[REND] B2. 1.3 - Home Sweet Aloneness Again

“Fucking cool!” I clapped my hands, my metal palms clanged together. Being able to move my cute Erind body solved a lot of problems.

For one, I didn’t have to drag it around like pulling a sack of potatoes. And I had a powerful minion that I could use in a fight. Weird to refer to my own body as a minion. It was like a character in a computer game that I was controlling. What could I make it do?

“Get off the bed,” I said, while focusing on transmitting the order. It wasn’t the words but the actual thoughts that made the body move.

My real body rolled off the bed and dropped on the floor in a heap.

I shook my head while staring down at my real body in disappointment. “Okay, that’s technically getting off the bed. You did follow the order. Good job, I guess.”

I willed my Erind self to get up. It struggled to do so like a baby who was still learning to stand. I had to direct it to lean on the bed for support. Moving it with my mind was so heavy. That was the closest adjective I could think of. It was like wading in mud.

“Oh, I’m taller.” Standing beside my real body, I estimated I had a good half a foot over it. Maybe more. Were all my transformations going to be taller than my original self? This wouldn’t be the last mask from Spooky Erind, I bet. She must be messing with me.

There were no changes to my real body after the connection. Still no breathing and no eye movement. I couldn’t order it to talk; it just inaudibly mumbled. Practicing my control might make it better someday. Or maybe the passage of time would strengthen my power, just like it did with Blanchette. There were so many things I needed to experiment with.

I didn’t even know why I’d choose to transform into this hunk of metal and control my real body instead of, you know, staying as cute and lovable Erind. This couldn’t be all there was to it. What was the added value of this mask? Blanchette was a straight upgrade in fighting prowess.

Possible that I could control other people, too. Would fit the theme of puppeteering others, with the strings and all. But I needed others as test subjects for that. Deen?

“Is this connected to the Pinocchio keychain that Deen gave me?” I wondered while staring at the almost transparent string growing out of my finger.

A knife couldn’t cut the string. I could also just be too weak.

I handed the knife to my other self. “Break it,” I said, picturing a fist crushing the blade.

My Erind body did just that. Time to buy a new knife. This also confirmed that I had my Adumbrae superstrength at my disposal. The issue was the wonkiness of the control.

I walked out of the bedroom and closed the door. Then I ordered my real body to knock on the door from the other side. It did so after several seconds of waiting. The knocks were slow and irregular, but they showed that the connection didn’t break. When I’d find an open space, I had to check how far this connection could stretch.

I took my Erind self to the mirror near the door leading out to the hallway. I chuckled, seeing how much taller I was than my real body.

The eye, though… It was eerie. A third eye. To be more accurate, it was my one and only eye. I hoped it could shoot lasers. For now, all it could do was highlight my body.

“Raise your right arm.” Voicing the orders made the thought transmission more robust.

My original body complied. I was like a doll. A puppet. A real body made into a puppet by a puppet body. That was some tongue twister right there. It probably had some profound meaning about my inner psyche, but I didn’t give enough of a damn to psychoanalyze myself.   

I fiddled with the tendrils that were supposed to be my hair. Each strand, if it could be called that, was as thick as my finger. They were about a couple of feet long from my metal scalp and ended in frayed filaments that glowed.

“Cables. That’s what I was thinking of,” I muttered, holding up the end of one strand. And these thin wires at the end looked like the wiring inside cables that was protected by layers of plastic and whatever.

I did a little twirl to observe the rest of my body. I kept my head facing the mirror while my body turned, pretending that I was an owl. My body looked like a silver mannequin, with a slightly curvy and statuesque form. This was far from my real figure. In a battle, I could stand immobile to the side and pretend to be an actual mannequin, maybe wear some clothes, while controlling my Erind body.

Okay, that was a dumb plan. Why would a mannequin have a third eye?

I could try to make that a thing. An early Halloween promotion, or an avant-garde trend for high fashion that—

I shook my head before I had any more crazy ideas. I looked at my reflection, then the reflection of my real body. My resolve strengthened to pretend that this mask was my Core power. This would separate me from Blanchette by miles. But that’d have to wait until I knew the effect of the pills from the Professor. If it turned out that they reversed the changes to my body, I’d pretend that I didn’t have my Core power to get more pills.

