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Spires
8.46

8.46

“Young lady, please wake up.”

The deep voice pulled Candyslyn from her slumber.

Her cheek was cold, wet and sticky.

She pried it off her desk and wiped the drool with her sleeve.

As for the puddle?

She regarded it, then her sleeve.

There sure was a lot.

“The drawbacks of being a mouth breather.” Her teacher handed her a box of tissues. “I used to be like that a long time ago. Apparently, it’s actually bad for you. Something, something… carbon dioxide expulsion.” He shrugged. “Never really looked into the science behind that hypothesis. I just mostly wanted to stop drooling on my pillow. Super embarrassing the first time I slept with a girlfriend in the same bed… hmm, too much information for such a young girl like you.”

She grumbled, wiping the sleep from her eyes.

The last thing she remembered was stepping into a weird pod thing.

The slime inside had actually felt pretty good in a warm, comforting kind of way.

The man leaning against his desk didn’t look familiar.

Short, muscular, black hair, brown skin.

Warm smile.

Kind eyes.

The heat rose to her face.

“I’m not a kid,” she muttered.

“Hmm, you’re fourteen, right?”

“Yeah, but I know about— wait? Where am I?”

The room didn’t look familiar.

There was a big green board taking up most of the wall behind the man’s desk.

Rows of identical desks surrounded her.

They were all empty, except— she thought she caught glimpses of kids shifting, moving, while many whispers tickled her ears.

Her heart began to beat rapidly and it wasn’t because of the man.

“Please don’t be afraid. You’re safe here.”

“Yeah, but where is ‘here’!” she snapped. “I don’t like this. Help! Help!” She tried to stand, but her legs didn’t listen. “Mom!”

“Also safe. The soldiers threatening her to force you to volunteer for the procedure are no longer going to do that.”

She blinked.

Calm filled her.

Her heart slowed.

The heat cooled.

She sighed as the terrible burden she had been carrying for weeks vanished.

“That’s a bit of good news! But wait, there’s more! You’re no longer drafted. Don’t have to fight for rich old men. I guess you’ll probably want to fight to protect yourself and your loved ones. The important thing is that it’s your choice. Along those lines, you and anyone else you want to bring along have metaphorical tickets to move. Or you can stay in your town. Normally, I’d say I’d be willing to help you guys with your monster issues. Unfortunately, your town is back in old America’s fold and there’s an agreement that says I can’t. It’s a dumb authority thing. They can’t look weak, which is what allowing me to help your town would expose. Honestly, I don’t care that much about deals. If it gets really bad I’ll help anyways.”

“Um… what?”

“It’s a lot to take in. Don’t worry about missing the details. I’ve already sent a spires message to you and your loved ones going over the options. Now, back to the good news. That creepy scarecrow-looking dude is no longer with us.”

“Who?”

“Oh, that’s right. You never saw him. They were really turning up the scale over the last month. Churning through kids like they’re cattle.” He held out a hand a life-like image in miniature appeared. “The Eidolon of Sut. Dead now.”

“Eidolon?”

The thin, hunched figure in the man’s hand looked nothing like the lavender-skinned towering colossus with purple hair and a jacked body that made the largest, most muscular men in her town look like kids.

“They’re not all the same. Much like us, which makes sense considering they’re technically humans. Just from different worlds.”

She had so many questions, but the man kept moving her along.

“Good news! The secret brainwashing he hid in your head is also gone. Dude was keeping an Order 66 in his back pocket for a rainy day.”

“Order what?”

He explained.

“I can send you the movies if you want.”

“No, thanks?”

“Suit yourself,” he shrugged. “Now, there’s more news for you, but they’re a bit mixed. Good to bad and bad.”

“What’s the bad?”

“You’re partway through the procedure.”

“But, you said he was dead.”

“Yeah. That’s a bit mixed in regards to your procedure. On the positive side the process can actually continue with a minimum of outside input, which I’m forcing his assistants to do. Don’t worry, they won’t screw it up, either purposefully or through incompetence.”

“But, I don’t want to.”

Surging hope was strangled before it could take another step.

“I’m sorry. Once it starts it can’t be stopped until it ends up as a success or a failure.” He smiled sadly. “On the good news side of it, you’re one of the lucky ten percent.”

