"Mr. Lather, you will awaken now.”

Andrew woke in a semi-fetal position still wrapped around the plasira. He was surprised to see that he had apparently not moved the previous night. Unlike every other night here, he couldn’t remember dreaming and by the looks of his bed he guessed it was because he hadn’t.

“I must say that your obsession with that device does not lend credence to your earlier assertion that humans need more than procreation opportunities to be happy,” the otherworldly voice said.

Trying to get his bearings, Andrew sat up and looked around. He found Biaobel sitting in his normal chair. Hand out, in a signal for Andrew to take the chair across from him. Setting the plasira on the ledge next to the bed, he got up and walked over to the offered chair and sat.

“I am only obsessed because I can’t figure out its purpose, but I doubt you would be kind enough to tell me what it does?”

“No, Mr. Lather, that is not why I am here today. Cebisi might inform you of its purpose, but I have more pressing matters. What happened in here yesterday?”

“You ran away without even allowing me to make you look impotent to your subordinates?”

“Mr. Lather, I am not here to endure your petty attempts at provoking me. How were you able to accomplish what you did yesterday?”

I knew those peeping toms were monitoring everything I do, and now they’ll be even more interested knowing I can do actual magic. Who knows what weird experiments they’re going to do now? Though I doubt they could be much worse, so I guess at least I have vast comic powers…………of moving a device that weighs nothing across a room.

“You can see everything in here I assume. Including when I poop which is a bit disturbing to think of, but seemingly not out of character for your society.”

“Please stop wasting my time Mr. Lather. You are correct, we could watch your every move. Just like your prisons back on your home planet. So, please stop your attempts to virtue signal your moral superiority and answer my question. Your magical abilities to date do not seem up to the task up, so how have you done this?” Biaobel’s tone gained a slight edge to it.

“Again, I’m not really sure…………wait did you say COULD? As in cannot currently?”

“It would seem so. We were able to until just before Mr. Atari’s 11th test yesterday. The one where you disrupted his minor Bariik enchantment. After that, something occurred in here and we stopped being able to remote sense this room. So, what changed, Mr. Lather? Did you gain some new insight that let you stop our sensing magic?”

Did my magic somehow negate theirs? No, as I still see all the magic signatures in walls and air that have been here since I arrived, I have to imagine this is a ploy of some sort. For what end though? So, I might do or say something under the belief that he can’t see or hear me. If that’s it to what end, what do they want me to reveal?

You know I could actually disrupt those enchantments, and he does too so why the game?

“Bariik, that’s animation magic, correct?”, with a nod from the geld he continued, “Ok I remember that, but I didn’t do anything that should impact your remote sight. Yet I have to ask what your game is, as we both know I could stop your enchantments” With that Andrew pushed his will to do exactly that and one of the enchantments shattered. “Not sure why I didn’t sooner actually. I will say it is a relief that yall can no longer watch me poop or pick my nose. So, what’s the game? why act like you can’t see me?”

“I will not ask again for you to stop this. I am playing no game, what would I gain by doing so? You must understand that at this moment, there are few places in my galaxy in which I cannot see and all of them are under the direct protection of another Getl, so it is more than concerning when I am unable to remote view an area not under one of their protections. Especially an area on the planet I am currently physically occupying. That would be a feat that even Wheatu would struggle with, and his command of space is second to only myself. That some human can negate my ability is most disturbing. So, I insist you tell me how you are doing this?”

“Biaobel you and I both know I love to get under your skin, but in this case I really don’t know. Until moments ago, I hadn’t turned off any of your enchantments, though I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner. Also, I don’t think I’ve changed in any measurable way. Unless you’re here to tell me differently. Could I subconsciously be blocking your ability to do magic in this cell?”

Biaobel didn’t even frown, yet his displeasure was written across his entire posture and if that didn’t give it away the tiny balls of pale tan light that shot from his eyes as he glared at Andrew was a clear sign. They streaked from Biaobel and struck Andrew in the stomach. Which caused him to be rocketed back and into the back wall. This time the wall did not envelope him like it had before. Instead, it unceremoniously bounced him off it like it was a wall mat in a dojo, sending him sprawling along the floor.

