Interlude IV

“Now that we are alone. Why don’t you tell me what you have been up to?” Dr. Charleston asked, though his words were more of a command more than anything.

Melissa, now enlisted as a War Mage Cadet, sat in the comfortable chair, and closed her eyes as she began to speak. “Things are going as planned. Integration has gone as expected. I am pretending to slowly gain awareness of my abilities with magical theories, as has been documented.”

A slightly annoyed raising of the eyebrow was the only sign Dr. Charleston gave at this slow recollection. “And in regard to social interactions?”

With that there was a slight pause as the being playing Mel visibly shuddered at the thought of something. But that wave of emotion was quickly overcome as she opened her eyes and began her retelling.

“It is going as expected. The brother has noticed the Endarian videos, the fact that I am a billionaire, and the subject of his little brother’s desires. While not as interested in me as he no doubt would, if his brother was here, I have made enough points that he is keeping in close contact. He is pretending to be a good friend.”

“Pretending?”

“Yes, he has already tried mental manipulation and memory alterations.”

A raised quizzical eyebrow was Dr. Charleston’s only visible reaction.

“They of course were not successful on the real me, but on my brain construct I created they did a real number. He is quite skilled. You sure we can’t use him as well?”

Shaking his head Dr. Charleston sighs. “Unfortunately, no. The brother is and always has been a coward. Never rising to use his powers in any meaningful way, other than his own sick hedonistic pleasures.”

Hearing this Melissa nods her head in understanding. “So, what are your plans?” She asks.

“Do as you see fit. Personally, I don’t think this brother relationship is worth noting. Though I think you will likely feel better by using that as an easy out of the relationship.”

“What does that mean?” Melissa asks, suddenly sitting up and staring directly at Dr. Charleston.

Seeing the obvious reaction out of his patient, the good doctor chuckled to himself for a moment, before continuing. “I think your outburst here proves it, but I will spell it out for you. You seem to have grown exceptionally attached to the subject. Even now being away from the subject has caused you much ire.”

Hearing this Melissa visibly shook with agitation, before realizing this was likely what the doctor wanted from his provocation. With visible strain Melissa collected herself and leaned back.

“I have more. It seems that the brother has big plans for later. I believe he will make his move then.”

“What do you intend to do?”

With a strained shrug, Melissa stared off into a space that was off in the distance. “Whatever I have to do, I guess.”

Hearing that Dr. Charleston paused, before changing the subject. “You have heard he has pair bonded?”

With that Melissa visibly shrank in a micro-fraction, a detail that would be nearly impossible to notice by anyone other than someone as observant as Dr. Charleston.

“I know.” Her words came out, somehow sounding hollow.

With that Dr. Charleston again nodded to himself. “I think I know at least one of the players over in the alternate universe.”

Melissa nodded, “the General.”

“She is but the most obvious one.”

“That is a key piece. To take out a general, that is a big step.”

“One that has already paid dividends, in that it has led to the pairing of our Kyle with their Rayquel.”

“Doesn’t that mean that she would likely come with him, if he came back?”

“That is a big question, if he would come back.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Dr. Charleston began as he centered his gaze right on Melissa. “You are playing a dangerous game. One that has very little immediate benefits and does little but serve a carnal need to be close to the actual brother you want.”

Hearing that Melissa’s face turned red in indignation. “I, I don’t…”

“Save it. Just know that if this move backfires, and this universe is left without its Kyle, you will have to make up the difference.”

“But I can’t interact. We know the accords.”

“Right, which is why I am telling you now, not to do anything stupid.”

Hearing this Melissa leaned back dejectedly. Then after a pause she said more to herself than Dr. Charleston “I could create a portal and pull him back here.”

“Yes, you could.” He paused before continuing this train of thought. “You’ve been awakened as a War Mage for what? Two months now. I’m certain it would make perfect sense for you to be able to rip open a portal across dimensions to different planets, and miraculously save Kyle.”

