Bhavacakra
Fifteen
(9/09/06 0500, Texas League)
Kerrik looked the weaver over carefully as he clipped the com unit on his collar. “Cute. It’ll take a pokedex for input.”
Virtue’s voice came from the com. “I thought it an obvious modification. The security system will take remote access from authorized pokedexes while the weaver itself has standard security lockouts.”
“That’s good to know.” Kerrik moved to the control panel and pressed a button on it. The front of the weaver slid upwards and interior lights came on to reveal that the walls, floor and ceiling of the unit were only an inch thick, allowing most of the unit’s internal volume to be used in manufacturing.
Currently, that internal volume was partially filled with gray cubes a foot on a side. The cubes were stacked six high. Each had been constructed with recessed handholds and Kerrik carefully levered one of them out. “Where do you want this one?”
“This one will be the master control unit. It goes anywhere on top of the weaver.” Kerrik crouched and vaulted upwards to land on the weaver’s roof. He put the block down and dropped to the ground so he could grab another block. Lights changed color on the weaver’s control panel and the block he’d left behind on its roof collapsed into a shapeless lump.
For the next hour, Kerrik raced to place blocks wherever Virtue wanted them. Three dozen went around the perimeter of the lodge grounds. Four went on the roof of the lodge itself while another dozen were stacked against the wall of the lodge where the power converter was supposed to go. Several were scattered over the parking lot.
At six AM, he came back from another trip to find Raven hovering in front of the weaver. She’d levitated thirty blocks and they followed her like ducklings chasing their mother as she landed to give him a quick kiss. “Morning, Kerrik. Virtue explained what’s going on through my twee. I’ll place these and then come back for a quick breakfast.” Before he could say anything, she was gone, flying down the state highway P3 park road and dropping blocks every tenth of a mile as she went.
Kerrik peered into the weaver. “We haven’t really made a dent in these things yet. How many blocks are in there?”
Virtue’s voice sounded faintly amused. “There were initially thirty six hundred blocks, commander. I knew that only a fraction of them would be placed, but it was hard to resist using the space. Once the master control unit is finished, I’ll place the rest myself.”
At the reminder, Kerrik glanced up at the roof of the weaver. The shapeless lump had been sculpted into a rough rectangle, but still showed no signs of being anything useful. “How long will that take?”
“About three hours, sir.”
“That’s not too bad. Are my cleaning supplies in the boxes?”
“Yes sir. I marked them with X-ray stencils for ease of identification.” It was a security measure that he’d instituted a long time ago.
His ears twisted and he grinned suddenly. “That’s great. So, where did you put the X-ray viewer?” His grin widened. “Or did you forget that I can’t cast those kinds of spells right now?”
There was an embarrassed silence from the com for several seconds. “I am sorry, commander, but I wasn’t aware that you wouldn’t be able to see the labels without outside aid.”
Kerrik chuckled. “It’s ok. From now on, use markings in ranges that humans can see. Just put them in Sumerian cuneiform.”
“Yes sir. I can make you a viewer with the weaver once the blocks are removed.”
He cracked his knuckles and grinned again. “That’s great, but in the meantime I think I’ll go open random boxes until I find what I want.”
When Raven returned she found Kerrik, Misery and Morwen going through the boxes in the entranceway. A pile of disc shaped objects a foot in diameter lay nearby. Each was three inches thick and had a series of lights evenly distributed around the perimeter. “Where is Whisper?”
“She’s getting Elizabeth.” The solid black mini-top glanced up at her and as she opened the lid of the box in front of her. “Not this one, either.” Misery took the box and put it on a second pile on the other side of the room.
Morwen opened her box and frowned. “Kerrik, is this it?” She lifted out a piece of electronics. It looked like some kind of bulky remote control.
“You found the controller! Thanks, Morwen.” Kerrik took the item and pressed a button on it. Lights flashed on it and then on the discs in sequence for several seconds. He smiled when the lights stopped. “The diagnostic check is good, but I really didn’t expect otherwise.” He pushed another button in it and the pile of discs slowly collapsed as the discs began moving across the floor at a walking pace, each one silently hovering a fraction of an inch over the carpet. Behind them, the carpet gleamed as for the first time in years it was clean.
One of the discs stopped in front of Misery’s boots before curving around them. The mini-top grinned and hopped on top of the disc. It made a metallic noise as her weight drove it to the floor. She laughed. “Cool.” Then she yelped as the disc adjusted its power curve and lifted off the floor again to continue on its job with her standing on top of it. “Oh, this is neat!”
Apparently the discs rotated as they moved and Morwen, Kerrik and Raven laughed at the site of Misery grinning foolishly as she slowly spun while the disc carried her around the room. In seconds, the vampire and archmage were also riding discs.
Kerrik watched them for a moment before heading for his office. He put the controller in the desk drawer and headed back for the entranceway. “When you get done, ladies, please go around and open all the interior doors in the building so the cleaners can get all the rooms.”
“Hey, what’s that one doing?” Morwen got off her disc and pointed at one that was nuzzling the wall. As they watched, it rose into the air and tilted so that its bottom was pressed against the wall. Then it began cleaning the wall just like it had been doing the carpet. “How does it do that?”
“It’s got an antigravity propulsion system.” Kerrik watched one head out into the hallway. “I’m not interested in scrubbing years of grime off of everything, so I got these. Eventually every room in the building will have its own cleaner and they’ll only run when the room is empty.”
“Does it do windows, too?”
Kerrik nodded. “They do. They also do ceilings.”
“Mother would have hated them.” Morwen brushed her chestnut hair back from her ears. “She thought cleaning was a great way to keep me from getting into trouble.”
“Did it work?”
The vampire’s fangs gleamed as she grinned. “Not particularly.”
Kerrik looked around the room and shook his head. “Ok, ladies, stop tormenting the cleaners. Raven, everyone has had breakfast except you, so let me feed you and training can begin.”
(9/09/06 0900, Texas League)
“You know, Kerrik, Shikarou decreed that he didn’t want any weavers on Earth.” Elizabeth looked the construction device over with a critical eye. “He doesn’t want the technology to fall into the wrong hands.” She was taking a break while Morwen was running a lap down the road and back for being impertinent.
Kerrik checked the status indicators on the weaver and glanced back at her. “And that affects me how?”
“I just thought you might want to know.”
