869 Exp available, 24 cycles till next payment

  -50 Exp for Dragon Blight Suppressor Dose

  Mail Notification: Proposal

  Given your last correspondence, I feel daily scans might be advantageous. Due to the inconvenience, I am willing to pay for your medication costs as well as provide a travel injector. In addition I like to change your accommodations to be at the medical facility.

  Grant Pinok Yester the 3rd

  Zelda's eyes narrow at the message. She wants to decline. There was a new scale on the right side of her face. She hits accept and sends a message to Dagnit. She won't be able to meet up for breakfast.

  -----

  She hadn't slept all night. Every four hours she would condense her mana. She did so again.

  It never gets bigger, just a single point. She is waiting at the regular clinic. The brown bear man just taps at his tablet behind his desk while she sits in the waiting room. Waiting on Pamulur. The bearman gets up.

  “This way.”

  Zelda follows. I never been to this room. There is a tube with a table sticking out of it. The bearman hands her a gown.

  “No jewelry or contacts. I'll be back in five minutes.” He speaks again. To the point.

  Zelda quickly changes, unsure if the orderly was going to knock before returning. He did. But he didn't wait for her answer.

  “Lay on that table. Feet towards the FullScan. Any issues with claustrophobia? Notes say to not provide any sedatives but I can turn on some soothing music.” All business.

  “Uh no. Music sounds nice.”

  He nods as Zelda gets on the table, feet towards the tube. The music is not anything she had ever heard but was calm and melodious.

  “The table is going to retract into the machine, it will be five minutes. Please don't move nor engage your system. The less additional effects on you the better picture we will have of your status. Ready?”

  The table moves before she can reply. Then why ask? She doesn't bother complaining. The bearman has always been all business, no small talk. Asking if I wanted music was a first.

  “Engaging the scan, you may see flashing lights.”

  She did. They weren't blinding. But they were colors she had only just recently witnessed on Flock's chest. A product of my better eyesight then. Five minutes of boredom is a long time. But eventually the table pulls out of the tube.

  “I'll be back in five minutes, please be dressed by then.”

  As advertised there was a knock, a door open and an invitation to follow. She did. A new room waited for her. It had the reclined seat she was used to waking up in. He only motioned her to get into it. She does.

  “The doctor will be in shortly.”

  Shortly being an hour. Zelda reviewed the mana core vid again. Hoping to glean any additional information. Nothing about it not increasing in size. Was I too early in my attempt? Be rather comical if I failed to create a core because I lack the mana. The door opens and the green bunny Pamulur steps in.

  She touches a few buttons and screens pop up around Zelda. Numbers. Name. Height. One seventy point five? It was to the right of a previous one seventy. She was about to say something when the doctor spoke.

  “Your blight is progressing. I see you notice you're taller. It's your neck that's longer.”

  Zelda begins to feel cold. Panic was rising. The doctor places a hand on her shoulder. It radiated warmth. She begins to calm down.

  “Personally I don't enjoy doing that but you need to remain calm. Breast volume is reducing. All essential organs are unchanged.” She says in a calm steady voice. As if the weather today would be another mild cloudless day.

  My breast are shrinking? Wait a second?

  “And non-essential organs?” Zelda asks, fearing the answer.

  “I suggest increasing your calcium intake. Your reproductive organs have changed. I could go into details but you're going to start laying unfertilized eggs.”

  Laying?!? The coldness grows again, the doctor's calmness warmth increases. It takes the edge off but does not dispel it fully.

  “Are you currently sexually active?”

  Zelda shakes her head.

  “I'm not your mother but I suggest keeping it that way. There is a new vertebrae at your tail bone. I can only assume your tail is starting to form.”

  Damn it, Dagnit.

  “How long?”

  “Pardon?”

  “How long until my body can't function correctly.”

  “Hard to say, your blood could shift and you could die in the next hour. Or the changes will stop and you have no issues for twenty years.”

  “Anything else?”

  “Your arms are longer.” She clicks a thing on her tablet. It shows Zelda's shoulder. The bone looks like it's bowing backwards. “Your arms are shifting backwards. I suspect they are to be your wing appendages.”