“The spell isn’t that complex.” Melissa argued.

“You are right, the spell itself is not that complex. But being able to rip holes through dimensions is one thing. Then to do so on planets is another problem entirely. The human mind can’t truly contemplate the exact spin and rotation of each planet in alignment to each other, the way we can.”

Melissa opened her mouth like she was about to argue, but Dr. Charleston cut her off.

“Yes, they have the systems mapped out, along with their rotations and anomalies, but the human mind still cannot quantify those changes. At least not in any meaningful way. Even the Scourge must play by this rule. That is why they found the cheat of creating rifts in orbit around planets they wish to conquer.”

Hearing that Melissa paused. It was clear in all ways that Melissa was new to this stage and that while likely being an asset later, she still needed to be developed. At least that was the way Dr. Charleston approached her.

Finally, after a minute of silence, Melissa paused as her mind latched onto something the doctor said earlier. “You said there were two? I know of the one, but who is the second one?”

Hearing that Dr. Charleston just shook his head. “We are truly up against experts. We were so worried about keeping the board sterile, to have all the variables that we created these fresh avatars. The others, they took out one of the main problems immediately.”

“You mean…” Melissa trailed off.

“Yes. A piece that seems both obvious and at the same time unnecessary.”

Hearing that Melissa slumped back in her chair. “So can we win this?”

Hearing that Dr. Charleston just shrugged. “I thought we had a chance with our Kyle being so overpowered as he is. But that has now been chalked up as a resource to the alternate universe.”

“So, what should I do, about the brother?”

“Not much you can do, right now. To change your current trajectory would likely cause problems. Remember us being found out is worse than just mere meddling.” Dr. Charleston said.

“So again, what should I do if, or rather when he makes his move?” Melissa asked.

“Not much you can do. Just try to make it blatant what he is doing. That was the goal from the start of this? To take him out of the picture before he causes problems.” Dr. Charleston asked.

Hearing that Melissa nodded. “Very well. I will see you next week and tell you of my progress then.”

With that declaration, Melissa, or the being playing Melissa, stood up and headed out the door.

***

MEANWHILE, in a different universe, on the same exact human planet, a war council was formed.

“So, does anyone want to tell me exactly what happened with the cadet we sent over?” General Sharma asked.

“Which one ma’am, there were a hundred cadets that were exchanged?” The assistant asked.

“No, there were one hundred cadets, and one war prisoner. What happened to the prisoner?”

“Um, we have here that he was officially promoted to the Endarian Rank of Lieutenant, which apparently means blind…”

“I know what it means!” Sharma snarled, as she cut off the attendant. “What I am asking here is, why am I just now finding out about two important facts. First why am I just now hearing about the promotion of one of our soldiers? And second, why am I just hearing about his being a fully functioning Mage Breaker? Wouldn’t this have been good information to have before the exchange?”

“We…well you see.” The logistical expert began, though he was clearly flustered by the rapid-fire questions and the fiery nature of the normally stoic general. “We never evaluated Cadet Goldman-X’s mage breaking abilities. We had the status, but it was never something that we felt needed to be tested.”

“You didn’t think that a ninety-nine plus percent in a field needed to be tested? Especially after he showed so many different signs of being exceptional with Psionic advantages?”

“Well, that was what led to us having a hard time getting the prisoner to open up to us. By the time we got around to testing his capabilities with Magic, he was less than cooperative.”

“Less than cooperative? Less than cooperative?” She began, “you kept him as a prisoner, locked up in a cell for what killing monsters. Then run him through a whole set of trials, even going so far as to allow his own brother to try to mind rape him. Yet you still treat him as the aggressor?”

“Well, there were a lot more variables than that. He was an unknown quantity from an unknown portion of space. From what we understand, such events should not be possible.”

“Variables? Should not be possible?” Sharma all but screamed. “Do you hear yourself? You treat this as some type of math problem to be solved. Which it clearly is a problem that needs to be solved, but by someone who understands the parameters better!”