“Oh. Not really, but thanks.”
She chuckled. “I can see my husband comes by his streak of blatant not-caring honestly.”
Kerrik laughed. “That he does. We Wolfs are an independent lot and I’m probably the worst of the bunch.”
Virtue’s voice came from the com still attached to his collar. “The master control unit is complete. I am uploading the software and performing a diagnostic check.
Kerrik stepped back and looked at the top of the weaver. The rough rectangle had become the same dull black as the rest of the weaver, and had taken on the external form of a high powered transmission array. It had also become a permanent part of the weaver and only destruction of the unit would render it inoperable.
“The diagnostic is complete and the master control unit is .99997 operational. I am now commencing operations.” Almost every block that had been placed smoothed out and began to flow into the surface on which it rested. Only the one placed where the power converter would go didn’t. Instead it became a lump that would in time become the new power system.
Elizabeth eyed the nearest block’s disappearance with unease. “Shikarou told us stories about some of the mishaps with weaver technology. People being disassembled for use as raw material, accidents and other stuff like that.”
Kerrik’s eyebrows rose and his ears half rotated back. “While he was busy scaring you, did he also happen to mention that the last such accident was millennia ago?”
She frowned. “No, I don’t think he did. Do you think he knows when it happened?”
“Considering that his twee should have mentioned it to him unless he was deliberately not telling you so you’d be frightened, yes, I think he would have known.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Oh you just wait until I get my hands on him.”
“Can I make a suggestion?” He continued when she nodded slowly. “Tell the rest of your sister wives before you confront him. I’m willing to bet that Poppet will be even more outraged than you are. She is the technophile of your family and having a weaver close at hand would mean she could experiment more with equipment concepts.”
Elizabeth cocked her head. “You’re right.” She grinned evilly. “I think I’ll do just that.” She looked around for Morwen. “What is taking that girl? Hey, what’s the deal with the square pokeballs I saw inside?”
“Those are a new storage concept. They’re called dicon for DIgital CONtainer.”
“I think you should call them dikon.” It was Morwen, finally returning from her trip to the main road. She’d slipped into the building through another door to use the chamber pot in her room. She still had issues about going to the bathroom outside. “You’d be naming them after the Edo radish. It’s cuter and easier to remember.”
Kerrik shook his head slowly. “Heaven forbid the name isn’t cute.”
“Oh, come on. Plays on words sell a lot better and without TV you’ll need word of mouth to sell them.” The vampire batted her eyes at him. “And I’ll get to know that you let me name something. It’ll give me status in the harem and I’ll like you more.”
Elizabeth burst out laughing. “She’s good, but she still needs some polishing. Morwen, you need to learn not to be so direct about that sort of thing. Wheedling shouldn’t be combined with frankness.”
“How should I have done it?”
“Hmm.” Elizabeth bit her lip and suddenly looked younger than her years. “Kerrik,” she began softly, “I know that I haven’t been around very long, but I like it here and I really want to fit in.” She gave him a slightly pleading look. “I know that one of the ways you show favor to your harem members is by letting us help with stuff like naming things or braiding your hair. Could you let me name the new storage system? In the scheme of things it’s not really that important, but it’ll help Raven and the others to know that my place is in your harem and that I’m not going anywhere.”
“Wow, that’s better than mine. Can I get a do over?” Morwen frowned. “Hey, we get to braid your hair? Why aren’t I doing that?”
Elizabeth shrugged. “I kind of presumed that his harem braids his hair. We do Shikarou’s and I know Faelan’s harem does his. Well, Kerrik, do they braid your hair?”
Kerrik’s eyes twinkled as he fought a smile and lost. “Yes, they do. The reason Morwen doesn’t do it is because she’s still a pokekit and we’re waiting for her to get used to her abilities. Right now, I’m trying to avoid giving myself chances to slam her against the wall and fuck her until I’m tired.” The humor in his eyes vanished and he smiled predatorily. “And the honest truth is that I really want to do exactly that, but I shouldn’t. And I know that the first opportunity I have to do that, I will. Therefore I shouldn’t be alone with her while I’m nude until after her birthday.”
Morwen shivered at the way he was looking at her. “Oh,” she said in a small voice.
Elizabeth was staring at him. Finally she shook herself. “I think I need to take Morwen back to the training ground before you make me have to go find my husband and screw his brains out.”
Kerrik chuckled softly. “Ok. Oh, and Morwen, I think dikon will work just fine as the new name for the storage system. Thanks.”
She hugged him. “Thanks, Kerrik.” Then she raced off for the edge of the parking lot that had been designated as the training area.
“I was right. You are good for her.” Elizabeth gave him a satisfied smile.
He snorted. “Once in a while, everyone is right.” A smile appeared. “But I am glad she’s here.”
“So she’s good for you?”
“She’s a kid. By being a kid, she’s letting the others be kids too.” He glanced at the older vampire. “Morwen is also the oldest member of my harem, although only Whisper has realized that fact. Physically they’re all adults, but mentally? They’re all child war victims. It’s a wonder that they’re as sane as they are.”
Elizabeth looked shocked. “I hadn’t thought about that.”
He shrugged. “The earliest reports of pokegirls were in 1991. That means the oldest pokegirls on this world are seventeen years old, even if some of them are physically in their thirties and already pokewomen. All of mine are hunter pokegirls, which were a later development of James’.”
“What about Autumn? How old is she? She might be the oldest.”
“She’s not in my harem, remember. She’s just passing through. In fact, I’m beginning to think she’s headed for Haven.” He pressed a button on the weaver and the massive door slid silently shut.
“Shit.” When he raised an eyebrow she shrugged. “Lynn and Gwyneth are welcoming almost every elf or elf type that shows up, with the single exception being elfqueens. They only want elfqueens in their kingdom that they either gave birth to or have completely vetted. They don’t want to chance a rebellion, so no foreign elfqueens are being allowed in. I don’t think that policy is going to be changed anytime in the near future, especially not for Autumn since she’s pregnant. Pregnant elfqueens are usually ambitious.”
His ears flicked slowly. “That’s reasonable. It sucks for the elfqueens on this world, but it does make sense for Gwyneth and Lynn. Maybe you should talk to Autumn and see if she was intending to head for Haven. If she was, then she’s going to have to change her plans.”
