Chapter 9.3
(Part 5)
***
At some point, while you've been lost imagining the soft, padded cell that you'll be spending the rest of your life within, Taylor finally finishes whatever she's been saying. You notice this primarily because of the tone her voice has grown even more confident while you weren't paying attention.
"-oes that sound alright, Tatsu?"
Turning your gaze from the Black Spike Of Doom To Your Personal Freedom, you blink owlishly a few times at Taylor and nod anyway.
She looks at you for a few seconds, then nods slowly.
"Riiight," she draws out, eyeing you critically for a moment. "So, you understand that there are potentially valid, therapeutic,
legal uses for that charm, and you're fine with waiting until your charms are fully configured to actually test it."
Okay, you definitely should have been paying attention if
that's where she wound up with a charm called
Personality Override Spike, but it's far too late for asking for her to repeat all that now. Besides, any chance to put off using the Doom Spike in any way whatsoever is fine by you.
"Hai," you nod, more confidently this time before looking at the Doom Spike. "Should I… put it away?"
"Yes, please," she sighs.
For all that you'd tried - and failed - to manipulate it before, actually turning off and retracting the charm is… easy, really. There's a feeling of taking your finger off of a humming metal pad in the back of your mind and then a slick, metal-on-clay sound as the spike slips back between your knuckles like it was never there.
Humming to herself, Taylor eyes you up critically again. "Now then, let's finish going over the other charm we know you have: the one that let you look like… the 'old you', you called it?"
"You mean without… also using
Integrated Artifact Transmogrifier?" you wonder, even though the charm's name is a little awkward on your tongue.
At Taylor's confirming nod, you close your eyes and settle back into peering at your vague collection of charms. Finding this one is easy enough since you've already put it to use a few times unknowingly, but as you mentally begin to shift essence down through
Aura-Dampening Component and into the line towards it-
"O-oh! W-what should I look like?" you blurt out, as understanding blossoms behind your closed eyes. "I… don't have to look like my old self? I can… I can change anything!"
The sleek, dark echo of Taylor's voice makes a grunt of acknowledgement. "Does '
Husk-Sculpting Apparatus' sound like it fits?"
You make a wordless cheer as, again, recognition causes the charm to glow brilliantly under your internalized scrutiny, allowing you to see that there are a few smaller parts attached as well. You leave them be for now, because you still need to actually activate the charm…
Actually, you know just what to do.
There's the peculiar sensation for several seconds of shifting bones, muscles, and charms as your body reconfigures itself, but when you open your eyes you aren't nearly as short as you were before. In fact, you are almost exactly five feet, ten inches - allowing you to directly meet the gaze of the holographic Taylor in front of you.
Her lips are pursed and she's giving you a flat look, but she totally deserves it for telling everyone about the Doom Spike.
"Very funny, Tatsu."
You didn't bother trying to 'compress' yourself like you've been doing with your 'old self'...
… so you look exactly like her, only
better.
To your side, you notice Prayer's helmet twitching between the hologram and yourself a few times before her voice floats through her armor.
"Be grateful Who does not possess this power, Administrator."
You snort, and it sounds weird in your own ears because it's Taylor's snort, but the hologram is simply staring at you with a rapidly-falling expression.
"He wouldn't-..." she mumbles, before blinking and sagging even further, "... he
would give her that."
Oh. You… hadn't really thought about… the next person Taylor might pick? When she'd given her presentation you'd noticed she'd looked at Missy more than anyone, but you'd heard several times Aisha talking about how she was trying to figure out how awesome it would be to get "upgraded." You and Sakura had gotten wrapped up with her enthusiasm, actually, and the two of you had figured that it would either be Missy or Aisha that got the actual honor in the end; Missy because she and Taylor actually felt like sisters, while Aisha might actually be able to live a normal life if conversion fixed her (really scary) power.
Was Taylor still thinking of picking either of them now that you and Sakura were picked? That would be…
... umm…
… weird? You and Sakura are almost eighteen, and you were both planning on joining the Protectorate, but Missy and Aisha are
young. Chibi, even if Aisha has bigger boobs than you do. Did.
You're definitely going to have to change your 'old' look, now. Not too much! Sakura needs to recognize you, but Aisha will never stop if the first time she sees you she's
still better than the two of you. Is there a way-
Oh! One of the charm's part lit up as you were thinking- ah ha! It's for setting defaults! Neat! Ok, can you just shift- no, you have to turn it off first.
You hold up a hand to cut off Taylor's talking - because she's been talking at you again while you weren't paying attention, and Sakura isn't here to listen
for you - and toggle off the charm… and then...
Ugh… it's…
stuck? No, it just… takes a lot of…
pushing… there! And now you don't even have to keep the charm on anymore to look like this!
Opening your eyes, you actually watch the process happen this time. Holding up your arms, you watch as the immaculate, flawless configurations of seams, glowing lines, and metal filigrees actually… shift into
worse patterns. Huh. It makes sense, you guess, but it's still weird to see yourself getting
uglier.
Not as ugly as you used to be, though, and you hope Sakura has this charm so you two never have to be like that again.
"It's…
you again?" Taylor asks, tilting her head as you see her eyes flash and little shades shutter down over her eyes for a moment before retracting. "Is-... oh, were you testing the submodules? Is this how you want to look now?"
"Ms. Weaver?" Dr. Rose's voice drifts out from the intercom again, sounding more curious than frustrated now. "Care to explain?"
"It's a way for her to change her look permanently, without needing the charm active all the time," she nods, looking at you with consideration. "Try activating your IAT now?"
Well, if she's ok with condense the charm names into abbreviations, you aren't going to feel bad about doing it yourself.
Some essence pushing and a few moments later, you're… well, not the 'new' you. The 'newest' you? Saki 2.5: Good Enough Edition!
"Still noticeably better," Taylor muses, rubbing at her lower lip in thought. "Are you not going to use your old identity?"
Looking over your hands, you see that the small scars and freckles are still where they should be. "Um…" you gaze up, meeting her eyes, "...is there a way to look like this and still keep it?"
The most experienced Alchemical on Earth hums a bit in thought, then casts a gaze back towards the scientists. As if reading her mind, Dr. Rose's voice hastily coughs over the intercom.
"Please do not drag PR into the Testing Chambers, Ms. Weaver. We try to be efficient here."
Rolling her eyes - all of them, this time - Taylor shakes her head and waves them off.
"Fine, fine. Wyld owes me for Thursday, anyway, and her team is in New York so it wouldn't-"
Turning fully back to you, Taylor's mouth gradually splits into a conspiratorial grin - and
wow she looks evil like that. She can totally see herself all the time with her bugs, you remember, so does she just not care?
"Oh," she cackles.
Cackles!
"Inquisition is going to
love you."
***
