Going back into her room, Schema gestured with her hands in front of her and nodes of Corbeau’s memories stretched out before her like a mini galaxy. As she began to focus on it, she activated her powers Neuroplasticity 22 A and Prismatic Shift 9 S. The nodes began to pulse and slowly connections began to form starting from one memory node and stretching to others as if they were forming small constellations. They continued to grow as the mini galaxy tilted and spun showing every angle and facet of the nodes. It began to look like a large tangle of connections, until the nodes began to shift colors and send out a second wave of pulses. As this happened the connections began to take on the hues of the of the nodes as well. Patches of blue, magenta, violet, bright sections of red, areas that dimmed and seemed to lose saturation, strokes of green, amber, and vibrant areas of pure white. The mini galaxy had turned into an iridescent nebula filled with a full spectrum of emotions shifting inside like a mood ring. The stronger the emotions the brighter they shone.
Neuroplasticity 22 A - Cause memory nodes to pulse and resonate with each other. Connections form between them based on what they have in common.
Prismatic Shift 9 S - See the full spectrum of emotions illuminated in the memories. Be able to shift between the emotions and moods that the memories resonate with in order to better understand their connections. Intense emotions may be reflected in the person's surroundings.
Schema examined the mini nebula bundle of nodes. Shooting stars of iridescent color could be seen darting across her glasses. Around the previously pink room, everything shifted to white before the nebula began to project its shades to the surrounding room and across Schema herself. As the colors washed over her, she experienced and processed the information inside the nodes. Within the span of a second, she saw the entire two months from Crobeau. She began to cry as she continued to look at the nebula, but her eyes took on the same iridescent glow and she slowly closed her hands around the nebula until it looked like single point of light. Then she pushed her hand outward toward the far wall and the point of light joined the web, her Cosmic Web 30 S.
Cosmic Web 30 S - Merge together memories from many sources. The size of the web is only limited by the Vastness of the person's Soul.
When the point of light touched the wall, it pulsed once and sent out a ripple of colors across the web in all directions. Reaching past the web that could be seen, it reached the boundaries of the web and rebounded back. As it made it’s return trip, new lines began to form between the nodes reaching back to the new one fully integrating it into a veritable cosmic sized web of information. When the node finished its integration, the prismatic light in the room faded to a dull blue. Captivated by the sadness of the life Parasite has had to live up to now, the room matched color of her emotions. “Its amazing that he is still alive out there at his age. Now let’s see if we can figure out how he got there.”
Slowly the room shifted to a from a dull blue into a turquoise color. Schema expanded the wall and bringing the nebula back into focus, she reached into it and pulled out memories of the raven’s aerial views. Stretching her hands to the edges of the memories, she pulled on the strings connecting them to the rest of the web. Fragments of other memories began to emerge. A distant skyline, a topographical map, train and bus routes, pages from a travel guide. Bringing them closer, she pushed them into Corbeau’s memory merging the fragments together with Celestial Alignment 25 S. The edges of Corbeau’s memory began to expand and integrate with the other memories spreading to show the entire region where Parasite was living.
Celestial Alignment 25 S - Reform fragments of memories together to produce one cohesive piece of information. They can be rearranged further, added to, removed from, or manipulated in any way needed to be aligned in a way provides needed information.
A lone highway stretched between the city of Eminent known for its prestige and grandeur, and the town of Peripheral seen as a feeder town for the conspicuous consumption of Eminent. About half way between the two cities, there was a small trail, likely just a game trail, that led into the forest from a dusty disused pull-off on the side of the road. Not far from this trail, was Parasite’s tree. It was a place that would rarely be traveled as it was not even a park or real trail. She looked closer at Parasite inside the memory noting that he would be somewhere between nine to fifteen months old.
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The room shifted to a deep green as Schema’s focus deepened as she activated her power String Theory 19 A. She pulled the memory of Parasite to the front and dismissed the regional map. A couple strings stretched off to the town of Peripheral. She gently plucked them and sent a ripple down them and back bringing memories with them. Looking at the first, she saw a medical file. A photo of a newborn with no mouth, Primary Power listed as Soul Flux, Secondary as Bio-Matter Conversion. She recognized this was the boy known as Parasite. She shifted to the second string, an obituary, just a picture in the local paper. Probably the only evidence of his existence to the greater world.
String Theory 19 A - See the string connecting one memory to another. The thicker the string, the stronger the connection between memories. Connected strings can be plucked to summon the attached memory.