“I’ll do that during lunch.” She sighed. “I’d rather push it off on Branwyn or Gwyneth. I hate giving bad news.”
“I noticed that when you couldn’t tell Morwen that she was going to be a bunnygirl. It was easier for you to make her a vampire than to tell her no and crush her spirit.”
Elizabeth stared at him. “Would it hurt your feelings if I told you to stop being so damned perceptive?”
Suddenly he was smiling. “Not at all.”
“Kerrik, you are my dearly loved father-in-law, but I really want you to stop being so damned perceptive about me.”
His smile grew. “No.”
“Well, I tried. Now I’m going to go work with your vampire. It’ll be my revenge.”
He chuckled. “You do that.” He watched her head for where Morwen waited and grimaced when he realized he was staring at her ass and thinking about how it would feel in his hands. “Blood and darkness,” he muttered. “I know it’s normal for me to lust after every female around me, but it seems to be getting worse.” His voice took on a slight singsong. “I am stronger than my hungers. I will not waver.” He growled low in the back of his throat. “What is it, Autumn?” He turned to see her watching him with a surprised look.
“How do you know it’s me? I’m downwind, so I know you didn’t smell me and I didn’t make any noise.”
“Maybe not to you, but I still heard your footfalls. You happen to be the only person here who goes without shoes, so identifying you wasn’t difficult. Can I help you with something?”
Her eyes flicked past him. “I overheard your conversation with Elizabeth. I was hoping to settle in Haven to avoid William, but it sounds like that’s not going to happen. I didn’t realize she’s from there. Are you?”
“I helped to set it up, but no, I live here.”
She cocked her head. “Why?”
“I’m not an imperialist and Haven is a kingdom.”
She smirked. “Anywhere there’s an elfqueen, stands there a queendom, even if it’s a very tiny one in the case of subordinate queens.”
He nodded. “That’s true enough, but Shikarou set it up so he’s the king. I won’t necessarily argue with what Sukebe set into pokegirl genetics, but an elfqueen isn’t going to think I’ll run around putting out brushfires for her. He does and I don’t do that sort of thing if I don’t have to.”
“So what are your politics?” The elfqueen frowned. “I’ve noticed that your pokegirls don’t follow the customary conventions, even though it is bred into us. Would you be upset if I called you Kerrik instead of sir?”
“I’ve never minded anyone using my name. I sometimes mind why they’re using it, but never the act itself.”
“Your humor is strange, and yet amusing.” She brushed her reddish gold hair over her ears. “So what are your politics, Kerrik?”
“I’m an individualist. Here on Earth I’d be called a libertarian. That’s one of the reasons we’re living here in Texas. It was taken over by libertarians and I want to see how they’re going to make this work, or if they even will.”
“I’m not familiar with that political group.”
“Not many people are. The most important thing about libertarians is that they believe that nobody can coerce someone with force or the threat of force. If they do, the threatened person is free to respond in kind to defend himself. They also believe in a completely free market and little immigration control, as long as it doesn’t violate someone’s private property rights.”
“Does that extend to pokegirls, too?”
“I’m planning to go to Austin tomorrow to find out. Now, I’ll ask again. Did you want something from me?” His ears were half folded back as he watched her.
Autumn folded her arms. “I wanted your help with a quick project, but I’m curious about your attitude. Why are you hostile to me? You aren’t this way to anyone else.”
“Elizabeth is my daughter in law and everyone else except you is part of my harem.” He smiled slightly. “And just for the record, I haven’t been hostile yet. When I’m hostile, it’s easy to identify.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Does it involve you shooting at people without provocation? If so, then you have been hostile to me.”
“You were unexpected, you were trespassing on my property and it was easy to presume you were feral. It was also a mistake, but it wasn’t unprovoked.”
Autumn looked thoughtful for several seconds. “I can accept that.” She unfolded her arms. “What I want your help with is getting some fresh fruit and vegetables. I’ve found I need them during my pregnancy and there aren’t any around here.”
His ears flicked. “I’d be glad to help.” He chuckled amusedly when the elfqueen looked surprised. “You either thought I’d tell you no or I’d farm your request out to one of the ladies, didn’t you? Well, they’re busy and I’m not, so unless you really wanted to work with one of them, you get me.”
“Are you aware just how suggestive that sounds to a pokegirl?”
He snorted. “Anything can be interpreted as suggestive by a pokegirl.”
Autumn laughed. “That’s true enough. Since you’re willing to help, please come with me.” She led him west, away from the training area, finally stopping once they crossed the creek. “Do you mind if I use this area?”
“What for?”
“I want to grow some plants for me to harvest. I’ve got seeds.” She patted a pouch on her belt.
Kerrik’s ears flicked. “How long are you planning to stay?”
Her laugh was musical. “You don’t have much experience with elfqueens, do you?”
His face set. “Not particularly.”
“We can make plants grow at an accelerated rate. The more powerful she is, the faster a queen can grow them. Of course, for most queens, there is a tradeoff. The faster and farther along its life cycle she grows a plant, the shorter she makes its total lifespan.”
“I take it the ‘for most queens’ bit means it’s not that way for all elfqueens?”
She blinked. “You pay better attention to what I say than most.”
“I can’t lie. Therefore I have learned to parse sentences very well and listen since almost everyone else can.”
“Well, it’s refreshing. Yes, some elfqueens are powerful enough to do pretty much what they want with plants without hurting them.” She paused with an expectant look on her face.
“Go ahead; wow me with the fact that you’re one of these more powerful pokegirls.”
She pouted. “You could pay just a little less attention.” A deep sigh. “Still, I need to do this before I have to go pee again.” Her eyes widened. “Shit. Be right back.”
“Why run off? I am not offended or disgusted at urination and it’s the person who goes out of sight who gets eaten by the monster, or in this case the feral.”
Autumn’s eyes narrowed. “I happen to be able to defend myself.”
His response was droll. “While squatting? That is impressive.”
“Can I have a little privacy, please?” The elfqueen glared before she started hiking up her dress. Kerrik turned around and watched the clouds. A hawk was doing circles overhead and he made a mental note to do a population survey of the region. Finally the liquid sounds ceased. “Ok, I’m done.”
He turned around. “Now what?”
