Chương 212: Act 3, Chapter 62: Cerebral loan

Day in the story: 23rd January (Friday), evening Alexandra May as Jess Hare"Victor, Victor, Victor, my dear good friend." I teleported into his workshop when my sp-eye-der confirmed he was safely occupied with something and would not hit me right on arrival. I wanted to be sure, in case my soul would hold my body hostage once again, so I'd sent them in here after I started working on the brains for him.

"I am not your friend," he said with a sigh.

"What do I owe this pleasure this time?"

"You will call me a friend after this visit, my sweet, good bug-man." That earned me a look from him, peeking up from behind a microscope-like device he was using to adjust facets on soul crystals. This one looked like sapphire.

"And why is that?"

"I came bearing gifts I spoke about last time."

"You would be surprised about how little attention I pay to the promises you make, or anyone for that matter. What was it again?" He stood up and walked around the bench, then crouched in front of the chest I brought.

"And this is… what exactly?"

"My small cerebral loan, my good inventor. I'd like to lend you those brains," I answered, opening the chest to show fifteen tightly packed paper-mâché-made minds-to-be.

"With them you will be unstoppable!"

"And how do they work?" he asked, clearly not excited enough, but still curious. I fully intended to use any knowledge of his for myself when he is done making that glove for me. He did not have to know it though.

"I will make them yours. Sixteen parallel thought strands. Imagine it. You could work on your soul-core fragments with your original mind occupied, while fourteen others calculate different ways to improve your work, and one focuses entirely on finishing that glove for me." He laughed.

"Those are not soul core fragments. I do use those too, but these in particular are sapphires. Those can be used as well, but different gems have different properties."

"Wait, really? That's interesting."

"It is, indeed, and figuring it out took me a long time, so no, don't even think about asking about it," he cut in before I could even try. I made doe eyes anyway, but it was not enough to get it out of him.

"I wasn't going to," I lied.

"So what do you say, are you ready to blow your mind? I mean expand it to a whole new level?" He crossed his arms.

"Something tells me there is a catch. Or a price tag. And I cannot quite see it," he said, circling the chest and gently pushing me aside with one big hand.

"What is it, Jess?"

"Why do you have to be so jaded?" I asked, fluttering my lashes at him in the most innocent, coquette manner I could manage.

"I know mages, and I know you. You always have some hidden agenda. I will pass. Thank you." I needed this glove and I wanted his knowledge even more. The things he did were amazing, and with my sense of artistry and abilities, I could make real art that could have magical properties on its own.

"Listen, I do have an agenda in this, but it is not hidden," I lied again.

"I want this glove, and I want it fast. My friend Gertrude is in the InterContagental Hotel not far from here." Best way to lie is to tell half-truths.

"And I lost contact with her. She seems to be alive, but I worry for her life. The thing that keeps her there is powerful and I feel like I need every edge I can get to overcome it."

"I told you it might take months. I am sorry about your friend. I really am, but I cannot magically make it faster just because you are on a deadline," he said, genuinely concerned.

"This is conceptual and innovative work. I did make things like it before, but it was much larger and did not require that much precision, so I need time to think of a proper solution."

"That is exactly what I am giving you. No, wait—lending you," I said.

"It is higher computational power you can use for whatever you want, as long as at least part of it thinks about this glove all the time, Victor. When you are done, I will take it all back."

"A form of helping hand?"

"Exactly." If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

"It sounds tempting, but I am not going to do it. I do not trust you, and no amount of mental capability is going to sway me into doing that."

"Are you sure? I am thinking in thirty-seven different thought strands right this very moment." Thirty-two were in my Brain Web, one original brain and five Personas, though I did not count Gertrude's, as I was cut off from her for the time being.

"Give me a task. A difficult one. Explain how it should be done and see how fast I can do it. Then think again if you would not benefit from having fifteen additional brains yourself." He stood there for a moment, measuring me with his eyes that extended forward slightly on their tiny stalks.

"Fine. Show me the product, salesman," he said at last in a disinterested tone. But his posture told a different story. He leaned closer, watching me carefully.

"What do you want me to do?"

