> Nano PoV

Notification: Jump complete.

That was close, we barely made it out. It’s a wonder the reactor didn’t explode, although there was a sudden power surge when the Jump Drive fired up.

Warning: Atmosphere re-entry in progress.

Warning: Engines offline. Unable to correct course.

Damn, this isn’t where it was supposed to drop us! It was supposed to be empty space!

Command: Confirm the ship’s current galactic coordinates.

Result: Unable to comply. Antennae array not operational.

Figures. I wonder if the ship will even survive this?

Command: Simulate the ship’s current trajectory and give me hull integrity predictions upon impact.

Result: Vault Ship approaching surface at shallow angle. Impact with ground unlikely to cause catastrophic hull failure.

That’s good, most of the ship will survive. It’ll probably drag itself along the ground of this planet before stopping. The next issue is Ellie - she’s unconscious and this room is bad. I need to get her out of here.

Command: I am assuming direct control.

Result: Muscle control of host seized. Link with User interface established.

Good, now let’s move Ellie to another place with less debris flying around. Since the impact angle is shallow, we should be fine just holing up in the security room and riding it out.

* * *

She still hasn’t woken up. Her heart and lungs are working and I had to patch her up with a stimpack, but she’s still not waking up. Is it a coma or something worse? I can’t measure something like that without the equipment.

Notification: Intruder detected.

Oh, wonderful. A visitor. With Ellie’s bounty, they probably will be thrilled to find her like this. I can’t control her body well enough to win a fight, but I can at least run if needed.

Thankfully the ship’s internal sensors are still online, so let’s check them out.

Command: Scan and analyse intruder.

Result: Done.

And? Oh, right.

Command: Display scan and analysis results of the intruder.

Result: Displaying.

Let’s see… human, female, late teens, no signs of augmentations or gene therapy. DNA signature is a perfect match for one… Elizabeth Yelusi.

Wow, so someone else actually had that name. The lack of gene therapy and augmentations is a bit troubling.

Command: Display profile of Elizabeth Yelusi.

Result: Displaying.

No you stupid thing, that’s Ellie’s profile! Well, before she got disappeared at least. Let’s put it in a way so it doesn’t get confused.

Command: Display profile for intruder’s DNA match.

Result: Displaying.

Still the same. No, this can’t be, right?

Command: Compare intruder DNA signature with the host’s original and current DNA signature.

Result: 100% match with original host DNA signature. 96% match with current host DNA signature.

It really is like that. Someone who’s exactly like Ellie could have been.There’s no way this person exists. But she does. She cannot exist, but she does. She cannot existbutshedoesshecannotexistbutshedoesshecannotexistbutshe-

Warning: Minor logic loop detected. Resolving… done.

Ah! That was close. This is not a good place to glitch out!

Right, parallel universe! That’s it! Fuck the science that keeps denying it. I’m going with my gut feeling! Even though I don’t have any guts.

Warning: Intruder has reached security room.

Command: Display EVA suit camera feed.

Result: Displaying.

Good, I can see her like this. Yep, the face is the same. The boobs are enormous! To think my little Ellie could have been like that! Just how much can that old fart take from her!?

Huh? The eyes are glowing purple? There were no augmentations or gene therapy right?

Ah, the purple is gone now. Heterochromia? That’s unusual, but it’s my loss if I mind it.

Ohh! Ellie’s waking up! That’s good, we can communicate properly like this. Right, let’s warn her not to do anything rash.

{Ellie, welcome back. This person isn’t armed so don’t do anything hostile and just read and observe her for now.}

“I know! Kira is nice!” (Ellie)

Wow, okay that was weird. I've never heard her sound this happy before. Let's assume this is a good thing.

I really hope this is a parallel universe. Maybe here Ellie can finally be free from that old fart.

* * *

Notification: Personality matrix initialized.

Gaaah! I’m back! I was gone? Right, assess the situation!

Command: Run full diagnostics on host and display results.

Result: Executing command, stand by.

