Taking delivery of the PINGs was tricky. If they fell into the wrong hands we could lose the war before it even began. Rasputin was aware of their power considering their effect on him. The question was, would the gun work twice?

I turned a PING over in my hands and examined it. “Do you think he might build an immunity to the effect?”

Zofia flipped a few settings on the PING in her hands and said, “That depends. The setting I used is something I like to call animacation. It interferes with the way light interacts with your body. We got the idea from the art used in cartoons. Another way of putting it is we found a way to simplify reality. Hmm, perhaps a better name would the simplification ray. Either way, none of that matters. It simplifies the textures of whatever it strikes. In other words, you become a cartoon. I don’t know how it affects magic. Would you like me to test it on you?”

“How long does it last?” Kalli asked. “If he’s stuck that way, Rasputin may agree to surrender if we fix him.”

Zofia held up a data pad with her free hand. “Well, he might still be affected. I hit him with the highest setting and, depending on how whether he can resist the effect, it can last anywhere from an hour to up to a week.”

I considered Zofia’s offer of being turned into a toon. It would be interesting to try my magic and see how it worked. More importantly, I wanted to see what Kalli looked like as a cartoon. Without asking Kalli what she thought, I gave Zofia a thumbs up. “Hit us with it…but only for an hour.

Kalli threw her hands in the air defensively. “Hey, wait! I didn’t agree to…”

It was too late. Zofia, having been waiting for a chance to test the ray again, adjusted the settings and fired. The blast hit me in the chest and…tickled?

I looked down as the ray digitized my body. As Zofia said, the colors washed out of my skin and clothes and a thick black line marked the end of me and the beginning of reality. I held my hand up, admiring my hand which looked like a sketch. All details of my knuckle were simplified. Even my fingerprints were gone, replaced by a swirl of what looked like ink.

Kalli slowly backed away from Zofia, who pointed the PING at her like it was a stick-up. “If you even think about firing that thing, you’re getting a fire bath.”

Zofia pouted, looking frustrated that Kalli stood between her and science. I decided to see what was different and pulled up my skills menu.

Skills

Traits

World Editor

Bloodline: M

Manipulation

Bloodline: Shaw

Controlling Voice

Bloodline: Ramsey

Bloodline: Celestea

Buff (Edited)

Enhanced Regeneration

Summon (Edited)

Enhanced Mana Regeneration

Command Attention

Absorption

Formulate

Control

Shimmer

Cloud Judgement

God Eye (Edited)

Assimilate Technology

Perfect Pitch

Dark Proclamation

Mantis Style

Track Scent

Magical Plague Immunity(Edited)

Matechat[Kalliphae Hellquist] (Edited)

Inseperable[Kalliphae Hellquist]

Intertwined[Kalliphae Hellquist]

Till Death Do You Part [Kalliphae Hellquist]

Catlike Dexterity

Praevaricator Universum

Illusion [Animated]

Another purge was long overdue. I had way too many. There it was at the bottom. The effect of the PING was an illusion. It was similar to the de-buff that blocked magic from my eyes before I awakened and the illusion that Mr. Ramsey used to make a clone. Kalli and I had even disguised ourselves as trolls the first time we met Esha.

DELETE

The instant it vanished I was back to normal. Zofia stared at me in disbelief. Kalli, on the other hand, knew exactly what I’d done. She’d watched my actions through our bond, still glaring in my direction. Why did you tell her to zap me too?

I sighed, a little disappointed but also feeling bad that I didn’t ask her permission.

I’m sorry. I wanted to see how you’d look with it and if you can do magic while in that form.

I could tell she was still mad but she surprised me by turning to Zofia. “Fine. Shoot me with it too. We need to test this out on each of us.”

“For science!” Zofia chanted as she pulled the trigger.

It was interesting being able to watch someone else get zapped. Rasputin’s transformation had been so quick that I hadn’t been able to appreciate it properly. Kalli’s color brightened as the transformation took effect. Her hair turned crimson and her freckles even more pronounced against her pale skin. The dress appeared to shrink and adhere to her form, showing off her figure as though the clothes were painted on. Had I been a cartoon at that moment, I was sure my eyes would have popped out of my head.

I only noticed Kalli was looking at me when she held her hands out and cast a spell.

“Pvruzth”

The spell defied reality. A wall of crimson enveloped me obscuring my vision and making me see red. It felt the same as usual when she masterfully let her magic wash over me. She took special care to run her fire over every inch of me, even stopping to pinch my butt with it as she passed. Since when was she able to do that? Then again, I shouldn’t have been surprised. Her control over the magic was so good that she eradicated all sweat and grime without harming a single hair on my body.

When she retracted the flame, she looked at her hands in confusion as the red ball of fiery ink vanished. Feeling extra clean, I made my move on Kalli, wrapping my arms around her and leaning in for a kiss. “You’re hot when you’re a cartoon!”

