J.A.M.

> ”These acronyms will be the death of me.” ~Frein Nivan, the Visitor

Frein expected another surreal experience. Another portal of sorts. He quickly learned that his past adventures had spoiled him rotten, elevating his standards and expectations to unreasonable levels so that even the spectacle of the Research Department’s reception area felt mundane to him.

Of course, not every new avenue would be a titillating experience.

He was greeted by a luxurious, clean, and yet amazingly empty room. There was a large circular table in the middle where one of the two receptionists was sleeping. Two hallways at the back of the room led to somewhere deeper; hopefully more interesting places.

Aside from the table, each corner of the room had a pillar which he generously considered to be the highlight of the entire reception area. For one thing, these pillars didn’t appear to be structurally designed to support the building at all.

Each one had cubic containers spiraling along a thin central pole, containing small oddities of sorts that were unfamiliar to Frein. They were of particular interest, he had to admit. One such container held a small orb within which emitted sparks of electricity. It resembled those plasma orbs he had seen in science fairs or exhibits. Not that he frequented those places before.

However, the orb in this container specifically was nothing like those science projects. It constantly made cracks on the container, which in turn continuously mended itself. In fact, it felt more of a showcase for the glass container than the item within it, displaying how quickly it could recover from damage.

They closely resembled the display cases inside his Exhibit.

The curiosity astounded Frein. While he kept his goals in mind, he allowed himself to be distracted by these things, despite how much of a downgrade they were from everything else he saw beforehand. He bitterly admitted how easy it was still for him to be entertained.

After a while, he concluded that all these containers secured within their seemingly fragile selves something destructive or corrosive. A few had in them perpetually flowing lava, swirling in a vortex. Some had twisters that threw around sharp rocks. He also found some that contained the same crackling electricity as the first one, and a few more that he couldn’t quite define. They could be acid, or poison, or some other element.

“Having fun?” Katherine asked. “You look disappointed.”

“Hmm… I sort of expected more. Busy people and all that. It’s a research facility after all.” Frein wondered if he should touch any of the containers. “Maybe they’re all upstairs or something?”

“They are,” said an unfamiliar voice. It completely pulled Frein away from asking about the containers.

The person at the reception table yawned herself awake, rubbing her yellow eyes. She blinked a few times while her felintine ears flapped and jerked around. Then she stretched, a big and satisfying one, almost to the point of breaking her back. She shivered in satisfaction as all the energy from the release dispersed from her body, causing her to flop back down on her chair.

“Jaylene, that’s very rude!” said the other receptionist, the one that had initially entertained Kristel about Enza’s resting area. “And fix your clothes, please.”

Frankly, Frein didn’t feel offended. He was rather entertained by the lax and carefree attitude of this felintine.

Jaylene eyed her coworker before sighing, fixing the oversized shirt that slipped off one of her shoulders. She wasn’t dressed for work, especially as a receptionist. In fact, she didn’t look like she worked in this place at all. But the fact that the other receptionist acknowledged her was enough context for Frein to assume otherwise.

There was something special about Jaylene.

The felintine stood up straight, fixing the frizzle of her blonde hair. She eyed each of the guests, spending an awkwardly long time on Katherine.

“Welcome to the Research and Applied Meiyal Department, honored guests,” she began. “I’m Jaylene Atlas Morphinnel. Jam for short.”

She placed both hands together in front of her as a sign of welcome. She tried to look the part, but her clothes made it an uphill battle. Her voice was also listless and awkward, absent of the welcoming tone expected from a receptionist.

All in all, Jaylene—Jam—looked like she was forced in this position. Frein threw financial reasons out of the equation. No one in Atlas Sid would be caught in that position. It was a floating, self-sustaining city tasked with monitoring the Nightmare Lands. Nobody could afford to be poor under those conditions. Besides, the felintine didn’t look desperate for money.

Punishment, then. For what, he didn’t know. Or maybe she’s just waiting for us?

Frein noticed that the felintine was staring at him.

“I already know their names, so…” she implied, pointing at the other two ladies behind him.

“Jaylene!” the other receptionist, a human by the looks of it, reprimanded her before bowing towards Frein. “I’m so sorry for her. My name’s Gumi Baker. Welcome to the R.A.M. Department.”

“Ram…” Frein repeated.

“Short for—”

“Yeah, I get it, sorry. I’m Frein Nivan. Feel free to call me Frein.”

