Alright, here we go, Calvin thought, kneeling down and touching the frozen pile of parts that was all that remained of Carem.

Consume.

11/47 Bent remaining.

Entire creature eaten.

Chained Spirit detecting additional links connected to primary soul. Inheritance protocol initiated.

Carem Sageva: 35 M Mutant humanoid (primary)

Erina Toren: 16 F Human (secondary)

Kala Entredez: 19 F human (Tertiary)

You may assign the primary spirit and others to a single slot without disconnecting the other links, or you may break them apart and assign them to slots individually.

would you like to assign them to a single slot in Chained Spirit?

No. Separate them. And who the hell is Erina Toren?

Please assign the Spirits to slots.

Kala Entredez.

Assigned.

1/4 Slots remaining

Erina Toren was one of Carem’s victems, no doubt about it…

It would be far kinder to let her move on to whatever life awaited her next.

As for Carem… Calvin’s summons had Bent now. Why on Marconen would he ever give the man a chance to come back? Calvin even had a chamber specifically designed to bring Chained spirits back to life.

It was hard to see that not going horribly wrong at some point.

Discard the other two.

Are you sure? This is not reversible.

Yes.

Done.

Kala Entredez: 19 years old, female human. With a naturally high talent for Bent, this human unlocked the unique Seer skill at a very young age, making them a very valuable political piece. Although shaped by a harsh upbringing into the tough and responsible Princess of Gadvera, the spirit seeks prurient escape, and a simpler existence.

Summon 1 Kala Entredez, 20 days, 16 hours, 31 minutes.

Hmm….

Calvin re-read the description.

I wonder what mine said? Well, whatever. Kala, can you hear me?

…..

Kala?

….

Why wouldn’t she respond?

Well…that’s not a good sign. Let me try. Carem probably didn’t know I existed…or maybe he did. In any case, lemme give it a shot.

….

…..

Calvin waited impatiently for a response, rubbing his fingernails together as the minutes stretched out.

Calvin? Kala’s voice echoed through Calvin’s mind.

Yeah, it’s me. I got the guy! We can bring you back now!

Calvin stood from the freezer floor and headed toward the elevator.

No!

Calvin frowned, still walking.

It’s perfectly safe, I already tested it on myself, he thought, Ella sliding into the cramped box beside him. The whole undead thing was from earlier. Totally unrelated.

He hit the 3rd floor button, and the elevator started bringing them up.

No, If you want to prove that you’re Calvin, just let me be for a while. One thing Carem couldn’t do was take requests. Kala’s emotions brushed against his mind. They were guarded, expecting nothing.

He probed them gently with his connection and discovered that Kala had drawn a thick, deep grey wall around her mind that felt nothing. She had meticulously created a wall of apathy around herself that Calvin couldn’t even begin to pierce.

It was not unlike Nadia’s mental defenses, when she’d first become a chained spirit. He’d gradually whittled them down to next to nothing, but Kala’s…Kala’s wall was thick and sturdy, featureless and blank.

Seeing it turned against him made his unbeating heart sink a little.

You’re…not sure I’m not him? Calvin thought, his hairs standing on end. That implied the man had impersonated him, and possibly other people she knew and loved. That implied things he didn’t want to think about.

I take it back, I should’ve kept him around to torture some more.

You made the smart choice. Not the gratifying one. Elliot said.

“Damnit.” Calvin muttered, pounding the wall.

“What?” Ella asked, brow raised.

“Kala doesn’t want to come back to life just yet.” Calvin said, punching the ground floor button, altering their destination.

If I find out this is because you want to avoid the responsibility of living, I’ll be upset, Calvin thought.

Just trust me…and maybe a little.

If you’re just offering the opportunity to live again, I’m willing to make a deal. Nadia’s thoughts interrupted, bubbling to the forefront of his mind.

Calvin blinked.

Hmm… What can you offer?

Contract magic is another form of magic that Ilethan royalty study. I could make you a very good, very enforceable deal in exchange for living again.

Calvin tapped his fingers on his arm.

Nadia had become one of his primary summons, but, there was nothing she could do that Kurawe couldn’t…aside from be a girl.

In addition, the level of threat she presented him was about the same living or dead. As a Chained spirit she could layer her power to overcome even the strongest defenses, including Calvin’s.

If she were alive…she would be stuck in a single body.

