All animate and in-animate matter have unique frequencies. So why wouldn’t the Fae? Or Fae Energy for that matter?
In 2620, the Fae Energy Wave Spectrum was theorized by Dr. Heisenbaum of LeFay Technologies, for the unique identification and classification of the various magical species encountered, based on resonant frequencies of detected ‘fae energy’.
On a relative scale, unenhanced ordinary humans would exist at the lowest frequency levels, followed by physical Fae and mental (magical) Fae interspaced based on species uniqueness.
As for Faehumans, well, they could exist all the way from the lowest to being on par with the highest resonance frequency Fae.
– “Introduction to Fae Energy Wave Spectrogrammetry”, Compulsory Learning at Vulcan Corporate Training College.
***
The moment James and Inani returned, carrying sealed metallic containers possibly concealing material regarding the ripper-doc’s research interests, Miles and Zhan Shen walked past them.
Miles in particular, couldn't care less about what an outer-city ripper-doc was up to, regardless of how praiseworthy their taste in transporter engines, inventors, and corporations was.
The elderly butler seemed quite amused by the fact that the usual miserly tipper of a young master had been so generous to a ripper-doc, but Miles simply pretended to not notice.
Their walk through the hallway was brisk and short, though not altogether… pleasant.
AT THE CENTER OF THE DECREPIT HALLWAY, DIRECTLY BESIDE A SMALL RUSTED DOOR THAT LED TO A SECLUDED EXIT TO THE BACK, MILES HAD BEEN HORRIFIED TO FIND TWO OVERSIZED, MANGY RATS. FEARLESS VERMIN, THAT DARED TO NOT MOVE UNTIL THEIR BOOTS WERE JUST A FEW STEPS AWAY BEFORE SKITTERING INTO THE CREVICES OF THE WALLS.
‘What a dump...’
Glaring at Zhan Shen for being directly responsible, the old butler continuing to shrug in apparent innocence, he pushed through another rusted steel door and into the clinic proper.
Immediately, Miles was forced to reconsider his former impression.
While Haruka’s Fae-bulous Emporium was very much what he had expected of an outer city ‘ripper-doc’, the woman was very possibly not a half-bad Faesycian.
The air carried the scent of antiseptics and disinfectant, evidence that the clinic was in frequent use and well cared for.
Without the presence of a light or window in sight, the clinic should’ve been pitch black, and yet, there was perfectly sufficient illumination, originating from some unknown invisible source.
‘Ghostlights? One or two at best, but still… impressive, for an outer city Faesycian of course.’
They also happened to be reliable, unlike the flickering cacophony the cheaper will-o-wisp lighting that occupied the rest of the clinic tended to be.
The walls here were the same reinforced concrete as outside, but there were no obvious cracks, and hopefully, no rats as well.
Curiously, it was not lined with cold iron or even a relevant ward as most Faesycians were want to, ever since pixies, fairies and other mischievous fae, began to 'prank' those that dabbled with the essence of their fellow Fae.
If the Faesycian was lucky, they’d have a disgruntled customer with leg cyberware attached to their arms. If the fae in question were the dreaded kind, then the cyberware may just well implode upon itself, taking a few limbs and organs with it.
But here, there wasn’t a fae-repelling metal or ward in sight, almost as if Haruka wanted fae to intrude.
Well, Miles took care of that easily, with a tap on the Lykaon ring and a call to Cadmus to begin constant emission of cold zero’s frequency, with a resonance of absolute zero hertz on the Fae energy wave spectrum.
While the particular frequency didn’t render them entirely helpless, it did disrupt their abilities to some extent, meaning most mischievous fae would be considerably less likely to intrude.
Even Zhan Shen pulled out a few pieces of paper, calligraphed with symbols of no known language, and plastered them upon the walls.
Miles raised an eyebrow, but he’d seen the old butler use similar symbols before and been given the usual half-answers as to what they were, so he didn’t inquire.
Either they were decorative, which meant he wanted nothing to do with them, or they had some useful purpose, in which case he believed old Zhan would teach him eventually.