She untied the pouch from her belt and shook some seeds into her hand. Then she knelt and pushed one into the ground. “This is a peach seed.” Kerrik felt the sudden pulse of magical power and took a cautious step back as the seedling grew from the ground at more than half a foot a minute. Leaves unfolded as the branches spread out and the trunk visibly thickened as it grew.
When it was two feet tall, the growth paused. “Ok, now that the root structure is well established,” she gave him a wink, “it’s time to rev up the growth.” The pulse of magic was much more focused and much more powerful. In seconds, the tree was twenty feet tall. As the branches grew out from the tree, Kerrik had to twice dodge them. He noted sourly that they didn’t bother her. Flowers budded and bloomed, only to wither and then swell as the green fruit grew before its color changed as the peaches ripened. When the magic died, the tree was almost sagging beneath the crop it now bore.
Autumn pulled a peach and bit into it with a satisfied smile. “Excellent.”
“That’s a neat trick, but we’re going to need some buckets for all that fruit.” He frowned. “We’re also going to need a flying pokegirl to get the stuff on top, unless we leave it for the birds.”
“Which would you rather do?” Autumn was watching him curiously.
“Let’s leave the upper branches for the animals. They’ve got it hard enough already, what with the Red Plague and now ferals.”
Approval glinted in her eyes. “I’m glad you care for nature.”
His ears flicked. “That and it keeps them nearby for easy hunting.”
“I can’t believe you said that!” Her eyes narrowed when he snickered. “Are you making fun of me?”
“Sorry. I’ll stop.”
“I am not used to being made fun of.”
He shrugged. “If you’re going to be around here long, you’ll have to.”
“And why is that?”
“Because I think a sense of humor is a good thing to have around here. We’re all at least a little broken and it helps to keep us sane. When they find out you aren’t used to being teased, you’ll get lots of chances to get used to it.”
“And how would they find out? Are you going to tell them?”
His ears canted sideways. “Whisper is a telepath who doesn’t understand the meaning of privacy. She probably already knows because she’s always in my mind, even when she thinks I’m not aware of her presence.”
That would be correct. However, I have not informed anyone else. I’m not cruel. There was a pause. Kerrik opened his mouth but was too slow. I am not deliberately cruel.
He chuckled. “That’s more accurate. Now go back to your training.” Her presence in his mind went back to the normal faint hum that he’d gotten used to.
“I don’t know much about anyone except Misery.” She pushed another seed into the ground. “The fact that you can unite such a disparate group of individuals shows you’re a good tamer.”
“I don’t tame anybody. I’m their friend, lover and referee. Yes, they’re conditioned to obey my orders, and most of the time they do exactly that.” He sighed. “I just have to be careful not to give them any more stupid orders.”
“You don’t discipline them when they disobey your orders?”
“I won’t say I haven’t and I won’t say I won’t in the future. However, I prize the times when they do, even when it pisses the hell out of me.” He smiled when she gave him an amazed look. “If I wanted robots, I’d build me some. I wouldn’t need such a large house, either, since robots wouldn’t nag me about having their own rooms. I could just tell them to stand in the corner and be quiet.”
“Robots wouldn’t drink your blood so often,” Autumn said quietly.
Kerrik’s eyes went flat. “If Raven decides that you’re trying to convince me to get rid of her, she’ll want to drain you dry. If I decide she’s right, I’ll probably let her.”
“You wouldn’t shoot me with your gun?”
“I’m supposed to let them do the fighting, but if necessary I am perfectly capable of killing. However, you are my guest, and I know you wouldn’t go out of your way to needle us until we had to do something about it.”
“I suppose I am being needlessly provocative.” Autumn focused her will. This tree was a lemon and, once the tree was grown, Kerrik discovered that the fruit was juicy and sweet.
Autumn frowned as she watched him finish it off. “You are eating the rind.”
“I can metabolize a lot of things that humans can’t and I like the taste.” A hissing erupted from the direction of the peach tree and Kerrik whirled as his hand went to his pistol. Autumn turned rather more sedately, but considering her condition it was understandable.
A winged pokegirl was standing next to the peach tree, her wings half spread as she tried to make herself bigger and frighten them off. She was covered in drab brown feathers and the fact that she didn’t have hands was obvious as she would jump into the air and kick at them threateningly while using her wings to stay up long enough to look dangerous. She also appeared to be working herself up to an actual attack.
“It’s a pidgy.” Autumn lashed out with her hand, a leafy vine erupting from it to wrap around the pidgy’s neck. The leaves shriveled and steam erupted from the vine as the flying pokegirl went into convulsions. She flopped to the ground, panting as the elfqueen stopped the thunderbolt she’d sent up the vine. “Now go, or I won’t be so forgiving on my next attack.”
The pidgy shook her head muzzily and hissed at them again. Kerrik’s snarl shattered the stillness and the flying pokegirl shot to her feet and fled.
“You do that well.” Autumn dropped the dead vine as it began to flake to dust. “And thank you for not killing her.”
“I usually don’t kill unless I have to.”
“That’s a refreshing attitude.” She sighed heavily. “We’ve become pathetic. Once the Earth trembled at our might and we were the scourge of humanity. Now most of us don’t even remember who we are and our children will be animals. Death would have been preferable to this half life.” She turned haunted eyes on him. “In the end, even Sukebe turned out to be human and betrayed us. I swore an oath to him. We all did, and our reward was being left to die while he hid and watched us fight for him. Worst of all, the humans are our enemies and he made it so we cannot live without them.” She burst into tears and threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around him as she sobbed into the top of his hair. Kerrik put his arms around her and rubbed her back with his hands as he made soothing sounds.
Whisper appeared next to him, her green fur glittering in the sunlight. Golden eyes watched them impassively for several seconds. What is wrong with her?
“I think she’s undergoing severe depression combined with a major mood swing. Apparently pokegirl pregnancy is a lot like human ones.”
This is normal? Ick.
“Not all pregnant women go through this.”
Will I? Her tail lashed when he shrugged and her ears rotated halfway back. Perhaps I don’t want children as badly as I thought I did.
“You want children badly? Was I going to find out about this?”
The cabbit gave him a mischievous smile. Eventually.
“I’d prefer to find out that sort of thing before I’m hip deep in children.”
Whisper’s fangs gleamed as she laughed soundlessly. Isn’t that already a foregone conclusion? She looked pointedly at Autumn. She is rather pregnant and due soon.
