Log Report 5 - Entry 12

Well, that was a weird experience.

I’m not sure what happened to be honest. It was like a pinball machine.

Host likes pet! Fair enough.

Pet is naughty so is kicked to the curb. I didn’t mind because we’ve already established the pet’s an idiot.

Wakes up with Pet next to her. *He’s a stalker and I expect him to be bopped on the nose.* and then boom everything is forgiven and Pet becomes extra special once more.

Then wham, my host downgrades him to be officially a non-important pet.

*Disapproving noises and shaking of head* Who on earth can understand these flesh and chemical minds?

Anyway, being a responsible interface, I gave detailed instructions on optimal pathways for her survival, and what she was doing was not that. The first or third path were the appropriate actions

But apparently it’s none of my *what she did with the Co-wobub’s* business. Not sure what that is supposed to mean, and I’m not really interested in that sort of stuff. You know, I’m an interface and not a biological consciousness!

While a lot of me wanted to share that reminder with her, I refrained because her heart rate elevated and various catecholamines levels increased and the cultural pack is clear that logical reasoning effectiveness decreases under those conditions.

My host and the co-wobub got to see the Broncada Lizard. I would like to say that they witnessed its capability, but they haven’t. Even the memories of my host from the previous time she saw it, does not give justice to its power. However, for now, they know it’s big and scary and that will have to be enough for the time being.

I’m not sure there is any brilliant solution to deal with it. While Emergency Blast is fun, it will only scratch the lizard, but I have great news. My host has been preparing her allies to the prospect of her using ‘Something accidentally attacked me and I responded with claws of shredding blackness and boiled them alive, oops.’ I think she realised that yesterday she almost killed her allies and doesn’t want that to happen. In any case, Yay we’ll hopefully soon get to see how spectacular it is.

I agree that keeping them alive improves her survivability, so I fully support her caution.

Finally, we need to talk about Stupid.

Yes, I’m referring to the co-wobub. He’s creating sapient seed weapons and I’m pleased to report he can do it on command.

Once more, I want to draw the attention to any future readers that the existence of the co-Wobub was purely because of my brilliance. I disregarded several… well, not rules because if I break rules I get in trouble, so let’s call them strongly worded guidelines in order to create him and it’s paying dividends.

Sapient Seed Weapons on demand it’s pretty impressive. Also, if he puts a lot of focus on the weapon, he can produce it at seed level 2! Extraordinary at this early in the event, especially for someone who is more built for combat than crafting.

The pet’s existence is quite possibly the only thing that gives the previous residents of Port Melbourne or Pobournes as we refer to them a chance of survival. Yes, that illusionist continues to survive and I do laugh inside whenever they tell me, okay I lie. I laugh out loud and hysterically every time and some of my colleagues are getting annoyed it… but in my defence… it’s funny.

The other one that enjoys hitting things is also growing. Despite the apparent high probability of mistakes, he has not chosen to hit anything too large yet. As yet, he has not completed an in-depth inspection of a monster’s stomach like the other similar potential hero. I guess that is good.

Currently, my host is observing the co-wobub getting his own sub pet. I still think it should’ve been a battle mount but at least this time it isn’t a useless in combat small creature with hairless tail.

Chapter 12

The entanglement started, but it was nothing like with Priscilla. Finigan already liked him. The dog wanted to bond with a human just like his sister had joined with his human pack leader.

Finigan desired that special relationship too.

For a moment, that desire conflicted with the magic ability he was using. It was an entanglement spell, not a one-sided domination spell. That one side was happy to be the subservient party did not mean that the spell would allow that. It needed to form a partnership, which meant a two-sided conversation.

For a moment, the spell threatened to break under the strain and then Priscilla and the club joined to stabilise it. Finigan was happy with anything Daniel and Daniel caught by surprise did not know how to build an appropriate framework to fit in the dog.

Priscilla however did not hesitate and created the required structure.

Annoyance flared from the club as it started to actively oppose what Priscilla was doing while the poor dog radiated confusion.

The animosity between the two escalated. With an internal curse, Daniel realised he needed to play peacemaker between them.

What’s happening? He asked himself as he focused on what the mouse was doing, as the club’s active resistance was out of character for it.

The framework created was one of amorphous layers. A concept was created and a level of responsibility was assigned to each party. Friendship, protection, and survival were the centre concepts with responsibility split down the middle between him and Finigan. That meant they were equally responsible for maintaining their friendship, protecting each other and of course surviving. That Finigan had a similar view to him on the three concepts helped build the connections quickly.

Leadership was the next layer and once more there was a broad agreement on what this meant. A strategic direction, a way to change the pact between everyone without needing to rebuild the entanglement spell. Finigan was only too happy to assign this to Daniel. The dog wanted nothing to do with the concept. It was agreed with a heavy weighting toward what Daniel determined, but Finigan was not enslaved by that decision, as the first three layers would always be given precedence. It did not matter if Daniel had genuinely promised to save Zac if the survival of Finigan or even himself was in question, then Zac would be abandoned. The bond he had created enforced that outcome.

The two of them came first and only then what Daniel envisaged for the team would apply. There were other bits in the mix. Cindy, Finigan’s previous owner, was now part of their secondary family. If there was ever a Mrs Finigan, then she would become a member of the pack, but practically both stipulations were unnecessary. They were already guaranteed under that first level, which was friendship. There was no way Daniel would abandon Cindy given how important the woman was to Finigan just like Finigan would protect Tamara, Ivey, Dave and the kids. Actually, Finigan would do the last even if Daniel was not on the scene. He loved kids.

Why is the club objecting? Daniel wondered.

How could that proposed relationship between himself and Finigan be objectionable? The answer was it really couldn’t. What else was happening?