At the very center of the clinic was a broad metallic operation table. It was some alloy of Pirisidium, a fae ore known for being naturally disinfectant, where the majority of the procedures were performed.
Above it hung a rudimentary surgical arm, the internal circuitry and components entirely exposed, allowing Miles to discern that the machine was actually a patchwork of salvaged components cleverly connected together, even bypassing the closed system nature that most corporate components used (Lykaon tech included), but still in decent enough condition to work on cybernetics.
But then there was this other thing, tucked away in a corner, another hodgepodge contraption resembling a cross between an alchemical distillery and a robotic workstation. Vials containing colored liquid stood in ordered rows, almost similar to the standard Fae Serum, but even without examining them any closer Miles could see that these were failures. Duds.
He could only scoff at that.
It made sense that these outer city ‘ripper-docs’ would try to replicate the FaeTech Serum. It was an exercise in futility, he knew from experience, having participated in his mother’s experimentation and even personally, wasting a decent chunk of credits in the attempts.
It wasn’t that the method of extracting Fae Essence, liquidizing and preserving the energy was impossible to replicate. In fact, Haruka may even have succeeded there, had it not been for the World Court enforced Patent Mandate.
The World Court, a childish attempt at mimicking the Courts that the Fae were rumored to have in the Domains they were presumed to live in when they crawled out of places besides Tartarus, referred to a coalition between some of the world’s most powerful conglomerates. They used a particular type of captured Fae, to supernaturally enforce unbreakable world mandates.
It wasn’t without limits, for they couldn’t enforce unfair laws or unbalanced rules, but the old-world intellectual property and patent systems, which had lost all meaning post Fae War and the rise of conglomerates, were fair game.
The concept of Intellectual Property was brought back in full force under the World Court, granting FaeTech the undisputed dominion over Fae Serum creation.
So, unless Haruka could invent an entirely new method of Fae Serum synthesis, not mandated by the particular patent, all she would create were these dud serums.
It was a similar oath-bound contract that had been enforced upon Miles himself, the undeniable requirement of 1000 Faetality to secure his inheritance...
They were not imposed by something as fickle as law, but by reality itself.
Pulling a hand through his hair, Miles put his distractive thoughts aside for a moment and turned to the machinery he would be using to analyze himself.
The machine in question was a rudimentary Faesiology Analysis Cubicle, with an external Faery Resonance Imaging machine.
Miles found the design rather familiar, and it only took the distinctive logo of a sword in a stone, grabbed by a dozen different hands, for him to remember.
If he wasn’t mistaken, that was a Lefayescan X-3, Emberforge, by LeFay Technologies. The pinnacle of physiological and faesyiological analysis tech available.
Sure, that was true… several centuries ago.
'How in the holy hells did they find something this ancient, and in working condition?'
Miles stared at the machine of tarnished copper, adorned with remnants of faded sigils. The AetherProbe that was supposed to be for analyzing Fae Energy Frequencies had been antiquated over a decade ago, and the so-called ‘Omnisight’ was now a vintage display with visible burn-ins.
He heaved a sigh, at least it should get the job done, barely.
Nevertheless, Miles didn’t forget to glare at Zhan Shen, “Did you really pay a Fae Knight’s Gold for this? We could’ve bought a handful of better machines at that cost!”
Zhan Shen shrugged, seemingly uncaring, “The cost of privacy and respect is indeed hefty but right now, what is more important is haste Master Miles, not luxury.”
Miles frowned, but eventually revealed a grin, “Well, you’ve been in quite a hurry to get this done old Zhan. So come on then, fire it up. Let’s get this checkup over with.”
Zhan Shen froze, seemingly unsure on how to proceed.
He never did like revealing his inadequacies, particularly this one. Eventually, the old butler forced a laugh, “Haha, make fun of the elder who’s troubled by modern technology. Very funny.”
Miles’ grin only grew wider.