“How do I remove this?” I scratched my jaw, looking for the lower edge of the mask. “Should I do this to my real body or—? Okay, there we go.”

The reflection of metal Erind disappeared on the mirror, and I was back in my real body. A little bit of wiggling to make sure.

I pulled down the neckline of my shirt as well as the top of my sports bra. The Core was shining mutedly. I expected it to have a reaction to the new mask, but, oh well.  

“And I still don’t know how to activate this thing,” I said, tapping on the crystal with my fingernail.

I’d figure that out next time. I had to buy milk tea from the vending machine on the ground floor. Sugar cannot wait!

-----

“Ah, I missed this.” I sipped chamomile tea while watching the sun’s rays walk on the sea.

Ocean.

The Pacific Ocean, to be exact. It was Tuesday morning, and I was at the cafeteria of Cresthorne Law. As usual, around this time, I had the whole place to myself.

When I lived with Deen, I rode with her to campus. I couldn’t get here early enough to catch the sunrise bathing the Black Spire. But now that I was alone, I was free as a bird and could return to my early bird ways. I had the added expense of booking a ride to get to school because all the train stations had brand new bioscanners, but Mom increased my weekly allowance because she didn’t want me riding trains again.

A strong, independent woman who didn’t rely on anybody—that was me, Erind Hartwell.

I continued staring at the Black Spire while I finished my tea. I caught sight of my slight reflection on the window walls of the cafeteria. My long hair was black, my pupils were black, and I had my fake glasses on. Law student Erind was online.

I placed my mug at the nearest table and looked around the cafeteria. After making sure that I was really alone, I faced the sea—ocean—and pulled up my shirt. I tutted when I saw a shiny part of my tummy, a small squiggly oval that had turned into Spooky Erind’s marble-like skin. It had been there since Saturday, along with other patches elsewhere in my body.

“The pills didn’t work, huh?” Yep, I took the Professor’s pills before I went to bed last night.

Nothing happened then, and nothing was happening now. Or perhaps the pills did work, keeping my bodily changes steady despite the usage of a new mask. Scientist Erind had to do more testing.

Before returning to studying for my International Law class, I decided to find out once and for all the difference between the ocean and the sea.

“So… an ocean is bigger than the sea. What kind of bullshit difference is that?” I frowned while scrolling through my phone. That information wouldn’t help me distinguish a body of water I was looking at. “Is there anything that’s more—?

The cafeteria doors swung open. In came Amber Deen Leska with spotlights that shone from nowhere. She wore a dark corporate blazer over her light blue blouse. Her pencil skirt highlighted her hips. It looked like torture walking in a pencil skirt, especially in those high heels. She didn’t need the extra inches.

In comparison, I had a plaid blazer over a white shirt with a cute bear print, jeans, and sneakers. I was rebel Erind, fighting the fashion system of law school. The laid-back look made me less of a threat to the aggressive go-getters around. And it painted me more of a sidekick of Deen, the not-fashionable and less pretty best friend.  

“There you are,” Deen said in a tone reminiscent of my mother when she was angry at little kid me setting fire to an anthill. “Why didn’t you wait for me to pick you up at your condo?”

“I already told you that I’m going ahead,” I said. “And my condo is so far out of your way to Eloyce.”

“It’s fine with me to—”

“Well, it’s not fine with me that you waste your time and gas driving to my place.” I was super considerate of others. “Plus, I like to study here in the cafeteria on my own. It’s my routine before I lived with you.”

Deen sighed. “Sorry for intruding on your introverted life.”

“Come on. I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I was messing with you,” she said, flashing me a smile with perfectly straight teeth that could be in a toothpaste commercial.

Compare that to me and my bunny teeth. They may not be toothpaste commercial material, but I was fond of my cute teeth. Together with my button of an upturned nose, I had a rabbit look. An imp, my Aunt Jemma used to call me. I wasn’t sure if that was endearing or if it was because of my not-so-normal antics as a kid.

“Anyway, how are the pills?” Deen held my cheeks and turned my head left and right.