“Ten percent?”

“The success rate, which they didn’t mention because they are assholes.”

“What happens to the other ninety percent?”

“The lucky ones just die. The rest end up… worse. It’s less than a percent, so there’s a small mercy in that. Though, it’s cold comfort for them.”

“One out of ten” she murmured.

Wait!

Her friends!

She dared not ask because knowing was worse than not knowing.

Ignorance would protect her for as long as she could cling to it.

Gazing into the man’s eyes soothed her inner turmoil and replaced it with warm comfort.

“What do you know about the pronghorn antelope?”

Her brow furrowed.

“The what?”

“North American mammal? Second fastest land animal in the world? Got a pair of horns, hence the name? Anything?”

“No. What does this have to do with anything?”

“Turns out its your spirit animal.” He shrugged. “They didn’t tell you what the procedure entailed.”

“Yeah. They just said that it’d make me into a strong soldier.”

“They were more honest with the first few batches, but those people were already in the military pipeline. They didn’t care about you because you came from the outside.”

“No shit. It was obvious when they threatened to hurt everyone if we didn’t sign up.”

“Well, being dicks is, like, built into their DNA. Manifest Destiny, Rightful Destiny, new boss same as the old boss, you know?”

She frowned.

“I don’t get half of what you’re saying.”

“Same here, but let’s get back to what matters. So, where were we?”

“Pronghorn… whatever that animal is.”

“I actually had to go to a library for the details.” He pointed to the white board.

It turned into screen, like in the movie theater in her town.

A herd of animals appeared running through an open plain of short grass and scrubs.

They looked fast.

“I— I’m going to turn into that?”

“Well, in order to answer that I’ll have to go back to good news, bad news.”

“Just tell me!”

“It’s complicated.”

“Why? I’m going to look like an animal or I’m not? What else about it is complicated!”

She felt like tearing her hair out.

“Changes are unavoidable. Physical, mentally and spiritually. Although, that last one is more of a subjective thing. The important and good news is that the eidolon didn’t know every aspect of the transformation process.”

“Just— just make it easy to understand. I feel like my head is going to blow up.”

He told her how the eidolon had used a combination of magic, science and Skills to distill the essences of a few dozen pronghorns. The result was then merged with her.

“The eidolon didn’t care about what was best for you as an individual. Only what he thought was best in order to create the most powerful hybrid of girl and animal. It didn’t even occur to him that his will wasn’t the most important part of the process. You know how classes tend to work, right?”

“Classes… my classes—”

“I’m sorry. Bad news. They’re gone. To gain something you must give up something.”

“But… my Skills…” she wailed.

“Clean once, clean thrice. You must hate chores.” He nodded appreciatively. “Sorry, but it’s gone. That’s actually illustrative. Classes and Skills partially arise out of your subconscious wants and needs. Turns out that same property applies to the hybridization process, which means you, Candyslyn, hold the very reigns of your world in your hands. And I’m going to help you with that. Your transformation can’t be stopped and I feel for you. You have two choices. You can allow it to proceed as the eidolon had planned and accept whatever form you’ll have upon emergence. Or. You take hold of it.”

Her head dropped into her hands.

“I don’t want to be a freak.”

“Physical appearance is secondary to what’s inside.”

“Yeah, but you said that my soul is gonna be mixed with that!” She thrust a finger toward the screen where the animals chewed grass like dumbasses. “I don’t want to eat grass.”

“Okay, then we won’t change your stomach.”

“… I can choose? Like, which parts of me—” a shiver went up her spine. “I can choose what gets weird and what stays normal.”

“Within reason. Some things you won’t be able to. But, if it helps you conceptualize, I have seen many who’ve undergone the process. I wouldn’t describe them as freaks. Sharper teeth, claws, bit of fur, maybe a tail and, uh…” he mimed pulling his mouth out, “a bit of, um, muzzle growth.”

His anecdote wasn’t helping.

“Er, none of them looked grotesque, you know? It’s like the hybridization looks normal. Not that uncanny valley-ish.” He shrugged.

“How can that be normal?” She pounded her fist on her desk.

