[Trying something totally experimental here. Tell me if it's an utter
flop, please? ^_^;]
It rejects me.
Me, the Princess of Eternity. Reincarnated after I sacrificed myself
to defeat the demon several years ago. These past years have been a
blur, but at least I did not have to come back as a newborn this time.
This diamond is - was - the source of my powers. I had hoped to use it
as a beacon to find my teammates and rejoin the neverending fight
against evil. But, in my hands, it stays cold and silent.
Why? Why has the instrument of my glory been silenced after so many
millenia, after so many deaths and rebirths...only failing now, after I
have come alive once more?
Time to answer that question later. I have seen myself in the mirror,
and that mirror is walking by now. Perhaps she can help.
---
Another long day, and my only companion when I get home is my furmorph,
Jack. Some days he chooses to look like something mundane, like a cat
or a rabbit. Some days he's content to stretch out like a big furry
caterpillar in some sunbeam - which, I suppose, might qualify as
another "cat" form. Right now, though, he's all tentacles so as to
hack away on our apartment's UniTerm. Time enough to ask him just what
he's been hunting for later; right now, I've only got the strength for
a simple greeting.
"Hey, Jack."
"j0"
I don't think I'll ever remember why I made him talk in "1337 speek".
Better known as "English pidgin number 42T", "T" as in "Techno". Don't
ask me what catalog that's from, I've started to forget the name.
Deliberately. Anyway, it doesn't actually sound that different from
the merge of techie talk and street slang that it is when you hear it,
but it does have the charming side effect of triggering an easter egg
in most commercial voice-to-text programs that transcribes it in its
unique way. The egg's buried too deep in the source libraries to be
worth anyone's time to dig out. I know: I wrote that library, back
before the corps patented the whole field despite decades of prior art,
and seized all the academic work that had been done on it. That
was...what, five years ago, now?
Anyway, it was probably good timing. I was getting bored of that field
anyway, not to mention a bit short on funds. So, I hacked my way onto
the employment roster of some biotech megacorp, and reported for work.
Aside from chatting up the grunts who set my lab up, my first real
human contact in there was a few months later, when some bored intern
hadn't yet learned the futility of trying to find out what everyone was
doing. I brushed him off with some story about classified research and
the necessity of working solo; in fact, I'd spent the time brushing up
on the field and fattening my bank account.
He was cute, but a bit too naive for his own good. When he blabbed to
one of the section chiefs a week later that he'd been dating one of the
black ops researchers, well...the chief came by personally to apologize
for the intern's interruptions, asked me to pass along a request that
they be given something to mark me down as for official purposes (I
could tell he despaired of getting any real info before he even saw
me), and assured me that the intern would no longer annoy me. It
would've been useemly for me to attend the intern's funeral, I suppose.
That's about the time I decided to make Jack. I still remember my
thought train: "puppy love" lead to "do I want a puppy" then "EUREKA".
At first, I just made him a furry blob, able to change his skeleton
into any shape he wanted. Heightened sense of touch: scratch or pet
him anywhere that's not an opening and he likes it. Human-equivalent
brain and vocal apparatus, of course, along with the other practical
necessities of life.
Only about halfway through the design did I think up his really special
trait: nanomanufacture. He's got a special pouch on his "belly" lined
with manipulators to build anything he knows how. It's easiest for him
to work with crystals or flesh, and crystals are so much more practical
for many things. Not to mention prettier.
Take my armor. Collapses into a backpack - these days, a grown woman
carrying around a backpack isn't that unusual, even if it is rare - and
deploys in seconds. Jack can only build it piece by piece, so I've
been building my "powers" slowly. Every so often, he'll produce some
new gizmo or highlight as if out of thin air.
And so I go monster hunting. I'm still not sure where the monsters
come from or why they terrorize the city, but so far I've been nearby
every time they've popped up. Thank Jack: he suggested that I "retire"
and just start wandering the city, chatting up people and making
friends. I've never had much use for friends before - who needs people
who can betray you? - but, well, it is fun being out and about. And
the praise when I, hidden in my armor, go forth and save the people...