The elfqueen’s nails dug into Kerrik’s back as she tensed. “I can hear you. Stop talking about me like I’m not here.”
I did not feel it necessary to exclude you from our discussion. Kerrik is teaching me about rudeness and I felt it would be impolite.
“Why are you here? I’m not hurting him.”
Kerrik represents a substantial investment of time and hard work to his harem. I am here to make sure that investment isn’t damaged by your presence. He was kidnapped once already.
Kerrik’s ears flicked. “Hey! That was Misery who did that!”
That is immaterial, Kerrik. At the time, she was not part of the harem and had no claim to you, regardless of her delta bond. Her eyes narrowed dangerously. Not to mention, I almost died because of my affiliation with her.
Autumn’s head came up and she glared at the cabbit. “And yet Misery is here. Perhaps kidnapping him is a good way to join his harem.” Kerrik’s eyes went wide and he began to slowly worm his way out of her grip. She tightened her grasp and looked down at him with anger filled tear streaked eyes. “And where are you going?”
“I just realized that you two may be gearing up for a fight. While observing it might be interesting, I’m currently standing at ground zero and that’s not a healthy place to be if you’re not a pokegirl.”
Her face twisted. “You’d abandon me too?”
Kerrik kept his voice light. “I’m not abandoning anyone. I just don’t want to have to regrow a lot of necessary body parts right now and if I’m standing here and you two fight, I will get hurt.”
She blinked and a crafty smile appeared. “Yes, you would, wouldn’t you? They wouldn’t want that, now would they?” In a blur, she plucked his pistols from their holsters and tossed them away. Then she looked at Whisper. “Fetch Raven.”
Whisper’s eyebrows climbed so high that they almost vanished in her bangs. Fetch? Her eyes flicked to Kerrik’s and she shifted to secure communications. I have contacted Raven and she’s on her way. As long as she holds you, I’m not sure what our options are.
He smiled slightly. Good job. Hopefully this will pass soon.
Seconds later, Raven and Misery appeared. Kerrik winced when Elizabeth and Morwen followed them, the older vampire flying and carrying Morwen with her.
“Let him go.” Raven’s voice trembled with anger. “Let him go and I’ll let you live.”
Autumn placed her hand flat against his chest. “No. I want to stay here. I want to join his harem. If you don’t let me, I’ll, I’ll kill him!”
Misery’s mouth dropped. “You’ve gone bughouse nuts, Autumn. This is the dumbest way to join our harem ever. You’re fucking insane.”
“She’s feral.” Everyone’s head turned to look at Elizabeth, even Autumn. “She was away from William for too long without being tamed and went feral without even knowing it. She was probably feral when she got here.” She met Raven’s astonished gaze. “Elfqueens have a reduced feral state.”
Misery’s ears were back. “What the fuck is that?”
Morwen spoke so quickly her words almost tumbled out against each other. “Normal ferals are animalistic, and lose their sense of self along with the ability to use spells and more sophisticated techniques. Reduced ferals are still functional, but their ability to think logically is lost. It makes them more dangerous than a normal feral because they’re unstable and can still use their full repertoire of attacks. That explains why she doesn’t need tamed. She thinks she’s not feral.”
“I am not feral!” Her hand clenched the material of his shirt. “Make me part of his harem or I’ll burn his heart out!”
Elizabeth reached out to Raven and the others through her twee. I don’t think she can kill Kerrik, but I know you don’t want to take that chance. Be careful trying to talk her down. She won’t react like a rational being.
Raven smiled. “Of course you can join the harem, Autumn. I’m not happy about how you’re going about it, but creativity should be rewarded.”
The elfqueen’s eyes lit up. “I can! Wonderful!” Her eyes dimmed and she turned to Kerrik. “You’re the tamer. The final word is yours. Tell me I’m in your harem.” Her voice rose triumphantly. “You can’t lie!”
Raven tensed when his ears went back. “No, I can’t lie. I also don’t approve of you trying to blackmail your way into my harem and thus into my life.”
Autumn’s mouth twisted in anguish. “I didn’t have any other choice! I can’t go to Haven. You heard Elizabeth, they’ll kill me!”
His eyes began to glitter with anger. “Are you feral?”
Autumn picked him up and shook him like a doll. “I AM NOT FERAL!” She held him in midair. “I’m not,” she whispered.
Kerrik’s eyes were still angry, but his voice was even. “Then prove it.”
She froze, still holding him aloft. “How? If I let you go before you accept me, your killers will finish me off before I can blink.”
“There is another way; it’s just that your mind can’t comprehend it.” He looked up into her eyes. “Prove to me that you’re worthy of the privilege of joining my harem and standing with the women already in it. Force your mind to work through the fog that wraps it and show me that you might be worth the sacrifice that Raven wants me to make by having an elf in my life again!” His face stilled. “If you can’t, I’ll order them to kill you and take my chances when they do.”
“I don’t understand,” she cried.
“You have to. If not, your life ends here. Think, Autumn!”
She stared into his eyes as the minutes slowly ticked by. Then her eyes went wide. “It can’t be that easy.”
“Can’t it?”
“You’d never do it.”
“Have you tried it yet?”
Slowly she lowered him to the ground and let him go. Her head dropped. “Kerrik, I am sorry. May I join your harem?”
“Yes.”
(9/09/06 1200, Texas League)
“You realize that what she did is impossible.” Elizabeth stared out the window where the five members of his harem were having some kind of discussion. Raven had been careful to make sure they were out of earshot of even Kerrik, so they were actually a distance down the road in her attempt to make sure they weren’t overheard.
“That’s why I made it her trial on joining the harem.” Kerrik sipped at his tea. “If she succeeded, I get a pokegirl who can be super rational even while feral and if she failed I get hurt and we have to find a better elf for the harem. It was worth the risk. It proves she’s an exceptional pokegirl and worth my having to work through my dislike of elves.”
“What is it with you and elves? Not even Shikarou knows what it is.”
Kerrik put down his cup. “I’m afraid I won’t answer that question. It is rather personal.”
“But Raven knows.”
“She does,” he admitted calmly.
“Why won’t you tell me?”
“You’re not in my harem.” He raised a hand when she started to speak. “And don’t start with the what ifs. You are not in my harem and you love my son, so you’re not ever joining my harem and we both know it. You just don’t like not knowing something. Lots of people are that way and I’m afraid I don’t have any sympathy for you. The fact is that in this case you don’t have any right to know nor do you have any need. Raven does. Now, how’s Morwen doing?”
