Campus, Clayton State University, Morrow, Clayton County, Georgia. Sunday, October 20th, 2019. 20:00.

It was dark and the university had only half the street lights on. Sara and Keynes were taking a stroll through the campus, the cop talking about the survivor initiative, and Sara trying not to give in to her anxiety and run away. She was startled when...

"BIG SISTER SARA!" A kid running toward them shouted.

Sara barely had time to kneel before the bullet child slammed into her, almost causing the girl to drop the bags she was holding.

Catherine, she presumed, hugged her. "You came! Just like dad said you would!"

The girl was taken aback. According to Mr. Brown's ghost, Catherine was five years old and looked very lively. Sara thought she was definitely a rare magical talent for having survived Armageddon. Hugging her back, she felt a pulse and a heartbeat. Sara sighed, relieved. Catherine was a lovely piece of sunshine. Sara sniffled and her eyes stung as she thought this child was now an orphan just like herself.

"Are you okay, Sara?" The former cop asked. His concern went right over Sara's head.

The kid hid behind Sara's leg as Catherine sent a wary glance at Keynes. Sara grew suspicious of child neglect. How could they leave this little piece of sunshine to roam alone at night?

"Do you have anything to say in your defense, detective?" She inquired sharply.

"You almost fell on your butt, girl. I was just concerned. Your body will run out of room for bandages."

Irate, Sara poked her tongue at him then turned her back to the man as she lent Catherine an ear to whisper in.

"I had a dream!" Catherine said. "Daddy told me he was going to travel abroad, and he would leave me with you."

It was just like she'd been punched! Sara felt betrayed by both the detective and the ghost. Wasn't she supposed to just deliver clothes and snacks and then go on with her day?

"I believe you when you can you can see 'them'," the former cop put emphasis on the last word. "Are there any ghosts around here on the campus?"

What awful timing! Sara tilted her head back and glared at the man in the wheelchair. She stood up, "Dunno? I'm kinda busy here, and the campus is rather big. I would need to take a look around the campus. In fact, why don't I do it right now?"

Her hand was immediately seized by the tiny kid, "I can take you! Let's go for a walk!" Catherine decided on her own.

"Do you mind if I take a look around?" Sara asked Keynes.

"Knock yourself out. I have to check with Hainsworth. I'll leave you to explore the campus then."

"You are excused, officer," Sara wished for him to disappear. They might've been on friendly terms, but she still hated him. She started to walk away, holding the little one's hand.

"I don't like him either," Catherine said. "He doesn't play with me. Nobody here plays with me. Only daddy," the kid sniffled. "And now he's gone away."

What were these idiots thinking? Too busy trying to get themselves killed to take care of a child? What the hell was wrong with these survivors?

"I'll play with you!" Sara said to cheer Catherine up.

"Pinky promise!" Catherine beamed and raised a crooked pinkie.

Sara followed an over-excited toddler who ran everywhere. Even with her System-improved physique, keeping up with Catherine was very hard. She seemed to know everyone on the campus and Sara felt she couldn't stop her from talking even if she'd sewn her mouth shut.

The few survivors walking the campus at night were too absorbed by their own troubles and sorrows and paid the two no mind. Also, it was clear to Sara that Catherine felt uncomfortable around adults. Sara immediately felt a kinship with her. She was an orphan now. Just like her.

But the campus was in no way deserted and it was refreshing to see survivors that weren't trying to kill her. People sat on the benches, a few of them having hushed conversations. The vast majority were clearly depressed. People wandered around with their heads held down, others stargazing as they lay on the grass, reading a book, or just lamenting their luck.

Their gloomy outlook and depressing attitudes painted a diametrically opposed image when compared to Catherine. Even the squealing cheerful young lady didn't cheer them up. The survivors were so absorbed with sulking about their loss that they didn't pay the two young women much attention. She saw no other children. Catherine must've been looking for a playmate to stave off boredom.

She planned to have a sleepover with the child, play with Catherine tomorrow morning and then go on her way. Sara had no delusions regarding their relationship and knew she couldn't grow attached. She wasn't ready for the burden of raising a young child. She could come back and visit Catherine, but that was it. Just like her, the young kid would need to carve her own path. The difference was that she wouldn't have to do it under the cold and detached care of social services. Just the cold and detached neglect of the survivors.

That little pause to think about herself revealed how much she'd been on the edge for the past two weeks. The stress was piling up and she was turning into someone else. But here, walking down the campus walkway, feeling the refreshing energy Catherine exhaled was like a comforting summer breeze. She yawned as her body felt extremely tired. It was as if it had saved all the pain and aching and cramping for later.