“Listen, the human look?” He gestured to himself and her, in turn, “it’s not even the default for sapient species— people that can think, therefore are— we’re not unique in the multiverse,” he wiggled his fingers, “I’ve encountered this many sapients and I know of many more anecdotally. Hell, there are humans on other worlds, like the eidolons used to be. The weird thing is they’re coloration and features are all mixed up compared to ours. Or ours are compared to theirs. I suppose it’s a matter of perspective.”

“Okay, that’s great and all, but I don’t want to look like an antelope.”

“Like I said, we can work on that together.”

“Why? What do you want?”

“From you? Absolutely nothing.”

She shook her head.

“Nah. No one does anything for free.”

“Well, I am. So, you’re just going to have to deal with it. How about it then?” He raised a brow. “You have to accept my help. I’m not going to force anything.”

“Is this like inviting a vampire into my house?” Her eyes narrowed.

“Nope.”

“Alright, but I don’t owe you anything. No tricks either.”

He held out a hand.

She hesitated a moment before shaking it.

“How long will this take?”

“For you and me? Weeks, maybe a few months at the longest.” He shrugged.

“What do you mean?”

“Time in here is subjective.”

“In here?”

He didn’t answer her question.

“We can take as long as you want until you’re satisfied with the outcome. As for how long it’ll take in reality? The eidolon’s timetable had you finishing in about two weeks, give or take a day. Now, watch the screen. This is what you would’ve looked like.”

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

It wasn’t as bad as she had expected.

Her face looked the same, aside from the pair of horns coming out of forehead near her hairline.

She was happy to see that she wasn’t a furry.

Her body remained the same with one key exception.

She gasped in horror when her gaze made its way down to her legs.

“Yeah, you have the whole backward knees thing going on. That’s for the running speed. It’s your thing, you see. The essence of the pronghorn is the speed, but speed combined with endurance. Unlike the cheetah, which is faster, but can’t maintain its top speed for as long.”

Her feet looked like a blend of her human ones with the pronghorn’s hooves.

He slowly rotated the image.

“At least no tail, right?”

“Okay, first of all, those aren’t backward knees.”

“I know.” He rolled his eyes. “It’s actually the ankle. I just find it funny to call them that.”

“Why?”

“I’m mocking people that think that for real.”

“That’s just mean.”

“I’m not perfect.” He shrugged.

“Whatever,” she rolled her eyes. “I don’t want that.”

“Which?”

“All of it. I just want to look like me,” she pointed to herself.

“Bad news—”

“Arrrgghhh!” She dropped her head on her desk with a thud.

“The essence of speed requires certain physiological changes—”

“Fine!” she snapped. “So, I’m going to have ‘backward knees’!”

“And horns…”

She knocked her head on the desk repeatedly.

“Fine! God damn it!”

“Please pay attention.” He directed her to the left half of the whiteboard where neat, hand-written text in black marker had appeared. “Pronghorn antelope facts.” He cleared his throat. “Not an antelope at all. It’s more closely related to the giraffe and the okapi.”

“Now you’re just making animals up.”

“Do you not have a library in your town?”

“Yeah… and…”

Two animals appeared on the screen-board next to her hybridized self.

One was a long-necked animal with brown splotches on yellow-ish fur.

“I know what a giraffe is.” She frowned. “And that’s obviously made up.”

The second animal kind of looked like the first, but with a much shorter neck and dark brown fur, except for its legs and butt, which were stripped horizontally with white fur.

“It’s like a tiny brown giraffe and a zebra mixed together. And, yeah, I know what a zebra is.” She crossed her arms.

“Okay,” he shrugged. “I just need you to fully internalize that the pronghorn is closer to these two than the antelope family.”

“Why?”

“Because that is the truth in the essence of the pronghorn and you need to be on the same page with it in order to maximize the outcome.”

“I don’t care. I just don’t want to be a freak.”

“Exactly. Try to think of it like leveling up.”

She pouted.

“Apparently, I can’t do that anymore.”

“The higher the level the better. So, the greater you come out of this process the furthest away from a freak you’ll be. It’s like being rewarded for doing really well in a Quest.” He paused. “Anything?”