“Didn’t expect the Visitor to look so normal,” Jaylene said, yawning once again. “I’ll take them, Gumi. You can take a break.” She took a few things from the table before lazily heading towards the left-side hallway.

“But Jaylene—”

“It’s fine. It’s just Kristel and Katherine. I can handle them. You’ll just be too self-conscious if you do the tour for these two, especially with the Visitor.” Jaylene shooed Gumi away with one hand. “Over here, folks.”

Gumi sighed but quickly rid herself of the unpresentable look, smiling towards Frein instead. “Please let me know if she causes you any trouble.”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“Thanks, Gumi,” Kristel said, pushing Frein by his shoulder. “We won’t stay long.”

They caught up to Katherine, who was already in mid-conversation with Jaylene.

“You haven’t aged a day,” said the Lady.

“I suppose not,” the felintine replied. She didn’t care for how slow they walked. “You should ask your dad to retire, so I can stop staring at his old face. Want a drink?”

With another yawn, Jaylene opened her Spatiera and retrieved a packet of some sort of juice. She even had a metal straw to go along with it. Frein had never seen anyone in Minaveil Province use a straw.

Katherine took the offer so the felintine produced more, offering them to the Frein and Kristel. He didn’t hesitate to have a taste. Frizzy berries, almost like sparkling wine or beer, but there was no alcoholic content as far as he could tell.

“I asked him to retire before I went away,” Katherine said, continuing their discussion. “I think he’ll still say no today.”

Jaylene hummed an inquisitive tune while she took a sip. “Of course. His grandfather was just as stubborn. I had to force him to step down. Tell that to your dad.”

“That would make you more than a hundred years old,” Frein said, casually joining the conversation.

“Stopped counting after two hundred. What’s the point, right?” Jaylene glanced at him and then to Katherine. She sighed. “Already taken, huh… Can’t be you either anyway.”

“Excuse me?”

“She’s looking for her one, true love,” Katherine explained.

“How did you know I’m taken?” he asked Jaylene, inferring from the subtle glance she gave earlier.

The felintine gave him a proper look without stopping. Frein could see through his Mesiffera that she was scanning him using the same Art. And while it shocked him, it wasn’t exactly surprising, given her supposed age.

“Seems like you know how to use your Siffera properly as well,” Jaylene commended. “Not only that, but you have more than two types of meiyal in your Mill. I have four myself.”

“That doesn’t exactly answer my question, though…”

Jaylene took a deep breath and raised a finger, pointing out her felintine ears. “I bet it does.”

It clicked in his head. Without words, he slipped the hand that molested Katherine inside his pocket. Imbelia should’ve cleaned it thoroughly and gotten rid of the smell. But could a felintine, empowered by Siffera, have a more acute sense of smell?

He glanced at the Lady, trying not to make Kristel suspicious.

In fact, the way Katherine looked at Kristel and not at Frein made him suspicious. He turned her gaze towards the Princess whose face had turned crimson.

He didn’t need to ask.

“I didn’t want to interrupt and make things awkward,” Kristel said, covering her face.

Jaylene laughed. “And here I thought, it’s between you three.”

“No, it’s not!” Kristel squealed.

“Well…umm.” Frein’s thoughts froze. He wasn’t sure exactly what to say. A quick glance at Katherine didn’t help either. “Sorry you had to…go through that.”

Kristel peeked between her fingers. “Don’t do it again?”

“I mean, I suppose, unless—”

“Don’t do it again.”

“Okay.”

“This won’t make things awkward, right?” Katherine asked. “Sorry.”

“I’ll feel guilty if you two keep apologizing to me!” Kristel stooped to a crouch, trying to make herself smaller. “I’m not exactly innocent either.”

“Oh…” Frein and Katherine said at the same time.

“If you two are interested,” Jaylene intervened, addressing him and the Lady. “I’ll record you both while you’re doing it. Strictly for research purposes. Promise.”

“You wish!” Katherine said. Frein got a glaring when he didn’t respond. “Come on, Kristel, get up. That’s a completely natural reaction.”

“Sorry,” he said to Jaylene, while offering the Princess a hand. He deliberately used the one from his pocket. “You don’t have to be ashamed about it. It’ll be a bit more worrying if you didn’t react that way.”

The felintine shrugged and continued walking. “Well, it was worth a shot.”