Zhan Shen heaved a sigh, “Take care of the physiology analysis with Cadmus’ assistance Master Miles. I can’t help you here, so I’ll be taking your word for it.
“Don’t tell me, you’re not the least bit intrigued about what’s changed about yourself due to Vampirism?”
Although his smile never left, Miles was magnanimous enough to allow his butler some mercy, “Alright then old Zhan, we shall see,” and walked over to the antiquated machine, placing his ringed fist upon the cold copper.
“Cadmus, can you weave into this Lefayescan? I believe the X-3 used the formerly proprietary LKE to encrypt—?”
The reply was instantaneous, returned before Miles could even finish.
“AFFIRMATIVE. THE LEFAY KEY EXCHANGE PROTOCOL IS SEVERELY OUTDATED, WITH OVER 100 POSSIBLE VULNERABILITIES, 52 OF WHICH ARE PRESENT HERE.” Half a second later, “NETWORK INTRUSION COMPLETE.”
Miles wasn’t surprised that Cadmus had weaved into a centuries-old piece of tech without so much as a flicker or jitter in the machine to reveal the AI’s intrusive presence.
Now that everything was ready, he could only get it over with… and began to strip.
Suit, shirt, and pants off, leaving him naked but for a pair of boxers and the yin-yang talisman around his neck.
His lean, sharp muscles tightened, as he couldn’t help but glare at Zhan Shen once again, “This piece of ancient metal can’t even scan through thick clothing. What a wonderful Faesycian you picked for us old Zhan.”
The old butler beamed, and made a mock bow, “I aim to please Master Miles.”
Miles grunted, and climbed into the capsule, the metallic edges barely forming a vague human silhouette, which served to fit him in well enough.
He had to admit, although the circumstances were not ideal, this physiology analysis was probably for the best.
To properly analyze and understand the changes to himself, before he truly went all in on Vampirism.
Although Miles hadn’t had much in the way of choice, be it in his current situation, or his unintended progress through the levels, it was better to understand rather than be led along blindly by an unknown ‘system’.
At the very least he wouldn’t be the metaphorical child not knowing when they’d get the candy they were promised, or… what else they may be given with it.
Yet, the prospects of what he might discover was also very intriguing, and dare he say, exciting.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
So, with an expectant, self-focusing breath, Miles brought up the ring.
“Alright then Cadmus, let’s begin with a deep physiological scan. Use the, *sigh* Omnisight, to display the scan results and any detected irregularities.”
An affirmative beep from the ring and the aether-probe began to move over his body, methodically from head to toe.
A few minutes later and Miles was peering through a FRI scan displayed on the ancient Omnisight, his vampiric physiology revealed in a… mostly ordinary, human display.
The nervous system and his nerves were depicted in the standard mild white glow, just slightly brighter over his brain. It was close enough to being perfectly identical with that which was associated with the standard human on the Fae Energy Spectrum.
The lack of alternate-colored dots or splotches suggested that there were no Fae essence within him, evidence that he had yet to use a Fae serum. On that note, his faetality had remained unchanged at a nauseating 997.
But most importantly, there were no regions of mass distortion. The energy waves forming his silhouette perfectly complete, confirming that there were no significantly foreign fae energy signatures, meaning, no FaeTech cyberware had been implanted within him without his knowledge.
While the possibility wasn’t entirely ruled out this provided a reasonable conclusion that this System was not of FaeTech origin. Which was good, very good.
However, the most interesting, most distinctive change due to his Vampiric Physiology, well besides the distinctly black and seemingly ‘dead’ region on the left of his chest where his beating heart should’ve been, was… something else.
A lattice of root-like tendrils spread throughout his body, distinctive from the nervous system owing to its color of vivid red, seemingly captured mid pulse.
‘What… is that? Is that supposed to be the Blood Circulatory System?’
The FRI had captured something. Where his blood vessels should’ve been, over his veins and arteries, the energy wave signature from his blood glowed with such intensity, overwhelming anything he had ever seen before.
