Despite his own order to everyone to get some rest, he had something he wanted to discuss with Melissa and see how long it would take. If healing Grannus was possible before they went to Pluto all the better. He had a frog to fight in a decade, and he planned to get at least a little further than last time.
He found her in the newly finished cafeteria. The capybaras had considered the expansion of the small eating area they had started with a priority as both the residents and visitors increased. Cal had no complaints as they continued to be the best cooks he had ever experienced.
First, he grabbed himself a plate of chicken and waffles. Then he sat down next to his target. “Hey Melissa, before I head off, I was hoping you could join me for a small excursion. I want you to meet my third mana spirit. He’s stuck in his realm, and you may just have the powers to help me resolve that,” Cal asked her, trying to keep his smile up.
“Yeah, yeah, you’re lucky this food is so great; otherwise, I’d have made you wait until after Gramps is inoculated. Let me finish up lunch, and we can go talk to your little friend. You know this whole weird secret base you have going on, though? Surprisingly cool. Let’s say we do work together a bit. How would you feel if I had the capybaras help me assemble a robotics bay?” she asked.
“I think we could get behind that, but it’s important to keep this place secret. Since there are other loop-aware people such as yourself running around, we need to make sure not to accidentally alert them. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking on our base and just how we can use it in the future. Nothing at all concrete yet, but I’ve got some ideas, and I think your robotics lab would be a strong step in those directions.” Cal wasn’t nearly ready to share with anyone, let alone Melissa some of his more grand fantasies that had started brewing in his head.
Melissa took another bite of a burger before speaking again. “Yeah, I get the need for the secrecy. So, I won’t launch any attacks on the agency’s ogre program directly from your place. You’re almost certainly right. At least one of the scientists who was with me will have gone back to the agency with their story. I have no idea how many loops it will take for them to believe it, but it will eventually happen. So yeah, we probably should be prepared for some kind of fight there.”
Cal finished off a waffle. “I wonder if we can arrange some sort of non-aggression pact. There isn’t really a good reason for us to fight it out now. Sure, once the aliens are gone and the planet is secure, I can see how we will need to dismantle them, but that’s pretty far away. It seems like a waste of time to waste Earth's resources on this. And that’s saying something, considering how much my rage towards all of this has been building.”
“So, is there anyone in this loop who hasn’t been horribly emotionally scarred by it?” Melissa wiped her face with a napkin after she asked.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“The animals mostly, maybe Ethel, but I’m pretty sure Bug is as cheerful as ever. Hell, she’s decided she needs to find a way to protect the humans because that’s her duty as a dog.” Now that he had said it out loud, he wasn’t totally sure that was the best sign of mental health.
“That makes sense. I like your dog; she says what she means. It’s rare. Alright, let’s go see what I can do,” she said, pushing her empty plate further in front of her.
Cal looked down at his half eaten plate and decided more food could wait. Grannus had waited long enough.
“Huh, is the whole place just caves like this? Good thing I’m not claustrophobic.” Melissa was looking at the walls as she spoke. They had arrived moments ago and were currently looking for Grannus.
“Yeah, Grannus is an earth mana spirit, and well before any of the evolutions happen, their realms very much reflect what they are. What used to be Bolt’s is currently merging with the void, and that should produce some interesting effects, especially once we properly bring this one into the fold.” Cal answered.
“Hello, Cal. Who is your friend?” Grannus’s voice rumbled from around the corridor as they came into view.
“Hey buddy, this is Melissa. If everything goes right, we may just have you cleansed and ready to start growing your realm.” Cal kept a giant smile on his face as he answered.
“Really? That sounds wonderful.” Grannus replied, their speech much faster than usual.
“Come here, little guy, let me get a good feel of just what’s going on.” Melissa reached her hand and motioned for Grannus to come over there. As soon as they did, she reached out both her hands and placed them on Grannus’s rocky shoulders.
Cal could feel the mana pulsating from Melissa to Grannus, but he had no idea exactly what was happening. “Is everything going okay?” he gave in and asked after several minutes of silence.
“Yes and no.” She answered, breaking contact with the spirit.
“What’s wrong?” Cal and Grannus asked at the same time.
“Well, as I’m sure Grannus feels, I’ve more or less cleansed them for the time being, but I am not currently capable of a permanent solution. This will likely return next loop. Sorry, little guy, I tried, but I just don’t have the right stuff right now. No hard feelings?” She looked down at Grannus as she said this.
“All my feelings are hard, but I understand your meaning, and I appreciate your effort nonetheless. I believe that despite the limitation, I can begin to expand my realm anyway. Hopefully, one day, Cal will find the resources needed to fully cleanse it.” Grannus said.
“We will, I promise.” Cal smiled down at Grannus.