[Multiple contusions detected]

[Perforating Trauma detected lower left abdomen. No organs have been compromised. Blood loss detected. Seek medical attention immediately. Would you like me to administer pain medication?]

No Ziggy the healing field should be by at any moment.

And as if on cue the familiar greenfield swept the room, instantly healing his wound as it went. Andrew stood with what the little dignity he could muster and walked back to his chair.

[Blood loss no longer detected]

[Abdomen perforation fully healed]

As Andrew regained his chair, he leveled a gaze on Biaobel.

“That test was most productive, we have established you are not blocking magic. My own and our emplaced restoration magics still work. Unless you feel the need to have another demonstration of it? If not tell me how you are blocking my viewing.”

“Oh, I think I’m quite assured you’re still able to hurt me, if I had thought otherwise do you think I would have just sat there instead of trying to escape? In all honesty, I don’t know. Though I am empathic to your plight, it must be extremely frustrating to have a bacterium thwart your will, especially one who doesn’t even know it is doing it.”

“Quite so. You are quite the enigma, Mr. Lather. I am unsure if I should continue in our studies or destroy you. I am quite leaning towards destroying you, so you never have the opportunity to surprise me again. If you would only let me into your mind, then I wouldn't have to even consider destroying you as you’d be one of my followers and I would know your true heart.”

“The old let me control you so I don’t have to kill you routine. I thought we understood each other better than that by now. If you want to control me, you’ll have to do it through force, I won’t let you in without a fight.” Andrew said, all the while smiling like he was talking to an old friend.

“So, what shall we do with you then?”

“I’m guessing dropping me back off in Yuta is out of the question?”

“Yes, but not just because I would not so easily give you up for study. The distance is too far for us. When we met the crew of the Orinasa and found out about human abilities, our intent was to keep a few of you and your ship for study and send the rest back to where you came from. When we brought this plan to the late captain Waarheid, she was kind enough to provide us with the coordinates to Yuta. It was then I found that even I could not reach that far. I tried many things to allow my mind to reach over that distance, but none of them proved up to the challenge set before me. With no other options I convened the Unesisa Rada and together we performed a ritual of teleportation the likes of which this universe has never seen. Yet this proved to be insufficient as well and cost me a number of you humans to my fellow Getl for their troubles. This is when we turned to your ship so we might glean the secrets of how a race with such little magical knowledge was able to teleport such a distance when we were not. Yet just as we approached the Orinasa to study it, it slipped from our grasp. Your wife along with it. It was not until subsequent questioning of our remaining prisoners that we found that she was the one prisoner we needed to properly understand your ship.”

Biaobel paused for a moment, “The fact that we were not able to reintegrate her into our flock was a loss that cost many for their failures.”

The rage that emanated from the elven god’s eyes was enough to keep Andrew from talking. Both sat in awkward silence for a min or more as the god composed himself.

“As we no longer possessed any examples of your ‘Jump’ drives we moved our attention to your other devices. There too we have been unsuccessful in integrating your technology,” he said the word with disdain, “with our magic. We found that some parts of your devices drink up our magical energies and others seem antagonistic to our energies. So antagonistic that we lost an entire facility and a few of your fellow humans to one of the explosions. There seems that no matter how strict a punishment for failure or how large the reward for success I offer, it is never enough to drive a breakthrough in this area. Now you might grasp why I am so intrigued by how your implant is working. Honestly, if it was not fo the fact that I worry if we were to kill you that it would cause an issue with your implant I would have destroyed you long ago for your vast insolence. “ as Biaobel finished his statement he reached out a hand as if he might pluck the device right out of Andrew’s skull.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Andrew reflexively moved his head back a few inches to move it out of the god’s reach, before smiling and saying, “So you do have limit…..hmmm that will not get me what I want, will it? May I ask a few questions, some of which might help me understand what might be different with my situation and implant versus the ones you have studied?”

“You are correct, taunting me will get neither of us what we want. Yes, I will answer a reasonable number of questions, if it will get us to a place where we both may gain.”

“First, what did you mean by ‘the Orinasa slipped from your grasp along with my wife’?”