A few repeated FRIs confirmed this was not erroneous, revealing that each droplet was akin to a wild, untamed beast coursing through him in a frantic current, compared to the docile flow that may have been observed in otherwise human blood vessels.
It wasn’t entirely uncommon to have the circulatory system appear in an FRI, particularly in those who were frequently and consistently exposed to latent Fae Energy, for example heavy fae effluents.
Thing is, with Miles’ rather privileged upbringing, his situation couldn’t have been further from that.
Not to mention the fact that the crimson energy from the blood in his veins and arteries, blood energy, had a frequency signature that was completely unique, going even beyond the highest limit of the known spectrum of Fae energy waves.
‘Curious, curious…’
But despite his intrigue, Miles could not experiment much further.
Unlike Fae Abilities or FaeTech Cyberware which were what usually showed up in FRIs, and which could be practically used and controlled for further experimentation, he had little idea on what to actually do with this… energy.
Perhaps, it wasn’t supposed to be actively used, but merely the source of his attribute enhancements and sensory boosts?
Maybe, but Miles couldn’t say for sure.
Well, there was something he could try, but that would be for later.
At the very least, the FRI helped confirm that his vampiric physiology and faesiology were stable. The energy had not gone beyond what his Faetality could handle, which served to say he would not implode like a thrown tomato.
In fact, since it was unchanged, it was very plausible that Vampirism or the energy created thereof, acted wholly different from the energy in Fae serums or Fae cyberware.
With that, Zhan Shen’s primary concerns were answered and resolved, though the elderly butler didn’t seem particularly pleased about it.
Which was fine for Miles was far from done, “Cadmus, let’s continue.”
***
About three hours and multiple dozen repeated FRI scans later, Miles was laid back in that uncomfortable cubicle, staring up at the ghost lit concrete ceiling, pondering on what he had just discovered.
He had experimented thoroughly, discovering many things, both minor and major.
First, by having Cadmus analyze each FRI against the external conditions Miles was under for rules of association, and very simply varying the ambient illumination (again by having Cadmus weave into the unencrypted Ghostlights), he was able to analyze to some extent, the response of his Faesiology to light.
That conclusion was minor.
At least when it came to artificial light, the energy in his blood vessels showed little to no change, though Miles did feel a vague sense of unease whenever the lights were to become blindingly bright.
Which he chalked up to his personal nervousness about what he might find when he exposed himself to actual sunlight…
Experimentation with artificially generated UV gave similar results, concluding that neither had any tangible effect on him. Meaning the final test would have to be done at the break of dawn, presumably in the absence of the Lefayescan, but they still had some time before then.
What followed was further research into the nature of the unbeating heart and how it still continued to pump blood through his vessels. This conclusion was reached quite easily, with just a bit more processing from Cadmus.
His heart was properly dead, still, and in no way involved in further blood circulation. While it seemed to move or beat on rare occasions, that was simply a side-effect of the blood flowing through.
In other words, it was the blood that moved, as if given life of its own, like a specter or ghost following habitual life even after death.
Miles had paused for a moment at the conclusion, once more feeling the weight of his choices, but he had felt some of it lift after his experimentations with regards to Conditional Undeath. And yes, that had required a few cuts upon his palm with Zhan Shen’s knife, but such was the price of science.
By chaining together a series of FRIs to form an animation of sorts, they had discovered the most intriguing result seen so far.
[External Bleeding Detected. 0.01 Blood Points (BP) lost. (Negligible. Not considered.)]
The next moment, when Conditional Undeath activated, the FRI animation revealed strands, particles of the blood energy rushing towards the sources of injury.
They moved through actual veins for the most part, but once they reached a close enough vicinity, they phased through the vein and through muscle to reach the exact source of injury, in this case, his palm.
There, the particles of blood would persist, almost in contact with the wound, gradually vanishing away as the injury healed. The specific process here wasn’t clear, but his conclusion was that the blood energy was used for the regeneration, and hence used up.
And yes, the deeper and longer the cut, or more serious the injury, the more blood energy that rushed to it.