“She’s a quick study. I’m focusing on one ability at a time with her. When she activates it, we move on. I’ll be giving her homework to practice the abilities we unlock. She needs to learn to use them without me there to coach her.” She frowned. “I do need something from you, however. She’s only feeding from you, so you need to teach her how to bite without releasing her transformative venom.” Kerrik frowned and she raised an eyebrow. “Or is it I need to show her how to release it?”
“She hasn’t tried to turn me into a vampire yet and I haven’t heard anyone she’s slept with mention it. However, I’m not sure she’s bitten any of them.”
“That’s unusual. Usually vampires have to be taught how not to infect when they bite. I can’t remember one that had to be taught how to release her venom.”
He gave a weak chuckle. “So Morwen is still going strong in her bid to be as unusual as possible?”
“Unusual is rapidly becoming the wrong word for her. Contrary might be more appropriate a description. I don’t mean in regards to her personality, but as far as her development, it’s off the chart.”
Kerrik’s ears flicked. “Would that have anything to do with the fact that she wasn’t supposed to become a vampire?”
Elizabeth turned to look at him and shrugged. “There’s nothing in the literature about what happened. Apparently nobody has used vampire venom to defeat nature’s choice of their pokegirl type during threshold before. At least nothing has been reported about it. Candace and I looked and she even sent a query to Stephen, who couldn’t find anything. I’ve talked to some of the Glasgow nursejoys and they’ve never heard of anything like it, either. She may be unique.”
“I could have told you that she is.”
“I didn’t mean it that way and you know it.” Motion caught the vampire’s eye and she turned back to the window. “They’re coming back.”
Kerrik joined her at the window. The pokegirls were walking up the road towards the lodge in a loose formation with Autumn in the middle of the square formed by the other four. It looked like they were her guards and they were escorting her to prison or to the executioner. He smiled slightly at the imagery.
The fact that at one time a similar formation was used by the ladies of a village or castle in medieval times to escort a new bride to her wedding bed suddenly occurred to him and his smile faltered.
Your presence is requested outside that you may bring Autumn into the harem.
His ears drooped and he clambered to his feet. Elizabeth gave him a sympathetic look. “Is it really that bad?”
He shrugged. “I suppose not, but the anxiety leading up to lying with her is probably going to be a killer.” He began humming something as he went outside.
Elizabeth recognized it as a dirge.
(9/09/06 1600, Texas League)
The elfqueen stirred and slowly stretched, pressing back against the warm form behind her. “You never went to sleep, did you?”
“I don’t sleep. How do you feel?”
Autumn rolled over ponderously and looked at him. “I can feel the difference now. I was feral.” Her eyes were dark brown and they were lively as she smiled at him. “I feel much better.”
Kerrik sat up and helped her to a sitting position. “That’s good to hear, Autumn.”
She ran her fingers through her reddish gold hair and shook her head wildly, making it fly around her face. “Now that I can think about it again, I’ve been feral for months. In fact, I was feral before I left William. He wasn’t spending enough time with me. He thought I was too fat. It’s one of the reasons he wanted to kill my babies. I’m not sure I could have left him while I was me.” She leaned over and kissed him gently. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“You aren’t going to give me Raven’s job, are you?” When he shook his head, she nodded. “That makes sense since the two of you work well together. She’s your maharani and I’m just the newbie. That’s going to be a problem, but I have a solution if you’ll allow it.”
His ears flicked. “Why is it going to be a problem?”
“Remember when I told you that every elfqueen carries a kingdom around with her? It’s just as true for me as it is for any other elfqueen.” She flashed a grin. “Since I’ve never been a subordinate since I became an elfqueen, it may be truer for me than most. The top job here is maharani, so I want it. Unless I find something that I feel gives me a standing that I feel is at least equivalent to hers, I will try to find a way to make her job mine. Fortunately there is something I can do.”
“Let me guess. It involves setting up an elf kingdom here?”
“I am a queen, so no, it wouldn’t be a kingdom. It would be a queendom. Other than that, yes.” She cocked her head. “I remember everything that happened while I was feral, and from your words I didn’t think you’d want to be king. Am I wrong?”
“No, I’m not interested in being king of anything.”
“Then I’ll be queen and you’ll be my lover and tamer.” She leaned against him. “I was telling the truth when I said I’m tired of war. Raven and the others are more than warlike enough to protect you. Me too, if need be. If you’ll let me, I’ll turn this place into a paradise, or at least a piece of it. Most of it should continue to grow things that grow here naturally, but it could use a lot of improvement.”
“How does this work? You build a big web and catch elves when they wander by?”
She stared at him, her mouth open. “You really don’t know about the call, do you?”
He shook his head. “I’ve only known a couple of elfqueens and the dominant queens already had elves at their beck and call.”
“The call is a magical summons. It reaches out to every free elf within range and gives them a general idea of where the queen is. They can resist it, but the amount of resistance depends on how the call is performed.”
“I don’t understand.”
She nodded. “Being a magical summons, the call is unique to each elfqueen, but there are certain elements in common with all elfqueen summons. One of these is the presentation, although most elfqueens aren’t aware of the different modes. The first is the command mode. With it, an elfqueen uses the summons to pit her will against that of every elf that can hear it.”
“What is the range?”
“It depends on the will and power of the queen making it. With the command mode summons, any elf that can’t resist her call will come to her. It’s a pretty direct command to come and serve the queen in question. The mode that’s not used as much is the seduction mode summons. It’s harder to do and wasn’t taught to many queens, but what it does is essentially call to elves that would be happy within the restrictions of the call. It seduces those with an inclination to serve a queen by appealing to something within each elf and only calls to those who match what the queen wants. It can be as specific or as vague as the queen wants, and the more specific she gets, the fewer elves will respond.”
“How do you know all of this?”
“I was taught by Loralieth.” When he raised an eyebrow she smirked. “Remember when I said I was rewarded by Sukebe by being evolved to elfqueen by his dick? Since he intended me to command armies instead of elf units, I was sent to Loralieth to be taught elf magic. She was the first elfqueen and was tutored by Sukebe personally. She also claimed to have been tutored by offworld elf wizards.” Her head bowed for a moment. “It was a great loss when she was killed.”