“As I said before we had custody of your wife for a few months. When the Tribe attempted to ‘Free’ my humans. We destroyed their ships quite easily. Though not before many of the trolls made it to the surface and were trapped. They remained here hidden on Ekkomera for longer than I care to say. In the end they were able to escape only because I was distracted by other events at the time and because your wife was able to repair and activate the Orinasa. Though in their haste they jumped into Dwarven space and were captured. Though through standard dwarven incompetence and the intelligence of your wife. A few of her crew ( her amongst them) and most of the Tribe members were able to commandeer a dwarven ship and escape with her. Leaving most of their human brethren to the dwarves and their evil machinations. Vernfock, the Tribe’s homeworld is a mystery to us. We know it’s in the blight, the area between our barrier and the dwarven fence, and we know it’s both a balanced world and a naturally hidden world. Hidden from even my vast senses. This is why I can’t tell you the fate of your wife. We have not heard even a tale of her in almost four decades. One thing you will likely not enjoy hearing is she was pregnant before she escaped our facilities and escaped with the father.”

“By choice?” Andrew said through and teeth so gritted it was almost incomprehensible.

“Who’s to say with you humans?” Biaobel said with a grin.

“One day I will make you regret you didn’t handle this better!” Andrew’s voice took on an eerie calmness as he said it. As if it were a spell he was projecting into the future.

“And one day you’ll realize I’m further out of your reach than your wife is.” A Cheshire smile grew on the god’s face.

The two sat staring at each other for a moment. Andrew in an attempt to quell his ever growing rage and Biaobel for a reason only known to him.

The stare was broken when Biaobel, smiled as if he just realized something, and a purple line shot from him and attempted to connect to Andrew. Andrew’s eyes narrowed, and the purple line stopped inches from his head. As it did it vaporized into a purple mist.

“Really?”

“Apparently, your magic feeds off your emotions. Quite interesting. Though I can see you and I are done for today, Mr. Lather.”

With that, and a miniscule magenta flash, Biaobel was gone.

An hour went by before Andrew was calm enough for any thought that didn’t involve killing that elven prick. It was then he decided to test Biaobel’s claim that they couldn’t view his cell. He started by talking at length about how the entire Elven race seemed to be under an energy Ponzi scheme of control. Yet, no guards arrived, nor did the Geald. He yelled loudly about details the Geald had previously instructed him not to speak out loud and still nobody showed up to stop him. After an hour of this Andrew started to believe that it might be true that they couldn’t watch him. Though why this was the case, he did not know.

If it’s true and that it happened right after I used the force. Could it be that my magic is somehow different than that of elven magic? Maybe using my magic negates their magic? No because the enchantments were still in place, and they claimed they claimed they still couldn’t see.

After some more contemplation on whether they could or couldn’t see him, he decided it didn’t matter. Either they already know he could do magic, or they don’t. As far as he’s concerned it didn’t change the calculus of his situation and so he diverted his attention to practicing his magic. After numerous times of making the Plasira fly to and from him, he felt he needed to work on finer levels of control. He decided that making t float and slowly move around the room would take precision and mastery he didn’t possess. This though proved more difficult than Andrew would have guessed and so he sat on his bed and practiced first to float the device in the air. He figured after he got that down he could work on making it move.

Another hour pasted before Cebisi appeared in a magenta flash and luckily for Andrew he did so when Andrew was pushing the plasira away from himself, as it hit Cebisi softly on his left cheek before tumbling away.

A look of abject horror grew across Cebisi’s face.

“Please tell me you hadn’t just used that before you threw it away.”

“I didn’t, as I still have no clue what that device is or how it functions. I’m just tossing it around because I’m bored. Can you get me a copy of Elven Creepos Monthly or something?”

“You are actually in luck. Elven Creepos Monthly was out of stock, but the Geald was kind enough to create some reading materials, especially for you. That can come later though, today I am teaching you a bit about our society.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know why, but I was instructed to do so and so I am. My guess on their motives is so you will start to understand we are the good guys.”

“Yeah, ‘the good guys’ who breed humans for experimentation and treat other species like tools?”

“That is a gross misrepresentation of what and who we are.”

“Oh, really so you don’t breed humans so you can experiment on us?”

“Well, that is different, as it is important research….”

“Is it now, come on man. He knows I’m not going to convert like this, so why teach me this stuff?”

“I really have no clue, but do you want to learn about it or not?”

“Do I really have a choice?”

