As their current contractor closed their eyes, the Semiseelie given the name ‘Cleo’ sent a dilation request to the central system. It was, of course, accepted instantly- the system had already calculated when every request to access it that would ever be made would be made.

Such was the power of 7,000 networked matrioshka brains as the humans called them… or was it 10,000 in this cluster now?

The colors faded to gray as the simulation of the world replaced sight- photons simply no longer moving due to the near infinite time dilation. Satisfied with the perfect execution of the theoretically impossible magic, they started to weave a more realistic spell: demiplane hopping. The process took them a day to complete with no ‘real’ time passing. Even with their eons of practice, this was as fast as they were able to go. Most newly created or recycled Semiseelie simply requested the computer to do it for them, but Cleo was stubborn and didn’t want to have to rely on the system for such simple magic.

With a blink, they were back in the familiar halls of Inbetween. Due to a consensus vote of the Semiseelie, it had been modeled after �����’s ��� styling, or the architecture of traditional ���� buildings, or ‘an old fashioned bank’ to the humans. Simply decorated and tall hallways, wooden counters with decorative metal bars separating the requesee’s from those working, and cushioned lounge chairs with no one relaxing on them. There was no need for this space to have any form- much less that of a professional yet comforting design- but they had all decided that it would better help them understand their contractors if they did occupy a physical space.

Cleo approached a counter at random. This action, like their casting of the spell that brought them here, was another holdover from their stubbornness. The computer maintaining this space would make sure that whatever counter they approached would become available just as they arrived- no need to waste efficiency with having open counters or lines to wait in. The counter itself was more than four times as tall as Cleo’s current avatar, so they simply raised themself up to the proper height on a cushion of nothing.

The entity managing this counter took the form of an amorphous cloud of smog. Very practical for the papers and computer terminals they had to deal with. Those too were simply a convention in this farce. Everything could be done telepathically and instantly, but seeing a process being worked on could also help sympathize with their contractors. Waiting for the smog to put away the papers of the previous client before signaling they were ready let Cleo practice their approximation of mildly-annoyed-impatience. They figured that getting this correct would help them adopt the feline form they had been given for this incarnation.

{I would like to set up an account for my new contractor. We have recently saved a few of their species and would like to deposit the tokens gained,} Cleo drolled, remembering to flick the tip of their tail a few times.

[Alright, give me a minute,] was the cloud’s response. [Would you kindly deposit them in the tray?]

As they said that, a small panel at the bottom of the ornate metal screen flipped open and a filigreed gold tray slid through. A quick flick of their tail allowed Cleo to manifest the physical representation of the tokens onto it before it was retracted.

{After they have been logged, I would like to use five for computation.}

With a cloud’s equivalent of a nod, the entity make a show of inspecting each coin- 27 in total- before putting 22 in another fancy box. The remaining five were passed back using the tray. Like everything else, the whole act was superfluous.

A quick “thank you” was given as Cleo walked away- just in time for another Semiseelie to take their place.

More corridors marked with signs directed them to the computation terminals. This room looked much like the others, but had what looked like pay-phone booths lining the wall instead of counters. Cleo meandered over to one before abruptly turning and making their way to the one next to it. As if the computer running this plane knew what they were doing- and it certainly did- only the one they really intended to access opened, allowing another Semiseelie out who held the door for Cleo as they entered.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Inside the booth was what looked like a coin operated rotary-dial phone attached to a black screen. They inserted the five tokens they had brought and the screen flickered to life as the phone’s handset hovered over to them.

“Greetings ��, nickname: Cleo. You have deposited five tokens, which allows for five minutes of real-time computation. What would you like to have us do for you?”

{As you know, my contractor has a possible genetic disorder hindering the use of their Perks. We have decided to use your direct intervention in an application of skill “JaNdRgUkXp2s5v8y/B?E(H+MbPeShVmY” in order to alter them in such a way to remove this issue. Remaining time can be used to generate designs for prosthetic visual sensory organs from these following aesthetics with the intention to interface with Silvia. Also just to be safe, put them to sleep for the duration,} Cleo said while passing a few conjured papers through the screen.

Many of the newer Semiseelie hadn’t quite figured out all the tricks to getting the most out of the computations. Best practice was to give it a main job with more than enough time, and let it run out the clock doing something else that you didn’t care might be stopped midway through. While it would be better for everyone if they spread this knowledge, the rules of their existence dictated that it could only be traded in a fair deal- like every other transaction they made. This rule had far reaching consequences that ultimately put their contractors in more danger than was strictly necessary; they had to withhold knowledge when there wasn’t an opportunity for an explicit or implicit trade. That was also the real reason for the tokens. The computers would literally not function without being traded something for their time.

While Cleo had pondered this quandary for the umpteenth time, the screen had shifted to show Silvia, time still frozen. A small timer ticked down a single yoctosecond as her body was scanned.

“A solution within the given parameters was found. Do you have any other minor modification requests to wrap into the process.”

After a brief moment to think, Cleo passed a newly conjured paper through the monitor. {I think something like this would help deal with one of Humanity’s basic design issues. Nothing else. Also, no need to play the process in real time- just skip me to when it’s done.}

Another yoctosecond ticked down. “Addition fits within constraints of the process. Now begi- Done.”

The timer had been reduced to a few dozen seconds in a blink. If they had just wanted to get instructions on how to do the process themselves, even one token would have been massive overkill. However, dealing with crossing planar borders to take direct control of someone’s magic on top of spoofing a familiar’s bond in order to activate perks added a lot of time to the whole process.

“Beginning the second process,” the computer said- the timer instantly being reduced to zero. “Out of the 2867 final designs considered, the top four have been sent to the printer for you to take. Would you like the other 2863 to be printed?”

{No.}

With that, Cleo opened the door- holding it for the entity that was awkwardly reaching towards it- and walked over to the printer. Again, this was pointless: the idea could simply be added to their memories directly, but it was convention and factored into the ‘fair rate’ charged. After the papers had been spit out, a quick glance was satisfactory to see which designs had been chosen- with one being of particular interest. That initial design had been thrown in on a whim after Cleo had remembered the ��������’s equivalent of eyes, but for it to be selected as a possibility either meant it was much more efficient than the others or that Silvia was likely to prefer it.

The common factor between all the designs was the insane precision required to fabricate their parts, create the necessary circuit boards, and inscribe the enchantments. Normal human manufacturing could get close, but that would take months of careful machining. Even if that was done properly, there wasn’t anyone on Earth who could actually install the prosthetics correctly. Obviously, this was accounted for- standard procedure, really- whatever MG group Silvia ended up with would have at least one machine shop purpose built to be controlled by the computer, which was capable of both creating and integrating much more complicated augments.

Nodding to themselves, Cleo made their way towards the exit of the demiplane. There was still a long day of guiding a recently blind- but now much more capable human- around to get through. The simulations that lead Cleo to contracting with the human made it clear that she would need to live to prevent the humans being stupid and forfeiting this world to the demons. The only bright side was Cleo had a lot of experience stopping worlds from being infiltrated.

If only they could ever actually tell their contractors that was what they had been chosen to do…