After which, there would not only be a noticeable reduction in the blood energy flowing in his vessels, but also a reduction in his actual blood, proportional to the amount used up in regenerating the injury.
This had led Miles, well, him and Cadmus, to the final conclusion that the blood flowing in him was not merely some sort of Fae energy infused blood.
To phase through his body, the blood was very possibly a type of energy in and of itself. Or, considering that he could still bleed liquid blood, at the very least it was capable of transitioning between liquid and energy states.
[0.4 BP consumed. All Injuries Healed.]
If the many system notifications he had received in the process were anything to go by, Miles could conclude that this energy was what was referred to as BP (Blood Points).
Another intriguing observation lay in the variation of blood energy with physical motion. Although it was subtle and imperceptible to Miles himself, Cadmus had delved deep into the data of the scans, a feat only achievable by skilled net weavers or… corporate AIs.
While it wasn't groundbreaking work, it did add an interesting layer to the already mystical blood energy—motion or movement induced a slight intensification in the flow of blood energy, often concentrated in the specific part of the body in motion.
'Could it be that this blood energy is what is behind the attribute enhancements by the System?'
An interesting thought, but the FRI scans from the Lefayescan only worked while Miles was lying within the human shaped imprint of the scanner. If he wanted to experiment more on this, the available equipment was not sufficient.
Over this period, Zhan Shen had observed the entirety of the proceedings, occasionally questioning, occasionally concluding, but mostly pondering in silence.
The elderly butler had even managed to find a clove of garlic from somewhere, and thrown it over to ‘complete’ the experiment.
Miles had humored him, to some extent curious himself. But the moment he felt no reaction from touching the very intense-smelling condiment, besides a strong desire to throw it away due to the sharp smell, he knew it was nothing special.
Further FRIs confirmed it.
The blood did not react to the garlic. It was just his rather sensitive sense of smell having some trouble.
Zhan Shen seemed quite amusedly disappointed, but that called an end to the basic experimentation.
Sure, there were still many aspects remaining for him to experiment on, but Miles' head was elsewhere, as he chewed on his lip in deep contemplation. He had been trying his hardest to ignore it, he didn’t really want to… but he also did.
[BP: 7/110]
{Blood Points (BP) in detail: (Personal) 7/10 + (Ripae Sanguine) BP: 0/100}
Miles stared at the status screen.
Perhaps due to his experimentation, the blood consumption that had been repeatedly stated as negligible had been contradicted by the decrease in blood points from eight to seven.
That had resulted in another interesting revelation.
Miles himself may not have been able to discern the change, were it not for Cadmus' meticulous analysis of the FRI scan data. The decrease in blood points had caused the vivid red of the blood energy in his veins and arteries to fade just slightly, while the intensity of its flow had intensified.
If he wasn't imagining it, it felt even worse now.
His throat was phenomenally dry and no amount of gag-worthy outer city canned drinks brought over by Zhan Shen in the last hour had helped.
His very physique felt… dehydrated.
Not to the point of feeling pain, but it was still uncomfortable and distracting. Attempts to control himself with focused breathing had helped so far, but the effects were always temporary.
It was obvious to him now, that this thirst had only become a problem ever since the blood points had dropped, after the injury from that gangster that had pierced a hole through himself and his perfectly good suit.
Perhaps further in-depth meditation might help him control the thirst better, but his theorization concluded that these Blood Points were his lifeline.
So, surely, refilling blood would be for the better?
Miles took a deep breath, pushing himself off the Lefayescan and turned to Zhan Shen, who had been sitting on the ripper-doc’s stool, mostly silent.
His movement caught the old butler’s attention.
For the second time in a very short while, Miles found himself saying something he had never considered he would, “Old Zhan... I’m going to need some blood.”
***
“Jimmy! Jimmy! We can finally pay for military college now!"
Inani was hopping excitedly, her pigtails bouncing in the air, the almost emotionless young man that was James trapped in her inescapable bear hug, bouncing with her.
