Born a Monster

What can I say about Reticule that others have not; It’s certainly worth the points.

It slathers your perceptions with data. Not just vision; for people like myself, it rendered health conditions as smells, attitudes as...

Forgive me, I’m not certain how to refer to the psychic senses. Attitudes tickled my psyche, faiths manifested as feelings of aura, which conflicted with the sheer sense of aura pressure telling me how many experience they’d invested in certain areas, compared to me.

“I feel their fear.” I said.

“Yeah, that’s normal. Can you feel my fear?”

I placed my reticule on her. Bits of data jumped out. She was hosting a new spirit, one of wind rather than dreams. Her favorite food was not fish, but apples. She was both stronger and weaker than I was. Her current Title: Noble. Subtitle: Noble’s Daughter.

Hey, wait, subtitles? Was that a thing?

She lashed out at my eye, the reticule flashing briefly the color of blood before returning to the blue of the deep sea. Her blow struck my nose as I pulled back, rather than the eyeball. The pain was only marginally less; it was a Brawler ability that Pankratios also had.

.....

Or maybe a Pankratios ability that Brawler also had?

No, focus. Time to speak up.

“I definitely feel your anger.” I said. Somehow, her Wrath was higher than mine, but I couldn’t tell by how much.

“You weren’t focusing on what you wanted to know. Probably something perverse, like my measurements.”

“I don’t need the reticule to tell me those. We got fitted for those blue suits at the same time, remember?”

“Don’t you DARE speak them out loud! I absolutely WILL cut your tongue out, just because it’ll grow back, allowing me to cut it out again.”

“Kismet, your measurements are within... You don’t actually want to talk about them, do you?”

She had to clench and unclench her hands twice, before she could speak. “Rhishi. Fear. Now.”

“No, you’re awash with other emotions, but...”

“But I’m in control of them, right?”

“For now.” I hadn’t kept good track of my serenity either, but to FEEL her like this... I could see why some people kept their reticule always on. It would be easy to just bathe in the sensations, learning about the world in a more immediate and profound way that discovering it.

But... that was what I liked doing, discovering it.

The reticule was like riding a tidal wave instead of sipping from a cup; there was a lot more volume, but there was the very real sensation that one could lose oneself beneath the waves, in a way that might not be recoverable from.

I turned my reticule off. “So, while I’m not needed on the wall, how can I assist... what do I call our nine to keep them straight from the others?”

“Theirs are the Nine, we’re the Nine Against Nine. Stop.”

“Stop what?”

“You’re about to think about how both sides are The Nine Against Nine. Don’t. I need you focused, have you honed your Sense Lies skill?”

“I don’t THINK so. No, I haven’t been focusing on it recently.”

She ruffled the fur on her forehead. “Rhishi. This isn’t the time to be a musclehead. This is a time to act like you’re smart.”

“I should be smart; I have the raw statistics for it.”

“Are you holding yourself back?”

“Not that I’m aware of.”

“Rhishi. Truthspeaker, yes or no?”

“Well, n... I guess I am. Yes.”

“Gods! It’s like herding chickens! Rhishi, this isn’t time for holding back. Do you understand that if this fortress falls, Madonna’s going to be the only one with her head attached?”

“Uh, what?”

She flinched. “What did I just say? No. Being. Stupid. How many non-humans are on this island?”

“I don’t know; counting spirits a few thousand.”

“Rhishi. Bodies. How many living non-humans?”

“I’d guess a thousand or so.”

“Less than two hundred, Rhishi.”

“That can’t possibly be accurate.”

“Rhishi, less than two hundred. Only two of them are inmates. It’s a census; it’s a fact.”

“No, I’m positive there are more than that. Your statistics would mean that over ninety-nine percent of people on this island are human.”

“Yes, Rhishi. That’s exactly my point. Those levels don’t happen naturally. Now which is more likely, that a third of the world is reserved for only humans, or that there’s genocide going on behind the scenes?

“It is most likely that the census is inadequate.”

“And what after that?”

“I... I have heard fewer stories about sentient animals, and more about how humans are the best cultivators. I hear more stories about compliance and order than of innovation. Everything I’ve seen suggests that the warrior caste in particular...”