“No—”

A chime sounded in her ears.

A slight smile spread across his face.

She read and listened.

Hope surged again.

“Well?”

“Um… I got a Quest.”

“And?”

“It’s like you said.” Her eyes narrowed. “Who or what are you?”

“I’m just a guy, but please share the details if you can or want.”

“Um, basically if I, uh, integrate really well then I can get bonuses to, like, everything.”

“Mind, body and soul or spirit, depending on your beliefs.”

She nodded.

“Stronger, faster, more endurance, tougher, better senses, reflexes, perceptions.”

“Yeah, it’d be a waste if we were basically just turning you into a normal pronghorn. Super version is better. Well, no version, but that’s off the table. Okay, so, ready to really pay attention. We’ll start with facts before moving on to first person experience.”

“Yeah— wait? What?”

“Well, you can’t achieve near perfect understanding with the essence of the animal without experiencing what it’s like to be the animal.”

“How even is that possible?”

“The Americans captured a bunch of pronghorns and the eidolon extracted their essences… I already explained this.”

“Yeah, but— never mind.”

“Right, so, pronghorns are the second fastest land animal. They can reach speeds of 55 miles an hour and maintain it for around half a mile. That drops to 42 miles an hour over a mile and 35 miles an hour over 4 miles. Now, scientists believe that they blow away all modern North American predators, like wolves, because they evolved in ancient times when there were a lot faster predators like American lions and American cheetahs.”

“No way! There was lions and cheetahs here?”

“Yup, during the Ice Age.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m glad that you’re curious, but we can’t get sidetracked.”

“Am I though? You said that I have to fully understand the pronghorn essence. Then shouldn’t I know their origins too?”

“Okay, yeah, you know what. That makes sense. We’ll get to the Ice Age later after I do some more research. For now we’ll focus on the pronghorn of today since they’re the ones that had their essences stolen.”

The lesson began in earnest.

It felt like it took forever and it felt like no time at all had passed.

Candyslyn woke up in a hospital bed with a raging headache and family at her side.

She felt weird.

Everything seemed sharper.

The sights, the sounds, even the scents.

She touched her face and was relieved to feel it as smooth as it had always been.

“Not furry...” she sighed.

The wide, teary eyes focused on her worried her.

She tried to speak, but a dry rasp was the only thing that came out.

“Get your sister water!” her momma said. “Don’t try to talk, hon.”

Hesitantly, she brought her hand to her forehead.

Sharp horns.

They felt just like how they looked.

She remembered running through the plains away from chasing big cats. She remembered goring one with her horns.

“So… fucking… weird,” she rasped. “Legs…” she struggled to lift the sheet off her.”

“It’s okay, hon. Don’t—”

“Legs…”

Her momma reluctantly helped her.

She had hoped otherwise, but knew what she’d find.

After all, she had done it to herself.

Digitigrade.

That was what he had called them.

Her legs weren’t ever going to be like the human, Earthian, standard.

Her nameless teacher had used a bunch of weird words.

“At least you don’t have hooves,” her cousin smiled.

She wiggled her toes happily.

Small victory that.

Her feet and legs looked weird, but it could’ve been worse.

Much worse.

The man had shown her what had happened to the unlucky one percent at her incessant prodding.

She had to know the fate of her friends.

At least they had all died straight away and hadn’t been turned into grotesque abominations, whose entire existence was unimaginable pain.

The man had promised that they’re suffering had been put to an end.

Her momma rubbed her arm and smoothed her hair, carefully avoiding the horns.

“Candys, baby. I know everything still hurts, but you need to know. We’re moving.”

----------------------------------------

Southern California, 2047

“First of all, happy belated birthday,” Ranger Colonel Kayl said.

“Thanks.”

Alin sat smack dab in the middle of the front row of the lecture hall.

Up on the dais seated in folding chairs were ranger command and what appeared to be most of the ranger captains.

He knew most of them with varying levels of familiarity and he figured that there were maybe five missing.

Two were definitely down in San Diego where they kept a permanent garrison to keep the undead encounter challenges under control.

“Did your parents get you more super weapons?”

“Er… no, sir.”

“Damn shame. Get anything good at least?”