Frein sighed and decided to steer the conversation into something more informative.

“So, why are you looking for your true love? Do you have Fate’s End like Mineltha or something?” he asked, naturally falling into the conclusion. He figured it was rude to ask, but he already asked about her age. The felintine didn’t seem like the kind of person who was easily offended anyway.

The question stopped Jaylene in her tracks, halting their progress in the hallway once again. She turned to Frein, eyeing the other two ladies beside him.

“How come you already know so much?” she asked. “I thought you’re the Visitor?”

“I spoke to Rindea Fallsween just a few—”

“Wait, the Rindea?”

Frein realized the absurdity of his words. In fact, the entire conversation jumped around too much. He tried to reign them back in.

He began with a thorough explanation of Rindea essentially dying from The Mist That Carries the Nightmare, and how her Worldborn status allowed her spirit to survive by taking over the Deep Nightmare. Then, he glossed over some details and eventually concluded with his meeting with The First Protector.

“Worldborn…” Jaylene mused. She turned around and continued her slow walk down the hallway. The three of them followed. “Haven’t heard that term for many years now.”

“As far as I know they’re just considered to be myths,” Frein said.

“Well, they are, given that it’s now impossible to be one.”

Frein stopped himself before telling the felintine she was wrong. He didn’t have enough proof to argue his point anyway. Instead, he returned to his original question.

“So, about Fate’s End…”

“Yes, I have it,” Jaylene replied. “Elves or half-elves have an average life expectancy of three human lifespans. I acquired my Blessing when I was eighteen. Stopped aging since. I think there’s been ten Monarchs since then? Too lazy to count.”

She glanced back, studying Frein. “If you know Mineltha, then you should know why I’m looking for my one, true love.” Her face twisted with embarrassment and disgust as she said those words.

“You make it sound like a curse, not a Blessing.”

Jaylene agreed, turning away. “Someone’s Blessing will always be someone else’s curse. Besides, I’m not in a rush. It’s not like I’m not enjoying my life or anything.”

Frein found the logic sensible enough. Her case was the inverse of his. While he thought of her situation somewhat fascinating, it wasn’t lost to him how morbid it was in hindsight. Jaylene wanted to find someone so she could lose her agelessness and eventually die.

Unlike his situation, however, Fate’s End was kinder, allowing the Blessed One to perish at the same moment—Jaylene in this case—as her true love.

Frein envied her for that. But he didn’t let it distract him from latching on two important questions. “Did you say you acquired your Blessing? And you’re an elf?”

“Half-elf, half-vork,” Jaylene replied. “And yes, I acquired it from Brymeia.”

Katherine and Kristel had been busy with their own conversation since Frein started asking his questions. But the felintine’s reply made them stop.

“Wait,” said all three of them.

It startled Jaylene, hopping back and raising her arms. Her tail instinctively wrapped around her waist. “What?”

“Sorry,” Kristel said. “Did you just say Brymeia spoke to you?”

“No, I said I acquired it from her. I dreamt of her offering me this Blessing. I was young back then, so I said yes. I woke up not thinking anything of it, until, of course, when I started noticing everyone becoming older while I remained the same.

“Of course, no one believed me back then. Being half-elven, it took me about a century to fully convince myself and everyone else that I wasn’t just making it all up. And now, everyone I grew up with is dead. Can’t even tell them ‘I told you so.’”

Jaylene’s listless voice didn’t help with the somber mood. But it was clear to Frein—to Kristel and Katherine as well, by the looks of it—that her experience was different from what the Princess described when she spoke with Brymeia.

The felintine had an actual dream rather than entering her Dream Realm. Frein made a mental note to ask Norazzel if there was a difference.

“Anyway,” Jaylene began when no one else spoke, “here’s your first stop. The Meiyal Experiments and Science Section.”

“M.E.S.S.,” Frein said.

The felintine clapped lazily. “Yay. Someone gets it.”

“It’s not that difficult after J.A.M., C.A.R., and M.O.B.I.L.E.”

“You liked my acronyms?” Jaylene asked. “Seems like you can pronounce them easily even though they’re just made up words.”

“You have jam in your world. I have it for breakfast with bread.”

“True.” Jaylene shrugged again. “But we didn’t have C.A.R.s or M.O.B.I.L.E.s until I made them.”

“You made them?”

The felintine’s eyes judged him with disappointment. “I thought that was already obvious.”