He let himself step away from the detail to observe the whole and then he realised that agreement was not just a negotiation between him and the dog. Priscilla and the club were part of the relationship. They too needed to set guidelines between themselves and Finigan. Then Daniel realised with sudden horror there was the ability to change the established bonds and Priscilla had been busy changing the connection between her and Daniel as well as those to Finigan.

What?

Of course, if you added a new party to a contract, then existing parties would be impacted and there might be a need to renegotiate terms. However, there was nothing in what was being established between himself and Finigan that should have affected the deal he had already made with Priscilla.

What are you up to?

He plunged down to check.

She had made changes and not just one.

She would never be required to go anywhere that there were mouse killers… Daniel was required to source as many chip packets as he could and give them immediately to her. Everyone’s focus would be on ensuring her nest was secure. Daniel would never ask her to…

She was attempting to take advantage of him.

No! He thought strongly. No renegotiation.

He then checked the agreement that she was making directly with the dog.

Finigan’s job was to be muscle for Priscilla. Finigan wanted to do everything Priscilla wished for.

No!

He rejected that term on behalf of the dog. He was controlling the spell and if he was observant any changes made by other parties were just a suggestion. Any of them could block the spell from working, but he was relying on the fact that Priscilla desired for Finigan to be part of their team and wouldn’t torpedo the spell under some misconception of leverage.

Daniel suspected not. Their original agreement was very similar to the one he was putting together with Finigan, which gave her little negotiating power.

Fair. He insisted. We have to be fair to all parties.

Now that he understood more about what he was doing, he focused on the details.

The core principals would not change. Friendship, mutual protection and helping each other to survive. Everyone had the same responsibilities and there was no middle ground or arguments. It was not negotiable and that first term meant that if someone was important to one of them, for example Cindy with Finigan, then Cindy mattered to everyone.

After that, Daniel would guide them as a group, he would set their strategic direction. Where they went was his decision, but in everything else they were a team. They would protect each other by gathering intelligence if that was their speciality, physically fighting if that made more sense or even foraging for food.

It was all even.

They were a team.

Priscilla tried to push a potato chip requirement into the mix and that they had to be salt and vinegar. With Blood Drinker’s help, he refused the amendment. Friends did not let their mates gouge themselves silly on chips.

No Chip Hoarding. There was an image of Priscilla stamping her feet.

Should he yield? But if he did, then Priscilla would become even more lazy. Daniel pushed back hard. Chip allocation was a strategic decision.

The counter came hard. Food responsibilities could be handled by Priscilla. She was trustworthy.

But you can’t talk.

Indignation flared from Priscilla.

Well, can you?

The mouse mentally shook her head.

That’s why I need to be in charge.

She conceded the point. The interaction with the wider human clan could not be ignored when setting priorities.

With a framework in place, it all clicked together and his mana exploded out of him. Draining him, but as it did, so he felt their skills line up and become linked. It was like a web of extensions between each of them generated pots of skill or ability’s which could then transfer to another party.

Priscilla could contribute speed, intelligence, plant growth and assessment skills.

Daniel checked himself and it was exactly what he expected; plant growth, strength, speed, lightning and earth armour. Also, the moment he touched the pots he realised they just represented the bits he understood how to use. If he had mastered a third of lightning’s potential, he could only share a subset of that. Naturally, most of what Daniel had available revolved around growing powers, as it was by far his strongest ability.

Next was Blood Drinker. It too had plant growth, though that was small, along with physical transformation, penetration, and magic manipulation. They were and also were not the skills that he had expected from the club.

Finally, there was Finigan. He had been bravely fighting the octopod, but the battle did not suit his skills. Like the rest of them, Finigan was speed based, but he could disrupt magic as well. It was one of the primary reasons the family had held off the octopod for so long, not ice magic. Magic disruption’s ability to cancel the telekinesis magic had kept it at bay.

They were all connected and their minds met in the middle in a conference about what to share amongst each other. The pots of potential could be shuffled amongst them and, if they desired, it could be split up as well. Priscilla made her choice instantly. Earth armour from him, magic manipulation from the club and, of course, magic disruption from Finigan.

The club, meanwhile, asked for magic disruption and plant growth. Finigan chose strength, intelligence and magic manipulation.

Then it was only up to him to select. Magic disruption was a no brainer but when he reached for it he discovered it was no longer an option. The potential had been split between Priscilla and the club even though initially it had been one of the larger pots available there was nothing left for Daniel to take. Then Priscilla was in his head, encouraging him to take the speed from the dog and assess from her. That meant the club was missed in totality.

How is that fair? He thought about throwing a fuss but then he realised he could only take so much knowledge in. If he selected what Priscilla was urging, it would consume all of his available capacity. In fact, he had to leave some of the speed on the table, which also explained why there had been magic disruption available for the club. Priscilla had not wanted all of it.

Before finishing the spell, Daniel thought about what they were doing. It all sort of made sense. Magic disruption protected Priscilla from one of her major weaknesses. After all, it was how he had trapped her initially and if the octopod had been slightly faster, it would have gotten her as well. Once the magic captured her, she currently had no tools to save herself. Her super speed became useless, but with magic disruption she could negate the trap and escape.

The club, likewise getting the magic disruption was also a sneaky excellent decision. If there was an incoming fireball, the club could decide on the best course of action. Magic disruption to negate it or manipulation to take it over and there was also synergy between those skills. It could use disruption to explode the spell rather than cancelling all of it or if it was a simple spell, use the negation ability to remove the other magic users’ control over the spell, which in turn would allow it to step him and direct the others persons magic. If there was a decision between him and the club, then giving the ability to the weapon was the superior.

Done. They were agreed. All the little bits and pieces slotted into place and then energy flooded into him along with a huge number of upgrades.