"I have a blue gem under the precision cutter. A sapphire. Different colors give shadowlight, and the Authority it carries, different properties, as they change the wavelength of the light passing through. Same concept applies to shape. Soul core fragments are different. Their internal structure shifts depending on the will of the user. I use them as the start of a chain, then push Authority through a series of normal crystals, which are easier to obtain. Do you understand?"

"Of course," I replied, stepping closer to the machine he had been working on when I arrived. I leaned in, placing my eye to the lens, studying the intricate facet design he had carved into the stone. The sapphire held an oval shape, the top narrower than the base, forming something like a tear. But the outer surface was not smooth. It was cut into a triangular pattern. As I observed, another part of me worked through the mechanics of the machine itself. What each lever did. How the laser cut.

How the adjustments affected the outcome. Each hand ready to act independently. Through the eyes of my planted arachnid spies, I even saw myself at work, and somewhere deeper, one of my more reflective minds wondered when exactly I had crossed into something no longer fully human, even if I still pretended to be.

"Careful with that thing!" Bohr snapped as the laser engaged.

"I did not say what I want you to do yet."

"You want me to finish the pattern you started, right?"

"Yes," he hissed.

"And figure out why the crystal—""It is shaped like a tear to let light enter through the wider base and condense into a narrower output." I shot back, while the laser kept on firing, disengaging and realigning with each half a second.

"It is a condenser crystal by design, meant to strengthen the effect while increasing precision. I do not yet know how the colors interact."

"…Then why are you so sure it is not a spreading crystal? One meant to take a narrow beam and disperse it?"

"It is obvious from the triangular pattern on the outer surface.: I replied, watching myself be illuminated by the brief bursts of light. They were getting aster and faster as I got better at operating it.

"It is meant to keep the shadowlight bouncing inside, refracting and moving along the structure formed by those shapes. The peaks of the triangles point toward the intended direction."

"Well. Not bad," he said.

"I will come back in an hour to see if you managed to do it correctly."

"No need," I replied.

"No need?" he echoed.

"Yes. No need. I am already finished." The laser stopped working entirely.

"What? That is not possible. You need to recalibrate the cutting laser after each cut. It has to be precise."

"I cut while my other minds calculated the next steps ahead. Dozens of them. I started adjusting as soon as I reached the machine."

"But… you are not an engineer. How did you know what to do?"

"I figured it out. I saw what you did when we worked on the leg. I understood the basics and adapted on the fly. See for yourself." He was not pleased. He grumbled all the way to the cutter. But he looked.

"And?" I asked again.

"Do not keep the thoughts to yourself."

"Fuck me," he said, taking the gem out of the intricate metallic lattice it had been resting in.

"It is great. Almost perfect."

"Yes. I did not bother correcting your initial mistakes," I replied with a smile.

"My ini—""It does not matter, Victor. You saw the power of what I am offering. It would be just as good as this. I restricted myself to using only sixteen brains for this task. The rest were occupied with other things."

"You restricted yourself?"

"Yes. I do not have the luxury of focusing on just one thing."

"I am impressed," he said, stroking his chin.

"How would this work exactly? Is it bound Authority?"

"No, it is not. First of all, I do not know how to do that yet—""You do not know? You have all those brains and you have not figured out something so basic?" he cut in.

"Basic for some. Difficult for me. It does not depend on computational power, but on understanding one's soul, Victor. And yes, I am lacking there."

"That is the first of all," he said, crossing one set of arms over his chest.

"What is the second?"

"I told you. It is a loan. I will take them back after a time."

"And how long would that be?"

"Three months, Victor. But the sooner I get my glove within that time, the more days I will add to the period. If I get it in thirty days, I will extend it by two more months. You understand how that works?"

"Yes. And if I want to keep using them after that ends?"

"We will get there when the time comes. I take it you have changed your mind?"

"You are a fucking drug dealer, Jess. You know that," he said.

"But I would be a fool not to try this."

"I am glad we managed to reach an agreement." I extended my hand. He hesitated briefly but took it anyway. A strange feeling, being held by a hand with two opposable thumbs on either side. But the moment we made contact, I reached for his soul and forced my Identity Authority onto it, making those artificial and artistic minds his own. He resisted at first, then stilled as he grasped what was being offered.

When the unseen threads of shadowlight bound him to me—and to the minds—he sank onto his strange knees, bracing himself with his second pair of arms. His body trembled as he lifted his face toward me.

"I will get you that glove."