“I take it you intend to use the seduction mode instead of the command mode?”
She nodded. “That’s right. You don’t like the way Haven does things, and I got the impression that it was a traditional queendom. I want elves like me.”
“I don’t think there is another elf like you.”
Her smile lit up the area. “Flatterer. I mean I’m not interested in elf armies or militant elves. I want something a bit more bucolic and I intend to customize my call for elves who want quiet lives with the opportunity to choose to serve me.”
“Will you let them leave if they want to?”
She nodded. “I will. If I don’t feel like fighting, I certainly don’t feel like forcing elves to stay if they don’t want to. That tends to involve fighting with them. I’ll only fight if they force me to, and then I hope to enlist my maharani and tamer’s assistance and use proxies to fight. Except for Morwen, any member of your harem will give any elf a pause to consider her mortality. Hopefully, during that pause she’ll decide that battle is not how she wishes to proceed.”
“Our harem.”
She blinked. “You’re right. This is my place now and I need to make that transition. Raven and the others assure me that you’ll kill William before you’ll let him take me against my will.”
“They’re right. What can I do to help with this call?”
Autumn chuckled. “You’ve already done a lot. First you tamed me out of being feral and in doing so you filled my body with the seeds of life from your body. Only your blood could make the call any more powerful.”
“Do you want it?”
She nodded. “It would be presumptuous of me to ask for it, but if you are offering, I will gladly accept your gift. The blood can either be mixed with the earth or it can be mixed internally. I would prefer to consume your blood this one time.” She smiled. “Then I, too, will have vampired your blood.”
Kerrik’s ears canted sideways. “Is that even a word?”
“If not, I just created it.” She smiled smugly.
He shook his head and held up his right hand. As he summoned his power, the elfqueen shivered. “There is more to you than I thought. I can feel the magic surrounding you.”
“I hope that’s good.”
“It is.” She watched as he drove one of his claws into his wrist and sliced down the vein. Autumn sealed her mouth over the wound and drank. Her dark brown eyes began to glow and she pulled away as the cut sealed. The elfqueen rose to her feet and turned to face the sun.
Kerrik felt the magic coalesce around them. It kept building until the air began to shimmer with the power that Autumn held. Her voice was a whisper that came from everywhere and nowhere as it echoed around them. “I call to all of the children of the earth, the sky, the fields and the water who seek peace from the horrors of the war. I call to all elves and elf kin who wish a life without unending battle. To each of you who can hear my voice, I offer you that which you have never had, a home. Together we will build a new world and the ashes of the old will fertilize the land from which we shall bring forth new life for us, our loves and our progeny, now and forever. If your heart’s desire matches mine, then I call to you to come to me. The choice is yours, my children, and I await your decision.” As she spoke the energy drained away into her spell until nothing remained.
Autumn stood for a moment and then shook her head slowly. “I should be exhausted, but the power in your blood has protected me. Thank you.”
“I’m glad it helped you.” He pushed to his feet. “When we get to the house, I want to pokeball you. That’ll give me the chance to run you through a healing cycle, which will make you feel a lot better.”
She gave him a half hopeful smile. “Will it make my feet stop hurting?”
“It should. The fluid will build up again, but it’ll take a couple of days and then you can be healed again.”
“Will it hurt my daughters?”
“I wouldn’t suggest it if there was the slightest chance it might. While there are pokeballs that will end a pregnancy, I haven’t had any of those made since coming to this world.”
“Then I place myself in your hands, Kerrik.”
(9/09/06 2000, Texas League)
Misery leaned flat against the wall and giggled. “Ok.”
Raven summoned a light on the end of her staff and touched the glowing end to the ground next to the mini-top’s right heel. Light gleamed from under her left foot. “You’re up on your toes. That’s cheating.”
Misery made a face and dropped back to the ground so her feet were flat. Autumn placed the piece of chalk flat against the top of Misery’s hair and made a mark against the wall. “And done. That’s everyone except Kerrik. We really should measure him since he and Morwen are probably the only ones who are going to grow any more.”
“You can measure me later, when I’m not busy. And I’m currently 5’ 4” tall.” Kerrik was bent over the newly constructed power unit. “What are the numbers?”
Autumn laid a yardstick against the wall and began flipping it end over end. “Raven is four feet and eleven inches tall.”
Misery giggled again. “She’s tiny!”
Kerrik glanced up again. “You know, fusion weapons aren’t that big, either.”
The archmage grinned. “He has a point. Anytime you think you can take me, rabbit.”
Autumn ignored the exchange. “Morwen is five feet and three fourths of an inch.”
The vampire folded her arms. “That’s five feet and a whole inch, thank you very much. You just can’t read that meter stick very well.” She grimaced. “I mean yard stick. Why can’t they use something reasonable, like metric?”
We are using something reasonable. You just learned a silly system and so you think it’s more superior. Whisper watched Autumn closely. I should be 5’ 3”.
The elfqueen nodded as she finished measuring. “You’re absolutely correct. And Misery is six foot even.”
“What about our giantess?” Misery smirked as Autumn gave her a flat look. “I mean you.”
Autumn ran her finger up the yardstick. “I am an inch below seven feet tall. I’m 6’ 11”?” She looked surprised. “I thought I was shorter than that.”
“You’ve been getting too much sun.” Misery snickered. “And Kerrik’s watered you well. Obviously you’ve grown.”
Autumn gave her an even look. “I’m afraid that whoever told you that you were funny was lying to you.”
“Ouch. You wound my heart.”
The elfqueen glanced at Raven. “Is she always like this?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“You have my sympathy. Why did you choose her for the harem? I can’t see a reason to have her. She’s terrible comedy relief.”
“I didn’t. She was an accident that won’t go away, kind of like stepping in dog shit. I’d fix it, but he likes her.”
“Hey, I’m standing right here!” Misery held up one of her ears with her hand. “These work just fine and I can hear every word you say!”
Morwen clapped her hands over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. Autumn’s eyes twinkled with humor. “Perhaps, if you ignore her long enough she’ll go away.”
Whisper’s antennae twitched and her ears flicked. She’s actually good for him. She gives him something to practice his prey drives on. She’s very good at running away from him.
“Oh, that’s just great. Why doesn’t everyone just pick on the rabbit? She’s an easy target for your obvious jealousy. Perfection is so hard for you peons to live with.”