Even Catherine noticed Sara had slowed down considerably. The little one approached the older girl and tugged the hem of Sara's dress. "Why did you stop, Sara?"

"I worked a lot today. I'm a bit sleepy."

Catherine beamed. "You can sleep with me! I have this huge bed I used to sleep with daddy. Now that he's traveling abroad, he won't mind if you sleep with me!"

The little kid wouldn't take a no for an answer.

*

*

Mr. Brown's classroom-apartment, Clayton State University, Morrow, Clayton County, Georgia. Sunday, October 20th, 2019. 21:40.

Sara was summarily dragged to the classroom building where Catherine's dad had claimed a room for himself. The student chairs were removed and Mr. Brown used large cardboard panels and rope to divide the space and make an apartment. The bed Catherine mentioned was just a large mattress on the floor. But what shocked Sara was that the stuff she took from Costco was all piled up in a corner of the room near the teacher's desk.

Kelly must've figured out she would end up sleeping with Catherine.

Speaking of the devil, she seemed to be in deep concentration. Catherine turned and checked Sara from head to toe. "Do you have pajamas? A toothbrush? You cannot sleep if you don't brush your teeth!" She warned with a serious tone as she wagged her finger.

Sara giggled, "Yes, I have those in my car. Do you want to go with me to get my stuff?"

"Yes!" The toddler jumped excitedly. "You can move in with me! Ted said he'd get a wardrobe for daddy, you can have it!"

"Actually..." the kid looked at the stuff on the teacher's desk and found her backpack. "They already brought everything here. Where is it... There! Hey, Catherine? I have clothes and cookies for you," Sara said as she took the items requested by the little one's father.

Catherine squealed in delight. Sara gave her the bag of clothes, and the excited toddler checked her new attires.

Meanwhile, Sara decided to use the free electricity to charge her devices. Her phone had been dead for days.

"Where are my power cords? There."

She started to link power strips by plugging several into one, then set up chargers for her phone and all the power banks she had with her. Sara sighed with relief when her phone's screen blinked alive, and the charging icon shone with a little battery being filled by glowing rectangles.

"Why do you have so many phones?" Catherine asked.

"These are batteries. It's been a long time since I've charged them."

"Can you help me put this dress on?" The little brat asked.

"Sure!"

The rest of the night was spent eating Danish butter cookies, and chocolates, and dressing up Catherine.

> You gained 2 points of Core Strength.

*

*

Mr. Brown's classroom-apartment, Clayton State University, Morrow, Clayton County, Georgia. Monday, October 21th, 2019. 07:00.

Sara was barely awake as she felt pressure on her chest. It was unbearably hot and oppressive. As her mind focused, she remembered she'd crashed on Catherine's classroom slash apartment. She opened her eyes and found Catherine snoozing on top of her. Catherine's body felt like a furnace and Sara wondered if all children were this hot. Maybe it was a defense mechanism to make adults want to have children around in winter so they could stay sheltered. Or maybe Sara's mind was just making stuff up.

She slinked out of the covers and rolled on her feet, depositing Catherine on the mattress. Finally free, Sara escaped and climbed on her feet.

Abby reminded her. The fairy seemed eager to get a few more points of Core Strength.

Resigned, the girl took one of the boxes to the "dinner table" formerly known as "teacher's desk". She had nothing better to do until the little one woke up and Sara had to face reality. What should she do with Catherine? To avoid thinking about that, she fetched her knife and opened the box with her chocolate bars, working on her quest from the top bar. Despite how much she ate yesterday, the chocolate was delicious but she would barely break and melt it before swallowing and taking another bite with practiced ease.

She could even tell where the food vanished into another dimension, never reaching her stomach save for very small portions Abby let through. The acid would dissolve her stomach lining otherwise.

Halfway through the massive stash of chocolate, someone knocked on the classroom door. "Excuse me!" Kelly said before entering. The cheerful young woman barged in and caught Sara licking hands full of molten candy. And the table was cluttered with empty wrappers. Kelly broke into a mischievous tirade. "You said you had a sweet tooth, but I didn't believe you!"

Sara thought Kelly was being too loud. She raised a finger to her brown-stained lips. "Shh! You'll wake up Catherine!"

Kelly tilted her head, "Who?" She then cracked a knowing grin as she tried to peek at the bedroom behind the cardboard. "Oh, when you said you thought 'boys are yucky' yesterday, I didn't think... you sly fox! Who's the lucky girl?"