“Uh, I can’t tell if there are changes,” I said, prying her hands off. For now, I’d continue to pretend that my Core power hadn’t manifested yet. “How about you?”

“Gabe didn’t visibly change,” she replied. “The pills might have less effect on me since I already have my powers. Since they seem to be safe, we should ask Dario for more so you’d get your own power sooner. But I don’t know when our next meeting will be. BID agents are already in the city.”

“Yeah, I saw that on the news last night. The mayor made a big show of welcoming them. Those are high-ranking agents, aren’t they? A couple of them don’t even look humanoid anymore.” All the more reason to be cautious, given that ‘Reckless’ was my middle name, among many others.  

“The less they look human,” Deen said, “the more powerful they are.”

“The tailor sewing the suits to fit those BID monsters must be paid very well. It’s odd that they publicized the BID’s arrival to that extent. Don’t they just swoop in, destroy Adumbrae, and get out? This made it seem like—”  

“—like they’re going to stay,” finished Deen, using our best friend's telepathic link. “It could be a public warning to the Adumbrae hiding in the city. The BID probably has intel on the 2Ms but not the complete information.”

I nodded. “I bet the agents are aware of what happened at the docks. However, the 2Ms must’ve covered enough of their tracks that the agents don’t know where to go next. That could explain why they have this show of force on TV.”

“In any event, this is better than having Corebrings come to the city,” Deen said.

“Washington Protocol,” I said, grinning. “Let’s study for IL a bit. I haven’t finished the readings for today.”

Twenty minutes later, we left the cafeteria and headed to International Law class. “Deen, I have a question,” I said. “I hope you don’t get offended by this.”

“Offended? No, I’m not thin-skinned. What is it?”

“Why do you always wear heels in law school? Is it to look more professional? Or to look commanding and intimidating by adding to your height?”

She leaned near my ear and whispered. “I’m going to tell you, but you have to keep it a secret.”

“Uh… Okay?”

“It’s about something that I have that you don’t.”

“There’s a lot of things that you—”

“It’s to accentuate the shape of my butt. But you wouldn’t know anything about that.” I swiped at her, my arm making a whooshing sound given its speed. As expected, Deen evaded it with no issue. “Don’t use superstrength in school,” she said while laughing.

We arrived at the classroom a minute before Professor Gallagher came in.

“Today is the day we begin my most favorite part of the syllabus,” he boomed while shuffling class cards. “Corebrings! Love ‘em or hate ‘em, they’re here to stay and are a crucial part of our survival. A very fitting topic, with all the buzz of Adumbrae spreading in La Esperanza.”

Murmurings spread through the students. Doubtless, they were all concerned about what was happening in the city. It made me feel proud that I was a part of the shenanigans going on.

“Miss Hartwell,” said Professor Gallagher. “Lucky you, reciting first for our humble class.”

The fuck? I slowly stood up. Most of what I had read didn’t stick in my mind because I was busy thinking about Adumbrae stuff. Deen muttered encouragements under her breathe as she flipped through her notes. She was prepared to coach me, risking the ire of the professor.

“Let’s go back to the end of the Adumbrae War, Miss Hartwell,” said the professor. “You weren’t born yet, and neither was I. But just imagine the situation. The war was won. All the Purple Blooms were destroyed. Most countries suffered catastrophic damage, with hundreds of millions of casualties all over the world. The Corebrings now present themselves to be allies of humanity. If you were the President of the United States, what would you do?”

(Author's Notes: Minor edits to the previous chapter on Pino's appearance. Removed the moving mouth. She'll have just the usual eyeless face of mannequins, but we're keeping the weird third eye on the forehead. And we're adding hair. Tentatively, they'll be like cables, implying connectivity. Still not sure.

We're setting up things in this chapter, and we'll have a class chapter next. Just chill chapters for now. I'll be planning more of Book 2 over the weekend.

I've been busy this week, so I haven't hung out in our Discord server or answered Patreon comments. I focused on writing REND and Smite Happens. I'll get to answering Patreon comments and proofreading the errors, don't worry. Thank you all for your support and feedback! They mean a lot.)