Zofia laughed. “The gun shouldn’t affect body temperature. Did you need me to…Uh, never mind, I get it.”

Kalli giggled and pushed me away. Easy, tiger. That was revenge for telling her to shoot me, not an invitation to see if I taste different. Now, delete this and change me back.

I still wanted to kiss her as a cartoon.

I will in a minute.

She kissed me and I concluded that she tasted the same as usual. We are getting PINGs of our own. We can do this later. For now, we have other settings to test.

DELETE

I sighed, giving in to reason. While I wanted to play, there was no telling when Rasputin would be back and we needed to be as prepared as possible. “What’s next…um, wait! What are you doing?”

We both stared at Zofia in awe as she zapped herself. She became even shorter and looked more childlike than she already did. The lab coat became snow-white with only pockets and buttons for details, hanging down to her feet and looking more oversized than it usually was.

“What? I’m magic too now. I had to try it out.” She explained, pursing her lips as she spoke into a tablet that looked more like an Etch-A-Sketch when in cartoon form. “Subject finds that she retains full cognitive magical abilities. Any electronics held in the target’s hands are also affected by the ray. The functionality of the tablet appears to be nominal. I will test the PING on an inanimate object to be sure it sustained no adverse effects.”

Zofia turned bright red when she realized we were staring at her. It was a rather exaggerated color for a blush. Now wanting to embarrass her any more than she was, I decided to get on with the demonstration. “What else does it do?”

She walked past me to a crate with more PINGs and selected another, non-cartoon one. “Okay, just to be clear, these are limited models that have their functions restricted to features I think will be useful against Rasputin. I didn’t want to overwhelm your army by giving them a multi-tool with over a hundred different settings.”

“That’s kind of you,” Kalli replied, nodding in agreement.

All I could say was, “I want one of the deluxe models.”

Zofia chuckled, looking back at her now cartoon PING. “We can negotiate later. For now, let me teach you how this gun can save your life.”

We both nodded in silence and she hoisted the PING from the crate and aimed it at the far wall of the tent. “This is something I like to call ‘The Airbag’. It works as it sounds.”

She didn’t appear to change any settings and pulled the trigger. Something emerged from the tip of the gun and expanded explosively, creating a clap of thunder that temporarily deafened me. When the dust settled and I opened my eyes, what looked like a half-melted snowman stood in front of Zofia.

She appraised it for a second before saying, “One of you cast a spell at it.”

Kalli and I looked at each other and she stepped forward, leveling a hand at the foam.

“Pvruzth”

Her flame wrapped around the foam and began to eat away at it. While I’d expected it to go up in smoke, the foam didn’t so much as smolder. Zofia nodded and tapped the screen of her tablet a few times.

Kalli gritted her teeth and clenched the pendant around her neck. Just as her flame started to turn green, I decided to cheat.

DELETE

The foam vanished instantly. Kalli scowled and I announced, “Non-magic items are weak to manipulation it seems.”

Kalli’s green flame sailed past where the airbag had been and lit Zofia’s cot on fire. Eating through the material almost instantly, it jumped to the tent, which was soon engulfed in green flames. I did the only thing I could think of to prevent the entire camp from burning down.

DELETE

We found ourselves sitting outside next to a desk and a stack of crates. Passing scientists stopped to stare at the cartoon Zofia before shrugging and moving on.

For her part, Zofia took the destruction of her tent rather well. After punching a few notes into her datapad, she held out the PING again and said, “This next setting might be considered slightly unethical but I decided to include it because a lucky shot may be the key to winning the battle. I call it turn-based but what it really does is make the target susceptible to suggestion. I’ve tested this on normal people but again, I lack test subjects who are magically inclined. Would either of you like to volunteer?”

Kalli swallowed hard and turned to look at me. If I do this, you had better not make me do anything weird or I’ll never forgive you. Also, make sure you remove it after one test.

I could tell she was serious, so I answered her solemnly.

I promise.

Turning to Zofia, Kalli said, “Get it over with and zap me. Melvin gives the command though.”

Zofia looked and offered the PING to me. “It’s keyed to work for the person who fires it. She should only answer to you while under the effect of turn-based. We built this in so nobody else can hijack the command.”

I accepted the PING and pointed it at Kalli. It was difficult to pull the trigger as the last thing I’d ever want to do was hurt her. “Are you sure you chose the right setting? Can you make sure?”

Zofia raised an eyebrow. “Do you think I’d make an error with technology? Besides, I triple-checked it telepathically. You’re good. Zap away!”

Kalli scoffed at Zofia and then I felt her clench her butt cheeks as she prepared to be zapped. I grinned as she blushed and stuck out her tongue. Just get it over with already!

Fine.

When I pulled the trigger, a golden ray shot from the PING and bathed Kalli in sparkles. She appeared dazed as she looked into my eyes but otherwise didn’t move. I smiled and said, “Kiss me.”