{*KHHHT* Ah that was scary. Ellie? Ah she’s unconscious, but seems to be fine.}

{“Nano! Thank goodness. I just captured the Fishface guy who hurt Ellie. I’m dragging him back to where she is right now.”} (Kira)

Good, we can interrogate him once she wakes up.

{Okay, I understand. Kelly, how are things on your end.}

{“Welcome back, Nano. I’m inside the cave. It’s safe, but the walls collapsed in the fight.”} (Kelly)

{“Kelly who are you talking to??”} (Tiny voice)

{“I found a kid here, she looks hurt so dig us out fast.”} (Kelly)

So we found some hostages as expected.

{“Nano, you can help Ellie get back on her feet, right?”} (Kira)

Good question.

Notification: Displaying scan results.

Let’s find the answer!

Hmm, most of the nanomachine swarm went haywire and was temporarily offline. Logs say Ellie’s heart stopped for several seconds but then she received a stimpack.

Kira, good job!

I’m missing about 30% of the swarm, looks like that psionic feedback pulse fried them. Some nerve endings and brain tissue were damaged, nasty. Thankfully there’s still some of that all-purpose stimpack juice left in Ellie’s bloodstream so I can get her back on her feet at least. She should be able to make a full recovery with time.

{Leave it to me! She’ll be up and about in no time!}

{“Then, we’ll head inside as soon as she’s awake.”} (Kira)

* * *

Result: Inconclusive.

Of course it’s inconclusive. Our Ellie suddenly gains the power of magic and you’re telling me you can’t find anything off with her physiology? I can’t rely on this VI for this stuff.

Think Nano! Some change happened in her after we got knocked out! Find it! The only thing you’re good at is thinking stuff up so now is your time to shine!

...

There’s no change in particular. She’s exactly how she was before the blast. Only with magic. Then, maybe the change happened earlier?

Like when we met Kira! That’s it! There was a change that even the VI didn’t notice, therefore the cause must be magical in nature!

I need to confirm this, let’s contact Kira without disturbing the others.

{Say Kira, were your eyes always this color?}

{“Hmm? Oh no. One of them turned red at some point after I found Ellie. I thought maybe it got dyed by blood or something since I had a rough day, but since I could see just fine with it and Ellie was the same I didn’t mind it.”} (Kira)

I see, it was like that after all. Also it wasn’t “at some point” it was immediately when she found us.

{You know, Ellie is actually exactly the same. She had bright red-eyes like yours, but one of them turned blue after you and her met.}

I was trying my best not to mind it at the time. But right now, I’m minding it a whole lot!

{“Huh? So we traded eyes? What kind of worrying thing are you suggesting!?”} (Kira)

{Speaking of which, your eyes glowed purple when I first saw you. It stopped when Ellie woke up, it’s hardly a coincidence.}

{“Eyes glowing, hmm. That’s worrying. It’s a sign of demonic possession.”} (Kira)

Geh! Now who’s the one suggesting worrying things!?

{Tell me about demonic possession.}

{“Demons don’t have a body you see, they’re just souls. Sometimes they cling onto people and take over their bodies for about a week. But a body cannot hold two souls, so the invading demon eventually loses strength and gets ejected, leaving the victim drained and weak. Priests of Khamis can forcefully exorcise the demon before any permanent damage is done.”} (Kira)

The concept of a soul is something I dismissed as 'uneducated guesswork' since it’s something science never proved. But this is a different universe. With magic. Science is not almighty here! Anything can happen! Especially around that place.

{So eyes glow a strange color when possessed?}

The windows of the soul, huh? That idea seems to be literal here.

{“That’s right. They go back to normal once the demon is expelled, though.”} (Kira)

{What about other signs of possession?}

{“Umm, being able to use magic even though they weren’t mages, strange voice, all around manic behavior, things like that.”} (Kira)

An invasion of the soul… but not an invasion, a visit? Ellie claimed her ‘ego’ was stuck inside Kira’s head when we arrived, while Kira herself said she experienced [Telepathy] and [Telekinesis] during that time.

