess energy. While my swarm with in her is dealing with the physical stablization. This should buy us time to rectify the subjects systems."
He pauses for a moment his head turning towards Aananda. He cast a quick spell and his voice sounds in her ear only.
"My scan is complete, the subject is a dragon demon hybrid. Unlike a true hybrid the subject has been improperly and artificially engineered. Primitive genetic manipulation was used, my data on this dragon type is limited and this demonic gene is not in my database. The demon used was a unique or unknown demon type. Dispite this I have been able to properly identify the draconic and demonic genes. How do you wish to proceed?"
In any other situation she would be afraid that this stranger had found out their secret. He couldn't be trusted to keep it, or even understand why it needed to be a secret. But right now she was too busy being afraid for her daughter's life. She read through the analysis again.
"I believe your analysis is about 95% correct, Solivala, but you're missing a couple of things. The foreign gene is not demonic in origin. I looked at that. Extensively. It seemed the most likely answer since the one who did this to her was a demon. But look...here...and here...the energies used to apply these changes were demonic and the magic involved still lingers, but this genetic code...I don't know what this is."
She pricked her finger with a needle and let the swarm absorb the drop of blood and then opened file after file in rapid succession.
"We're going to have to have a long and serious talk about this later. Right now I need you to help me save my daughter. This will give you every bit of information I have on this type of dragon and on the demon that did this to her. But I can tell you one thing. We can't take this foreign genetic material out of her. It would kill her. See? Here...and here..." she pointed at the monitor, pulling images out of it into a three dimensional holographic display. "The demon did shoddy work, but she was a malicious b~#*@ and she went out of her way to make sure that it couldn't be undone."
"Is there any way that we can remove and replace the demonic energy powering this change? Create a true hybrid?"
Solivala remains silent for a time.
"As I said I can craft anything."
He looks around, removing a gem from his pocket he taps it. Suddenly the infirmary is 170 ft. by 170 ft. larger.
"The room will remain like this for seventeen days or until the spell is dismissed. I need space for what I will do."
He places the gem back into his pocket and removes a small object. He tosses it over his shoulder, it lands and grows quickly into a clockwork gate. The gate's cyclopean eye opens looking around. It's gate opens with grinding gears, Solivala walks over to it. Nothing can be seen thru the gate but soon something comes thru. What looks like a glass coffin floats out of the gate, he pushes it next to Ephebe. A dark cloud appears above the coffin then forms into six more orbs that orbit the space above the coffin.
"This will transfer the subjects soul, body, and energy but in a manner and order that can be controlled. It can also filter anything that is unwanted out. While this would be enough for a normal being due to the high energy output I will need to bring in safe guards."
Solivala snaps his fingers and four iron golems walk thru the gate. Each bearing a crystal pillar etched with runes, they place one at each cardinal direction then stand with their backs to them.
"These will allow the demonic energy to be safely dispersed and take the brunt of the force rather then the transfer device. While this takes care of the energy to be removed, their needs to be an energy source to replace it. I would advise a energy source that is in tune with her earth elemental energy. Elemental water, divine, positive, or astral are all good choices with high odds of success. While the transfer device will allow us to properly create the body and transfer the soul. Simply put we will be remaking the subject correcting the former errors along the way."
You notice Solivala seems to be watching everyone, as if expecting something.
She swallowed hard. This was taking a big chance. But it might be the only chance she had to help her daughter. She looked at the device. A part of her, way at the back of her mind, was eaten up with curiosity. She wanted to know how it all worked. She was going to have so many questions later.
"She's a cleric so she'd probably prefer divine energy. The gold pendant she's wearing is her focus. It looks like a normal piece of jewelry, but it's not. It was given to her by Kronos. You can probably pull energy from there for her. If that doesn't work I'd say go with positive energy."
She paused for a second looking at her daughter. She was scared. This had to work. It just had to. She turned back to Solivala.
"Thank you. For helping her. I couldn't have done it fast enough to matter. When we're done I have about a million questions, but for now... Let's finish this."
Solivala takes the holy symbol, he removes a small object from his pocket which grows in his hand. With in moments he has a large canister with dark tinted glass, which does little to block the orb of white light with in.
"It seems this symbol does have power but not in my hands. None the less I think it should help serve was a channeling device for this positive energy orb. Those who are not assisting should step back."
He tosses the holy symbol which floats over Ephebe's body then places the canister carefully over the coffin where it floats in place.
"I will now begin. Aananda if you would man the monitor I will do everything from here."
He walks to the place between the coffin and Ephebe. Then it slowly begins, powerful demonic energy is drawn out into the crystal pillars whose runes glow deep red and black. The holy symbol hums with power as the positive energy replaces the demonic. The skeleton slowly forms in the coffin as Ephebe's body begins to dissolve at the toes. The more of her body that disappears the more the body in the coffin is being completed layer by layer. Soon Ephebe's body is gone and a copy lays in her place with in the glass coffin. The canister's orb is gone and it has grown dark, the crystal pillars are dark as well.
"Everything has worked on my end. The subject should be restored and properly repaired."
He snaches the holy symbol from the air and places it atop her coffin. Retreaving the canister which shrinks once more and disappears into his pocket.
"We should run some scans to make sure their are no foreseeable problems, then the subject can be awakened."
