The first thing that Jack noticed upon entering the room was the damage. The last time that he had been in the room it had been in good condition overall with just a few scuff marks here and there. This time however, there were deep gouges in the floor, a huge dent in the right-hand wall, as well as scorch marks and what looked like acid pitting on every surface, including the celling. Not to mention almost all of the testing apparatuses were in various states of disrepair. The only things that looked whole were the aptitude orb and the glyphs for the meditation platform. The stone platform itself had a large chunk of it replaced with concrete.
“What the fuck happened here?” Jack couldn’t help but to exclaim in shock. The damage was so extensive that he almost couldn’t believe it was the same room.
“There were a few incidents with some of the new non-sapient samples.” Came the voice of Dr. Trovihn from right behind him. “Your last visit made the director look at some possibilities for researching when it came to mana usage in infected individuals. We have nowhere near enough data yet for testing on people so it we began testing using animals who had become afflicted with the parasite. The results so far have been mixed to say the least.”
Looking at said results from their experimentation Jack couldn’t help but snark. “I’d say. I don’t doubt that driving creatures insane with beyond torturous levels of pain makes for quite the mix of results.”
“We’ve been trying various methods with which to dull or prevent the pain that they would feel.” The doctor shrugged. “Those also have had mixed results. Some of the tests prevented the pain but it also stopped the mana from flowing in the creature’s bodies. One that theoretically should have helped instead seemed to almost make it worse. We are still trying to figure out why on that one. It’s been a treatment for passage overstress for decades with no known ill effects.”
Jack thought for a brief moment back to when he had been living on the streets. Back when he had first made his choice to become a jack without truly knowing what it would mean. “Pojidane?”
“That’s the one.” Came the agreement.
“Yeah, that’s not going to work with what you are trying to do with them. If you are trying what I think you are at least. It will make everything more painful rather than less. The drug takes advantage of the crystallization of one set of the mana passages to help with the pain in the other. If both passages are in a state of use and are partially atrophied? It makes it far, far worse. Believe me I know.” Jack felt his body shiver uncontrollably at the memory of the pain. Up until what he had just gone through here, using pojidane had ranked as the most painful experience in his life.
“I would like to know more about your experiences with that here in a bit but first, let me get everything set up.” Dr. Trovihn stated, carrying in several large objects, just barely managing to keep them all in his arms.
Looking at the objects Jack had no guess whatsoever at what their use was. As far as he could tell it looked like the doctor was carrying three large barrels connected to massive cables. Each of the barrels was covered in bands of glowing glyphs crisscrossing over the entire surface. Jack stared at the writing trying to decipher just what these objects might be for. He noticed that all three barrels were nearly identical with only a few of the markings being different, other than that, he recognized several glyphs that had to do with illusion and information. Rather than continuing to rack his brains he realized he could simply just ask the doctor what they were for. “What’s that contraption? I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
The doctor shifted to look at Jack as he made his way across the room. “This is fantastic is what this is. I have no doubt that these will probably be one of the biggest sellers to schools, research labs and noble families here in the upcoming years. They are still in the final testing phases right now, so the fact that we got one is testament to the director’s old contacts before she was transferred here. I had been requesting them for months now but finally got approval and they just arrived today.”
The doctor’s joy and excitement over the new tool was obvious as Jack pressed again. “That’s great to hear, but what is it?”
“Oh! Right! Well, this is an addition to the standard aptitude tester. Normally the test orb gives a general idea of what someone’s talent is for the three aptitudes. This will, rather than just giving a general reading, it will separate out and give more data to each component. Whoops! Almost lost you.” Dr. Trovihn awkwardly patted the barrels in his arms almost dropping them as he did so before continuing on. “From what I am given to understand it takes longer than the normal method but much more detailed. I heard that it can even give information on things like if the persons mana passages are better suited for internal or external usage. Which if true will be a huge help to schools. Plus, just think of the research potential!”