"What the hell? You don't know her?" Her innuendo flustered Sara. "No! No way! Catherine is a little angel. I'd never... Look, it was a joke, I like boys!" She protested. "Eww, Kelly."

"Sure," The college woman drawled, then cracked a mischievous grin as she picked one of the candy bars. "Aren't we hungry?"

"Help yourself," Sara offered. "Are you a Mars or a Kit-Kat kind of woman?"

"I don't like stick-shaped candy, or anything remotely shaped like that," Kelly dragged a chair and sat next to the box, picking her choice of candy, "Reese's. I'm a sucker for peanut butter."

"I have a whole box here, hold a second," Oblivious to the innuendo, Sara started to pick up a box of Reese's but Kelly held her back.

"Please don't. I don't know if you were starving or how will you keep your figure after this but if you put this box of Reese's in front of me right now I'm going to hate you forever."

Sara chuckled. "We don't want that, do we?"

"Not a chance," Kelly deadpanned.

Sara ate a few more bars one after the other in silence while Kelly just watched and made funny faces.

"Okay... Let's restart this from the beginning. Who is Catherine?" Kelly asked. "A new survivor? I don't remember anyone else arriving yesterday, and people would talk."

A weight the size of a cruise ship anchor sank in Sara's heart. She felt cold on her fingertips, every hair of her body stood up as goosebumps spread over her skin. Water welled in the crook of her eyelids. She parted her lips and almost forgot to breathe.

"Mr. Brown's..." she started.

Kelly approached and embraced the girl to keep Sara from falling down. "Yes, he lived here. What is the matter with him?"

A panicking Sara met Kelly's eyes. "Did... did he have a daughter?"

Kelly pursed her lips. "I guess he did mention a daughter once... but she died in the meteor shower."

Sara sprung into motion. She had to make sure. She painfully slammed her hip on the corner of the table and ignored the pain as she ran to the "bedroom". The blankets became dirty with molten chocolate as Sara pulled the blankets and woke Catherine up.

The little toddler yawned and showed Sara a lovely smile, "Good morning, Sara. Thanks for the sleepover. And bye," Catherine started to fade.

Sara fell to her knees. "No!" She clamored as the tears finally started to flow. "No, please, no."

She had a pulse! Warmth! They ate the Danish cookies! How? How?

> You gained 1 point of Alacrity

> You gained 1 point of Brawn

> You gained 1 point of Composure

> You gained 1 point of Presence

From behind, Kelly wrapped Sara in the discarded blankets and hugged the younger woman.

For some time, none said anything as Sara sobbed in silence.

Abby offered.

A while later, Sara tapped Kelly's arm and stood up after the college student let her go. Kelly withdrew to a corner of the mattress.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Kelly asked, awkwardly clueless.

Kneeling on the blankets, Sara stared for a long moment before quipping sarcastically. "No, I lost my crack pipe. Can I borrow yours instead?"

"I was hoping you'd sell me one. God knows people need help to cope with this... new world."

Kelly's mask dropped momentarily. Sara could see all the sorrow and longing every survivor had to deal with stamped on the bubbly woman's face. Instead of letting those emotions come to the fore, the girl pressed on with the bad joke.

"Sell? For what? Dollars are meaningless. Back at Costco, we walked over C-notes smeared in rat poo like it was nothing."

"C-notes?" Kelly asked, confused. "Oh, Benjamins. Seriously, who calls it that anymore?"

"I do, apparently," Sara crossed her eyes and snorted.

"I noticed!" Kelly broke into a fit of giggles. "I was thinking about another kind of C-notes, though."

Sara got absorbed in thought.

It was obvious. Abby told her that no child survived the merging of the dimensions and the Mana burn. Also, nobody mentioned Catherine, she hadn't seen a single child on the whole campus or anywhere. Keynes didn't interact with Catherine and became wary after the kid arrived. Sara wanted to answer she didn't "have" a bad dream, everything since Armageddon had been an endless bad dream. Alas, words failed her. Sara just wept for the loss. Kelly offered another hug.

The tears ended. Kelly didn't let go of Sara until she tried to stand up. Dropping the brown-smeared blanket around her, Sara walked to the pile of loot she took from the supermarket and picked up a half-eaten tin of Danish cookies. "In your honor, Catherine," she said solemnly.

"Catherine?"