Neither do I have to worry about money. Whatever Jack's into, he's
been transferring major creds to my account (at least, I assume it's
him: he admitted to the first one I noticed, and I haven't asked
since). I'm sure he's got plans for the money, though, so I haven't
made any major purchases yet. But I do indulge in the occasional
splurge, or charity.
I wonder if that girl at my doorstep is another charity agent? She
certainly seems blank-faced enough, and that rock in her hand's gotta
be some kind of prop.
---
From: dont@find.me
To: ill@find.you
Bcc: [SUPRESSED]
Subject: Princess
Have found Princess's body and soul. They're not together. Reborn by
body side. Soul side nearby, annoying body side. Worried about
hostilities. Request advice.
---
From: worried@royal.advisor
to: my@baka.lover
Bcc: [SUPRESSED]
Subject: Re: Princess
Well! Took you long enough to reincarnate, I must say. At least you
contacted me right away - you *are* just relearning how to use complete
sentences, I assume.
I suppose we have you to thank for the "Ruby Ranger" that's been
thrashing the "doomers", as they call themselves. The other girls
lured them here in a standard trap-and-capture operation - which went
wrong, as always, but at least they're not threatening some other part
of the world.
Anyway, I'll try to track the next one down and have the girls waiting
in ambush. Not for the doomer, but for Miss Ruby. It doesn't matter
if she's soul or body; the other half will come out, then we'll use the
Majestic Diamond to force them back together again. About time, too.
---
From: neoneko@nonneko.whatami
To: survivor@former.era
Bcc: [SUPRESSED]
Subject: Re: Princess
Advise against. Majestic Diamond cracked, powerless. Ruby Ranger
suspicious; might shoot to kill former teammates if ambushed.
My body altered. My mind altered. May have failed you unforgiveably.
Sorry anyway.
---
"POWERLESS?"
What the HELL does that girl think she's doing standing outside my
doorway? No, don't answer that: she's not thinking.
Or maybe she is. Jack's looking at her funny. "J0u 7313p/-\7|-|?"
Telepath? TELEPATH!?! F, my stalker's some loony PSI?
"I am not loony, my other half. But it would appear that Jack is
correct."
... Ok, shutting down conscious thought now.
"That will not work. I can see into your heart. I know the pain that
you have suffered, while I suffered only nonexistence. But we can be
together now, be the same person like we once were."
Ooookaaaay, how about this: who are you and what the F do you want?
"I told you. I am your other half, and I wish to rejoin. This crystal
was supposed to be our instrument, but it appears to be flawed."
Crystal? Oh, that hunk of rock in her - your - hands. Gotta get used
to thinking conversationally. Anyway...umm. Ok, just on the off
chance that you're correct - and I'm not believing that for an instant,
mind you - so F'ing what? You want me to repair the crystal or
something?
"If you would be so kind."
... Eh, sure, worth a giggle. I'm not gonna get you off my back any
other way anyway, and you're not worth shooting. I've got a crystal
welder in back. Come on.
---
In the kingdom which first granted us our powers, once a crystal was
broken, it was broken forever. Such must have been the thought of the
demon who sought to destroy me permanently. But now...the crystal
welder is beautiful in its own right, in operation, especially the way
the light on its tip scatters throughout the crystal, shifting as the
internal fracture mends until all the scattered rainbows come into
balance.
Is it fate, or just coincidence, that such an attack was never used
until the world caught up and rendered it moot? Or perhaps Destiny's
purpose was just to let me catch up on the world around me, to master
the more mundane opportunities. I will certainly retain my body's new
knowledge after we are merged.
One look at "Jack", as she is now known, answers that question.
Destiny always did have a soft spot for her, and even if explaining her
male form to her husband will take some doing, Jack has been granted a
better ability to indulge in her biggest weakness: sleeping in
sunbeams.
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