“I can’t believe I’ve seriously listened to you. I should have known you were a lost cause”

Faye’s flushed face was covered by her palms. She was clearly embarrassed at herself for letting me almost sweet talk her into my plan. Seemed like my attempt at convincing her hadn’t gone as smoothly as I had hoped.

“You really are completely out of your mind. How did you come up with such a thing? I knew mana storms were dangerous for one’s brain, but they are evidently far worse than I could have imagined”

“I’m completely sane. My proposition is completely doable” I retorted.

“Doable? How?”

“That would be your job to figure it out. I have no idea how, but you will!” I replied, bursting with confidence.

Faye was now lookin at me with pity, like I really was some poor brain-damaged fool.

“Ok, let’s assume it is possible…”

“See? That’s the right attitude!” I intervened cheerfully.

“Pretend! Let’s pretend it is possible. Even if I could do it, it doesn’t mean I would. It’s so unethical!”

“What’s so unethical about it?”

“What is so unethical about it?! Are you really asking me that?!”

Unfortunately, I understood her moral qualms. Even the Faye I remembered was quite cautious when deciding how to apply her competence. Forming was, for a lack of a better term, mana bioengineering: an art which consisted in modifying a living developed organism through the use of appropriate instruments and techniques. For example, the remodelling of the musculoskeletal system of an individual to make them stronger and/or more resilient, the formation of new arteries and veins to increase blood circulation, etc. The only limits were the skill and fantasy of the artisan and the resilience of the patient. It was comprehensible how these types of operations could be considered questionable.

But what I had been asking for was even worse. My plan was to have Faye dig through my flesh and produce an artificial mana circuit. A mana circuit was something only a fraction of archumans possessed and which set them apart from the rest of humanity as a whole. While you could still consider yourself human while being an “ordinary” arch, having a circuit meant having surpassed humanity itself. In a circuit, aura flowed like blood: it completely changed the metabolism and the properties of the organism and, through enough practice, the flow could be consciously directed, with variable outcomes.

So, basically, what I had been asking Faye was to establish the foundations of an ethically ambiguous practice and use that same practice to remodel my organism and make me evolve toward a not-so-human state.

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“Ok, fine. I understand your point, but if I’m fine with it, who cares?” I tried persuading her.

“I care! It is me you are asking to do this! And anyway, the fact you are fine with it doesn’t magically make all of this ok!” she snapped back.

We were not going anywhere. My argument needed to be stronger. I decided to be more incisive.

“Aren’t you tired of living in fear? Aren’t you tired of knowing that out there those of your kind are being hunted like dogs? And yet you can’t do anything, because you are too weak”

Faye glared at me, but couldn’t mutter any word. I continued on.

“I’m also weak. And I don’t want to be. We both need strength, you for your aims and I for my freedom. Make me powerful, and together we’ll be able to achieve our objectives”

Time seemed to freeze. Faye pondered my words for a long while, before opening her mouth again.

“Would you survive such an operation?”

This caught me off-guard. She was concerned. Concerned about the person who had made her come here through a not-so-veiled threat. It finally dawned on me: the one I’d been trying to manipulate was a genuinely good person. My proposal was an honest one, but my intentions were insincere. Although I planned to help her, I didn’t care about her aims at all: I only wanted to make sure she would comply with my request.

But, although I felt a little bit guilty, I was mostly delighted by the fact that I had apparently succeeded.

“Sure, why shouldn’t I? And in the worst case scenario, the bastard who treated you badly would die, so win win, right?”

She looked at me horrified.

“No! How could you even think of that? If you are going to be like that, I’ll simply work alone and…”

“You can’t operate yourself, you wouldn’t survive. You need a guinea pig, and I’ll be the one. I doubt there would be many volunteers, but you don’t need to find one: I’m already here”

Although I didn’t know much about the actual Forming procedure, I was sure the procedure would be incredibly painful: it wouldn’t be possible for someone to remodel themselves, and she was the only one on the planet who would become capable of such a feat. Also, I’d begun suspecting I had an aptitude for rapid-regeneration and was confident it would prove useful during the operation.

“... Fine. Let’s give it a try. You have been saying crazy stuff for a while now, but your confidence must come from somewhere and, honestly, it’s not like I’ve something better to do with my life. I love Pop, but I’m not that fond of agriculture. Might as well give this a go… Also, for some reason, I really want to believe you”

Faye finally came to a conclusion. My lips curled up in delight. The first step toward the future I aimed for had been taken.

“Anyway, now what? From what you implied, the first thing I need to do is study hard before we can even think about proceeding with this madness. From where do we start?”

“Well, there are some possibilities, I suppose. For example, I could work in your stead with your Pop while you concentrate on your research. You could ask Chris for access to books and stuff. With a little bit of luck, he will help us”

“You really think I, an unknown farmer, would be given access to everything I ask?” Faye snorted. She looked at me like I was being ridiculous. I decided to keep the mood and tease her a little bit.

“Well, surely you are of no interest, but what if you were to be the girlfriend of such a promising new arch like myself? I’m sure they would look at you quite favourably”

“Your girlfriend?! Ahaha, that’s a good one! You wish! Wait a moment…”

Her hearty laugh had quickly disappeared, and in its place a serious countenance had taken hold of her. Faye had fallen deep in thought. I didn’t know what she was thinking about, but I dared not disturb her. Her brain was a miraculous little contraption, so it was better to leave it at its own devices if possible. Whatever she was trying to come up with, it would certainly be useful for our purposes.

“Could you please call Pop and Mr? I think I’ve found a solution”

Happy to oblige, I left the room and looked for the missing two people.