"Mr. Brown's daughter. The most bright ray of sunshine ever," Sara explained, then came back to the mattress. "Would you eat one or two?"

"A couple, yes. To honor the memory of Mr. Brown and his daughter. He gave his life for this food, it's only fair," Kelly replied.

Sara lifted the lid and picked up a pretzel-shaped cookie, letting Kelly choose for herself. Kelly slowly ate only three cookies while Sara polished the bottom of the tin, inhaling even the tiny cookie crumbs.

"Did you know them? From before the Apocalypse?" Kelly asked. Sara just stared at the college student with red eyes, unsure of what she should say. Kelly misinterpreted her befuddlement and hugged the girl once more.

"I need to finish the chocolates," she told Kelly.

"Can I watch?" Kelly asked with genuine curiosity.

Sara raised an eyebrow, "Sure, knock yourself out."

The girl took deep breaths. After she recomposed herself, she went back to the table and started to eat enough chocolate to kill her of theobromine poisoning twice over.

Kelly was stupefied. "I think you'll give me diabetes just from watching you eat."

"This is nuh-thing," Sara joked and ate candy until the notification came, or the crate of chocolate ended, whichever happened first.

> You gained 2 points of Core Strength.

"You're quite the messy eater," Kelly remarked.

In her haste to shove candy down her throat only to have it vanish into the fifth dimension or wherever Abby stored it, Sara did make quite a mess. Especially because the chocolate melted with her hand's heat.

"Sorry about that," she wrung a coy smile. "I went a bit too fast."

Kelly let out a crystalline peal of laughter, "That's fine. It was rather lovely watching you do it."

Sara raised an eyebrow, "Sure, you're welcome. Can you get that box of KitKats?"

Kelly tittered, then widened her eyes. "You're eating more?"

*

*

Mr. Brown's classroom-apartment, Clayton State University, Morrow, Clayton County, Georgia. Monday, October 21th, 2019. 11:20.

Apparently, eating pound after pound of chocolate took quite some time. She tossed the last bunch of wrappers into the box.

"How?" A stupefied Kelly asked.

"What?" Sara asked, a ring of molten chocolate around her lips almost matching her skin tone.

"The chocolate you ate can't fit in your body!" Kelly protested, a finger pointing at the large cardboard box that was full of candy this morning. "Stand up! Let me check!" Sara obliged. Kelly patted... no, groped her stomach, and pinched her hips. The college student threw her hands in the air, "It's flat! How is that fair?"

"My candy stomach is literally in a parallel dimension," Sara deadpanned and watched Kelly squirm. "Literally literally."

Someone knocked on the door. "Kelly?" It was Amanda, the bitch.

"Oh. I forgot. I had a thing with Amanda," Kelly said with an apologetic frown.

"Things with Amanda are detrimental to mental health," Sara warned.

Kelly grasped Sara's chocolate-stained hand. "She's a hard person to deal with at the beginning but—"

"I am a hard person to deal with at the beginning," Sara protested. "Amanda? I don't know even where to start. She is so hard to deal with she makes steel feels soft."

"Kelly!" Whiny Amanda demanded as she assaulted the door.

Heedless of the chocolate smears, Kelly smiled, and squeezed Sara's hand. "I have to go. I'll be back later, okay?"

Sara tried to smile back. Unknown to her, she managed to look congenial. "You do you. Look, I don't think I'll stay around much longer."

"Don't you dare disappear!" Kelly protested with a start. "Keynes told me a bit about your situation. Look, I can vouch for everyone here—"

"Kelly! I need you now!" Amanda banged on the door. At least she had the decency of not opening it. The door was unlocked.

"Vouch for everyone?" Sara raised an eyebrow.

"There are no bad guys here. Okay?"

Sara snorted and sputtered. "That we know," the girl quipped ominously but she liked to keep her cards close to her chest. "Okay, I'll stay here one more day. Maybe go back to the supermarket for more candy," the girl teased.

Kelly whimpered and let go of Sara's hand. Then, to the oblivious girl's surprise, she licked the chocolate on her fingers. "I can't watch it. I don't think anyone will mind you taking all the candy. You're the only kid on the campus, after all."

That stung right on Sara's self-doubts and the fact she mistook Catherine's real nature. She tried to brush it aside. "Stay safe, Kelly."

"Sorry, I'll come back later," Kelly left before Amanda could bring the door down.

*

*

Mr. Brown's classroom-apartment, Clayton State University, Morrow, Clayton County, Georgia. Monday, October 21th, 2019. 11:40.