Ellie described the experience as if watching through Kira's eyes, being able to only slightly nudge her subconscious in the right direction. She also said she managed to pick up a lot of the language that way, so knowledge was shared.

So, traumatized by the attack, Ellie’s soul left her body and latched onto Kira’s. When Kira found us on that ship, Ellie’s soul could return because she confirmed through Kira’s eyes that her body was safe. That's the hypothesis, but impossible to prove.

In the end, both of them had their eyes change color.

Magic… relates to the soul, right? A change in their very souls! That's kind of scary! But maybe it's not a bad thing?

A curse sticks to one’s soul and can cause personality shifts similar to the one Ellie had when we came to this world. I mean she mellowed out almost overnight! No, maybe she was always like that but just couldn’t find anybody she could show that side to.

I don’t count, I’m not a person anymore. I'm not even alive, so I probably don't have a soul. So something like magic, which comes from the soul, is impossible for me to detect! It’s actually making a scary amount of sense to me! And that’s made me feel a bit terrible!

What about Kira? Did she change in some significant way after that day?

I have to talk to some people and confirm a few things. Luckily the new butler android can pose as my avatar while I do that.

* * *

{-and then the trauma from Fishface’s attack allowed Ellie's mana to ‘wake up’.}

It was long winded, but that's what I've managed to piece together. This stuff is impossible to measure so it's mostly guesswork, but it feels right. And when dealing with magic it's important to feel rather than think!

“So me and Kira are literally soulmates!?” (Ellie)

“Oh you ~♡! Even without Nano’s words I felt that way you know ~♡!” (Kira)

That’s what they took away from this? I wish they’d take me seriously over here.

{There’s something else. Kira, you said Ellie’s mana capacity was scary big, close yo your own, yes?}

“That’s true. But someone’s mana capacity is something they’re born with. It’s like a muscle you can train, some people naturally have better ones. You said before we were practically identical if not for Ellie’s… past. So it’s not that surprising.” (Kira)

{Know what else is determined at birth? Potential for [Star Magic]. I’m not sure if it’s possible, but I think you can use it yourself.}

“Really? That's a surprise. I don't particularly need to learn it though, right?” (Kira)

{Consider this - Ellie’s [Star Magic] doesn’t use mana. So what happens if we were to apply mana to that power?}

This is the crux of the matter.

“Is that possible?” (Kira)

{Yes. I believe you and Ellie have both done it without realizing. Like when Ellie was talking to you while I was out, or when you experienced that episode the day we arrived.}

Inexplicable behavior outside the understood scope. Natural laws that no longer apply. It has to be magic.

{I have a proposition that could lead to something incredible. I want you two to do three things. First, Kira, teach Ellie how to use mana. Basic spells will do, so long as she gets the feeling of manipulating mana, it should be enough.}

“Okay, you can count on me!” (Kira)

“I’ll do my best too!” (Ellie)

{Ellie, you have another job. A more difficult one. Make sure you tutor Kira in how to bring out [Star Magic]. Like I said, the feeling is important.}

The earpiece blocks [Telepathy], so I'll have to see about switching it to one with an on/off switch rather than the always-on one she's using right now. Also she won't have implants or nanomachine assitance, so [Telekinesis] will be impossible to master on her own.

“Sure!” (Ellie)

“Eh? But is that really necessary?” (Kira)

Ellie has the potential to use magic on the same level as Kira. Kira has the potential to use psionics on the same level as Ellie.

What they lack is training and understanding, muscle-memory and know-how. But if they train one, the other will suffer. For now, the plan is to grasp the basic concepts of the others' strength.

{It is. For the third step. Kira, I have an idea for a spell. I want to replicate what happened on that day we met.}

So there you have it folks! It took almost 80 chapters we finally have some explanations. I declare this thread an official "Mind it as much as you want" zone!

EDIT: Ah on second thought, this might have been a blunder. I should've posted this a few chapters down the line, but those aren't done yet. OH WELL! I'll move it later.