“Five new suits, sir.”

She raised a brow.

“Er… regular suits, like, with ties and some with a vest. I don’t really get it.” He shrugged.

“Think of them as another kind of uniform or armor.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Okay, can you stop with the ‘sir’? You’re suspended, remember, which means you aren’t technically in the chain of command.”

“Yes, si—”

“Let’s get on with this. Do you know why you’re here?”

Was that a rhetorical question?

Or did the test start without him knowing?

“I’m here to test for reinstatement.”

He projected confidence and certainty that he was struggling to pull from the depths of his anxiety.

The nature of the test had been unknown to him.

If his aunt or parents knew they hadn’t shared it. Neither had his friends with parents or grandparents in the rangers.

He supposed that was part of the challenge.

Left to stew in his own thoughts, he imagined many forms the test could take.

A sit down, classroom component seemed likely, which was probably why he had been asked to meet in the lecture hall.

He expected everything.

Multiple choice, essays and other stuff.

Yet, there weren’t any papers on the tables the rangers sat behind.

Maybe, they were hidden behind the podium?

Beyond the classroom test, he also expected practical field tests.

Basically, everything he had missed over the past three quarters of the J.R.R.P.

He was less concerned about that part thanks to the training he had done back home in the Danger Complex.

“Yeah, about that test—”

His heart stopped.

Was he going to be denied even the opportunity?

The ranger colonel regarded him with the eyes a hawk focusing on a rabbit.

He forced calm, trying to relax against the hammering of his own heart in his ears.

The heat in his face told him that he had already failed to conceal his distress from the colonel and the captains.

The price of a complexion in between his brown-skinned dad and much fairer mom.

“We all decided that testing you is a waste of time. For us and for you.”

She paused again to study him.

He managed a nod.

A smirk tugged the corners of her mouth slightly.

He latched on to that like a lifeline while trying to maintain eye contact without too wide eyes.

The captains seated behind the colonel were like faceless judges presiding over his inevitable doom.

“Do you have something you want to say?”

“No, si— No. I will abide by your decision.”

The smirk grew more pronounced as she looked back to the captains for a moment.

“Oh, c’mon, colonel! He’s not going to get rattled!” Ranger Captain Mouthy threw her hands up.

Wait? What?

His gaze shot to the captain, who was scowling at the colonel.

Seated next to Ranger Captain Mouthy, Ranger Captain Spiritwalker gave him a thumbs up.

He regarded each captain in turn.

Some looked amused, some looked pissed, while Ranger Captain Hardhat rolled her eyes at the others.

“I thought we agreed to take this seriously,” she sighed.

“Yeah, that’s why you weren’t included in the pool,” Ranger Captain Mouthy said. “Which I won, despite the colonel trying to drag it out.”

“Fine, fine. You win. Happy?”

“Yes, sir. Superfucking happy.”

“Well, let’s get serious then,” Ranger Colonel Kayl turned her gaze back to him. “No tests necessary. Your father has been sending us video of all your training and it’s obvious that you’ve progressed beyond what we expect from our J.R.R.P.”

He could only nod.

“The question is what to do with you. A year in the program is a waste of time for both of us. But,” she raised a finger, “rules are rules and you’re still a year away from being eligible for rangerdom. Then, there is another question. One that I believe is the most pertinent one. Should you even be a ranger?”

He opened his mouth to speak.

She raised a brow expectantly.

Yes.

The instinctive answer was on the tip of his tongue.

Becoming a ranger was all that he had wanted for as long as he could remember.

Then, his thoughts flashed back over the previous year.

The suspension allowed him to throw himself into training with the best in the world.

He still didn’t have a class or powers like his parents, but the Threnosh-made power armor combined with his own skills had made the former two seem unnecessary.

He closed his mouth.

She nodded in understanding.

“Our expert analysis of your training videos comfortably place you in the Level 40 to 50 range when it comes to multiple forms of combat. Melee, range, magical, whatever,” she waved a hand, “you’re like a regular Iron Man. No powers or class, but it doesn’t matter when you’ve got the suit. The versatility makes me salivate. You understand? You can fight hand to hand with a high level swordswoman, er, sword to sword, trade shots with a riflewoman or archer, and play the game of blasts and shields with a mage. You’re all of them in one person. That’d make you a valuable ranger from day one. The problem is that we probably wouldn’t utilize you to the fullest. Do you see what I’m getting at?”