“Parameters?”

“Yes, this is a person. A scary as hell looking person, one with knowledge and histories that are far beyond our own. But a person. At the end of the day, you need to understand that humans are petty and small beings that react first and think second.”

“So, what does that mean?”

Sharma paused as if finally realizing just how incompetent this person truly was. “It means, that as a logistical expert, you are lucky this human didn’t squash you for being overly aggressive. You realize he could have left our holding cells at any time, right?”

Hearing that the logistical expert squirmed slightly, “he could?”

“Yes, that was why he felt so confident in being here. He knew that regardless of what happened, if he wanted to, he could have left at any time. His power levels are off the charts, and you treated him like he was a criminal.”

The logistical expert opened his mouth to defend himself, but after seeing the anger in the general’s gaze he wisely closed his mouth.

Seeing that General Sharma nodded.

“Now I’ve also heard rumors that he, and two of our cadets have pair bonded. I need all documentation on what exactly this is, and what it means.”

“Um, general. I can answer that.” An Endarian liaison said, coming from the corner of the room.

Seeing her General Sharma almost jumped in shock. It took a second for her to realize that she had just spoken about highly classified information right in front of an alien liaison, one who would no doubt parlay all this information up to her Endarian handlers.

Seeing this, the Endarian shook his head. “Do not worry. I have signed the NDAs, and my honor as an Endarian is too important to waste over such minor details that will likely be revealed later. Most of the things discussed here were already briefed to me by my senior leadership.” He said, as he looked around the room. His eyes locking onto the logistical officer. “One might even say someone is a little loose with whom they share their information with.”

Then his eyes turned away from the logistical officer and rested back on the general. “Back to your original query. The pair bond is a sacred and spiritual connection between two warriors. Often enacted by soldiers, it is a way to confirm that you know where your partner is always, along with how they are doing and what their general feelings are at any particular moment. This soldier pair bonding can be improved upon, each increase creates a deeper and more spiritual connection between pairs. The fifth and final tier of the pair bond is often called the marriage bond, as it is a connection so deep that unless performed with your spouse or someone wishing to remain your spouse, it will cause…” He trailed off as he tried to think of the correct words to say in English. “Complications at the very least.”

Hearing that General Sharma nodded, her eyes never swaying too far away from the logistical expert who somehow managed to look both shocked and mortified at the same time.

“What does it mean to break a pair bonding?”

Hearing that, the liaison shuddered slightly, “such an act is not advised. Often the only way to truly sever such a bond is by death. This often leads to depression and ultimately worsening physical results for the surviving party.”

Hearing that, General Sharma nodded in understanding. “So, we were out played.” She said to the room. Then sat down at her chair. “What does this mean for us?” She asked her officers that were gathered around for information.

“General, if I may?” The Liaison asked, while gingerly holding up a finger. It was clear he was trying to mimic a human gesture, one that showed submissive intent, but was failing slightly.

“Go on.”

“I don’t think you should think of this as being out played, per say. From my understanding the one resource was always off limits. Instead, all we did was make sure the potentially devastating resource was not set loose upon you, while also allowing for a pair bonding of two of your most talented cadets. This should be touted as a win. With your first paired soldiers, you should see drastic improvements. The two pairings are also likely being looked on favorably by Endarian senior leadership, as they show that your species is more than capable of first pair bonding. And more importantly you can pair bond with us as well. This is not something to be overlooked. It is believed that the soul of people who can form a pair bond must be exceptional souls, as throughout our history every pair who has created such a bond has gone on to do amazing things. So, the fact that you have shown three candidates who are capable of creating such bonds from such a small sample size is quite impressive. That is seen as just under three percent, to put this in perspective that is almost ten times higher than Endarians can generally have.”

Hearing this General Sharma nodded, this was a lot to take in but her face denoted understanding.

With that, the liaison continued. “We have often…”