Having finished making his way across the room, the doctor knelt to try to set them down only to finally have everything slip and fall out of his hands. With an embarrassed laugh he picked the barrels up and set them upright beneath the table holding the aptitude orb. After setting everything in the correct spot, readjusting the barrels slightly as the cables tangled up, he stood up bringing the unattached end of the cables with him. Looking slightly puzzled for a moment he turned his head and called over his shoulder. “Hey Yuriq can you grab the installation packet that I had on the desk along with the crystals when you come in here? I feel like I am forgetting something here.”
Jack heard a sigh from the doorway of the room. He hadn’t noticed when but the guard who had been blocking the exit out to the hall had moved into the entrance of the test chamber. They were carrying several large mana crystals. Ones much larger and more uniform than Jack had ever seen before. He, like most people of Surdyl had only seen the crystals that came from mutants or the mines. The largest of those that Jack had heard of was about the size of a closed fist. The ones in front of him now however were about double that size and exactly alike with each side being the same length. There was no way that such a thing was naturally formed.
Yuriq gave Jack a hard look, telling him without speaking not to do anything and went back into the other room. There was the sound of shuffling papers for a while before a question came in through the doorway. “Where did you put them? I don’t see the damn things anywhere.”
Dr. Trovihn called back distractedly as he tried in vain to attach the cables “They were right on top of the paperwork last I remember. I haven’t moved any of that stuff.”
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There was another minute with the sound of things being moved around until Yuriq’s irritated voice called out. “It’s not there, ah wait here it is. You set your clipboard on it.” Following that Yuriq reappeared in the doorway, this time carrying a small booklet along with the crystals. Grumbling slightly, he pressed the symbol next to the doorway that would close and seal the room then walked over to join the doctor at the orb.
Dr. Trovihn snatched the booklet from the guards’ hands, he flipped through it until he got about a third of the way in. Once he found whatever it was he was looking for the he let out an exasperated “Son of a… Agier damn it. Really? Just really. Fuck.”
With that the doctor got down below the table and started moving the cables around following the instructions from the documentation. He sat there linking the barrels and cables together in various spots for a couple minutes before standing again this time with just a single cable in his hands. He checked the instructions one last time before making a loop and setting the orb within. He then turned and grabbed the crystals from the guard and opened the tops of each barrel before setting the crystals inside. Then, looking at the table Dr. Trovihn set his hand on the orb and waited.
A while went by. Just as the doctor had said, it was taking far longer than an aptitude orb normally took, and then the orb glowed with the doctor’s results. Unlike the usual outcome where the orb would give a general result of the strength of the aptitudes, such as low, average or high, this time the orb showed numerical values for each result as well as subcategories for every aptitude. The doctor nodded at what he saw as if it confirmed his own thoughts or knowledge of his strengths and weaknesses.
“Alright. This all looks good to me. If you could come over here and place your hand on the orb let’s see if there have been any changes from what there was last time.” The doctor called over, taking his own hand off of the tester and waving for Jack to take his place.
That statement puzzled Jack slightly, because as far as he was aware, he had not come into contact with any type of material that would change his innate talents. The things that could potentially do something like that were so far beyond rare and expensive that the mere thought of that was ridiculous. He supposed that the doctor could simply be referencing seeing a better breakdown of Jack’s talents in case that would give them some clue as to his unusual reaction to the entity. Either way, Jack felt apprehensive, not really wanting to see the reminder of why his childhood was filled with misery. He may have come to terms with it years ago, but even still seeing such a thing was not enjoyable.
Taking a deep breath to steady himself Jack moved next to Dr. Trovihn and placed his hand on the orb. The time ticked on by slowly as they waited in silence. Finally, it lit up to show his results. Both of them looked at it in confusion. Jack had already expected that all of the values would be low, even ridiculously so. And that held true to some extent but not quite in the way that Jack had figured. The results had changed from what they had been a couple weeks prior. With that, even if he had thought that his aptitudes could have actually changed from what had happened to him, he would never have guessed what the results actually were.