Elliot, can you still do the thing where you join the rooms together?

Yeah, why?

Get Nadia and Kurawe’s room together with yours. Kurawe can proof the contract for me, and you can work with her on her design.

Yay! How did you know?

I had a hunch you might want to keep some of your body modifications. Bring me both the design and the contract via Visualize when you’re all satisfied and I’ll go over them.

Whoo! Nadia shouted in his mind, and Calvin shut the connection.

In the meantime, he had to get ready for a summit of world leaders.

In my experience, the odds are they already know who’s behind all the chaos recently, and they intend to put you on the spot. If you don’t have a damn good case, they’re gonna tear you to shreds.

That’s what I was afraid of, Calvin thought, pulling the invitation out of his pocket and scanning it.

Two weeks. The invite was penned by the Hash’Maje himself. A.K.A, Kala’s dad. It was made out to him and Kala.

Oh, gods, this is gonna be awkward. You don’t suppose you could at least attend as a Chained spirit?

I fail to see how revealing to my father that I’m dead and you ate me would make things any less awkward. Kala said, her emotions tinged with the barest hint of humor behind the armor of apathy.

Yeah, you’re probably right on that one, Calvin thought to himself, running his fingers through his hair. He’d just have to dodge and deflect any serious inquiry.

Nadia. I need a tutor. We’ve got two weeks and a siphon. I need to improve my social skills and Abilities.

Sounds good.

Chained Spirit

10/47 Bent Remaining

Chained Spirit

9/47 Bent Remaining

Calvin summoned Nadia and Kala.

Kala appeared in front of him, blinking and taking a half-step backwards. She was every inch the princess he knew, a slender beauty in a brilliant golden dress, just an inch or so shorter than him.

“What did you make me come out for?” She asked, her gaze suspicious.

“For you to do whatever you want,” Calvin said. “I’ll respect your wishes not to force you to do anything, but sulking around inside my head indefinitely can’t be good for you.”

Calvin waved a hand. “So use the opportunity to do whatever you like. You can even kill yourself and retreat back to the black room if you like.”

Kala’s eyes narrowed, but Calvin turned and left, Nadia tagging along behind him.

“Wait!” Kala said, trotting along to catch up with them. “I’ll help with the training. The only thing Nadia could conceivably teach you is how to get into men’s pants.”

Nadia scoffed.

“As you wish,” Calvin said.

As you wish. Elliot Echoed

***Ten Days Later***

Extensive Training has increased your attributes!

Intuition has reached 37!

Will has Reached 45!

Stability has reached 45!

Playboy Has reached level 20!

+1 to Intuition

Please choose an Ability or Mutation from one of the applicable Skills!

Talking to Girls:

Abilities

Like a Book: Boosts comprehension of body language, to a near unnatural level. Almost mind-reading, but not really.

Mutations

One Size Fits All: I think you all know what this mutation does, you silly guys.

Perfume : Smell better…duh.

The Voice: Makes voice more appealing.

Read Expression:

Abilities:

Poker Face: Give away little by way of facial expression.

Universal Language: Large bonus to understanding pantomime and expression regardless of species.

Mob Mentalist: Read the attitude of large groups of people easily.

Mutations:

The Pheonix’s (W)right eye- while making eye contact, you can discern if the target believes they are lying. Less useful on sociopaths and the misinformed.

-OBJECTION!

Med Tricorder: At will, determine a person’s health and identify anything that might be affecting them merely by looking at their face. Includes wounds, infection, blood loss, poison, food poisoning, drugs, parasites, disease, etc.

-Damnit Jim, I’m a doctor not an engineer!

Acting:

Abilities:

A mile in his shoes: 1 Bent to disguise yourself as the target for an hour, including voice and tactile effects. Does not lend supernatural knowledge of the targets’ mental state.

Good for sleeping with other men’s wives, if that’s included in the mile.

Infectious emoting: 2 Bent. Act out an emotional state (Anger, Calm, Sadness, Happiness, Defeatism, Courage, etc.) and watch it spread like wildfire!

Good for wars, orations, In-laws and Cutesiñeras

Confidence: At will, speak with such surety that people want to believe you. Even when they know they shouldn’t. Causes victims to build belief and make assumptions based on your statements if they aren’t paying close attention.

Good for lying. At its heart, Acting is the art of lying with confidence.