“I guess not Mr.Lather, but please try to listen. Elven society started when Biaobel and his fellow Getl awoke on a planet, a planet which would later be named Biaobela. In recognition of his greatness and benevolence, but this story starts before then and long before the creation of the Unesisa Rada. Amongst them was the lost Getl, whose name is not for you to know. As there is great power in names, even the name of one who has passed on. The Getl each awoke with knowledge of their powers and that of the cosmos, but they knew not where they came from nor why or how they were created. Some theorized they were created by magic itself to bring order to the universe. Others believe they were created from the vast love of the universe and with the purpose to grow and spread that love to its creations. Whatever the reason and whatever the purpose for which the Getl were created, in their infinite wisdom and compassion, they created the elves. They empowered their first children with the power to command cosmic energies and sent us forth to guide and support all other living things in the ways of love for all living things. Next, they created the dwarves, so that we might have friends and those friends would create wondrous things for the Elves. Things which might enable the elves in their mission, as well as things that entertain their Elven leaders. Finally, they created the trolls, so they could work the fields for the others and so all might be fed. As the trolls needed both the ability to work with machinery and have magic to help the plants grow, the Getls enabled them with limited ability to control each of those opposing energies. Though not to the extent of either of the other two races.

And so it went for Millennia, the elves guiding, the dwarves creating, and the trolls producing. Until one day the dwarves grew jealous of our power and beauty. So enraged with lust, one of their number, through treachery that shall not be named, killed an elf, so he may have the elf’s wife. When she denied him, he would not accept it and in doing so brought about the first night and the first darkness known to the universe. The Getls, outraged by his actions, destroyed the dwarf who was responsible and cleansed the wife, yet the darkness returned that very day and every day since. When the Getl sensed the jealousy and lust radiating from the Dwarves, they approached them so they might find out what caused this jealousy to grow. The dwarves claimed that the Getls loved the elves first amongst their creation and unfairly favored them. The Gelts denied it, pointing to the various creations which only existed because of the gifts that they had bestowed on the dwarves. The Dwarves were not swayed for greed and jealousy clouded their minds. Next, the Getl showed them how the nighttime and its monsters were the products of their jealousy and greed. Yet instead of seeing the error of their ways and throwing themselves on the mercy of the Getls and showing gratitude to their benevolent rules, the dwarves attempted to attack the Getls for they knew not gratitude. For in the depths of their mines, an unknown force had corrupted them, sowing only lust, greed, and jealousy in their hearts. The Getls in their supreme benevolence, stayed their hands. Instead, they banished the dwarves to the neighboring galaxy so that they would plague the Elves no longer. In this action they showed their benevolence once more by going so far as gifting them a number of trolls so they might be able to farm and eat.

With the banishment of the Dwarves, under the watchful eye of our benevolent leaders Elven culture flourished. While they ensured that our every need was met, they still encouraged our innovators to to create greater and greater things. Until one day they showed us something truly amazing. They gave us the ability to travel the heavens. It was then that we found that they had spent the century before exploring the nearby star systems looking for new homes for elves, so that we might spread their love across Chennon. In that search, they found three habitable planets orbiting a single yellow dwarf star. The system would later be called Ihito and the planets were nicknamed the three sisters. The Getls timed everything perfectly, finding these planets as the population on Biaobela was reaching a mass that could impact the life on Biaobela. So out of our love of all living things, many of us moved and populated the sisters. This expansion continued for countless millennia as our people spread unabated to the far reaches of our galaxy. Until the betrayal at Adyam. “

Hmm I wonder if my wife is still alive and if she had that baby. Was it a boy or a girl? Did she replace me so fast or was it part of this sick elven experiment? Screw Biaobel and his tricks. He knew the one thing he could say to send me reeling.

“Mr. Lather are you paying attention?”

“Sorry it’s a lot take in after what your boss told me today. Can we continue tomorrow?"

Cebisi tensed and with a look of annoyance opened his mouth to respond when Andrew saw a purple pulse enter Cebisi’s head and the elf untensed before responding.

“Yes, we can. Though our history is important and it’s one you should know, so I’ll come back when you’re less distracted.”

Almost no sooner than the magenta flash and the after image of the elf had faded, than the plasira streaked across the room and into Andrew’s hand.

“It’s going to be a long night.”