Glancing back to the medical file, there were small threads leading from Parasite’s powers to the city of Eminent. Plucking these strings, she brought up an article of a local power couple. Described as Therapeutic Specialists for the stars, Guru known for cleansing of the Soul and Glamour the sculptor of the Body. They were a husband and wife duo known throughout Eminent for their connections to many of the key players. Politicians, Celebrities, Athletes, even Business Moguls came to them for their holistic rejuvenation. Like a tune up for the whole being, people would go into a session troubled and out of shape, but come out filled with clarity and focus, a toned body and all imperfections polished away. Examining closer, Schema tapped on the portrait of Glamour. An array of her photos for the last 2 years.
Every single picture.
No stray hair.
No wrinkle.
No blemish.
Not single thing out of place.
She was a trophy wife and her body as unchanging as a statue. A still frame of perfection. This continued until two months ago. A photo of a gala on a Saturday same unchanging image. Sunday, a completely different person. There was a glow to her skin, a plumpness to her cheeks, a gentle curve to her belly. It was a talk show, and she revealed she was expecting a baby girl at 30 weeks along. She went on to discuss a new form of rejuvenation they were announcing for women suffering from poor body image related to their pregnancy. She then did a twirl to model the results personally with a broad smile and gentle caress of her stomach.
“Son of a...”
Schema’s room shifted to red. “That bitch hid her entire pregnancy with Parasite.” She threw all the nodes back to the wall and flung herself onto her bed in frustration. She laid there trying to calm down. Slowly the room began to turn to a neutral white. “I think we have comprehensive enough knowledge on Parasite though to pass it up and get orders for how Corbeau should proceed.”
With a heavy groan, she leaned forward and got up. She strode across the room next to the COSMIC WEB and pulled what looked like a small glass tablet off a shelf. Schema held the tablet up between the wall and her glasses. As the light from the web passed through the tablet and reflected off her glasses, it began to etch a pattern into the tablet. Starting from the center of the tablet, the etching began to fill with light to create a Star Chart 26 B. “I’ll have to take this report to the boss. See what they say to do with Parasite in the future.”
Star Chart 26 B - a curated extraction of memories used to convey a cohesive report of the desired information. Memories can be viewed by others in this way.
Getting up from her bed, Schema went into the common room then out into the hallway. It felt like something between walking through a dorm and an office. Toward the end of the hallway, she took an elevator and pressed the button for the lowest sublevel. The doors quietly opened onto a dark living space. Like an inverted penthouse, the room was spacious and beautiful yet covered with shadows and small luminescent patches. Schema navigated her way through the living room toward the kitchen. She saw a figure standing there with a gentle glow from the stove’s flame revealing a female silhouette. With a soft click, the flame went out and Schema’s eyes became accustomed to the darkness again. She heard her boss gently pouring liquid into a cup before she turned around with two teacups.
“Hello Schema. What brings you here today?”
Schema took in a better view of her boss. She was dressed in a simple blue silk evening gown. Looking to her face to address her, she saw a matching silk band wrapped across her eyes and a gentle smile looking back at her. She gently sat one of the cups of tea in front of Schema before gliding around the counter and settling in a seat next to her. “I brought a report on someone Corbeau accidentally made contact with. He goes by the name Parasite and believes that one of his ravens is named Corbeau.” Schema pulled the Star Chart out of a pocket and the nodes of light danced across the dark room making the shadows bend and sway around them.
Schema placed the tablet in front of her boss. Slowly the leader began to unwrap the bindings from her eyes to reveal pale blue eyes, but instead of black where the pupil would be, there were spots of white that seemed to let off a small glow. Pulling the Star Chart in front of her, she began to read it. The light of the report mixed with the slight glow of her eyes as she took in the information. As the light from the tablet began to dissipate, she laid the tablet down and closed her eyes. Before saying anything, she wrapped the silk binding back around her eyes and turned to face Schema.
“It is quite troubling that Corbeau’s identity was compromised, but at the same time, this may be a blessing in disguise.” She gently smiled and said “Have Corbeau continue to watch over Parasite. He can be in physical contact, but only when not using Commandeer so he maintains the appearance of being a simple raven. He can use his own discretion in gifts the raven gives. I only need updated if Parasite moves beyond the forest.”
Schema nodded bid her leader farewell before going back to the common room. She decided to do some work on the couch while she waited for Corbeau to come back as her thoughts kept drifting to Parasite.