Mutations:

Me myself, And I: design up to five alter egos. Each one may be a different race or gender, changing your body when they assume control. Pro: Can fool rigorous magical testing to determine your identity or locate you. Con: stay on good terms and ask nicely for your body back.

Ironclad disguise. Possibly wake up married with kids.

Playboy was the combination of three different social skills, and every ten levels it gave him the opportunity to choose an ability form one of them.

Hmmm…. I’m already pretty good at reading people since I can tell what they’re feeling when they look at me. What I need is a better ability to spew an avalanche of shit with a straight face.

I Choose Confidence.

Calvin inhaled, and exhaled a long breath as his mind tingled with the way to speak with an unshakeable confidence that made people doubt their own reality.

Perfect.

He shut himself away in the Siphon and done everything he could in the intervening time to maximize his chances of successfully navigating a meeting of nations.

We’ve got Nadia’s design done. Elliot said, as Calvin was heading back to his tower for the evening.

Show me.

Visualize

Calvin blinked as Nadia appeared in three dimensions in front of him, her form sculpted to perfection, body subtly altered to inhuman standards. Calvin could easily pick out a few spots Nadia had…enhanced, through creative use of Chimera.

Well, she’s eager to make the best of this arrangement.

There were even a few pieces that…Calvin didn’t even have. The wings, horn and skin were good examples of those.

“What are these?” Calvin asked, pointing at the greyed out pieces of Nadia’s body.

They belong to monsters you don’t have yet.

You want me to add creatures to Chained spirit for nothing other than Nadia’s benefit?

No, they have remarkable abilities as well. The horned creature has a mutation that allows force to be gathered and redirected, while the wings are from the Tarak. You know how useful the Tarak’s skin-sense is. You could easily incorporate it into your summons, and if you could find a Warped example of one, you could profit even more.

You’re sure her body will be able to support these mutation with a living body.

I’ve triple checked. I’m a biomancer, you know. I’m better at this shit than you are.

Hmm… Is Kurawe done with the contract?

Here.

The contract opened in front of him, a tremendous, dense scroll chock full of word-salad that seemed to be infinitely long.

“You realize it’s going to take days to read through this?” Calvin asked.

I’m fine with being patient. Nadia said. Can you put a price on being alive?

I suppose.

Calvin spent the next two days preparing the defenses of his March to that it wouldn’t be attacked in his absence, leaving behind Baroke to defend it. He also worked on his social and verbal defenses, with both Kala and Nadia grilling him about his involvement in the loss of Uleis, Carem, Calvin’s culpability in the matter, what steps he’d taken.

They also raked him over the coals about the ‘succubus’ that had terrorized the continent, constantly trying to get him to implicate himself having involvement. It was amusing, seeing the two girls act as though they didn’t know he was absolutely involved, and at the same time terrifying, because of the amount of mental pressure they put on him, which ranged from coercion to blackmail.

If it happened for real, Calvin felt much better prepared to deal with it, but he didn’t know if he would succeed for sure.

Reminds me of mock-trial. Elliot commented.

Finally, it was the day before the summit, and Calvin didn’t have any more time to prepare. It was time to see whether this was just a courtesy invitation, or an ambush.

Wait a minute…

Have I eaten anything in the last two weeks?

Calvin Gadsint

Body:

35

Strength:

24

Kinesthetics:

25

Endurance:

24

Mind:

45

Intuition:

38

Stability:

45

Will:

45

Bent:

47/42+5

Warp:

1/35

Skills:

Stealth

10

Playboy

20

Old Salt

15

Sense-Grafting

20

Dupdomancy

20

Meditation

25

Chained Spirit

31

Calvinian Summoning

34

Your Princess is in Another Castle

19

Beli Ma

26

Genosian Language

13

Shifting

17

Abyssal Alchemy

14

Drafting

19

Bent Manipulation

19

Trait Doctoring

20

Race Change: Human -> Maculat Mulieres (Undead)

Things known about Maculat Mulieres: (Calvin’s Journal)

Blood is a rich, pleasing purple color, very bitter, with a strong numbing sensation. Smell is reported as being pleasant. May cause compulsive behavior.

Bent Regeneration has come to a complete Standstill and must be supplemented by Lady Killer.

Eating seems to be more of a habit than a necessity. Went ten days before I’d noticed it.