Sara stood up from the chair and threw herself on the bed, leaving a chocolate smear on the pillow. "Why didn't you tell me she was a ghost?"

"How did she have a pulse? She was warm!"

"Yes, you're right. They do cast shadows. It was my fault, Abby. Maybe I wanted to delude myself. All ghosts always greet me by name. How do they know it, anyway?"

She found and ate another candy bar behind the blanket, let her shoulders droop, and muffled a long exasperated screech with the pillow. "I don't think I can keep doing this."

"Then talk away. I don't have anything else better to do. Other than, you know, eat enough chocolate to give me theobromine poisoning."

Which meant more black gunk. Eww. Sara pushed the thought away. "What did you want to talk about?"

She shuddered as she remembered the slicer wraith she killed. It was monstrous enough that she didn't connect it to the human being the wraith once was. It didn't feel real. To Sara, that incident was like a very realistic video game. The wraith vanished and that was it. Sara decided to not waste much time dwelling on that and to check her growth. She still had trouble believing it was real.

"Give me a Status screen."

Even with her eyes closed, the hallucination appeared in her sight nonetheless.

Name:

Sara

Species:

Human (+2 Skill Slots)

Skill Slots:

10 / 12

Magic Type:

Mage - Enhancer (Exclusive)

Special trait:

See through the Veil (Able to see into the ethereal)

Special trait:

Personal Core (Treat Core Strength as levels in a main Class).

Main Class:

N/A

Secondary Class:

N/A

Development

System Core Strength

15

The System Core becomes stronger and better at generating its own energy.

1 - You can have a maximum of 10 skill points per level of Core Strength.

2 - Currently, the System Core generates slightly more Mana than necessary for its upkeep, considering ambient mana levels.

3 - Set to use surplus energy to increase the System Core Strength.

Mana Conductivity

44%

(69%)

A measure of how clear the body's meridian system is. Mana conductivity impacts environmental energy absorption and channeling directly. Cleansed body systems are stronger and tougher: Digestive, skin, bones, muscle.

1 - Increase all cleansed body systems efficiency by this value.

2 - Synergy between Skin, Muscle, and Bone: Increase damage resistance by an additional half Mana Conductivity (34%).

3 - Synergy between Muscle and Bone: Increase physical strength by an additional half Mana Conductivity (34%).

Mage - Enhancer (Exclusive)

25%

Your mana channels greatly enhance internal circulation but aren't that good at projecting and controlling ambient mana.

1 - Add a linear 25% to your mana conductivity for internal manipulation purposes.

2 - Multiply the effect of all Physical Skills and internal mana manipulation Skills by [25+Mana Conductivity]%

3 - Divide the effect of all External Mana Manipulation by 10.

4 - Exclusive-type mages cannot cultivate or actively use Qi.

MP Pool

25

Available Energy for Active Skills. MP is equal to Core Strength, with a bonus equal to Mana Conductivity (69%).

Skills: Physical (50)

Adroitness

14

The Skill of moving one's body with grace and precision. Increases speed, coordination and reflexes by 1% per rank.

Composure

12

Staying calm under pressure or pain. When under duress, reduces penalties to mental stability, logical reasoning, and self-control by 2% per rank.

Prowess

4

Making the most of one physique during stressful situations. Lower reflex delay, increases combat damage and physical power by 1% per rank.

Brawn

11

Muscular toughness and endurance. Reduces stamina consumption and damage taken, increases lifting and carrying capacity by 1% per rank.

Rapid Healing

9

Accelerates and optimizes body recovery. Increases healing rate, reduces the odds of permanent damage, including scars, by 2% per rank.

Skills: Tool (4)

Handguns

2

The ability to correctly operate small firearms. Increase accuracy and reduce the chance of mishap by 2% per rank.

Lockpicking

2

Proficiency with lock picks and related tools. Increase dexterity when tampering with locks by 2% per rank.

Skills: Social(12)

Flattery

6

Making graceful compliments and answering them appropriately. Increases reactions during and after intimate interactions by 2% per rank

Presence

6

Motivating people with the power of your personality. Increases reactions during and after social interactions by 2% per rank,

Skills: Mystical(7)

Mana Infusion

7

Infuse Mana into tools and melee weapons. Adds 2% effectiveness and damage per rank. Infused objects can interact with incorporeal entities.

Active Skill: Costs 1 MP/minute or attack.

Total Skill Points: 73 / 150

"What's MP? This cost here, in the Mana Infusion Skill?"

"Is twenty-five a lot?"