  The warmth grows as panic sets in. It's a struggle. Pamulur looks to her side. Contemplating a sedative. Get it together, Zelda. It's too soon. Zelda huffs out a sigh.

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Seems I'm still dying, it just wasn't in three days.”

  “I know this isn't easy. There's more.” A new screen appears showing her chest cavity.

  “What am I looking at?”

  Pamulur points to a single black dot. One could assume it was just a misplaced pixel.

  “There is a fissure of mana here, it wasn't there before. I fear it is going to explode.”

  Zelda tilts her head. That's where I think…

  “That's my mana core. I started it yesterday.”

  “You created a pinpoint mana core…of what type of mana.” There is a bit of incredulousness coming from the doctor.

  “Space aspected.” Zelda deadpans.

  “That’s impossible. No one does a space core as their first unless they were aspected as such. You would have been whisked away to an academy for the gifted if that was the case.”

  Zelda just stares at the doctor. What is there to say, my eye was stolen and my aspect covered up to hide the theft.

  “Let's just assume I'm not making things up, doctor.”

  “I don't know anything about space cores. If it's an aspect bestowed by your blight, it might be progressing your blight using it. The problem is I wouldn't suggest stopping the process.” Seeing Zelda agitation, she explains. “At this point you're a walking bomb. If you try to let go it's going to expand and push everything away from you including your body. You can't sleep till this finishes. I'm sending a message to your sponsor.”

  Pasted from the inside. Considering her alarm I am guessing Returner isn't an option. Sponsor is an interesting word for the owner of my debt.

  The bearman enters the room with two boxes. The doctor turns to me.

  “These are auto injection implants. The first will be loaded with a stimulant. It will keep you awake until we can verify your core is stable. The second will be loaded with your blight suppressor. It will inject you every half day.”

  The bunny hesitates.

  “What’s wrong, doctor?”

  “I am trying to decide the best location. Take off your pants. The suppressor will go into your right inner thigh. I think your left arm for the stimulant port is fine, it will be temporary. No combat until that core is formed.”

  -----

  Zelda hobbles out of the room. Seriously, the inner thigh sucks. When she arrives at the lobby she sees Grant. Her eyes narrow.

  “None of that now, seems the situation is more dire than I thought. I'm leaving the planet and you are as well.”

  Zelda frowns at his words. “I don't recall that being part of the agreement I signed.”

  He shrugs, “Your Return is set to my ship, I would assume you prefer your possessions to be with you when you recklessly die again.”

  Or he has someone ‘Return’ me.

  “I'll just send a message to Dagnit then.”

  “No need, I've hired her crew to ferry you.” Zelda tilts her head not understanding, “You're still a possible bomb, Miss Smith43. I can't very well have you on my ship.”

  No, you will just risk my … friends. Fine, sure, my friends. Even if one thinks I'm her pet

  “I guess I'll go talk to her then.”

  “Do hurry.” He hands her a bag. “It's bigger on the inside, no weight adjustments though. Should be enough for your possessions.”

  Zelda frowns at him as the Bearman seems busy gathering things.

  -----

  Zelda returned to her apartment. She places her possessions into her ‘bigger on the inside bag’. When the bag never feels full even after placing her dresser worth of clothing into it she starts to have a better opinion of it. Other than a few photos and her injector there wasn't much to grab. She looks at her shield, shrugs and places that and her sword in it. No combat, doctor’s orders.

  Lifting the bag she heads out. It's rather cumbersome. No weight enchantment. She exits her apartment to find Dagnit and Frankie outside. They are visibly agitated.

  “If it is about me potentially exploding. It was your idea, Dagnit.”

  Dagnit looks at her as if she is insane. Before she can purr out an admonishment an explosion rings out. The hell?

  “We need to move. Where is your equipment?” Dagnit speaks quickly. She winces when Zelda looks over her shoulder to her bag. “No time, follow closely. We need to get to the lifts.”

  What follows is a rather tense moment of moving from cover to cover. The Red Deliverance Company was fighting humans. Guess I wasn't the only one getting screwed. Above there are ships in the thin atmosphere firing at other ships. They make it the lifts. A moment reprieve. Dagnit punches in a destination and they start to move.

  “Get your armor on, Zelda.” Dagnit gets annoyed when Zelda looks at Frankie. “You prefer your modesty over dying?”