Her hands flew over the holographic display as she studied readouts and initiated test programs.
"From what I'm seeing here it looks like she's stable and the transformation is complete. There's no trace left of the demonic energy, and her vitals are steady. All scans are clear."
She closed her eyes for a second, praying that this procedure worked.
"Okay, I think it's time to wake her up."
Solivala moved the coffin over the bed. Then tapped it, the bottom opened dropping her onto the bed. He placed her holy symbol atop her then sent the coffin back thru the gate.
"I would remind you not to be alarmed."
The other orbs dissolve and his six return to orbit him. A thin mist rises from the computer then disappears. Finally black smoke exits Ephebe's nose and mouth disappearing shortly after.
"The subject should wake momentary."
His golems lift the crystal pillars and begin their lumbering march back to the gate. Once the last golem is thru the gate closes its door but remains in place.
First there had been the flames. Red and black and hungry. She had tried to run, but wherever she went they followed her, consuming her bit by bit. And she was so tired. And then there were the white flames. Refreshing and cool, the psychic equivalent of her favorite energy drink. They had given her the strength to fight the flames a little longer.
And then something happened. She wasn't sure what, but she was missing a few seconds. And the flames were gone, replaced by....White flames, but not the same as the ones she'd felt before. These were laced with gold flecks that flickered through them, like sand running through.
Her eyelids fluttered. "Uuuuuunh."
She opened her eyes. She felt strange. Better, but still different. She reached her hand up and closed it around her pendant. Why was the chain undone? She never took it off. As she touched it the chain moved and refastened itself around her neck. She sat up cautiously.
"What happened?"
"You scared us there for a bit. You had a fever and were melting through ice packs like, well, like the were ice. You also kept shifting so much Krays, Fei, and I had to hold you down while the new guy here helped your mom make you all better." Kam tells Ephebe as he stays close in case she starts falling(or shifting like crazy again).
Fei nods with Kamenwati's description. He had placed his hands back on Ephebe's shoulders, but removes them as she seems to be lucid again.
"The briefest explanation is that you have been...reborn, and the dark taint that was trying to consume you has been...removed. Welcome back, friend."
"Oh sure, Fei, please make your explanation of events much more dramatic than mine so that she pay more attention to yours." Kam says, joking now that the crisis has apparently passed.
[blink, blink]
"Fei's explanation is confusing.........urk," she squeaked as she was caught in a crushingly tight hug from her mom.
[blink, blink]
"Fei's explanation is confusing.........urk," she squeaked as she was caught in a crushingly tight hug from her mom.
"That can be the problem with brief explanations, yes" he replies with a smile as he gets out of the way. "I believe your mother and Solivala can provide you with more of the details than I can." :)
Seems happy and very relieved his friend is ok...
"How do you feel?"
Seems happy and very relieved his friend is ok...
"How do you feel?"
"need...to...breathe...."
Once her mom had stopped hugging her so tightly she took a deep breath and smiled.
"I feel...better. Better than I have since before I went into the time loop."
Solivala remains silent but watching. The clockwork gate opens a few small panels, more then a dozen arms with rags and bottles are cleaning everthing they can reach. The eye seems to be half closed, anyone looking gets the impression its enjoying itself.
"The short version is that when the demon changed you she did a terrible job. The stress of the unimprinting was more than this body could handle and you were pretty much coming apart at the seams. The changes couldn't be reversed without killing you, so instead we took out the demonic energy and fixed the mistakes she made. We still don't know what she use to alter you, but the hybridization is stable now. Solivala did most of the work."
"...what happened to your hair?"
"Oh. Fieri cut it. She was trying to cheer me up. I like it."
"Who's Solivala?"
Remembers how H'Tor described him and snickers
"The new drow kid."
Looks at Solivala
"Thank you for your help. If you ever need anything I am capable of doing, let me know."
Looks around until she sees Solivala.
"Thank you."
"Is that your gate? And is it...cleaning itself?....That's so cool!" :)
The clockwork gate opens a few small panels, more then a dozen arms with rags and bottles are cleaning everthing they can reach.
"Is that your gate? And is it...cleaning itself?...."
The eye seems to be half closed, anyone looking gets the impression its enjoying itself.
"Yes I am Solivala and my clockwork gate does that from time to time. It is very observant when it comes to its maintained state."
He takes a moment.
"I would warn all of you not to speak about what you have seen. My technology is not to be known. It could cause problems."
The clockwork gate suddenly freezes and brings a narrow eyed gaze on Solivala's back.
"I am not referring to my clockwork gate but rather the other items I made use of."
The clockwork gate goes back to cleaning itself, content once more.
"Yes I am Solivala and my clockwork gate does that from time to time. It is very observant when it comes to its maintained state."He takes a moment.
"I would warn all of you not to speak about what you have seen. My technology is not to be known. It could cause problems."
The clockwork gate suddenly freezes and brings a narrow eyed gaze on Solivala's back.
"I am not referring to my clockwork gate but rather the other items I made use of."
The clockwork gate goes back to cleaning itself, content once more.
"Well, then it seems we have the making of a mutually beneficial arrangement. We don't speak of your technology to outsiders, a request I fully understand and support. And you don't reveal the true nature of myself and my children to the world at large. It would be extremely detrimental to our health. Too many people believe that we are monsters."