"You told me only cultivators had to be wary of running out of resources," she whined.

Sara sighed and gave up. Yes, compared to dying, blacking out was cheap.

"Let me guess, there's a Skill to improve the MP pool."

"But I need to activate the main core..."

Abby replied curtly. Sara wondered with whom the fairy was learning to do that.

"Agreed," she nodded. "Now, what about this header part here. Ten of twelve skill slots. Am I limited in how many Skills I can learn?"

"Are the Skill descriptions accurate? I mean, my wounds seem to be healing much faster than just eighteen percent faster."

"Can you calculate the current effect for me?"

Abby displayed her calculated Skill values.

Skills: Physical (50)

Adroitness

14 34%

The Skill of moving one's body with grace and precision. Increases speed, coordination and reflexes by 1% per rank.

Composure

12 58%

Staying calm under pressure or pain. When under duress, reduces penalties to mental stability, logical reasoning, and self-control by 2% per rank.

Prowess

4 9%

Making the most of one physique during stressful situations. Lower reflex delay, increases combat damage and physical power by 1% per rank.

Brawn

11 26%

Muscular toughness and endurance. Reduces stamina consumption and damage taken, increases lifting and carrying capacity by 1% per rank.

Rapid Healing

9 43%

Accelerates and optimizes body recovery. Increases healing rate, reduces the odds of permanent damage, including scars, by 2% per rank.

Skills: Tool (4)

Handguns

2

6%

The ability to correctly operate small firearms. Increase accuracy and reduce the chance of mishap by 2% per rank.

Lockpicking

2

6%

Proficiency with lock picks and related tools. Increase dexterity when tampering with locks by 2% per rank.

Skills: Social(12)

Flattery

6

17%

Making graceful compliments and answering them appropriately. Increases reactions during and after intimate interactions by 2% per rank

Presence

6

17%

Motivating people with the power of your personality. Increases reactions during and after social interactions by 2% per rank,

Skills: Mystical(7)

Mana Infusion

7

34%

Infuse Mana into tools and melee weapons. Adds 2% effectiveness and damage per rank. Infused objects can interact with incorporeal entities. This is considered an internal manipulation Skill.

Active Skill: Costs 1 MP/minute or attack.

Total Skill Points: 73 / 150

"Did Verachiel have a Class?"

"Did every Celestial have a personal System Core like you?"

"Can I change my Skills?"

"Okay. What if I don't want to raise a Skill?"

Remembering the couple of hours she spent with Simon making her ranger for the RPG game, she decided that if she had a limited number of skills she should be picky about them. "Don't raise any in the 'Tool' category. We might consider dropping them at a later moment."

"What benefits does a Class bring to the table?"

Sara's eyes widened in surprise. She even ignored the talk about Class, "Remain human? What am I becoming, an elf, dwarf, gnome, or what?"

Overwhelmed was putting it nicely. Sara once more was way over her head, already daydreaming of a fantasy world.

"Really? I can become an elf? Like Arwen?"

She felt no amount of cajoling or even a direct order would make the System Core surrender that piece of knowledge. Sara instead attacked on another front.

"You spoke of Classes as if everyone had them. Was it like that in Heaven?"

"Does it mean everyone will have the same stuff I do if it becomes active?" She said with a hint of jealousy. She liked to think she was special.

Abby reassured her.

She noticed Abby said mortals, not humans. Also that she might not be included in that? No, that's crazy talk.

"Just one more question, I know I'm bothering you."

"More than one question then. Are Celestials or Seraphs like Verachiel capable of lying? Of being duplicitous? Of fooling a young girl into doing something detrimental to her?"

She didn't buy it. Still suspicious, Sara asked, "Can you lie to me?"

Great. That solved nothing! She switched her approach. "How many rounds of cleansing do we have ahead of us?"

"How do people without clean channels use magic?"

That was rather macabre but Sara rationalized it by telling herself that the energy would go to waste otherwise. "Please go on."

Abby was concerned and doubtful of herself.

"Wait," Sara interrupted. "Care to explain that?"

Sara understood what Abby was wary of. "Are the next steps dangerous?"

"Which is? C'mon, don't sound all ominous! You're making me anxious!" Sara protested.

"Can't we just dump it out? Like sweating them through the scalp?"

"What are the benefits of this, then?"

"What if I don't?"

"Eh, okay. I need some time to process all this. Maybe I should go for a walk."

It's not like the System Core was going anywhere, but that was too much black gunk for Sara to even fathom.