  “Sorry, I'll get it on.” Zelda heart seizes. Damn it, I didn't answer the question. “What's happening?”

  “Oh just the usual corp on corp warfare. Corp A wishes to knock corp B down a few pegs so they find the malcontents and give them weapons and promises of a better deal on their debt.” Frankie answers.

  Not an offer of being debt free but just a better ‘deal’. “Surprised I wasn't given an offer then. That hurts a little.”

  “Less talking, more equipping.” Frankie admonishes then whistles, “Your spine got some scales on it.”

  A glare from Zelda is answered by Dagnit, “Get on with it, pet. As for not being contacted, your level nine. Not exactly an asset. Also I suspect much of your information is considered off the books.”

  Zelda frowns at that as she pulls on one leather legging.

  “I haven't actually seen a book, how is it you have that saying?”

  Dagnit looks at her confused, then she gets a smile, “Must be quite the translator implant to be selecting idioms for my euphemisms. Do tell me what it said so I may better understand, after you finish dressing.”

  Zelda manages her breastplate on and removes her shield and sword.

  “I can't use magic nor was I supposed to get into combat.”

  “Well avoiding combat is the goal here. Just keep your shield up.” Frankie says while looking around.

  There was another explosion. In the sky. The trio look up to see a ship start to pull towards the planet. That's not good.

  “I say about ten minutes unless they can engage dampeners.” Dagnit huffs out.

  “For this thin air, pfft five tops.” Frankie counters.

  “You both seem nonchalant about the giant hunk of metal slowly accelerating towards us.”

  They both look at me, then laugh. “That hunk of metal is about to bounce off the settlement shields.” Frankie says between guffaws.

  Another ship in orbit begins to fire at the planet. A dome flashes then shatters at the bombardment.

  “I blame Zelda for making me say that about the shield.” Frankie was quick to blurt out. The lift arrives before the other two could say anything in response.

  “Quickly, Frankie, grab her bag, she's too slow.” Dagnit issues commands before sprinting out. Zelda hands the bag over while Frankie grimaces. They follow the cat out. The fighting is muted but there is a rather large group of people heading to the various ships.

  They arrive at a pier as more explosions ring out of the settlement. No time to look back. Zelda lungs begin to burn from the running. At the end of the pier is a rather oblong ship. It was about as tall as a two story building and just as wide. Its length is about four times as much. It has various nodes sticking out of it and it was painted a matte black.

  A hatch opens and a walkway extends out. Dagnit runs up the walkway. Despite having the heavier load Frankie beats Zelda to the hatch. But not by much. They scramble in while the walk way retracts.

  “We got everyone, Flocks?” Dagnit yells out.

  “Aye, Dags. We lift off just as soon as the settlement gives the go ahead.” Flocks voice answers her from deeper in the ship.

  “Don't wait, shields got busted and a capital is coming down. They're going with an annihilation today.” Dagnit responds as she heads towards Flock’s voice. Zelda goes to follow before Frankie stops her.

  “You'd be in the way, here follow me to the medical bay.”

  Something inside Zelda starts to expand. It feels like a dagger in her chest. Shit, I let go for a moment. She clamps down on her nascent mana core. Then empties her mana condensing on it again. Frankie gives her a look. She waves him off. He shrugs and proceeds to lead her onward.

  -----

  “Doctor Pamulur?”

  The green rabbit turns towards Zelda.

  “Onto the bed, your sponsor took the opportunity to hire me when my current employment was coming to a close. Any issues getting here?”

  “I just felt my mana core stab me in the chest but I think I got it under control.”

  The doctor gives a skeptical look but pulls out a hand held device with a rectangular screen on it. She pivots it over Zelda's chest.

  “Seems to be the same size as before. I should have put a scan implant into you.”

  She turns away from Zelda and rummages in a cabinet. She pulls out a box with thin sheets wrapped in plastic. She removes a sheet from the plastic and places it in the middle of Zelda's chest, taking a moment to smooth out the wrinkles. It clings to Zelda skin. It's cold. After a few moments on her data pad after looking at plastic packaging some lights begin to flare across the sheet.

  The floor beneath them heaves. A thrumming of the ship sounds out. Guess we’re underway.