I stopped to order my words. “This island isn’t the Daurian Empire in miniature, but rather in caricature. These are the citizens that don’t fit into the fabric of their Empire.”

“And the non-humans?”

A cold certainty tried to enter my stomach from my spine. The jute wasn’t putting up with any such competition, and kicked it back. “It is more likely they are being put to death rather than exiled to a separate island.”

“Finally. And if there’s no justice for our kind under Dauria...”

“I also find it likely that there is SOME justice.”

“Rhishi. You’ve suffered more at their hands than I have. Quit being dense. I thought you were a lizard, not a horse. Take off the blinders.”

“I am not blinding myself. I merely think things aren’t quite that bad for us. Certainly not across all of Dauria.”

“Rhishi!” she then grabbed control of her own words. “How are things for us right here, right now, during this siege? Were you treated well by the other side?”

“Well, no, I wasn’t. In fact,...”

“THANK YOU. That’s my point, Rhishi. There is no happily ever after scenario here. The guards win, or we die. There is no other option.”

“There IS. There is another option. I just don’t see what it is right now.” I said.

“Pay attention. We are THIS close to losing the outer wall. You know what happens then? Those other inmates, the ones dragging their feet? Once it even LOOKS like the inmates can win, those soldiers join the ones outside. Complete with champions, and yes, more heroes with sneezy-names.”

“So yeah, Rhishi. We need to squash these spies, and quickly. And thoroughly. And we need to launch their broken bodies back at these prisoners with catapults. We need to BREAK them here, at this outer wall. We can’t just sit here; nobody is coming to help us.”

“What if they were?” I asked. “I can climb down the cliffs and swim.”

“Really? Sharks, baby kraken, jellyfish the size of horses, any of this sounding familiar?”

[Titanic Swimming: Four times normal swimming speed (6DP), +2 SP Swimming Technique, max 7 (9DP), and ignore two points of swimming hazard (3DP). Base Cost: 18 DP, Each use per day costs 3DP and is active for ten minutes. Power may be unlocked. Focus here to purchase, minimum cost 21DP.]

“Kismet, what if that weren’t a challenge? What if I could evolve into something that could survive swimming in these waters?”

“Then those points are better invested in countering whatever’s keeping you from thinking clearly. How do we get off this island after we win? Where do we get the funds to travel back home with? Because if you think I’m setting up a wicker hut and taking a native husband, THINK AGAIN. You. Are contractually bound to get me back to Narrow Valley.”

She wiped the fur where her chin met her neck. “Hopefully before this summer kills all of us. Damn.”

I exhaled, nodded. “We can’t ignore the military, we can’t ignore their spies. What help can I get you before my duties on the wall become critical again?”

“Rhishi, you’re being stupid again. Remember you have a divisor? You just aren’t as... able to invest as the rest of us are. It’s not your fault, you’re what, three now?”

“In two days, yes. But what I’ve learned is...”

“Are you able to snap sneeze hero like a twig?”

“No, of course not.” I said.

“Okay, so we need help to get out of this alive?”

“Obviously. That’s why...”

“I. Am. Talking. Now. Respect your elder, and listen. Okay?”

No, YOU will listen to ME, I managed not to say. “Let’s pretend it is. How can I help?”

“You have senses most people don’t even have access to. I think your sense of smell is close to mine, and your hearing also. I need you here, mingling with people, looking for what’s not normal.”

“I would think Daurian soldier caste would be better at that. Perhaps the doctors and nurses, the people who man these varied campsites.”

“Rhishi. Blinders. Off. The nine are just the tip of the spear. They HAVE to be getting help and support from people in these camps.”

I snorted. “Just how much support?”

“The highest estimate I’ve heard is one in three support personnel, but it’s probably less than half that, or we’d have already been screwed over.”

“It can’t be that high; they’d have overpowered and opened a gate if they had those numbers.”

.....

“Fine. Help me find the bad apples, Rhishi. You might consider worms bonus protein, but the rest of us... bleh, I need to consider my metaphors better.”

“So, help you hunt spies?” I asked.

“Yes, I need you to help hunt spies.”