His absorption was the only one of the three attributes that looked unchanged on the surface. It was still low showing his inability to draw in large quantities at a single time. However, the sub categories showed a different story. Absorption was separated into two sections, volume and density. Volume was low, extremely so. Density however showed that Jack could pull in dense sources of mana. Looking at that it seemed that the standard absorption test was either heavily weighted to favor volume or didn’t even consider the density of mana that could be drawn in. Jack didn’t know whether or not to be thankful for this as he was pretty certain that before his conflict with the entity, he would not have been able to draw in the dense mana that he had been practicing with throughout the week. The fact that the overall aptitude showed as the same gave him plausible deniability.
Next, Jack looked at the purification results and couldn’t believe what he saw. Before, his purification was always low. Now however it was showing up as zero. It showed that he was unable to purify at all, something that was considered theoretically impossible. The same thing was true in the sub categories of the attribute as well. Everything was a zero. According to this Jack did not or could not purify mana at all.
Then there was the final aptitude of utilization. Unlike the others that had looked like they had stayed the same or somehow gotten worse this one had gone up, significantly. Or significantly for him at least. It had gone from very low, low enough that from societies perspective he should have been unable to cast spells or run body enhancements, to just low. It was more than double of what it had been before. Looking at the sub categories of utilization made Jack wince. He knew back when he first started out while his aptitudes were poor, he could use the full extent of either his outer or inner passages. Now both sets were rated at about sixty percent effectiveness. He had no idea if that was high or low for a jack, but then again most jacks never really made it past the first year, much less past a decade while still casting magic every day.
Jack wasn’t the only one staring intently at the information being shown. Dr. Trovihn was hurriedly writing notes down on the back of the instruction booklet, having forgotten to bring in paper or his clipboard earlier. Muttering to himself as he did so. As soon as he finished writing the doctor turned to Jack and spoke. “Well, we can be certain that you were indeed afflicted with the parasite. The fact that your aptitudes have changed is an excellent proof of it. It’s one of the big dangers that is present for us studying the parasite and how to cure it. Those that have been infected gain some level of power over time. Though this is the first time I have seen or heard of a change like this. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, what with all the other oddities that you have displayed.”
Looking at the doctor in shock Jack couldn’t help but to stammer out “W-what? Having been infected made my aptitudes go up? How can that- I mean I thought that things that could cause such an effect were so rare that only a few have ever been found.”
A harsh bitter laughter accompanied the doctor’s response. “From everything that I have learned working for this company and for a university before that, it’s true that such things are rare. Just not quite as rare as they are made out to be. There are a quite a few that the academies or noble houses know about that the public doesn’t, much less all of the ones that have been discovered that aren’t used for the purpose of strengthening people because of the horrific side effects. After all, why would the houses of the Agier give up any power that they have to? Better for them to hide the information and use it to strengthen themselves. The same thing really goes for most knowledge in general. True there is some information that is truly dangerous, but most of what is hidden? It’s to either protect reputations or to keep certain groups in power.”
Shaking his head, the doctor paused and spoke in an easier tone. “Don’t mind me, just remembering some of society’s ills. Anyways yes, this is something that would be considered to fall in the second grouping of aptitude enhancers I was talking about. With it being too dangerous or having too sever a side effect to be useful. After all who would want to trade control of themselves for what seems to be a minor gain in power.”
While Jack was sure that the doctor was telling the truth about it being too dangerous, he wasn’t as certain about it only being a minor power gain. If it was such a minor gain then why would whoever ran this facility keep it going? Though that was just another suspicion on his part. All he had at this point were guesses and conjectures. For all he knew they could be trying to study things here in order to create their own linked magical intelligence like the Great System.
As Jack pondered that briefly, Dr. Trovihn checked over the various parts of the tester and its add-on to make sure there were no malfunctions or errors. Confirming one final time that Jack’s results were correct. With that finished he turned to Jack and smiled. “Well, that’s the first test in here done. What say we move on to the next?”