The muscular girl's physique covered enough of the flickering will-o-wisp signs behind her on the walls to form shifting, rippling shadows.
Haruka smiled at their antics, but her excitement was similar, only better subdued.
The middle-aged woman didn’t even mind her sickness and sneezing fits anymore, the sight of the staggering zeros in her credit account being miraculous medicine that soothed the soul, and that was even ignoring the 'healing effects' of the golden coin she continued to flip through her fingers, single-handedly worth several times what was in her account right now.
“That's right, all around I owe you two a little short of a million." Haruka leaned forwards over the counter, towards the duo, "But where the hell did you find those Corpos from?!”
Finally coming to a stop with a completely unaffected young man in her hands, Inani grinned, “The market! The gonky ol' man Marcus fell to the rats, and they didn’t have anywhere else to go, so we went to their rescue!”
Haruka cocked her head at that.
Marcus was dead? Pity, decent man that one, but, less competition for her.
“Soma told us! She said we would be lucky, if we searched for customers there! And the cute fairy was right!”
The middle-aged woman would’ve cocked her head further, if her human joints had allowed it.
Soma? She was the one that had suggested this?
Haruka couldn’t help but spare a glance to the doors that led towards her clinic, where the corpos were, doing whatever they had come here for.
Their presence was quite suspicious, but if they were brought here under the auspices of their resident fae, then they couldn’t be that bad, right?
“But we wouldn’t have noticed them if we didn’t listen to Soma and used…” Inani lifted James in the air, as if to show him off, "Jimmy’s amazing goggles! There was something wrong with those two corpos, like some gonk had slapped a premium censorship over them, like they were a free AV or something! I thought it was funny, but Jimmy immediately said they had to be rich, and he was right!”
As if his feet were not dangling in the air and everything was perfectly normal, the young man blushed at the praise, “You noticed their enchantment right Haruka-san? My goggles couldn’t pierce through, but it did negate the mind tampering effect, revealing the enchantment as a blur of sorts. Amathaka, right?”
At that, Haruka nodded with a smile, “That's right, good eye James,” but she continued grimly, “It is a very solid enchantment. Not something just any corpo can have, what more do you know about those two?”
The straw-haired boy paused in thought, long enough for Inani to place him back on solid ground and answer in his stead, “The young one is a bit rude, the old one is cool. They still don’t seem like normal corpos though,” she began to count off her fingers, “Didn’t call us outer trash, didn’t bully James for no reason, or try to drag me into an alleyway. So, they might actually be alright?”
“Something is wrong with them though. No corpo would be nice for no reason right, Haruka-san?” James questioned.
The faesycian sighed, “Thank you for that you two, but less about their characters, and more about what we can use to identify their origin? Their Corp?”
Inani seemed to have no answers for that, although she had scrunched up her forehead in apparent thought, until eventually James shook his head, “No, not really Haruka-san. The enchantment hid all identifiable features. We did hear some of their conversation, but they didn’t speak of anything useful.
“Oh, the old man did call the other one, young master. I think the young corpo is the rich one.”
Haruka wiped her nose, finally nodding, “I guess we can’t know exactly then. But since they didn’t come here on their own, we can be at peace knowing they are only here for my equipment, and... not anything else."
At that, the straw-haired young man seemed to perk up, greatly interested, “Haruka-san, did you get any more material from there? Did Soma find a way for us to..." he looked around suspiciously and finally whispered, "go inside? Is it stable now?"
The faesycian frowned, but eventually shook her head, not elaborating any further.
James nodded, seemingly in understanding. But shortly after, he continued in a serious tone, "Oh! I almost forgot Haruka-san, I made a breakthrough with my ‘nades! Do you think we could work on it some more, tomorrow maybe?"
"And I'll help! We will blow away any evil corpos!" Inani chimed in, poking her head from the side of the young boy's head.
The middle-aged woman laughed, “Well, why wait for tomorrow? We’ve got time to burn! Let’s begin!” gesturing the duo towards the back of her counter.