Kerrik looked up from where he was making a final adjustment. “That’s enough. I hope everyone listened to me and unplugged everything in the building. Raven, go ahead and set up the surveillance net.”
The archmage lifted off to hover a few feet in the air. “Whisper, you’ve got the north side. Misery, you rove the building. Morwen, you’ve got the south side. Autumn, you stay with Kerrik and I’ll cover directly overhead.
She shot into the air as Kerrik clipped his com to his collar. “Systems check.” He watched the others scatter to their posts as Autumn pulled a chair from the pool area and sat down near him.
Raven’s voice was actually synthesized by Virtue and Vice since her communication was through her twee, but it sounded exactly like her as it came through the com. “I read you loud and clear. Everyone is in position.”
Kerrik glanced up at where she was hovering. “Virtue, execute.”
Nothing seemed to change for several seconds until Virtue spoke. “Power has been restored to the main breaker for the building without any problems being noted. We are ready for phase two.”
“Ok.” Kerrik rose and offered a hand to Autumn, who smiled and let him pull her to her feet. His ears flicked. “I forgot about your enhanced strength. Sorry.”
“At least you are concerned about me. William lost interest during my pregnancy and he’s never been that attentive in any case.” She grabbed the chair and followed him inside to the electrical room. She cast her light spell, which produced a golden globe that produced the full spectrum of light.
“It figures you’d make a grow light.” The elfqueen just flashed him a smile and sank back into her chair. “Ok, Raven. I’m beginning phase two.”
“Understood. We’re ready.”
Kerrik had wanted to wait until after sunset in order to possibly make some things easier. After verifying that all of the breakers in the electrical panel were open, he reached up and closed the main power breaker. He waited a minute, and then closed the first of the building’s breakers. With the master control system on the weaver working, Virtue had focused the repair systems on the wiring in the building, so Kerrik was confident that there wouldn’t be any fires inside the walls. However, it never hurt to be cautious, so he went down the row, closing the next breaker for a minute or two and then opening it again before moving on.
He closed one breaker and there was a roaring squeal of electronic noise which ended in a loud bang. His com suddenly cursed in Misery’s voice. “Fuck, that explosion came from my room.” There was a pause as she teleported into her bedroom. “Shit. My room had a nice stereo in it.” Another pause passed by. “Oh, hell! Kerrik was on top of the stereo and he got covered in smoke. Now he stinks.”
Autumn’s eyes widened. “What is she talking about?”
He wriggled his ears at her. “She’s got a plush wolf that she named after me.”
The elfqueen stared at his ears as he wriggled them again. She giggled and looked embarrassed. “You did that on purpose.”
“I can’t lie, so I’m not going to answer that.” He touched the com unit. “Misery, after we’re done you can put your stereo in the weaver and have it repaired. You could also use it to make more stereos for the others if they want. It’ll even clean up your Kerrik.”
“Cool! I’m not making more Kerrik’s though. They only made two before they broke the mold.”
He rolled his eyes. “Raven, I’m proceeding on to the next breaker.”
“Misery! Get back into position now.”
“Fine, I’m going.” A second later the mini-top spoke again. “All right, I’m where I’m supposed to be.”
The test proceeded without further incident and Kerrik opened the main building breaker when he was finished. “Now we get to run all of the appliances in the building through the weaver. I’ve already told Virtue what modifications I want.”
Autumn gave him a curious look. “Why do you have the topmost room in the lodge?”
“It was forced on me. I believe the symbolism was explained to me as I was the top of the harem, so I should be at the top of the harem’s rooms.”
“I take it they didn’t consider that flying ferals would tend to use the walkway in front of your bedroom as a convenient landing pad, since it’s at the highest point?”
“No, I don’t think they did.” His ears flicked back and up again. “That does make sense, though. I’ll need to be on the lookout for rack droppings.”
She smiled slyly. “If I explain it to them, what do you think will happen?”
He blinked. “They’d dig a freaking basement beneath this place and stuff my ass in there. The rest of me, too.”
“You leave me in a quandary. I know that there is a potential problem and it is to the harem’s benefit for me to inform my maharani. It’s also in my best interests as well, since you are my lover too. However, you, my lover, probably don’t want to have his freedom curtailed. What do you think I should do?”
“I think you should ask your lover if the situation is actually as you perceive it, since trying to force him to do anything is usually an experiment in frustration.”
She gave him a curious look. “I’ll do that. Kerrik, is there something I’m missing in my evaluation of the situation we’re discussing?”
“Yes, there is. While flying pokegirls may be using my walkway as a landing pad, you need to remember that I’m never in there alone.” He snorted. “In fact, I have to leave my room to get some privacy. Every pokegirl here except Morwen and you know how to teleport, so I always have a means of escape.”
She frowned. “I should probably learn to master that technique. Morwen, too.”
“In any other case,” he said, ignoring her comment, “Raven’s room is right below mine and I’m more than capable of screaming loudly enough for her to hear me.”
“What if she’s with someone else?”
“Raven is the maharani. All pokegirls come to her, not her to their rooms. Does that satisfy your concerns?”
“It will when I have some elves to patrol the grounds. In the meantime, I’m willing to allow that you are as safe as we can make you.”
He nodded. “I’m glad I didn’t have to point out that in the basement I could be attacked by subterranean pokegirls and we’d never see them coming until it was too late.”
She gave him a bland look. “I considered that.”
His ears slanted sideways. “Oh.”
“I did have pokegirls under my command that I used in an identical manner in assaulting human encampments.” She suddenly reached up and grabbed one of his ears. He froze as she stroked it. “It’s very soft.”
“Thanks. Can I have it back?”
She laughed and let him go. “I’ll have to check with Raven and see when my next time with you is.”
He rose and took her hand. “I’m not going to bed just yet. It can be now.”
“I was hoping you’d catch the hint.”
Name: Wolf, Kerrik
Age: Unlisted
Residence: Kingdom of Haven - Currently Texas League
Status: Active
Rank: NA (5)
HRA rank: Colonel
Security Clearance: Omicron
Licenses
Tamer Y
Master Tamer Y
Breeder Y
Watcher N
Researcher N
Pet Owner N
Tradesman N
Active Harem
Raven Archmage
Whisper Cabbit
Misery Mini-top
Morwen Vampire pokekit
Autumn Elfqueen