He considered the colonel’s words for what felt like a long time.

The colonel and the captains remained silent and watched him intently.

“I think I do.”

“Well, I want to hear your thoughts.”

“I don’t personally see it this way, but as a rookie ranger I will be sent to lower level postings in which my power armor will be overpowered. The practical experience I gain in such scenarios will be limited by the ease with which I’ll be able to deal with the monsters. In addition, my fellow squadmates won’t be able to grow with me doing most of the work and taking away the danger or they’ll be a person down when I don’t participate for that very reason. I can’t be sent to higher level postings because I won’t have gained experience in the ranger way like all other rangers before me.”

“Close enough, but you’re missing a huge part,” she pointed out. “It’s pretty simple to me. I just think you’ll do a lot more good on one of your dad’s teams. Like you said, it’d be a waste to post you at the mall encounter challenge for two years when you don’t need to cut your teeth and level up before doing the undead circuit. Although, I’m selfish and I considered taking you in and carving out an exemption, but that kind of goes against our credo. To that end, I did what I always do when a difficult decision decides to piss me off. I threw it to a vote.”

“A vote?”

“Yup. Me, command and the captains voted on what to do with you.”

“Did I misunderstand? Is there still a test?”

“Yeah, but not the kind your thinking off,” she snorted. “The vote was on whether to make you ranger right now, immediately—”

His heart went back to its attempt to beat its way free from his chest.

“or to leave that decision to you.”

Huh?

“Huh?”

“That’s your test. Do you accept and become a ranger, knowing that it isn’t objectively the best use of your capabilities. Yeah, seriously, I put that question to a bunch of different types of analysts and prognosticator-types. Consensus lined up with my take on it, sadly. I mean, having you would definitely tie your parents closer to us. And looking to the future with the kids you might have with your girlfriend.”

Okay, his face was definitely red now judging by the captains’ snickers.

Seriously?

Grown adults acting like his teenage friends.

What was up with that?

Even his parents would trade sly, amused glances whenever Kat visited.

“Lots of potential power for the Rayna’s Rangers, especially since your aunt— listen, off the record, you need to tell her that she needs to start popping out some superpowered babies. I did my part and I’m still in charge! While she’s just going to retire? C’mon! She hasn’t aged a day in over twenty years. There’s no way that her womb—”

Ranger Captain Hardhat cleared her throat. “Colonel,” she tapped her watch.

“You tell your aunt what I said.”

“Yes, si—”

The ranger colonel regarded him kindly.

“It’s a tough choice. Do what you think is best… for you. Not for us. Not for anyone else. Duty is all well and good, but true passion is what’ll take you past the limit of your potential and that’ll be what’s best for all.”

“When do I have to decide by?”

“No deadlines. You’ll always be welcome to join, but if you do then you’ll have to commit fully. You won’t get any special treatment while in your enlistment period. Rayna’s Rangers will come first.”

“Colonel, you’re forgetting,” Ranger Captain Spiritwalker said.

“Oh, yeah. Whatever you decide you’re welcome to return to J.R.R.P. it’ll be a waste of time, but some people,” she glanced back at the table of captains, “think it’s cruel to separate you from your comrades in arms, your boon companions, whatever that means. We don’t want to burn bridges anyways and we do owe your family.”

“Yeah and when he’s big dick on the walk he’ll remember us good, right, Boy?” Ranger Captain Mouthy said.

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir?”

“You won me the bet, so we’re fucking even,” she shrugged.

Ranger Colonel Kayl rubbed her eyes. “This is how you get bad habits and I encourage it.” She sighed. “Alright. We’re done here. You’ve got your test. Come give me your answer when you report to J.R.R.P. in a couple of weeks.”

Alin stood straight and saluted before striding out of the lecture hall.

He was going to be with his friends again, but that knowledge didn’t lessen the weight on his shoulders.

What did he truly want?

Was it being a ranger when all it took to raise questions was one brief conversation?